Something I occasionally do at Smith’s School of English Sagamihara is open all student files to look at their progress and check to see how close they are to moving up to the next level. This time I was also interested in reviewing their reasons for studying English, which is written on their trial lesson report. I was looking for some commonality amongst my students, and not surprisingly, there wasn’t much.
Most common are a group of various types of engineers that need English for video meetings between places such as Singapore, India, Taiwan, and a few countries in Europe. Some of these students also travel to foreign countries on business.
A Mixed Bag in Sagamihara
The rest includes quite a disparity, which makes my job fun and challenging. Students at Smith’s School of English Sagamihara include:
- Attorney ( foreign clients)
- US military (works in legal office, must speak English)
- Junior High School (future + Eiken testing)
- High School (future + Eiken, TOEFL testing)
- University (future job)
- Bank (helps foreign customers)
- Doctor’s clinic manager (foreign patients)
- Housewives (hobby, travel)
And Some English Teachers!
- High School teacher (teaches English)
- Elementary school teacher (teaches English)
- Nurse (foreign patients)
- Train driver (trains people in India, Europe on how to drive Japanese made trains)
- Cosmetic research/scientist (does research in Europe)
- Office (uses English email, telephone daily)
- Retired high school teacher (Never wants to stop, enjoys it)
- TOEIC (Private lesson to improve test scores)
- IELTS (Private lesson to qualify to study abroad in Europe)
- Young adults (travel)
- Scientist (cancer research, travels abroad)
- Various engineers (business travel and meetings)
- And many more over the years that I cannot recall
Knowledge and Experience at Smith’s School of English
Interesting, isn’t it? Using a textbook to suit such an assortment of students does not make sense when most are studying for different reasons. So, we rely on knowledge and experience. In fact, we do not use a textbook. Instead, we have a solid in-house curriculum that continually grows with the help of our team of language coaches. The average “English teacher” that comes to Japan stays in country for about two years. However, that is not the case at Smith’s School of English. Most of us have lived here for many years. I believe Smith’s track record of 20 years to the Japanese community speaks for itself- not the run-of-the-mill Eikaiwa (conversation school) in Japan. We know our students well and how to help them in regards to their individual goals. We like what we do and where we live. The reward comes from all directions- the students, the job, the system, the staff, Japan…
Jim http://smithweb.co.jp/sagamihara/
(Featured image used with permission)
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