Matsuishi English School

After breakfast I went to the Matsuishi English school.  It was really cool to be able to talk with Don, an instructor who teaches English on the weekends as a hobby.  He is originally from California but has lived in Japan for fifteen years.  I got to work with two different classes.  The first group had ages 7-9.  They practiced going shopping.  Each of the teachers (including me) ran a table with some kind of good.  I ran a sweets shop and sold umaibo for one dollar.  Each student had this conversation:

Me: Hi, how may I help you?
Student: Umaibo, please.
Me: How many?
Student: One.  How much is it?
Me: One dollar.
*student and I trade money for snack*

It was really fun and I’m so glad I got to help run the activity.  I also had some real American dollars to show the children since they were just using fake ones printed on normal paper.  

Playing the "Liar" game-
The instructor says something about a picture and the students say "That's right!" or "No..." and fix the sentence.

the whole first class with instructors (and me) in the back

The second group had slightly older students.  They asked Don interview questions involving “I like, I don’t like, I can, I can’t…” and also some questions about his hobbies and family.  After asking the questions they made posters and drew pictures then shared and read the sentences out loud.  A lot of the children asked me questions, especially about how to spell things.  It was really fun working with that class as well.   I'm so glad I was able to go to these English classes.

one of the groups with their poster about what foods Don likes and doesn't like