What do you do/are you studying?

[kalla]

Say as little or as much as you like. Just curious as to what walks of life we are all from?



For me, I'm an orchestra teacher for an urban school district. (For those who don't know, urban is the densely populated areas often having a high percentage of lower socio-economic backgrounds.) I teach grades 6-8 at a middle school and 4-5 at three elementary schools. I also assist at two high schools, but the middle school program is my main position. I am also starting a Mariachi program.

While my career is music I also have degrees and certification in other languages and ESL (English Second Language) as so many of my students do not speak English. I sometimes do translating work on the side. My goal is for my students to be independent musicians. Yes I expect a certain level of achievement before they leave me, but I want them to think critically and for themselves, not depending upon others to make their decisions or form their opinions. I am currently working on a masters in curriculum and instruction.

[Sinamon]

hi kalla,

orchestra teacher, eh? that's awesome! are you feeling any stress from cut-backs in your area/district? happy to say that there are still some schools in this area (irvine, california) that have the funding to provide orchestral, voice, and piano instruction for primary and middle schools (at least the schools in which i've taught). arts/music is always the first to go, sadly.

currently i translate japanese to english as well as korean to english documents for a living. oh the joys of being born into one culture and having lived in another. can't complain, though -- in the end, fluency in more than one language is never a burden. for fun, i translate mangas for both :-) (this is why i had such an issue with the translator for chapter 205, specifically allen's lines at the end). in about a month, i'm moving to korea to teach english there (god knows someone has to!) and am currently working towards my TEFL/TESOL certification. before this, i used to work in the fashion industry.

being asian, music was foisted onto me at a young age (read: forced). but, per usual, my parents were right to do so and i can't thank them enough for those punishing piano lessons lol. though i can't really call myself a musician, having been in competitive choral groups for the past 15 years has helped me to keep up with sight reading and some level of non-instrumental musicianship :-) but, more than anything, i appreciate those who teach....especially those who teach music to our youth. they don't know it yet (well, most of them) but it's going to enrich them in many ways for having had that experience. so i commend you for making music a part of so many lives. my english teacher in high school is the sole reason i became interested in opera (he played records...yes, records...during class and even devoted class time in teaching us HOW to listen to music). i never thought i'd be interested in classical music, even though that's mostly what i played during my piano enslavement period. one teacher can make such an incredible impact. and i'm sure you're doing that everyday.

[kalla]

Ah, thank you. I'm sure you will make the same impact in Korea. I actually have a friend teaching at Jeonju University right now and he loves it. The arts are typically the first cut, but thankfully the Board of Education here is trying to avoid that. It never ceases to amaze me how many people think more of the same will get test scores up faster than changing our approach. *sigh* My district is adopting the philosophy that we need to teach them to think, which I completely agree with. They just haven't figured out that's what the arts do constantly yet so they are making us teach English, Writing, and Math in addition to our content curriculum. (And pulling them out for extra help and testing because our class is seen as the least important to their success on tests.) Honestly, if I didn't teach in my current middle school or if the outside administrator wasn't giving me support I would have left because my hands are so tied. My kids are successful, but the stress during the year is unbelievable, so without the support there's just no way it would be worth it. There I go on an education tangent...lol

I was born into the American culture but I never have fit in. All my friends were Asian and told me I didn't act like an American lol. Ah well. I however, did not inherit any sort of fashion sense. My friend from Hong Kong is usually the one that tells me how to decorate and dress lol. (I didn't know what Louis Vuitton was until I met her.) But I agree with you about fluency...in fact with each new language I think it gets so much easier and you start making connections faster and just remember it better. And I always find the cultures so fascinating...plus it teaches you so much about the world around you and the people in it. I just wish I could spell...Kanji is so much easier... RE: Music, I would never force a student to study it if they really hated it, but I would make sure they hated it first. It literally wires your brain differently and that alone is worth it to me. I think you also learn a lot about yourself and others from it; working together with others, learning about the history and culture of a piece, deciding what you feel and how you are going to express it, or just being more critical of what you hear...it's all important on so many levels. Especially in places where kids are already at a disadvantage, they need something like music to open these doors for them...they certainly aren't getting them opened in Math or Reading classes for some reason.

