Musings on flyering 2

Nearly two months ago I gave myself a flyering S.T.A.G. for the duration of February and March. It certainly wasn’t my favourite time of year to be out promoting スミス英会話 in front of the two stations that sandwich my school - 長岡天神 (Nagaoka Tenjin) or 長岡京 (Nagaokakyo). It was often cold, sometimes snowing and I could think of many more comfortable places I would prefer to be relaxing at 7 o’clock in the morning.

In a previous post I talked about one way I could distract myself, by viewing the whole enterprise as a kind of sport. That certainly helped, as did the notion that I was out on the street communicating with crowds of potential students. The communication itself can take on various forms. For example there’s the deciphering of nods, where sometimes a tilt of the head can mean “I would like to take one of those, please” other times “I’ve seen you in front of me, what on earth are you handing out?” and of course the “I’m in a hurry, would you be so kind as to get out of the way?” (The good folk of Nagaoka, I feel, are impeccably polite).

Then there are the morning greetings, sometimes in English, sometimes in Japanese. My opening gambit is invariably a “good morning” or even a “good morning, sir / ma’am”. This then may be followed by the aforementioned nod, a Japanese aisatsu, or a nice brisk good morning in English. If someone takes one of the flyers, I usually wish them a nice day, and perhaps a “your welcome” if they have thanked me. I myself always thank anyone who takes a flyer, and also those who have indicated they won’t be requiring a flyer on that particular morning (whether by nod, a shimmy of the hand or verbally). Sometimes a more senior lady or gentleman laughs at the prospect of their joining an English school, but I’m happy to offer them a flyer all the same whilst sharing the smiles: after all perhaps their daughter or grandson could be interested?

But my favourite form of communication was when I bumped into existing students. Even if it was only for a minute or a few seconds, afterwards I always felt warmed and encouraged by the brief chats I could grab, even when the worst of the winter weather was doing its best to freeze and dampen my spirits.

So flyering can be viewed as a kind of sport, an act of communication or simply as an effective marketing tool. I’ve been doing flyers off and on throughout my years in the Smiths sytem, and I have to say that with all the web support that head office has been providing these days, it’s become more effective than ever. Over the period of the 2 month S.T.A.G. the school signed up 8 new students, with one more starting tomorrow and number 10 next week.

スミス英会話 長岡天神

Giving Directions

Often lesson plans may seem like just that – a plan for a lesson, but there’s nothing more exciting than a lesson plan that has been put to the test and comes out on the winning end!

Shimokitazawa Smith’s youngest student had the pleasure of seeing the results of a successful lesson plan. Let’s call her ‘K’. Fresh out of high school ‘K’ started with us during our summer special 2007. As someone who loves Shimokita, she would often try to explain the location and directions to some of her favorite places in this exciting little part of Tokyo. Thus prompted, I decided to take a leap and try an Intermediate lesson plan with her “Directions”. She took to this with ease, and was grateful for the vocabulary to express her ideas in English. But the success didn’t end there…
Two weeks after this lesson plan K dashed into class, breathless and excitedly explained how she saw a couple of American tourists in Shimoikitazawa who just happened to be lost. Using her vocabulary from the Directions lesson plan she was able to point them in the right direction.

Another successful class at Shimokitazawa Smiths English Conversation School!!

take a deep breath

There’s not one person I know that doesn’t suffer from some sort of stress…studying English shouldn’t be one of them. In fact it should be just the opposite - in my classroom laughter’s heard in practically every class. It’s kept light and enjoyable as much as possible but that doesn’t mean I’m not strict nor let me students get away with their mistakes. In fact my ears are razor sharp as they are the keys to mastering English regardless of a students’ level. Master your mistakes and soon you’ll find yourself on the going up to the next level.

Students often tend to avoid making mistakes but it’s how we learn: do - fail - try again - fail - try again - succeed. The key is not to give up along the way and to be able to laugh at yourself. One of my higher red students was a pleasure to teach as she always had a smile on her face and while she often studied with higher level students she could always contribute to the conversation and always enjoyed herself. She sometimes forgot easy words but she just brushed it off and we all had a little chuckle. The reason I felt she could keep up with students that much better than her was in her ability to just listen and learn while at the same time laugh at herself.

