Print
E-mail
Comment
Rate
Turner teacher at home in both French, Japanese
 |
| Staff photo by Ashley Rhodebeck Four-year Turner High School teacher Erica Boston stands in her French classroom beside an Eiffel Tower some middle school students made. At its base sits a Hello Kitty trinket representing her Japanese background, but Boston teaches that language in the smaller distance-learning room, in which she communicates with teens from throughout the state. |
By Ashley Rhodebeck
Daily News staff writer
Erica Boston has lived 10 minutes away from the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France, and 45 minutes away from Tokyo, Japan.
Now, however, she balances her time between two classrooms in Beloit Turner High School teaching French and Japanese - languages many teens are neglecting as Spanish gains popularity.
A handmade replica of the Eiffel Tower sat at the wall opposite a wipe-off board filled with French vocabulary, such as dire (to say) and écrire (to write), in Boston's French classroom Monday, but books written in Japanese and folders labeled Japanese I and Japanese III mingled with similar materials in French on her desk.
Just as the 28-year old entwines her French and Japanese background in her physical space, she often mixes the languages during class.
“You use the same words a lot, like open your books” Boston said, noting her students - except for one who takes both languages - usually don't catch on.
Few Turner students take Japanese - five are in level one and seven are in level two - but Boston is able to meet the minimum class size, 10, because she instructs students near Madison, Green Bay and Milwaukee through distance learning.
Thus, the Japanese classes meet in a room filled with four TVs and desks equipped with microphones so the non-Turner students can watch, listen to and interact with the Beloit class.
Because Japanese involves learning three alphabets - two phonetic and one pictorial, which has more than 2,000 characters - Boston teaches those students at a slower pace than those learning one of the Romantic languages.
The pace surprises students, she said, but the kids in Japanese really want to learn it whereas some in the French classes take it because they need a foreign language credit.
Although Boston grew up with a mother who taught French at Beloit Turner and she attended a French preschool in Janesville, Boston said learning foreign languages was difficult because she's more of a book learner.
“I think the reason I stuck with it was because it was the hardest for me,” she said.
Boston began formal French instruction in the eighth grade and, two years later, attended Japanese classes at Beloit College with her mother. They spent the following summer in Japan.
In college, Boston focused on international studies at Northwestern University and continued her foreign language courses because she intended to pursue a career in business. She studied in France for her junior year and returned to Japan for a year after college to teach English.
Learning Japanese and French concurrently wasn't too difficult because they were so different, Boston said, but she noted she was far from fluent the first time she traveled overseas. To truly learn a language, she said, people must live in a country where it is spoken and not be afraid to make a few mistakes.
“Living in a foreign country is like making a fool of yourself every day,” she said.
Choosing which is her favorite - French or Japanese - isn't clear cut for Boston. She preferred Japanese culture, but after living in Japan for 15 months Boston said she could never live there permanently because, despite the crowded cities, she lived there feeling lonely.
“The only friends I made were people who wanted to learn English,” she said.
Plus, she said, its citizens disrespect the land - for example, they pour concrete over their rivers - whereas Paris isn't even a city to Boston. “It's like a work of art,” she said.
Now, however, she balances her time between two classrooms in Beloit Turner High School teaching French and Japanese - languages many teens are neglecting as Spanish gains popularity.
A handmade replica of the Eiffel Tower sat at the wall opposite a wipe-off board filled with French vocabulary, such as dire (to say) and écrire (to write), in Boston's French classroom Monday, but books written in Japanese and folders labeled Japanese I and Japanese III mingled with similar materials in French on her desk.
Just as the 28-year old entwines her French and Japanese background in her physical space, she often mixes the languages during class.
“You use the same words a lot, like open your books” Boston said, noting her students - except for one who takes both languages - usually don't catch on.
Few Turner students take Japanese - five are in level one and seven are in level two - but Boston is able to meet the minimum class size, 10, because she instructs students near Madison, Green Bay and Milwaukee through distance learning.
Thus, the Japanese classes meet in a room filled with four TVs and desks equipped with microphones so the non-Turner students can watch, listen to and interact with the Beloit class.
Because Japanese involves learning three alphabets - two phonetic and one pictorial, which has more than 2,000 characters - Boston teaches those students at a slower pace than those learning one of the Romantic languages.
The pace surprises students, she said, but the kids in Japanese really want to learn it whereas some in the French classes take it because they need a foreign language credit.
Although Boston grew up with a mother who taught French at Beloit Turner and she attended a French preschool in Janesville, Boston said learning foreign languages was difficult because she's more of a book learner.
“I think the reason I stuck with it was because it was the hardest for me,” she said.
Boston began formal French instruction in the eighth grade and, two years later, attended Japanese classes at Beloit College with her mother. They spent the following summer in Japan.
In college, Boston focused on international studies at Northwestern University and continued her foreign language courses because she intended to pursue a career in business. She studied in France for her junior year and returned to Japan for a year after college to teach English.
Learning Japanese and French concurrently wasn't too difficult because they were so different, Boston said, but she noted she was far from fluent the first time she traveled overseas. To truly learn a language, she said, people must live in a country where it is spoken and not be afraid to make a few mistakes.
“Living in a foreign country is like making a fool of yourself every day,” she said.
Choosing which is her favorite - French or Japanese - isn't clear cut for Boston. She preferred Japanese culture, but after living in Japan for 15 months Boston said she could never live there permanently because, despite the crowded cities, she lived there feeling lonely.
“The only friends I made were people who wanted to learn English,” she said.
Plus, she said, its citizens disrespect the land - for example, they pour concrete over their rivers - whereas Paris isn't even a city to Boston. “It's like a work of art,” she said.
 |
 |
|
| Oh, brrrrrrrr!! | Evansville might get wind farm |
Article Rating
Reader Comments
The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of beloitdailynews.com.
Submit a Comment
Login below to post your comment. |
Not yet a member? Use the form below to register. |
