Michael Rands

Michael Rands Tutor Interview

Q. Hi Michael, please tell us a little bit about yourself.

A. Hello. My full name is Michael Paul Rands. Many people call me Mike for short. I was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. I went to university in Cape Town, a very beautiful city in the south of the country. I completed my undergraduate and masters degrees there.

After graduating I moved back to Johannesburg where I worked for two years at a television production company, before moving to Japan where I lived for three years. Since mid-2012 I’ve been living in the United States.

Q. I heard you’ve lived in Japan for three years! How was the life in Japan?

A. Yes, I did live in Japan for three years. I lived in a city called Kure, about forty minutes by train from Hiroshima City. I was a teacher at a really great high school in the city. I enjoyed the job very much. The students were really nice, and very motivated to learn. I got along well with my co-workers.

Besides that, I really loved Japanese life in general. I travelled a lot. Some of my highlights were climbing Mount Fuji at night and watching sunrise, camping on the island of Yakushima, and visiting Koyasan.

Day to day life was very enjoyable. I found the people to be kind and welcoming. Now that I’m not there I miss it a lot. I also miss the food! And onsens!

Q. How do you spend your days off? I’d like to know about the trip to your country, South Africa!

A. Yes, I recently met with my extended family in South Africa for a holiday. We travelled from Johannesburg to Cape Town, where we spent about three weeks – including Christmas and New Years.

We also stayed in a part of the country called The Karoo – it’s a very vast space, with semi-desert landscape. At night you can see stars, pretty much better than anywhere I’ve ever seen.

In my time off I like to travel. I also like to read a lot. I enjoy reading fiction and non-fiction books.

I don’t normally spend time with big groups of people, but like to see my close friends and talk about interesting topics and share ideas. I also like to get out into nature as often as possible.

Q. According to your profile, you’re a freelance writer, novelist and writing instructor! As I know, you’ve already published some books! Could you tell us about the content of your books?

A. I wrote my first book while I was doing my masters at university. It was a novel called Praise Routine Number Four. It was a satirical, dark comedy, set in Cape Town, where I lived in those days.

When I was in Japan I co-wrote two other books – one, The Yamaguchi Manuscripts, was a humorous book explaining the history of economics; the other, Kamikaze Economics, was a non-fiction book about contemporary Japan.

I’ve recently finished work on a new novel, set in Japan. It is not yet published. I will let you know when it comes out!

Q. What motivated you to start writing?

A. From when I was very young I enjoyed telling stories to people. I am an only child and so I grew up spending a lot of time on my own. I think that meant that I developed quite an imagination. By the time I was in high school I was writing all the time and decided I wanted to be a writer.

When I finished school I actually started out studying law. But still I would write stories after lectures, and not study as much as I should have.

So in the end, I decided to switch my majors and try focus on writing. It takes a lot of time and dedication, and outcomes are not always guaranteed, so you have to be really passionate if you want to be a writer. But I think it’s the best work in the world!

Q. I think most students who are learning English, are allergic to writing. Do you have any suggestions to improve their writing skills?

A. Some of the students I have met through Cafétalk seem to work very hard at improving their writing. I know some students who write reviews of books they have read, or movies they’ve watched. Some people listen to videos and try to write down what they’ve heard. Other people like to keep a daily diary.

Actually, I’ve been quite impressed by the work ethic of some of the students. I think the key is to write about something that interests you. Also, you should have a goal in mind.

If you want to get better at writing, you should try to do it as often as you can – every day, or every week. Being able to write well benefits you in many careers.

If you can write in English it will be a great advantage to you, because it’s a widely understood language.

Q. Finally, would you like to leave a message for our students?

A. Hello! :)

I really enjoy offering English lessons, so please have a look at my profile. I can help with many different aspects of your studies. I’ve really enjoyed meeting and working with some of you already, and I really hope I get to meet more of you in the future.

Keep on working hard, and I hope you can all achieve your studying goals!

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Michael Rands

Profile

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