University students from Rivne, Ukraine (Stepan Demianchuk International University of Economics and Humanities) and high school students from Okinawa, Japan (Okinawa Koyo High School) joined our cross-cultural exchange program on December 22, 2022.
The discussion topic was “Cartoon and Me”! Both students from Ukraine and Okinawa brought in their favorite cartoons to show and tell episodes linked to their own experiences. They also inspired each other by sharing how Anime and cartoons influenced their life in childhood.
A total of 24 students (10 students from Stepan Demianchuk International University of Economics and Humanities and 14 students from Koyo High School) joined the class!
The icebreaker activity was a trivia quiz about Okinawa and Ukraine. Those students got a chance to get to know more about their peers in the first twenty minutes.
There were three small groups to exchange opinions on “Cartoon and Me”!
・Both students from Ukraine and Okinawa introduced their favorite cartoons and share episodes related to their own experiences.
・ Discuss how Anime and cartoons influenced their life in childhood.
The students seemed to be so excited about the small group talk to share opinions on their favorite anime, even though they were nervous speaking up at the beginning!
At the end of the cross-cultural exchange class, all the students from Ukraine and Okinawa exchanged comments on the program.
I appreciate this opportunity to have a cross-cultural exchange as well as language learning with you. I hope this will help discover what is Japan to Ukraine and what is Ukraine to the Japanese people. I am pleased that we could hold this event in the midst of a situation where the electricity has still been inadequate in Ukraine.
Iryna Budz（Dean of German Literature, Stepan Demianchuk University of International Economics and Humanities)
As a part of the preparation for today’s class, we looked up and learned about Ukraine beforehand. There were many students who are not good at English, who participated, and I was happy to see those students tried their best to communicate in the language.
Yuji Ogido (English Teacher at Koyo High School)
I liked it very much. Even if it was a little awkward, I still gained some experience and a lot of positive memories. I would be glad to meet again!!
A student from Stepan Demianchuk University of International Economics and Humanities
I was surprised that Japanese Anime is broadcasted in Ukraine. I was happy to hear what kind of anime Ukraine students like, but I was frustrated at the same time not being able to speak English well. I’ve decided to study English in order to talk about myself better the next time.
A student from Koto High School
Detail of the Cross-Cultural Exchange Class:
Date: Thursday, December 22, 2022
Time: 10:20-11:10 (Ukraine time) / 17:20-18:10 (Japan time)
Venue: Classrooms at each school
Participants: 10 students from Stephan Demianchuk University of International Economics and Humanities, 14 students from Okinawa Koyo High School
Organizer: HelloWorld Inc.
An online cross-cultural exchange & English education platform that is widely utilized in public schools in Japan and overseas. You can communicate with people around the world as you take classes in your own classroom. WorldClassroom enables you to use English as a lingua franca in today’s world. (33 schools, which accompany 15,000 students joined our program in 2022)
In Japan, a cross-cultural exchange class normally requires a lot of preparation so teachers could only hold it once or twice a year. Aiming to infuse and implement more cross-cultural exchange classes handy in schools, we are beefing up the usability of WorldClassroom! This will support each class and each teacher to plan and do cross-cultural exchange sessions remarkably easy to get done!
