Question 1

I just started working at English Please this month. I`m really looking forward to meeting my new students and have a valuable time together.

Question 2

In the past 7 years, I was working as an online teacher for Business English courses. Majority of the students were also Japanese with various industry backgrounds.

Question 3

During my trainings I‘ｍ really impressed with the curriculum and the quality of materials. The senior teachers are really warm in welcoming new members too.

Question 4

Before joining English Please, I had short stint as an ALT for public elementery and junior high schools here in Japan. Although I enjoyed teaching various grade levels, my work assignment was too far from my residence. I only worked there for 3 months to cover for a teacher who suddenly quit.

Question 5

Two years ago, I enrolled in a Japanese language school. Right now, I`m studying on my own and making small progress daily. I hope living in Japan will speed up my progress though since I`m aiming to take a JLPT exam soon. Being multilingual will open up more opportunities for me.

Question 6

I want to empahsize that consistency is the key. Try to incorporate English in your lifestyle. Maximize the resources around you. It can be through newspapers, podcasts, movies, etc. I`m looking forward to hear what interests you and let`s talk about in English.

Tough Vocabulary

Question 1

I started teaching in English-Please! only in August 2019.

Question 2

I was teaching in a small eikaiwa in Wakayama before I taught in English-Please!. It was nice but it wasn't as organized as English-Please!. I taught a lot of young children, it was really difficult to say goodbye to them.

Question 3

I really enjoy working here and hope I can keep wroking at English-Please! for as long as possible!

Question 4

I had to move to Osaka because my husband changed jobs. I was really interested in English-Please! because of the superb training they offered to their teachers.

Question 5

Yes! I have always been interested in Japanese culture and have been watching anime since I was a child. I formally started studying Japanese when I went to college. I stopped after graduating college, but after working for 4 years, I started going to Japanese lessons once a week on the weekends. I think I learned enough Japanese to survive in Japan, but still not enough to have a long conversation with someone.

Question 6

My advice would be to learn Japanese hand-in-hand with learning teaching techniques from TKT or TESOL. The most important rule I've learned is the 80-20 rule, the student should be speaking 80% of the time, while the teacher speaks for only 20%.

Tough Vocabulary

Question 1

I am a new staff member at English Please. My first official day at work was Tuesday, 2 April, 2019. However, I had been receiving training during March.

Question 2

Last year I was teaching adults at an eikaiwa in Osaka. I enjoyed teaching adults but going to Osaka from Nara was draining as the train journey was very long.

Question 3

Michael was working here when a position became available and he suggested that I apply to work here.

Question 4

I decided to join English Please because it is close to my home. I also like the teaching philosophy and the fact that EP makes it's own material.

Question 5

I try to study Japanese through an app called Duolingo. I have learned a lot of kanji and new vocabulary but my speaking has not improved much.

Question 6

If I had to give advice to someone starting out it would be - BE PREPARED. Make sure you know what you are teaching and how you will transition from one part of the lesson to the other smoothly. I also think that if you do not know the answer to a question, that is ok, just say you are not sure and get back to the person with the correct answer next time you see them.

Tough Vocabulary

- English -	- Japanese -
draining	脱力 (だつりょく)
suggest	申し入れる
philosophy	教育哲学 (きょういくてつがく)
transition	移行 (いこう)
smoothly	滞りなく (とどこお)