日日是好日
Our Intension and Enthusiasm
Welcome to REM's website! This page is a space where we would like to introduce our intention and enthusiasm with everyone that visits our website. It would be a great pleasure if you were to join our community.
Reading, writing, and speaking in English has been and continues to be an eye-opening experience for me as a Japanese person. English is an art of acknowledging myself. "Art is honest," says Mr. Osamu Asano in his interview with Nichiyo Bijutsukan(NHK) while describing children's pictures. To him, painting is the means to express one's innermost heart and self. To me, English is a powerful method by which I reach my deepest mind and rediscover my spirit.
I would like to share with you the joy to articulate what you think and what you feel through the lens of English. REM introduces a wide range of materials written and spoken in English. Learning a different language enables you to look at things in wider perspectives outside of your culture. It is also very nice to find articles and videos that give you a voice of expression which you have not before considered or recognized. Come join us, and explore your truest self!
Fumie Ishizuka
American Studies Program, M.A.
College of William and Mary
Learning Process @REM
REM breaks the English learning process into several aspects of language acquisition; pronunciation, vocabulary, structure, conversation, listening, reading, and writing. Each course has its own focus. For example, the red course focuses on accents in pronunciation of English words, while the orange course focuses on teaching consonants. Those first two courses also help students build vocabulary and learn phonics.
The 10 courses of REM aim to support those who would like to obtain strong proficiency in English from a Japanese learning environment. It is our intension to reach numerous Japanese who have difficulty learning English.
Why is it challenging for many Japanese to be fluent in English?
One reason is that they need more pronunciation exercises when they start learning English. Once they know the right pronunciation, it becomes easier to listen and speak in English.
Another reason is that more time is necessary to focus on specified materials to deeply understand English sufficiently. English curriculums taught at Japanese high schools often cover a wide range of areas including structure, vocabulary, reading, listening, writing, and so on. The schools move on to new lessons even though some students need more time and practice before they progress. It is often the case that the textbooks are required to be completed within an academic year without consideration of an individual's needs or pacing.
Despite the overwhelming texts taught either at schools, or perhaps at juku, I find that it is essential for many Japanese students to have more vocabulary and more rewarding readings. The students should proceed at their own pace and be equipped with a lot of practical terms and phrases.
Take your time. Relax. You don’t need to hurry, nor compare your proficiency with others. The REM experience isn't like learning at Japanese high schools.
Furthermore, I strongly recommend outputting the expressions that you have learned during the lesson. Write and speak in English without hesitation. Be courageous. Then your English will flourish.
All REM courses are designed to provide you a variety of English skills. We hope to tailor our courses so that you fulfill your wishes in communicating in English. Come join us. We are happy to assist you.
Reaching Out
The courses and fees of REM are designed to meet all sorts of purposes and schedules that the members would like to have.
Many Japanese think English is too difficult to attain, but it is probably because they do not have clear goals in learning English. Are they happy if they are able to talk with foreign visitors? Do they need to write English emails and communicate with thier overseas customers? Or is English a must-have skill to be accepted by prestigious universities? Would they like to go abroad and study? Do they want to work for global companies? What kind of occupation is in thier mind? REM asks all members to imagine to what extent they would like to achieve English fluency.
REM provides opportunities to establish every aspect of the English learning process: pronunciation, strong grammatical structure, writing skills ranging from daily expression to academic depiction, listening and reading various kinds of narratives.
Members of REM can choose the frequency of thier lessons. If you are a business person, you might be able to come to classes twice a month. If you are a parent with chidlren, you might want to control budgets. If you would like to become very good at English, you might want to come to classes two or three times a week.
The fees of REM are intended to be as friendly as possible so as to reach a wide range of people across the country. Those who contact us often say the price of the lessons is inexpensive. We are more than glad if our members learn English in a sustainable manner. It takes a lot of energy and time to attain strong proficiency. We hope all of our members feel comfortable and continue thier study as much as they would like to.
Self-Efficacy
The biggest mystery when teaching English at Japanese high schools was that quite a few students would insist that they were "absolutely not good at English at all," including the 7th graders. English was not compulsory at elementary school back then, meaning that the seventh grade was their first year of learning English at school.
Why were they so certain? Were they really incapable of learning English?
English may have already been introduced at their elementary school before it was officially included in the curriculum. Some of the students might already have opportunities to study English outside of school.
I thought it was too early for them to determine that they were not good at English. It sounded very odd when those students showed disbelief in themselves.
Was it because they do not want to work hard?Did they want to run away from challenging tasks? What if they would just try and see how they did?
I would encourage them that "they can," but they were very reluctant to imagine that they could make progress.
Self-efficacy is probably the key to solving this problem.
Say that you can.
Believe that you can.
Just try and see.
Then the world you see changes drastically.
Those are the messages that REM would like to send to all. We consider it very crucial to develop the sense of self - particularly in teaching young children. We believe in their potential, respect their will, and appreciate their learning process.
日本の皆さんに
英語ブログではレインボー・イングリッシュ・メソッドの理念をお伝えしています。日本語に落とし込むと何故か違ってしまうので、当ページの記事は英語のままで掲載させてくださいね。
英語で表現するときには、英語のマインドがある。
英語脳ではありません。「英語で考える」とも少し違う。意識の中では日本語から英語に翻訳することなく英語の形でダイレクトに発話しますが、ただ技術的に英語を使うだけではいけないのです。
英語のマインドです。
誰が何をしたか、明らかにする。
私は、あなたは、彼らは、主語は誰か
心の中にある気持ちを直球で伝える。
私はうれしい。楽しい。悲しい。
など、自分の心が感じていることを
そのまま見せる。
そして
あなたはどうかな？
彼らはどう思っている？
思い描いてみる。
常に明確にすること、
心の内を明らかにすること、
自分以外の人たちに繋がること。
大切なマインドセットです。