ブックタイトルa-history-of-international-exchanges00

概要

a-history-of-international-exchanges00

- 90 -Every year Japanese teachrs were mainly in charge of teaching conversation classes,composition classes, and listening classes of sophomores and juniors. Two Japaneseteachers taught the same classes, with about 20 students in each class. Though I hadtaught Japanese language before I came to SNU, I ran up against a wall soon after I startedteaching at SNU. In a conversation classes, students stayed stiff even after I tried to relaxthe tension. They spoke in Korean, not in Japanese, in a practice in pairs. When I askedstudents who seemed to havesome problem what’s theirproblem, they didn’t give meany answer. Theatmosphere of the classeswas what I had neverexperienced. At first I waspuzzled at what to do, but Igradually came to know thepresent situation of Koreanuniversity students. First,male students have to servein the army with a long registered absence from universities. As students of differentages are mixed in one class and there is a strict pecking order, the atmosphere of the classcan be stiff. We gave students a relative evaluation, there was a strong competitivefeeling among them. In one class, there are those who can speak Japanese fluently onone hand, and there are those who can barely read hiragana. The students who are notgood at Japanese language don’t have a mind to do it. As most students have receivedmemory-centered education, they are not used to giving their own opinions clearly. Theyhad scarcely written sentences even in Korean language. In this situation, I got tounderstand that the students would be puzzled at what to do when they were asked tospeak or write sentences in a foreign language (Japanese). By trial and error, I am tryingto lighten students’ mental burden, as the activities in classes were output-centered(speaking and writing). I’m glad to tell you that the students got used to my teachingmethod.Though I have many difficulties in the classrooms, I enjoy many pleasant experiencesoutside the classrooms. Students are friendly in general, and they visit me in my office tohave a chat, and they sometimes invite me to a drinking party. Students always try to keepme at a distance in the Korean society where people consider courtesy very important. I’mhappy because they talk to me positively in Japanese. Last year I got married with aKorean man. To my wedding ceremony held in the place far away from Sunchon, manystudents attended the ceremony to celebrate our marriage. How kind and warm-heartedthe Korean people are! Four years have passed since I came to live in the comfortableenvironment of Korea. My husband graduated from SNU. We met at MU when he wasstudying as an exchange student. Without the exchange program between MU and SNU,I had no chance of meeting him and living in Korea. The exchange programs such asStudent Exchange, Practice Teaching and Language Learning Camp still continueceaselessly. Many SNU students go to many Japanese universities, including MU, butamong these sister colleges in Japan, only MU sends their students to SNU. As twoJapanese teachers are from MU, SNU students seem to have a sense of closeness to MU.Though Japan and Korea are now in a state of tension, I want MU and SNU to continuethe exchange programs and to deepen the friendship without being influenced by theinternationalsituation.