少人数制で楽しく身につく英会話教室・英会話スクールなら「アミックインターナショナル」

Are you shy?

We often describe ourselves as either shy or confident and many people believe that being more confident is a more positive personality trait. I am sure that we have all felt the anxiety of entering a new situation, being unsure in our own ability to be able to either fully understand or fully engage in the task. How, then can we transition from shy to confident?

Practicing can certainly help us on our way. If we have an important presentation, we will often practice over and over again, learning by heart what we have to say in the appropriate way. However, this does not always work and in extreme cases of stage fright we can completely forget an entire presentation that has been meticulously learned. It is most definitely an embarrassing situation to be in!

There are many suggestions to help us to overcome this fear. Many people use breathing techniques to calm themselves in these situations. Other people find that creating distractions, such as visually stimulating slide shows, can take the pressure and focus off them. Some people use body language to make them appear more confident, consciously choosing more open postures to allude to a greater self confidence.

A popular phase we use when practicing confidence is “fake it until you make it”. More recently the phrase has been adapted to “fake it until you believe it”.

The 68th annual Sapporo Snow Festival was held on February 6th – 12th which showcased some mesmerizing works of art.

This year’s festival theme commemorated Star Wars 40th anniversary entitled “White Star Wars”. 

It’s great to see individuals and teams who are creative and passionate about what they do.

Please have a look at some of the pictures at the following link. 

http://www.japan-guide.com/blog/sam/170206.html

All of us here at AMIC have things that we are very passionate about. Of course, we are enthusiastic about the English language, but we also have a range of different hobbies or interests in our free time. Like my fellow teacher (and fellow American) Joe, I am also “kind of a nerd.” While I share his love of video games, I enjoy many other forms of media too. In my classes, I frequently discuss music and movies with my students.

Reading books, watching movies, playing games, and listening to music are all great ways to relax. They can also be a fantastic way to improve your language skills. Exposing and immersing yourself in foreign media is a great way to supplement your lessons and increase your overall fluency.

When I studied French many years ago, I supplemented my courses by watching French TV shows and movies. At first, I would watch them with English subtitles and concentrated on my listening skills, and gradually I was able to replace the English subtitles with French subtitles. I also listened to pop music and tried reading French newspapers and books. This immersion helped me improve my comprehension and overall reading and listening skills, as well as allowing me to learn more about another culture.

Have you seen any English movies recently, or read any English books? We’d love to talk about them with you!

I hope you all have a great weekend!

Alex

３月といえば、卒業シーズンですね。

先日も、卒業証書を持った高校生たちをたくさん見かけました。

アミックの生徒さんの中にもこの春、

大学進学や就職で松山(東温)を離れます、

とアミックを卒業される方が何人かいらっしゃいます。

スタッフとしては寂しい、というのが本音ですが、

祝福したい気持ちももちろんあります(^^♪

皆さまのこれからの人生が幸多きものでありますように(≧▽≦)

そしてアミックで学んでよかった!!と思っていただけますように＼(^o^)／

地元に帰省されたときは、

お気軽にアミックに遊びに来てくださいね(^^♪

そんなこの時期は、何かを始めたくなる時期でもあります。

英会話を習ってみたい!!  将来の可能性を広げたい!!　等々、

英語に関心をお持ちの皆さま、

今その一歩を踏み出しませんか？

アミックではそんな皆さまを応援したく、

現在、★春の入会金無料キャンペーン★を実施中!!!

3月入会金キャンペーン

もちろん無料体験も受付中です!!!

無料体験レッスン

この機会にぜひ、アミック・イングリッシュセンターへお越しください(^^♪

For many Americans like myself (and many, many other people from all over the world) Japan is considered the Mecca of video games; a sacred land that birthed Nintendo, Playstation and an array of dearly loved game franchises like Final Fantasy, Zelda and of course Mario. While I’m not a super nerd that buys dozens of games and spends all his free time in a dark room in front of a glowing screen, I will admit that gaming has been a significant part of my life ever since I can remember, and also played a large part in me becoming interested in Japan.

My first fond gaming memories were from when I was about five years old and I played games like Super Mario World, Mortal Kombat and Donkey Kong Country on the Super Nintendo (スーパーファミコン). Later, for my 9th birthday I received a Nintendo 64 and the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time which made me fall in love with role-playing games (RPGs) and has influenced me ever since. Nowadays, I have a Playstation 4 and love to play games from the Japanese video game company From Software.

While gaming is a great passion of mine, I also realise that many think it’s a waste of precious time (my wife is one of those people)! I titled this post “I’m kind of a nerd” because I also believe it’s important to keep a balance with what I choose to do in my free time so I can keep up with everything else happening in my adult life while nourishing my other interests.

Whatever you may choose to do with your free time, I hope you enjoy it!

Joe

What would make a good mascot?

Tokyo Olympics is still three years away, but organizers have finally chosen Dragonball Z, Son Goku, as the official ambassador for the summer event. Applications for designing the mascot for the 2020 games is open to the public which I think is a great idea. So, what would make a good mascot? If I had to design a mascot, it would be a mix of something old and something new – Ninja Robot.

Something old- the ninja. They are popular and easily recognized because of their cool traditional outfits. The jobs of the ninja in the past were not always noble, but their level of skill and training are qualities that I have admired since I was a child. Growing up, I loved watching Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Something new- the robot. Japan’s robotics industry is well known throughout the globe and is another reason why I think it’d make a popular mascot. Robots are very much part of our everyday life. Most people can recognize Asimo the humanoid robot who has made public appearances around the world. And who could forget Astro Boy, the hero android. Very cool, indeed!

What if you had to hand in a mascot design for Tokyo Olympics? What would it be?