When some teachers are blunt (General discussion) Language Learning Forum

When some teachers are blunt
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TheElvenLord
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Message 9 of 32

12 January 2009 at 2:54am | IP Logged

@Maximus

I would just speak back to her in much better Japanese, and maybe ask her to use higher Japanese then she thinks you know.

TEL
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DaraghM
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Message 10 of 32

12 January 2009 at 7:01am | IP Logged

Alvinho's treatment has me concerned. In this thread I asked about their placement tests. I'm planning on attending the Cervante's Institute, and worried they'll place me at the very start of their course.
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Alvinho
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Message 11 of 32

12 January 2009 at 7:53am | IP Logged

DaraghM wrote:

I think you have no reason to be afraid of coming across and being evaluated by any Cervantes' teacher in your hometown....Cervantes Institute is the most prominent Spanish school in the world.....that's why there are so many branches worldwide...I bet your situation will be rather different from mine while you're inside there...so you'll be posting another reply just praising the school....I was just unlucky to have come across such an appaling teacher...that's all!

As for filing a complaint, I've been thinking of taking another placement test at the same school, but in Sao Paulo....if any teacher decides to evaluate my speaking level, I'll come up with this issue but of course, without crossing the line.

Saludos

Edited by Alvinho on 12 January 2009 at 7:57am
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stelingo
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Message 12 of 32

12 January 2009 at 5:18pm | IP Logged

Maximus wrote:

The truth is that some teachers are just bad, both in the sense of lacking ability neaded for their job and in the sense of having black hearts. Some are just bad people with bad attitudes, bad personalities. Some are very cold and have no real interest in their students. Those teachers can be an impediment to learning, especially psychologically.

When I was in an immersion school in Spain I had excellent teachers, both excellent at instruction and with good friendly personalities, humorous and warm. In Japanese immersion school I had these kind of ideal teachers. They were awesome and this satisfaction which I derived from our personal relationships really encouraged me to associate happiness with the Japanese language and life in Japan. Consequently I made huge progress in Japanese. I even dated a female teacher and I male teacher one treated me by tacking me to a a girlbar and a メイド喫茶 (maid cafe). He also took me for nights out around Nagoya. They were perfect teachers.

However, back home my Japanese teachers for most part are terrible. I cannot stomach them yet alone stand them.

They refuse to explain anything ahead of the syllabus.

When being talked to be students, they don't seem to understand. I don't get it! I was understood almost 100 per cent of the time in Japan, yet the expressions of these teachers show that they are struggling to understand what I say. I actually got depressed about this for a while. But then I overheared a similar conversation concerning the same anxieties. This time it was the conversation of a student who speaks excellent Japanese. If he was having the same problems with these two silly teachers, I knew that I had nothing to worry about. I started to get the impression that they just pretend not to understand the Japanese of the students, for what I can only imagine!

I get the feeling that some Japanese people do this pretending not to understand thing when talking to foreigners. The only explanation I can think of it that they have hard feeling because their 5 years English classes went to waste and consequenty they cannot manage anything beyond the basic greetings. I heared for the guy at alljapaneseallthetime that the better the foreigner speaks Japanese, the more Japanese people dislike it and have hard feelings towards the foreigner. Maybe this mignt be the case with those two teachers of mine. Even though they have lived in England for over 3 years, their English is appauling, especially their listening comprehension, and as theachers they seem underqualified. Maybe this is the root of their attitude in which they seem to pretend not to understand. Because of their attitudes, I have started to ignore them. I was rude to them for a while because I hate having to be taught by them. I started to use Kansai-ben in class and they really didn't like it.

Also my other Japanese teacher always inserts English words in her conversation with her students because she thinks "Japanese is too hard for foreigners". When she does it with me I feel annoyed. I know that have have a large vocabulary compared with most people in the class, and much more Kanji power. So when my teacher speaks to me like a child, I naturally get get angry in side and fantasise about slamming her like one does in UFC or doing pro-wrestling moves on her. That would be funny because she is a little weak Japanese women with a bad attitude while I am a big strong dude. Back to serious points, their negative attitudes, which don't encourage the students to open up and speak, not only are a major annoyance for me, they make me have bad feeling to the language itself. The opposite effect of my excellent teachers in Japan and my experiences of happiness.

Because of their attitudes, I often feel like "what is the point?" and just don't participate in class knowing that I can teach myself much more. In fact I have even started to skip classes so that I can study more by myself. Because of their negative attitudes, the more I start to dislike Japanese culture and Japan itself. I sometimes wonder why I learned their language. Sometimes I can understand why they are the most hated nation in Asia.

I only have to put up with their idiocy for one semmester, then I will be back in Japan.

