Job Discussion Forums

[fluffyhamster]

The dangers of speaking only English are that, before you know it, you are droning on and on and not giving the input much thought: instructions, comments, asides, the target language, moments of genuine real communication etc can all become a bit of a blur; also, you're hardly going to be demonstrating much expertise in second language learning yourself, or showing that it's alright to paraphrase, make mistakes etc.

Anyway, I don't think students will begrudge you occassionally slipping into Japanese or supplying the odd translation here and there if your lessons are well planned and generally giving them more than enough opportunities to meet and in turn speak plenty of English.

[SDSUMarcus01]

You aren't supposed to use Japanese in the classroom but sometimes I use it after or before class...

And then there are times when students don't understand a word and you have to choose between a five minute explanation or saying one Japanese word...

For the most part, I don't use Japanese in the classroom at all but knowing some basic Japanese helps a LOT because you can understand some of the things that the lower level students say.

[sallycat]

honestly, i don't think accidentally using japanese in the classrooom is going to be much of a problem -- you'll probably find that you go into english-only mode as soon as you walk into the classroom. i know i did. you'd be as likely to accidentally use japanese as you would when, say, talking to your mom (assuming your mom doesn't speak japanese). anyway, i don't think students would complain about accidental slip-ups. but if you deliberately use japanese phrases to ingratiate yourself -- then, yeah, they'll smile and giggle, and then they'll complain about you to the other teachers.