English Pacifica
New JASSW corporate member
English Pacifica began 20 years ago teaching four elementary school students in the neighborhood the fundamentals of English.
Since then, we have put an emphasis on having students realize that speaking fluent English is an attainable goal; however, it is not something that they can just learn passively at school. It is important to focus on giving people this feeling when they are learning a language. Drawing interest towards learning English is important, but in order to get people interested in other foreign countries as well, we must engage in discussion regarding nations all around the world. In addition, we are aiming to produce lessons about Japan and its role in the world as well as lessons on thinking about what it means to have pride as a Japanese national.
On a separate note, if students can engage in English conversation but do not fully understand the grammar, they will be unable to write proper compositions. That is why we focus on English conversation at the elementary level and emphasize English grammar at the high school level.
We believe we have the approval of our students on these main points. In our school, the majority of our enrolled students range from elementary school students to university students. We even have students as old as 78, demonstrating the wide range of students that are enrolled with us. Most of our students start coming to our classroom when they are in elementary school and continue until they graduate high school, college, or continue with us even afterwards. Because many of these students continue to learn with us for so long, we slowly start to open up to each other and form strong, personal bonds.
As part of an effort to raise global citizens in Japan, we are actively working towards sending more students overseas. Our goal is to create opportunities for high school students to take educational trips to the United States and to give University students the chance to intern for 2 months at American public organizations.
In addition, the city in which our classroom is located, Sanda City in Hyogo prefecture, has a sister city relationship with Kittitas County in Washington State. We are simply one of many citizens groups working towards the promotion of positive international exchange between students of Kittitas and Sanda.
English Pacificaは今から２０年前1997年に近所の小学生４人に簡単な英語を教えることから始まりました。
以来英語が特別なものではなく、また勉強するものでもなく、気づけば好きになっていた！という感覚を持たせる事に重点を置き、英語は勿論ですが、先ず外国に興味を持つ機会を与えるため、様々な国の話題を取り上げ、また世界の中での日本について、そして日本人であることに誇りを持って一緒に考える様なレッスンを心掛けています。
また、英会話が出来ても文法が理解できていなければ文章が書けません。そのため小学生には英会話、中高生には英文法を中心に教えています。
こういった趣旨にご賛同頂き、当教室には現在小学生から大学生までを中心に、上は７８歳までの幅広い年齢層の沢山の生徒さんが在籍されています。これらのほとんどの方が小学生から当教室に通い始め、高校卒業、若しくは大学卒業まで、或いはそれ以上の長きに渡り通っていただいていますので、お互の距離が近くなり、信頼関係も深まることできめ細やかなレッスンを提供しています。
特別な取り組みとして高校生にはアメリカ研修旅行、そして大学生にはアメリカの公的機関で２か月間のインターンシップの機会を設けるなど積極的に海外に送り出すことで未来の国際人を育てることを目的としています。
また、当教室のある兵庫県三田市はワシントン州キティタス郡と姉妹都市という事もあり三田市を代表する一市民団体として特に学生同士の積極的な国際交流に取り組んでいます。
Follow the link to read thoughts and impressions from English Pacifica students after their visit to Seattle!
生徒たちのプログラムへの感想は下記のリンクからご覧下さい。
