Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Longgu Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Xuzhou Shi? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language.
Watching anime has been my favorite hobby ever since I was little and I have been watching every episodes using English subtitles since Nihongo or Japanese language is not my first language. I was quite fond of mimicking some Japanese words or phrases that I’ve heard only from anime scenes and I also loved singing Japanese anime songs. From being so exposed to anime, I became more and more interested in the Japanese language or Nihongo. Japan has always been my dream place to travel to because of their culture and of course, the anime. Coincidentally, I’ve met my true love whom I didn’t know was living in Japan because he talked to me using English, and then long story short, yes, we got married and I am also currently living in Japan right now, but before we came to Japan, I studied the culture, norms and traditions to adapt to the new environment I was going to live with. I also studied basic Nihongo or N5 for 3 months before migrating to Japan to be able to communicate with Japanese friends and family. I thought that Nihongo will be easy for me to learn since all my life I am an otaku or an anime lover, but on my first week of Nihongo class, it was hard and embarrassing, because some words that I’ve learned from anime were actually informal words or an insult to say to an older or superior person. I remembered how my teacher laughed at me when I call her using the “chan” word, which I thought is used to address a female, but little do I know, it is used for addressing children. I also have this embarrassing experience wherein my teacher asked me if I know the Nihongo term for “I love you” and I confidently answered “Aishiteruyo” because that is what my husband always tells me, but in Japan, that phrase is only for the person that you have romantic feelings for and if you want to say “I love you” to a friend or a family member, “suki or daisuki” is the better phrase or word to say. My Japanese language teacher helped me a lot and corrected so much of my misinterpreted Japanese words learned from watching anime. Also, as our topics got more and more difficult each day, I’ve learned that Nihongo and English grammar construction are different, they are kind of inverted. My Japanese language experience was very fun, it’s like taking an adventure to a jungle I’ve never been into, but now that I am here in Japan and I am talking using Nihongo most of the time, my Japanese is getting better. Since I experienced being taught a different language, I’ve come to realize how my future students may feel on their first encounter with English language and I think my Nihongo experience is a good basis or guide for me to be able to reach out to my students' behavioral and emotional part and help them learn English language in a fun and memorable way.
