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1. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star  

(Transcript by Alissa)

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 1. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

 

-Guys this is gonna be the beginning of a beautiful podcast. We’re not playing

-Actually we are playing.

 

music ♪

 

-My name is Ben I’m from Australia 

-What city in Australia are you from? 

-The second largest city

-Melbourne

-Good guess!  I’m from Melbourne the best city in Australia and probably the world. 

-Whoa whoa, hold on hold on…  I’ve never been to Melbourne

-Sad

-You don’t live there any more

-No.  But I still have a special place in my heart for my hometown.

-You love your hometown.

-I do!

-I do too.

-Thank you

-I love my hometown.

-Vancouver is a beautiful city also

-Yes Vancouver Canada baby~

-There are three cities I’ve really enjoyed living in and they are Melbourne Vancouver and Sendai.

-You have lived in my country and I have lived in your country.

-Yeah, it’s like sharing a bed with a good friend.

-No

-No?

-Not really.

-You know my smell and I know how you smell

-I understand your background a little bit

-and you understand my background

-When I first went to Austrarlia, I was 19 years old.

-So young

-Yes, how old were you when you went to Canada?

-20

-okay

-Yeah I had my 21st birthday in Canada.

-Tell me Ben How long have you been teaching English

-I’ve been teaching English for 13 years.  It’s been a beautiful 13 years and

I enjoyed teaching English in Japan and Australia

-Wow so you taught English in Japan and Australia

-That’s right!

-I started my English teaching career in Japan, and I continued in Melbourne at an international school, and now I’m back in Japan teaching again.

-Awesome!  Tell me, how old were you when you started teaching English? 

-I was 23…  yes, and my philosophy has a special name 

-Your philosophy…

-Yeah my teaching philosophy.  My idea of how to teach well

-Okay well please tell me what is it?

-How would you make a word if you join education and entertainment

-Entercation?

-No

-Edutainment

-Yes

-I guessed it in just my second try

-See? I’m a good teacher.

-so your teaching philosophy is Edutainment.

-Edutainment

-Awesome!

-It rolls off the tongue

-I love it!

-I think most of the people who are tuning in to this podcast, they already know who I am

-Sure they know Abe.  The free bird

-That’s right.

-The Abe Kaiwa.  The Gogo god.  The master of a microphone

-Yes I’ve been podcasting for four and a half years already, but our podcast, Yoshi and I, GoGo AbeKaiwa,

-yes

-is half in Japanese

-sure

-so of course it’s specifically for Japanese English learners

-That’s right.

-Now you and me Ben baby Ben.  Benny baby

-We don’t speak that Japanese

-No, yeah, we are doing a 100% English program

-That’s right!

-so this is a different kind of podcast where it’s two native speakers

-Two teachers

-Two teachers talking natural edutainment

-Natural edutainment

-People from vancouver are called vancouverites.  What are people from Melbourne called?

-People from Melbourne are called Melbournians unless you ask somebody from Sydney. 

-Sydney is the cap...No it’s not the capital!

-No Abe It’s not the capital

-But it’s the biggest city

-How dare you

-It’s the most famous city

-I’m gonna be sick...

The most famous city I suppose… and it has a bridge, it has an Opera House,

but the people there are brain dead zombies with no culture

-and do they call you Mebournians?

-They call us Mebournians on a good day, but usually they call us fucksticks or dickheads

-so Sydney and Melbourne have a big rivalry

That’s right a rivalry… a strange tense relationship

-Perhaps it’s the same in Canada.

-Sure

-Vancouver and Toronto

-Yeah

-In America it’s Los Angels and New York

-Right

-In Japan it’s Osaka and Tokyo

-Yes I think it depends on your point of view

-East versus West!!

-In my opinion if you’re from a land locked city, you automatically lose

-so you think cities that aren’t on the ocean are like crappy like not good cities? 

