Tutor. Me?

Just this Monday (May 17th), I started tutoring a former student of mine (currently a high schooler) for one hour, twice a week. It's going well!

I-chan (as I'll call her) is currently a second grade high school student (or a junior by US standards) and has dreams to use English in the future. While her ambitions might be currently future-career oriented, I also hope to instill in her the idea that English can be rewarding in and of itself. Not just as a tool for work, but also as a part of one's lifestyle.

We had our second lesson today and I'm amazed at how short one hour is. We start at 7:00 and before I know it, 8:00 has rolled around. Today, we went a bit long, but it was good. We focused on conversation today and she's doing really well. She's got the basics down, so I see our future lessons focusing on increasing vocabulary and listening comprehension (because there are so many ways to say just one thing, I think it's helpful to teach her multiple expressions). I'm also encouraging her to speak English to as many people as possible, to whoever will listen.

Her first goal is to pass the English Proficiency Test Level Pre-2 in October. I think it's plenty of time. I really want her to do her best. And I've discovered that through teaching her, my own volition to get better (and eventually master!) Japanese has been strengthened.