*project monitors: From February to May 2004, prior to the official start of this project, TJF requested fourteen teachers of secondary level schools in the Australia, China, Korea, UK, and USA to serve as monitors by conducting photo essay-making sessions.

I felt determined and motivated to show / introduce other people to “my world” and the way in which I live. (Student of Sawaki Shungo, Australia)

I learned how to use Microsoft Front Page in a very short amount of time. A more valuable lesson I learned was perhaps that it is self defeating to doubt your own ability. (Student of Sawaki Shungo, Australia)

I thought it was a good way for me to improve my Japanese. Because I had to actually sit down and type things about myself, I discovered things about myself that I hadn't thought about before, but had always already known. (Student of Sawaki Shungo, Australia)

Doing the project was fun because we got to work with our friends. I discovered that if we all put our heads together we could adapt all our rough drafts and create a great project. (Student of Miyuki Johnson, U.S.)

I felt glad to open up to classmates I have known for three years. I could tell them things I never thought I would. (Student of Kiyozuka Chiho, U.S.)

It is very difficult to translate my thoughts into Japanese. I feel like I had to learn many things about Japanese other than just vocabulary. (Student of Kiyozuka Chiho, U.S.)

Participating in this photo project enabled me to attain a deeper level of understanding of myself and my daily life. I discovered things about my personality that I never knew existed. (Student of Etsuko Barber, U.S.)

I thought that the project was a good way for me to try to portray the important parts of my life. I was able to get a better grasp of what means the most to me. (Student of Kakigi Chie, U.S.)

It brought back memories of my childhood. It also gave me a chance to think about my future. (Student of Kakigi Chie, U.S.)

I would love to see more about the little things that make us the same, as well as the little things that make us different. What do they do for their birthdays? When they loose a tooth does the Tooth Fairy buy their tooth? In Australia we are often warned by our parents to “wear clean underwear in case you get hit by a bus!!!” What do other parents say to make their children behave? (Student of Simone Tynan, Australia)

Trying to express myself through photography was a new and unusual experience. I am very happy knowing that doing things like writing my own photo captions and essays in Japanese and having my teacher proofread them all helped me improve my Japanese. (Student, South Korea)

Creating my photo essay gave me a chance to look back on myself anew. Though I had always considered my life kind of dull, writing my essay made me realize how varied and exciting it actually is. (Student, China)

The photo essay project made my long-held wish to make friends with boys and girls from other countries come true. The project made me realize how much I value freedom. (Student, China)

The awareness that their work was going to be seen by people all over the world made the task of writing Japanese come alive for the students. Their honest desire to tell people about themselves inspired them to do a good job. Since there was no “right answer,” everyone was able to carry on at their own pace and according to their own level of Japanese proficiency. Each student seems to have come out with a sense of accomplishment. (Sawaki Shungo, Instructor, Australia)

The project called on students to take their own initiative. The project allowed me to switch from teaching to assisting and the students were able to work more independently and cooperate through their groups. Even ordinarily quiet students participated actively, and I had the impression that the bonds among the students were strengthened. (Miyuki Johnson, Instructor, US)

The students did not have much experience in writing, and what writing they had done before had been without much enthusiasm. For this project, the need to put captions on their own pictures provided an effective motivation, stimulating them to want to write. (Kiyozuka Chiho, Instructor, U.S.)

Seeing the lives of the Japanese Deai students depicted in such a lively way seems to have inspired students to look again at themselves with more objectivity, helping them both to affirm how much they have grown and to stimulate their further growth. The students put a lot of their own personalities into their work, and I think that the project also gave them an excellent opportunity to get to know their friends better. I myself was able to learn more about each student than I could through normal classroom activities or exams, leading me to reflect anew on the importance of knowing about one's students.
Writing the photograph captions in Japanese allows students to acquire the vocabulary they need to express themselves. Letting them write what they want and as much as they want gives them a high degree of satisfaction. The project was helpful for me also, since I could see the kinds of vocabulary that would be helpful to incorporate into future classes. (Etsuko Barber, Instructor, U.S.)

When I asked my students whether they wanted to do this project, the answer was a resounding yes. They seemed to be excited at getting a chance to let the world know there were students studying Japanese even in this little corner of Wisconsin. Some students said the project made them want to write even more in Japanese, which leads me to think that the project is good from a language-teaching standpoint as well. Since the students’ essays were sent out from Japan to the rest of the world, the project also helped satisfy the criteria under “Communities” that are part of the National Standards for Foreign Language Education. (Kakigi Chie, Instructor, U.S.)

I believe that Korean high school students studying Japanese want to know more about Japanese high school students than about anything else. Many students at my school say they want to exchange e-mail with Japanese high-school students. They want to use their Japanese skills in order to make friends with their Japanese peers. Given such hopes, I think that Korean students will find the Deai Photo Essay Cafe Project very interesting. (Instructor, South Korea)

Creating their own photo essays seems to have encouraged my students to learn how to build better relationships with others including parents and classmates, where before they had tended to be rather withdrawn. One student who had previously shown no interest whatsoever in learning Japanese began to participate actively in class and to talk more frequently to the Japanese instructor as a result of the photo essay project. (Instructor, China)