-Because I’m from a city on the ocean like most Australian cities, I can’t imagine living in a city where I can’t access a beach

-so beaches are very important to you?

-sure to all Australians.  Beach culture is a huge part of our life

-oh Tronto is on a like… a shore line but it’s not the ocean

-it’s a very big lake

-not good enough?

-not good enough

-I agree

-In the end it’s a confined trapped body of water

-it’s a shitty lake

-it’s a shitty…

-Let’s be fair

-sure

-it’s a great lake

-It’s one of the great lakes… so that… those huge lakes in that area

lake Michigan, lake Erie…

-right

-lake superior… anyway there is like five of them

it’s a huge huge lake

-yeah

-and people from Toronto like to think that it’s just as good as an ocean

-sure… they’re wrong

-yeah they’re completely wrong

-there’s nothing fresh about a lake

-well actually there is because lakes have fresh water whereas oceans have salt water

-well okay…  you got me

-there is at least one thing fresh about a lake.  and that’s the fresh water.  Fresh water means, you know, water with no salt in it

-right… well, when I say “fresh” I mean water that’s circulating around the world moving around the world…  the mystery of the ocean… the depth

-so the ocean for you is very special

-yeah I feel at peace.  I feel relaxed and I feel when I’m at the beach and looking at the ocean, in someway I feel connected to the rest of the world

-Ben, how often do you go to the beach?

-in Sendai? in Japan?

-well yeah I mean we live about maybe 8km away from the beach

-in summer…?

-How often do you go there Mr. beach man?

-in summer ahh when it’s not raining?

-When was the last time you went to the beach?

-Two weeks ago

-Bull shit

-I did

-Did you?

-yes okay.  I haven’t been to the beach for a long time.  it’s the rainy season sometimes in sendai, which is something we don’t have in Melbourne

-Well, not “sometimes”.  It’s the rainy season once a year.  It comes every year

-sometimes it feels like there is no summer.  When the rainy season is too long

-anyway, we’re in the middle of rainy season now

-yes, yeah.  It’s not the best time to go to the beach

-and speaking of Sendai, we live in a city called Sendai, Japan.

-That’s right.  In Miyagi prefecture

-It’s a beautiful place.  It’s a special part of Japan.  Where the mountains and forests grow…

-Mountains don’t grow

-Don’t they?

-not really

-but mountains are a special thing for me.  It’s one of the reasons I love Japan, and why I loved your country, because in Australia we don’t have big mountains

-You love looking at mountains

-Yes just looking at a mountain is enough to make me feel excited…  trees, monkeys…  It’s something you can’t understand because you take mountains for granted. 

-you know, I do like mountains…

-sure

-but not as much as I like the ocean

-I prefer going to the beach than I do going hiking in a mountain.

-yeah but that’s because you grew up with mountains

-Maybe, yeah, I’m from British Columbia.  There’re a lot of mountains there.

-The first time I went to Canada and I saw a real mountain with snow on top I said OH MY GOOOOOOD.  And I stared and stared and I couldn’t believe it was real 

-There are some very majestic and amazing mountains 

-Incredible! Beautiful!

-in British Columbia

-Stunning!

-The rocky mountains, coastal mountains

-Too amazing

-in Australia we have hills

-right, you don’t have many big mountains

-it’s a very flat and very old continent

-Japan has mountains some good ones (same as Japan) but they are not quite as big and gigantic and majestic

-That’s right

-as canadian mountains

-In Canada they are very obvious.  Suddenly the land sweeps upwards…

-It’s quite special

-and you feel so small and you realize the power of mother earth. 

-yes and that’s all very nice, but just personally for me,

-It’s like a nipple giant nipples

-see? no like for me, no not sexual at all

-nothing sexual? Are you sure?

-NO nothing sexual about mountains

-What was your first job teaching English?

-so I came to Japan with NOVA

-NOVA was one of the largest English conversation schools in the country… at that time it was the NO.1, the largest conversation school

-Yeah probably.  and in Melbourne I saw the advertisement and I went for an interview and I passed the interview.

