Smith's School of English Soap Box

Guess Where We Are #3 ! The Many Faces of Kyoto

Martin — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 13:50:09 +0000

A couple of weeks ago I had a Valentines Day posting and some have wondered where the photo of my wife and I was taken. This third installment in my ‘Guess Where’ series would certainly be impossible if you didn’t know it was in Kyoto, but with that one clue any one of you may [...]

Smith’s School of English offers what I want

Adrian — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:55:07 +0000

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 [...]

Fresh and Fascinating

John C — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 07:45:15 +0000

I recently did a soapbox posting about using a contemporary event with great popular appeal as the subject of a lesson at my English conversation school 英会話, Smith’s School of English, Kawanishi スミス英会話川西校. This made for a really successful and very popular lesson. My lesson featuring the (not quite total) success of Japanese figure skater Mao Asada at [...]

have a little fun

Adrian — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 06:35:44 +0000

One of my favorite expression is “Laughter is the best medicine.” I suppose I got my humor from my father. He was always a great storyteller and I guess a little bit of him rubbed off on me. While I have some good memories of England as a child I think that to live in [...]

My Japanese lessons – The drama continues…

Adrian — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 06:09:45 +0000

So as I have mentioned before I have just recently started to take Japanese lessons. I really am starting a square one, therefore, a bit overwhelmed at times. Yes, I have lived in Japan for 2 years and yes, I have seen and learned a small amount of Japanese words since I have arrived. My [...]

choo-choo

Adrian — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 04:30:56 +0000

People often say that having a child is the greatest gift you can receive. At first it might not seem like it though. The first few months new parents are struggling to adjust to their new lifestyle and trying to figure things out. Slowly but surely somehow you get a handle on things. Our son [...]

Hamburger Night Is Back!

Derek — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 15:27:32 +0000

I love the work that I do for Smith’s School of English Tsukaguchi (スミス英会話　塚口校) , my English conversation school (英会話スクール), located in Tsukaguchi (塚口), Amagasaki City (尼崎市), Hyogo Prefecture (兵庫県), Japan. However at the end of my working week, Saturday night, I love having my wife’s delicious hamburgers! Saturday night is “Hamburger Night”. You can read about [...]

Even if you are on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.” Will Rogers

Carol — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 11:22:20 +0000

I love that quote. Recently one of my friends wrote it on his facebook status. When I read it I wondered if I was just sitting in the middle of the track. It’s march now and I decided that I needed to reassess the year so far to see how well I’ve really been doing. [...]

The Lesson Sandwich

les — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 09:15:52 +0000

“Wait a minute,” I said to my friend, “How is the start of an Smith’s lesson like a piece of bread?” “Well, you have to tell the students what the lesson is going to be about, right? That’s what the bread does. It reminds people to get ready to eat. Without it, people are still in [...]

A Great Gift From A Student at Smith’s School in Kotoen ( スミス英会話甲東園校 )

Martin — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 12:38:23 +0000

The Wine Tasting Course at my Smith’s School of English Franchise in Kotoen is taking off and one senior man who is particularly interested in European food brought an extraordinary gift to the classroom the other day. Although he laments that the economy really isn’t all that great and that it really isn’t very likely to [...]