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GambateBingBangBOOM
Joined: 04 Nov 2003
Posts: 2021
Location: Japan
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 Posted: Wed Sep 22, 2004 8:31 am Post subject: |
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| vre wrote: |
| How do you put up with such a knob head? |
re: the countries thing,
Well, I was born in England but grew up in Canada, so I don't really take it very personally (Growing up in Canada, my parents, from Northern England and 30years later still having the accent) talk about Yukaneeze (UK-nese) instead of individual countries now.
About where he got his info, don't know. Internationalization only really works if both parties have an open mind, and about some things, this teacher doesn't. A lot of English teachers in Japan have never been outside of Japan, and don't actually know a whole lot about Gaikoku (foreign country) culture (they tend to be all grouped into one). Today, that same teacher was astonished when I told him that in Canada (and America too!) Christmas is a holiday. He's been teaching English for about twenty years now, and never knew that.
In a country where nationality = race (and therefore third generation [in Japan] Koreans are not allowed to be teachers in Japan), it is very confusing for the kids. I don't know what they think. I know when they are taught "United Kingdom", it is compared to "United States" (something they do know), even though that's not the same thing at all. The teacher doesn't understand it, and I don't think he wants to, but he's trying to make sure that the kids don't either.
About not being allowed to give the kids information,
Annoying. Very annoying. But this is the country of "Japan is a victim. One day a bomb fell on Hiroshima ". Kids generally don't learn about anything negative about their country's past, so eveything is put through the "this is what we Japanese think" filter more than my own education in Canada was (or seemed to be, anyway).
So anyway, it's not all that annoying for me, because I'm from Canada. But I know Scottish people who when they say they are from Scotland are told "Oh! You are English!" because the word for the UK "Igirisu" sounds like "English" and people aren't learning the countries properly.  |
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