Instead of being shy and trying to avoid making mistakes we should be throwing ourselves in harm’s way and in the immortal words of Nike “just do it”. Those of you out there who are - great…keep going. For everyone else, just take a deep breath and get ready for the ride.

Adrian

book 7 years in the making

One higher level student took it upon herself to write her life stories in both English and Japanese and share them with her family. She wanted to show everyone that you can do anything you want to if you put your mind to it. In her first book her writing was good but simple. Her second book was more refined but her latest book is absolutely fabulous. Sure I helped her along the way but the way she constructs sentences has come a long way. Now she’s going to make a compilation of her best stories and hopefully submit it for submission at the local library - way to go!!! Considering that she took up English past 50 one has to just admire her courage and determination. I’m proud to have been involved with her progress each and every step of the way. The best of all is that she knows she can do even more. Now that’s what I like to hear.

Adrian

Hashimoto Water

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 has been fabulous. I will miss her dearly…

“H2,” once labeled as “my favorite student” (still is), is due in July and she has decided to take her break from next month. Losing her is going to hurt but I know she will be back.

And “M” told me tonight that she is expecting in October. She has been with me for over a year and is as strong as ever…

Being a father of two, I know that this is a very special time for them, an exciting time…I share your joy and wish you all the very best with your new ones. They are priceless…Congratulations!

jim

Smith’s goes Sumo

Sumo2AsashyoryuEvery one of my regular 6pm students knows that if they come a little early, they can watch the last couple matches of the Sumo Basho with me before their lessons. After the last basho, students got to know my love for sumo, and every 6pm student last week and this week came early and cheered on Asashyoryu and Hakuho with me. Its nice to start these lessons with so much fun and excitement and the atmosphere is really jovial and energetic when we staet our lessons. Anyway, everyday this week and last, my students and i enjoyed seeing Asashyoryu on a nice winning streak. Yesterday i went with another Smith’s Owner to see the Osaka Basho live! And to our amazement, not only did Hakuho lose, but so did Asashyoru! Both yokozuna lost! It was a very exciting day, and i look forward to discussing it with all my 6pm students next week! It’s great being able to share such an awesome cultural event with my students.

Edward (FC Ohtsu)

Smith’s Otsu Signage Improvements

main street signNot the most exciting thing, but i noticed some other schools have some great location shots, and as we recently had new signs installed, i thought it would be nice for other schools to see what we look like now. As our school is on the 8th floor (the penthouse as it were), we need more ground level visibility. In the next little while we might also add some big signs on our balcony and in the windows….. stay tuned! I will post both before and after pictures. Ed

door before

door after

corner before

corner after

main before

main after

side street sign and flag

Welcome Michael Bosman to Fukushima !

I am pleased to introduce my new semi-F/T teacher, Michael Bosman from Australia to my Smith’s School in Fukushima. Michael is a professional teacher in New South Wales and I am very pleased to welcome him to the team. He will assume most of the teaching hours while Graham and I each keep one 4-hour block weekly. Watch Fukushima grow bigger now as I have more time to focus on promotion! I’m very excited!

Michael’s training starts tomorrow at the school and he will also be coming to the curriculum training seminar at head office this coming Thursday morning. Please say hello to Michael and wish him luck!

Thanks everyone!

Martin

スミス英会話は何故違う。Why is Smith’s School of English Different?

What’s different about Smith’s School compared with the multitude of English conversation schools in Japan? Bottom to the top it’s totally different. It’s truly a breath of fresh air. No stale lesson plans, no stiff teachers looking truly uncomfortable in ties, just a down-to-earth well thought out curriculum which provides what Japanese students of English need so desperately to make steady progress at every level.

The beauty of it is that the teacher is the owner. What a novel idea? Why not? After all where is the real value in any English conversation school? Is it the glossy print ads at the stations, on the trains or on the TV? Is it the TV personality on the TV commercial asking “Why not XYZ?” No it’s none of those. The real value is simple: a good quality lesson for a very fair price taught by a teacher who understands the importance of providing a good lesson and working very hard to assure his students’ continued progress. In talking with my fellow teacher/owners, it is amazing to hear about all of the extra things they do to care for their students.

