Some of the residents in Narita has been explaining to me how they wish they could draw a face better, so with a lot of help from the lovely managers of Narita, I did my very first workshop in Japanese.

I was afraid that no one would sign up for it because of reasons such as “bad timing, wrong date for the workshop”, etc. Fortunately residents from the house signed up, and turn up for the workshop.

It was nerve wrecking and at the same time exciting to prepare for this workshop. As I had materials all ready for the workshop within days, it was the workshop agenda and time table that I needed to work on. I had a clear basic mind of how the class is going to flow, I had no clue what I would say in the very moment while I explain each segment of the class.

Just for the workshop, I went to Yachiyo Regional Library to have a look at their art books. Was a great way to get some fresh air, as it is 15 - 20 minutes bicycle ride away. I strolled over to the library, so it took a lot longer than 20 minutes.

As I am not a book person, I tried my best with the help of google translate to refresh my memory and learn Japanese at the same time. One page can take me 20 minutes to read, and probably a day to register everything I learn in my head.

Talking about faces in conversations can be very easy for some people. I went ahead to teach the class with my very basic knowledge of simple words like the following:

口、目、眉毛、まつ毛、鼻、耳、頭、髪の毛、顎　and ほほ骨

Trust me when I say that I only learn about the words “chin” and “cheekbones” just a few days before the workshop. I thought this was enough, I was terribly mistaken.
There was much to learn, to explain smaller details:

はえぎわ、うわまぶた、 輪郭、顔の骨格　and so much more.

I had a lot of struggle with the usage of words due to my very limited vocabulary in Japanese, thankfully the students in the class were enthusiastic and ask questions whenever they are unclear of what I said.

I learn that using simple Japanese could be good enough for the class, as there were others with different understanding level of Japanese.

I didn’t go to a proper language school to study these things, I’m self taught, etc.
Nevertheless, was a great learning experience for me. In the next blog post I will show more details of how the class went.

I hope you enjoy this post!

Date posted :

2019.12.11

Poster :

yesyesmonorail