Tag Archives: Teaching English in Japan

Sunday Lunch with a Student

September 7, 2008 – 4:37 pm

This past Sunday my wife and I were invited to a student’s house in Kobe to enjoy a great home-cooked meal.  It was a beautiful September day and my student and her husband welcomed us into their home where we had a great time.  Their home is located on the top floor of a large [...]

By Al Bartle | Posted in English School Articles, Living in Japan, SSE Okamoto Corner, enjoyed this a lot | Also tagged , | Comments (1)

Be your own boss!

September 1, 2008 – 9:38 pm

Here at Smith’s School of English we really have the opportunity to be our own boss.  We have the chance to teach our students directly or hire teachers and just be the business owner and manager.  I don’t know if I can speak for the other Smith’s teacher-owners but I for one have never felt [...]

By Al Bartle | Posted in English School Articles, Fair to teachers, Living in Japan, New start up or franchise?, SSE Okamoto Corner, a look back, english in japan, enjoyed this a lot, franchise v. small business, rewarding job change, students keep coming, teaching: why i do it | Also tagged , | Comments (2)

Why is English Important for Japan?

July 5, 2008 – 11:45 pm

Living in Japan, teaching English and also using Japanese everyday, I sometimes wonder why learning English is important for Japanese people. Japanese is a rich and excellent language that is really all Japanese people need to go about their normal daily lives. Of course people have all kinds of personal reasons to learn [...]

By Al Bartle | Posted in English School Articles, Living in Japan, SSE Okamoto Corner, Seek to understand, english in japan, franchise v. small business, my passion: language, teaching: why i do it | Also tagged | Comments (0)

Work…. a useful word!

May 15, 2008 – 9:32 pm

With my students last night I decided to check if they understood the meaning of the phrase “the medicine didn’t work”. As I suspected, they did not really understand it. I then gave some examples of how it can be used in place of “it was not effective”. I also introduced the [...]

By Al Bartle | Posted in English School Articles, Living in Japan, SSE Okamoto Corner, english in japan, students keep coming, teaching: why i do it | Also tagged , , , | Comments (0)