Yes, I really don't like how Allen said that quote and trying to make something more than was stated out of the comment was really frustrating. It doesn't help when native speakers go "hmm" about something much less translators changing the meaning lol. It drives me nuts when people are like "just tell me what he said." It's like, it's not that simple. I can give you the literal translation, but you probably don't want that. It's like people think all languages are equal or something. Words in one language may not exist in the other and vice versa...you can't just do literal lol. Like that little speech Cross says to Allen...I translated literally to prove a point and the person was like "what?" I want to say, just because it's another language doesn't mean they don't use imagery, flowery wording, or symbolism lol. But yeah, that one quote at the end of 205 was bad because so many fans were asking about it and it's like...well, that's not really what he meant. I could strangle that translator. I think she wrote it that way on purpose though to be ambiguous about it so we would be wondering but that doesn't give someone the right to go and change what it says.

[shonen]

I'm currently still in school, though I only have one semester left. I'm studying Chemical Engineering, but I'm not completely sure what I want to do with it yet. I've been working off and on for the past two years with a large electrical generation company on the east coast (USA) helping to clean up the processes that provide electricity. I'm not sure if I'm going to start working for them when I graduate or find something else, but I have to make a decision soon since graduation is very close @_@.

[kalla]

Hehe, things will become clear to you at some point shonen. I remember how exciting, and a little scary, it was to finally "start" my career. As long as you are doing something you enjoy or find value in, things will work out.

I loved science in school, but I spent most of my classes in physics, astronomy, and genetics. I don't know that I would have done well with chemistry lol. I did find what little I did study fascinating though. Who knows, you might find the ideal job at a company looking for someone with your expertise. ^_^ What are you hoping to do with the degree, even if you don't know where you'll be working? Sometimes it helps to know what you want to do, even if it isn't directly tied to your degree.

[Mikki Walker]

I'm going to high school. I'd LIKE to be an author so I write on fanfiction a lot.

[kalla]

That's great Mikki! Have you ever tried to write your own stories yet? I had a teacher that had us do it for an assignment once. Of course we had been studying writing elements and we had to be sure to include each one in the story, but it was a lot of fun. As long as you keep at it I'm sure you will get there. ^_^

[Mikki Walker]

Thanks so much.

[Dazzikins]

*spreads some life around*

So we have a music teacher here? I have to "take my hat off" to you because I entered the music life in 4th grade and kept it up till senior year in high school. I loved those years and I really wanted to go on to college so I could go back to my school and teach high school music, but alas....life took the left fork in the road and I joined the Navy.

I'm currently stationed in Japan and I've just been so busy, so I haven't really had much of a chance to come here. Though I'm thankful for those emails I get from time to time, lol.

My job isn't anything special.....so I'll just end it there. I guess I can say that I've been living out of the US since 2005; I know that's only about 6 years ago, but I can't tell you how long six years is in the Navy because that's a lot of time. I still have a few years left and they're all going to be spent either here in Japan or in the Middle East (yay! /sarcasm). Although, I want to finish my degree so I can become an English teacher or Author; tis a shame where I lived in the States, they kept firing so many Literature teachers because they felt that the world can get along fine without it.

[Sinamon]

hi dazzy! yes, our dear kalla is a music teacher, which is awesome! it's such a valuable and important part of a quality life. it's a shame it's one of the first things that gets cut in school programs.

my best friend's hubby just finished his stint in the navy (he was stationed in hawaii). how much longer until you're done? or are you career navy? i'm currently across the sea from you, teaching in korea. i was originally going to work in japan since i loved it after i had visited in 2002 but i realized that knowing the language and still having family in korea would be a bit more beneficial for me. are you stationed in or near okinawa?