At my Smith’s School in Fukushima, there are half a dozen guys who come and study together, sponsored twice every week by their employer. The lessons are always very animated and enjoyable because they are so competitive with each other. It is clear that they enjoy their jobs and are very happy working together.
The other day we had a curious one-point: “I’m sick of ( ) because ( ). Oh well, let me tell you this really started something!
One of them immediately points to his colleague sitting right next to him and says, “I’m sick of HIM phoning me all the time asking me silly questions!”.
The rebuttle is, “I’m really sick of HIM!” and without any clarification. Then the third stepped in, apparently to quiet them down says, “I’m quite sick of them fignting like little boys every day!” You can imagine THAT really started something!
It took 15 minutes to get through this particular one-point! TTT = absolutely nil!! It is these kinds of moments that really make this job an absolute joy!
Martin,
This is a great post. You really have a great bunch of students there! I too have had such experiences and it really feels good when the English starts to flow spontaneously without any coaxing. That transition from “studying” to “using” is our real goal for our students. I think the students appreciate this too and the English they are speaking is really alive.
Keep up the good work!
I think having classes with guys and girls who work together must be a lot of fun. How did they hear about your school? I would have loved to be a fly on the wall the next day they were together at work. We are so lucky that we work within the SSE system.