‘Summary
Description:
"Hello Friends" is a telephone service that allows callers to hear a short English speech recorded by the ALTs. People can call and listen to a 3-minute English conversation on topics that include the ALTs' experiences or reflections. Five ALTs take turns recording once a week.
Duration |
Throughout the year (contents update every week) |
|---|---|
Phone number |
0794-89-2410 |
Target |
Local citizens |
Organiser |
Board of Education |
Budget |
0 yen (First year: 50,000yen - 60,000yen) |
Objectives:
The objective is to improve the citizens' listening abilities and enhance their understanding of other cultures.
‘Implementation
About the Automated Voice Answering System:
We used an automated voice answering system that automatically plays a pre-recorded message when someone dials the number.
It is very easy to create the environment required to provide this type of service, because it is available for around 50,000yen, and the setup is extremely simple: just plug in the phone line.
Programme Sample:
ALTs mostly talked about their experiences, views on Japan (Japanese schools, summer holidays, Christmas in Japan) or memories from a trip.
One ALT reported on the Japanese language course organised through the JET Programme, explaining how he/she was surprised by his/her ALT friends' language abilities. It was a pleasant story.
They paid great attention to speed and spoke at a pace that junior high school students can understand.
Rotation of ALTs:
The five ALTs placed in the Board of Education each come to the office once a week. The rotation schedule was set at the beginning of the school year and sent to the ALTs.
Management and Recording:
Each Wednesday morning, there is a meeting at the Board of Education with ALTs and recordings are made at this time in a quiet place (meeting room), using the microphone that came with the answering system.
The Board of Education also requested the script from the ALT who will record the following week.
PR:
The rotation for a given month appears in the townfs monthly newsletter. The ALTs are also introduced weekly on the radio programme produced by the town. In 1998, after five years of providing this service, contents were published as a book and distributed to the junior high schools in town.
‘Budget
None
‘Submitted by
Miki Town (Hyogo Prefecture)
Board of Education
School Education Division
Tel: 0794-82-2000
‘Comments/Advice from the Supervisor
The topics used on "Hello Friends" are always appropriate to the mood and interesting to listen to.
In order to be understood by the majority of citizens, ALTs choose their words carefully and made their scripts easy to understand.
The ALTs' international sense, developed through teaching English at school and communicating with students, can be easily recognised, and the contents reflect their experiences with Japanese people. It all begins with self-introductions, when the ALTs first arrive in Japan. Then, they talk about things that surprised or puzzled them in Japan. They experience Japan through the differences in lifestyle and customs.
This is also a good opportunity for the staff to understand the ALTs.
We hope more and more people will listen to the messages recorded and share their views or opinions on "Hello Friends" when they meet the ALTs.
‘A Word From CLAIR
We feel this idea has a lot of potential. It is hard to beat the simplicity of having a phone service, but putting the messages on the internet may be a way to stay on the cutting edge and expand this idea to a wider audience.