What kind of institution are you studying Japanese at? Is it a university?
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RisaXKoizumiX
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Message 13 of 32

12 January 2009 at 9:12pm | IP Logged

Alvinho wrote:

Alvinhos right, DaraghM...She was just probably having a crappy day & decided to take it out on him (for what reason who knows? & I HATE people like that...) Her behavior is still unacceptable & i'd make a complaint to the head of that branch...She was probably more amazed that you proved her wrong when you did your test...heh heh...I'll keep my fingers crossed for you when you go there caro...
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Starfallen
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Message 14 of 32

14 January 2009 at 10:16am | IP Logged

Maximus wrote:

I get the feeling that some Japanese people do this pretending not to understand thing when talking to foreigners. The only explanation I can think of it that they have hard feeling because their 5 years English classes went to waste and consequenty they cannot manage anything beyond the basic greetings. I heared for the guy at alljapaneseallthetime that the better the foreigner speaks Japanese, the more Japanese people dislike it and have hard feelings towards the foreigner. Maybe this mignt be the case with those two teachers of mine. Even though they have lived in England for over 3 years, their English is appauling, especially their listening comprehension, and as theachers they seem underqualified. Maybe this is the root of their attitude in which they seem to pretend not to understand.

I would say that might very well be the case with those 2 teachers. Honestly, I can kind of relate to it in a way... being a native English speaker, and being monolingual, I have sometimes felt resentment towards foreigners who speak English very well. I admit, sometimes the fact that English is so wide spread is frustrating for me, because it reminds me how inadequate my own language skills are in comparison and kind of makes me feel as if English is considered "cheap". I'm learning to get over that though.

It sounds like you've had a good experience in Japan, so I say don't let these teachers sour your opinion of Japanese. I have not yet been to Japan, but I have started making pen pals and chatting with native speakers from Japan. Pretty much everyone I have talked to so far has been very helpful and nice. I'm sure I will encounter some rude Japanese before long, but you can find rude people anywhere. I have not been studying for long, but because I enjoy it so much it feels natural to me. I wouldn't tell any of my Japanese pen pals that, though. It would somehow feel rude, as if to say their language is "easy" and "cheap" and that's not really how I feel at all. I wouldn't want to seem arrogant, so I tend to be modest and downplay my ability out of respect.

Another reason those teachers may be acting that way is that they are supposed to be sticking to a certain curriculum. They have lesson plans already prepared, but you are challenging their teaching methods by "going outside the box" and jumping ahead of the class. Perhaps they find that frustrating? I had this same problem with a science teacher back in highschool. I used to study a lot of natural history and anthropology as a hobby, so when we got to the early man/evolution unit I knew a lot more about the subject than she did...to the point I noticed her mistakes. If I were her I would have been mortified by students pointing out my errors, so I decided to just keep my mouth shut.

Edited by Starfallen on 14 January 2009 at 10:43am
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Maximus
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Message 15 of 32

14 January 2009 at 7:17pm | IP Logged

Hey Starfallen

Yeah, about that syllabus thing, that is also possibly a factor. But if I stuck to their syllabus, I would be back in the stoneage, prior to the evolution of man, this is in the world of languages. Apart from the minority "oligarchy" of the class who work very hard, most of the students are really lazy. The teacher contradicts herself by demanding that people give it their all so that they don't embarrass the institite when they are sent to Japan. On the other hand she opposes those who get ahead too far, often owed to their own passion and diligence.

However, even outside of the class, they take these strange attitudes towards me. I have bumped into them in the street, and the still treat me like a kid even if I fire some "advanced" Japanese vocabulary it them. For example be it linguistic specialist terms like vowel harmony, or be it political words like conservative, self profit supremacy doctrine, or be it illnesses like depression or gender identity disorder, or be it the names for religious sects in Japanese, they still speak to me with their silly kiddie Japanese. I feel bad because I have studied so hard in order to expand a functional, deep and broad vocabulary, yet they don't appreciate anything.

Unlike my Japanese teachers, my Korean teacher promotes rapid advancement. Ashe is so kind and warm hearted and I never feel fearful of approaching her. She gave me a cuddle the other day! How cute! And she is really warm and probably way more cuddly that my cold icicle like Japanese teachers!

My friend, I guess we are similar. I had the same problems in highschool. Against my unpleasant Japanese tachers, I resisted for a while. To the lead teacher who always criticises my Kanji learning meather (which actually have yielded far better results that the rest of the class), I got a bit of 仕返し by writing a series of extremely violent homeworks. But now days, I just do what you say. I have already started to do it. I just sink into silence in the class and only speak when addressed.

It is good that your Japanese stusies are going well.

がんばれぞー！

Edited by Maximus on 14 January 2009 at 7:19pm
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yobar
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Message 16 of 32

14 January 2009 at 11:48pm | IP Logged

From a business standpoint, her attitude was rather foolish. If you care about the quality of this particular company, you might consider filing a report with the corporate headquarters.

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