Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD

Twenty-four students from Aichi prefecture of Japan visited CFB last week as part of an exchange program. The student visit was part of the Kakehashi Program. The program was initiated by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs to promote a friendship and exchange of cultures between various regions of the Asia-Pacific, North America, Europe, Latin America, and Caribbean. In 2016, the Aichi prefecture in Japan and the State of Texas signed a “memorandum of understanding of mutual cooperation.” The visiting students stayed with host families in CFB during their 5 day visit.

The students from Japan got to hone their English skills in conversations with students at Creekview and Smith High Schools. Additionally, students taking Japanese in CFB were able to hone their linguistic skills by engaging in conversations with native speakers. In addition to helping to understand each other’s languages, the visiting students got to soak in the American high school experience. Students from Aichi taught their CFB counterparts origami – the Japanese art of paper folding.

Calligraphy

Students from Aichi also gave an demonstration in Japanese calligraphy. Students used a special brush to draw characters on calligraphy rice paper. In Japan, students typically have to take lessons in school or outside school to master calligraphy, with different levels as they advance in their writing skills. In CFB’s Japanese classes, students generally practice calligraphy by inviting a master of calligraphy to demonstrate the proper techniques.

CHS and NSHS students visited Tokyo for the first time in 2012 as exchange students. Students taking Japanese in CFB are hoping to visit Japan again in the near future with the Kakehashi program. Our visitors from Aichi commented that American schools are very diverse with students of many backgrounds, which is very different than their experience in Japan. They also commented that people they encountered here were open and friendly.

Japanese is one of the Asian languages offered at CFB. There are four levels – Japanese 1, Japanese 2, Pre-AP, and AP Japanese. Japanese instructor, Yuko Vinson, stated “We believe it is a great privilege for our students to have a choice to take a Japanese class in our district which is rarely offered by other districts. We would like to challenge our students to learn Asian languages along with its culture and rich history.”