児童英検

When I first started the school here English Island Conversation School.  Yes we are an 英会話 I suffered from a small inferiority complex.  I'm afraid the fear that I'm less than qualified hasn't ceased to haunt me. Part of the reason for this fear must surely be my lack of formal training and an absence of any kind of license.  I tend to view my relationships with our paying customers as less formal teacher-student like and more like me being the cheerleader and assistant in their English learning journey.

So when I first started out more than ten years a group of mothers kind of pushed me into doing an eiken (英検）　class.  Since then I have done several eiken classes with results that led me to believe it might be better to just leave the eiken to the schools.  I can motivate, give an authentic cultural exchange, teach pronunciation, change conceptions of what language does, and much more.  I can also teach the 英検 and I can teach TOEFL as well.  BUT doing these things at the same time is not natural.  I think it's infinitely easier to study for the eiken using Japanese freely. I don't use Japanese in my classes because we focus on conversation and through years of experience I have found speaking Japanese in the class to be a motivation killer.  Admittedly, I'd like to use it sometimes, but when a student discovers that I speak Japanese, the communication medium invariably becomes Japanese and I have lost my power to insist that the student try to use Japanese.

Anyway, the test that the mother's from ten years ago insisted on me administering to their kids was the 児童英検．Although the test was rather colorful and fun in appearance and the language presented was rather congruent with the language I often used and studied in the classroom, there were some drawbacks.

1. Stress

The test was a listening only affair but sitting and listening to a tape can be stressful                  when you are 4 years old.
2. Timing  

We need to pressure ourselves to achieve things I suppose.  Do we all feel that way                   on the same date and time? Is it important that we do? I don't know.
3. Comparisons
Kids won't compare the results, but mothers will.  They may make a rash                                 decision based on their child's ability or inability when in fact the problem was                           the timing of the test to begin with.

It has been such a long time since I've done that test.  Now, a mother of two of my cutest little students has decided to pull her kids because she wants her kids to do the jidou eiken.  You know... the one all the other kids are doing.

Good Luck with that...

Regrettably,

Pat

The return of winter and birthdays

It's Monday again.  After an uncharacteristically warm day yesterday, the regular winter weather patterns seemed to have returned and I again feel confident that it is far too early to start imagining cherry blossoms, bicycles, or trailer camping.

This Monday is also a very big day for our family.  My one and only son has turned twenty-one today! Apparently he has taken the day off.  After a very long and challenging week in the studio last week, I suppose he needs the time to recharge a bit.

I could also use some time to recharge, but in fact, I'm coming off a four day weekend and what I really need to do is get my self charged and ready for the week. It's going to be a busy one.  All the kindergartens are on for this week and I need to come up with some fresh activities to enhance this week's topic, Body and Health.  The reality is that I woke up with a sore throat and a sour stomach, but I refuse to accept that I have anything and would like to believe it was something I ate or maybe just a bit of fatigue.

Anyway, when I try to think back to my 21st birthday, I remember being marginally happy playing golf and going to UH Hilo.  I was probably a little lighter and had a little more hair.  My back was definitely stronger.  Kai has all those things and more.  I wonder if he'll be around tonight for a birthday dinner...  Hitomi has been suffering from a bad stomachache, but seems to be doing a little better today.  Anyway... it's Monday...

Back to Work.

Lethargically,

Pat

Emergency

This winter has been a mild one as far as snowfall, yet I've been feeling the cold.

The number of back country skiers in Hokkaido has been on the rise.   Getting into the wilderness and enjoying the white paradise and plush powder zones of Hokkaido is a newly booming business.  I include myself in the novice rankings of back country athletes as I have been in the know now for only five years now.  In those five years I have probably developed at a less than average pace and still feel a little nervous and even overwhelmed at times.

Thus far, I have relied on my friends too much and have resolved to become a more competent mountain guy this year.  Some things I do take are emergency sheets, rope, and a dry base layer.  Some things I don't take are a method for starting a fire, enough food, or maps.

Recent events have made me realize that I need to reassess those items.  There was a close friend who led a group up behind one of the ski resorts here.  The weather turned bad and they wound up sleeping on the mountain.  It must have been a long (13 hour) night.  I know they are a tough set of individuals with vast more mountain experience than I have.  They came down the next day without any trouble other than serious fatigue.  They hadn't planned nor prepared for spending the night on the mountain.  If it had been me, I can't be certain I would be able to tough that it out in style. I'd probably resemble that lad over there on the right. --->


Anyway... be careful.

