タグ: Japanese Teaching

Today is the thirty-ninth day of the spring semester 2024 and is Friday when is the last day of a weekday. I have checked in this week, about the small console on the teacher’s desk. Other teachers bring USB memory to the classroom, and connect it to the small console on the teacher’s desk. In this way, teachers use the computer which is built in in the teacher’s desk. A USB memory is a small tiny device, light and easy to carry.

I don’t do as other teachers do. Every time I do the class, I bring my computer and connect not USB memory but two cables; one for visual data and one for audio data from my computer. The reason is that, if I use the built-in computer, Japanese letters are converted very ugly fonts because the built-in computer doesn’t have “Textbook font” of Japanese. And layout in a PPT slide is not displayed as I made by my computer. So, I cannot show what I want to show on the screen, if I use the built-in computer and USB memory.

Bringing my computer and two cables for visual and audio to the classroom, I connect these three things to the small console on the teacher’s desk. There are some jacks on aluminum plate on the teacher’s desk. The aluminum plate is thin. I worry about durability of the plate because the plate always bents every time I connect or remove plugs to jacks.

I use five classrooms. I have checked this week, about how to connect the cables.

1. Power from Outlet

If an outlet is there, that does not necessarily mean I can get electricity. That is what I wrote in a post before. In one classroom, the outlet on the teacher’s desk provides power. In three classrooms, although there are outlets on the teacher’s desk, they do not provide power. In One classroom, there is an outlet tap that is functioning, but the outlets on the tap is occupied by other devices. There is no outlet available for my computer.

For these four classrooms, I connect the power cable to the nearest outlet using an extension cable. I can connect to the outlet under the blackboard in three classrooms, but in one classroom, I need to lengthen the extension cable to the wall that is along the corridor. Students come through the door and almost hook or kick the cable by their foot. I need to say “Look out!” so often.

2. Cable for Visual Data

 I borrow a HDMI cable from teachers’ room. But it has problem of bad connection. So, it’s not the problem of a Jack on the console but of plug of the cable. For this reason, I prefer a VGA cable that is blue one to a HDMI cable. In one classroom out of five, the screen is very dark with VGA cable. I have to use HDMI cable for that classroom. Sometimes the display is shut down because of bad connection of HDMI, I have to tap several times the plug of HDMI. For other four classrooms, VGA cable works well.

Actually, I have got another problem with HDMI cable. That is the HDMI cable does not convey audio from my computer to the classroom system. I need to use another cable for audio because of this problem.

3. Cable for Audio Data

Since I had known the problem about audio, I brought an audio cable from Japan when I came back here in the end of February. The cable has the stereo plug of 3.5mm on one end and the monaural plug of 3.5mm on the other. I use this cable in three classrooms. There is no problem about bad connection between plug and jack. In one classroom, I don’t need the cable because it is conversation class in which I say everything. But in one class of listening course, the jack for microphone is of 6.5mm. The jack of my cable doesn’t fit because it is 3.5mm. In order to solve the problem, I made by myself a device of speaker and amplifier in the winter break and brought it. Now I am thinking about buying an adapter between 6.5mm and 3.5mm monaural jacks in summer break in Japan.

The things above may seem to be tiny things. But for me, it is important to teach effectively in classroom. And I think that the university has to supervise these kinds of outsourcing works that the university contracted. For example, a thorough inspection must be done before payment whether or not the contractor has completed the tasks with required quality and quantities as specified in the contract documents.

Today is the thirty-eighth day of the spring semester 2024. Since today is Thursday, I have three classes to teach, although I feel even one class is enough to make me exhausted these days. One teacher (of this country) asked me to introduce some literature about tense and aspect of Japanese. I don’t have any literature of research level about such linguistic issues. This morning, I made a photocopy from a book that I have. And I brought it to his office in lunch break. Since he wasn’t there, I passed my photocopy to other teacher who shared the office.

After two classes in the afternoon, I got back my room. And then I slept half an hour on my bed. Though it already turned to be dark outside, I went to the campus super market to buy some food. I met two male students there. They were the third-year students. I had taught them when they were the second-year students. I asked them in Japanese “Isogashii desuka?” It meant like “Are you guys busy these days?” To my surprise, they didn’t understand what I asked. The adjective “Isogashii” is a word to learn during the first year. It seemed as if they had already forgot Japanese. I felt it difficult to continue to communicate them, so I said good-bye to them. It looked like they were still talking each other about what the word “isogashii” was. It was a funny moment.