Bright Child

I added one of my students who asked me for my Facebook account. She said she'd add me. That I do not mind. I don't ask my students for their social accounts unless they ask me first.

Anyway...

Sometime in mid-June, that student posted on her wall that she would be going back to Canada at the end of June.

She went to Canada before with her sister and stayed there for a couple of years. After years passed, she decided to come back there to fully master her English skills.

She started becoming my student on my first month of teaching. She didn't want to have replacements. I remembered, I prayed hard that my connection would be good so that I wouldn't be replaced or rescheduled or not be considered to be one of her teachers because of poor Internet connection. That time, I'm still struggling with the low pay I'm receiving because of unreserved slots. And since I was just a fresh teacher, I tried to impressed her by giving a somewhat long but easy article suitable for her level. I guess she liked that.

Over the next few weeks, she booked me for two more lesson. But the connection during our lessons became intermittent. I guessed the problem was on her end. The same situation happened twice that I dreaded having her again. I thought we would not have a lesson together again.

I don't know if I was fortunate but she kept reserving my lessons even after the intermittent connections between us. Fortunately, it didn't happen anymore after the two incidents.

In her lessons, she would usually supply the articles she'd like to practice on summarizing, I'd help her make good summaries and correct some minor grammatical errors. I'd also help her define and explain new and confusing words for her. She would always appreciate me and give me a smile of satisfaction in her voice. We usually run out of time defining words because she usually does not read the articles ahead of time. I would often offer to extend the lesson, even for a couple of minutes. But she would always refuse even if I said it was alright for me.

I'd always tell her that she inspires me to become hardworking. But she tells me she's otherwise and very lazy.

One time, two days after the Great Tohoku-Kanto Earthquake, I greeted her "Happy Birthday'' in Japanese. She was surprised that I can speak Japanese and we actually talked about it rather than discussing the article she shared. She said that she's getting old. She's already in her 30's. I thought the same, but I told her she still sounds young, which is actually true. Her voice sounds very gentle and kind. She laughed at the compliment.

I remembered that we actually talked about why I can speak and know Japanese. I told her about my Basic Japanese studies when I was still in the university. I even demonstrated my knowledge by asking her if her name means "fall" for "aki". She told me her name meant "Bright Child". The Kanji for "aki" is written with the combination Kanji of "sun" and "moon", that actually means "bright". She said her brother named her with those Kanjis so that she can brighten other people's lives.

I told her that she is lucky because she can improve her English easily. She told me that she can help me with my Japanese. She also said that I should not hesitate to ask her anything about Japan and she would try her best to supply me with the best answers.

I acutally planned to ask her about something the next time we meet. But sometime around April or May, she failed to attend my lessons. As well as other teachers' lesson that she always have lessons with. I guess there are three to five teachers that she always reserve for a lesson. And I guess, it is only in my lessons that she uses articles to practice. I felt I was special but felt bad when she didn't attend my lessons.

When she came back, I told her that it was quite awhile but she told me that it was just for a week. She always laugh at me if I greet her with that even if we only did not have lesson with each other for a few days or for a week. She also shocked me that her grandfather  died at a ripened age of 100 and something. I guess, also at that time, we ended up discussing about that rather than practicing summarizing.

Looking back on those times, I know more about her for a short time. She has openly shared a lot of things about her, which is kind of something strange as a Japanese. I remember one student saying that people from the Kansai area are somewhat inquisitive and talkative about personal matters. May she is naturally inquisitive and talkative as a person, other than being a resident of Osaka which is part of the Kansai area.

And knowing that she will be living in Canada for quite a while, I feel that a part of my teaching experience will be lost. I actually told her that I have relatives in Canada. She told me that if she was in my shoes, she would grab the opportunity to go to Canada. She said I am lucky. I told her that I don't want to go there. She said she would post on my Facebook wall as much as possible and bug me about going to Canada. I told her that I would definitely rethink my plans and goals.

I would definitely miss her. She has been kind to and understanding of me. She made my teaching experience a lively one. Her enthusiasm about learning English makes me want to improve my teaching skills everyday and makes me want to continue my Japanese studies as well.

She reserved a lesson with me a week before her trip to Canada. But unfortunately, I, as well as other teachers, had experienced Internet problems that day. I wasn't able to say goodbye or give her a "happy trip" message. Nonetheless, I was able to give her a message two days ago. I cheered her for arriving safely at Canada.

She truly did live-up to her name. And did well in brightening my teaching experience as an HBOET.

Eiji

Last 16-June, one of my students' name is Eiji. (And his name reminded me of someone.)

Our lesson started late because he was late. He just came home from his work and he needs to endure a 50-minute lesson with me. He said it was okay, though he is hungry.

He said he is 32 years old but he still reads manga. He likes the manga "One Piece". He even put a picture of one of the characters in the manga for his Skype profile picture. He also updates himself about manga by reading a weekly manga called "Jump". I researched about that and I found out he meant by "Shonen Jump".

It was somewhat a painful lesson because he is  a super beginner. He can follow with a very slow pace and statements needed to be repeated and typed in the chat box. He also needs time to translate the sentences, whether it be long or short, for him to have a better understanding.

He is an interesting student. Maybe because if his interests about manga or his name. Whichever the case is, I want to have a lesson with him again. And I hope, it will not be a painful one anymore.