Taiwan-Japan-Korea Student Video Conferencing Exchange

Students from Taichung, Tokyo, and Daegu having fun getting to know each other in breakout rooms and learning about each other’s cultures in the main rooms on Zoom

 

We are a great team

Kieyong, Toshi, Shusaku, and I made a great team to make this happen. Through loads of back and forth text messages and video meetings, we gradually were able to decide on the agenda, make group lists, rehearse student presentations, and so on. Each of us took on different tasks during the exchange session, such as master of ceremony, live event facilitator, and breakout room organizer.

 

You don’t see like-minded and dedicated teachers from different countries get together and work collaboratively very often. For that, I felt lucky to be a part of the team. We have a shared belief, which is getting our students to feel the need and fun of using English. On top of that, we were willing to go the extra mile and put in so much time and effort.

 

For example, Kieyong got her students to record two fantastic band performances while the exam was around the corner. Toshi made PPT slides and double-checked our agenda. Shusaku was busy assigning and reassigning over 80 students to their breakout rooms.

 

Toshi’s opening speech and the ground rules

Toshi walked us through the agenda with a detailed timetable. Also, he gave a pep talk to encourage interaction and some tips to enjoy the breakout room sessions. With some sentence starters, students could try to ask follow-up questions and carry on their conversation.

 

Student breakout room interaction

 

As students were sent to their breakout rooms, we teachers were busy joining one room after another to check on how everybody was doing. At first, most of them were shy and timid. Then, those who were confident enough made the first move. They asked a simple question like “What’s your favorite subject?” to get everybody talking.

 

As it got into the second round, many of them were getting the hang of it. I encouraged the Taiwanese students to set a goal and talk one Japanese and one Korean for each round. Then I called on three of them to introduce one foreign counterpart during the main room session.

 

Korean students’ band performances and presentation  

 

Students from KNUMS prerecorded two amazing performances, Dynamite from BTS and Little Bit of Love from Tom Grennam. The vocalist has a really beautiful singing voice, and the guitarist, bassist, keyboarder, violinists, and cellist all did a good job putting on a great show for us.

 

Then, a boy shared things that represent Korea, including Kyungbokgung, kimchi, hanbok, and of course, K-POP.

 

Japanese students’ hobby sharing, eating show, and video presentation

 

Yumi shared her love for dancing and favorite idol groups. At my request, she showcased some of her moves. Risa introduced the Japanese traditional sweet, Dango, including its history, ingredients, and many kids of different flavored, shaped colorful dango.

 

A pair of students made an English-speaking video and talked about all the things you can do in a Japanese convenience store, like buying frozen food, making photocopies, using the toilet, and even printing photos. 

 

Taiwanese student’s presentations about Bubble Milk Tea, Taichung Second Market, and the pros and cons of tests 

 

Tiger introduced the history, ingredients, and steps of making bubble milk tea in fluent English. This topic was a must because it was invented right here in Taichung, and the very first tea shop that created it is not far from KMJH. Following that, Yuhan presented also the history and some iconic street foods of the very old market, which was built over 80 years ago. After that, Miss Lu gave a speech about tests, which was a topic for this semester’s English speech contest.

 

At Kieyong’s request, a Japanese student sang a beautiful English song, and then he introduced himself in simple Mandarin. 

 

Teachers’ wrap-up and reflection

 

We’re quite pleased to see student interaction though it’d be perfectly normal to feel nervous and intimidated for them to talk with strangers in a foreign language. Of course, the idea was for students from three different countries to experience what it’s like to make friends and show off our cultures.

 

After all the students left the meeting, we were exhausted but couldn’t help talking it up. I was proud that we not only pulled this off but our students did a great job. We all will be looking forward to another one next semester.