Monthly Archives: April 2009

スミス英会話 高円寺 Golden Week Holidays

ANOTHER FUN NIGHT IN KOENJI This year many people are taking holidays for a longer period of time than is customary and Tokyo is very much quieter than usual. So it’s a great place to visit now as it has some wonderful tourist attractions and a very fantastic night life. I have been teaching a [...]

A Very Special Place

I first went to Takedao 武田尾 last year when I joined a group from my Japanese class on a hike there from Namaze 生瀬. It is difficult to imagine that this beautiful spot in the mountains, on the banks of a fast flowing river, is only 3 stations from…

texting

I must admit that when I first got a cell phone about 10 years ago I wasn’t sure it was really necessary but these days it’s hard to get along without one. I started out with Docomo phones but moved over to Softbank (or Jphone at the time). While today’s phone’s have so many functions [...]

Funny cell phone episodes

I and my Japanese family here in Japan all use NTT docomo cell phones. NTT docomo is the predominant mobile phone operator in Japan and a subsidiary of NTT, Japan’s incumbent telephone operator. I, my wife, her younger brother and her cousin all are part of a family plan together. The bedsheet episode A few years ago [...]

teen whistle

The world truly is a weird and wonderful place. Thanks to the Internet information travels across the world in the blink of an eye. The other day when I was surfing online I came across a rather interesting article and I thought I should share it with you – A secret teen sound. According to [...]

やりがいのある仕事の実例:A Student Calls for Advice before an Interview

Today, the day before I leave for Hawaii during one of the long holidays afforded by the Smith’s system to its franchisees, I had a message from a high level student who will, unfortunately, be losing her job at the end of May due to the current economic downturn in Japan.   She sent me an email to [...]

the speed of change

Over the past decade the expression “the information age” appeared thanks to the power of the Internet.  First email became popular and within a very short time span computers literally changed the way we do everything; from shopping to making friends. In a previous entry here I mentioned that I have 5 computers and 2 [...]

日本の大企業は社員にどれくらいのTOEICスコアを期待しているでしょうか。What TOEIC Score do Japanese Companies Expect?

  Recently I read in the March 27th issue of the SHUUKAN ST, Student’s weekly newspaper published by the Japan Times, that 57.5% of Japanese companies are expecting new employees to have a TOEIC Score of 500 or above.  So I decided to emphasize this in my signage.  As you can see to the right, [...]

Sun, Spring and Super Students: A Poem of Smith’s in Spring

スミス英会話大津校の日本語のサイトはこちら 英会話無料レッスンはこちら If you see me wearing a big smile these days, ask me why. “Tis because of all the action in Ohtsu” I will reply. If you you are wondering what the action is, I will say “Smith`s Ohtsu is increasing its biz.” If you want to know how it is increasing so much, [...]

Thanks team Smith! ….. from Tsuruhashi

Just a short note to say a big thanks to the franchisees who left welcoming words of encouragement after our initial blog. Both Mike and I really appreciate it as we begin our journey that is Smith’s School of English,Tsuruhashi. Once again, thanks guys and we look forward to meeting you in the near future. [...]

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