A riot occurred in Manchester last Tuesday. It is said, it was the worst day in Manchester in 30 years. On the evening, my Japanese class was canceled and many shops were closed earlier than usual. Many police officers were patrolling to prevent the riot however, it still happened. It was shocking.
In Japan the riots were broadcasted as riots in the UK, so my friends and families were unaware of the situation in Manchester. So I received some emails from them to make sure I am okay. Now things seem sorted out although many window glasses from shops are still broken.
Wednesday, 17 August 2011
Tuesday, 9 August 2011
Oh No!
For the security reason, the language institution will be closed this evening and my Japanese class will also be canceled. Hope nothing serious will be happening in Manchester.
Thursday, 4 August 2011
Holiday in Poland
I have been to Krakow, Poland from 27th to 31st July. The reason to choose the place is simple. My husband and my friends were planning to travel to Krakow and asked us to visit there together. We have traveled to Paris, Amsterdam and some other places in the UK before with them and had a good time. So it’s a perfect opportunity for us to take a holiday. Although Auschwitz is not a pleasant place for Polish people, it is my first priority to visit there in Poland. I was also interested in Wieliczka Salt Mines and visiting other historical places like castles and churches.
On the first day that we arrived, it was raining so we went to a church. I’m not a religious person but I like to visit churches because each of them has different atmospheres and makes me feel spiritual. The church in Krakow has a very high blue ceiling and so much gold is used for decoration. It also has some stories from the Bible shown on the walls.
On the second day, it was a fine day so we went to a castle on the hill. In the castle we saw many armors and weapons, which told us the battle field history. After that we enjoyed walking around. The city is surrounded by a park so it is lovely to have a walk there.
On the third day, my husband and I went to Auschwitz while our friends joined the “Communist Tour”. The tour sounded interesting to us but I didn’t want to miss my first priority so we split into two pairs during the daytime and met for dinner. Before my visit to Auschwitz, I’d already watched a film called “The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas”, so the landscape was familiar in some aspects. However it was very special to visit there and to listen to the story from the tour guide lady.
On the last day, we went to Wieliczka Salt Mines together. In the salt mines, there are a lot of sculptures made of salt rock. In the main hall, the floor and chandelier crystals were also made of salt rock. In olden times, salt was very expensive so Polish people could build castles using the money earned from salt mines. However, it became much simpler to get salt and nowadays people can walk on floors made of salt rock. People can even have a wedding ceremony in the main hall, although it’s still expensive.
Hotel staff is very helpful and speak good English. The food is delicious and public transport is punctual. In addition, all of these are cheaper than in the UK.
On the first day that we arrived, it was raining so we went to a church. I’m not a religious person but I like to visit churches because each of them has different atmospheres and makes me feel spiritual. The church in Krakow has a very high blue ceiling and so much gold is used for decoration. It also has some stories from the Bible shown on the walls.
On the second day, it was a fine day so we went to a castle on the hill. In the castle we saw many armors and weapons, which told us the battle field history. After that we enjoyed walking around. The city is surrounded by a park so it is lovely to have a walk there.
On the third day, my husband and I went to Auschwitz while our friends joined the “Communist Tour”. The tour sounded interesting to us but I didn’t want to miss my first priority so we split into two pairs during the daytime and met for dinner. Before my visit to Auschwitz, I’d already watched a film called “The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas”, so the landscape was familiar in some aspects. However it was very special to visit there and to listen to the story from the tour guide lady.
On the last day, we went to Wieliczka Salt Mines together. In the salt mines, there are a lot of sculptures made of salt rock. In the main hall, the floor and chandelier crystals were also made of salt rock. In olden times, salt was very expensive so Polish people could build castles using the money earned from salt mines. However, it became much simpler to get salt and nowadays people can walk on floors made of salt rock. People can even have a wedding ceremony in the main hall, although it’s still expensive.
Hotel staff is very helpful and speak good English. The food is delicious and public transport is punctual. In addition, all of these are cheaper than in the UK.
