With rhythmic exercises, picture-story shows, finger exercises and more, the Parent-Child class (Oyako Class) gives parents and children a chance to play together and learn Japanese. This class not only teaches necessary information related to parenting, but lets parents meet and make friends with each other. It is also a great
chance for children to make their first friends before going to preschool and kindergarten!

On Friday July 9th, I had the opportunity to attend the Parent-child Japanese class (Oyako Nihongo), a unique class aimed at foreign residents who can attend with their children to learn Japanese.
About 30 minutes into the class, the participants started their “rhythmic exercises.” In this activity, the children and their parents picked out toy steering wheels and ran around the room following the teacher, who would yell out words like “Green! Red! Stop! Go back!” in Japanese. “We make sure to have some physical activities every time” said one of the teachers, and this definitely seemed to be an activity the kids enjoyed.
Throughout the class, I was surprised at just how many activities the teachers had prepared! One minute the kids were watering paper flowers, and the next minute they were learning about animals. With other activities such as “fishing” with magnetized fishing poles, a lively story time, origami, and more, the children were constantly smiling and had no time to be distracted.

While playing together, the kids also had lots of chances to use and learn Japanese vocabulary, such as animal names, colors, and verbs. Since some of the children do not speak much Japanese at home, this “play time” works as a good way to keep up their Japanese language skills while having fun.
During the last 15 minutes of the class, parents were given time to talk with a caregiver about any questions or problems they had in their daily lives. This time was a great chance to exchange information between the parents, as they shared things such as where they liked to take their children to play.

During this time, I also had the chance to hear from the mothers. Nanan Nakamura (Philippines) told me that her formerly shy daughter has gained more self-confidence through this class. Lin Li Chun (Taiwan) told me that her son, now tells her in Japanese, whenever the stoplight turns red or green. Rose Marie Takemura and Janet Nara (Philippines) said that they decided to try out the class together because they wanted their children to have more experience speaking Japanese.
After observing the class and talking to the participants, it was clear that this class had a lot to offer. This class is much more than just teaching Japanese to children, it also provides support for non-Japanese parents and a fun environment for their children to play and build friendships in their community.

On May 14th, I had the opportunity to interview three students studying Japanese at the Foreign Resident Study Support Center after their Friday “Waiwai Class.” For those who don’t know, the Waiwai Class is held Wednesdays and Fridays, and is a conversation-based class that focuses on different themes each week. The class is geared towards foreign residents who already have basic Japanese ability, but from talking to the students it seemed as if the class was inclusive to just about anyone willing to come and learn Japanese. Even from only meeting with three of the students, I could tell that this was a meeting place for people with very diverse backgrounds, with Chin Chiyou coming from China, Paulo Atsushi Matsuoka from Brazil, and Riviana Miyauchi from Indonesia.

First, I asked the three how they decided to take this class, and what they were expecting to learn. There was the unanimous desire to improve their Japanese conversation ability in order to have an easier time communicating in daily life.

Chin had just moved to Hamamatsu from China in January, and I was amazed at her knowledge of Japanese after only studying for such a short time! She said that she wanted to improve her conversation ability so that she could talk with her friends and go shopping.

As for Miyauchi, it was hard for her to find Japanese classes that were convenient for those who did not live in downtown Hamamatsu. With the Study Support Center being only 5 minutes away from her house, these free classes were the perfect solution to satisfy her Japanese studying needs.

In addition to offering a space where students can practice speaking Japanese freely, the Waiwai class regularly brings in guest speakers to talk about topics related to daily life. More so than anything, though, the students said that what they liked most about the Waiwai Class was the atmosphere. Unlike other classes that may pair up the same people each time based on level, the Waiwai Class gives students the chance to talk freely with everyone in the class, which according to Matsuoka, creates an environment where it is very easy to make many different friends.

Miyauchi explained that in the Waiwai Class, she was able to talk about the topics she was interested in in a very relaxed atmosphere. Even though she was studying Japanese, it felt just like enjoying an interesting conversation with good friends.

With students coming from many different countries such as Vietnam, Thailand, Pakistan, Nigeria, the Philippines, China, Peru, Brazil, and Indonesia, it was clear to me that the Waiwai Class was not just an opportunity to study Japanese, but a way to connect with your community and build strong friendships that will continue even after the class is over.

