On November 16, GSEP 1st year students together with other foreign students, accompanied by Prof. Hilofumi Yamamoto and Prof. Reiko Sato of Institute for Liberal Arts at Tokyo Tech, visited Senzokuike Elementary School, the nearest local public school from Tokyo Tech, as part of their Japanese language class requirement. They interacted with the students with grade levels ranging from 1st to 6th. The elementary school students and their respective teachers planned the event well in advance and they all seemed to be very excited to meet our students.
Below is a report of the event by GSEP 1st year student.
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On November 16, I and other GSEP students had an opportunity to visit an elementary school in Senzokuike, an area east of the campus. We went there with our Japanese teacher and several international graduate students. We set off from campus at 10:40. It took us about fifteen minutes to get to the school.
When we arrived, we were welcomed by some elementary school students who seemed to be very excited to meet us. They lined up near the school’s gate and greeted us with welcoming words such as “Ohayou Gozaimasu” and “Halo!” enthusiastically. The teachers were very welcoming as well. They greeted us and gave a brief introduction about the school in English. Before entering the class, we were told to remove our shoes and to put on slippers that were provided by the school. This shoes-off slippers-on etiquette was interesting for me since there is no such custom in my country.
We were divided into groups depending on the classroom we would visit. I had a chance to visit grade six students. Before visiting the classroom, we were introduced to a guide who would help us to look around the school. A grade five student, Y-san, was my tour guide. I was impressed by his self-confidence. At his age, he has already been able to speak to people from a foreign country by using English. It was also fun for me since I could practice speaking Japanese while talking with him.
Y-san showed me almost every room in the school. I was very impressed by the science laboratory room. To me, it was my first time seeing a science laboratory in an elementary school. In my country, most of the elementary schools do not have a science laboratory. It is because we start to learn laboratory skills at junior high school.
After looking around the school, he guided me to the grade six classroom. In that class, they were studying English. The teacher welcomed me and two other Tokyo Tech’s students to join the class activity. After introducing ourselves to the grade six students, we were divided into several groups. We were discussing about Japanese, English, and our country language. The students in the group taught me some Japanese words. Then, they asked me about the English and Indonesian translations of words they mentioned. They were very excited to learn some Indonesian vocabularies. Particularly, they got enthusiastic when they were trying to pronounce some difficult words such as ‘penggaris’ (ruler) and ‘papan tulis’ (board).
At the end of the session, we had lunch together. Several students were in charge of organizing the lunch. Some of them prepared for the meals, and the others arranged the chairs and tables. We had miso soup as appetizer, chicken for the main dish and some fruits for the dessert. I learned a few Japanese dining etiquette from them, such as saying ‘itadakimasu’ (time to eat!) before eating, lifting the bowl to mouth to drink soup, and saying ‘gochisosama deshita’ (means thank you for the meal) after eating. The most important thing I learned was that they cleaned their plate down to the last grain of rice. There was nothing left on their plates and bowl after they finished eating.
Finally, the event came to a close. We took a few group photos in the classroom. Then, they accompany us to the school’s gate. I left the school at about 1 pm. It was a memorable experience for me. There were many things I learned from this activity such as the Japanese customs and a bit about the educational system in Japan. I hope I can receive another opportunity to visit other schools in Japan.
Written by Ryza Rynazal
11月16日、GSEPの1年生と他の学部所属の留学生が、東工大リベラルアーツ研究教育院の山元先生、佐藤先生の引率のもと、日本語の授業の一環として洗足池小学校（東工大から最も近い公立小学校です）を訪問し、小学校の1年生から6年生までの生徒さんと交流をもつことができました。先生方も生徒さんたちも、前々から準備をしてくださり、このイベントをとても楽しみにしている様子でした。
下記は、このイベントに参加したGSEP1年生のリザ（インドネシア出身）の報告です。
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11月16日、僕と他のGSEPの学生は東工大の東側にある洗足池近くの小学校を訪問する機会に恵まれた。日本語の先生と何人かの他の留学生も一緒だった。キャンパスを10時40分に出発して15分ほど歩いて到着した。
僕たちが着いたとき、僕たちに会うのを心待ちにしていた小学生たちが出迎えてくれた。門を入ったところに列を作り、「おはようございます！」「ハロー！」と元気に挨拶してくれた。先生方もあたたかく迎えてくれた。先生は初めの挨拶のあと、学校についての説明を手短かに英語でしてくださった。学校に入る前、僕たちは靴をぬいで学校が用意してくれたスリッパに履き替えるよう言われた。スリッパを履くというエチケットは、そのような習慣が母国ではない僕にとって、とても興味深かった。
僕たちは、これから訪れるクラスによっていくつかのグループに分けられた。僕は6年生を訪れることになった。教室を訪れる前、生徒が学校の”ツアーガイド”（案内役）をしてくれた。5年生のYさんが僕のツアーガイドだった。僕は彼の自信に満ち溢れた様子にとても感銘を受けた。彼の年で、彼はすでに英語を使って外国から来た人と話しができるのだ。僕が彼と話をする間、日本語の練習もすることができたことも楽しかった。
Yさんはほとんどすべての教室を案内してくれた。僕は、理科実験室にとてもおどろいた。小学校で理科実験室をみるのは僕は初めてだった。僕の国では、たいていの小学校は理科実験室は持っていない。僕らが実験技術を学ぶのは中学生になってからだからだ。
学校を見終わった後、Yさんは僕を6年生の教室へ連れていってくれた。その教室で、生徒たちは英語を勉強していた。先生は僕と他の東工大生2人を迎え入れてくれて、クラス活動に一緒に参加させてくれた。6年生たちに自己紹介をした後、僕たちはいくつかの班に分かれた。日本語、英語、それから僕たちの母国語について話し合った。同じグループの生徒が僕にいくつかの日本語を教えてくれた。それから、彼らは自分が教えた日本語が英語やインドネシア語でなんというのかと質問してきた。特に、彼らは”Penggaris”（ruler)や”papan tulis “(board)のような難しい言葉を発音しようと一生懸命がんばっていた。
その後教室で、僕たちは一緒にランチを食べた。何人かの生徒がランチ当番になっていた。何人かが食事を盛り付け、何人かは机やいすを整えた。僕たちは前菜に味噌汁、主菜として鶏肉、デザートにフルーツを食べた。僕は食事前に「いただきます」と言う、スープを飲むときはお椀を持ち上げる、食後には「ごちそうさまでした」を言う、などの日本人の食事のエチケットを学んだ。僕が知った一番大事なことは、生徒たちが一粒残らずごはんをたべたことだ。食べたあと、彼らのお皿やお椀には何も残っていないのだ。
とうとうイベントが終わる時間になった。僕たちは教室で何枚かの集合写真をとった。それから生徒たちが僕を玄関まで見送りにきてくれた。
学校を去ったのは1時だった。この訪問はぼくにとって忘れられない経験となった。日本人の習慣や、少しだが日本の教育制度のことなど、学ぶことが多い体験だった。また日本の学校を訪問できる機会があればいいと思う。
リザ
