Q & A Section
*** All question were submitted anonymously through the feedback form. ***
I am a second year ALT. I have tried to make culture videos similar to yours-although mine are only about my personal experiences. I would love to know more of the topics that you have presented about in the past, maybe about your personal life, to give me better ideas about what I should explain to my students.
Further down this page, I have a list of topics that I have done throughout my years as an ALT. I’ll pick out a few and explain my approach to them. I hope you find it helpful!
- Okinawan New Year
So my family celebrates Okinawan New Year. It’s during the Lunar New Year. Even though my students know I’m half Japanese, Okinawa tends to be a completely foreign concept to them sometimes. I want to show that some of my traditions aren’t so different from theirs. I’m American, but I eat Toshikohi soba, and give offerings to my ancestors. The goal is to show that every family has its own “home culture”.
- My Family
For this topic, I discussed my upbringing. It’s pretty complicated but my students and coworkers were really interested in learning more about me. I discussed that I am American, but I grew up in America and partially Japan. I had Japanese citizenship until I was 20 (They were shook to hear that I, their ALT, was at one time paper Japanese lol). I spoke English and some Japanese at home. I showed a lot of pictures of my family and talked about how I feel Japan is my country and Japanese is my language, but American and English have the same feelings too. I had some mixed kids come up to me after and tell me that that’s how they feel as well so it was nice to represent them a bit in class.
- What IS Japanese?
This topic was super important for me because I wanted to prove a point to my students. I wanted to challenge their idea of “Japanese” just a little bit. I didn’t want to tell them they were wrong, but I wanted them to think about the concept of Japaneseness a little deeper than what they’re used to. A lot of the opinions were that if you have a Japanese face and name you were Japanese. But after our discussion, I was able to force my students to think harder, and one third year girl said, “I think anyone can be Japanese is they learn Japanese culture and language from a Japanese person. If you are American, but you learn the culture and language from your Japanese mother, I think you can be Japanese. If you are British but grew up in Japan, you learned Japanese culture and language from your Japanese teachers, so you should be able to call yourself Japanese.” It was a huge breakthrough in class and it one of my favorite Kokusai Rikais to date!
I have a particular problem at the moment with my Elementary School in terms of students making fun of characters in textbooks because of their race. I don’t have the Japanese level ability to try and explain to them or ask them why they think these kind of things, and my 5th grade Elementary School class is at a rather low level too. My Elementary School teachers are so busy and never have a time to sit and talk about this either. But it’s been a recurring problem of students laughing at POC characters in textbooks or drawing all over their faces. I know it comes from a place of ignorance instead of hatred but I want to be able to do some sort of presentation about diversity for them- and I was wondering what you suggest I do in this situation? Sorry! It was a very good presentation and I learned a great deal, this just might be a bit specific.
Wow, I’m so sorry that you have to deal with that and I feel sorry for your students that their teachers aren’t able to give them any guidance. I think it’s great that you’re actively trying to solve this problem! In those kinds of situations, I find that exposure is the best cure. If you have an English board, maybe post some pictures and stories in both English and Japanese about POC, or you could show videos before class which highlight how cool or smart they are. If communication between you and your teacher isn’t that great, it always helps me to write a note. Just leave it on their desk before you leave to go home and when you return to work the next day, ask them if they got it. If that still isn’t working, in my opinion, that’s when you ask for your principle’s help. They are there to support and help the teachers. I think they could offer some guidance or help to solve the problem. If you still have any problems, please feel free to reach out again and I’ll try my best to help!
Was Kokusai Rikai an idea you introduced to your school, or was it established before you came?
The Kokusai Rikai presentations were already established at my school. I believe the first version of Kokusai Rikai came from a JTE who was working in Hasami. However, the style that I do today, and the style that I was given are different.
Would you have any advice for making Kokusai Rikai as an English board? I don’t get a lot of non-textbook activity time in my classes, so my bulletin board is where I can get creative.
Good question! I think with English boards, it’s always a good idea to add some Japanese (if you can). Choose a topic that is important to you, make it visually appealing *very important*, and add the Japanese so the students can fully understand what you’re saying. I like to add folded pieces of colored paper the students can lift up. Maybe you could make that into a true and false quiz? Also, ddding stickers or prizes for students that complete the task or game on the English board is a great way to encourage participation in my opinion! Good luck!
