What kind of school is Language House?
LH is a commercial language school, teaching mostly English but also occasionally some French, Russian, Spanish, Chinese, and other languages too, to Japanese customers in Shikoku.
Where is Shikoku?
Shikoku is the smallest of the four main islands of the Japan. It consists of 4 prefectures, Kagawa, Ehime, Tokushima and Kochi.
Where are LH teachers located?
The teachers live wherever we have clusters of clients. Our clientele are spread along the Inland Sea coast of Shikoku. The towns and cities where we teach are Takamatsu, Sanbonmatsu, and Marugame (Kagawa Prefecture), Niihama and Matsuyama (Ehime Prefecture), Tokushima and Anan (Tokushima Prefecture). Takamatsu is 2 hours by train from Osaka via Okayama, or 3 hours by highway bus (4 from Kansai Airport). From Tokyo, Takamatsu is just under 5 hours by train or 1 hour by plane. Tokushima is 1 hour from Kobe by highway bus. Matsuyama is 2 hours from Hiroshima by ferry, and 2.5 hours from Takamatsu by train.
Where is the LH Head Quarters?
In Takamatsu on Shikoku Island.
What is Shikoku like?
Very mountainous. Only 10% of the total land area is flat, but the flat land is heavily built up, and not always attractively. Shikoku is provincial by Japanese standards, and a little off the beaten ourist track. For that reason, we miss out on concerts that seem to stick only to Tokyo and Osaka, but we also enjoy ‘unspoiled’ Japan and closer relations with ordinary Japanese folk. The population of each of the 4 main cities is around 300,000. The total population of Shikoku is 4 million. The Inland Sea is spectacularly beautiful, with hundreds (thousands?) of islands.
How is the climate?
Wonderful in spring and autumn. Exhaustingly hot and humid in summer. Cold and windy in winter, though we hardly ever get snow lying around – just flurries.
Do I need to speak Japanese to teach in class?
Certainly not. The Direct Method of teaching languages is more than 100 years old and well developed by now. Even if you speak fluent Japanese, you are not allowed to in our classes. However, knowledge of Japanese would be an asset, not only for a better understanding of why students make the errors they do, but also just for daily living purposes.
Can you tell me more about the teaching method?
We strongly emphasize both the acquisition of the target language through two main activities, graded listening comprehension and speaking practice with an emphasis on role-plays (improvisation) and students' story-telling to gain a true communicative ability. Reading and writing exercises are assigned as homework, though speed-reading exercises (i.e. within a specified time limit) are classroom activities.
