Question:
In one week (Jan 17th) I leave for an interview that could radically
change the direction of my life. I am meeting representatives from Aeon,
a company in Japan that brings talented young Americans over to teach
English to high school and college prep students. They are tasked with
deciding within a two to three hour interview whether or not I will be
offered employment with them.
My news journalism degree is a good selling point, and my interest in
Japanese authors and art certainly is a bonus. But the difficult element
is that I am expected to "teach" a class in English as part of the
interview process. My letter states it this way, "Applicant must bring a
15 minute lesson plan and present a 5 minute portion of this plan to the
group. The lesson should be for beginner, intermediate or advanced
students of English. Other applicants will act as students. Objective is
to in a creative and interactive manner to teach a lesson focusing on
English conversation. Suggestions are pattern practice exercises,
American customs/culture, educational games and activities, etc". The
problem is that I have never taught anything, and I need some creative
guidance to get me going ...
I'm hoping for some input on this matter from anyone currently teaching
English in any capacity, or any Japanese who may remember a particularly
effective instructor when they were learning English. Summed up: could
anyone suggest a topic or offer input on what a good lesson plan would
look like?
Any thoughts on the matter? You could not hope for a more receptive
audience!
Answer:
The good teacher is the who understand the need and difficulty of
students'
side. Good teachers of mine were very sensible.
What's then the difficulty of Japanese students to learn English?
( Read my English, and you will know. :) At first, you should be
prepared
to explain English SV(O,OO,C) syntax, and should guide them to think in
this framework. Second, the usage of articles (like 'the', 'a') is never
clear to Japanese people (at least for me?) Given a sentense (either
from
students or from textbook, etc.) being able to paraphrase its meaning
in easier word, to contrast the content of each similar phrases is very
helpful IMHO. A teacher, not just saying something is wrong, but who
can explain why it is wrong, and how it can be better, and how the two
are different, is very helpful for students.
Would you start by correcting my text above
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