【講師コラム】メル講師 No.12～How Englishbuds Nourish and Let Our Students Flourish in Our English Garden～

Happy Friday, Mommies and Daddies!!! How are you doing these days?.. I really do hope that 2021 is being kinder to us all.  Anyway, I am really happy that it is finally my turn to share my thoughts with you here on Englishbuds page. Today I would like to write about what makes Englishbuds different from other Online English Schools.

It has been 6 beautiful and fruitful years since Mommy Kayo and I established Englishbuds. Before that, I was teaching at another online school for Japanese English learner. I was teaching adults and children that time. It was wonderful as I was to meet a lot of wonderful Japanese people of all ages, professions, backgrounds and from different walks of life. I have so many things to be thankful for from working for that English school. I was able to hone my teaching skills and made a lot of amazing Japanese friends while working there, and most of all, I was able to meet Mommy Kayo and her beautiful kids…

I can say that all online English schools have their own strengths, and are doing all they can to give the best service they could give to help their students and members learn and improve their English. But what makes Englishbuds different from all other online English schools?..

One of the reasons lies on Englishbuds’ name, ENGLISH BUDS… I really thought hard about how we would be naming Englishbuds when Mommy Kayo asked me to think of one while she was working till late at night to set up Englishbuds’ homepage. I already wrote before about how I came up with this name. How a childhood gardening experience helped me with it. I hope you can still remember about that entry…

How is Englishbuds different from other online English schools for kids? Why choose Englishbuds?

For one, here at Englishbuds, we allow our young learners to have a lot fun, play and experiment while learning English. We treat them like flower buds waiting to bloom in their own season. All flowers are beautiful, just like our little ones. I believe that all children are amazingly beautiful, special and unique in their own ways. They all have the potential to be great if nurtured and guided correctly. That is what we are doing here at Englishbuds, we allow them to learn at their own pace. We don’t force them and we let them enjoy and discover how fun it is to learn English. We avoid forcing them to study and use textbooks. Not all children are the same, some enjoy studying with textbooks and reading stories, but some don’t. And I think that it is extremely vital to consider children’s interests if we want to teach them effectively. Finding the right approach is very important when teaching a foreign language to young learners. And that is exactly what we have been doing at Englishbuds. We let our students learn English without really letting them feel like they are studying. Englishbuds continuously finds ways to gather different approaches for different learners’ needs.

One more thing that’s unique about Englishbuds is we let our students treat us, their teachers, as their friends. It is very important to let them feel comfortable with their teachers to be able to let them speak and express themselves freely. In my class, I always tell my students that I am their friend, so they don’t need to be shy. I really don’t mind looking silly while role playing and acting with my students. I actually enjoy and love it!!! I love how I am sometimes a hideous villain, a super hero who never wins (hehe), a girl who always makes mistakes, and a princess with her imaginary tiara, sparkly gown and glass slippers.  Oh, and with my prince charming, too!!! It is probably one of the reasons why I never feel like I am getting older, hehe…

I asked some of my students why they like to learn with Englishbuds, they all gave me super heartwarming responses… One of my students answered that it’s because she can just be herself in our lessons. She can freely talk about the things that she loves and even the things that frustrate her. She does not hesitate talking about her flaws and insecurities. One even surprised with this song telling how she loves having our lessons because she is always having fun and she always feels like time is passing by so quickly whenever we are talking and playing… I honestly do not know how to react to these… I am happy beyond words… I am extremely grateful to my students… You all are amazing, special and wonderful… I am far from being perfect and I surely am not the best, but Teacher Mel will always do whatever she can do for you…

Thank you so very much again for choosing Englishbuds as one on your partners for your precious little ones’ English education, Mommies and Daddies… Thank you for all your trust, support and understanding… Thank you very, very much, Mommy Kayo… You will always be that one person who believed and continuously believes that I can be better… Thank you for “Englishbuds”…

I really think of Englishbuds as a breathtaking and captivating flower garden, and I think that our little ones are like tiny buds; delicate yet strong, mysterious yet beautiful… Let us always bear in mind that like flowers, these children will bloom in their own season, so we do not need to force open their buds and interrupt their season of growth. Do not let comparison, competition and pressure cause them to wither soon… Let us work together to allow them to grow to their full potential… I know how hard it is to trust in this long process of normal development. But when we trust the growing season, and nourish the process, the blooms surely are going to be magnificent…

That’s it for me this time, dearest Mommies and Daddies… I hope that you enjoyed reading my entry… Take good care always, please… May the rest of the year be many kinds of wonderful for all of us…