☆Junior High School Grammar☆

☆As a student☆
　I think the easiest grammar element is be動詞 . Because, in contrast 一般動詞,　there are only 3 verbs, so we have only to memorize few rules to use them.
Next the most difficult to understand is 現在完了. When I was a juniar high school student, I was troubled with it. I think there were some reasons. At first I could't understand the meaning of "現在完了". I studied and thought that 現在完了 means "What we have done yet."(すでにやり終えたこと？） But there were 継続用法, too.... So I was very confused.

☆As a teacher☆
　I have confidence in teaching 助動詞　can. I think it is simple to use it, because we don't have to change the form even when the subject is changed. And after the 助動詞　we have only to put the original form of the word. So I think it is easy to teach.
And the difficult element to teach are 現在完了 and 不定詞. 　Because there are lots of means, so it is difficult to teach how to translate them I think. I have almost understood them, but I don't have confidence to teach them to students perfectly.

Reflecton on Sniffle's Lesson

Please write about what you paticularly liked about Sniffle's lesson and also a few things that they might try doing differently in the future.

I think Sniffle's lesson had some good points.
First, they started the lesson with short play. I think it was good, because I think the short play can attracts the students to the class.
Second, they repeated numbers again and again. I think it was good way, because by this way, students can hear the teacher's pronunciations again and again, and practice over and over. This repetation make students' input comprehensible, I think.
Finally, they used some pictures, for example the pictures of money. I think these pictures are effective in making input. And the pictures can attracts students' concentration, I think. So it was very good point to use pictures.

I also think Sniffle's lesson had some points to try doing differently in the fiture.
First I felt the "number lesson"(?) started suddenly. I think they could connect the short play and "number lesson" more deliberately(意識的に）.
Second I think they could use the handout more frequently. For example, there were a " price list" on the handout. I think they could use it, and students could practice some conversation with it. Of course it is important to memorize how to say numbers, but to try to use them in the conversation is also important I think.

I could enjoy the Sniffle's lesson and learn many things from this lesson. Thank you, Sniffle's!!

Working with Input

☆ Which points of this lesson did you agree with or find helpful and why?
　I agree with the points that Familiar topics, Gestures, and Visuals make input comprehensible when using new vocabulary. I found it from my actual experience, Mr. Hall's Spanish lesson. The lesson's topic was about his family. The topic was very familiar with me, so I could guess the meaning of the words. I thought the topic made the input comprehensible.
Next are Visuals. I think pictures and charts are helpful when using new vocabulary because, in the Spanish lesson,the family tree made the input comprehensible I think.
I think when we learn new vocobulary it is effective to use our various senses, for example eyes, ears, hands, and so on. The visuals can give us many informations through our eyes. It is important to make input. And Gestures are also give some informations through the body. Through the gestures we can guess the meaning of the words which we don't know. It is very effective way, I think.

☆Which points of this lesson did you disagree or did not find helpful and why?
I don't agree with the point that "use students as example" are helpful. Because the "example students" couldn't see the differences , for example when the teacher talking about colors by using students' hair. And perhaps there are some students who are unwilling to be the example, I think. so I don't agree the point.

My first Spanish lesson

1) How much of the presentation in Spanish did you understand? What made the input comprehensible and what could have been done to make the language easier to understand?
I think I could understand almost all of the lesson. At the beginning of the lesson, I couldn't understand what Mr. hall said, but gradually I became understood it.
I think What made the input comprehensible was the figure which Mr. Hall wrote on the blackboard and Mr. Hall's gestures. I could listen to his presentation as I looking at the figure and expecting the meaning of the words, because the figure was same as what we use in Japan when we explain our families, so it made me easier to understond the words what means families, I think.
And another point what made the input comprehensible was Mr.Hall's jesture, I think. He chaged his voice in places. It enabled me to identify that the word means man or woman.

2) Did you learn any new words or new grammar in Spanish?
Yes, I learned some new words and grammer. I had never learned Spanish, but I maybe can do simple family introduce now, I think.

3) How did you feel about being a beginning foreign language student?
At the beginning of the lesson, I felt a little nervous.　But　I gradually felt relaxed and could enjoy the lesson. I thought, the students who study English for the first time will feel nervous, too. So it is important for us (teachers) to make the students relaxed at first, I think. 　
And I found we can learn new language without special explanation in L1 language. I think, it is important to use imagination to guess the meaning of unknown words when we learn foreign language.