Monthly Update November 2024

Welcome to our school monthly update for November 2024. Our school offers lessons for elementary school-aged children and above. We also provide daily conversation and business English classes for adults. Customized and short-term lessons are also available for families moving abroad, business presentations, or students studying for English proficiency exams such as the Eiken, TOEFL, DuoLingo, and IELTS tests. Our classes are held at our school location in Yoga Setagaya, Tokyo. Online lessons via Zoom are also available.

Our monthly blog update includes information about our group and private lessons for our children and adult students.

Please get in touch with us at [email protected] if you are interested in a trial lesson or have any questions about our school.

Lessons for Children

The weather finally started to get a little cooler in November. However, some days reached 20 C or close to it. One seasonal change that cannot be adjusted is the number of hours of sunshine in the day. Before November, many of our classes finished when it was still daylight, and the students were excited and energetic enough to play outside with their friends. Now, however, the days have grown short, and many of our classes begin and end in darkness.

This month, I want to talk about student development. As with our activities, individuals progress at different rates. Some students can catch on quickly to math concepts, while others have to do multiple examples to grasp the process. I was one of those students who needed help grasping math. My math weakness was also connected to my weakness in solving puzzles. I especially remember a friend of mine in high school who could quickly solve the Rubik’s cube in just a few minutes. Mind you, this was before YouTube and all the online hints, tips, and algorithm shortcuts kids know nowadays. It took me twice as long to get one side of the cube all the same color, and I would always end up with one miscolored row or a block in the corner edge that did not match.

My point is that kids develop at their own pace, and some may never be fluent speakers of the English language because they may be naturally quiet or not confident in expressing themselves.

At our school, we encourage students to do their best and understand that students learn at their own pace. As long as they are interested in coming to class, they pay attention and try to participate. Students will learn some English, and most importantly, they will learn how to interact with people from other cultures.

Lessons for Adults

As a small school, we can only offer a few adult lessons throughout the day. However, we can help adults interested in daily conversation, business English, or pre-graduate school preparation.

This month, we welcomed an adult student who wants to improve her pronunciation. Interestingly, this student does not want to improve her pronunciation for business but for her YouTube channel. On her channel, she sings primarily Japanese songs but also in English. It has been fun singing together and working on pronunciation points. I am looking forward to seeing how her worldwide audience receives the songs she has practiced with me!

Summary

Our enrollment is ongoing, and we welcome new students throughout the year. We do our best to assign students to the appropriate level.

We encourage anyone interested in our school to contact us for a free trial lesson. Online lessons are available as well for students regardless of location.

Please read our FAQ page for detailed information about what types of students do well in our class. Unlike a typical English conversation school, our school does not focus on an “English is fun” approach to learning and does not typically include games in our learning process.

Our goal is to develop global citizens, students who are interested in the world around them and who can express themselves. We have been teaching English for over ten years and have many happy students; quite a few have studied with us for several years. However, not all students fit our approach. Don’t hesitate to get in touch with us if you have any questions.

As always, please get in touch with us directly for information about our school: [email protected]