2020 Activity Report

March Activity Report

31 March 2021
Global Japan Office Coordinator
Yagi Haruka

One month has passed since the start of the new school term, and the Japanese Language Program at the University of Belgrade is conducted entirely online by teachers in Serbia. I continue to conduct on-demand classes via video and interactive classes via zoom. Recently, more and more students have commented on class videos, and I am happy to have more opportunities to communicate in Japanese even if it is asynchronous.

Again this month, "book club" and "Tandem study club" were held as extracurricular activities at Belgrade University. The "book club" was held from 19:00 to 20:00 on Sunday, March 7 (Japan Time). There were four participants: two students (freshman) and two teachers. After explaining the rules for multilingual reading, I introduced “Rain”(Level 0) as "Today's recommended book" from NPO Multilingual Reading 'free reading'. There are many Japanese onomatopoeias in this work, but not only the information of the characters, but also the assistance of pictures, narration, and sound effects, so even beginners who started studying Japanese Seemed to understand the story. We then introduced a YouTube channel called 'Tiki's Kitchen Serbian Cuisine'.

This is a channel where Serbs introduce Serbian food in Japanese. (Japanese and English subtitles are also available.) For the students, I think they were able to practice listening to and reading Japanese their understanding about Serbian cuisine which they are used to, while supplementing with their knowledge. After watching the video, I asked students questions such as "When and how do you make this at your home?" and watched several videos while talking. After that, I returned to 'free reading' and read "Oden" (Level 0). We happened to watch many books and videos on Japanese and Serbian cuisine on this day, but students seem to have a great interest in food culture, and I think the theme was easy to understand and speak about.

"Tandem study club " was held in zoom from 19 :00 to 20:30 on Sunday, March 21. The 11 participants included 6 native Japanese speakers (Two TUFS students who previously studied at Belgrade University, one Japanese resident in Serbia, one former teacher, and two teachers), 4 native Serbian speakers (three students from Belgrade University and a Japanese teacher from Karlovsky High School), and 1 native Chinese speaker (the university student, previously studied at University of Belgrade and currently learning).

In the prior questionnaire, we recruited topics that they want to talk about in the tandem club, and selected them as candidates for the vote on the day. As a result, "Amazing things about Japanese and Serbs and what you want to learn from" was selected in the first vote and "Recommended way to study Japanese and Serbian" and "My favorite anime, manga and music" were selected in the second vote.

We set that the first half was for Japanese language and the second half was for Serbian language, and we were divided into breakout rooms consist of four or five persons for chatting. This time, there were people I met for the first time, including first-year students who participated in the tandem event for the first time, so I asked them to introduce themselves first and then talk about the topics. Since there are many Serbian students who have never met a native speaker of Japanese other than a Japanese teacher, I hope this kind of club will be an opportunity for students to experience a variety of Japanese language. Also, in the breakout room where I participated, the topic had developed from the initial topic "Recommended way to study Japanese and Serbian" to the topic "Difficulty in Japanese and Serbian" and I was able to hear some interesting stories. I think that the presence of Japanese and Chinese students studying Serbian will be a good stimulus for students studying Japanese in Serbia.

Recently, vaccination against the novel coronavirus has been promoting in Servia, too. However, the number of infected people is still high every day, and the Serbian government has imposed strict suspension of operations in shopping malls and restaurants. Both Serbia and Japan are in a difficult situation, but we will do our best, devising what we can do now.

February Activity Report

28 February 2021
Global Japan Office Coordinator
Yagi Haruka

The second half of the Japanese language course has started this month. This semester, I did my first grade class through zoom. Until now, interactive classes were conducted in an on-demand format by providing class videos, so interactive classes are still a challenge. At the first zoom class, I introduced myself and played Nagauta shamisen, which is my hobby. In future classes, I would like to include things that I am only able to do because I am in Japan now. The first year students taking this zoom class entered the school after I came back to Japan, so I have never met them face-to-face, but hope they can enjoy studying Japanese a little, even during the covid-19 pandemic. This month, as an extracurricular activity for the Japanese language major, “Tandem Stydy Club” was held from 19 o’clock to 20:30 via Zoom on Sunday, February 14 (Japan Time). A total of 11 people participated, including 6 native Japanese speakers (Two TUFS students who have studied at Belgrade University, one Japanese resident in Serbia, one former teacher, and two teachers), 4 native Serbian speakers (Two students from Belgrade University, a Japanese teacher from Karlovci Grammar School, and a Japanese family in Serbia), and 1 native Chinese speaker (A university student who has studied at Belgrade University and is also studying Japanese.).

We set the first 30 minutes as Japanese time and the second 30 minutes as Serbian time, and performed 4 breakout sessions of 15 minutes each. We used Zoom’s voting feature again to ask participants to choose the topic they wanted to talk about. There were 6 topic candidates: “Recommended Japanese and Serbian study methods” “High school and university life in Serbia and Japan” “What I want to do after the pandemic.” “Memories of Valentine’s Day” “My favorite anime and manga” “free talk”. Of these, “Memories of Valentine’s Day” was selected in the Japanese section and “What I want to do after the pandemic.” in the Serbian section. In the second session for each language, we did not vote and enjoyed free talk.

When we talked about “Memories of Valentine’s Day”, students from one of the groups I participated in told us that it was difficult for the students of TUFS to make “Tomo Chocolate (friends giving each other chocolate)” when they were in junior and senior high school. On the other hand, although there is no custom of celebrating Valentine’s Day in Serbia, Serbian students said they learned there is a Valentine’s Day custom in Japan from Japanese girl’s comics.

Also, when we had a free talk, there was a story about Japanese onomatopoeia in the lines of characters in Japanese anime. Since the participants shared the screen and were able to see the actual Onomatopoeia speaking scenes, I think the other participants had a clearer image and deepened their understanding. At other times, participants actively used screen sharing and chat features to share photos of things in conversations, difficult word spellings, and site links.

At the end of each brief breakout session, participants get together and share what they talked about with each group. This is a short break, but it’s a good way to get to know each other. During this time, another teacher prepares the next break out room, which is necessary for the meeting to proceed.

It has been a year since I came back from Serbia. Over the past year, classes have rapidly moved online around the world, and there have been major changes at the University of Belgrade. In Serbia, vaccinations have started, but the future is uncertain, and teachers in Serbia are continuing to teach online classes. I would like to explore what I can do through online classes and what I can do because I am in Japan.

January Activity Report

31 January 2021
Global Japan Office Coordinator
Yagi Haruka

This month we had a Japanese term-end exam at Belgrade University. This examination was held face-to-face at the university. All the classes so far have been online, so I think the students went to the university for the first time in a long time for this. I am still in Japan and I was involved in the making of the exam, but I had to ask the teachers in Serbia to do the grading work.

This month, too, the only extracurricular activity for the Japanese language major was “Perapera Cafe”. “Perapera Cafe” was held on Saturday, January 30 from 19 o’clock to 20 o’clock (Japan Time) on zoom. A total of 12 people participated, including 6 native Japanese speakers (One TUFS student with experience studying in Belgrade, two JICA related persons, one former faculty member, and two faculty members), 5 native Serbian speakers (Four students from Belgrade University and one Japanese teacher from Karlovci Grammar School), and 1 native Chinese speaker (A university student who studied Japanese at Belgrade University.).

