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Baseball Practice and Language Learning - June 25th, 2023
Baseball Practice and Language Learning
Hello!
I did not have as much time to write an update this week, but I will share a few things that have been happening.
Summer weather has continued here - it gets pretty hot, humid and rainy this time of year, so it is difficult to plan outdoor activities.
Despite the hot weather, I have been able to go to our high school's baseball practice a few times a week over the past few weeks. The team usually follows a similar schedule each day - they do some warm up activities, then do ground ball routines, then do some sort of "situational" practice and then do hitting.
Practice normally lasts from around 4:15 until 7 or 8pm most afternoons. When I am there, I am usually able to play catch with some of the students and help out with ground ball drills. But I have also spent a lot of time watching what they do.
Practice is mainly run by one of the assistants. And there is a rotating cast of other coaches that come to practice during the week. The head coach usually watches practice from his office behind the home plate area. Our school's field has several small shipping container-like structures that the coaches and team managers use as "office" space.
The coaches have been interested in involving me in practice, but I have tried to be careful to not get in the way of anything that they are doing. They will occasionally have me hit grounders.
I have been able to get back into studying Japanese. I may have mentioned recently that I started using a program called "iKnow" which is based on quizzing and spaced repetition. As I have found, what seems to work the best is using software that regularly tests you on the same material which forces you to practice recalling information.
I have also continued studying grammar, although I have found it tougher to remember this type of information. I have been trying a few different applications to help review and test myself on grammar that I have learned.
If you're interested in iKnow - its website is here - https://iknow.jp/home
Until next time,
Tom McGuire
I write about and share photos of my classroom, travel and cultural experiences through my weekly newsletter. Enter your email below to receive it.
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