U.S. sailor from Glendale is helping students in Japan practice their English
A U.S. Navy sailor who moved to Glendale at a young age is helping elementary school students in Japan hone their English as part of a community-service project.
Personnel Specialist 1st Class Boonyarit Panavaravatn is serving at Naval Air Facility Atsugi, located in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, where he is in charge of about 25 sailors as the leading petty officer and deputy disbursing officer of his personnel support command.
Panavaravatn is part of an ongoing program between Terao Elementary School and the nearby Navy base, where sailors volunteer to help Japanese students practice their English. He said he jumped at the opportunity to help young students because it reminded him of his own time as a non-native English speaker in Glendale.
At 14, Panavaravatn moved to Glendale from Bangkok, Thailand. He said he did not know much English, but the many friends he made at Glendale High School helped improve his fluency through frequent conversations.
“[The program] reminded me of when I first moved to America … learning English and having [a] conversation in [a] language that I barely knew,” Panavaravatn said in an email.
Panavaravatn said he noticed how shy the Japanese students all seemed, which was probably because the program was the first time they were able to speak English with someone outside of a classroom.
“I could relate to why [the students] were so shy. I tried as much as possible to make them feel comfortable when they were speaking English,” he said.
Once the students were more secure with their interactions, Panavaravatn said he was impressed by how fearless they became.
“The students definitely had courage to converse, even though they knew so little,” Panavaravatn said. “They feared of not being able to understand, but they tried rather than not trying.”
Currently in his ninth year as a sailor, Panavaravatn joined his duty station in Japan in late 2015 and said he loves the Japanese people, the country’s cleanliness and its public transportation system.
He said he wants to serve “as long as he can” and a full-time return to Glendale is unlikely. However, he does plan to retire in Southern California.
Twitter: @JeffLanda
