13 Chapter 13 - Club Activities

Kate joins the junior high school girls' soccer practices, and realizes how different club activities are in Japan compared to Canada. 

Download PDF SCRIPT & GLOSSARY Chapter 13

Slow Eigo is an English learning project specially designed for comfortable, immersive learning, and built on the understanding that people learn best when they feel relaxed, connected, and motivated to try.

Your creator and host, Anne Roop-Takata, holds a Master’s degree in Education and has over 30 years of experience in teaching and curriculum development, including 20 years supporting Japanese students of all ages and learning goals.(See bio for more details)

Slow Eigoは、心地よく英語の世界に入り込みながら学べるように特別に設計された英語学習プロジェクトです。人は、リラックスし、つながりを感じ、やってみようという気持ちがあるときに最もよく学べるという考えに基づいています。

制作者兼ホストのアン・ループ・タカタは、教育学の修士号を持ち、30年以上にわたり英語教育とカリキュラム開発に携わってきました。そのうち20年間は、さまざまな年齢や学習目的を持つ日本人学習者をサポートしてきました。（詳しくはプロフィールをご覧ください）

Thank you for hanging out with us at Slow Eigo. Keep listening, keep learning. 

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Transcript

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Slow Ego Audio reader. Book one stories from an A LT in Japan, part two, settling in chapter 13 Club activities. It's been three weeks since I started my new job as an A LT. So far, things have been going really well. The teachers and the students have been very welcoming, and I enjoy being in the classroom. Fortunately, no one teased me about falling asleep in the assembly. On the first day, maybe no one noticed. I spent three days a week at the junior high school. And one day a week at each of the two elementary schools, after school, and sometimes on Saturdays. I joined the Junior High Girls soccer club. For practices. To be honest, I'm a little blown away by the club activities or BSU as they are called in Japanese. This is very different from high school club activities in Canada. I was surprised to learn that in Japan, almost all students join a club. And they usually stay with the same club for their entire time in both junior and senior high school. I was also surprised at how often they practice in Canada there are a lot of clubs and teams to choose from, but participation is optional. We can join several clubs. Or none at all. Sports are organized by season. In the fall and spring we usually play outdoor sports while in the winter we move indoors. This means it's possible to be on a few different sports teams throughout the year. As for me, I was pretty serious about soccer. So I played on the competitive team every fall and spring in the winter. I changed it up by playing different intramural sports. The competitive teams represent the school in the local and provincial competitions. Students must try out for the teams and only the best players make the team. These teams practice a lot and often travel for games and tournaments. However, there are also lots of intramural sports that anyone can join. These are fun and friendly games between teams in the same school or sometimes with intramural teams from nearby schools in the winter. I played intramural volleyball, basketball, and badminton. Intramural sports are a great way to stay active without the pressure of serious competition. It was fun. I should add. There were also many non-sports club activities like robotics, drama, music, film, math, chess, you name it. Each club has a different level of commitment, so it is possible to join several. I joined the debate club one year and the photography club another year here in Japan. I'm really enjoying practicing with the girls soccer team. It's keeping me in shape, but best of all is the wonderful team spirit and support the girls have for each other. I feel like part of the team, and it's heartwarming. Even though the approaches are different, it's clear that club activities play an important role in students' lives everywhere.