スミス英会話高円寺 Entertaining a Foreigner – Reviewed

CHERRY BLOSSOMS IN SHINJUKU GYOENMAE

Last month I discussed how well the Smith’s School of English curriculum lesson, “Entertaining a Foreigner”, is always well received by the Smith’s School of English Koenji students.

I have recently conducted follow up lessons relative to “Entertaining a Foreigner” with most of the students who had participated in the lesson before. We first discussed and reviewed the meaning of the word “entertain” and then I set the students a speaking task.

The task was… to entertain a foreigner for 5 days, who had never been to Tokyo before, during which time they would be the tourist guide and escort the visitor to various Tokyo attractions. In general they were to be with them from 10 am until 9pm (or later if they wished) in which time they were to describe what they would eat for lunch and dinner and explain, as they went from place to place, what they saw and how they got there, for example by bicycle, boat, bus, car, train or even on foot. The only other instruction was that they could only visit sites and restaurants etc. in Tokyo.

In most cases it turned-out to be a great lesson in which the students took full control and I just asked a few questions.

I was amazed though that some of my “greens” found it difficult and I was pleasantly surprised that many of my “pinks” had a ball and done very well. Those who performed well demonstrated confidence and were relaxed. They had fun and so did I.

Some locations that featured regularly were: Asakusa (Sensoji), Ueno Park and Zoo, the Emperor’s Palace, Odaiba, Harajuku (Meiji Jinju), Mt.Takao, Tsukiji Fish Market , Shinjuku Gyoenmae (for cherry blossom viewing) as well as the major shopping areas of Ginza, Shinjuku, Shibuya, Harajuku (Omotesando) and naturally the night life districts of Kabukicho and Roppongi. In addition Koenji was cited a lot for its temples, re-cycled clothing shops, live rock houses along with its eating and drinking spots – the most often mentioned being Don Bei, for its cheap beer, fantastic food and great service which was to be expected as it’s a regular Smith’s School of English Koenji drinking venue where we have had many get togethers.

These turned out to be very rewarding lessons for the students and real eye opening experiences for me that produced some extremely satisfying results.

In talking about rewarding lessons my Koenji students have highlighted the Smith’s School of English on-line Free Mini Lessons (スミス英会話無料レッスン) as falling into the rewarding and beneficial category.