-Somehow

-Somehow

-and they said where would you like to go?  You have three choices, Kyoto Tokyo or Sendai.

-Kyoto or Tokyo or Sendai… I think most people would have chosen Tokyo

second choice Kyoto, and maybe third choice Sendai.  What made you why did you choose Sendai.  Sendai is a smaller city, one million people in the North-eastern region. so what made you choose Sendai

-They asked me why do you want to go to Japan?  And I said from what I’ve heard of some great snowboarding in Japan.   And they said well near Sendai there are some mountains

and you can enjoy snowboarding

-so I said, Oh where do I sign?

-Wow so you chose Sendai just for snowboarding

-Yes

-Awesome

-Yeah I wasn’t interested in living in Tokyo.

-I was born in a city, I grew up in a city.

-I didn’t want a city experience

-OK interesting.  And tell me about NOVA like how was your training?

-Terrible

-Why?

-I don’t recommend NOVA.  it was a lot of pressure… for no reason

-Even in the training?

-Yeah in the training, there was too much focused on textbooks and student’s scores and there was no focus on happiness.  

-Communication and happiness

-and good relationships

-having fun

-between students and teachers

-it was teaching in an industrial way

-Really so you felt like the kind of training system was almost robotic Yes I felt they didn’t value their students and it was like a factory

-so they wanted you to be like a English teacher robot

-Yes there was no personality that was encouraged, they didn’t care how you have a relationship with your students.  all they care about is following the book

-I see, and how long was the training period?

-I think about one month

-Okay that’s pretty good

-Yeah

-You did one month of training

-I did

-and then you started teaching

-sure

-How did it go?

-It was fun I was working between two schools.  One in inner-city in Sendai and the other deep deep into the suburbs

-Okay

-which was very difficult transport-wise and

-so you had to take a public bus or something?

-I had to take a train and a bus and a walk… and to go home after my final lesson, I had to run, sprint! for the last bus. 

-Oh because the classes were until like 9pm?

-That’s right, and the buses were running from a shopping mall, so I had to quickly finish my class.  Do my lesson records, and a run off for the bus

Did you ever miss the bus?

-Yes and then I had to ride in a car of my supervisor who I hated

-Oh no.  so if you miss the bus, you have to get a ride from your supervisor

-That’s right, and he lived in the same building as I did.

-I’m sorry to hear of all that but how were the classes?

-how was the teaching?

-The classes were great because I realized even though I didn’t agree with the training when I was in a class, I could teach in my style.

-so once the door is closed you were the master of the classroom.

-I could do my own style.  I could having natural conversations with the students

what they’re interested in.  Because every student has a different reason for learning a language

-How long did it take you to realize that teaching was something that you are good at and that you enjoy?

-I think especially at the time, I was a very social person.  I still am.  I enjoy conversations with people and I care about giving people a good experience so in that way, I felt that I was giving important skills to people who took my lessons. 

-so you felt good and you felt a sense of achievement

-yeah you know why?

-Helping people with their English

-Sure my first question was always why are you studying a language.  like what do you want to do with English

-Find the student’s goal

-That’s right so the textbook always follows one road, and for many students that’s not the road they are interested in

-Everyone has a different reason

-Right

-for studying

-I wanna find out what they need and help them

-That’s beautiful

-Thank you and also for my benefit so I can have a good experience in a class

I wanna learn about the person

-You want it to be Give and Take

-Yeah

-That’s right

-why not?

-like playing catch

-yeah Here is the ball, catch.  Here is some English that will help you

-Pass it back to me

-Pass it back to me

-That’s one of the things that I’ve found about teaching English is I learn so much from people

-I started teaching when I was very young

-You were very young you were still learning about the world

-yeah I was a teenager 19 years old

-wow 19

-I was on a working holiday visa, and my first job was with a company called YAMAHA 

-YAMAHA… Fine creators of pianos

-Yep

-Pianos Motorcycles some other musical instruments

-Motorcycles with pianos attached to them

-That would be cool

-Motorpianos

-so I had a job interview… I had failed many interviews

-oh so you were already in Japan when you had the interview

-yeah I came…

-so Why did you come originally?