Saturday, 23 July 2011
Friday, 15 July 2011
Japanese Level 1
I’ve started to teach a Japanese Level 1 class since last week. Before this job offer, I experienced teaching Japanese at the International Society. As the institution’s name suggests, all of my students were non-English native speakers. However this time, I teach at a local language institution so all my students are British. Among non-native speakers, speaking English is rather relaxing. However it’s a bit hard for me to speak English in front of British people as a teacher.
I started to explain with how to introduce your name in Japanese. I explained it as usual and said, “As the characteristic of Japanese grammar, the verb comes last. So, you say Watashi wa Eriko desu, and Watashi refers to ‘I’. Wa is a topic marker and desu refers to the be-verb.” However, the students seemed to not understand what I said and asked me, “desu refers to ‘am’?” So I said, “Yes, desu refers to ‘am’ and other be-verbs.” After the class, I noticed that English native speakers do not refer to them as the be-verb. It’s the word for non-native speakers to understand English grammar. This week I found out that the word “copula” in the textbook refers to the b-verb, however my students said “Never heard of it.” Finally they said, “the be-verb make sense, no problem.”
I started to explain with how to introduce your name in Japanese. I explained it as usual and said, “As the characteristic of Japanese grammar, the verb comes last. So, you say Watashi wa Eriko desu, and Watashi refers to ‘I’. Wa is a topic marker and desu refers to the be-verb.” However, the students seemed to not understand what I said and asked me, “desu refers to ‘am’?” So I said, “Yes, desu refers to ‘am’ and other be-verbs.” After the class, I noticed that English native speakers do not refer to them as the be-verb. It’s the word for non-native speakers to understand English grammar. This week I found out that the word “copula” in the textbook refers to the b-verb, however my students said “Never heard of it.” Finally they said, “the be-verb make sense, no problem.”
Friday, 8 July 2011
A Music Concert
Last Friday, I went to a music concert held in Victoria Baths. My friend from the chorus always finds interesting concerts and introduces them to me. Victoria Baths opened in 1960 and was used until 1993 for swimming pools, Turkish Baths, laundry and so on. These days the facility doesn’t work as it used to and is just open for tourists. The place was used for a music concert. There is no water in the swimming pool and instead they put in a piano and other instruments. Musicians play instruments or sing songs. The place used to be a swimming pool or bath, so the sound echo is great and it is very interesting. The baths used to be used for female pool, male pool, male second class pool, and so on. However, on the concert day each pool was used for different music performances. Around 150 musicians gathered for the performance and some performances were played at the same time in different spaces. So I had to choose which one I should listen to. I don’t know much about music so I usually rely on my friend who is a piano instructor, and has joined two or three chorus. However she always asks me for my favorite and I found out a Japanese composer’s name Toru Takemitsu on the program. It was my first time to listen to his music live. I thought modern music is beyond my understanding however it sounded very nice. I feel some European instruments sound like Japanese traditional instruments, for example, the harp sounds like the Koto and the oboe sounds like the Shakuhachi. Therefore, I enjoy listening to it very much.
Thursday, 30 June 2011
A New Job Offer
I got a job offer from a language institution to teach a Japanese beginner’s class. My Chinese friend who taught Chinese in Manchester introduced me to the institution a year ago and I got the job interview and passed it then. Since then, the institution hasn’t had enough students to study Japanese. The minimum number of students to open the class is four. This summer term, there are five students and I finally got the job offer from there. At the moment I teach one-to-one with a private student. It’s very efficient for some levels of students, however I think it’s very good to join group lessons for beginners. Sometimes studying another language is just like mathematics. You can find your formula and control the language. Nowadays I don’t think Japanese is very difficult. It’s quite unique and different. It’s like using chopsticks. For Japanese people, we learnt how to use it since we were young so it was very difficult. We still remember how difficult it is for beginners however for adults it may not be so difficult.
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