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ripslyme
Joined: 29 Jan 2005
Posts: 481
Location: Japan
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 Posted: Thu Jun 10, 2010 10:15 pm Post subject: |
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If you want to get some parental intervention:
1. Record their antics
2. Show the recording to their parents
3. Emphasize how their behavior is ruining it for the other kids in the class |
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G Cthulhu
Joined: 07 Feb 2003
Posts: 1373
Location: Way, way off course.
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| Posted: Thu Jun 10, 2010 11:45 pm Post subject: |
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| Bread wrote: |
| G Cthulhu wrote: |
| mhard1 wrote: |
| Age of students? The students are in 4th grade elementary school |
This is the chance for a culture lesson! *Americans* will answer a question like "How old are the children" by giving their grade level in US educational terms. The rest of the planet will give their age.   |
Uh, pretty sure he meant that in JAPANESE educational terms. Would it have been somehow better if he'd said 小学校四年生, despite having the exact same meaning? |
You see, that's the interesting thing. It has a similar meaning, but not the same. I could easily and as accurately translate it as Year 4 Primary School. Or Primer 3 for Primary school. Or simply Year 5. All three of those are also accurate - the first one the most so. If they had wanted to be inclusive (if, as someone has suggested, their ages were unknown) they could have said, in the context of the Japan board, shogakko XYnensei: accurate, meaningful, and not offensive/misleading/meaningless/takeyourpick to anyone else.
I was being entirely serious when I made the original comment about it being a chance for a culture moment. Of course, the kneejerk responders have ignored that and read into it some invective and decided I was attacking the US. And vented their spleen in public rather than PM'ing me. I can also understand that: I do indeed like making fun of yanks on occasion, as does most o the planet, but that is more sort of amusing *and I would have thought that grown ups could deal with it in the light hearted vein it was intended*. Apparently I was wrong. It seems only Serious Americans read here.  (No points for spotting more humour in this post. If you *can't* spot *any* humour then you need to lighten up. Life's too short to be wound up that tight.)
And I was also entirely serious about the rest of my post: *in*my*experience* Americans really do *tend* to give responses in US educational terms. And, as shown by *some* of the responses, *some* of them get all huffy when you point out the oddity to them.
It's all the more amusing given they're working in teaching communication...   |
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G Cthulhu
Joined: 07 Feb 2003
Posts: 1373
Location: Way, way off course.
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| Posted: Thu Jun 10, 2010 11:55 pm Post subject: |
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| ripslyme wrote: |
If you want to get some parental intervention:
1. Record their antics
2. Show the recording to their parents
3. Emphasize how their behavior is ruining it for the other kids in the class |
This. This above. This is an excellent response. It is simple, effective, and plays to the Japanese cultural norms. It has a good chance of working, without disturbing the overall balance of things.
YMMV. |
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natsume
Joined: 24 Apr 2006
Posts: 409
Location: Chongqing, China
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| Posted: Fri Jun 11, 2010 12:47 am Post subject: |
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| G Cthulhu wrote: |
| And I was also entirely serious about the rest of my post: *in*my*experience* Americans really do *tend* to give responses in US educational terms. |
Agreed. I have also noticed (as others have as well) a tendency on these boards for some Americans to post very general questions or talk about their experiences "here" without indicating where they are asking questions about or where they are talking about, or identifying themselves as Americans, as if the universal reference point on these boards is the U.S.
(Well, myopic unilateralism is part of our cultural heritage.)
Last edited by natsume on Fri Jun 11, 2010 3:37 am; edited 2 times in total |
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seklarwia
Joined: 20 Jan 2009
Posts: 1546
Location: Monkey onsen, Nagano
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| Posted: Fri Jun 11, 2010 1:27 am Post subject: |
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| natsume wrote: |
Agreed. I have also noticed (as others have as well) a tendency on these boards for some Americans to post very general questions or talk about their experiences "here" without indicating where they are are asking questions or talking about, or identifying themselves as Americans, as if the universal reference point on these boards is the U.S.
(Well, myopic unilateralism is part of out cultural heritage.) |
Which is why I try to hold my tongue occassionally. How many times I've wanted to post sharp responses. I even typed a nice lecture to a new poster a few days ago who did exactly this, but refrained from hitting post... They really can't help it, afterall.
But Americans do give us laughs sometimes, too. I mean the guy who seemed to believe that he'd get US dollars out of ATMs if he used an American card over here....  classic! |
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cvmurrieta
Joined: 10 Jul 2008
Posts: 209
Location: Sendai, Japan
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| Posted: Sat Jun 12, 2010 11:11 am Post subject: |
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| G Cthulhu wrote: |
| Bread wrote: |
| G Cthulhu wrote: |
| mhard1 wrote: |
| Age of students? The students are in 4th grade elementary school |
This is the chance for a culture lesson! *Americans* will answer a question like "How old are the children" by giving their grade level in US educational terms. The rest of the planet will give their age. |
Uh, pretty sure he meant that in JAPANESE educational terms. Would it have been somehow better if he'd said 小学校四年生, despite having the exact same meaning? |
You see, that's the interesting thing. It has a similar meaning, but not the same. I could easily and as accurately translate it as Year 4 Primary School. Or Primer 3 for Primary school. Or simply Year 5. All three of those are also accurate - the first one the most so. If they had wanted to be inclusive (if, as someone has suggested, their ages were unknown) they could have said, in the context of the Japan board, shogakko XYnensei: accurate, meaningful, and not offensive/misleading/meaningless/takeyourpick to anyone else.
