“M” has been with me for nearly three years now. She is in her late 50’s and has been slow on progress…Until tonight, I thought that she would not be able to handle anything other than a very structured lesson. As my “item” tonight I pulled out a picture book which includes about [...]
There must be something in the water here in Hashimoto! I am about to lose three great students (temporarily I hope) due to…Well they are all expecting babies!!!
“H1″ is due in May but I think she will deliver sooner than that! She has been with me for about a year and her improvement [...]
Not much to do with Smith’s School of English, but all to do with my personal life here in Japan…My daughter’s high school volleyball team (Yamato Minami) qualified for the national tournament and won their first game today…Yoyogi Stadium…Will be on tv (Fuji TV) at 12:30 tonight….Next game is this Saturday and I will be [...]
She has been with me for about six months now. Initially a very shy student who would not initiate a thing in class. She just returned from a 10-day business trip to India and now she is “on fire.” Like “night and day” I say. It is amazing what a trip abroad [...]
A 20-year old boy, who will remain nameless, joined my school two months ago to prepare himself for living in the United States for a year. I call him Sly Stone. Why? Well, for those of you old enough to remember the band “Sly and the Family Stone” would understand because he has a very [...]
I have been coaching one particular “man to man” student for the past year or so. She is a special one and likes to understand everything, and I mean everything, down to the last detail. Three weeks ago I started “Finnigan’s Bar” with her. When she saw it on the board she was completely [...]
January 26, 2008 – 11:29 pm
Many years ago the thought of eating raw fish was not very appealing. I tried it off and on, only when I was under peer pressure to eat it, and swallowing a mouthful of maguro was a painful experience.
Then there was a day in which I had been on the go for hours, no time [...]
January 21, 2008 – 8:26 am
Recently I have been giving lessons to some of my special students, “man to man” students that is- theme: Hachiko.
Hachiko was a dog…Now a very famous dog that was very loyal and devoted to his master. His master was a professor at Tokyo University. Hachiko followed him to Shibuya Station daily and met him [...]
January 17, 2008 – 8:08 am
Six months ago she was a “deer in the headlights,” scared to death of me, scared of foreigners, scared of group lessons…Watching her confidence build over the months has been very nice. Tonight this nurse (I have many nurses for some reason), attacked “The Restaurant” routine with full confidence…no fear…I got her…She is mine, my [...]
January 14, 2008 – 3:00 am
Mark is my new part time teacher here at Hashimoto. I have worked with him in the past and my intuition and judgement have proven to be spot on. The students like him, he is truly professional, and on his way to owning a Smith’s franchise in the future. Thank you Mark Presley!
jim
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December 26, 2007 – 9:21 pm
The downfall of that other company is indeed unfortuate for so many people. And now, another company has been trying to save the day for them, hitting a lot of brick walls, making promises they can’t keep, disappointing many. That too, is unfortunate.
As franchisees, we are the lucky ones. We are kept informed, we keep [...]
December 21, 2007 – 7:23 am
For the past two years or so I have had a part time teaching job at a city office, teaching two different groups of eight ladies. Because my franchise has been getting busier, I decided to find these ladies another teacher and “retire.” Anyway, I had the opportunity of substitute teaching the class this [...]
December 17, 2007 – 8:57 am
I spent an entire class on “Finnigan’s Bar” tonight because the students were so into it…In fact the class went ten minutes over and it didn’t matter to me…As I was wrapping things up late, one of them asked me to recite the routine at my natural speed so she could record it with her [...]
December 13, 2007 – 5:44 pm
The final end-of-year blitz is on. Fellow teacher Mark and I distributed 600 flyers this morning in 2 hours. I am not a morning person at all, but this was a beautiful morning!
jim
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December 11, 2007 – 7:43 am
Got 500 flyers out between 6:30 and 9:00 this morning! Just had to tell someone!!!
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November 29, 2007 – 8:45 am
Tonight I posed this question to three “green” level students: “What would your ideal teacher be like?” I wasn’t surprised at the responses from them…They are looking for honesty, corrections (at about 50 percent of the time), interesting topics, friendliness…I am sure we provide all of that, and more…Then they asked me the [...]
November 21, 2007 – 9:34 pm
A few nights ago I did the “Lawson” routine with one student during my 9pm lesson. After the lesson I was hungry so I walked down the street to Lawson convenience store. When I got there I spotted the bento shop across the street and found myself “standing in front of Lawson” with “a problem.” [...]
November 17, 2007 – 4:01 am
Yasuko is also one of my favorite students. She is serious about improving her ability to speak, listen, and read. She has been taking two courses with me for quite a long time - the Normal course for speaking, and One-on-One for reading. She has shown lots of improvement, especially in her overall confidence…I remember [...]
October 30, 2007 – 7:42 am
Music was my life for so many years. I got paid a decent salary to play the trombone, and during that time I learned to love jazz. Ten years ago I pretty much stopped playing but it is impossible for me to stop listening. I listen everyday. Jazz goes daily, for hours in [...]
October 13, 2007 – 5:21 am
Everyone has a favorite student. Haruna is mine. She is a hard working married woman who works at a university as an advisor and aid to foreign students. She is also a very internationally-minded person because she went to school as a child and teenager in Scotland. She knows what culture shock is. When she [...]
September 25, 2007 – 7:23 am
I had a bad day today. Well, at least I thought I did…Nothing seemed to go right, although it was all “right.” I just didn’t realize it… Later I remembered what I used to do here in Japan. I used to work for another eikaiwa, one that is in deep trouble right now, one that [...]
September 17, 2007 – 4:18 am
My school is located in a residential area of Sagamihara and to my disappointment, no “signage” is allowed outside of my building. However, all is not lost in that area of advertising. I put a Smith’s flag on my veranda (my area, my space, so no complaints from the residents) about a year ago, and [...]
September 11, 2007 – 9:13 am
I must admit this is not my original idea…But the grammar combined with the function works well for high level English school students: I spent the first ten minutes brainstorming types of disasters, natural and those that humans are responsible for, resulting in lots of new vocabulary for the student…Then combined the [...]
September 4, 2007 – 7:26 am
This will be short and sweet…I try to avoid saying “never say never,” so I’ll say - I never want to work for anyone again in my life. Working for myself at my English school is the best. It really is!
Jim
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August 24, 2007 – 7:21 am
My good buddy Paul visited me for a week from the United States about two weeks ago. We decided to take a trip into the big city and went to Ginza, Tokyo’s most expensive shopping area, a must-see for anyone travelling this way. It was hot…Not hot. It was beyond hot, and as we [...]
August 18, 2007 – 9:59 pm
Hiroko, an elementary school teacher came to me about two months ago desiring the Smith’s Travel Course. She had never been abroad, was invited to a wedding in Florida, and planned on turning it into a ten-day vacation for her and her husband. Additionally, she had never studied English conversation before and was initially quite [...]
Anyone new to Japan inevitably experiences culture shock. It can be something as simple as receiving change in a supermarket or, God forbid, a trip to the hospital. Having lived in Japan for so many years, I am used to this society and culture, and not much phases me anymore. But I know I haven’t [...]
Omiyage (souvenir) is a big part of this culture. It never ceases to surprise me when a student returns from a holiday, either domestic or abroad, and pulls out something for me from wherever they had been. Just in the past few weeks I have been given some mints from Hawaii (maybe she’s trying to [...]
Smith’s Hashimoto opened about two years ago, conveniently located between Tokyo, Yokohama, Tanzawa Mountains, and the beaches of the Sagami Bay. It’s a relatively quiet area, having three train lines connecting to the major cities.
Opening the school was quite easy for me because of the help and support I received from the staff. [...]