That’s what Smith’s provides along with a courteous staff who never chase trial students after they leave the trial while many of the other larger schools do just the opposite and always seem to be busy hiring fresh new teachers and spending tons of money on expensive advertising and expensive rental property and interior design. On top of that Smith’s schools are still very conveniently located, very comfortable and most of all, no student’s hard-earned paid-up-front-for-months tuition money can be wasted on such expensive ads because there isn’t any.

So if you’re a student looking for the best lesson for the best price taught by a teacher who really cares about your progress dial up 0120-222-248 now (13:00 to 22:00 Monday-Friday and 13:00 to 19:00 Saturday) to book that potentially life-changing free trial lesson today or check the website: スミス英会話 and see all of the great events the Smith’s schools hold for their students. If you’re a would-be teacher/owner looking for a truly different kind of opportunity with a great franchise who understands that the teacher provides the only true marketable value of any school, then you can’t go wrong with joining Smith’s (Smith’s School of English Franchise).

The future and best interests of both the students and teachers is always of the utmost importance to Smith’s School of English. Enjoy life but remember, you have a choice. Make the best of it!

Al Bartle (Smith’s School of English - Okamoto)

Comments and Sport

Hi there all.

Business:

Just a quick note to let you know that after considering requests from within the franchise group comments have now been enabled here on the soapbox. We / I really appreciate your efforts in brining news about Smith’s and Japan to the public with the SoapBox and trust this new function further supports your efforts.

Pleasure: Last week, Sunday I was in Tokyo for a franchise training seminar and had a great time seeing all the guys in Tokyo. I appeared a bit sunburned as I had just arrived back from a 3 day sailing trip. I promised to stick a couple of YouTubes up and here they are. Comments are open here as well.

I just love this sport. Sailing in 28 knots of wind.

I work hard and play hard. Here I am at the helm of a 30 foot sailing boat in some pretty strong wind.

I look forward to seeing more postings and comments here on the SoapBox. Thank you all so very much for making the SoapBox what it is today.

Mark Smith.

Questions - スミス 英会話 高円寺

There is no doubt that being able to ask questions gives you control of a conversation and I therefore like to encourage and work with students to get them to speak up and take control of their English conversations.
The Smith’s School of English curriculm, and the training that is given to the coaches of communicative confidence to utilise it effectively, empowers us to deliver interesting and practical lessons time after time. I like to mix and match items to the student’s needs and to that end I have recently found that the “Use To” cards are also great as prompts to help students to develop questions for each other and/or myself and they also enable all of us to respond by asking additional questions using the same prompt cards.
Smith’s School of English gives both the students and teachers the confidence they need to be relaxed and enjoy each and every lesson.

スミス英会話 高円寺

The Turning Point

The first year of teaching is always difficult, whether you are working for yourself or for a large company. Working for yourself presents a few extra complications and worries, and I must admit that I didn’t always have a lot of confidence in what I was doing or how I was doing things. I had some concerns about the curriculum and the decision to live and work in Tokyo. But things change…

I think the turning point for me happened about eighteen months into my Smith’s Shimokitazawa experience with one student, I’ll call her “M”. She was one of our first students and as such she would always manage to have a class alone. When M started she was a low pink and tried very hard in class, even doing some of the exercises that I suggested at home. On a very small level I thought I saw some progress, but it wasn’t until we both saw just how much she had improved that we became excited. In her seventh or eighth month at Smiths she had the opportunity to have a class with two other low level pink students, and to put it simply she ran circles around them.

To be able to share in her pride and surprise at her progress was the most rewarding and inspiring event for me. It showed me, M and the other two students that the Smiths curriculum really works!

M continues to study hard and can now tell me about her recent business trips where she has the opportunity to use English as an international language.

This may seem like a very small thing, but to know that my efforts actually have an effect was all the motivation and reassurance that I needed.

Shane

Adjectives 2

I am a great supporter of the Smith’s School of English curriculm. There are many items that I enjoy using as a Coach of Communiative Confidence which are appreciated by Smith’s School of English - Koenji students, one of which is Adjectives 2. The students always participate with enthusiasm and learn alot about describing a persons facial features. The reason students come to Smith’s School of English lessons is to develop confidence to use English, which in many cases simply needs us to make an improvement in their pronunciation and to expand their vocabulary. The Adjectives 2 item is a great help in this regard. スミス英会話 高円寺

Injuries 1

Another great item in the Smiths School of English curriculm is Injuries 1. Again it assists students to improve their communicative confidence and provides them with new words for their vocabulary - words that are important for travelers overseas who find themselves needing to visit a doctor, dentist, hospital etc. It is simple enough to be used with students of all levels and is a very popular item. Smiths School of English - Koenji is an avid supporter of the Smith’s School of English curriculm, it is logical and helps students to not only develop communcative confidence buy also the confidence to travel overseas knowing that they can communicate with a doctor if they need to do so.

