February 21, 2008 – 4:53 am
I regularly read posts on the soapbox , and there is a always a good balance of helpful posts about teaching as well as interesting points about Japan. A lot of the franchise owners and the part time teachers have a gift of writing that makes the most ordinary subject a joy to read! It’s [...]
February 13, 2008 – 3:47 am
It’s really cold today! It’s been quite cold for a while now, it even snowed most of Saturday. Today the cold is tinged with wind however. I was looking forward to coming into Smith’s School of English, Kyobashi all day, actually, because of the great heating system we have here!
Although I really enjoy the cold, [...]
February 2, 2008 – 2:12 am
There’s nothing better to warm you up when you come in for a lesson at Smith’s School of English than a nice hot cup of tea.
Not only is tea delicious, but we often hear that tea is really good for your health as well. Tea has been been proven to be good for all sorts [...]
January 31, 2008 – 3:23 am
I’ve been thinking about the environment a lot recently, what with concern for global warming publicly becoming a prerogative for many countries.
The United Nations have pointed out the need to assist developing countries to invest in environmental protection in order to avoid the negative repercussions of economic growth. Japan is in a unique position after [...]
January 30, 2008 – 3:21 am
I just returned to the Kyobashi lounge from a lesson two green students and one yellow students, feeling really elated. In terms of student talk time, development and stretching, it was the ideal lesson.
At times it can be difficult to balance a lesson of high level students who don’t know one another, but this was [...]
January 28, 2008 – 2:12 am
Somewhere in the Smith’s School of English curriculum is the statement “Traveling in America isn’t as safe as traveling in Japan” (I think it’s part of comparisons 2). Personally, I always agree with this statement. Though I’m not from America, I’ve done some travelling there, and in other parts of the world, and really I’ve [...]
January 23, 2008 – 3:26 am
Winter is certainly upon us, and each time students come up to the lobby they eagerly receive their steaming cups of coffee or tea to take some of the chill off. Partly, too, due to our hardworking heater, the lounge has been particularly cozy of late. Also, integral to any season in Japan is the [...]
January 16, 2008 – 3:53 am
It’s been commented that working in the franchise schools is a whole other world to head office in Kyobashi. After having a worked a number of different schools, I’d say that this is generally true. A one class school obviously has a different atmosphere to a 5 class school, due to the sheer number of [...]
December 10, 2007 – 8:59 pm
E.T.
The three students all merged on this last lesson of a Saturday afternoon from all different teachers, times and lessons previously. As I greeted each of them, I asked simple questions that gave them the opportunity to use the one point from their previous lesson.
Routine
Although they were pre-intermediate and intermediate students, I decided to review [...]
November 5, 2007 – 2:18 am
Last Thursday here at Kyobashi I had one of those lessons that an English school loves. Intermediate level, and very enthusiastic about all that the lesson entails.
I started off by chatting to him a bit about what he’s scared of, his onepoint from last lesson. This turned out to be quite funny, inspiring him to [...]
October 25, 2007 – 4:55 am
E. T.
Will you eat lunch tomorrow? I asked, hoping to prompt the previous lesson’s one-point, “I’m sure”. This did not happen, but only because the student was confused about her one point, thinking it included their whole example from last lesson - “I’m sure I will go shopping tomorrow!” Not a bad general case, but [...]
October 15, 2007 – 3:45 am
E.T.
I’ve been folding origami recently. At first I found it quite tricky, but once I got the knack of it - it’s easy!
This is how I introduced the one-point to my high level student. I wanted to see if he’d recognize his one-point in a natural catch-up type conversation about what we’d both been doing [...]
October 10, 2007 – 2:45 am
Though I’m usually based in Kyobashi, I’ve recently been filling for Martin over in Kotoen by teaching a few classes. As one of our franchise English schools it is perhaps one of the more unusual due to the way that the lessons are set up.
During my time there I had one particularly memorable experience that [...]
October 1, 2007 – 3:56 am
The much anticipated cheese and wine party kicked off here at Kyobashi on Saturday.
The day prior we’d acquired oh-so-much cheese, bizarrely enough in pairs. In fact as commented at the cash register, it was like the Noah’s Ark of Cheese. So we had quite the delectable and plump spread covering many surfaces when students began [...]
September 19, 2007 – 4:17 am
I just came out of a lesson where idioms were the game. What kind of game, you ask? A story-telling game! I wrote the idioms on the board, and asked the two students to try and explain what they meant. They guessed a couple, I explained the rest, and then the game was on. All [...]
September 18, 2007 – 2:22 am
My first lesson of Saturday was with 3 students. Two of these were red level regulars, paired with an orange student who has been very busy for the last two months.
E.T.
This meant that the orange students had their one-points fresh in their minds, and gave thanks to a friend and sister for being helpful during [...]
September 6, 2007 – 7:35 pm
E.T.
B28 – (a) is famous for (b) because (c) – from Smith’s School of English one point series
The first item on the menu was a review of the one point from last lesson. The red student quickly said Kyoto is famous for temples because there are a lot of them. I was impressed with her [...]
August 30, 2007 – 10:51 pm
A particularly enthusiastic student decided to book in a second lesson this week. She had something particular in mind that she wanted to learn, and so came in earlier than usual with this goal in mind. She works at an izakaya in the evenings, and a few days ago an English-speaking customer came in. The [...]
August 20, 2007 – 7:23 pm
Since I hadn’t seen my first two students today in over a month, they were visibly nervous about getting into the lesson. We got into talking about movies and that’s when they started to warm up, really getting into the topic.
One student told me that her favorite actor was George [...]
Another hot and happening summer day at Smith’s School of English!
My first lesson of the evening was two pre-intermediate students with two very different personalities. One was just winding down from holiday mode, while the other was just beginning to wind up. They were both interested in various summer festivals, so we chatted about the [...]
August 6, 2007 – 10:57 pm
Maybe I`ve been spending a little too much time in the classroom recently, but one points are sticking in my head. I find myself analyzing my everyday conversation and noticing each time my utterances reflect a one point. In a class with an orange and red student it reached a crescendo today.
After [...]
Very shortly after arriving in Japan, Easter happened. I didn’t really know anyone yet, so my plans mostly consisted of taking the opportunity to eat a vast array of Japanese sweets. At the last minute my partner and I were invited from an acquaintance of an acquaintance to a picnic. Too excited to wait, I [...]
I had such a good time presenting my one point last week, that I decided to reuse it for a different student. My student was quite fit high level (green) and so when I asked him to visualise his waterglass growing little legs and running across the desk and into the lobby he had no [...]
Being an aficionado of picnics, I sometimes like to prepare for the event most scrupulously. They are the sort of idea that can grow claws, wings and who-knows-what-else in their monstrous potential. They sometimes need to be finely tuned to prevent disaster. First and foremost, there is the scouting of the picnic spot. One must [...]
Green curry English
ria
Twilight falls as a hot curry settles in my stomach from a place nearby. Sweating slightly I find that my first lesson is with a green level student who has been coming to Smith’s School of English for many years, and who consistently has multiple lessons every week, even on the same day. [...]
A Quiet Orange Saturday Afternoon
Ria
It is a quiet Saturday in Smiths School of English, Kyobashi. I’ve spent the morning at Horie school, with eager students. Combining this with good luck in the subway getting to Kyobashi, I am in a rather zesty mood. This enthusiasm seems catching as I start the lesson with an orange [...]
It is very sunny on the first day back to Smith’s School or English for me after Golden Week. My first class for the evening is a pink student who I know to be very friendly, but shy in speaking. With a relatively relaxed atmosphere I ask her what she did during Golden Week. She [...]