We are now looking good! The street was just repainted green as is common for streets around schools in Japan. It looks great! But on top of that we have a new shop downstairs. TAKO YAKI (Hot Octopus Balls) are now available including various tastes: SHOYU (Soy), SHIO (Salt), PONZU (Soy-vinegar), KARE (Curry). Very tasty [...]
In a previous post I gave some advice for students who read the Smith’s School of English Soapbox. The TOEIC test requires a lot of concentration. In general the more that you prepare yourself by using English for longer periods of time, the easier it becomes to concentrate for the two hours required for the [...]
Today my student and her husband came to my house for lunch. We enjoyed English conversation, cheese fondue, beef TATAKI and pineapple, chicken and shrimp gratin along with some fine Italian wines and cake and coffee from Kobe. This was the second time we had lunch together. The first time was at my student’s house in Kobe. [...]
I started receiving emails from Participant Media. I began receiving their newsletter after I saw the movie, An Inconvenient Truth, on global warming. It has information on very interesting matters. This month the newsletter introduced several movies and books which touch on socially important issues that we as human beings need to be aware of. [...]
Wow! That was fun! I just finished making and setting up a new sign on the street in front of my school. My school is on the 2nd floor above a crepe shop called L’air de Temps and a coffee house named Cafe Deco in Okamoto. It is a popular spot as it is about [...]
I think that one of the best lessons in the Intermediate level is the lesson on “Making Requests”. The students really cannot get too much practice at doing this. The number and variety of such requests is limitless and makes for a great lesson. The example list using “verb + topic” is very useful and [...]
For those who are not familiar with the way Valentine’s Day works in Japan, let me say it is so much better than in the states where the guys have to go out and get chocolates and/or flowers for their wives and girlfreinds. In Japan the girls give the guys in their lives (almost all [...]
This week I went to Smith’s School of English’s Kyobashi School to drop off my business records for the preparation of my Japanese tax return. I had closed down for two hours so as to have time to go there for a 3:30 meeting and return in time for my 5:00 p.m. lesson. Well, since I [...]
Ok, so what is most needed in just about everything we do? It is absolutely, without a doubt, confidence! Look around you today and try to find what is missing and perhaps the root cause of the economic downturn plaguing the world. It is the lack of confidence. Confidence to buy things, to start new [...]
Hey it’s raining today. What a bummer! Well, it IS Saturday and I really like Saturdays as I have a lot of fun students to practice speaking English with. I recently put up a post with part I of my simple English question practice and a very nice comment from one of the viewers. That [...]
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