As a teacher, I have to try and remember all of my student names. Teaching at Elementary school and Secondary school (combined Junior and Senior High school), it was a lot easier to remember students’ names, particularly my form (home-room) students. I spent a large part of each week with the same students. I got to know their personalities, interests and hobbies. I knew which students hated which foods and I knew their parents and family life. More than 10 years after I left that school, some of my former students recognized me in London and said hello and I could easily remember their names.

It has not been so easy to remember my students’ names in Japan. Firstly, Japanese names often have a very similar pronunciation meaning that knowing the Kanji can be quite important. When I first arrived  in Japan, I could not read any Kanji characters at all, so this did not help much. Secondly, in English class, we often do not use a person’s family name. This is a result of how using a person’s family name in English indicates relative social status, which creates a social distance. Historically, teachers were seen as being extremely scary because of the way in which they exerted their social status through language. We use first names because we want our students to feel less intimidated and less anxious about speaking. Thirdly, I am teaching at university now where I see my students once or twice a week. I have very little chance to get to know my students.

These three facts did not help when I was faced with my first class of Japanese students, but I did learn their names. Even now, many years later, I do remember their names, and I do remember their faces. They even send me New Years cards every January. Their names were Tomoko, Tomoko, Tomoko, Tomoko, Tomoko, Tomoko, Tomoko, and Mariko. Unfortunately, in the first few lessons, I could not remember who was Mariko. As I got to know them better, I could remember as I connected their personalities with what they did and said in class.

Like most people, I remember the names of people who I have most communication with. Sadly, this often means that I remember the really good students and the really not-so-good students. Those students who are quiet and try to avoid speaking in class tend to be the most difficult to remember. I try to remember their names by using {the story method [https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/link-and-story-method-infographic.html]}. By creating a story and linking together interesting things, it becomes easier to remember things. As a teacher, I can help refresh this in my mind by taking a roll-call at the beginning of class, but this technique does help. Eventually, I can remember everyone’s names, but then the semester ends and I have to start all over again.

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