Murasakino-Passaic Valley VT Conferencing (May 10th)
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On Thursday, May 10th, 2007, Murasakino High School’s 3rd year English course students gathered together in the Language Lab to participate in a highly anticipated hour-long Video Teleconference with Passaic Valley High School in New Jersey, U.S.A. First, Japanese students watched a short video about high school life at Passaic Valley. Next, Murasakino 3rd year students made presentations on the following topics: School life, Food, Love and marriage, Animation and Dreams.
Students worked in small groups for a few weeks preparing their presentations and were able to successfully talk about their chosen topics, take on roles such as M.C., use visual aides, and ask the American students questions about their own lifestyles, views, ambitions and so on. The students at Passaic Valley High School volunteered individually to enthusiastically answer questions. The overall aim of this project is to enhance cross-cultural awareness between Japanese and American youth.
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Some of the highlights of the event included learning that Passaic Valley has an active Animation Club. Our students were pleased to hear that some American students had watched animation films, and that Manga are becoming more popular throughout bookstores in the States! They were also surprised to see an Animation Club poster on the wall! The American students also said they recognized some pictures of famous Japanese celebrities!
Japanese students shared the results of surveys taken in their class about love and relationships, asking Americans if they think personality, looks or income are important factors when looking for a partner. Towards the end of the hour, many American students shared their goals and dreams with Japanese students. Finally, when asked what impressions they were left with about Japanese students, an American student responded that he had been left with a positive impression about our students and that it was clear our students “are intelligent and had worked hard on their presentations”.
Murasakino High School has been taking part in the Global Collaboration project since 1995, initially working with Blair High School in Pasadena, California, U.S.A. This was the second successful exchange with Passaic Valley High School. It is a wonderful challenge for all students, teachers and assistant language teachers involved each year and everyone takes great pride in preparing for and finally, taking part in the real time cultural exchange.
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