There’s some diversity within the ALT community itself. Wouldn’t it be cool if people with stories to tell could share their own experiences/cultural information (things they’d want students to know about their country and lifestyle) somewhere?
I completely agree. On the Nagasaki JET website, we have a web series called the POC Blog. There you can read about the experiences from ALTs around the prefecture. However, if you were thinking more on the cultural information side, I highly encourage you to reach out to ALTs in your area. I have done this a lot when I didn’t feel comfortable gathering information about a country. So, I got in touch with someone from there and asked the question, “What would you want children from another country to know about your country?” I’ve never experienced someone offended or annoyed by me wanting to portray their country or culture in an organic and authentic way, so I say take full advantage of the diversity the JET program has to offer! 😊
The only thing I would have liked to hear more about is how you pitched the idea to JTEs, especially the ones who are more reluctant to give the ALT freedom outside of the textbook.
Thank you for asking this question because I feel like this would be the biggest hurdle adopting the Kokusai Rikai style of presentation. My first year on JET my CIR gave me an amazing piece of advice and it has helped me ever since. Whenever you pitch anything to your JTE or HRT (whether that be a game, worksheet, or presentation), it’s always best to have it fully completed before you ever get permission. Discuss the benefits of the presentations:
1) It is in a similar format that listening tests are in for high school entrance exams so the students will get a lot of listening practice.
2) Kokusai Rikai presentations look impressive to other teachers when they come to visit your school.
3) If there is grammar the students are having trouble with, you can use it many times in your presentation to help demonstrate how it’s used in natural English.
4) It gives a break from the mundane English classes the students have to sit through all year.
My school already had a Kokusai Rikai system set up when I arrived. Granted, I changed it a lot, but I have sold this to other English teachers at other schools. I’ve even gotten a P.E. teacher contacting me asking me to send her my Kokusai Rikai videos because she wanted to show them during lunch time. Good luck! If you have any more questions, please let me know!
I was really impressed by how you were able to succinctly write a short script. I always have difficulty keeping it short. For a difficult topic like BLM, how would you keep the script succinct?
So, this is something that I’m still trying to figure out myself. I want to fully explain the situation without overwhelming my students with high level English. What I have been doing recently is breaking a difficult topic down into sub categories and explaining from there. For example, when discussing BLM what is the first thing you need the students to understand? Slavery and racism. So, your first presentation would be about that. We aren’t supposed to be too political so just state the facts and ask the students how they feel about it. Then, you can move into your second presentation of police brutality and the creation of the movement. Talk about the murders of the Black men and women in America and how many people were upset that the police didn’t get in trouble for it. After that, you go into your third and final presentation about how BLM is international now and how can we help? This is where you could introduce QUEEN Osaka Naomi and her decision to wear face masks with the victim’s names on it. How there were marches in cities like Tokyo, Osaka, and Fukuoka. I think breaking the topic up into smaller, easier to digest pieces will be really beneficial to your students. I hope that helps!
How would you recommend bringing up the idea of doing these presentations with a school that doesn’t really utilize their ALT much?
I have some experience trying to pitch this idea to JTEs who don’t use ALTs in class that much. My main selling point was the fact that I could do this activity with the students quickly. Some teachers allow me to take up almost a whole class period and others only allow me 15 minutes. I think reassuring them that even just giving you a small amount could really help the students listening. As I mentioned in a previous answer, I think having the whole presentation finished and ready to present to your school before you ask them would help a lot. I know I also say something like, “I want to be a good ALT and I want to help the student’s English. That’s why I came here. I don’t want to desk warm all day, and doing these presentations will help me use work time to… well, work!” I noticed that approach goes over pretty well. Good luck!
You mentioned putting videos on a USB. Do you mean Youtube videos? I am not sure how to put Youtube videos on a USB. Do you add subtitles to the videos as well? (English/Japanese)?
Yes, I do mean youtube videos but you can use any video you have access to. What I normally do is use my personal computer at home. I find an online youtube video to Mp4 generator and simply use it to download the video. I would just be careful because a lot of these sites have popups (hence why I said I use my personal computer at home). If possible, I try to find videos with subtitles already on them. This is for the videos that have a lot of words. I have never added my own subtitles onto a video because I don’t have the time. But usually just the visuals and a short explanation of what’s going on is efficient enough for the students to understand.
