help please

[3xadpp]

hello. i have a little problem and wanted to ask some advice. there is a language school in my town, where everyone can go teach other people and i'm going to teach there Japanese. and my first student is one of my teacher's so he's older than me about... 40 years, so i don't really know how to teach him and i don't know where to start to teach Japanese. so does anybody have any tips?? please..

[daraconn3460]

First tip: the most important key to successful teaching is preparation. You may (at first) need to spend more time preparing the class than the duration of the class itself!

You must be clear about the intended outcomes of the class (what the student will know at the end of the class that they didn't know at the start). The more you plan the class and prepare the materials, the more confident you will feel about being in the unfamiliar role of "teacher".

Second tip: don't try to teach too much in one class. The amount of new material your students can take in in one class is limited. Especially if they are new to Japanese and the sounds are unfamiliar. Japanese words and phrases can seem very complicated and hard to remember when you are new to the language. 10 (or less) minutes worth of new material, reinforced with repetition, different media (seeing and hearing and speaking).

If the class is longer than about 40 minutes, I suggest you devote any additional time to Japanese culture. A discussion of some interesting aspect of Japanese life such as the o-Bon festival, food, coming of age ceremonies, popular TV shows, something that's in the news in Japan - whatever they (and you) might find interesting. Or tell them something "about" the language, such as how people use polite or humble forms. Or show them how simple kanji combine to make more complex kanji.

You should give them homework to reinforce the lesson. This can be as simple as a single photocopied sheet of the phrases they've learned, with blanks for them to fill in. Most kana learning will take place at home, rather than in class.

After each lesson, they should feel they have achieved something and made some progress; that they understand or can say something now that they couldn't at the start.

If you are well-prepared, you will be confident and you will not worry about the "strange" situation of teaching your teacher. He is there to learn, and he will be quite happy for you to teach him.