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Quichia
Joined: 03 Feb 2010
Posts: 17
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 Posted: Fri Apr 23, 2010 4:23 am Post subject: Japan Bound in June with PKC/iTTTi Advice please????/ |
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Hi everyone I applied and was offered a position teaching with PKC/iTTTi starting the end of Japan. Anyone else heading out there in June???
Also, for those who have been in Japan just a couple of questions.
First, what is a good airline to travel on? I'd be flying out of Florida or Los Angeles. Or Napoli, Italy.
And, what things do you think I should prepare to bring before I head out; things that you thought: dang I wish I would have brought these from home because they were NOT in the welcome packet my school gave me?
And, as far as learning Japanese, what are your takes on the ways to learn it. I am a kinesthetic learner as well as auditory; any books or programs that you can recommend? I read the posts on this in the past, but I think those were all online flash cards. I also don't know how to start- Do I learn the alphabet first or is it better to learn phrases?
I've learned other languages, but they were latin based, not using any characters. So, learning phrases was okay to start then, but I have a feeling not now.
Domo arrigato  |
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Glenski
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Posts: 12844
Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN
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| Posted: Fri Apr 23, 2010 6:34 am Post subject: Re: Japan Bound in June with PKC/iTTTi Advice please????/ |
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| Quichia wrote: |
| And, what things do you think I should prepare to bring before I head out; things that you thought: dang I wish I would have brought these from home because they were NOT in the welcome packet my school gave me? |
Do you even have a welcome packet?
Pack clothes for 2 seasons. Have someone else send the rest a month before the seasons begin.
Pack an address book and recipes.
Bring medicine you absolutely cannot live without, plus doctors' prescriptions for those special meds. Learn what you cannot take.
Don't know where you will be, so it's hard to say whether to bring much more. Mail books in advance, but you probably want to pack a couple for immediate reading. Same with CDs (use a padded carrier, or load up an iPod).
Don't know your clothing sizes, so it's hard to suggest whether you should pack certain things that are not available here.
Spare eyeglasses / contacts.
Enough money for an emergency trip home.
A day pack or satchel.
| Quote: |
| And, as far as learning Japanese, what are your takes on the ways to learn it. |
Any possible way you can. Everyone is different. There are plenty of internet sites (start with Jim Breen's Japanese page), or you could hire a tutor or get into a language exchange, or your employer could have something for you, etc.
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| I also don't know how to start- Do I learn the alphabet first or is it better to learn phrases? |
Both. Hiragana and katakana can be learned in a week, but you should get a phrase book for those common things to say (and won't have to spell). |
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ShioriEigoKyoushi
Joined: 21 Aug 2009
Posts: 364
Location: Japan
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| Posted: Fri Apr 23, 2010 1:31 pm Post subject: |
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Last edited by ShioriEigoKyoushi on Tue Jun 08, 2010 4:03 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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seklarwia
Joined: 20 Jan 2009
Posts: 1546
Location: Monkey onsen, Nagano
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| Posted: Fri Apr 23, 2010 9:48 pm Post subject: |
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| ShioriEigoKyoushi wrote: |
| Also detergents (lots of stuff you can recognise on sight but a bottle of clothes washing soap and a bottle of fabric softener look almost identical... and so does a bottle of bleach)! |
Just as well that bleach is found in the cleaning section of any normal store and not amongst clothes detergent.  Especially for me who has a wardrobe full of black!
And hair shampoo and conditioner are easy: Go to the hair section, pick up two bottles of the same brand standing side-by-side. Run your fingers down or look at the sides of the bottle. If they are both smooth then you have two bottles of hair conditioner; bottles of shampoo always have ridges on the side that look like measure marks... why do I know such random bits of info?  |
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ShioriEigoKyoushi
Joined: 21 Aug 2009
Posts: 364
Location: Japan
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| Posted: Fri Apr 23, 2010 10:46 pm Post subject: |
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Last edited by ShioriEigoKyoushi on Tue Jun 08, 2010 4:03 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Apsara
Joined: 20 Sep 2005
Posts: 2142
Location: Tokyo, Japan
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| Posted: Fri Apr 23, 2010 11:12 pm Post subject: |
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| ShioriEigoKyoushi wrote: |
Just as well you lived near a normal store, too. In my nearest store they were right next to each other.
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I've seen plenty of places where the bleach and clothes detergent were shelved very close to each other if not right next to each other as well. Learning katakana is a very good idea, and most Japanese courses start by having you learn hiragana and katakana.
As for the OP's question about airlines, they are all pretty similar these days apart from a few dire exceptions, but those probably don't service the areas you are going to. Fly the cheapest one, because you'll need the money when you get here. I doubt there will be direct flights to Japan out of Naples- you'll probably have to head to Rome or Milan. |
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Quichia
Joined: 03 Feb 2010
Posts: 17
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| Posted: Fri Apr 23, 2010 11:32 pm Post subject: |
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Thank you all for the advice!
Actually, flights are cheaper from Naples in Italy  |
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Quichia
Joined: 03 Feb 2010
Posts: 17
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| Posted: Fri Apr 23, 2010 11:33 pm Post subject: |
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Thank you all for the advice!
