Thinking in English
April and spring has come.🌸
My new students are starting to get used to their lessons and my teaching style, and my old students are getting back in the groove (I hope 😝). In short, and as they say in English, the dust has settled.
Already three weeks have passed since the school year began, and I’ve learned a bit about my new students. Interestingly, I also learned new things about my old students. The biggest and most important is that they translate Japanese to English much more than I thought.
I know it’s not easy to think in English when it is your second language, but I think translating is one of the biggest things that keep my students from becoming fluent in English.
Luckily, with enough practice, I think they can eventually translate less and think in English more.
Unfortunately, I think it’ll take time because it will require them first to be more patient with themselves, and that means they have to be more comfortable in making mistakes and they have to learn to not feel too pressured in giving responses quickly.
In short: the road to fluency is long, and I do not have a magical potion to make it shorter. However, I’m going to keep doing my best to give guidance and lessons that I hope will at least make the distance manageable. 💪💪