What were some of the most difficult topics that you had to cover with your Kokusai Rikai presentations?
This is a super interesting question. I’ve been thinking about it for a while and I have three presentations that stand out to me as being really difficult.
Black History Month
- This topic is really important for me to teach, but I was surprised at the lack of information my students had on the subject of African American history. I’m not sure if it was just my students or not, but they had no idea slavery happened in America. Half way through talking about Maya Angelou, my students asked me, “Why are Black people mad at white people?”. Explaining this unexpected question is still one of the hardest things that I have had to explain during Kokusai Rikai. I got through it with the help of my JTE who translated for me a lot.
My Background
- This topic was difficult because I didn’t feel comfortable being myself at school. My teachers put pressure on me to be textbook American and to them that meant White. I tried for a year to be that for them, but finally I did a lot of thinking about my identity and what kind of impression I wanted to leave on my students. So, I decided to make the presentation. My students and teachers were shocked but I’m glad I did it. The presentation wasn’t difficult and the students understood well, but I was really scared to show myself, my family, and my heritage to my school.
What is Japanese?
- This topic was something that I had been thinking about covering in Kokusai Rikai for a really long time. The presentation itself was super simple (perhaps too simple), but there was a lot of preparation involved. I was discussing mixed Japanese people and people born and raised in Japan. I have some students who are mixed Japanese so talking to their homeroom teachers to get permission, wording everything just right, and finding the perfect video to spark discussion was really hard.
I would like to have the list of topics mentioned sent to me, if possible. (I couldn’t see a link anywhere else.)
Here’s a list of some of the topics I’ve done over the years!
- Culture Shock
- Strange Foods (Maybe they’re not that strange)
- Okinawan New Year
- Hula
- My Family
- American superstitions
- Peru
- My Homestay in Canada
- New Zealand
- Native (Indigenous Japanese people)
- Chinese New Year Around the World
- Black History Month
- France
- Japanese people abroad (Diaspora)
- Malala
- Australia
- My Hero: Jane Goodall
- Greece
- Holi Festival
- The Inuit People
- Egypt
- Dubai
- Greta Thunberg
- What IS Japanese?
- Maori
How do you think you would tailor these Kokusai Rikai lessons to Elementary (5-6) or to High School levels? How would you adjust your lessons if you only had one class a week with any one group of students?
Well I think tailoring these lessons for high schoolers would be really easy. Simply choose more difficult subjects and perhaps use more nature sounding English. Adding slang would be a great way to get your students used to hearing English used in the real world. For Elementary school, I think it would be a little harder. Maybe taking the 200-word presentation and cutting it down to 50-60 words. Then review the T/F questions with your students in Japanese and English so that they understand the questions. Use a lot of gestures and pictures when you present your presentation. I think at first it will be really hard for them, but their minds are still very malleable so I think they’ll get used to it soon enough.
If I only had a class a week with a group of students, I would make it my routine to do Kokusai Rikai once a week as a warm up. Native English intake is so important for students that don’t get classes with ALTs all the time. Because you don’t see them as much, I find using stickers and prizes great encouragement for students who aren’t super outgoing. I hope that helps!
As a white American, I don’t know if I would be comfortable speaking for people outside of my circle of experience. Do you have any advice for people like me who might not have the depth of knowledge required to talk about other cultures?
I’m so glad you brought this up! I feel like a lot of ALTs are in your exact same boat. To be honest, I was the same way when I first started these presentations. However, the ALT community in Nagasaki prefecture is super diverse boasting people from all over the English-speaking world. So many cultures, religions, and dialects are represented within Nagasaki. I highly recommend reaching out to other ALTs and getting information from someone from that area or culture. If that’s not possible, I usually do a ton of research. Whenever I’m free I’m looking up articles in the news or on the web. When you are well informed about a subject and have learned about it from multiple sources, you feel more confident.
How did you begin letting the teacher letting you talk?
Every school and every teacher is going to be different. What I’ve noticed is with time, you get more speaking opportunities in class. But, you have to step up to challenges to get that right. However, for some ALTs who don’t get a lot of time at any one school, this can be difficult. I think it’s perfectly fine talking to your JTE or HRT about wanting to talk more in class. Show them how serious you are about your position as an ALT and work hard for class time. I think the Japanese teachers are your school will appreciate it.