Actually, flights are cheaper from Naples in Italy |
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Apsara
Joined: 20 Sep 2005
Posts: 2142
Location: Tokyo, Japan
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| Posted: Fri Apr 23, 2010 11:37 pm Post subject: |
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| Non-stop from Naples to Japan, or through another city? |
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Quichia
Joined: 03 Feb 2010
Posts: 17
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| Posted: Fri Apr 23, 2010 11:43 pm Post subject: |
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| Oh, no not non-stop I haven't found any flights that are non-stop. It's from Napoli to like Germany or something along those lines. But, I was surprised to see that flights were about 100 cheaper to fly from Naples as opposed to Rome. |
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Mr_Monkey
Joined: 11 Mar 2009
Posts: 661
Location: Kyuuuuuushuuuuuuu
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| Posted: Sat Apr 24, 2010 2:22 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| And, what things do you think I should prepare to bring before I head out; things that you thought: dang I wish I would have brought these from home because they were NOT in the welcome packet my school gave me? |
I don't know about things I wished I'd brought, but I'd certainly forget the kinaesthetic/auditory/visual learner distinction - it's new-age, tree-hugging, crystal-gazing nonsense.
You learn the way you learn; treat yourself and your learners as individuals and work with them, not easy labels that don't really mean anything (nor have any empirical consequences, particularly with regards to classroom practice).
If you put your mind to it, and are methodical about how you learn it (PRACTICE!), I'm sure you can learn the kana very easily (PRACTICE!). It's not difficult (PRACTICE!), especially when so much of the functional language you'll be using it for is so common: Bread = パン= pan, shampoo = シャンプー = shanpoo, etc... (PRACTICE!)
As for airlines, in my experience they're all much of a muchness. In my experience, the only surprise I've ever had on a Japanese plane was with JAL on my flight out to Japan when I confused the prawn-which-had-been-coloured-pink with desert. That was a culinary surprise, to say the least...
Last edited by Mr_Monkey on Sat Apr 24, 2010 2:25 am; edited 1 time in total |
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seklarwia
Joined: 20 Jan 2009
Posts: 1546
Location: Monkey onsen, Nagano
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| Posted: Sat Apr 24, 2010 2:24 am Post subject: |
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How much is the flight you are talking about? Is that flying into Frankfurt with Lufthansa then out with a Japanese airline? What date exactly are you flying out? And are you young enough to apply for young person/student flights (26 or under)?
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| That's great - any tips for face wash, face scrub, moisturiser, toner (careful of the whitening), deodorant (cans look like hairspray), hair repair products, hand cream...? Being able to read works best for me but it's always good to learn! Smile |
It really was a joke. I wouldn't suggest not learning the kana but actually I don't know how it would much help with the likes of face scrubs, moisturisers, etc. A few things are labelled whitening but many have descriptions in kanji. And some are not even clearly described as having whitening agents. Luckily, after living in China, I already knew never to stick any new products on my face without skin testing for a long period first regardless of what the description says: I have some interesting patches on my thighs from toners that didn't say whitening. |
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desu
Joined: 14 Apr 2009
Posts: 38
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| Posted: Sat Apr 24, 2010 5:05 am Post subject: |
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| With this particular company you actually have enough time to learn Japanese in more serious ways, that is if you are really interested in trying to master the language. I'm in fulltime classes mornings Monday to Friday, and generally go home to take a nap before leaving for work. It's a delicate balance but I figure I'm pretty lucky to even be able to pull it off. |
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Quichia
Joined: 03 Feb 2010
Posts: 17
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| Posted: Sat May 01, 2010 4:11 am Post subject: |
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[quote="Mr_Monkey"]
| Quote: |
| And, what things do you think I should prepare to bring before I head out; things that you thought: dang I wish I would have brought these from home because they were NOT in the welcome packet my school gave me? |
I don't know about things I wished I'd brought, but I'd certainly forget the kinaesthetic/auditory/visual learner distinction - it's new-age, tree-hugging, crystal-gazing nonsense.
You learn the way you learn; treat yourself and your learners as individuals and work with them, not easy labels that don't really mean anything (nor have any empirical consequences, particularly with regards to classroom practice).
What? It's not nonsense or tree hugging or new age. It's just technical. Some people learn better with hands on activities, some people learn better by seeing something done first. I was saying, FOR ME I learn better in that way.
Anyway. Thank you all for your posts/replies/advice, I truly appreciate it.
As far as the airlines... I have looked at different days in June. Some in May as well. The airlines vary, but I do remember one of them going into Germany. However, that flight was coming from the US to Japan and not from Naples to Japan. I can say that I used KAYAK.com and Orbitz.com for search engines. |
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wiawc
Joined: 14 Aug 2010
Posts: 10
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| Posted: Sat Aug 21, 2010 7:46 am Post subject: |
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| desu wrote: |
| With this particular company you actually have enough time to learn Japanese in more serious ways, that is if you are really interested in trying to master the language. I'm in fulltime classes mornings Monday to Friday, and generally go home to take a nap before leaving for work. It's a delicate balance but I figure I'm pretty lucky to even be able to pull it off. |
Are the full time classes good, how is it conducted, as in, is it specific for native English speakers?
Did you do a Japanese language course before you left or do you rekon full time classes there are sufficient to master the language in a year? |
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