Cultural Experiences In (and Out of) the Frenpanese Room

by Alia Greenbaum and Maren Hassenger

What, you may be asking, is a “Frenpanese room”? Well, in the Middle School at Charles Wright Academy, it's what the students have come to call Room 105, where they study either French or Japanese. Alia-sensei and Mme. H have also been dubbed “the Frenpanese teachers.” The room even has its own flag, which imaginatively looks like the French flag with a red dot in the middle. While the languages taught in the room are dramatically different, there is one aspect to the class shared by all Frenpanese students: culture.

Both classes share “culture credit projects.” This is a four-part project done at different times throughout the year. One part focuses on music, one on history, one on food, and one on some kind of experience—be it a restaurant, a play, a movie, or even travel.

Specifically, each year French students have the opportunity to attend two operas at the Seattle Opera. They get dressed up and learn both about the Opera's writer and the story behind the opera. Students then travel up to Seattle and spend the next several hours trying to hear “bonjour” and “oui” through the long operatic vowels sung expertly on stage. They also learn about 12 different French-speaking nations on four different continents. Of course, there is also food. Lots of food. Probably the highlight of 7th grade is Regional Food Day, when two to three dishes from five different regions in France are prepared by students and then shared with the class. Mix in a healthy dose of French cat videos, and you have a recipe for learning!

Likewise, Japanese students are encouraged to seek opportunities outside of class to experience Japanese culture—whether it be folding origami, going to a Japanese garden, making sushi, or watching a movie or video on Japan—in order to write weekly "culture journals." In class, they drink lots of green tea, listen to Japanese music, and experience class time as if they were in a Japanese school. There is a "daily leader" who starts and ends class each day and also acts as a helper, passing out work or collecting the day's homework.

The highlight of the Japanese class for the year is the annual visit of students from our sister school, Mukogawa (located near Osaka). With the exchange students, CWA Japanese students have the opportunity to experience a tea ceremony, calligraphy, and a wide variety of other cultural activities. This year we also received a visit from Sendai Seiwa Academy, located in Miyagi Prefecture, one of the areas hardest hit by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. Students were treated to several presentations on Miyagi's culture and history, as well as a "sparrow dance," a type of dancing seen exclusively in Miyagi. Even when there are no visitors, though, there is always something happening in  there is always something happening in Japanese class!

You can learn more about Middle School at Charles Wright Academy here.