Happy Halloween!

Mr Sherriff and the mothers and toddlers who came to the Halloween Party this morning. We have many more pictures, we'll put them on the internet soon, but first, we have to get ready for the next party for older kids this afternoon. Happy Halloween!

Anglo-German-Japanese summit

The other day I was lucky enough to have a cup of tea and a chat with Meg (pictured left) the daughter of one of my students, Taiko (right) who pops in for a lesson between trips to the coffee shops of Abiko and her allotment. Meg was on a flying visit back home, she usually lives in Germany with her German husband and we all three talked about the differences between Germany, Japan and England and compared notes about learning languages and dealing with life in a different country, culture and language. Here is what we concluded:

• We should encourage children to be multi-lingual. It is very difficult for adults to learn new languages, but children can easily handle two or three or more, kids are naturally language sponges. My children know to speak English to me and Japanese to their mother, and that causes them no trouble.
• If Meg starts a family she has a great opportunity to pass on three languages: Japanese when she is alone with her kids, German when her husband is in charge of the nappies and English when all are present together (Meg and her husband, Robbie, speak English together).
• Don't listen to people (who only speak one language) who will tell you that Japanese, German or English is "such a difficult language" that you should teach your kids only one... nonsense. If you use only one, it will be too late for the other languages.
• Re-enforce the minority language. If Meg stays in Germany, she should focus on exposing her kids to as much Japanese and Japanese culture as possible. Equally, if she should move back to Japan, she should change focus to re-enforce German, as the minority language.
• Dictionaries and patience are vital in a multi-lingual relationship. I used to know a Chinese lady married to a German man, and they lived in England. They spoke English together, but when they argued they needed four dictionaries. He would call her something in German. He would have to look it up in a German-to-English dictionary, then she would have to look what he had said in an English-to-Cantonese dictionary, then think of a response, translate it in the Cantonese-to-English dictionary, then he would have to look it up in the English-to-German dictionary. Much easier just to not argue (but less educational).
• As cultures mix, so does your food. A German sweet white wine goes well with sushi. Ton-katsu and chips go well together. My favourite meal is marbu-tofu followed by apple crumble. 

Halloween Party coming up! ＜完全予約制＞

いよいよ今週はHalloween Party。３１日（金）１０：００〜はプレイグループの子供達４９人が集合する。仮装してくる子たちもたくさんいるので、とっても楽しみにしています。そして同日１７：００〜は幼稚園児から小６までの子供達が６０人勢揃いする予定。友達を連れてきたいと言う子供達のリクエストに応えて大人数になりました。なかなかいいゲームができると思います。楽しみにしていてください！！

Help me run around Teganuma, please!

Did you know that Sherriff-sensei is running around Teganuma on Sunday? In England, before a race, people often ask others to give a little money. All of the money goes to charity. I am supporting Book Aid, a charity that gives books to the poorest children in the world. If you want to help, here's what to do:

1. Click on my sponsorship page.
2. Enter how much money you would like to donate (in pounds - there are about ¥200 to one pound), and write a message, or give secretly if you prefer.
3. Fill out the online credit card details.
4. The money will then be sent directly to the charity.
5. I then run around Teganuma.

Book Aid says that for every five pounds (¥1,000) donated, they can give four books to people in the poorest area of the world, sub-Saharan Africa. Why books and not food and medicine? Because knowledge is power and what you can learn from reading can change lives. If we could raise 250 pounds (¥50,000) that would mean 200 new books for those in need. So far, we have raised 110 pounds (¥22,000). Can you add a little to that? Every little bit adds up...

Speech Day

１０月５日のスピーチ大会の写真が届きました。いつもながら素敵な写真を撮ってくれたMayさんに感謝します。１１５人の前でしっかりと英語で自己紹介している子供たち。素晴らしかったですね。英語を話している時のうれしそうな子供たちの顔が、ご覧いただけると思います。スピーチ大会は、毎年行っていくので、お子さんたちそれぞれの上達度もわかっていただけると思います。楽しみにしていてくださいね。

イベント盛りだくさん

スピーチ大会も無事に終了し、子供達も緊張感から解放された事でしょう。スピーチの事を聞くと、「楽しかった。１００人の前で話すって、たいした事無かったよ！」って子供たちは言っていました。勇気ある６人の大人の生徒さんのスピーチは素晴らしかったです。お疲れさまでした。オリジナルT-shirtを間に合わせてくれたマエダ印刷さんにも感謝します。そして司会進行役を引き受けてくれた、純ちゃんにも感謝します。ありがとうございました。さぁ今度は『Halloween Party』ですね。３１日の朝はプレイグループ用、夕方は幼稚園児〜小６までの子供たち用の二本立て企画です。喜ぶ子供たちの顔を想像しながら、２人で色々なゲームを企画中。楽しみにしていてくださいね。

Tower English gets fashionable!

Did you think Tower English was only a language school? Well, not only do we teach adults and children, serve delicious tea and coffee for our students and sell Ceylon tea... now we have entered the fashion world too! If you were at our speech day, you will have seen our cool new T-shirts made by Maeda Printing Company that feature our logo on the front and the number 08 on the back. Why 08? It's for the year 2008 - our first complete year in business. These are rare collectors' items (there are only two!) but if you would like a T-shirt, we might print more...  

New-look classroom

We have a new-look classroom. Out with the old dining table and chairs and in with these leather sofas and coffee table. Why?

• We teach real English, so we wanted a more natural environment.
• The classroom is more friendly, more like an English living room or British club.
• Removing the high table and straight-back chairs means the focus is away from reading and writing and more on speaking and listening.
  
• It's Tower English's one-year birthday present to our students.

Please enjoy the sofas, have a cup of tea, relax, and let's get talking...

What a party!

I hope everyone had a good time at our first anniversary party and speech day, I know we did. We had 115 guests in the great hall at Abisuta. Our students performed brilliantly, and clearly had worked really hard - harder than Mr Sherriff... who only started working on his Japanese speech at 9am this morning. There are so many people to thank for making the day a success - not least "MC" Jun who operated the high-tech CD player like a professional. My favourite moment was in the game of "English whispers" when the adults managed to transform the message "Come to Tower English, we've got the best students this side of Tokyo" into "Hawaiian English is the best in Tokyo". And many thanks to photographer May Arai who snapped everything that moved. We'll show her photos here when we get them. Now, I need to rest my voice for tomorrow's lessons.

Tower English １周年記念

１０月２日にTower Englishの１周年記念を迎えました。ありがとうございます。イギリス在住時代の友人から素敵なお祝いが到着したのも２日。ありがとう。１周年記念パーティーの写真を入れますね。去年の１０月は１６人の生徒さんと出会いスタートした教室も、現在は７０人の生徒さんが日々頑張っています。プレイグループのお友達は、２４１人になりました。子供達一人一人と話すチャンスがあるので、名前もほとんど覚えています。去年１０月に出会った１０ヶ月の子が、今朝わたしの顔を見て、"How are you?"と声をかけてくれました。ジーンと来てしまいました。Tower Englishで出会った人たちは、みんなそれぞれちゃんとした夢を持った人たち。「夢はみるものだけじゃなく、叶えるためにある！」これからも皆さんの夢を実現させるために、少しでもサポートできればと思っています。今後も変わらず、楽しく生きた英語、使える英語を教えていきたいと思っています。１０月５日の一周年記念+スピーチ大会を楽しみにしています！一緒に楽しんじゃいましょうね。