スミス英会話 高円寺

何故日本で英語を教える事が面白い。Why teaching English in Japan is so interesting!

English in Japan is everywhere but at the same time it’s not. In many cases it exists in varying degrees of correctness as decoration on T-shirts and so on, or the “OPEN” and “CLOSE” signs on the stores. From this you can begin to see that there is a real need for Japanese to seek help learning English. But on the train, in a coffee shop or when you just listen to people passing on the street, it won’t be long before you hear someone say “Eigo” {英語} in the middle of his/her conversation. Many Japanese, not everyone mind you, have in the back of their minds at all times the concern that they need to or should finally learn to really use English. Usually they are referring to their need or desire to learn English conversation. You see, in Japan English conversation is separate from English as it is mainly taught in secondary schools. However, young people want to learn conversation so as to improve their chances of making foreign friends, getting a job or for use when they travel. Company employees often need it for their work and older people what to keep polishing their English as a hobby or for general mental exercise. Whatever the reason, there is truly an enormous demand for English coaching. It is so large that people have been known to lay out $7,000 to $10,000 or more at one time to sign up for a year or more of lessons.

So what is particular about the English in Japan? Imagine that you have been forced to study a language for 6 years without really being challenged to acquire the ability to speak it or pronounce it correctly. You have a quite a bit of vocabulary knowledge and knowledge of English grammar but the most delicious and useful part of English has been withheld from you in favor of preparing you to take a college entrance examination which requires the ability to translate, fill in the blanks with the correct gerund or infinitive forms etc. and to apply arcane grammatic rules that most native speakers have never heard of or don’t care to even know. So when you finish high school you will either fall into the group who now completely hates English or the other group who is really interested to finally become able to speak and use it. Members of the latter group most likely have already taken steps to acquire speaking ability by attending some private English conversation schools prior to finishing high school. All of these students are potential students for a private school, but the latter group will most likely join a school and make great progress. Many of the first group have become completely disenchanted with the study of English due, in many cases, to the unnatural separation of written English from spoken English at most secondary schools. This is truly sad but still some of that disenchanted group will take the plunge and may well come to enjoy learning and speaking English also. That will, in many cases depend on their English coach.

So as an English teacher in Japan, you will meet and have a chance to teach all kinds of students with all kinds of goals, preconceptions, concerns, desires and, in some cases, a deep fear of English. This situation surely provides a truly exciting opportunity for you to apply your knowledge and skills to teach each student in a way that will bring out their highest potential to use all parts of English. I really cannot think of a better place to teach English than Japan. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants a challenge and will work hard to provide great coaching to his/her students. It is really great fun and very rewarding everyday.

Smith’s opportunity was just right for me!

So what is good about the Smith’s opportunity? Well, in my case, it allowed me to come back to Japan on my own terms and not at the whim of the company for which I was working. It allowed me to bring my wife back to be near her aging parents and my son who was living in Tokyo with his wife and new daughter.

When I was young, I also taught English in Japan. I taught at Berlitz in Osaka, Kobe and Fukuoka. As I was just out of college, it was fine as a first job but I wanted to do more, so I got a job with Mitsubishi Electric doing technical translation and I worked that into an engineering position and continued to teach English in the evenings to employees destined for assignments overseas and stayed with that job for five and half years. Being young and not having worked much in the US, I yearned to go back to the states and work as an engineer as I felt a little stifled in Japan. I was able to do that and ended up working as an engineer for 13 years and then as a manager for 13 years for three Japanese companies in the US. As a result of that experience, I never forgot Japanese and when I had gotten a little stressed out by my current job, the Smith’s opportunity presented itself. I discussed it with my wife and she agreed to support me during the startup phase and was happy to get the chance to go back to Japan.

