Last Sunday I visited the Tokyo National Museum to view “Treasures of the Imperial Collections – Splendor of Japanese Art” which was a display of well-known Japanese art, in fact art that the majority of Japanese read and learned about during their school years. Such imperial treasures are shown, in Tokyo, once during an emperor’s [...]
It’s hard to believe that another New Year is rapidly approaching which means that we are close to farewelling 2009. Smith’s School of English Koenji’s Year End Party will take place on Sunday December 13th at Izakaya Don Bei, a favourite haunt of many of our students and their colleagues. This party is open to [...]
This article is so interesting that I thought that I should share it with all Smith’s School of English teachers and students – past and present, and the quickest way to do that was to post it on our SSE soapbox. Do you think English is easy? Please read this exercise to the end and [...]
第53回東京高円寺阿波おどり Smith’s School of English – Koenji (スミス英会話高円寺) wishes to remind students and friends that the second largest Awa Odori in Japan will take place in Koenji on Saturday (August 29th) and Sunday (August 30th) It is a fantastic festival that is based on the one which has been held in Tokushima since 1587. Koenji [...]
This is an article which will be used for ESL, TOEIC, TOEFL and IELTS as well as a “Let’s Talk” topic at Smith’s School of English – Koenji The movie “Hachi – A Dog’s Story” is a wonderful movie. It is a US version re-make of the Japanese movie “Hachiko Monogatari” The original story about [...]
The following puns were received by me via email and I thought that they maybe useful in the classroom on some occassion. Although they are old I still find them funny and as a good laugh is the best medicine for relaxation, I do hope that those of you who read them will enjoy them [...]
I recently watched a video about teaching English in Romania and was fascinated, in particular, to learn that the Romanian Education system has switched from focusing on English grammar and vocabulary to a more conversation based learning process to the detriment of learning grammar and developing vocabulary. In other words they have gone too far [...]
From the moment I was picked up from Coolangatta airport I was on the go, from unpacking and freshening up, by having a shower, and then eating lunch at Sushi Train in Broadbeach -an old haunt of mine. My next stop was Surfers Paradise which after 4 years, as was to be expected, had changed [...]
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 [...]
Sensoji in Asakusa (the old Edo downtown area that’s situated beside the`Sumida River) is also known as Asakusa Kannon temple, and is one of the oldest temples in Tokyo (7th century) It is extremely popular as can be seen by the number of visitors that Sensoji is estimated to host being put at some 35 [...]
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