Back when I was in school a fellow named Michael Jordan changed the way the world viewed basketball. Today it’s LeBron James and while he has yet to win his first championship his decision today could reshape the NBA (National Basketball Association). He is being courted by quite a few suitors and from various sources it is said that he is leaning towards Miami teaming him up with two other All-Stars. Now, for those of you who know me I nearly always try and relate my stories to English studying and today is no different.
So why is Adrian talking about LeBron James? Simply because basketball is a TEAM sport. There have been so many great players in nearly every sport than never achieve true greatness whether it’s winning the World Cup, the NBA championship or the Superbowl. Michael Jordan was considered the best player in basketball for many years before winning his first championship. It was only through the emergence of Scottie Pippen and the help of some clutch shooting by his teammates did he breakthrough and achieve his dream of winning the title (6 times in total). Life itself is a TEAM sport. School often teaches us to solve problems on our own but out in the real world relying only on yourself can cost you dearly both in time and energy. Thanks to the power of the internet we can acquire help at the touch of a few buttons from people all over the world. At present I am writing my first book with the help of an editor somewhere in the Midwest and a publisher based in Seattle. People have kindly given me permission to use their quotes or material from Texas, California, Arizona and even Shiga.
Learning English is no different. The one thing I have learned over my 16 years of teaching is that I can’t teach anyone who doesn’t want to learn. I can inspire, motivate, entice, assist, encourage, stimulate…but THEY are the ones that must do the work. I’m proud of all the students at Smith’s 英会話 Hirakata for doing the work. Jerry, Yasuko, Sharan and I are merely there to listen and offer advice as to how to improve. Learning is always a TEAM sport.
Adrian
ps. for those of you that are interested in the progress of my book, once it’s done I’ll announce it here 🙂
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