通訳・翻訳、英語圏向け 日本旅行コーディネート etc

Summary 福岡市内での国際人材セミナー講師を水谷が担当し、ニクラスも外国人観光客役として活躍してくれました。

The seminar started at 9:00 AM with preparations for the arrival of the students at 9:30 AM and the subsequent start of the event at 10:00 AM. The duration of the event was scheduled for 2 hours (10:00-12:00 AM). This was the second event, with a similar structure and with a few changes due to earlier feedback. The seminar itself started at 11:07 AM and lasted 45min until approx. 11:52 AM. The goal of the seminar was to prepare the student volunteers for their work at tourist information tables and similar information points during the Fukuoka 2023 World Aquatics Championships. The event started with a general presentation of M.I.C.E. (Travel Association), a presentation of K-iTG (Tour Guide/Translation Association), the K-iTG Seminar and English Roleplay and ended with a short presentation by M.I.C.E.

Event Objectives

The objective of the event was to prepare students to work at information desks, sports facilities and railroad stations during the World Aquatics Championship. The students should be able to offer information and help in English to the tourists (English-natives and non-natives) arriving at the event. In addition, during the seminar, possible cultural differences and problems with which the students may be confronted should be pointed out. Finally, English communication should be practiced during a Roleplay with a native and a non-native English speaker.

Strengths and Weaknesses

The biggest strength of the seminar was that the students were volunteers who were interested in the above-mentioned activities. Therefore, the general English skills were good to very good and the students were also able to follow the English parts of the presentation. In addition, the students actively participated in English roleplay among themselves and practiced the given conversations. Furthermore, it was very useful to have a native English speaker on stage who could explain and demonstrate native English. The only drawback was that no student came forward to present their skills on stage for a live roleplay. Roleplay partners could only be found after explicitly asking some randomly selected students who could nevertheless answer all questions.

Conclusion

In summary, the seminar was a success. The students actively participated in the event and followed the presentations attentively. But their behavior was reserved on the stage, often none of the students dared to speak or showcase their skills on stage. At the end of the seminar, a queue of interested students formed with questions/comments to the speaker. Interest and curiosity were therefore definitely present among the students present.