Spork foring

Today was the last day at one place I work, although I will still be at others until the end of the month. I spent the day with students handing in final homework and so on, and also writing answers to some questions about the course while I worked on their grades.

When I collected this writing there were, as usual, one or two gems. From my favourite student, a tiny, extroverted girl with an fantastically piercing voice which she used ALL THE TIME (in English!), I got this comment:

When this class day, I happied every week!

This was not something I didn't already know. Her happiness was hard to avoid noticing, and every week when I walked into class she lit up like a light bulb when she saw me.

"HELLO, TEACHER!" she would cry joyfully from the centre of her bunch of friends, and turn to the rest of the class shouting, "SENSEI IS HERE!" to shut them up. She wanted me to start class IMMEDIATELY and not have to mess around getting everybody to be quiet first. She was full of expectation and anticipation. She LOVED her English classes, and the other students, and her teacher, and was an absolute delight.

Some of the boys had very mixed feeling about her. You could see a confusion of dread and pleasure on their faces when they ended up being her conversation partner. The pleasure came from being paired with the most fun and popular girl in class, and the dread from knowing her usual reaction if they tried to chat her up in Japanese. She would grin at them cheekily and say, in her very carrying voice,

"I CAN'T UNDERSTAND JAPANESE! SPEAK ENGLISH! COME ON! COME ON!"

Then she would laugh her head off, and her partner would glance guiltily at me. Thwarted again!

She also made the most progress of anybody in any of my classes. She knew her English was very low level, but believed me when I said that lots of practice and making mistakes were good ways to learn. She practiced a lot, very loudly, and made a lot of mistakes, also very loudly, and her English got better. A couple of weeks ago she was packing up at the end of class, and looked up to tell me,

"THIS CLASS VERY EXCITING BUT VERY TIRED!"

I was not surprised she was tired. She had been concentrating fiercely for ninety minutes. I told her that she had worked very hard, but that it was worth it because her English was getting better.

"You're a wonderful learner," I said. "Your English is getting better and better all the time."

"REALLY?" she shrieked happily, and I think my ears actually cringed.

I did not get any negative comments this time. I'm not sure why this is, because I did not feel the classes were any better or worse than usual. I was frequently late to my first period class, but nobody commented on that, perhaps because we were on the sixth floor this semester and the elevator was always full, and I was not the only latecomer. I got a lot of variations on this next comment, which is always one of my favourites:

I learn to enjoy this class. I haven't ever like English but I learn this class, I liked English. Thank you very much!!!! I love you!!!!!

For most of them it is the first time they have ever actually spoken English in an English class, and this is why it suddenly becomes interesting for them. It is not because of me, particularly, but it is encouraging.

I asked them for advice about next semester, both for the new students and for me, and while those answers were generally not very helpful, they were fun to read:

I have no advice. Please teach students English in joy in your own way.

My teacher is too perfectly to give any advice.

Well, of course I should have known that it was a silly question for a perfectly teacher like myself to ask. What was I thinking?

I enjoyed this next comment (and the student, who was late EVERY WEEK but always charmingly apologetic and forehead-beating about it), even though reading it made me groan out loud and wonder what I had inflicted on the English speaking world:

I don't like English. But I very like this class teacher. This class is very exsite. I am very happy for meet this class teacher. This class is very enjoy class. I can spork foring country by this class. I'm very thank of you.

So there you have it. If a charming (and late) young Japanese man ever tries to spork foring at you, you may blame me.