先生 のアーカイブ

自由が丘、横浜の外語スクールデンハウスのエリックです。

Hello everyone! It’s been a while since I wrote last time… I just came back from Québec, Canada where I spent a month with my family and friends.

My wife is Japanese and  we have three children. We really want them to learn Japanese, French and English so we chose to speak to them each in our mother tongue and me and my wife speak to each other in English to expose them to the language. We don’t want them to watch to much TV but we choose a few bilingual programs and they watch them in English. Some friends’ children complain when they don’t understand, even if they know and like the cartoon or movie characters, but so far, our children don’t. we find some French TV programs on the web. We also have a trilingual library of children books and CDs. We try to give them English and French homework and they go to a public Japanese Elementary school and a Japanese private kindergarten.

I work late in the evening and early at elementary schools a few times a week so I often go 2-3 days without talking much with them or reading them French story books so I think they sometimes feel frustrated not easily being able to explain, for example,  what they did at school. Moreover, I talk like an adult so I really feel it’s important for children’s education to also speak with other children in the language we want them to learn. Speaking with other Japanese children in a group lesson is very good to give them confidence they can do it, too. It gives a little more meaning to their learning than just passing tests to enter a good school, for example.

I’d like to recommend to all those who can afford it, to take a little longer vacation from work before your children go to elementary school and/or become teenagers  and plan a family home stay where your children could have the chance to play with others in the language they’ve been learning. It doesn’t necessarily have to be abroad, a local playground or community center could be enough. Get together with other multicultural and foreign families. Add a little animation from the parents and do the more formal study at home afterwards. My kids certainly seem to have enjoyed playing with their cousins and friends in Canada and in just a few weeks, many expressions came out more naturally from them. I now have to try and keep some more time to spend with them, and prepare activities for them to do when I’m not there.

I’d love to hear ideas from other people in a similar situation so feel free to write!

That’s all for now. See ya!

Éric Busque

横浜の外語スクールデンハウス長津田校の江川です。

秋の気配を少しずつ感じられる頃となりましたね。とはいえ、まだまだ暑い日は続きそうですが…….。

長い夏休みを取られた方もいらっしゃることでしょう。思い出はたくさんできましたか？

恥ずかしながら、暑さに弱い私は熱中症らしい輩に付きまとわれ、散々な夏でした。

さて、デンハウスには毎年夏の間新しい外国人の先生が入ってきます。

長い休みを取る先生に代わり、レッスンをする為です。そして、今年も何名かが当スクールに来てくれました。

子供たちのクラスから大人の方々のプライベートまで、幅広いレッスンを行いました。

中でも、「これぞプロ中のプロ！」な先生には感心しきりで、私自身がもっと話を聞いてみたいと思った先生でした。

どんな世界にも、道を極めている人はいて、その人たちは周囲を納得させてしまうものですね。「極める…。」難しい事ですが、挑戦したいですね….何かを。　英語？！

手前味噌ですが、デンハウスには、もちろん素晴らしい先生がたくさんいます。カナダ、アメリカ、イギリス、シンガポール他、様々な国からキャリアのある先生が、毎日ためになるレッスンを行っています。

ぜひ一度、スクール内の雰囲気だけでも覗きにいらしてください。

さあ、実りの秋、学びの秋がやって来ます。知識でお腹いっぱいになれますように！！

自由が丘、横浜の外語スクールデンハウスのエリックです。

Bonjour! Hello!

Being from Canada, a country which has officially two languages, I will write this first blog using some French and English. / Comme je viens du Canada, un pays officiellement bilingue français/anglais, je vais écrire ce premier blog dans les deux langues.

But if you ever go to Canada you may also hear Inuit language in the North, visit many First Nation communities like Kanesatake’s Mohawks near Montreal or again meet faces and hear accents from all over the world! / Mais si un jour vous allez au Canada, vous pourrez aussi entendre parler inuit dans le Nord, visiter plusieurs communautés de Premières Nations comme celle des Mohawk de Kanesatake près de Montréal, ou encore voir des visages et entendre des accents d’à travers le monde!

So what do I think of language education? I think children nowadays are very lucky to learn more than one language at a time. By doing so, they can discover patterns and similarities between the different languages and come to a better understanding of their mother tongue and culture while better developing their brain. / Donc qu’est-ce que je pense de l’enseignement des langues? Je pense que les enfants, de nos jours sont très chanceux d’apprendre plus d’une langue à la fois. Cela leur permet de percevoir les structures des langues apprises et de découvrir des similitudes, ce qui les amène à mieux apprécier leur langue et culture maternelles tout en aidant à mieux développer leur cerveau.

Plusieurs personnes sont surprises d’apprendre que le français est autant parlé au Canada. Dans ma province, le Québec, c’est la langue principale. Quand j’étais jeune enfant, j’entendais et je voyais de l’anglais autour de moi mais je ne le parlais pas. Je l’ai appris à l’école à partir de la 4e année du primaire, avec mes cousins des État-Unis, en voyageant, et j’ai étudié dans une université anglophone, Concordia University à Montréal. Je crois que cela m’aide aujourd’hui à mieux comprendre les difficultés et frustrations de mes étudiants. C’est un apprentissage continu! / Many people are surprised French is that much used in Canada. In my province, Quebec, it’s the main language. When I was a young child, I was exposed to English but I couldn’t speak it. I learned it from the 4th grade of elementary school, with my American cousins, while traveling and I studied at an English speaking university, Concordia University, in Montreal. I think today all that helps me to better understand the difficulties and frustrations my students may sometimes have. I keep learning every day!

Je m’arrête ici pour l’instant. À bientôt! / I’ll stop here for now. Come back soon!

Éric Busque