Early interest in Japanese leads to teaching abroad

Jennifer Challenger with students in Japan

Jennifer Challenger with some of the junior high students she taught in Japan.

“I always wanted to learn languages, ever since I was a kid. This is embarrassing, but I used to pretend I could speak Spanish. I’d watch Telemundo and be like, ‘Oh, I understand.’ I just really liked the sound of it. Maybe it was because my parents both spoke a different language. They speak French Patois because they’re from the West Indies, Dominica.

“Then I started to develop this interest in Japanese. Originally, I liked the video games. Then I became interested in the cartoons, the anime and manga. But what I think really made me decide to commit was listening to the music. I had a lot of favorite Japanese musical artists, and I wanted to be able to understand what they were singing. So I studied Japanese at UT, including a year abroad in Japan.”

She moved to Japan following graduation, and taught English to junior high students and adult women.

“Working with the women one-on-one was pretty cool, but teaching the junior high kids took a lot of getting used to. Honestly, I didn’t like teaching. I care about helping people reach their goals, but I just didn’t think I was a very good teacher.

“I was a shy, kind of nervous person. So it was hard for me to go up to someone and ask questions, especially if I didn’t know the person. But I made myself do it. I just forced myself. There’s that thing that says the more you do something, the more you get used to it, and the less scary or difficult it becomes. So I made it a habit every day to find some kid who I’d never talked to before and go talk to him.

“When I first got to the school I was thinking, ‘Why am I here? I don’t even like kids that much.’ But by the end of my second year I was like, ‘My babies. I’m going to miss my babies.’”

— Jennifer Challenger

Related:

You may also like...

Add a comment