2014 June 16 | Sasebo Commercial High School | Building a Self-Study Program in English

I had the opportunity to visit Sasebo Commercial High School where I met with the 2nd year communication students for a discussion on how to build a self-study program in English. The contents of my lecture included the following points.

Talking about the Global Tourism course at Nagasaki International University
Getting students to reflect on the amount of English they study each day/week.
Asking students to make a daily schedule and find time within that schedule for self-study of English.
Fostering some ideas for performing self-study.

Here are the slides from my presentation:

Overall, the it was nice to interact with the students but the time flew past so quickly that we didn't really get into anything in detail.

I asked the students what their goals for studying English were:

• Speak fluently 
• Read and write fluently 
• Pass the class 
• Travel abroad 
• Take a test 
• Be a global student 
• Other 

Then I asked them to talk about the number of things they do in a 24-hour period - specifically how much time is spent on things.

• Sleeping, eating, getting ready…? 
• Studying at school? at home? 
• Playing with family/friends? 
• Club activities/hobbies? 
• Practicing your English? 

One question that prompted some thinking was: Where does English fit in your life outside of your classes?

Then we discussed some things they could do to study English in their free time. Some ideas came from the students, and some ideas were my own.

• Active learning 
• Talk with friends (make a circle) 
• Watch TV/Movies/YouTube 
• Listen to music 
• App for your smartphone 

Lastly, I gave them some links to try out for self-study. I hope some of the students take heart and give it a try on their own.

EnglishCentral (www.englishcentral.com) Watch/Learn/Speak

TED (www.ted.com) 

• Lectures with subtitles 
• Expand your mind 
• http://www.ted.com/talks/shigeru_ban_emergency_shelters_made_from_paper 

Apps for English Study (there are literally hundreds and hundreds of them)

iTunes University/Podcasts

There is a lot of free stuff. Just hit Google and have a look!