Is Silence Golden? I Think Not.

I think this is the quietest I’ve been each day since I was in 1st Grade. Each report card from 1st grade used to have a comment about how I was doing well in school but didn’t talk very much. My parents were puzzled because at home they had a hard time getting me to shut up. My family used to call me “Yacky Jackie” – pretty great nickname, huh? I’m not sure why I didn’t talk much at school back then, but as most of you have experienced, it didn’t turn out to be a lasting problem!

Here in Japan, though, I’m pretty silent most of my day at school. I talk when I’m in the classroom, as that’s what I’m here for, but that’s only two to four 50 minute periods a day. The majority of my day consists of sitting in the teachers’ room, listening to the teachers talking in Japanese and laughing around me, wondering what’s going on.

This is a sharp contrast to my days at the WF, where I was almost constantly conversing with co-workers or clients. I’d spend my days typing and chattering away to whoever happened to be on the phone, in my cubicle, or within listening distance from my cubicle. (Probably to the annoyance of others within listening distance from my cubicle!) I’d talk while eating lunch at my desk or I’d go out to lunch with friends to get the latest news, happily a part of millions of conversations.

I do have occasional interactions throughout the day but the frequency and duration of these interactions are nothing compared to what I’m used to. On a usual day, Kyoto-sensei usually stops by a few times to make comments, my English teachers will chat with me to plan our next lesson and in the halls on the way to and from class, I’ll greet students while walking through the halls, and one or two students may stop by my desk after lunch to chat for a few minutes. I’d say that totals 10 minutes of non-classroom conversation per school day (at most).

Mondays I get in more conversation time because I eat lunch in the classroom with the students. When eating with class 2-1, I’m able to get in one or two questions or comments while the students quickly shovel in their lunches and try to avoid eye contact with me. Class 2-5 is a bit more outgoing though and they’ll ask questions and talk with me more. There are also two girls that always talk to me after lunch. At the end of the day, I’ll usually stay an extra 30 minutes to an hour, both so the English teachers have time to plan the next week’s lesson and with me and also to converse with the art teacher, who has great English. Those 30 minutes to an hour isn’t the conversation time though, for most of that, I’m waiting for the teachers to get back from meetings or other duties.

Wednesdays are also a bit different as there’s another ALT who works at my school. It’s nice to have someone to talk to all day, kind of. I like her a lot, but she doesn’t have anyone to talk to during the day the rest of the week, so it can be hard to get a word in. I’m also afraid it’s annoying to the rest of the teachers, either because they can’t understand all the English or because they can… I’m a bit torn about it because all the talking gets to be a bit much, but when she’s reading a book or over on the internet, it’s a bit lonely!

Luckily there are more opportunities for conversation after the work day is over. I’ll often talk on the phone or meet up with other ALTs in the evenings and weekends and now I have a language partner that I meet with a few times a week. Her English is almost perfect, so we spend most of the time talking in English, although she does try to get me to practice my Japanese too. Apparently these interactions aren’t quite enough for “Yacky Jackie” though… I’m talking to myself more and more when I’m alone in my apartment... At least I don't reply...yet.