-Just for an adventure… I failed many job interviews because I was too young

People didn’t want a 19-year old English teacher

-that’s understandable

-Were you wearing your hat backwards?

-No

-doing Hip-Hop dances

-No

-But I didn’t have a suit and I didn’t have a necktie

-right

-I didn’t own one.  so I was going to the interviews wearing like a collared shirt and a black pair of pants, not a proper suit, and they thought we don’t need this guy

-yeah this guy’s trouble 

-19-year old Canadian. No thank you

-No thank you

-But YAMAHA… I guess they really needed a teacher.  They were desperate.  

They’ll take anything they can get

-and I did an interview there was 3 people interviewing and me and suddenly they said you know, in our classes with kids you have to sing songs and do dances

-Did they ask you to give a demonstration?

-Well yeah and it was completely unexpected.  I was not prepared at all

-What song did you sing?

-Mr.Horiguchi was is his name

-Mr.Horiguchi~

-He suddenly said please sing “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”

-and you know everyone knows that song

-twinkle twinkle little star~

-okay everyone except you

-I’m sorry I don’t know that song..

-That’s not how it goes

-so anyway he put me on the spot.  He said “Sing twinkle twinkle little star” Boom!

Dance! Monkey! Dance!

-Yeah and of course I was very nervous and I know the song but I haven’t sang that song since I was a very small child 

-Really?

-He put me on the spot and I started singing

-Okay ah twinkle twinkle little star~

-Next

-And then as I...

-Is there anyone in a waiting room?

-Be nice Ben...

-Sure

-As I was singing it

-No as you sang tears started falling from their eyes the beauty…

-Can I finish?  Hey can I finish?

-Like looking at Aurora Borialis…

-Hey hey Ben my story my story

-Okay Abe’s time

-Let me finish

-It’s Abe time

-So I started singing the song and like as I was singing it I started like kind of doing gestures and

-okay

-doing a little you know

-Moving your body?

-Yeah I started like getting into it.  Because at first I felt very embarrassed and strange but then I thought oh you know what? Fuck it.  I just gotta go for it.  And you know after I did the gestures and stuff the boss started crapping “Wow! great job! “

because I’m not a good singer, I thought oh Fuck…  but actually they were like “That was amazing!

-Wow that’s really interesting.  so twinkle twinkle little star was the start of your career in Japan

-Yes It was

-and then..

-I guess you were a little star

-and then I started teaching English to kids

-Right

-and as it goes you know once I got a little experience other companies they saw that I work for YAMAHA, so they thought Oh okay

-That’s a good start to start with a big name company

-Yeah so they were like oh okay he must be a good teacher.  so then I started to get more and more...

-Who is this little star making a name for himself.

-Yeah that’s how it began for me

-I see well it’s a strange journey

-Call me the little star

-Yeah I might

-Guys this is gonna be the beginning of a beautiful podcast You guys can hear some really natural conversations.  We’re not playing

-Actually we are playing

-Well I don’t play

-Little twinkle star over here he plays them games 

-Yeah

-You guys are gonna get the raw deal. I’m gonna give you exactly how I feel…

I have no secrets

-So we have twinkle star and raw deal

-Abe and Ben

-Raw deal

-Looking forward to…

-They call me the Raw deal…

-The raw deal

-Yeah it’s just honest from the heart

-Actually usually it means a bad deal

-Yeah

-Like oh man that’s a row deal

-It’s true.  Yeah

-But the way I say it, it means like, raw meat… that doesn’t sound good at all

-Alright Ben thank you very much

-You’re welcome anytime

-Talk to you soon buddy

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