So, a lot of you were asking me before I left how I was going to teach English to a Japanese person without knowing any Japanese. I now have somewhat of an answer.
The second day we were scheduled to teach two lessons - one in the afternoon and then one again in the evening. Once again, there were not enough lessons to teach so I had to miss out on the first lesson of the day. We got some more training and then it was time for my English teaching debut. For this lesson, I was only to do half of it. The man with whom I was instructing with put me at ease right from the beginning. We introduced ourselves and then proceeded to inform the student that I was supervisor here on a routine check-up. So, I forget what we talked about but it was a young woman, around the age of 18. Everything went off smoothly and we had a lot of fun. I believe we talked about borrowing or something of that nature. Day two ended without any hitches and it was home to get some rest for the four lessons I had to teach tomorrow.
Of the four lessons I had to teach today, there were going to be two back to back sessions. That way, I could prepare for an actual day of work. However, our instructor still gave us ample time to prepare our lessons. My first lesson of the day was an absolute disaster. The lessons are supposed to go on for 40 minutes and I was done with the core teaching in about 25. The aim of the lesson was customs and traditions so I tried to get them to talk about Japanese weddings. However, neither of the students had ever been to one and only the one student had ever been to a wedding period. So, for the last 15 minutes I just bullshitted about whatever came in to my mind. The next lesson I had two older ladies and a ton of fun. We talked about apologizing for being late. It was a grand old time to say the least and they were sweethearts. Hopefully, I will see more of them in the future. It went very well and we had a lot of fun.
The evening lessons comprised of a one on one lesson as well as a group lesson. For the man to man lesson we talked about his interests and he spoke English very well so it was rather easy. The time flew by in that lesson and I found out he used to play badminton and likes to watch baseball. Very nice man who told me I looked young. The next group was the level closest to native speakers and we discussed the levels of apologies. If you break someone's pencil versus their camera. Great group of guys who were very imaginative. The one man informed the other that he had broken his camera after a wild boar hit him. So, lots of fun, and that was the end of training. Worst comes to worst, you just talk in English.
So, what does a lesson consist of:
1) Introduction - just a general, how, how are you conversation where you introduce yourself, tell the students one thing about yourself, then they ask you a question.
2) Focus Question - prepares the students for the lesson. So, if we were going to talk about interests and hobbies, I would ask the students to discuss three of their interests with one another and then have them share one thing they learned about the other people.
3) Main Language - This is the first part of the actual lesson. The students learn key phrases which will aid in their English skills. For example, I really like to watch ... or ... is a favorite hobby of mine. They practice the phrases a few times.
4) Activity - the students are assigned an activity for which they can still use the book to assist them. It might be a mini-role play or some other sort of game which they can look at pictures.
5) Application - the students apply everything they have learned in a situation without the help of a book. The books are closed and then they would be asked to have a conversation about their interests.
6) Wrap-Up - iterate what the lesson was about, offer feedback, and ask if they have any questions. The lesson is done in 40 minutes.
I am not sure if it is illegal for me to share any of this but that is a basic NOVA lesson in a nutshell. There are lots of other aspects and parts of the lesson and each one is timed out but for the most part, there it you go. Instructions have to be simple and precise. If they do not understand something, you can usually write it down and they will pick it up. There written understanding is much better than their verbal. So, that was training and NOVA all wrapped up in to one. If you have any other questions, please let me know. Hope everyone is doing well and is happy!
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