LETTER FROM HAPPY ENGLISH SCHOOL March 2nd,2018

March 2nd,2018

LETTER FROM HAPPY ENGLISH SCHOOL

Hello. How are you? Spring is around the corner. It is good to have warm weather since this winter was freezing cold. Although it is getting warmer, Happy English School is still going through an icy road. We are losing a lot of students at the turn of the school year, and the climate is really harsh on us.

I give it some analytical reviews and I surmise that now that the government stresses the importance on communicative competence in English education, and will start to introduce English as a subject in elementary school with a view to students’ earlier exposure to the language, many cram schools have begun more English lessons for little kids.

Cram schools teach other subjects, so they sell their services as a whole package covering the main five subjects, English, math, Japanese, science and social studies. In addition, they offer some English lessons by native English teachers, face to face or online. Some cram schools run an after-school or a pre-school childcare which takes care of children in English and has them immersed in a lot more English through daily activities.

Happy English School has to cope with this difficult situation, and what is worse, the lower birthrate and more aging population are on the horizon. What is Happy English required as an English school? It still needs to provide students with effective ways of learning English, whatever getting good grades at school, improving communicative competence, passing entrance exams such as STEP tests, and getting high scores on TOEIC, TOEFL and so on. As required, Happy English caters to all of the purposes covering four skills listening, speaking, reading and writing.

I understand we are weak at IT skills. We need to develop our lessons and our public relations by using cyber technologies. We have to meet all these challenges.

Having said that, after all we all hope that students enjoy our lessons, learn a lot, find leaning is fun, have a sense of achievement, get further motivated and keep studying English at Happy English School.

春の兆しが感じられる今日この頃です。インルエンザの猛威も落ち着き、暖かい日差しにほんわが笑みがほころびます。しかしながらHappy English Schoolは塾の猛威にさらされて、生徒を失いつつあります。一つには、塾が小学生からの英語や英検の学習に力を入れ始め、他の教科とパッケージでレッスンを売り、宣伝活動を展開しているからです。

それでもHappy English Schoolにくるメリットは何でしょう?　まずは、生徒は少人数で、また時には個々に、必要なことを最大限効果的に、英語を習うことができる。5才からシニアまで幅広く英語のレッスンを提供しているので、講師は英語の上達にライフステージで、何が必要であるかを心得たレッスンを提供できる。ネーティブと日本人講師が身近にいて、生徒はいつでもいろいろなことを質問でき、自然な英語に接することができる。

とにかく英語の学習を楽しいと思ってもらえるのが一番です。でもそれは成績が上がったり、テストに受かったり、話せたり、読めたり、聞けたり、書けたりという英語が上達したという実感や達成感があって、実際に充実してくるものであります。そしてまた更に英語の学習ができるわけです。

英語の学習はたくさん覚えることがあり、たいへんでもありますが、個々に覚える速さや容量が違う中、もっと実際の役立つ状況やそれぞれの興味に関連させることで、必要だ、役立つと実感してもらえるよう授業を展開しています。

英語は、続けることで出来上がり、また忘れないで維持できるものなので、

とにかく継続は力なり。Continuity is the father of success.

そしてやむをえず、Happy English Schoolを去る人も、また更なる英語の上達のために帰ってきてください。

いくつになっても英語学習はできます。実際、学校が変わる際に辞めた人が

大学生になり、また社会人になって帰ってきています。大人のクラスもプライベートやグループとさまざまな形で提供しています。Let’s keep studying at Happy English School.