スミス英会話相模原校　生徒様の努力と自信

スミス英会話相模原校は長年たくさんの生徒様の努力と自信をつけた姿を見てきました。その中には“特別な”生徒様も何名かいましたので、そのうちの1つをご紹介したいと思います。生徒様の“Tさん”は自分のペースで学び、相模原校の英会話レッスン内で出てきたり練習したりしたこと全てを明確に理解しようとされます。彼女は相模原校へ通って5年程になります。初級者としてスタートして2段階上がりました。

彼女は新型コロナウィルス感染症の流行中にスミス英会話相模原校へ入会されたので、今よりも通う生徒様数は少なく、最大3名でレッスンになるグループ月謝制 “ノーマルコース”を取っていましたが1名で英会話レッスンになることが頻繁にありました。彼女は1名で英会話レッスンをすることに慣れて、私も彼女の勉強方法に慣れ、ゆっくりレッスンを進めていました。普段からスミス英会話相模原校の英会話レッスンではプレッシャーはなし、自分のペースで英語を学ぶようにおすすめしています。そして世間の状況が好転し始めると、グループレッスンに他の生徒様の予約が入るようになり、今までのレッスンとは違うことに彼女は気がつきました。彼女は、グループコースより料金が上がるにもかかわらず月謝コースを“マンツーマン”に変更しました。

Sagamihara Smith’s English School Student Success and Confidence

Sagamihara Smith’s English School has seen a lot of student success and confidence over the years. We have also had a few “special” English students, and I’d like to share a story about one in particular. “Miss T” is special because she is a slow learner and wants to be clear about everything presented and practiced in my English class. She has been with me for about 5 years now. She started in our beginner level and has so far advanced 2 levels.

Because she started at Sagamihara Smith’s English School during the pandemic, the English student body was smaller and she often received private lessons as a “Normal Course” English student. She became used to that situation and I was also used to her style of learning-  very slow and steady. There is no pressure here at Smith’s Sagamihara because learning English at your own pace is always the norm. As things began to pick up here, she found herself studying with other English students, and noticeably uncomfortable with the situation. So she changed her course to “Man to Man,” even though she couldn’t really afford it.

About a year later, she switched back to the “Normal Course” again and changed her lesson time. This worked for her for some time because once again, she received private lessons for a while. This situation is now very rare at Sagamihara Smith’s English School because the English student body has grown significantly. I do hope that she continues as a “Normal Course” student though.

Recently another student joined her English class. Prior to that I told her that another student would be joining the class in a few weeks. She was clearly anxious about that, asking me many questions about this new student. I asked her to try to be strong and give it a chance. She did.

The first English class together was a bit awkward, but she slowly came out of her shell. She realized that the other student was friendly and ready to learn. That seemed to calm her down. Sometimes learning to work together takes a while between a Smith’s veteran English student and a new one.  As an English teacher and classroom manager I had no choice but to go back to lessons that she had previously done. Over the next few weeks, I watched something wonderful happen here at Sagamihara Smith’s English School. 

I had been using her as “the English teacher.” She modeled all the language (instead of me) for this new student. While this was happening, I was always thinking about how I could introduce something new to her within the English lessons. There is always something new to offer, even if they have studied the same lesson a few times, which she has, and now continues to do.

I am happy to share this success story. After each class I would say “she’s a great English teacher, isn’t she?” She would modestly say “no” but the other student would always smile and agree. Recently, the other student had self-studied the sentence “I really appreciate your support; thank you,”and said that to her at the end of the lesson. This “special English student” at Sagamihara Smith’s English School was beaming with delight and CONFIDENCE! So was I.

I continue to see more confidence in this English student in terms of English speaking ability as well as in herself. She is now used to group lessons and leading the English class. It’s a wonderful and very satisfying part of my job. I am happy to help anybody improve their English speaking ability and gain confidence in English communication and themselves here at Sagamihara Smith’s English School! I hope to see some more new faces soon. Smith’s School of English Trial English lessons don’t cost any money and are always stress-free! Come see me!

Jim