Last Wednesday (April 24) at 6 PM, students from Graduate Institute of Japanese as well as Department of Japanese, had attended a class thru distance education apparatus and listened to a lecture by Prof. Miyazaki Satoshi from the Institute of Japanese, Waseda University, Japan. The topic he chose to talk is: “Japanese Language Teaching: The Differences in Pedagogue between Japan and Other Countries”.

When the class was in session, everyone’s eyes were gluing to the TV screen. As Prof. Satoshi’s examples were taken from quotidian experience and also given that every student has had some background in the language, his lecture set off a ripple of laughs from the attending students. The class was echoing with peals of guffaws.

After the lecture, many students were eager to ask questions. A student taking Education Curriculum in Graduate Institute of Japanese whose name is Sun Chun-chieh asked, “As we know, the consolidated pedagogical method has been very popular in Japan, can we adopt it on high-school students in Taiwan?” There came the humorous answer from Prof. Satoshi. Listen: “Since it is an issue of adoptability, I believe only by using the practical materials from life such as comics and electronic games can it arouse the interests in students.”

Mr. Sung said he was glad he could attend this scholarly lecture thru the Distance Education Program, and it was quite an experience.

The present program, as we know, was jointly sponsored by Department of Japanese and Teachers Education Center. According to Dr. Liu Chang-hwei, Chair, Department of Japanese, the students were greatly benefited by the electronic equipment. He can see that in the foreseeable future, this will become a regular program in TKU Schedule of Classes. He also indicated that Prof. Satoshi is scheduled to give another lecture on May 29, and he promised it would be equally interesting; so students, don’t miss that opportunity! The topic is: “Why Sumo Wrestlers from Foreign Countries Always Speak Better Japanese than Other Foreigners?”

Dr. Feng Chao-kang, VP for Academic Affairs, TKU, also expressed his joy over the success of Distance Education Program, and he thought it a big stride over the Globalization directive of our school.