Inquiry Blog Post #2
Welcome back to my blog!
This week in my journey to prepare myself for my upcoming practicum in Japan I have teamed up with the other practicum student Elissa! Together we learned some Japanese and researched more about Japanese culture and how to be respectful of their culture.
Through our research we learned that Japan is a quieter country than Canada. Unlike public transport here, in Japan it is customary to be silent on public transport. I am a very chatty person and love to strike up a conversation on the bus so that will be something that I will have to be conscious of. We also learned that Japan is more of a collectivist society than Canada which is good to know as teachers. We discussed how we could adapt our teaching styles to fit the needs of our students and how valuable that skill is. To learn more about Japan’s culture we were pointed in the direction of the UVic site for developing “Cultural Intelligence”. https://www.uvic.ca/career-services/build-your-career/using-competencies/cultural-intelligence-competencies/index.php
Along with learning about Japan’s culture, together we learned some new words in Japanese!
(Below you will find a link to the TikTok video we made!)
https://vt.tiktok.com/ZSaWnn6hw
If you are curious about Elissa’s inquiry journey, please feel free to check out her blog:
Thanks for the update. I am glad you are learning a
For me, I only learned about Japanese culture and some phrases from Shôgun (the original series). It took me a long time to understand the different connotations of the word “barbarian,” as that is what the Japanese called the English due to their hygiene practices. Whereas, for the English, the word described the rituals around pride, face, and the brutality of seppuku.
I enjoyed the TikTok, but ran away quickly as it served me up other videos to doom-scroll!
Sorry, forgot to finish the first sentence!
– Sasha, thanks for the update. I am glad you are learning about the cultural part of the land you are journeying to.