Again, participants were asked to choose the topics they wanted to talk about in Japanese. During the 1st breakout session, the the topic chose from the 5 proposed (“What we would like to do and our goal in 2021” , “New Year’s Day in Serbia, Japan” , “My favorite animal” , “My favorite movies and dramas” , “free talk”) was “What we would like to do and our goal in 2021”. On this day, not only university students and teachers but also members of society from Japan, Serbia, and China participated, and everyone talked about their goals for this year. In the second breakout session, due to time constraints, we did not vote and had a free talk.

At the breakout room, there was an instance where a graduate of our university who is currently working in Serbia and a student from Belgrade who studied at our university until last year talked together. This time, we unexpectedly gathered people with a connection to our university, and they talked about their major language and the difficulties of learning Japanese and Serbian.

Also, a 4th year student from Belgrade who had previously studied at Belgrade University participated in the “Perapera Cafe” this time as well. The student successfully completed the graduation thesis on “Slava” (Orthodox events in Serbia) in Serbia. A Japanese major at the University of Belgrade cooperated in the questionnaire and interview survey for the graduation thesis, and this student sent me the graduation thesis, which I read with great interest.

According to a survey we did afterwards, some students were hesitant to speak because of a time lag caused by Internet problems. However, the student made comments and shared pictures with the chat function, so I think the chat function covered it to some extent.

Classes for the second semester will begin in the middle of next month. Serbia still seems to be struggling with the new coronavirus, and the second semester will be online.

Now, after an emergency return from Serbia and nearly a year into online activities, I am realizing it benefits, but I am still not completely used to them and so, I still hesitate.. We will continue to do our best to try to improve our activities.

December Activity Report

31 December 2020
Global Japan Office Coordinator
Yagi Haruka

As cold weather intensified in December, the new coronavirus continued spreading in Serbia. This month, all classes at the Japanese Language and Literature Department at Belgrade were conducted online. I am in Japan, and I continue to have classes on video.

There was a mid-term exam this month, so “Perapera Cafe” was the only extracurricular activity we conducted.

“Perapera Cafe” was held via zoom on Sunday, December 6 from 19 o’clock to 20 o’clock (Japan Time). The participants were 5 native Japanese speakers (One TUFS student with experience studying in Belgrade, one JICA related person, one former teacher, and two teachers) and 5 native Serbian speakers (Two students from Belgrade University, one Japanese teacher from Karlovci Grammar School, and one university student and one high school student studying Japanese on their own). The self-taught university student who took part in the event saw the announcement of “Perapera Cafe” on the Facebook group of the University of Belgrade’s extracurricular activities, and participated in it. I hope that this kind of online event will help promote learning and keep motivation alive not only among Belgrade University students but also among students studying Japanese in Serbia.

Again, we asked them to choose a topic they want to talk about in the voting function of zoom. As a result, in the 1st Breakout Room, “New Year’s Day in Serbia, Japan” was selected, and in the 2nd Breakout Room, “My favorite anime and manga” and “free talk” were selected equally. In this way, the topic is decided each time, but this is decided as an opportunity for the participants to speak in Japanese, and in fact, various other stories arise from the topic. In my group, we talked about Hatsumode and Osechi in Japan, and the fireworks over the New Year in Serbia, and then we talked about Halloween in Japan and Serbia, beginning with the topic “New Year’s Day in Serbia, Japan”. Some of the participants had never met before, so rather than having a free talk, I hoped that having a topic set would help create a friendlier atmosphere.

This time, high school students who have just started learning Japanese also participated. At the breakout room, Serbian university students connected with the high school students as interpreters. For beginners, participating in “Perapella Cafe” was a valuable opportunity to get a lot of input in Japanese, and for “senior” students who participated as interpreters, it was a good experience where they got to practice both Japanese and Serbian.

I also held a GJO Coordinator Activity Report and Information Exchange Meeting on Thursday, December 17, from 21 o’clock to 23 o’clock (Japan Time). I would like to express my gratitude to the Office of Internationalization and the coordinators who kindly agreed to my proposal.

Among the participants of the day were Ms.Ahn from Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Ms.Takada from Shanghai International Studies University, Ms.Iwasawa from Tamkang University, Mr.Takemori from Leiden University, Mr.Marco from Guanajuato University, Ms. Imai from Yangon University, Mr. Tanaka from the Office of International Affairs, and Yagi from Belgrade University. Mr. Tanaka told us about the GJO’s activity policy, and Yagi acted as a moderator. After the coordinators reported their activities at each site, we had a Q & A session and a free talk session. During the free talk, we could talk in a small group, and we were able to actively exchange opinions.

This time, I heard from the coordinators and learned that their activities and the number of students they deal with vary depending on the location. On the other hand, I also found that the problems that one base has, such as the difficulties in conducting online classes and holding exchange meetings and classes with Japanese students, are actually shared by other bases. Although each environment is different, I think the basic policies of the GJO’s activities are the same. This time, we learned about each other’s current situation for the first time, and I think it was a good opportunity to think about what kind of problems were caused by the pandemic and what kind of solutions were available. We will continue to exchange opinions in order to improve activities at each location.

November Activity Report

5 December 2020
Global Japan Office Coordinator
Yagi Haruka

The new school year started last month, and COVID-19 is spreading again in Serbia, so from this month, even teachers in Serbia will be conducting classes online. I am still in Japan, and so I too am doing my online classes. I didn’t expect online classes to last this long, but as a means for studying Japanese, I hope the students have gained something out of them.

Continuing from last month’s activities, we conducted the “Pera-Pera Cafe”, the “book club” and the “Tandem study club” online this month.

“Pera-Pera Cafe” was held on Sunday, November 15 from 19 o’clock to 20 o’clock (Japan Time) via Zoom. Participants included six native Japanese speakers (two JICA staff, one Japanese resident in Serbia, one former teacher, and two teachers), four native Serbian speakers (three students and a Japanese teacher from Karlovsky High School), and one native Chinese speaker (a university student who previously studied Serbian at Belgrade and is also studying Japanese).

This time, we conducted a preliminary questionnaire and assembled topics we wanted to talk about at the Pera-Pera cafe. Based on this request, we asked the participants to choose from “My favorite anime and manga”, “My favorite movies and dramas”, “My favorite music”, “fun things to do at home”, “buzzword of the year” and “free talk”, using the Zoom voting function. As a result, for the first session, “My favorite anime and manga” was selected, and for the second session, “buzzword of the year” and “free talk” were selected equally.

In the post hoc survey, some people said that the conversations in Japanese were very lively because the students talked about topics that they were familiar with. On the other hand, the students who participated this time were middle and advanced-level students, and all of them had participated before. In the future, I would like to devise my advertising so that more students, including beginners, will participate.

On Saturday, November 21, from 19 o’clock to 20 o’clock (Japan Time), the “Book club” was held via Zoom. This time, only one first-year student and two teachers participated. On the day, we used a website called “Yomimono Ippai (full of reading)” to share the screen and read Japanese books together. At present, it is difficult to travel abroad, but books about Japan’s tourist spots that make you feel as if you were in Japan were popular. Since many pictures were included in these books, I think it was easy for beginners to understand. I hope that reading in Japanese will give the students an opportunity to experience the cultural characteristics of Japan that they wouldn’t have contact with in regular classes. I would like to continue putting effort into advertising so that more students can participate in the future.

