Google, Thank You Again

In the past, I used Google Docs for backing up only. I wasn’t aware of the features such as sharing via link (view/edit), PDF and etc.

Google Docs just became much more usable to me. Here’s why: To my demise, I have to use not only Vista Business, but also Microsoft Office 2007 at work. I did however discover a useful feature: to be able to save in PDF.

Why this wasn’t available on previous versions of MS Office?

I save my finished work to PDF, upload it to Google Docs and then post a link to access it.

I have a lot of “not yet uploaded work” that could be very useful to ALTs in Japan.

This is one of the handouts, probably the most important, that I made for my school’s study abroad program (海外研修). In addition to all the textbook material, the students should know this (PDF). The textbooks (New Horizon 1-2) are pretty rigid, therefore my materials are centered on spoken English.

Isn’t it interesting that there is a distinction? 

Note for those who haven’t lived or taught in Japan

IMO, English education in Japan is taught for testing only. It is a subject in middle school conducted mostly in Japanese (75% or more in my experience). There is not much emphasis being placed on ability to communicate. If there was an English immersion approach, I think there could be a huge improvement in communicative ability. But, since Japanese Teachers of English (JTE) usually aren’t highly proficient themselves, English immersion is unlikely.

To summarize, IMHO (again), most students and JTEs are extremely busy and hardworking. BUT, if the recipe sucks, it doesn’t matter how good of a cook you are.

New Year’s Resolutions

NYRs for 2010

• drink at least 1.2L of water/day (water only—does not include tea)
• study Japanese for at least 30 min./day, 5 times/week (start after I get my JLPT results in Feb)
• stretch for at least 5 min./day before bed
• drink at least 3 glasses of wine/week (preferably red)
• exercise 3 times/week
• run once/week (100-200M sprints at high intensity)
• practice an art (I decided on bonsai: miniature tree cultivation)

Best Purchases of 2009

I wanted to narrow it down to top five, but there were some extra items that I had to include. In order of date of purchase, here are my best purchases of 2009:

250万人の漢検プレミアム for DS. The most complete kanji textbook, portable and designed to keep ADHD kids focused on study—so you know it’ll work for adults. About 3,500 yen.

Air cleaner by Daikin. It removes pollen, allergens, dust, viruses, bacteria and etc. from the air. I live next to a busy street with no trees in the area. All of it’s functions are automatic, increasing power when dust and etc. levels are high. On sale for about 25,000 yen.

Kotatsu from Nitori. No central heating in Japan. And, since Japanese homes aren’t insulated, it’s not very effective to use heaters. A kotatsu will heat a critical cold point of your body—your feet! If your feet are warm, for some reason, the rest of your body will be comfortable. Kotasus are also very cheap on electricity. Using an AC will add around 3000 yen or more per month during the winter to your electricity bill if you use it a little bit each day. My kotatsu will add 1000 yen per month if it’s left on 24/7. Total set, including 2 blankets & 2 chairs: about 20,000 yen.

HeatTech long sleeve undershirts from Uniqlo. Incredible technology to keep you warm & dry, while wearing an incredibly light material that can stretch but doesn’t change form. 1,500 yen. (The one you see here is dirty laundry. Sorry.)

Premium Down Ultra Light jacket from Uniqlo. In addition to the title, it’s warm & waterproof. Most impressive feature: it can be compacted to fit into a sock without any damage to its original form! 6,000 yen.

Water bottle by Rubbermaid. Water is so important for good health, yet most people don’t drink enough water per day. Buying bottled water every day is not only expensive and bad for the environment, but it’s also gay (no not homosexual); something fags do (again no, not homosexuals).This water bottle has a simple design so it’s easy to clean, making it sanitary for long term use. 1,000 yen.

iPhone provided by SoftBank. I would have to give this my overall top spot. It’s an amazing piece of technology. I am VERY satisfied with it. See here. Free for new SoftBank customers that sign a 2-year contract.

Bukatsu - School Clubs in Japan

Schools have clubs (部活). In North America (NA) there is a difference between club and team. In Japan team & club seem to be used interchangeably. In NA teams are for sports; clubs are for non-athletic cultural activities, such as drama, chess, photography, computer clubs and etc. They are also different because school teams in NA have tryouts–Japanese schools don't. But that doesn't mean you will be a starter—some join practice but aren't at the level to play in games. IE: My school has 15 members on the school basketball team (or club, as often said), but of course there are only 5 starters and 2-3 subs (in game).

Practice here is more frequent—especially at my school. All teams at my school have practice Tue-Fri before and after school, and Sat mornings. In most cases I've seen, other than baseball, the coach has a very minor role. Coaches occasionally attend practice, but it's usually only to supervise. Usually the team captain controls practice and the team. I've found that practice more often seems like a place to socialize and have fun with friends while practicing a sport at the same time. I feel that club is more suitable than team, in most cases.

Practice and games are prohibited for seniors at the end of the first term (Apr-Aug). During the regionals and prefecturals in Aug, many seniors cry after their final game, while the non-seniors continue with practice and games in the second and third term (Sep-Dec & Jan-Mar). Seniors finish early to devote their time to high school or university entrance exams (入試).

Students in Japan have very busy schedules with school, bukatsu and juku. I think less would be better. They need more time to just be kids.

Dec 2009 Level 2 JLPT

I took the level 3 JLPT in Dec 2006 and passed with an 86%. At this time I was working for an eikaiwa and was not using Japanese at all work.

After changing jobs and working for public schools as an AET, I noticed a huge jump in my Japanese. Working in a Japanese environment is much better than just studying or using it in your personal life. Using the language at work and doing presentations can formalize your language—assuming you already have the basics.

I wrote my exam at Nagoya Keizai University. There were SO MANY Chinese! To be honest, my exam room was probably 80% Chinese, 15% Asian (non-Chinese) and 5% white or mixed-looking. Obviously the Chinese have a major advantage with Japanese, since they don’t have to learn kanji from zero.

On the other hand, from what I saw in the level 2 room, is that a lot of Chinese had trouble with listening. Speaking posed another problem for some. There is no speaking on the exam, but during break times when I was talking to some, I noticed they were far from fluent, with even basic topics of conversation. Of course I’m not saying all Chinese learners of Japanese are like this. It just seemed this way in my exam room. 

Here’s what I thought of the exam:

Writing	Vocabulary	Listening	Reading	Grammar
OK	OK	easy	hard	easy

For the last section, Reading & Grammar, I skipped the reading and did grammar first, since I could ensure more points quickly this way. The first passage in reading, for example, was to read two pages to answer 6 questions. This was a severe chunk of time so I saved it for last, but ended up not having enough time (to do it thoroughly). Therefore, I read the questions only and guessed accordingly.

For every other section, I’m happy that I could confidently answer a lot of questions. I’m predicting a pass, so I’m looking forward to the results in Feb. I’m guessing 65-75%. We’ll see when the results are published. Stay tuned!