Konnichiwa!! KDU College Penang recently welcomed 13 students from Japan who were on their inaugural visit to Penang on 28th March 2011 to participate in the KDU Holiday English Course. All thirteen of the students were housed with host families from different backgrounds and nationalities. The students came for two reasons: first, to explore Penang, a world heritage site, and to attend a three-day English Holiday course at KDU College.
To boost their language skills, the class started off with an ice-breaking session filled with games and fun-filled language activities to get to know their friends and the college. The session kicked off with “Action Pack”, a simple game using animal movements to identify every member of their group. The ice-breaker brought about good group dynamics, laughter and great fun! “Mingo” was the next activity and ‘Mingo’ created so much buzz that at the end of the activity, the Japanese students and facilitators not only got to know each other better but barriers and hostility among them were dissolved, and learning was ready to take place… From then, the Japanese students took learning English Language into their stride and were exposed to all four core components of the language i.e. speaking, listening, reading and writing through songs, newspapers, role-plays& more interactive games and activities.
In addition to grooming these students into fluent speakers, they were also treated to a visit to the Batik Factory whereby they experience the techniques and processes involved in making ‘hand-drawn’ batik. According to Jasamine Ooi, Academic Department Head for Centre for English Language said, “This Holiday English programme gives participants a chance to learn through site visits as well as encourage cultural exchange.”
On the second day of the programme, students were thrilled to visit historical sites located in Georgetown. They were also treated to a trishaw ride as it is the best way to see and explore the city. There was a lot of Snap! Snap! Snap! as our Japanese tried to capture every part of Penang with their digital camera…Then the popular clique ‘Shop till you drop!’ surfaced… no matter the race, culture or religion…everyone loves to shop, including our Japanese guests. To end the day’s exploration around ‘Streets of Harmony’ Penang, our guests were brought to shop and dine at Little India, famous for Indian specialties like jewelry, spices, accessories & food! Our young Japanese guests were delighted with the ‘roti canai’ and ‘vadai’ that were served with hot refreshing ‘teh tarik’. According to our one of our youngest Japanese participant, Joey, “Roti canai is simply delicious!’
After a long day in the sun, our Japanese participants returned to watch a drama presentation performed by our very own International students enrolled in the Intensive English course. The Japanese students laughed their heart out watching the antics of our Intensive English students and they hoped that one day they can return to Penang and be part of the show!
As always…all good things must come to an end…and soon it was day three... By then the students were extremely at ease with the English Language and were trying their best to use it to communicate with their teachers and facilitators as well as friends. Sessions like “Cut Tech” which used the newspaper as a source of teaching and learning, ‘Role-Playing in English’ and ‘Going On A Holiday’, were conducted to enhance their language proficiency. Their imagination and creativity were exploited in the last few sessions with us. Our Japanese participants were no longer shy with the English Language, on the contrary, they were enthusiastic and were able to mingle with even our International students, interacting with them using simple English. At the end of the day, our 13 Japanese participants were beaming with smiles. Contacts were exchanged and a tea party was organized to bid our Japanese guests farewell... Upon leaving they said ‘Thank you” ’and we replied ‘Do itashi mashite’. It was indeed an enjoyable and fruitful 3 days for THEM and US.
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