Princess Imagination loves
anime, and had been watching several Japanese shows, translated into English.
She then discovered some of those shows were available in the original
Japanese, with English subtitles. She likes them better that way. A lot of the
shows have songs, obviously in Japanese, and she sings right along. She likes
the songs and the sounds of the Japanese language, and although she only knows
the meaning from the subtitles. She's also getting an idea of Japanese culture.
Princess Imagination decided to take the next step: learn Japanese. We went to our library and borrowed the Pimsleur Language Program: goJapanese. She completed lesson 1 yesterday and lesson 2 today. She did very well. I followed along lesson 1 and she was doing great. I let her do lesson 2 while I was doing some paperwork. She knows several words already.
I started thinking about her interests and opportunities. She wants to be a Language Arts (English) teacher. I suggested, what if you taught English as a second language to Japanese-speaking people? She said, "but I don't speak Japanese very well." I said, "you don't have to speak it well, you are teaching them how to speak English. They need to hear English from a native speaker, just as you are listening to Japanese from native speakers."
Princess Imagination got really excited as I described some opportunities to her. You can be an exchange student in Japan. You can teach English as a second language to Japanese immigrants here in the US. You can travel to Japan, or other countries with high populations of Japanese immigrants and teach English as part of the Peace Corps, or an exchange program.
Princess Imagination gave me a huge hug! She said, "I promise I will always come back to you!"
I have given my child wings. I will be very proud (and very sad) when she flies far away.
Princess Imagination decided to take the next step: learn Japanese. We went to our library and borrowed the Pimsleur Language Program: goJapanese. She completed lesson 1 yesterday and lesson 2 today. She did very well. I followed along lesson 1 and she was doing great. I let her do lesson 2 while I was doing some paperwork. She knows several words already.
I started thinking about her interests and opportunities. She wants to be a Language Arts (English) teacher. I suggested, what if you taught English as a second language to Japanese-speaking people? She said, "but I don't speak Japanese very well." I said, "you don't have to speak it well, you are teaching them how to speak English. They need to hear English from a native speaker, just as you are listening to Japanese from native speakers."
Princess Imagination got really excited as I described some opportunities to her. You can be an exchange student in Japan. You can teach English as a second language to Japanese immigrants here in the US. You can travel to Japan, or other countries with high populations of Japanese immigrants and teach English as part of the Peace Corps, or an exchange program.
Princess Imagination gave me a huge hug! She said, "I promise I will always come back to you!"
I have given my child wings. I will be very proud (and very sad) when she flies far away.
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