We moved back in June 2006 and I grew the school from 15 students to 66 since then. It has not been easy but it has been fun and I am proud to be able to have hands-on control of a small business. Like any business, it requires a lot of attention and care. There are many stages I have gone through and many lessons I have learned, but through it all the Smith’s team has been very supportive. Basically, if you have the willpower to do what is needed, you can succeed with this business. You can go as far as you want to go. You can limit it to a size you can manage alone as a teacher/owner or you can add classrooms and teachers and grow it into a mega-school.

First you have to decide if you have the determination to start and run a business. Will you be able to follow the normal procedures and do what has been proven to work? If so then buying a Smith’s franchise is a good choice. The procedures, curriculum, headoffice staff and great Japanese web presence are well established and provide a much better foundation than going it totally alone.

Al Bartle (Smith’s School of English - Okamoto)

Al Bartle (Smith's Okamoto)

Daughter Rachael Kicked Booty!

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 teaching, thinking about her and her team…Go sweet Rachael!!!

Dad

Spring S.T.A.G.

It’s springtime again, which means a time of great opportunity for those of us in the Eikaiwa industry. For most of us in the Smith’s system that means setting our Short-Term Achievable Goals to get the ball rolling and drum up some business.

My S.T.A.G. for the spring is a pretty simple one. I intend to pass out 1000 flyers a week between now and the 28th of June. I will accomplish this by going out a MINIMUM of 3 mornings a week to 6 locations at my station. In addition, I will also go to the main exit at my station for additional flyer distribution in the afternoons, evenings, Saturdays and holidays when time and weather permit.

I look forward to seeing what kind of S.T.A.G.’s everyone else is making this season! Good luck to everyone!!

Smith’s Flyers, Web Site and Head Office Team

When I started working in the Smith’s system about 6 years ago, there wasn’t a Smith’s Japanese web site, so I used to get most of my students from flyers that I handed out at train stations. Thanks to Smith’s head office, my school, Smith’s School of English Tsukaguchi in Amagasaki City, Hyogo Prefecture now has a powerful web site! Thank you very much Smith’s head office!

I didn’t hand out any flyers between December of last year and mid March of this year but I still got quite a few trial lessons, almost all from the web site. That was pretty exciting! This month the weather has been getting warmer and I’ve started handing out flyers again. The combination of flyers, the web site and the Smith’s head office team is powerful. I hope to get many new students!

Derek Maeckelburg

Smith’s School of English Tsukaguchi

The picture board

One of my favourite things in my classroom is a cork board which hosts dozens of pictures from around the world. I have a passion for photography and travel, and a few years ago I realised that the bare walls of the Nagaokakyo school were the perfect canvas for displaying some of my favourite travel snaps, from my home country in the UK, from exotic places such as Angkor Wat and of course from around Japan. But as is so true with much of language teaching, it’s always better to give the opportunity to contribute to the students themselves, so I started pinning up students’ travel photos and they now dominate the cork board.
Most students love to go over their travel photos in class, and so whenever someone went away somewhere I used to ask them to give me a copy of their best picture. Now thanks to the proliferation of digital cameras, all they have to do is send them by email and I can print them off in the classroom. As a result I’ve received pictures from some fascinating places: all around Europe including France, Italy, and the World Cup in Germany; the USA including a lovely shot of the Grand Canyon; Australia, New Zealand and some very appealing Pacific Islands; some far-flung places in Japan - my favourite being the huge Jumon tree in Yakushima - as well as other interesting places around Asia such as the Xinjiang-Uyghur region of North West China.

Perhaps the most unusual picture though was from a trip one of my students took to North Korea! It makes you realise just how interesting the students at a Smiths School of English can be, and the cork board has become a great source of discussion for many classes. I would recommend every classroom getting one.

スミス英会話 長岡京

Imperatives can be a fun lesson!

With my red man-to-man student on Saturday, I covered the lesson on imperatives. I always get a kick out of the pictures in the Smith’s curriculum. In case of many of them, no imperative warning could possibly save the person shown from sure death or severe injury. A steel I-beam falling from above is shown a few meters above the person, I doubt if the warning “Look up!” will save him. Walking over a manhole, “Watch your step!” will be too little too late. My student also realized this and switched to using more effective warnings such as “Move!”, “Turn now!” and “Stop!”. We also covered the use of imperatives to effectively get someone to do the desired action. “Take this to the post office!” or “Be sure not to forget the meeting at 2:00!” allowed me to introduce the idiom, “No sweat!” which my student thoroughly enjoyed learning as it is a convenient way between co-workers to affirm that you will do something they have requested or commanded. “Of course, it might not be appropriate to use with your boss” I told her.

