Lost in Translation?

During the 90s, I lived in Tokyo for around six years in total. First for one year, then after a year back in Australia, back for another five.

It was a great experience, a wonderful time to be in Japan. I made a lot of friends, working with teachers from around the world. We worked all day, socialised after work, and mostly got on very well. There were a lot of transients, young people working to make money to fund the next leg of their adventure, but there were also those we considered "lifers".

Those were the days before the internet was a thing, and so sadly I never really managed to keep in contact with many of my friends.

The last school I worked at was the exception. It was a small Berlitz school in Shimo-Kitazawa, and the core staff there hardly changed for the four years I was there. For the most part, we're all still in touch, and some of us have even caught up occasionally.

Last night I was feeling nostalgic, trying to remember names and faces, and wondering what happened to them all. I'm sure I have photos, but unfortunately most of them are currently in storage.

My first teaching job was with Nova in Otsuka, a suburb of Tokyo near Ikebukuro. I worked with Susan, a Canadian, and Heidi and Tim - both Americans. I am still in touch with Heidi, but I do wonder what happened to Tim and Susan. (and yes, I recall their family names).

I don't remember many students there. There was one lady who I think was a reporter, and a trained opera singer. One night I convinced her to sing. She only let one, short note out, but it was intense and I remember the office staff all jumping and looking up. She also managed to get me tickets to the filming of Naruhodo The World, a TV show hosted by Beat Takeshi.

Another student was a huge fan of Mr Big, and gave me one of their CD singles when I left. Another gave me a cassette tape of the Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra. I hope you're still enjoying your music. 

When I returned a year later, I started working at Nova in Ueno. That is where I met the Doctor, a good friend who remains in contact. We even manage to catch up every couple of years and hang out. But I lost touch with all the others there. (Canadians) Doug and Sean. (New Zealander) Mel. (Americans) Rick, Dan, Brett. (English) Sian, Ed, Elizabeth(?). (Australian) Harold. There was a Japanese-American guy whose name (I think) might have been John. And many others. All good people, all fun.

What became of you all?

I moved to another Nova school for a short time. I think it might have been Okachimachi - very close to Ueno. I only remember one teacher there. I think she was Australian, and her name may have been Lisa.

I hope you're well.

After that I moved to Berlitz at Shimo-Kitazawa. As I said, I am still in touch with many of the teachers there, and one student. But during training, and visiting other schools, I got to know many more. There was the lady who spent a year living in a tepee and dealing drugs in a previous life, Larry - a keen photographer, and John, whose sister was a famous comedienne in Australia. Paul from South Africa, Juliet from the US, Chris from Canada, Oliver who loved cycling, and a few others.

Wouldn't it be great to catch up and reminisce?

And then so many students. Many of these I remember. Kumiko, who was embarrassed when she gave me giri-chocolate. The TV director, who gave me ringside seats to the Sumo and went to America to study film-making. The husband and wife dentist team, the two lovely ladies who took me out for lunch when they heard I was leaving. So many whose first names I forget. Many of these I remember their family names, but I'm leaving those off this page.

Ah what a time it was. And if you remember me from Tokyo days, whether through language schools or elsewhere, please get in touch. It would be wonderful to hear from you.

Is That A Light Up Ahead In This Tunnel?

I actually did some writing this week. Not a lot, but some. And I even got some words I was happy with.

I've started teaching a new semester of students in my high school writers' class. It's an elective for 14 year olds who want more English, and perhaps don't want all the usual elective subjects like sport, or technology. Now in its second year, it's proving to be popular. And I'm seeing some great results from the kids.

But this week, while teaching kids about openings to stories, I had a few ideas of my own. So I wrote three openings. Three random pieces from nowhere that have given me ideas. And I plan to expand them into fully formed tales.

I may be coming to the end of my motivational slump. And that's something I feel good about. I hate feeling guilty about not writing.

Back To Work.

I've just finished two weeks' holiday. And, of course, I was busy. I had a list of jobs to do, and didn't manage to finish the list.

I got very little writing done. One good day last week where I wrote some good words, only to discover they had disappeared the next morning. No I'm reasonably computer savvy, and I save as I go. And yet that document is gone. Completely. I spent far too much time trying to recover the file, but to no avail. I simply cannot explain what happened to it.

The next morning I rewrote as much of it as I could remember, and I must admit I think I did a better job on the second occasion. Of course I cannot compare the two pieces, but I was more satisfied when I read it back. I think it might be a keeper.

But back to work tomorrow, teaching. And it's going to be a busy term. I must work out the best way to make time for me, to make time to write.

To motivate myself to write after teaching English at school, working with words all day.

This I something at which I must work.

Graphic Literature.

So I'm teaching Macbeth at the moment, which I haven't taught for many years. Murder, betrayal, sex, sword fight and naked witches (OK - so that last one's in the Polanski version) Teaching this to teenagers? What could possibly go wrong?