The “Tandem study club” was held on Saturday, November 28, from 19 o’clock to 20:30 (Japan Time). Participants included five native Japanese speakers (3 TUFS students who previously studied in Belgrade and two Japanese nationals in Serbia), five native Serbian speakers (three students, one Japanese teacher and one high school student from Karlovsky High School), one native Chinese speaker (a university student studying both Japanese and Serbian), and two teachers.

We set the first half as Japanese time and the second half as Serbian time, and created a breakout room for three or four people to chat. When asked to select a topic to talk about using the Zoom voting function, “My favorite food from Serbia and Japan” and “A Japanese/Serbian town I would like to visit” were chosen. There were some differences in the level of language ability among the participants, but the rules allowed them to mix English, Serbian, and Japanese when they didn’t understand, so I think they were able to enjoy the conversations.

The Tandem Study club was originally a new event that started last year when a student proposed it to me while I was studying at Belgrade University. Before the pandemic, people would gather in a cafe near the university and teach each other’s native languages, Japanese and Serbian. This semester, the session was held online, but I think it will still be a valuable opportunity for our students who have returned from studying abroad to be able to talk with Serbian people while in Japan. On the other hand, students of the University of Belgrade rarely get to speak Japanese with native speakers other than teachers, so I think it is important to create opportunities for conversation in Japanese in order to maintain their motivation for learning. In addition, the Serbian language section is also an opportunity for Serbian students to reconsider their native language.

At the moment, both Serbia and Japan are in difficult situations, in which the future is difficult to foresee. The only thing we can do is to continuing thinking about what can be done despite the situation and move forward little by little.

October Activity Report

31 October 2020
Global Japan Office Coordinator
Yagi Haruka

Hello everyone. My name is Haruka Yagi, and I will be the coordinator for GJO Belgrade from October.

Let me briefly introduce myself. I majored in Japanese (Current School of Japan Studies) at TUFS, and I am currently researching Japanese onomatopoeia at graduate school. During the four years of my undergraduate studies, I studied alongside foreign students, approaching Japanese as a foreign language, and decided to move onto graduate school to further deepen my studies. At TUFS, I was always surrounded by many foreign students from all over the world who were experiencing living in a foreign country while learning a new language, which was what made me also want to be a “foreigner” abroad and teach Japanese.

Since October last year, I have been a guest lecturer at the Department of Japanese Language and Literature within the Faculty of Letters at the University of Belgrade, and assistant coordinator for GJO Belgrade. However, due to the impact of COVID-19, the university closed down in mid-March of this year, and the dormitory of the university where other lecturers lived was also closed, so we had no choice but to return to Japan.

Even now, more than seven months since returning home, I have not been able to go back to Serbia. The infection situation in Serbia temporarily settled down, but recently it has been deteriorating again. In October, the University of Belgrade reopened face-to-face classes for the new academic year, but given the resurgence of the virus, they will be conducted fully online from November for the time being.

This semester, I am teaching my students online from Japan. Because of the time difference, the classes are on-demand and not live. Last year, instructors were not able to use the university’s Moodle, but this year, due in part to the virus, we are permitted to use it, which has broadened the scope of activities we can do in class. In cooperation with Professor Fujimura of the Japanese Language Center for International Students, we have also introduced a Japanese e-learning tool “JPLANG” this month. JPLANG comes with Serbian translations, so we hope it will encourage students to self-study, especially anyone who is still a beginner. As for online teaching methods, we are still going through a lot of trial and error, but I am glad that the system is moving forward compared to this spring when we had no experience of teaching online.

In addition, as extracurricular activities for the Japanese language majors, the “Book Club” and “Pera-Pera Cafe” were held online, continuing from September.

The Book Club was held on Sunday, October 4 from 18 o’clock to 19 o’clock (Japan Time) via Zoom. There were five participants on the day, including one new first-year student, one Japanese teacher from a Serbian high school, one former GJO Belgrade teacher, and two faculty members. The only student who participated this time had visited the Book Club also in September. This time, I used the free readings that were published on the NPO Tadoku Supporters website. I shared my screen and we read through some Japanese books and talked about topics related to them.

According to the questionnaire filled out by the members, the two participants from Serbia enjoyed the meeting as an opportunity to speak Japanese with native speakers. However, I think we need to make further efforts to encourage more students to participate.

Pera-Pera Cafe was held on Saturday, October 17 from 18 o’clock to 19 o’clock (Japan Time) via Zoom. The participants consisted of nine Japanese (students from TUFS who studied at Belgrade University last year, people who taught Japanese at a high school in Serbia through JICA, and Japanese nationals living in Serbia, etc.), six Serbian students and one Chinese (a university student who previously studied Serbian at Belgrade and who can speak Japanese). In the breakout rooms, we were divided into groups of three or four and had conversations in Japanese. Topics discussed were selected using the Zoom voting function, and in the first breakout session we talked about “My favorite sightseeing spot in Serbia and Japan, or somewhere I would like to visit” and in the second session we talked freely.

According to another questionnaire filled out by the participants, it seemed to have been difficult at times to hear what people were saying depending on their internet connection, but they managed to communicate using the chat function. In addition, because first-year students who had just started studying Japanese also took part in this event, we had to deal with the level differences amongst students. By using English and Serbian as well as Japanese, we made it possible for beginners to participate in conversations too. One of the advantages of online communication is that you can see and talk to each other in real time, despite being so far apart.

Both classes and extracurricular activities are now conducted online, so it is difficult to do things as they were before the pandemic, but I believe there are some benefits unique to online learning. We will continue our efforts to improve our activities next month.

September Activity Report

30 September 2020
Global Japan Office Coordinator
Amari Mino

In September in Serbia, you can feel Autumn gradually approaching. Unlike Japan, the climate of Serbia mostly follows the hours of sunlight. So, after the Autumnal Equinox Day in September, it changes to fall.

This report marks the end of my two-year history of GJO activities in Serbia. Although I have been very active through the years, I was not good at keeping you updated through my reports because I tend to move from one activity to another without keeping records. I would like to express my sincere gratitude and apologies to those who patiently waited for my reports, even though they were always late. It is not the end of GJO Belgrade, but just the end of my term. Please rest assured that Haruka Yagi will take over as the next coordinator, and although they may be online, club activities will be held actively almost every week.

◆The best birthday present

It was on my birthday in 2018 that Satoru Hanazono, who was a teacher in my study group, said to me, “Would you be interested in going to Belgrade University in Serbia to teach Japanese?” I am a believer in fate, and so even though I had little time to prepare for the new academic year staring on October 1, I immediately replied, “Yes, I would love to!” You may think that this was an irrational judgment, but this is my personality and my way of life. My basic attitude is to respond to people who need me and to take on things that only I can do. I’m indecisive, but when I make a quick decision, I’m almost impulsive. That’s how I decided to go to Serbia.