She is always so much fun to work with as she absorbs everything quickly and enjoys the chance to apply what she learns as soon as possible. I complimented her on her progress and she thanked me. I ended this particular lesson with a one point on the use of “having” vs. “to have” following the verb “appreciate” (D1) in the One-Point book. We covered a few more of these and she explained that Japanese students are taught these in high school as sets. Certain verbs must be followed by the infinitive form and certain ones by the gerund form. I told her that, as a native speaker, I was never taught this but somehow managed to learn it through experience hearing or reading it many times. She said that recently she has developed a feeling for which is correct and I told her that that was the way I now remember them. She indicated that she felt good to know that she is now learning more like a native speaker. Great lesson, great student, great fun always! This again reaffirms my belief that the Smith’s system is best for both the student and teacher.

Return From India

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 can do for their confidence. Welcome back girl! Your level of confidence at this point is going to enable you to learn and absorb at twice the speed! Congratulations to you!

jim

My International Pen Pals

Just earlier today I received an email from a former student of mine who is currently living and working in New Zealand and she absolutely loves it!
I keep in touch by email with countless numbers of students but just today I realized how many “international” pen pals I have developed while teaching at Smith’s School of English.
Many of our students go overseas, most often to continue their English studies in a native speaking environment and it is such a joy to read of their experiences and witness their English improve, both written and spoken.
A number of these students return to our classrooms after completing their studies overseas and go on to motivate others to also pursue their goals.
At this very moment I have “international pen pals” in New Zealand, several in Australia, a couple in England, a couple in Canada, one in Mexico, a couple in Italy, a couple in the U.S., one in the Emirates, and one in Malta!

I always encourage my students to be adventurous and if they are lucky enough to be able to spend some time in another country, they should definitely go for it!

Alex Stanciu

Smith’s School of English Horie 月謝制のスミス英会話堀江校
http://www.smithweb.co.jp/school/horie.shtml
Smith’s School of English Fuse 月謝制のスミス英会話布施校

http://www.smithweb.co.jp/school/fuse.shtml

Smith’s Otsu Event Night #2

KototenzanAs strange as this may sound…… on Australia Day we have a special event night called “Canada Event Night”! This was unplanned, obviously i am not aware of Aussie holidays. Anyway, we had a very multicultural event night, including Canadians, Australians (my flyer guy), Brazilians and of course Japanese! We had fun playing trivia and especially learning about Kototenzan “The Canadian Sumo Wrestler”. Some snacks and some games, a little Canadian Jazz (Diana Krall, from my hometown)….. and afterwards billiards! It was a great event night and my students had a great time.

Next Event: Open House and New Teacher Welcoming Party! Stay tuned….

Edward (FC Otsu)

Spring is just around the corner!

Spring is my favourite season in Japan. After the cold winter, it’s wonderful to get mild weather and to start wearing lighter clothes. I had been wearing a down jacket during the cold period but yesterday I switched to my lighter Smith’s School of English jacket. I prefer wearing it to the down jacket because my school’s name is written in big characters on the back. People can see them as I go around Tsukaguchi. It’s great advertising for my school, Smith’s School of English Tsukaguchi, as well as the entire Smith’s system!

I can’t wait until the cherry blossoms bloom. They are so pretty! They are my favourite part of spring. I am looking forward to seeing them in full bloom at the next Smith’s event on April 6, when Smith’s School of English Tsukaguchi and some other Smith’s schools will hold a hanami (flower viewing)party together at Osaka Castle Park in Osaka! There should be plenty of cherry blossoms there for everybody to enjoy!

Derek Maeckelburg

Smith’s School of English Tsukaguchi

スミス英会話岡本の隠れたタレント A Hidden Talent is Exposed

Today, 6 of my students, my wife and I went out to have a bowling and karaoke party in Kobe. During this time, each student sung songs in English and lo and behold one of my quietest students belted out several songs with a voice I could not believe. Singing Backstreet Boys, Billy Joel and Brittney Spears songs she demonstrated a tremendous range and her pronunciation was excellent. Wow! I and all of us were totally blown away! She had studied classical voice at the Osaka University Conservatory of Music but much prefers popular music.

