Interview #3

Today I am interviewing Haruka who went to the Mission Bell Elementary School for the second time. She took part in our special program in September as well.

MSI: How was visiting Mission Bell for the second time?

H: It was exciting because some of the students remembered us. They made a Pikachu for me and one of them had a crane. We taught them how to make that last time.

MSI: Was it easier for you to communicate with them?

H: Yeah, I think so. This time it was easier especially because we made flowers. Last time making cranes was more challenging. I had the experience before so it was easier to communicate with them.

MSI: What grade were your students in ?

H: Sixth grade. They tried really hard to talk to us. Last time I was with much smaller children and they couldn't understand our English. This time it was much easier to have conversations and answer their questions.

MSI: Were you surprised at their questions or something at the school?

H: They really like singing. They wanted us to sing Japanese songs.

MSI: Wow. Did you do that?

H: Yes. They sang the national anthem to us and we sang the Japanese anthem to them. They also wanted to know about the lyrics so I tried to explain, but it was really hard.

MSI: Did you sing a children's song, too?

H: We sang "Twinkle twinkle little star" in Japanese. They know the melody so I thought it would be fun for them to listen to that in Japanese. After that they sang to us in English, too.

MSI: That sounds like fun. I'm sure the sounds in Japanese surprised them.

H: Yes, they looked very surprised.

MSI: What do you think you could have done to make this visit even better?

H: I think this one was better than the one in September because we were prepared to explain about some Chinese characters and they learned some Japanese. Last time we visited more classes and didn't spend much time with one group. We could have taught more about Japanese culture, for example, we could spend more time teaching them how to write in Japanese.

MSI: Well, I hope you'll be able to go back for the third time and if not, I'll give the future students your advice.