Of course, not everything went smoothly. Although I said that I would go, I was actually too poor to even travel to Serbia. (I had to pay for my own travel expenses.) The airfare was not cheap as the departure date was approaching. But strangely, even though I didn’t ask for it, someone helped me out and I was able to pay the airfare without any trouble. This is nothing but fate telling me to go to Serbia.

Serbia (former Yugoslavia), however, was considered a dangerous area back in 1996, while I was on a rail trip from Shanghai to London. I remembered the news of the conflict in those days. It was an imprint of biased reporting, but there was still fear within me. So, actually, before I got on the Polish Airlines flight to Warsaw, I was very nervous and was crying. However, the moment I landed in Poland, I remembered my first trip there a quarter of a century ago, when I was moved by how pro-Japan everyone was. My uneasy feelings were gone. It only takes 1 hour and 40 minutes from Warsaw to Belgrade. I stayed overnight at a hotel in Warsaw, and the next day, feeling fresh, I took off for Belgrade.

From then on, time passed like an arrow. Everything I saw and felt was refreshing. As soon as I arrived in Serbia, they opened the ‘Pera-Pera café’ which allowed me to meet some of the students before classes began. And I immediately fell in love with them. The students admired Japan, and their devotion towards the country exceeded that of the Polish. Nothing makes me happier than being with people that appreciate me. I did experience some minor problems at first, as anyone would when moving to a new country, but my Serbian life started as a truly wonderful birthday present.

◆The power to discover positive aspects and similarities

If I have any special skill, it is the ability to discover good aspects of others and similarities they have with me. I never dislike something because it is different from what I know. When I went to Serbia, I had moved 29 times and lived in 18 places, so you could say this is how I tackle life. From a young age, I grew up in a multicultural society, and I was raised to accept all types of food, even insect dishes. So, when I was in Serbia, I ate only Serbian food. The local people are never wrong in their tastes, and what they recommend is always delicious and cheap. I can’t compare the taste of Serbian food to that of Japanese food, but I instantly fell in love with it. It is easy to satisfy a simple person like me.

When I was assigned to the 1st grade students, the entrance examination method was slightly different only that year, and the very popular Japanese language course attracted more than 80 students. The classroom was only big enough for about 36 people, but students took my class sitting on the floor. I used to be a nursery school teacher, and in Japan, I taught Japanese to children with overseas connections (like myself), so about 80 university students were not too hard to handle. In my opinion, 80 college students are equivalent to 2 three-year-olds. Up until then, I had taken care of 4 or so children all at the same time, so I had no trouble with 80 or so university students.

I gradually found the good aspects of Serbian students and how they were similar to the Japanese (I mean, like me). It’s easy to point at things that are wrong or different, but the opposite is a bit tricky. But as long as you know the trick, you’ll probably enjoy going anywhere in the world. In fact, I have never had a bad experience abroad.

◆Fun “exchange diaries”

The official quota for each grade is 60. In reality though, there are more students registered, and there are also some students who failed the previous year, so when in charge of 4 grades at the same time, there are a lot of students to take care of. Of course, I don’t do everything by myself, but I do organize all of my classes and check the assignments by myself. How do you develop deep relationships with each student in this kind of situation?

Surprisingly, it came naturally. Originally, at the Japanese language department of the University of Belgrade, there was a tradition to give “diary writing” as assignments. Diaries are not so important in the Japanese language education, because the style of writing can become monotonous. But is it really so?

I love talking to people, and of course, I love writing letters. As I read the students’ diaries and commented my honest thoughts, experiences, and my personal matters while sometimes mixing in jokes, the students began to write more and more, beyond the scope of a normal diary. From romantic encounters to hot dates to sad farewells… In the end, my replies were longer than the amount the students had written. This is the world of exchange diaries.

This is a huge amount of work. I read the students’ diaries at night and got up early in the morning and kept writing replies. It wasn’t tiring for me, it was really fun. I don’t know if all the students were happy with my comments, but there were some students who submitted their work saying things like “Last night, I was up until 4 o’clock writing my diary!” so there is no doubt that there were students who were very enthusiastic about it. Of course, there were some students who once in a while complained that they couldn’t understand the Japanese I was writing to them in. This was intentional, as I had read the Japanese of each student and estimated their level of the language, and replied to them using a slightly higher level. When I told them they should re-read my comments in a year, and that they will surely we able to understand everything by then, the students seemed so motivated.

I don’t know if this would be feasible in other countries. Serbians just love to talk. They tend to disclose their privacy to those who open up to them. Also, they have their own opinions and express them very clearly. I think such national characteristics contributed to the success of the exchange diaries.

I learned a lot from the students in their diaries. I think about 90% of my knowledge of Serbia and the Balkans was taught to me through them. Most of all, it was fun! (In fact, even after my term as a coordinator expires, I will continue to have classes on Zoom every week with volunteer students. They will mostly be time for chatting, rather than actual classes. )

◆Language is a great window to the world

What is a language? Why do you want to learn a language? Why is Japanese the most popular language, especially since it has little practical use in Serbia? (It goes without saying that English is the most necessary.)

Because people want to know more about the world they are interested in. To be able to get along with people from that country. Other reasons are secondary.

In fact, even after returning home temporarily from Serbia (I was never able to return to Serbia during my term), I still enjoyed learning Serbian. I naturally continue to use it to communicate with Serbian students and acquaintances as closely as possible. I think the motivation for learning a language naturally increases when you are interested in the other person. I really appreciate the Serbian people who have given me such a desire to communicate.

◆And finally

Looking back, I can’t say that my classes were the best, but I can assure you that my experience in Serbia has been invaluable to my life. If Serbia disappeared from my memory, at least 20% of my heart would disappear. Serbia is now firmly part of my identity.

I would like to thank all of those involved who gave me this opportunity, and all of those who accepted and helped me with my overly carefree classes and club activities. You all gave me experiences that made me feel so grateful to be alive, and I will cherish these memories forever. I look forward to seeing you again in person some day.

Thank you very much for the wonderful “birthday present”!

August Activity Report

31 August 2020
Global Japan Office Coordinator
Amari Mino

This year’s Serbian summer, I have heard, is a little more wet and humid than usual. When I asked a foreign exchange student who was planning on returning to Serbia from Japan in August about his impression of Japan’s climate, he said, “Summer and winter are both hell in Japan.” Indeed, it is much easier to live in Serbia than in Japan. It is only when you live in a new environment that you understand the characteristics of your old habitat.

In Serbia, August is the month for summer holidays just like in Japan, so naturally, the University of Belgrade does not have any special activities during this period. But this year, with the support of TUFS, we have created an environment in which we can engage in a variety of remote activities, connecting Japan and Serbia. At the end of August, an experimental online meeting was held with students from TUFS wishing to study at the University of Belgrade, students returning from studying in Serbia, and Japanese language instructors from the University of Belgrade (although they have temporarily returned to Japan). We had a great time, so we’re excited about our online club activities, which we’re planning to start in September. Haruka Yagi, who will be my successor as a new GJO coordinator from October, has taken the initiative in planning these online club activities. I would like to exert every effort to ensure that the bridge between Serbia and Japan continues to stand strong, regardless of pandemic or any other circumstances.

