Meet our mentors!!
The typical ALT teachers do not have much presence in classes. From my experience in Osaka, the ALTs only serve as human recordings to the students when the JETs introduce new vocabulary and it is meant for the students to get know and get used to the way the words are pronounced. In Nichidai however, the ALTs have their own language class or Eikaiwa once a week for each class. There are 5 teachers whom are native English speakers.
He is the main or the leader among the 5 teachers. If there is any problem, he is the first person we refer to. Mr. Thomas has been working in Nichidai for 7 years in total and he knows his the type of students and which tactics to manage them. He has a very dry sense of humor and is generally the type of teacher who gives jokes where students would groan. Being the most experienced among the 5, he is the one who established a set curriculum for Eikaiwa- he also created the method called WPPP - namely warm-up, presentation, practice and production and it has been adapted and widely used among the Eikaiwa department.
His knowledge and experience could rival Mr. Thomas'. Mr. Long has been in the education profession for almost a decade or more. His outlook in teaching is more gentle and very patient to his students. He would always try to get the best out of his students. It is safe to say that he is the second in command when it comes to problems. Being a popular teacher among the boys, he usually spends whatever time he has to visit his students during their club activities. Mr. Long would always try to put himself into the students' shoes and is constantly reflecting himself wehn it comes to student respond- thus, he is very good at capturing student attention when teaching, he frequently uses non-verbal cues plus modelling when introducing new lessons to his students. He is also notorious for creating the Eikaiwa mascot - Takumi Suzuki.
The only female native English speaker teacher in Nichidai. Ms. Jaimee is the only teacher who comes from the Philippines whereas the others are from America. She has a degree in Education and is the most familiar with first year students. Almost everyone likes her. Like Mr. Long, she would always put herself into her students' shoes, giving them the benefit of the doubt. Because of this, her students are generally very well-behaved and honest. She is the type of teacher who gives good vibes to her students.
Graduated from one of the local universities in Japan, Mr. Gaffney has high Japanese proficiency, earning him much better control in class through the usage of Japanese whenever necessary. He also teaches the SGL second years Math and Science in English. Mr. Gaffney has a very dry sense of humor to a point his students just weren't able to catch the joke. His classes are generally very fast paced and would always stress on the usage of production time so that the students could really understand what he taught.
Or English conversation is usually operated by private sectors. In most schools, there would be a class dedicated to that or in certain cases, the teachers, usually native speakers would be used as a live human recorder in English classes. Eikaiwa companies such as Aeon, Gaba, Berlitz etc act as a supplement to students for their studies, to study as a second language, to improve their business skills, as a hobby, to help socialize, to prepare for travel or marriage. Many parents send their children to Eikaiwa in hopes of improving their English and chance to work in an international environment.
Mr. Thomas
He is the main or the leader among the 5 teachers. If there is any problem, he is the first person we refer to. Mr. Thomas has been working in Nichidai for 7 years in total and he knows his the type of students and which tactics to manage them. He has a very dry sense of humor and is generally the type of teacher who gives jokes where students would groan. Being the most experienced among the 5, he is the one who established a set curriculum for Eikaiwa- he also created the method called WPPP - namely warm-up, presentation, practice and production and it has been adapted and widely used among the Eikaiwa department.
Mr. Long
His knowledge and experience could rival Mr. Thomas'. Mr. Long has been in the education profession for almost a decade or more. His outlook in teaching is more gentle and very patient to his students. He would always try to get the best out of his students. It is safe to say that he is the second in command when it comes to problems. Being a popular teacher among the boys, he usually spends whatever time he has to visit his students during their club activities. Mr. Long would always try to put himself into the students' shoes and is constantly reflecting himself wehn it comes to student respond- thus, he is very good at capturing student attention when teaching, he frequently uses non-verbal cues plus modelling when introducing new lessons to his students. He is also notorious for creating the Eikaiwa mascot - Takumi Suzuki.
Ms. Jaimee
The only female native English speaker teacher in Nichidai. Ms. Jaimee is the only teacher who comes from the Philippines whereas the others are from America. She has a degree in Education and is the most familiar with first year students. Almost everyone likes her. Like Mr. Long, she would always put herself into her students' shoes, giving them the benefit of the doubt. Because of this, her students are generally very well-behaved and honest. She is the type of teacher who gives good vibes to her students.
Mr. Gaffney
Mr. Aron
The newest addition to the ALT batch. Mr. Aron also studied education and has experience with special children. He regularly plays the cello in the English Lounge. He mainly focuses on the pronunciation of his students and would make sure that they get them right. He is also very fluent in Spanish. He is also good at demonstration and modelling when it comes to teaching students- however, he also believes that the students should get used to foreign languages without the aid of Japanese thus, this is how he teaches- he rarely repeats himself unless the students ask as they, the students are used to being ordered around and he wanted to change that.
What is Eikaiwa?
Or English conversation is usually operated by private sectors. In most schools, there would be a class dedicated to that or in certain cases, the teachers, usually native speakers would be used as a live human recorder in English classes. Eikaiwa companies such as Aeon, Gaba, Berlitz etc act as a supplement to students for their studies, to study as a second language, to improve their business skills, as a hobby, to help socialize, to prepare for travel or marriage. Many parents send their children to Eikaiwa in hopes of improving their English and chance to work in an international environment.
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