Malay College Kuala Kangsar
SAITO Ayaka

Malay College Kuala Kangsar (hereafter referred to as "Malay College"), where I am dispatched, is located in a laid-back town three-hour drive from the capital city Kuala Lumpur. Malay College is a historical boarding school for boys with a total of about 600 students. There are about 120 students in each grade from first graders to fifth graders (equivalent to the first year of junior high school students to the second year of high school students in Japan). Malay College has one local teacher and a Japanese-Language Assistant (hereafter referred to as "Assistant") dispatched by the Japan Foundation as Japanese language teachers.

Assistant’s Duties

Malay College offers Japanese, French, Chinese and Arabic as second languages, and all students are required to choose one of these languages when they enter the college and study it for five years. Japanese is the most popular language. Only the Japanese class has two classes, one taught by a local Japanese teacher and the other taught by me. The main duties of Assistant include teaching Japanese classes, Japanese club activities, preparing questions for examinations, instruction for speech contests, attending staff meetings, and participating in school events.

In addition to our work, we also stand at the school gate every morning to greet the students. This activity has continued since my predecessor. As a result, not only the students taking Japanese language classes, but also many other students at Malay College greet me in Japanese with "Ohayo gozaimasu" (Good morning) and "Konnichiwa" (Hello) whenever we pass each other on campus.

Japanese Language Classes

Extracurricular Activities

In secondary education in Malaysia, especially at Malay College, where all students live in dormitories, from the daily timetable to annual events, everything is scheduled and there are not many opportunities to arrange extracurricular activities on a subject basis. However, there are many school events such as cultural festivals and athletic meets.

An International Language Festival was held in the Department of Second Languages (Japanese, French, Chinese, and Arabic) in November 2019. Foreign language learners in secondary education from all over Malaysia were invited to Malay College, and about 20 schools came. We held language and cultural exchange through various activities, such as by introducing aspects of Japanese culture, via dance, traditional games, and making character bento. When making the character bento, I was impressed by the way the students shared ideas in groups and worked silently to make them. All of the lunchboxes were too good to eat.

The Year in Review

It's been more than a year since I started this job. It has been a very valuable experience to be involved first-hand in secondary education in Malaysia, and to learn through trial and error in that role, and to be able to spend time together with the students and teachers. Looking back over the past year, since I participated in various school events, I was able to interact with students beyond the boundaries of whether they study Japanese language or not. I think it is also important to interact with students who are not taking Japanese language courses. This is partly because we want to expose students who are not taking Japanese to Japan, but more importantly because it is expected to have a positive impact on those who are studying Japanese. Many students who take Japanese courses feel pressured to speak Japanese. On the other hand, students who haven't taken the course don't have such pressure, so they will show off the Japanese they know and talk to us in English. Their presence eases the atmosphere, lowers the hurdle toward Japanese, and in turn, opens the mouths of those studying Japanese. I have encountered that situation many times during this short period of time. I am happy when we are able to talk about Japan and use Japanese language, even just a little, while talking about each other.