◆Serbian exchange students returning from Japan

About 10 students from Serbia study abroad every year using scholarships. Having had to temporarily return to Japan in March and having been unable to return to Serbia since then, I decided to make active contact with students from Serbia, seeing this as a new opportunity. However, under the declaration of a state of emergency, I was not been able to meet these exchange students in person. After the declaration lifted, though, I had the opportunity to go to TUFS almost every week from the beginning of July, so I was able to spend a lot of time with the students studying at TUFS.

Now, most of the students were due to return to Serbia around the end of August. Since the pandemic, students studying at TUFS were apparently living hermit-like lifestyles. The students were not living in the dormitory but in apartments. Up until now, the number of Serbian students studying at TUFS has been small, and so they have little knowledge of how to rent or return an apartment room. Therefore, I decided to support the students by limiting their points in various procedures for returning home, while of course respecting their autonomy. (There are just under 200 Serbs in Japan, and the number of Japanese in Serbia is about the same.)

I don’t like to simply do procedures on behalf of my students. I wanted them to be able to actually experience the complicated procedures that exist in Japan by themselves. So I supported them by showing them how certain things are done beside them, so that my students could copy me and learn from there. Many students told me that I sound happy when talking to the person in charge over the phone. I guess it is a part of my talkative personality, but to some extent, it can be said that it is also part of the Japanese culture. Also, very polite “keigo” is often used during real-time procedures over the phone, which was a hurdle for many of the Serbian students. However, everything gets easier once you get used to it. By following my examples, the students gradually started to be able to take procedures over the phone, and in the end, they could do it by themselves. However, due to a sudden change in policy by the Japanese government, the number of international flights suddenly decreased, and the departure dates had to be changed last minute. In such urgent cases, I consulted with the landlords and the real estate agents so that the students could rent their rooms for a day longer, and in addition, went through the procedures related to lighting and heating expenses all over again. Still, I think the Serbian students learned a great deal about the way contracts are handled in Serbia and Japan, so they will surely be able to do it by themselves the next time they come to Japan to study. The procedures needed at banks and other financial institutions were also challenging, but everything should be in place now. In this way, unlike textbooks, the ability to use the Japanese language flexibly in response to the needs of the real world is one of the best aspects of studying abroad, although it is a lot of work.

The hardest thing about helping the students return to Serbia was organizing their luggage. In particular, I was going to send books to Serbia by international mail, but when the post office told me “It will reach the border of Serbia, but it will not be delivered within Serbia,” I was at a loss what to do. My students and I were also asked “Are you sending it to Siberia?” to which we responded with a bitter laugh. The students were able to experience firsthand in Japan what I have always said in my classes in Serbia, “Serbia is not really known in Japan yet.” I wish Japanese people would quickly realize the strong affection Serbian people have for Japan and learn more about Serbia.

In the end, due to the last-minute cancellations, the two foreign students who were originally scheduled to return on different days returned on the same flight on the same day. The procedures were troublesome, but it was rather reassuring because they went through it together. In fact, at Narita Airport, we were also joined by another government-sponsored Serbian student who had studied at Hokkaido University as a Japanese researcher. Eventually, the three students from Serbia were able to return to Serbia on the same flight, and I was finally reassured when seeing them off.

On that day, a total of 6 people, myself, my older sister, a senior Serbian student studying at a graduate school in Japan, two of my Japanese peers, and a former internship student in Serbia (not from TUFS), gathered to help with the move. We were able to use two cars, one to send students to Narita Airport, and the other to keep various things including oversized garbage that could not be disposed of and to throw them out later. The Serbs’ biggest asset is their network of people. It was a form of success in Japan as well, and it was very encouraging.

Two Japanese accompanied us to see the students off at the airport. To say goodbye, I kissed the exchange students three times on the cheek while hugging them. In Serbia, this is the most affectionate greeting. When I had to return to Japan from Serbia in a hurry, I was not able to show my gratitude through this greeting. By kissing the students from Serbia three times, I was able to put an end to the feeling that I had returned to Japan half-heartedly, and at the same time, I pledged my eternal friendship with Serbia.

In fact, during August, for about three days a week, and I traveled two hours one way from my home to meet with the Serbian students. We weren’t always cleaning up, but we talked in Japanese for more than 10 hours from lunch until just before the last train and went looking for souvenirs together. This kind of heart-to-heart communication was very enjoyable and will surely become a lifelong treasure.

As you can see, August was a busy but very fulfilling month.

I also had the opportunity to talk online with some, but not all, of the exchange students who were studying at other universities that I didn’t get to meet in person. I was able to hear their thoughts about studying abroad. I think it is wonderful that these students brought back many precious memories and experiences to Serbia. Of course, the influence of COVID-19 during their study abroad was immense. What impressed me most was that the students did not turn their backs on themselves, but rather gained a positive experience in Japan. What happened can’t be helped. But you can find a way even in troublesome situations, and I think this positive Serbian attitude was at its best in these difficult times.

I was supposed to welcome the students’ return in Serbia. However, this changed to seeing them off from Japan, and I was able to get a glimpse of their lives and listen to their thoughts while they were actually in Japan. By chance, the pandemic changed my point of view, and it gave me a lot of new awareness.

Serbian exchange students, I would like to say well done. And thank you for your many opinions and impressions! I would definitely like to visit Serbia again and study with you again if possible. In fact, I even have a desire to spend the rest of my life in Serbia. I was able to witness the beauty of Serbia through all of you. I am looking forward to seeing you again!

July Activity Report

31 July 2020
Global Japan Office Coordinator
Amari Mino

When all of the chaos surrounding COVID-19 began, I thought that the Japanese lecturers from Tokyo University of Foreign Studies (TUFS), including myself, working at the Faculty of Letters at the University of Belgrade, would have been able to return to Serbia by July at the latest, but that was unfortunately not the case. I suppose that all we can do is believe that there is a light at the end of this tunnel. While I was unable to physically be in Serbia, I did everything possible to stay connected with my students. Even when the summer holidays began in mid-July, I continued to study with the Japanese-loving students of Belgrade University. At the same time, I was able to meet and talk with the many foreign exchange students from Belgrade who came to study at TUFS in July. Through these activities, I have come to realize a lot of things about providing a university experience while staying online, which I would like to share with you today.

◆Serbia and digital teaching

As many of you must already be aware of, the impact of COVID-19 on universities is immense.

From a teacher’s point of view, I have a few thoughts on the matter gained through my work with students in Serbia, connected using digital means, and my experience with Serbian students studying in Japan.

But first, here’s a random question. Have you ever kissed someone on the cheek?

Serbians love cheek kissing. It is a common practice, done when one greets and parts from another.

In fact, Serbians don’t necessarily kiss on the cheek, but they often make a sound with their mouths while imitating a kiss, but if you are really close to someone, or if you feel that you had a very good time even with someone after being with them even for 30 minutes, you can start with a kiss on the left cheek, then on the right cheek, and once again on the left cheek: three kisses in total depending on the situation. I have also had a fourth kiss from the front, but that was probably just because he had one too many drinks.

In any case, this is the daily life of the Serbs. I’m a big fan of cheek kisses, and have experienced it hundreds of times while in Serbia. Although many Japanese, even those who love Serbia and have studied there can never get used to this custom, I love it! Perhaps because I grew up in a culture with hugs and cheek kisses when I was a child.

