The Summer Vacation has begun!

ENTRY

2024.07.23

カテゴリー：ブログ

Hello everyone,

Yesterday was a real scorcher, causing some cases of heat-stroke in Tokyo and the surrounding areas. August is coming soon and the height of summer seems to have arrived. I wonder if it will get any hotter? This week, most of the schools here have begun the summer vacation. My daughter enjoyed the first day of the holidays yesterday. When I was young, we didn’t have much to do during the summer holidays. In Ireland, the vacation is over 2 months long and there is no homework to do. I tell my students at Hario about this and always get the same reply, an envious “ii na!” That’s because it’s much shorter here in Japan and the students are kept busy. This week many of them are taking our extra morning grammar classes. All students also have school homework to do. It’s not too much as long as they do a little every day. I think it’s great to have something to do in the summer holiday to keep up the routine of studying a little every day. Routines are difficult to start again once they get broken. I always had a hard time getting back into the swing of homework after my school holidays ended. Japanese kids keep busy with extra-curricular activities such as radio aerobics, cram school, their school club, and so on. My daughter is going to the radio aerobics with her grandparents at 7AM! My late schedule means that I can barely move at that time, so I’ll pass. Like I said, when I was young, I didn’t have much to do during the summer holidays, so I remember building forts with the sofa cushions and blankets almost every day. These days, kids have Minecraft to build forts and castles, so I think that activity has evolved into the virtual world. However you spend your time, enjoy the vacation!

Alan

昨日は本当に暑かったですね。東京と周辺地域では熱中症の症例も出ているようです。もうすぐ8月がやってきて、夏の最盛期が訪れたようですね。さらに暑くなるのでしょうか？こちらではほとんどの学校が夏休みが始まりました。私の娘も昨日、休暇初日を楽しんでいました。私が子供の頃は夏休み中にすることがあまりありませんでした。アイルランドでは休暇が2か月以上あり、宿題はありませんでした。私はHarioの生徒たちにこれを伝えると、いつも同じ反応を得ます。「いいな！」と羨ましそうに言われるんです。それは日本では夏休みが短いため、生徒たちは忙しく過ごしているからです。今週は多くの生徒が朝の文法クラスを受講しています。また、全ての生徒は学校の宿題もあります。毎日少しずつ取り組めば、それほど負担にはなりません。夏休み中に毎日少し勉強する習慣を保つことは素晴らしいことだと思います。一度習慣が途切れると再開するのは難しいですからね。私は学校の休暇が終わった後、宿題のペースに戻るのがいつも大変でした。日本の子供たちはラジオ体操や塾、部活動などの課外活動で忙しく過ごしています。私の娘は朝7時に祖父母と一緒にラジオ体操に行く予定です！私は遅いスケジュールのため、その時間にはほとんど動けませんが、娘は元気そうです。私が子供の頃は夏休み中にソファのクッションや毛布で要塞を作るのが日課でした。最近の子供たちはMinecraftで要塞や城を作ることができるので、その活動は仮想世界に進化したのかもしれませんね。どのように過ごすにせよ、休暇を楽しんでくださいね