I have lots of support material to wade through, lots of text analyses, lots of historical information, lots of commentary. Some of it is good, some of it needs culling. One of these is a comic...  um, I mean a graphic novel version of the play in modern English. I haven't yet had time to read it, due to end of semester marking and report writing. I have scanned it and it's really good. But there's a blurb on the back which caught my eye. It's a quote, and it's along the lines of "If I were a Literature teacher, I'd buy a whole set of these for my students."

Really?  Why?

Aside from this quote sounding more like a sales pitch than a realistic review, why would students studying Literature use this text? A Literature course should be using the original version. I suppose it could be used briefly if they are looking at comparisons of the same source material. As support material it may be useful in some instances, but from my experience students can't take Literature unless they are doing reasonably well in mainstream English.

During the past few years I've been asked why we don't study more film/TV/graphic novels in English. And yet others have asked me why we do teach these forms, as though they aren't valid texts.

We cover these media because they convey meaning and communicate. We don't spend as much time on them as books (paper and e-book) because they don't use English as much or in the same way. Graphic novels use images to convey setting, and most of the written text is dialogue.

I love my graphic novels - everything from Asterix and Tintin, through Aztec Ace and Alien Legion, to Moonshadow and Saga. And they're as deep and as rich as many other texts. But they usually sit on the fringes of the assessable criteria of English as a subject.

Don't worry, though. There are units available for students which do cover these forms.

Teaching And Learning.

Another experiment. This time with the notorious Show, don't tell rule.

I showed my high-school writing students the opening paragraph of The Hunger Games, and then asked what information we could elicit from that piece of text. I disallowed anything that was prior knowledge, from previously having seen the film or read the book. I think we were all surprised at what an information packed opening that is. And none of it is told, it's all shown.

To make the whole thing even clearer for the students, I then showed my version of the opening, rewritten to be all told rather than shown. It was obvious which piece of writing was more interesting. (and no, it wasn't mine.)

I know some people who have trouble understanding the whole Show, don't tell thing. And yes, I am aware that it's a guideline and there are times when telling is perfectly acceptable. But if you want to lock the concept into your brain, try this for yourself.

I think I learned something myself. And the kids certainly understood it. Let's hope they start applying it.

Writing Advice.

After my last post about teaching writing skills to high school students, a couple of people asked me why I never give tips and advice here since this is basically a writing blog. You know, characterisation, setting, dialogue, all that stuff.

I'm pretty sure I've written about this before, but I'll explain once again.

I don't feel qualified to advise others how to write since I see myself as a new writer. How can I teach other writers when I'm not yet selling to pro-level markets? There are plenty of other sites with experienced writers offering advice. This blog is not really a site for me to teach, but a place for me to share my writing experiences, stuff that happens in my life, and pretty much anything else that pops into my head.

Recently I read of a writers' workshop being conducted by someone who was working on their first novel. First novel? You mean this person is no more experienced than the potential attendees? And that is not an unusual case. I wouldn't sign up for that workshop. When I learn, I want to learn from someone who knows what they are talking about and have a proven track record. This week I've deliberately checked out a few blogs featuring posts with advice and lessons on writing. And then I made a point of reading work by some of these little-known but well-meaning folk. Unfortunately, the stories I read were pretty poor. Which, I believe, pretty much proves my point.

Over on the right side of this page there is actually a link to a page of my 'writing rules', for want of a better term. These came about because someone asked me what I thought of Heinlein's rules, and would I clarify by devising my own. I prefer to think of them less as 'rules and guides', and more like 'hints and suggestions that really might only apply to me'. I believe you should basically steal whatever suits you from others and formulate your own rules.

My only other advice to a writer would be to take a workshop, sign up for a course, get critiqued - but as I always advise parents who ask me about finding a tutor for their child, check the credentials of the person teaching.

Progress.

This week I've been teaching my boys' English class how to structure and draft/edit a short story. Nothing new in that as I do it very year with this class. But what I noticed this week was the advice I was giving had developed from the last few years.

And I recognised how much I've learned in the past year.

I'm a better writer, with a better understanding of the mechanics of short fiction.

I've still got a ways to go, but it feels great to see personal progress.  And oh yeah, I've sold another story since Sunday. That's a great feeling too.

You're Feeling Sleepy, Sleepy...

On the right hand side of this page, I have a column of recent 'doings'. Recent Youtubing, Recent Reading, Recent Listening ... and so on.

And I update the pictures and links every Sunday.

This morning, as I was starting to put this all together, I selected the picture for a book I've just finished this week entitled "The Reluctant Fundamentalist", and prepared the image for encoding. But then something struck me.

While I've always planned for that column to not be a recommendation list, but rather a snapshot into the things that have influenced me that week, I have, however, always consciously avoided posting images of things I didn't at least partially like. And I really didn't like The Reluctant Fundamentalist.

