Reiko Asahina

Hailing from Osaka, Japan, Japanese teacher Reiko Asahina is excited to join the Brookline High School community She studied teaching and English literature at Osaka Prefecture College, and ended up teaching Japanese to people of all ages. When not teaching, she enjoys jogging, swimming, and watching movies.

What made you want to teach Japanese at a high school?

I love teaching and I like teaching to various age range. I teach second graders as well, in Japanese school in Massachusetts, and I also teach at BU too, older people. The BHS students are kind of the middle, they’re still, to me, cute. I also used to teach older, older than my age, 60-70 age people. And they also are getting to learning new language. And so it was fun, too. So I like teaching all ages.

How did you spend your summer before coming here?

I went back to Japan and went to a tropical island called Okinawa. Okinawa is a tropical island in Japan. I went to the beach, doing nothing, having fun. And every day Kuru Kuru Sushi. Do you know Kuru Kuru Sushi? The sushi restaurant in Japan. The sushi itself goes round and round.

Can you tell me about any sort of teaching experience that you remember?

Mmm, a lot! Usually I want to help the people in the classroom who are struggling, so I always try to have a conversation, and if anyone needs help trying to help with whatever, I can. So, that always has been an experience.

If you could give advice to yourself when you were in high school, this age, what would you tell yourself? Is it the same as what you would tell your students?

Study more. I try to tell them, but they don’t have any listening ears! I’m so happy to be here teaching the students in my class, and whenever you need any help for learning Japanese please let me know!