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1. What prompted you decide to participate in the "JSPS Science Dialogue" program?
I decided to participate in the "JSPS Science Dialogue" because I enjoy speaking about my research and sharing it with others. I hoped to spark the interest of the students about learning science. I was also interested to see a high school in Japan and learn more about the educational system here in Japan.
2. To what did you give greatest attention in preparing and giving lecture?
My main focus was on keeping the level of the talk appropriate for the audience, while still illustrating the ideas of mathematical research in a meaningful way.
3. Did you find it difficult to give a lecture in English to Japanese students? Could you give some advice to future lecturers on how to facilitate communication with Japanese?
The hard part is for students to understand English, and especially Scientific English. They might know some English and they might know a little about Science, but they surely don't know about Science in English or Scientific English. Grammar is the same, but all the vocabulary is missing. My advisor translation in Japanese of my talk and slides was I think quite necessary, and I hope, useful for the students. I advice to use slide subtitled/translated in Japanese. Giving the slides handout some times before may also be useful, so that the science and English teacher could use it as a working material and translate it before the talk or explain the science contained in it.
4. Could you give your impression with regard to participating in this program?
Overall, I had a really positive experience participating in this program. The students were friendly and courteous.
5. Was it meaningful in terms of your fellowship activities?
I think that teaching your subject to those outside of your field (such as high school students, for example) makes you think and present your ideas in a different way. I believe that interacting with the community is also important and the cultural exchange is also very valuable for both the speaker and students.
6. In what way do you think students benefited from the program?
They got an impression of science in general, and maybe some of them got an idea about what they want to study in future at university. They maybe recognized the importance of English in science and for communication with foreign people.
7. Could you give some overall advice or comments to future participants in the program?
Communication is the keyword, have a couple of breaks, keep it light and simple. It's not really about teaching it is to motivate and stimulate the students.
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