Seiritsu International Education

Hello again everyone! JET Teacher Laurence here.


This summer, I had to say goodbye to a fellow JET teacher and a very good friend of mine who was returning to her country. Seeing your foreign friends leave is a big part of life as someone living overseas. Even though I miss her, I wish her the best in her new life back home.


I also studied hard for the JLPT! It’s a Japanese test for non-native Japanese speakers. You can learn about it here: http://www.jlpt.jp/


The test was very difficult. I was relieved when I found out I passed it recently. Hopefully despite work I can keep studying so I can pass level 2 next July.


On a lighter note, I went to see Mary and the Witch’s Flower during my vacation. The movie was entirely in Japanese with no English subtitles. That being said, I was able to understand most of the story and conversations, so I’m pretty proud of myself.




Other than that, my summer was pretty uneventful. I’m trying to save money, so I didn’t want to travel. I took some time to relax, worked on personal projects, went shopping with friends, explored Tokyo a little…nothing too exciting! But it felt good to have that time to wind down and rest.


I’ll do my best during this semester too!!


Laurence

writer: staff  date: 9:14 AM | Life at Seiritsu

A couple of Seiritsu Gakuen teachers took part in a seminar on Sunday for extended reading. The gentleman that is responsible for spreading Tadoku in Japan holds several seminars every year. This was the sixth annual summer seminar.

Extended reading is held in all different types of languages and all over the world. We had several participants who came from overseas.

One of the cool little ideas that we took away from the seminar was the challenge for students to find hidden objects in the books. The ORT (Oxford Reading Tree) book series has glasses and dog bones hidden throughout their stories.

I have taken a picture with a few pages from a few books. Can you see the glasses?

writer: staff  date: 12:20 PM | Life at Seiritsu

Two weeks ago one of our students, Shobu, started his ten-month study abroad program. He will be living and studying in the United States for the next year.

We would like to post some of his progress reports here on our international website. Here is his first report after only two weeks...

It is in Japanese but I have translated it below.

アメリカ合衆国に来て早くも13日が経とうとしています。慣れない生活ではありますが苦ではなく毎日楽しく生活を送れています。しかしやはり英語が大変です。自分は日本にいる時、英語ができる方で英語には自信がありましたがこっちに来て自分の無力さがわかりました。自分の言いたいことも言えないし、自分が喋っている英語がネイティブと全く違う事は自分でもわかります。正直とても不安です。ですが今は何とか周りと仲良く楽しく怪我なく生活を送れています。この間は、湖に行って泳いだりまたナイアガラの滝へ行ったりと毎日が初体験の連続です。

It has already been 13 days since I arrived in the US. I haven't completely adjusted yet, but it hasn't been too hard on me. In fact, I am enjoying every day. However, English certainly is difficult.

When I was in Japan, I was confident that I was pretty good at English. After coming here though I see how lacking my English is. I cannot say the things I want and, when I do speak, it is not like a native. To be honest, I am anxious. But I am currently making friends and enjoying life without any real troubles. The other day, I went and swam in a lake and on another day I went and visited Niagara Falls. I am experiencing new stuff every day.

Good luck, Shobu! You can do it!

writer: staff  date: 12:03 PM | Life at Seiritsu