english schools japan

  • 3rd Largest Economy: behind North Korea in English Profiency

    Something’s wrong there. According to a 2005/2006 TOEFL test of English as a foreign language, Japan has the worst score in Asia, even worse than North Korea. Although Japan scores much better in the EF English Proficiency Index, which attempts to rank countries by the average level of English skills amongst adults, Japan still…

  • 4 silly myths about learning English

      Silly myth 1: “If you live in an English speaking country for just 3 months, you can speak English like a native speaker.” Can’t tell you how many dreams I’ve seen get shattered and hearts broken. Many seem to believe that it is almost a certain fact if you manage to live in…

  • Pronunciation: Misunderstood

    Pronunciation is often misunderstood. Consequently, it is commonly thought of as a boring process which involves aimless repetition and pointless correction of individual sounds such as /r/ /l/ /v/ /b/ etc. Very few teachers truly and completely understand the full scope of pronunciation teaching and its benefits to the students. And those who do…

  • Japan: The land of the rising sun and broken dreams

    Her name was Miyu, a 26-year-old Japanese English teacher at a public Junior High school in Hyogo prefecture, Japan. Miyu was (and hopefully still is) incredibly passionate about teaching English. It’s easy to recognize a passionate teacher when you are one. Miyu believed that the sole purpose of her existence was to teach English…