UW-Whitewater students teach English to children in Japan

October 23, 2009

For nine University of Wisconsin-Whitewater students, an opportunity to work as camp counselors in Japan over the summer proved to be an unforgettable experience.

Guy Healy, Japan, a consulting and exchange agency in Japan, invites more than 120 students from across the United States to be counselors at USA Summer Camp every year. The camp is held in six different Japanese cities with the goal of teaching children how to speak English. While counselors do not receive a salary, their airfare, room and board are paid for through the program.

"We were lucky to have nine excellent and committed students for our first year with this internship program," said Larry Neuman, the Asian studies program coordinator at UW-Whitewater. "All of the students had the background and personality to make good counselors and each had a strong interest in Japan."

The UW-Whitewater students were Jenna Davenport of Whitewater, Sarah Felter of Milton, Ellen Feyen of East Troy, Cristine Fuller of Dousman, Jessica Fuller of Dousman, Greta Stonger of Waukesha, Kevin Vandehey of Appleton, Matthew Wuthrich of Sydney, Australia and Garrett Yim of Racine.

When the students arrived in Japan they were given a mere five days of training before being sent to campsites across Japan with one of five teams. Each team was made up of 20 to 22 American camp counselors and three Japanese counselors. During each three-day camp session the teams used games and activities to teach English to groups of 100 to 120 Japanese students.

"We had three main activities that we'd do," Yim said. "We had them do a one-minute drill to see who could say the most words from a list, write a story and do a camp skit. We had to be very active and enthusiastic with the students and we always had to be prepared."

Along with the learning activities, counselors were asked to eat, sleep, play and spend their free time with their campers. When they were not working, they were given some time off every five to 10 days when they would go live with a Japanese host family to experience the culture.

"Working with the students was really fun," Yim said. "There were a lot of camps where they were shy when they first came but were crying when they had to leave after three days." Yim plans on returning next year.

To get involved in the camp, contact Larry Neuman at 262-472-1093 or neumanl@uww.edu.