My Teaching Philosophy
Before formally studying Japanese during my undergraduate degree, I studied on my own. I struggled to understand the rules of Japanese, and had experiences where some volunteer teachers would mistakenly declare that there were no rules for something like te-form, and tell me I had to memorize them instead. These experiences shaped my teaching philosophy into one that balances subject matter expertise and pedagogical theory with empathy and preparing students for the lifelong language learning journey. Simply put, my goal as a language educator is to help students both learn a language and also learn how to learn a language.
I help students learn a language effectively by combining subject matter expertise, my own experience and identity as a language learner, and modern pedagogical theory. Through my master’s degree study at University of Mānoa, I am studying Japanese pedagogy and linguistics to elevate my understanding of how Japanese is used, and how it is learned. I use this knowledge to inform lesson planning and classroom instruction, giving students enough grammatical instruction that they can begin to see differences in linguistic forms, without overwhelming them. I blend this with my own experience as a language learner, who has learned Japanese as a foreign language. Having developed my own methods of understanding and remembering complicated Japanese linguistic concepts, I can offer a novel perspective that the students may not get from a Japanese textbook or from another instructor. Finally, I value modern pedagogical approaches such as Communicative Language Teaching (CLT). While I view explicit grammatical instruction as facilitative, I place great importance on learning through actual communication. I strive to utilize communicative activities in my lessons that push students to focus on meaning in practical application of Japanese language across reading, writing, listening, and speaking.
I also believe it’s important to teach students how to learn. Language learning is not something that happens purely inside of the classroom, over a 2 to 4 year period. In fact, the language learning process for me became a lot more intense when I left the classroom and lived in Suzuka City in Japan during my time on the JET program. Empathizing with the challenges of a lifelong language learning journey is what guides the “soft skills” side of my teaching philosophy. I am open and honest with my students that learning a language is difficult, and no one teacher will be able to transform you from a novice into an expert. I also ensure students understand that they have agency as a learner. I am here to help them through the journey by providing lessons, resources, and acting as someone who has walked ahead on the path. But ultimately, I want my students to pursue learning styles and strategies that suit them, whether that be finding additional study tools like Anki or WaniKani, or consuming Japanese material that they enjoy like Anime or Manga. While I am the guide, we are a community that is there to learn together. My sincere hope is that my students leave the classroom with the understanding that there is still more to learn, and equipped with the tools to continue studying after they leave the classroom.
In summary, I became a teacher because even though my journey of foreign language study has been difficult (and is still ongoing), I believe I am a better person for it, and I want more students to stick with their endeavors to learn another language. This shaped my teaching philosophy into one that balances technical expertise with empathetic honesty. I design communicative lessons based on a background in Japanese linguistics and pedagogical theory, and help students understand and prepare for a lifelong language learning practice.