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Student Experience as TA for Elementary Level Japanese
(News update provided by Matthew Cammarata)
My Experience as an Elementary Japanese TA
As a TA for JAPN 101/102, I had multiple responsibilities that allowed me to create an engaging class for the students. Every Thursday, Kitamura-sensei and the other TAs would meet to discuss the lesson plan for the next day, helping us to become more familiar with the content and prepare our corresponding course of action for each topic. During class, I often introduced new material, facilitated pair conversational work, and was even responsible for giving vocabulary quizzes to the students. Additionally, I occasionally presented Japanese culture material, like about various holidays or music, extending my Japanese teaching to the students beyond just grammar and conversation. Overall, this cultivated a weekly classroom environment that reinforced the concepts the students learned throughout the week and also helped students have fun learning about the language and culture.
My JAPN 102, 8:00AM class; pictured on April 3, 2026 (With me in gray with tan pants, in the center!)
For me, being a JAPN 101/102 TA was a wholeheartedly fulfilling experience. Coming into college, I had never received any Japanese language instruction but was nonetheless interested in learning. In addition to Kitamura-sensei’s instruction, coming to the weekly TA class made learning Japanese even more fun and relieved a lot the intensity that came from the overload of information. Being in a position where I can laugh with and assist the students in their learning in the same way that was done for me has been extremely memorable, and has been the ultimate culmination of the four years of my Japanese language education. I thoroughly enjoy showing up every Friday and delivering the best class possible, even if it is at 8 AM!