Now we must consider, how do Serbs, who have grown up in such a high-contact culture, feel about COVID-19?

As for me, when I had to leave Serbia in March, I was very disappointed that I was unable to kiss anyone goodbye. It was an extremely regretful feeling I had for days.

When I ask students in Serbia and students from Serbia who are studying in Japan about studying in a digital classroom is, the most frequent answer I get is “It’s lonely because I can’t meet my friends.” Although unfortunately I haven’t heard anyone talking about the loneliness of not being able to see their teacher, it is very difficult for me as a teacher to be apart from my students.

I think that the university society is a platform for human relationships, such as friends, and it is this platform that makes it possible for a university to exist. In other words, if you have a strong foundation of human relationships, you can probably have an enjoyable and meaningful university life, no matter the format of your classes.

In fact, thousands of Serbians teach English conversation to Japanese people online from Serbia. Serbian English conversation teachers are popular because their English is easy to understand for Japanese, and above all, their mentality is similar. From what I’ve heard, every year some of them end up marrying their Japanese students. In this case, the digital format is not a barrier, but rather what made the relationship possible in the first place.

Now, back to the topic. I returned to Japan temporarily in March. Since then, until the beginning of July, I gave lessons to students at Belgrade University almost exclusively from home. So, first of all, I would like to tell you about my thoughts on teaching from Japan to Serbia.

The physical distance from Japan to Serbia is roughly 10,000 kilometers, but the Internet gives the impression of it being much further. One-to-one voice calls are fine, but with Zoom, even one-to-one calls can be interrupted by internet connection, depending on where the student lives.So, it was unthinkable to have Zoom online classes with more than one student in real time. I assume that even though there were mentions of “online classes” (including on-demand classes) at the university, there were very few in reality. In the end, most of the students were just assigned books to read and homework to hand in by email.

As a result, students were left with a lot of assignments without taking any actual classes. I imagined how tough that would be, so I offered my classes on-demand, and the assignments were submitted via email and uploads, just like in my regular classes. Of course, whether they watched the class or not, wasn’t reflected in their grades or attendance. We used multiple methods, such as Dropbox, Google Drive, Loom, Google Classroom, and others, to create audio-only files, so that students could not only watch but also listen to the classes in one way or another, but there was no guarantee that all of the students would be able to access them. I don’t know who saw them, but when I looked at the viewing statistics, there were about 450 accesses, so there were definitely those who used the content. In addition, some of the classes were open to “friends” via Facebook so that I could receive feedback on my classes. The University of Belgrade itself provided no support whatsoever, and the individual teacher was free to do everything in their classes.

In any case, I have tried to find a way to make the classes work, relying on the narrow digital ties from Japan to Serbia, but what is painful is the lack of feedback from students. Usually, I am able to share space and time with the students, making it possible to adjust small details by looking at the changes in the students’ facial expressions.Making time for jokes and fun was also difficult, especially until May. In on-demand classes, because it is difficult to connect with the students in real time, I made some unofficial announcements and material unrelated to class so that the students and I could keep our peace of mind.

Official classes at Belgrade ended in mid-May, and things changed a lot after that.

When I was in Serbia, I often applied to teach for extracurricular lessons. I think I spent almost as much time as regular classes or more for extracurricular classes and club activities. I was finally able to do that after the official classes ended. After all, during the official classes, I wasn’t able to handle any more than I already had on my plate.

After I was able to organize extra classes entirely by inviting only volunteer students, I planned my classes according to the students’ wishes, either as a one-on-one real-time online class or just as some chatting time. It was really a lot of fun. Serbian students love to talk. Many just go to cafes to chit-chat whenever there’s any spare time. I think I was able to transfer that atmosphere into my online sessions. Not many students take the time to attend extra classes during their holidays, so I was able to get to know more about each student too. You don’t even have to ask them questions, Serbian students will talk to you about anything. They talk about their families, the ancient history of Serbia, their hobbies, their girlfriends or boyfriends, their own networks of students that teachers don’t usually get to be a part of, and so on. I think the sessions were not stressful at all for the students, as they could talk about whatever they wanted in Japanese, and in my case, they were allowed to speak a mixture of English and Serbian with me. I also love talking about myself, so it was very enjoyable. Now I see… This is why so many Serbian online English conversation teachers (many students in the Japanese language department also do this part-time) marry Japanese people through their English one-on-one classes. I was also surprised that there were many outstanding students in the extracurricular classes who wanted to be given homework. It was fun even for me to come up with and give out homework with a twist.

Starting in July, I was able to go directly to Tokyo University of Foreign Studies almost every week, which gave me a regular opportunity to meet students studying at TUFS from Belgrade. From here on out, I would like to share with you the opinions I have gathered from the Serbian students.

When these students came to Japan, COVID-19 had not yet spread, so they enjoyed the experience of studying abroad in the first half of the year. I think it was good that they made friends in Japan before the pandemic hit. However, the difficulty of physically meeting their friends took a considerable emotional toll on the Serbian students. There were times when they couldn’t even see their friends or go out to eat together, let alone giving them a kiss on the cheek.

However, there was a difference depending on the environment that the students lived in. I heard that the students living in the dormitories, for example, were not lonely at all as they shared a room, and that there were no problems because they could meet other foreign students in the common rooms. JLC TUFS students were not allowed to live in the dorms in the school year of 2019, so during when the pandemic worsened, they were unable to meet the friends they had made in Japan. After all, nothing beats in-person interaction.

There were many positive opinions about the online classes they took in Japan. Among them was the opinion that they preferred online classes because they wouldn’t get nervous as the teacher was not in front of them. When I asked them a rather nasty question, “Then why don’t you take your online classes with your classmates in the same room without your teacher?” they replied with a typically Serbian dark humor, “That would be the best!”

Many of the students seemed to want to express their opinions on their classes, and told me about what kind of classes they enjoyed taking. The most enjoyable class was, as they put it, “a class that didn’t feel like a foreign language class.” They said, “If the class feels like a foreign language class, it’s just normal. There’s nothing exciting about it.” Many of the students from Serbia have high levels of Japanese, so the content of the class is what they appreciate most. I would like to keep writing more specifically about the students’ opinions, but let me share one last important message from the students: “It doesn’t matter if the class is difficult, but it does if there are too many assignments.” There were some students who lost a lot of sleep, or who were caught up in too many online classes and assignments in their digital lives, that it disrupted their sleep cycles and caused them to have to sleep during the day while staying awake all night. There has to be a good balance in the students’ lives, especially when everything is conducted online. There was even a student whose face had become thin and pale, and who told me, “After everything went online, it felt like I was living in hell…” I was relieved to know such students were able to meet and talk to me about their problems on a regular basis so that at least I could help them in feeling less like “hell”. The thing is, Serbians tend not to rely on others, and put up with whatever is troubling them. I feel that this is a case in which the pride of Serbians has gone in the wrong direction, and the Serbs themselves are aware of this, but it cannot be helped because it is a national characteristic. I keenly felt the need for people who understand this trait of the Serbs to provide appropriate support for the students.

As it is said, the future of the world is steering toward digitalization. Through trial and error, and understanding in others’ cultures, I hope that everyone can study happily and enjoy the benefits of digital technology.

