'Bunka-sai' - Cultural Festival

The Cultural Festival falls at the end of October this year. Again, it all depends but it looks like it’s gonna be a bit earlier than usual. In fact, the actual Bank Holiday named after it is Culture Day which falls on 3rd November this year. With the JHS, students usually have to practice their scales and perform in a choir vs. other different classes or sometimes not. Think Sister Act teen version without the habits and you’ll get my drift. It’s quite thrilling to see and somewhat moving. No wonder the Japanese invented karaoke. They love to sing. Other performances were hip-hop dancing, Taiko drumming and stand-up comedy all performed by the students.

CLT

The buzz word at the mo is CLT which stands for Communicative Language Teaching. Many already apply this teaching approach without actually knowing it. CLT, in short, is a communicative approach that maximizes interaction. It is a response to ALM Audio-Lingual Method and seen as an extension to notional-functional syllabus. ALM restricts itself by having just one answer. Whereas CLT allows flexibility and tries to achieve the notion that is the context in which people communicate and function, the purpose, of the language. Like any other teaching approach, it has its limitations and critics. But what is important is to apply its merits and thus to enhance learners’ competence.