I was being entirely serious when I made the original comment about it being a chance for a culture moment. Of course, the kneejerk responders have ignored that and read into it some invective and decided I was attacking the US. And vented their spleen in public rather than PM'ing me. I can also understand that: I do indeed like making fun of yanks on occasion, as does most o the planet, but that is more sort of amusing *and I would have thought that grown ups could deal with it in the light hearted vein it was intended*. Apparently I was wrong. It seems only Serious Americans read here. (No points for spotting more humour in this post. If you *can't* spot *any* humour then you need to lighten up. Life's too short to be wound up that tight.)
And I was also entirely serious about the rest of my post: *in*my*experience* Americans really do *tend* to give responses in US educational terms. And, as shown by *some* of the responses, *some* of them get all huffy when you point out the oddity to them.
It's all the more amusing given they're working in teaching communication... |
And most Americans most of the time are blissfully unaware of what G Cthulhu or the rest of the world thinks unless we are bored out of our minds and reading Dave's or G Cthulhu happens to be "working" in a Japanese-controlled environment in the US. To be honest with you, I didn't see any constructive answer to the OP's question in your original post. As for "serious" Americans, I prefer them over the "flighty" type as the serious ones will actually get the country out of its problems.
Now back to zoning out to the likes G Cthulhu and back to watching "The O'Reilly Factor" or MLB.TV or the NBA Finals. |
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David W
Joined: 17 Jan 2003
Posts: 457
Location: Japan
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| Posted: Sat Jun 12, 2010 4:34 pm Post subject: |
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| Don't be afraid to toss the ringleader out of the room on his ear and then when you come back in lay down the law to the others in no uncertain terms. It definitely won't be the first time they've had a teacher go postal on them and definitely won't be the last. |
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steki47
Joined: 20 Apr 2008
Posts: 1029
Location: BFE Inaka
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| Posted: Sat Jun 12, 2010 11:03 pm Post subject: |
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| seklarwia wrote: |
| But Americans do give us laughs sometimes, too. I mean the guy who seemed to believe that he'd get US dollars out of ATMs if he used an American card over here.... classic! |
Some Americans here still speak in dollars when talking about shopping in Japan. Hello, they use yen here.
I'm an American and that goofy guy is a close friend. |
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steki47
Joined: 20 Apr 2008
Posts: 1029
Location: BFE Inaka
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| Posted: Sun Jun 13, 2010 12:25 am Post subject: |
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| natsume wrote: |
| (Well, myopic unilateralism is part of our cultural heritage.) |
Well put! As an American living in Japan, I would say that Americans and Japanese both tend to be a bit myopic. But in polar opposite ways. Americans tend to think of their values as being universal and universally applicable. We are often surprised when people around the world reject our culture. Japanese tend to see their culture as uniquely Japanese and are surprised that people in other countries can use chopsticks or have four seasons. |
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ssjup81
Joined: 15 Jun 2009
Posts: 664
Location: Adachi-ku, Tokyo, Japan
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| Posted: Sun Jun 13, 2010 10:05 am Post subject: |
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| seklarwia wrote: |
| But Americans do give us laughs sometimes, too. I mean the guy who seemed to believe that he'd get US dollars out of ATMs if he used an American card over here.... classic! |
But, as it was pointed out, aside from the fact that I'm a "she" and had no experience using ATMs in Japan (and rarely used them back home), I wanted to know how the process worked because getting US dollars out of a Japanese ATM seemed weird to me, which is why I asked in the first place. =P |
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Cool Teacher
Joined: 18 May 2009
Posts: 930
Location: Here, There and Everywhere! :D
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| Posted: Sun Jun 13, 2010 12:36 pm Post subject: |
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It's time you put your foot down. I mean really strict to start and then be more genlte later.
I think G Chtultuthu is a self-hating American.  |
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Bread
Joined: 24 May 2009
Posts: 318
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| Posted: Sun Jun 13, 2010 2:28 pm Post subject: |
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| Cool Teacher wrote: |
| I think G Chtultuthu is a self-hating American. |
Maybe he is sad because cannot eat hamburger in Nippon 
| ssjup81 wrote: |
| But, as it was pointed out, aside from the fact that I'm a "she" and had no experience using ATMs in Japan (and rarely used them back home) |
So how did you usually get money in the US? The idea of rarely using an ATM is totally foreign to me. |
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G Cthulhu
Joined: 07 Feb 2003
Posts: 1373
Location: Way, way off course.
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| Posted: Sun Jun 13, 2010 4:21 pm Post subject: |
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| Bread wrote: |
| Cool Teacher wrote: |
| I think G Chtultuthu is a self-hating American. |
Maybe he is sad because cannot eat hamburger in Nippon
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I do sort of miss MOS Burger. But only sort of.
And I'm not American. I've just been sentenced to live in the US for a while.  |
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Cool Teacher
Joined: 18 May 2009
Posts: 930
Location: Here, There and Everywhere! :D
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| Posted: Mon Jun 14, 2010 8:54 am Post subject: |
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| G Cthulhu wrote: |
And I'm not American. |
Just self-hating then?  |
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G Cthulhu
Joined: 07 Feb 2003
Posts: 1373
Location: Way, way off course.
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| Posted: Mon Jun 14, 2010 7:09 pm Post subject: |
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| Cool Teacher wrote: |
| G Cthulhu wrote: |
And I'm not American. |
Just self-hating then? |
(I'm thinking about adding American citizenship to my collection, if that helps any. That'll make four passports... ) |
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