These are some of the participants’ impressions who participated in the “Travel the World – World Festivals (Philippine Bamboo Dance)” class held on the 19th May, 2010.

• It was very fun being able to do the bamboo dance together, and it was easy to understand. Participating in the class made me even more interested.
• Doing the bamboo dance made me realize how great it is.
• It was fun. I wanted to try on the clothes.
• The people that presented the class were lively which made it fun.
• I learnt many new things about the Philippines that I didn’t know before.
• As there is childcare available, I was happy that I could participate in the class even though I have children.

In your opinion, what kind of place is the Foreign Resident Study Support Center?

• It’s fun! (all)
• The teachers are really nice（Miyauchi/Sakurai）
• It’s a place where I can meet people from many different countries.（Takahashi）

Could you make friends in your Japanese class?

• It’s still just my third time so maybe we’re not friends yet, but I know people’s names.（Lin・Miyauchi）
• We are all going to be friends from now on! (all)

What kinds of things can you study in your Japanese class?

• We can have conversations in Japanese.（Sakurai・Lin）
• We can learn daily conversation skills.（Sakurai）
• I think it’s a kind of stress release.（Miyauchi）
• It’s great that we can practice with people from all over the world!（Miyauchi）

What’s something good about having taken classes here?

• They have childcare here so I can relax and learn with my child.（Sakurai）
• I learned about Japanese cultures, customs, and rules that I didn’t know before.（all）
• I learned from hearing the ideas, experiences, and thoughts of the other students.（Takahashi）
• The teachers are very good.（Lin）
  
• There’s lots of information that helps me in my daily life.（all）
  

Is it hard living in Japan？

• I don’t understand Japanese customs, and what they like and don’t like. It’s hard to build relationships with my neighbors.（Sakurai・Miyauchi）
• I’m very grateful that next week there will be a class about how to throw out rubbish. My neighbors haven’t told me anything about this.（Lin・Miyauchi）

When I first heard that there was a culture class called “Hamamatsu Festival,” I thought that it was perfect for me.
After work I always had to go straight home and take my kids to their after school activities, but on that day I asked my mother-in-law to look after the kids, and was able to attend the class.
After actually attending the class, I realized that there were many things that I did not know about the Hamamatsu Festival.
First, setting up a booth at the festival costs about 100 million yen. I thought it was only about 20 or 30 million.
I had no idea that wearing setta (special slippers) was not allowed when doing neri (festival dancing in large groups).

-A conversation with someone next to me-
*We were both speaking different languages..
「Booths cost 100 million yen? That’s a lot」
「100 million yen？」
「Yeah, lots of zeroes 100000000」
「How do people buy them？」
「I guess they get donations from people in their town.」
「They must need to get a lot of donations then.」

Aside from the happi coats, I didn’t own or even know the names of any of the clothing that was worn underneath.
This was the first time I heard that the haragake (apron-like clothing for the festival) was also called a donburi.
「Donburi, koikuchi, setta, momohiki・・・」
Since I know the names now I think I can go buy them.
When asked,”What about setta?” by the shop employee, I remembered what the teacher of the Hamamatsu Festival class told me about them being not allowed when doing neri, so I said with confidence, “I don’t need setta since you can’t wear them when doing neri.” It was as if it was something that I had already known from long before.

I got excited and got matching pairs for my two daughters.
This class was very fun and it seemed like time just flew by.
We even got to hear bugle music and experience the neri dancing. I was completely satisfied with this class, it was really fun.
I definitely would like the Center to have another festival related class.
In case you are already planning on having one, put my name down. I will definitely go.

It was great that I had the chance to talk about myself.

I learned a lot of things that help me in my daily life.

The「Waiwai Class」is a very noisy, fun class!
We learned Japanese through lots of different activities such as going to the Suzuki Plaza and getting on an Entetsu bus. Many volunteers also came to the class such as firefighters and people from Kyorindo Drugstore to explain things to us in Japanese.
You can join the classes at the Center at anytime.
Anyone who wants to study Japanese conversation should come.

Date:April 23 - August 26 (Wednesdays and Fridays) 1:00-2:30pm

I was able to meet new people and make friends.