I remember being 8 years old and getting bullied by kids that were bigger and stronger than me so I thought about taking some martial arts to protect myself. I walked past the room where judo was taking place and I noticed some kids a few years younger than me and thought that I was [...]
((in, at, to, of, with, from, on, for, )) After the last article that I wrote ____ soapbox I was told by Adrian that he had received a lot _____positive feedback ____ it. I was very happy ____ hear this, but unfortunately I didn’t think far enough ____ advance and prepare a proper master answer [...]
Over our lives each of us gathers experiences. In fact, that’s all life is; a collection of experiences. Some good, some not so good. Having lived abroad from the age of 8 my experiences differ from many of my friends here in Japan; not better, just different. So what have all my travels taught me? [...]
February 5, 2010 – 2:12 am
When I was a young boy I played with some toy tanks and trucks that I later learned had been my grandfather’s toys. My father had then played with them as a kid and I had inherited them. I still have them today and was able to find them in my room when I went [...]
February 5, 2010 – 1:35 am
When I ask students why they want to learn English a common response is because they want to be able to watch movies without subtitles. When I ask those students who their favorite actor one name always comes up – Johnny Depp. One of my students is such an avid fan that she even traveled [...]
January 30, 2010 – 2:32 am
Sitting across the table from my students in my classroom I often hear about students’ dreams. As they come to Smith’s 英会話 it comes as no surprise that many of them say that they want to speak English fluently but it’s not the only thing I hear; some want to live abroad to experience life, [...]
January 27, 2010 – 8:33 am
During the X-Mas break I had a chance to talk to my best friend from high school and he told me about something he had seen on TopGear – an English show on the BBC that focuses on the latest and greatest cars. However his favorite episode was called “Killing a Toyota.” As he explained [...]
January 27, 2010 – 8:30 am
Growing up I loved to watch Sesame Street, it was educational in a non-educational, very entertaining way. As my son has now started understanding words I felt it was a good time to share with him some of my favorite episodes and thanks to YouTube it’s easier than ever. Over the past two months I [...]
January 20, 2010 – 9:57 pm
What is an “Application”? “An iPhone app, or application, is what Apple calls third-party software programs developed specifically for the iPhone and the iPod Touch. The applications available can be downloaded directly by the cell phone, or downloaded to a computer and transferred to the phone. Apple has an iPhone app store for those who [...]
January 20, 2010 – 9:49 pm
When I was young I had to deal with a lot of big problems that possibly a lot of kids didn’t have to deal with, so as a result my school work suffered. Well actually, I never even started my school work, I just coasted through. I never received much help with schoolwork from my [...]