Advanced English Lesson

(Photo of Fujisawa river by Richard Baladad)

For an advanced English lesson there are so many options. The students can handle many activities so what you can do increases.

Debates

You can have a debate. You will probably need to pre-teach how to debate though, as Japanese usually don`t have much experience with this. Japan being a land of consensus rather than debate.

Reading Circles

We outline how to do reading circles here. They are a great way to get students reading and talking.

News Article Discussion

Have students either pre-read or read a news article in class. You can simply take one from the Mainichi or Japan Times or off the internet. There are easier articles available on the internet if your students find regular news articles too difficult.

Student Topics

Have a different student think of a topic, present it and lead the class for that day. It is a great way to make your classes more student centered, and great for them to have to use the English necessary to lead the class and keep it going.

Movies

Assign the students homework to watch a movie, preferably without reading the subtitles. Then they have to summarize the movie they watched in pairs, and their pair partner must ask them at least three questions about the movie.

Advanced English Lessons are available at the English page. They have weekly lessons and there are many advanced lessons including vocabulary,verb tenses,conditionals, modals, prepositions and more.

Advanced English Lesson Plans for TESOL Teaching

Has many advanced lesson plans including creative writing as an ESL music lesson, using Flickr for English language classes, and advanced English grammar reviews.

Check out the advanced lessons at About

Using English has many Advanced English Lessons

Just scroll down to the bottom of the page where you will see all of their advanced level lessons. There are a plethora of lessons for all levels.

Advanced English Lesson -- Interview of Todd Lenkowski

Todd Lenkowski owns California Bear English School near Tsujido Station in Fujisawa, where he teaches English lessons of all kinds to children and adults.

He agreed to speak with How to Teach English in Japan.

Advanced English Lesson:

1. Please tell us about yourself as a teacher (where, why, how long you've been teaching etc.).What kind of teaching did you do in Japan?

I got started in teaching as a volunteer at the local YMCA in San Francisco. Who would have thought it would have lead to this?

From there, I started teaching PE but had a lot of problems handling the kids and I stumbled upon a book titled "Jobs in Japan" that led me to a job with Nova.

I returned to the USA for a year with Berlitz followed by a one year teaching stint in Brazil then returned to Japan with ECC and a small school owned by its much larger parent cram school company.

After working at all those eikaiwa's, I jumped at the chance of getting my own school when a friend put his up for sale.

2. What are some of the highs and lows of teaching English?

It's definitely a high to see a smile on someone's face and that bright light go on in their head when they grasp what you're teaching; but a certified downer when you can't get your idea across when you're lacking just the right world. Bummer.

3. What are some of the highs and lows of living in Japan?

Living here in Japan is a high everyday. Just today for example I went out to do a few errands on my day off and people were so kind while I was withdrawing cash form the ATM. A�Japanese lady told me to go ahead at the ATM line while another man was bowing to me while he was cleaning the machine. ATM'S in the States never looked so good.

If you don't speak or read Japanese well, no doubt it makes life much more challenging. For example, the bank I use has only two ATM machines that include English so I have to make a farther trip for that and although Japanese people are extremely polite it can often work against you when everywhere you go you feel like you're in a fish bowl. It's impossible to keep a low profile, and there is a slim margin for error for foreigners living in Japan.

4. What advice would you give to someone interested in teaching English?

If you're in school, major in English or study something English related. Study the language of the country you intend to teach in, and/or get certified in one of the TESOL or TEFL courses.

5. What advice would you give to someone who wants to be a more successful teacher of English?

Get as much experience as you can teaching in a variety of settings and ages so that you know what your strengths and weaknesses are. The more experience you have under your belt, the more valuable you are to an employer.

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