May Activity Report

31 May 2020
Global Japan Office Coordinator
Amari Mino

What and how should people think in the face of an unprecedented crisis? In particular, this May of 2020 I spent many days worrying, suffering, and trying to execute what we as educators can do in times like these. In the First World War, 1 in 5 or 1 in 4 Serbs died, and I believe that Serbia, which has recovered from half of its adult male population being killed at war, will be able to overcome this virus. However I fear that this COVID-19 crisis may present Serbia with equal or greater difficulties. During these difficult times it is important to continue supporting each other so that we never lose hope.

◆Interested in teaching Japanese in Serbia?

Not only in Serbia but all over the world, as well as at Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, people are in difficult situations. However, there is no point in feeling defeated forever. The crisis will come to an end someday. There is always a light at the end of the tunnel. So, looking ahead to the future, I would like to talk to you about the joy, the wonder, and some of the difficulties of teaching Japanese in Serbia, so that you may want to try it yourself one day.

As Japanese language educators, most people may want to gain experience overseas at least once. Fortunately, Japanese is studied in almost every country in the world and there are many enthusiastic learners out there. It’s a very strange language. Even though it is used only in Japan, it is spoken by more than 100 million people. At the same time, a huge and mysterious culture and society exists together with the language. This is almost a miracle from the point of view of foreign countries.

Especially in Central and Eastern Europe, many students admire Japan. There exists an astonishing number of pro-Japan countries, including Poland, which holds the largest number of government-sponsored exchange students going to Japan in the world. Among other Central and Eastern European countries, Serbia stands out the most. Unfortunately, it seems that there are still many cases where Serbia’s existence and location is not well recognized by the people of Japan. Some Japanese even have the misconception that Serbs are “scary”, due to the media’s portrayal of the country during the Yugoslavia split. However, the number of Serbs studying in Japan is no less than the number of Polish students per capita. With a population of only about 7 million people, we cannot say that the number of people studying Japanese is very large in absolute terms. More importantly, the number of Japanese living in Serbia was only 177 as of June 2019. Even so, in 2019 at a high school specializing in languages here in Belgrade, the Japanese course was ranked most popular of all other existing courses. That year, only 1 in 4 students passed the entrance exam. Even in universities, the Chinese and Japanese departments are always the most popular.

But why is there so much interest in Japan? One reason may be the fact that Japan has provided enormous financial aid to Serbia since the end of the Civil War, but I don’t think the real reason is as shallow.

As a matter of fact, I learned in Serbia through communicating with students, that there is a similarity in the spirit between the Serbs and the Japanese. This means that there are parallels between aspects in culture, as well historical background.

There’s not much more I can discuss here, but when you actually become friends with Serbs, you really understand the similarities in mentality. Serbs believe their ancestors are wolves. And “Bushido”, as we say in Japan, dwells in their souls. This doesn’t mean that Serbs are necessarily aggressive people. In my daily life, I have never seen fights on the streets, and you can see how everyone is always helping each other out. If there is a person who is in trouble, help is always offered in Serbia. I feel that the spirit of hospitality is even stronger than that of Japan.

In Serbia’s oldest calendar, more than 7000 years have already passed. The name of a strong Serbian tribal chief who lived in India at the time remains as an adjective in ancient Sanskrit. The Serbian Orthodox Church is predominant throughout most of the country, but in fact, within the Orthodox Church, in my opinion, is an exquisite preservation of Serbia’s religious views and cultural traditions from ancient times.

There is a saying, “Serbs don’t care.” but they never say anything hurtful to someone like me who has a complex gender identity. They accept things as they are. It’s not that this is case because it’s Europe, because even now when I meet other Westerners, I still get asked persistently, ” Are you a man or a woman?”, and I am always reminded of the thoughtfulness of the Serbs.

I hear that Serbia has experienced about 200 wars in the past 1500 years, and Belgrade has been reduced to ashes about 70 times, rebuilt each time. Again, I feel there is a parallel in historical background between Serbia and Japan, which has also shown perseverance in reconstructing itself after terrible natural disasters.

What about the language? In fact, you could say that Serbian and Japanese are the complete opposite. In Serbian, there are many words that consist only of consonants. In some words, there are not only 3 or 4 consonants, but more than 6 consonants and no vowels. Coming from a vowel-centered phonological culture, Serbians who hear Japanese, which is phonologically consonant based, nearly always say this: “I was fascinated by the beauty of the language’s sound.” The reverse is also true. For Japanese, the more they get hooked on Serbian, the more attractive it feels and sounds to them. Actually, Serbian pronunciation is not so difficult. Since consonant sequences make up most of the language, you don’t need to be able to pronounce many vowels. So the vowels “A,I,U,E,O” are almost exactly the same as in Japanese. Moreover, the character system is fairly simple. If you read as it is written, you will be understood, and you can write exactly what you hear and it will most likely be correct. At first, Cyrillic characters may worry you, but there are only about 30 of them. It’s much easier than learning Hiragana, and the sound is much more direct than pronouncing Hiragana. Many people say that Serbian is too difficult, and I can’t deny the grammar certainly is (since even Serbians say so), but the thing is, “Serbs don’t care.” No matter how much a foreigner speaks Serbian with wrong grammar, Serbians would never make fun of them or repetitively correct their mistakes. They are always warm and welcoming, and will teach you with a smile on their faces. It’s a very easy going environment, as you never have to be cautious of making mistakes.

Actually, Japanese people are shy when they learn a language, especially when they have to speak it in public. It’s the same for students in the Japanese language department at Belgrade University. It’s a Japanese language course where the best people are gathered. Serbs have a lot of pride, and they don’t like making mistakes and embarrassing themselves in front of classmates they aren’t close with. That’s why they seem to be shy to Japanese people. However, when surrounded by close friends or teachers, the students become avid Japanese learners, never shy. When you understand these kinds of Serbian characteristics, you will soon figure out how to help Serbs learn Japanese.

There’s nothing better than teaching someone who loves your language and culture. You just have to respond to love with love. It comes naturally. When you do this, you will receive the same affection, or even more. I firmly believe that nothing makes me happier than helping the compassionate and loyal Serbs learn their favorite language. The connections and memories you make here are those to treasure for life.

When I arrived in Serbia, the first sensation I had was nostalgia. When I showed my sister a picture of Serbia, she said she felt the same way. My older sister was born in the 1950s and I was born in the 1960s. Serbia still vividly retains the good old nostalgia and beauty of the Showa era.

Of course, Serbia faces many of the problems that Japan had to deal with at that time, but this is inevitable. Japanese government agencies and companies are now working with the Serbs on environmental issues and recycling projects. I always think that the combination of Serbia and Japan, while seemingly unspectacular, is the best.

Well, have I convinced you all to join me in teaching Japanese in Serbia? You could work at universities and also high schools. If you are qualified to teach, and felt something while reading this, please come to Serbia. You won’t regret it!

April Activity Report

30 April 2020
Global Japan Office Coordinator
Amari Mino

Serbia is really beautiful around April and May. Unfortunately, this year, due to COVID-19, a strict curfew has been enforced throughout the country. But the Serbs won’t give up. They seem to be enjoying spring more than usual because they can enjoy only it for a little bit at a time. There is no doubt that the Serbs, who have a strong spirit and never lose hope, will eventually regain their happy and beautiful days.

