Santa came to town... 2017

The mothers and children of the Tower English playgroup got to meet the real Santa Claus this morning, and everyone had a good time (apart from one crying child). Thanks for swinging by, Santa. 

Playgroup Christmas Party 2017

今年もクリスマスの時期がやってきましたね。
プレイグループのクリスマスパーティーは１２月１５日（金）です。予約が必要ですので、お忘れなく。参加費は１０００円です。本物のサンタさんが登場してプレゼントを配ってくれます。お楽しみに！今年のプレイグループは１５日が最後です。（８日はお休み）
来年は１月１２日よりスタートです。また遊びに来てくださいね。

Santa Claus is coming to the Playgroup Christmas Party from 10 a.m. to 10:45 a.m., Friday, December 15th for kids ages 0 to 3. The price is ¥1,000 per child.

Please let us know if you want to come, we have to tell Santa to prepare a present for every child.

Halloween 2017 at Tower English

We had a lovely Halloween at Tower English with great party for all our playgroup kids, another party for the students at Edel Kindergarten, not to mention parties and tricks or treats for every class...

Thank you for a great 10 years!

10周年無事に終了しました。 たくさんの方々にお越しいただき、ホントに嬉しかった！みなさん、ありがとう。そして、スタッフとして手伝ってくれた30名のお友達にはホントに感謝しかありません。みなさんのおかげで子供たちの笑顔がたくさん見れました。 ありがとう😊 それから、ボーリングコーナーで2人分動いてくれたマークには感謝しかない。ありがとう。 やっとお目にかかれた良平くん、最高の講演会をありがとうございます。我孫子まではるばる来てくれてホントにありがとう。貴方の笑顔は素晴らしいですね。

We successfully finished our 10 year anniversary event. Over 200 people came to celebrate at the Abiko library. Thank you very much! And a special thanks to the 30 volunteers who helped make the event so much fun for the children. Oh, and extra thanks to Mark Williams who did the work of two people on the bowling alley. Extra rum for you. Cheers! And of course, thank you to Ryohei Oguchi for coming all the way from Nagano to talk to our students about your eight-year odyssey of cycling around the world. You were great!

Tower English 10th Anniversary Festival

Guess what Abiko English school has been in business for 10 years? Yes, us. And to celebrate, we're holding a little festival at Abisuta on Sunday, September 24th. Join us, it will be fun.

Ice Cream Parlour 2017 at Tower English

It was hot enough to melt the sign for our ice cream parlour at Tower English. All this week we're making ice cream with kindergarten and primary school kids. Enjoy!

2017 Tower English Speech Day Success!

第９回スピーチ大会が無事に終了しました。この１ヶ月この日のために一生懸命がんばって練習してきた子供たち、とても素晴らしかったです。応援してくれた保護者の皆さん、ありがとうございます。今年１０月でタワーイングリッシュの１０周年となります。９月２４日に素敵なお祭りを企画していますので、楽しみにしていてくださいね。

That was a great speech day, our ninth in 10 years of being in business (we only missed one in 2011 due to the Tohoku disasters). Eighty-six children took part this year, and you can see from the video above that the kids gave it their all, thank you!

Congratulations go to book token winners Hano, Misa,  Miyu, Kazunari, Yudai, Shota, Yua and Yui and to Disneyland ticket winners Mikiya, Shota, Kazuki, and Chura.

And well done to everyone who took part. The real reward is the experience of speaking in English in front of a big audience (OK, getting a Disneyland ticket or a free book is even better). But to all those who didn't win, there's always next year.

Oh, and thanks to Emma for taking the photos. Might be able to find a job for you here one day...

Tower English Speech Day 2017

It's that time of year again. The kids of Tower English are preparing for Speech Day at Abisuta Great Hall on Sunday. See you at 12:30 (for kindergarten kids) or 1:15pm for elementary and junior high school-age children.

Help for children learning to read

Around this time every year we start giving out English books to the new elementary school year one students to begin reading. The key is for kids to know their phonics -- the sounds that the letters make (not just the names of the letters) and the best way for young learners to remember the sounds is to use gestures. So, back by popular demand, is an eight-year-old video where Mr Sherriff demonstrates the 42 sounds of written English. He's lost a little hair and gained a little weight, but the sounds of English haven't changed a bit.

The 42-sounds of English (in three minutes).

Kindergarten textbooks arrive from USA

Happy to announce our new, updated textbooks for Tower English students in kindergarten years one to three arrived this week. We'll be giving them to our youngest students this week and next.