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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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