Tag Archives: english

Toughing It Out

There is no doubt that Japan is having trouble with it’s economy. Evidence is obvious and abundant. One sure sign is the ever growing number of empty shop fronts another can be taken from the very words of our English language students within each and every Smith’s School.
At Smith’s Kyobashi we have our fair share [...]

Smith’s School of English offers what I want

Two weeks ago a student shared with me an entry in her diary and both Jerry and I were quite impressed so we asked her if she would be willing to share it on Soapbox with everyone. Thankfully she agreed. While I have made some minor corrections to smooth things out and impress upon us [...]

The Importance of English in Japan INC.

As many have seen over the past few months there has been a plethora of bad news in the media concerning some of the largest companies in Japan; JAL, Honda, and last but not least Toyota. This has happened for many reasons.
What I noticed that this “news” was not exclusive to Japan. It has been [...]

Smith’s 2010 Cherry Blossom Viewing Party スミス英会話大阪城公園お花見

It’s almost Cherry Blossom Viewing season again and time for the annual Smith’s School of English Kansai Area Hanami (Cherry Blossom Viewing) Party. Cherry Blossom Viewing Parties are common all across Japan as the Cherry Blossom buds open to reveal their oh so delicate and beautiful blossoms. Usually, families, friends or co-workers get together for [...]

How come we can not remember what we have learnt?

In studying English, you may have experienced forgetting what you have already learnt and feel down or blame yourself saying “I know I’ve done this before!”  Or maybe you have even lamented over memory lapses.  From my experience, I feel it is quite difficult to get what we have just learnt to sink in all [...]

Warm-up and an Easy Start, Keys to Lesson Success

Upon entering an English school, students are greeted with a slew of standard English greetings. From the simple “Hello” and “How are you?” to the more colloquial “What’s new?” or “How ya going mate?”, students are immediately immersed in English. English classrooms are the place for English immersion: the walls have English posters, the book [...]

Olympic History in Vancouver Feb 22 2010

In a sport dominated by Europeans, and Russians in particular, it was a huge surprise when the Canadian pair of Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir won the gold on February 22nd 2010 in Vancouver. Their win was the first ever by a North American pair, and they also made history as the youngest ever ice dance pairs [...]

Professional Basketball in Japan?

Basketball in Japan?
Sports. I love ‘em. I love to watch sports, I love to play sports.
My hometown, Nanaimo BC Canada is a standard Canadian city- small, homely, and full of sports. Or so I thought. Nanaimo has Junior Hockey, College Baseball, and a slew of minor leagues and high school sports. Now that I live [...]

BC’s Kermode Spirit Bear

With so much news about the Vancouver 2010 winter Olympics, and everyone in my English school talking about them, I thought it would be nice to post about other wonderful goings on in Canada. Below there is a link to a live web cam placed with care and much effort in the den of a [...]

Homemade & Hand-Made Valentine’s Day Gifts

For more on Valentine’s Day in Japan (English) CLICK HERE
For more on Valentine’s Day in Japan (日本語) CLICK HERE
Valentine’s day in Japan is so unlike valentine’s day in Canada. For men. In Canada, valentine’s day is a day for men to spend money, stress about preparing just the right gift, dinner, romantic night out. In [...]

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