◆The Essence of “Class”

I don’t mean to make a big argument here, but the coronavirus that has locked the world down has posed a big challenge to the world of education. It is impossible to discuss the whole world in the same way, so based on my experiences in Serbia, I would like to report a little on how I am tackling this issue.

The first coronavirus-related change implemented at the University of Belgrade had minimal impact. University authorities only asked that teachers “try to avoid classroom activities as much as possible”, and left the actual response up to each individual teacher. At that time, people were optimistic that the disaster would pass in half a month. So the general plan of the Japanese language department was “for the time being, let’s give students something they can do at home in the form of homework and assignments, and when the university opens, let’s hold tests to confirm they studied.” So the first thing I did was ask them to email me their assignments. But in Serbia, this is pretty hard. Imagine that. Some students don’t have cellphone reception once they go back to their family homes. And the internet, apart from universities, doesn’t always exist in a typical home. Almost every student has a mobile phone (a smartphone in Japanese), but sometimes they don’t have a tablet or computer. Having a printer is rare (we usually have things printed at a photocopier). So, actually, it is surprisingly difficult to submit an assignment. After all, if a teacher is particular about handwriting, the basic submission method is to write your answers in a notebook or on a piece of paper, and take a picture with your smartphone to send by email. There is also no environment in which teachers can correct these photos sufficiently. In this case, the minimum response is to just check the submission, look at the content, make a general comment, and distribute the answers.

From the beginning, I thought that such a method was not equal to a “class”. It’s a stopgap measure. But I closed my eyes to this fact, as it was only supposed to be temporary.

But things got worse and worse. Closed borders, locked down cities, strict curfews. The streets and hospitals were under military and police surveillance. The official statement was, “declaration of emergency”, but it became, in fact, “martial law”. A student who was visiting their partner in a neighboring country can no longer return to Serbia. Of course, they didn’t bring any textbooks with them. As the closure of the dormitory was decided so suddenly, no one could not carry enough luggage and had to leave most things where they were. All the textbooks and teaching materials were too heavy to bring. In modern terms, the situation is like, “I had to evacuate with just my smartphone.” I imagine that this is essentially different from Japan’s advanced information society. Not only the information network, but also the transportation network and the distribution network are unfortunately at a level that cannot be compared with Japan at present. There is no such thing as “why don’t you send it by courier from a nearby convenience store?”. And it’s a society where even e-books are not officially sold online at all. That is the state of my beloved Serbia.

The University of Belgrade has a two-semester system, and the second semester runs from mid-February to mid-May. By mid-March, the ravages of the coronavirus were visible to everyone, forcing the university to close down, at least until the end of June. In other words, this semester, classes using the university buildings are no longer possible.

Now, all the teachers are faced with the harsh reality of how to continue their “classes”. The Ministry of Education requires a weekly report on how alternative classes are being conducted. Teachers can never rest in peace. Teachers at the University of Belgrade, the country’s highest institution, have the important responsibility of continuing to provide students with quality opportunities to learn.

As for me, when it was decided that the dormitory would be closed down, I decided to return to Japan with my colleagues temporarily because I strongly felt that it would no longer be possible for a Japanese person that gets ill easily like myself to continue to burden the health care system of Serbia. We had less than 12 hours to decide and leave.

The style of each class is very different depending on the teacher, especially at a university level. In a sense, each teacher’s personality is shown through their classes. My personality is “freedom”. I introduce and teach whatever is necessary without being bound by textbooks. The most important thing is knowing how to keep in touch with each student. In any case, there is only one class per grade, and the number of students is from 60 to 80. There are more on the list. The class will be continue to revolve around grammar translation as usual. However, I strive to “let students learn real live Japanese”. It’s not good to teach Japanese like you would teach Latin.

I’ve been struggling in this kind of extreme environment for over a year. With the advice I received when I left Japan, “you should experiment with all kinds of things”, I have been searching for the best way to support my students. And I’ve been successful to some extent. I have my methods.

But now, everything has been reset. I had to plan the classes all over again. You can’t just do them in the same way.

So I kept thinking, “what is the essence of my class in the first place?”. Even on the plane leaving Serbia, I stayed awake thinking about this.

I wrote that my own personal essence is “freedom” but what is this freedom for? Is it the freedom to hold classes how I want to? I don’t think so. I’m free to take any steps to provide a good environment to support my students’ learning. I’m free to disregard the grading system and the ease of managing students.

And the essence of my class that came out of this was “personalization.” That’s where I go from top to bottom. People don’t remember things that have nothing to do with them, because they’re not interested. When you’re listening to someone, it’s easier to remember when they’re talking about something that you’re really interested in. Personalization of teachers and students. I apply this to my classes, homework and assignments. It may seem to be the exact opposite of a textbook designed for generalization, but it’s not. I am not “teach by the textbook” type of teacher. However, I do “teach with a textbook”. Therefore, it is possible to personalize as many textbooks as I like. But what’s more, I was given a liberating degree of freedom at the University of Belgrade, so I was able to move away from the world of textbooks.

I put these ideas together on the plane and decided to put them into practice. First of all, I made my own “broadcasting station”. The process of my escape to Japan was recorded as an audio file and distributed to students. After I arrived in Japan, I was able to use videos, so my broadcasting gradually became a lump of my personality. Of course, the creators are always trying to improve their Japanese, but other students who heard my “broadcast” said, “it’s like a midnight broadcast.”. I won’t explain it deeply, but I was convinced that it was a good metaphor. So I started to invite guests to my midnight broadcast. However, in Japan, I was sick in bed with a serious infectious disease right after I returned home. My sister, who took care of me, was always my guest at the “broadcast” made from my sickbed.

I also held regular classes. I ignored all the existing online classes and tried to create my own style from scratch. In offline digital classes, I was able to do the same things that we did in real classrooms, and I was able to take advantage of our digital freedom to incorporate things that we couldn’t do before. I make sure to review my lesson plans at least five times. If I find something really interesting, I send it to students. I also made a review version and improved it based on opinions from the general public.

Also, in my class, students submit their diaries and essays as homework. I used to like diaries. When I was in elementary school, I exchanged diaries with my teacher almost every day, and this is the origin of my love for diaries. “The thrill of reading the teacher’s reply”. I want my students to enjoy it. So my replies to their diaries and essays are extremely long. Of course, I revise their Japanese carefully, but I put more emphasis on what they have actually written. I also write a reply in Japanese based on my own experiences and thoughts that is slightly more difficult than the student’s Japanese level. When I first went digital, I wrote back in the body of my emails, but when I realized that my sister’s old tablet had great pen input capabilities, I borrowed it and wrote back in PDF files using “digital handwriting”. It doesn’t have to be handwritten, but I’m an old soul. I think that writing things by hand, even digitally, is soulful.

So, my digital class is still going through trial and error. Students also sometimes send us diaries and essays via video and audio files. It’s a big thing that happens once in a lifetime. I’ve been encouraging students to add a “survival journal”. And I always tell my students loudly and continuously to “maintain hope”. My mission is to help keep the hope alive for students who enter the university to improve their Japanese.