The dialogue is boring and unnatural. I didn't care for the characters at all. The story is dull, as is the storytelling. And fairly pointless.  It reminded me, in fact, of the old Monty Python skit where nothing happened, entitled "A Minute Passed."

• A minute passed. Then another. Then, another minute. Then ... another minute passed. Then another minute passed. And another. A further minute passed quickly, followed by another minute, when suddenly, a different minute passed, followed by another different minute. And another. And yet another further different minute. A minute passed.

And still nothing happened.

Unfortunately, as an English teacher, I'm required to read books I wouldn't ever choose to read.  On occasion, of course, this has worked positively for me, and I've discovered something great. But when I start one of my own books I don't like, I don't finish it. A school book, however, must be read to the conclusion. When I have a stack of thirty or more promising books waiting to be read, I almost resent having to waste time finishing soporific texts like this.

This book is one of the most boring I've ever encountered, so even though I finished it, I finally decided not to post the cover. Not everything that goes up here is a recommendation, but it's usually something from which I feel I have gained something.

And yet I am still talking about the book here. And I guess the unusual way in which it's written will influence my writing - (in that I'll never try it because it didn't work for me)

Each their own, I suppose. I noticed Philip Pullman loved it, and stated, "this is more exciting than any thriller I've read for a long time..."

Maybe he hasn't read much else recently.

Trudging Through Slush?

I recently had a couple of people suggest I take up slushreading for a magazine. They told me how much it would help my writing by not only seeing the mistakes that other people make but by seeing how well other people write. They also told me how much it had helped their writing.

I understand what they're saying, but I don't have time to take on slushreading.

As for seeing how well other people write, I do that anyway. I read a phenomenal number of books and subscribe to three or four magazines. And as for the mistakes side of it, well hey - I teach English in high school.

I love my writing, but I'm a little concerned I can't devote enough time to it now - never mind taking on the responsibilities of slushreading. I have the greatest respect for people who are prepared to take on this task - and this is despite the completely inane, childish and unsophisticated comments I've received on stories from a couple of them. (And I must point out it was only a couple of them.)

Also bear in mind that as a writer I'm frustrated by the amount of time some of these markets take to reject a story. I've got one story now at its third market - the first two submissions took eight months each to respond. And as I currently don't have enough time to take slushreading on properly, I'd feel guilty about contributing to delays for some other writer.

Over this current two week period I have around 105 essay to marks, 50 short stories, 50 posters and two novels to read, study and be ready to teach next week. And that's on top of the normal preparation I need to do for my classes. And somewhere in between all that I'm also trying to have a life, write a couple of my own stories, edit a couple more that need it, and research markets and submit.

I think I read enough examples of both good and poor work to more than make up for it.

Ooooh, And The Storm Is Threatening...

Last night I watched storms race across our night sky.  For several hours lightning lit the clouds - about once every thirty seconds.  It was beautiful.

My dogs had a bit of a bark every time the thunder rolled.  One of them because she doesn't like thunder, the other because the first one barked. They kept this up for an hour or two, even after I went to bed.  Fortunately I was so tired that it really didn't matter.

You see, last night the real storm that was brewing was at work.  We had parent-teacher interviews, and although I managed to miss the really bad weather, I went into it wearing all the waterproof gear I could.  I certainly expected a downfall from a couple of parents.

Some of my colleagues were hit full on.  Apparently these days it's the teacher's fault if the student decides not to do any work in class. The child is no longer responsible for his/her own actions (or inactions).  The teacher, however, is fully to blame if the kid fails.

It's interesting how karma always comes around to bite you on the bum.

I teach English - a more interpretive kind of a subject.  I mean, with maths and so on there is usually a right or a wrong answer.  With English, it's more about stating a contention and then having to prove it.

But here's a little clue for you all. There's a science to English that can be expressed in a simple formula.

Not paying attention in class + doing no work = fail.

Hmmm - now that wasn't so hard, was it?

You want to pass - then do the work.  And stop blaming others for your lack of effort.

Tell Me More, Tell Me More.

I'm always concerned when a guest speaker commences with the line, "Well, I'm actually here under false pretenses and you possibly know more about this than I do."

Happened to me on Friday at a seminar I attended in my role as a teacher.  I went along to this particular session hoping to gain an insight into a particular area of study I teach - instead I realised I'm doing fine with it, and that the presenter (who shouldn't have been presenting) is so outside my own experience that she wouldn't cope at my school.  Or while she may, at least her strategies wouldn't.

But one of the other sessions was worth the entry price.  The speaker knew his stuff, was deeply passionate about his work, and offered us valuable techniques and resources that I can certainly adapt and utilise in my own teaching.

Overall these training days that we attend seem mostly to be held for the sake of holding them.  And they aren't cheap either. But the VIT require us to attend a certain number of hours so we can be registered as teachers.  It's a shame that much money and time is wasted.

The muffins and lunch were good though.