I have been working with her for about a year and we often read and discuss books. She has always demonstrated an excellent understanding of English and could discuss and ask and answer questions well. She and I both like science fiction books and we are reading some short stories whenever she is the only student in the class. She always seemed a little shy and quiet but now I have seen a very different side of her. What a hidden talent she has! She really could explore a career as a professional singer. This is just another reason that I enjoy teaching English in Japan. Many of our students are exceptionally talented. In some cases English helps them to express themselves and to show off their talents.

Sly Stone

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 high “afro.” Having a great sense of humor, he likes the name. Being a (mostly) liberal American, my first impression of him was “this is going to be interesting…”

Well, he said goodbye to me yesterday. After teaching him for two months I have concluded that he is going to be very successful. His outlook on life is very selfless, in fact he wants to be a teacher someday in Japan because, knowing what adolescents go through, their unique problems, etc., he wants to talk to them on their level and tell them that “everything is gonna be alright.”

Next week he is going to land in SanFrancisco with a fresh “perm” and I am sure that when his host family meets him at the airport they will be wondering…But after a day or two they will have no choice but to love THIS boy. I am already proud of him and he hasn’t done a thing yet…

If I ever regretted losing a student, he is the one. I hope we have helped him and I hope he comes back someday. All the best to you “Sly” and good luck from the boys at Smith’s Hashimoto!

Teaching Students a Level Apart

Yesterday I had two new students who are beginners (pink), but as everyone knows all Japanese students are false beginners. If they were complete beginners they would be like our kids students who cannot read. With a little bit of prompting, they soon become able to handle the grammar forms being taught and can sumarize and ask and answer questions.

In this particular lesson I had a pre-intermediate (orange) student who has pretty good fluency and vocabulary. It turns out that his being in the class was very helpful for the two new students as he could demonstrate for the other students how to practice the lesson material and ask and answer questions. My new students, a mother and her first year high school student daughter, quickly began to handle the material and easily mastered the infamous “s” required at the ends of third person singular verbs.

The handling of students one level apart can be a little difficult sometimes especially if one student is at the start of his/her level and the other is ready to go up to the next level. However, as in this case, it is often possible to enlist the higher level student to demonstrate for the lower level students and this makes it much easier for them to learn and master the item of the lesson. Again, the Smith’s curriculum provides just the right ingredients for our Japanese students to make steady progress toward mastering the language. As Adrian wrote, knowing your students and most of all, knowing and using the curriculum are essential to obtaining consistent results and progress of your students.

know the system, know your students

Most successful schools in Japan have good teaching materials whether it’s a textbook, flashcards or other various materials. A good school knows there can always be improvements but it’s important that teachers working for a school know how to use their schools’ system first and foremost. Too many teachers think they always know better and choose to go their own way. I’ve seen it over and over in Japan. For some reason, many people think they know better, despite having very little experience teaching. When a system has been used for years and been shown successful I think it’s extremely arrogant to simply dismiss it. Rather we need to master it and learn how to adapt it to different students. Once we’ve accomplished that then it’s simply a matter of knowing your own students and knowing what works for which student. No two students are alike and so it’s up to the teacher to meld the system to meet their needs. Using the Smith’s system I’ve got a good foundation for most classes as well as the freedom to try a few things with the students that require a little something more.

How well do you know your students?

the secret

Students often ask me how they can improve their English…while there are shortcuts to learning anything the true secret to learning anything is simple - desire. Obviously talent, hardwork, practice, tests, friends, traveling all help but in the end desire is the one thing that keeps us going when things get tough. Desire isn’t something can really be taught but a good teacher knows how to inspire each student. What works for one person might not work for another.
When I was young I studied Spanish for 8 years and never really got that good simply because I believed I had no talent for languages. I thought it ran in the Shepherd family as my parents both were useless at languages. But in college I did a study abroad program and it changed my life - I could actually speak a foreign language. I simply wanted to learn so I spent time and energy to learn the different Kanji characters and continually asked questions to improve myself or, to put it another way, I had a desire to learn so I did just that.
From that time I’ve realized no language (and any other thing we want) is really tough - it’s simply a matter of wanting it. So for all those out there wondering if you can learn English - you can. But will you?