English | Native |
---|---|
Japanese | Proficient |
Spanish | Daily conversation |
Hello, and nice to meet you,
My name is James. I am from Canada, Nova Scotia but am living in rural Japan as an Assistant Language Teacher (ALT). I took a double major when I was a university student, focusing on Linguistics and Asian Studies. After graduating, I got the Certificate for Language Teaching to Adults (CELTA) from Cambridge University. Now that I am not in school, I do my best to continue learning about how to teach in general and how to teach specifically English. I also work hard on improving my Japanese. I have studied Japanese since 2015, and achieved N3 proficiency and have since studied for and am hoping to achieve the N2 soon. When I am not studying or teaching, I like to go to the gym, play video games, play bass, and explore Japan.
My philosiphy on language teaching is that language is first and foremost, a tool of communication. We should focus on being able to share our thoughts and feelings first, then focus on improving our grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation. We often treat language like a subject to study, which I think makes language learning boring and less rewarding. No one is perfect, not even native speakers, so we should relax and enjoy communication first. Perfection comes with time.
I am teaching on Cafetalk to continue to learn, develop, and improve my teaching skills, as well as to try putting what I have learned into practice. I try to offer lessons that fit your goals, to help build on your own skills with English. We all learn in different ways, so I also try to fit how you learn too. I am happy to help you with any request from casual conversation to English for specific uses.
I hope to meet and talk with you soon!
Fukuroda Waterfall - Daigo, Ibaraki
***aKOBE