boring post

Nobody asked me to go into school today so I'm not going to go.
Yesterday and today is all about Entrance Exams.
I think today is about re-checking the re-checked papers that we marked yesterday for the Maths, English, Social Studies and Japanese tests that nearly 390 assorted kids from other schools took.

I marked a bunch of English tests but really think it's best that I steer clear of the papers which have answers in kanji written upon them.

Anyway, the point of this post is to say 'Well done Japan for having such a great English curriculum because it really showed in the totals yesterday.'
NOT.
WTF.
NOTHING has changed since 1992.
Fck all.
These poor kids have just done 3 years minimum at junior high level - plus some classes at elementary school level (which, in my humble onion, is when they should start being saturated with the language) - and still their answers displayed not so much as a desperate grasp for basic English.
Out of a total of 20 points, the average was 4.
4.

Not one to stay silent on things like this, I was mumbling to myself (in Japanese else it would have been a moot point, pardon the pun) that *****mumble mumble mumble the young teachers of today must start doing something about this sorry state of affairs with how English is taught in Japan. They must start actively engaging the education ministry to overhaul the current grammar/reading/writing laden curric. to include more conversation classes mumble mumble mumble****

A national funeral parlour chain

Our junior high school - and closing it down was the dumbest move my school could ever have made - proved that upping the conversation ante, had RESULTS.

Big clouds

I am not kidding when I say that our jnr high kids speak better English than a 3rd year university student majoring in the same language.
I have taught 3rd year uni students here.
I know.
Unless they've done a year abroad, they are useless at English.

Anyway, I was so frustrated for the students yesterday, after seeing proof, yet again, that these poor kids are slaving away at English for years on end, having at least, at least 2 classes devoted to the subject each day, and for what, for this - 4 points! - that I had a good old rant to the younger teachers.

I pontificated that if they continued to do nothing about this then they were doing a disservice to their students, and then I added that for many years now, I have been encouraging students to sue their teachers in the future for not having had their best interests at heart. This is usually said in a jokey way but I am actually serious.

Rivers I have crossed

FACT
If you give a Japanese kid a good English curriculum, he/she does really well in the language.
It suddenly becomes an ulban myth that the Japanese are clap at English.

Big tree

All these kids have been, and will continue to be, cheated out of their precious time until things change.

Two pairs of tights I have worn

Sadly, when I mention things like, 'You are the new future of Japan and should do more to encourage some kind of evolution in English' to the young, fresh teachers, they more often than not look at me as if I were mad.
Sadly, they just don't seem to get it.
Sigh.

Supper yesterday (lunch today)

Also, I was really surprised yesterday to see how worried and nervous all the teachers were about the entrance tests.
This was my first time and I understood what I had to do almost immediately.
Most of the teachers have done this numerous times.
It is not new to them.
Mr Smile was fussing around too, to the point that I actually said, 'I can't believe how worried you all are. This isn't your first time. You should be able to do this with your eyes closed' .
Yeah, I know, I'm an upfront kant.

I then added, which was a bit cheeky of me, 'It's a shame such worry isn't directed at Fukushima instead. Now that's something to truly worry and talk about.'
Fck. I really am a kant.

By the way, there's some disturbing news coming out of Fukushima - but not on our news, of course - and those of you living up in Tokyo, wow, you are so paddling down that long river in Egypt.

DISCLAIMER
I understand why nobody talks about Fukushima. It's very Japanese to just accept and live or die with the consequences.