Cautiously,

Pat

Happy New Year ( a little late...)

HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!

Another year has come and gone and the new one is well underway.  Our classes at Kokoro Kindergarten will unfortunately come to an end and Grapeseed English Systems will step in to fill the gap.  We are trying to decide whether it is feasible to start a school in Tonden for those who would like to continue with English Island.  All things come to an end and as surely as the snow that has given us so much joy this year will melt away, Kokoro's Tuesday afternoons will be no more come April.  I'll do my best to make the right decision on this one.

In the meantime, a short winter vacation starts on February 11th.  Classes resume on the 15th. As always, I am looking forward to seeing everyone after Valentine's and making the best of 2016.


Waxingly,
Pat

Sightseeing in Hokkaido

   I don't really consider myself to be a tourist when I'm walking around Shinkotoni or anywhere in Kita ward for that matter.  I will admit to feeling out of place on the other side of town though. Hiragishi, Makomanai, and Toyohira are just names to me.  Hokkaido is a rather large island compared to where I grew up and even after 20 years here, I occasionally find a place that has somehow eluded me.  Last weekend, I went to one of those places.

   Orofure Pass is a road that goes through some of the most scenic points I've ever been to in Hokkaido.  It is a winding, dangerous road that is closed during the winter months, at least during the night. I think Horohoro mountain, Shiratakidake, and Mt. Orofure are the mountains it  goes through from Lake Toya to Noboribetsu.  I started in Noboribetsu and went toward Lake Toya in the afternoon which, unfortunately, left me looking directly into the setting sun. I definitely think starting from Noboribetsu and heading toward Lake Toya in the morning will give you the optimal light for viewing the magnificent beauty of Hokkaido.

Touristly,

Pat

The Far East

There's a snowstorm on for today in Hokkaido!!

I'm just a local boy from the Big Island.  I'd never had any fancy Far Eastern medicine before and although I wasn't actively doubting the efficacy of it, I honestly didn't have any high hopes for the minuscule sesame seed-sized pellet with a profound bitter aftertaste.  I popped my first dose last Saturday and to this day (exactly 7 and a half days later) the symptoms of breathlessness, rapid heart rate and an inability to climb even a single flight of stairs smoothly have ceased to appear!

I probably got about 3 or 4 hours of sleep last night.
I woke up at 4 o'clock this morning.
I hiked up a relatively small peak (1 hour?).

Here's the verdict...

I could do it and I'm still felling pretty normal.  A little tired, for sure, but not what it has been like for me lately.  Is it safe to say it?     ...I'm back... (I think).

♪　Kyushin ~♪~ Kyushin  ♪

Far Easternly,
Pat

Middle of Winter

Long time no post,

Happy New Year !!!

Summer came and went; autumn stuck around a while before winter crept in and took a firm foothold in the Northernmost Island of Japan.  Shoveling the classroom out from the encroaching frozen whiteness has become a serious task requiring the strategic planning of a general leading troops against an all too powerful enemy.  As I write this the snow continues to come down and the yardstick dips out of sight when I try to measure the accumulation on the top of my garage.  My true love is not to shovel or scrape the frozen precipitation to less obtrusive areas but to seek it out at it's deepest and steepest points, strap on the board, and race down over the surface while hooting pleasurably.

This year has been another year of heavy snow.  Both shoveling it and driving in it has proven challenging.  I complained about the snow to my mother on her birthday the day before yesterday and she seemed to misunderstand me and consoled me about becoming disillusioned with my job.

Allow me to climb upon the soap box.

I love my job.  I love sharing the learning experience with everyone at English Island. I love the challenge.  Learning English or becoming able to speak and use English (or any foreign language) is an extremely difficult concept.  It's hard and sometimes even painful.  Often times, in order to succeed, the learner must change his view of the world.  After twenty years of experience in teaching I don't believe in the "簡単に身につく" or "聞き流す" The companies who make these claims would like you to believe that it is possible to learn English painlessly.  At English Island we'd like you to learn how to understand and use English effectively, but first I want the people who attend lessons here to love learning and to love breaking down personal barriers and exploring new horizons.  Learning English is not only difficult, it is fun and rewarding as well.

Hope to see you soon.

Philosophically,

Pat