I get lots of request for new things for the site, and also lots of “thank you”s for having Japanese translations. But strangely enough I’ve never had any requests for Japanese translations of any readers’ games. That’s always surprised me. I’m sure they’d really help with lesson planning and Japanese teachers are always asking for…

If you’ve ever wondered why trains in Japan can be so expensive, here’s the reason…. Japan Rail (JR) are starting to label all their stations with a number then a letter for the line name. Great idea, that will make things a lot easier for a lot of people. So they have to change all…

Today I was invited to a school because the deputy head wanted to know why I would offer to do the Summer workshop at his school for free. Hmmm, OK, take half a day up explaining why I’m not going to charge, interesting use of time there! But I was in town anyway and was…

It’s always the simplest things that seem to be in demand. So the other day I put up a series of 12 number picture cards. The first eight fit in with the numbers mix ( e.g. “I have 2 rabbits” etc.) of the “Do you have any pets?” song, and I’ve added in an extra…

It’s Summer and you can feel it. Not just in the super humid air, but in the whole carnival atmosphere as the yearly Yamgasa Festival gets underway in Fukuoka this week. It’s nice, it’s great, but it’s not good for working as all the coffee shops are full! In my break I was reading in…

One of the big points in my workshops is fixing teachers fears of making mistakes. There are plenty of tricks to use and usually it works out very well with plenty of “Ah, I see”s by the end. One of the simplest tricks is to do the “stand up”, “sit down” thing, but get them…