Opinions of a Japanese Jr High School Student Pt 2:Anne Frank

This might have to become a running theme.  Not that I mean to make fun of my students, but seriously this is hilarious.  Over the past couple of weeks we have been studying excerpts from The Diary of Anne Frank.  The excerpts are pretty edited down to make the language as simple as possible, but still it is a hard topic to cover.  Mostly the excerpts are about the Anti-Jewish Laws put in place by the Nazis and then about how this effected the lives of the people.  There is mention of yellow stars, families being taken away in the middle of the night, and parent-less children freezing and starving on the streets.

In keeping with the way that we have been studying the book all year the teacher has asked the students to write their "thoughts" on Anti-Jewish Laws and the suffering caused by them.  There are too many "good lines" to choose from, but here are some highlights.  Keep in mind that a lot of this is due to the students not knowing how to form sentences in English.  They aren't really racist...I think.

1.The Jews were pitiful.
Talked to this student and it turned out that she meant to say that the situation for the Jewish people, not the actual people, was very sad or horrible.

2. I don't permit Anti-Jewish Laws.
Good for you!  If only they would have had you around during the Holocaust.

3. I think wear yellow star is good idea.
Obviously has no clue what is going on in the book.

4. I like soccer.  I don't like Hitora (Hitler).
Good to know.  I like ice cream.  I don't like terrorists.

5. I am sorry that I think.
Ummm... Don't be too hard on yourself.  Thinking isn't a bad thing and can be quite good.

6. Why anti-Jewish laws begin?  Did Jewish do something bad?
No, although at the time it was advertised that they were evil.

7. I like children.
Really?  Me too!.

8. I can't eat old carrots.
Oh, well you are lucky you weren't born during the second world war when, "The children on the streets were so hungry that they even ate old carrots."

9.  I feel sorry that there were many Jewish people.
Umm... Are you a Nazi?

10.  I hope the war ends as soon as possible.
And are you also hoping that Japan wins?  Hate to spoil the surprise, but it's over and the US won.

11.  German is I'm afraid.
You should be.

Again, there were a lot more good ones in the bunch.  To be serious, it makes me a little angry that we even have this in the textbooks in the first place.  Not that I think we shouldn't study the Holocaust, but I don't see the point in teaching such a serious topic to 15 year old ESL students.  Or the point of teaching only a small bit.  As you can see in number 6, the students really don't know any of the history of this so it is really hard for them to understand why this would happen.  They have history at school, but I am pretty sure they are still in the middle of learning Japanese history.

Two months ago we were discussing Martin Luther King Jr and I was asked on the spot to explain race relations in America.  This would be hard for the students to respond to even if we were speaking in their own language, let alone having to work in English.  I really don't know why the books don't just stick to "life at school" "life at home" "life as a home stay student."  Especially when they are only in Jr High.  It is no wonder they don't want to speak in English when the book is filled with phrases like Anti-Jewish Laws, Apartheid, "In 1968 Martin Luther King Jr was killed for working to end discrimination of non-whites."  Surely the kids would open up if we were to say, "Today we are going to read about pop stars around the world.  Who is your favorite pop star?  Do you know any songs in English?"  We do a bit of that, but a lot of the stuff is pretty heavy.