Living at Mukogawa means I'm never in need of company. There is always a handful of students eager to practice their English or looking for help with their homework. It would be draining if I didn't have the mornings to myself. As is, I often find myself being used as a walking dictionary or pronunciation guide. Sometimes the questions they come up with are very difficult to answer. I should probably be writing them down so that I can research them for future teaching, but that would be a lot of work... Often they pump me for English information going to and from meals. The other night they asked me what the difference is between explain and describe, when to use this or it, and of course they alwayswant help understanding articles. The Japanese language does not have articles (a, an, the) and their usage is not easy to explain.

Occasionally I will say a word they don't know, and then either one of the other group members will define it or I will have to play dictionary. The best part, though, is when they want to practice their pronunciation. This also often happens going to and from meals and it is hilarious. Not because their pronunciation is bad mind you, but because I often have a group of six people following me across campus while repeating the same word over and over again. "Bird, bird, bird, bird, biiiird, birrrrd," or "girl, girl, girl, giiiiiirl, giiirrrrrl, grrrr." And of course I'm often coaching them,

Me: Almost, you need more of an R sound, Girrrrl.
Students: Grrrrrrr.
Me: Not that much, try to place it more at the front of your mouth. Your tongue should move like this (demonstrated with hand motions).

Unfortunately, sometimes I can't help laughing after being surrounded by a chorus of the same word for five minutes. For example, yesterday one of the girls pointed to a puddle and asked me for the English word.

Me: Puddle
Student: Puddle?
Me: Puddle
Student 1: Puddle
Student 2: Puddle
Students 3 & 4: Puddle, Puddle!
All of them: Puddle! Puddle. Puddle. Puddle.
Me: (Can't stop laughing.)
Students: Heidi! WHY!? Why you laugh?
Me: Because I feel like I have an echo.
Student 1: Echo?
Students 2 & 3: Echo?
Students 1-4: Echo? Echo? Echo? What is echo?
Me: (Laughing hysterically) An echo is when...(laughter)
Students: Echo? Echo? Echo?

Finally I was able to explain it to them and on the upside, I learned the Japanese word for echo: Yamabiko!