今年の4月から私の日々のビッグボウのスケジュールにプラスαされたことがいろいろ始まりました。　まずは名古屋の椙山女学園大学で大学生に英語のリーデイングに特化したクラスを教える講師としての仕事が始まり、それと同時にイギリスのアストン大学の早期英語教育の修士号を取得するために遠距離学習者用の修士課程通信教育をはじめました。　今回は修士課程のひとつの課題として早期英語学習者の言語習得の現状の研究目的で、神戸にある「神戸バイリンガルスクール（KOBILS)」に行ってきました。こちらのインターナショナルスクールのオーナーで私の友人でもある　Janina　Tubbyさんには今回私の研究のために、いろいろと協力していただきました。

There have been many changes in my life since April. Not only did I begin teaching reading classes once a week at Sugiyama University, but I also started working on a distance learning master’s degree, an MSc in Teaching Young Learners from Aston University. As part of my studies, I had to observe an elementary English class.  A few Facebook posts later, I was invited to come teach and observe at Kobe Bilingual School (KOBILS) in Tarumi, Kobe. This school is owned and operated by my good friend, Janina Tubby, and I was very excited to have this opportunity to visit her school after hearing about it for so many years.

こちらは、3階建てのビルの教室の中を生徒さんの作ったポスターがいっぱい貼ってありました。

KOBILS is a cheerful three story building decorated with bulletin boards and posters showcasing the students’ work.

こちらは、図書室です。　ビッグボウにもある同じ本もいっぱいありました。

It has a large library filled with graded readers and other books and novels. I was happy to see a lot of the same titles we have at BIG BOW English Lab.

クラスが始まる前には、図書室で本を読むのを楽しんでいます。

The students enjoyed choosing a book off the shelf and reading it before class.

小学2年生から4年生のいるサタデースクールを教えさせてもらいました。　ビッグボウでも教えたことのある「ヒトデ」についてのポスターを作るレッスンです。

ビッグボウのマスコットのアンディも一緒です。

I taught one Saturday School class in the morning. There were eleven students, in the 2^nd to 4^th grade, and all were graduates of KOBILS’ kindergarten or other international pre-school programs. After some bookwork, I taught a lesson I’ve often used at BIG BOW about starfish. We concluded the lesson by making mini-posters about the starfish fact we found the most interesting. I brought Andy the Aardvark along and he enjoyed watching the students!

一緒にスクールランチを食べました。

Then it was time to enjoy a delicious lunch prepared by the staff.

子供にとって外で遊ぶことは大切ですネ。

 It’s important to give young children free time to play and run outside.

KOBILSの生徒さんたちは、リラックスした雰囲気の中でのびのびと楽しみながら英語に取り組んでいました。　クラスで「日本語禁止」なんていう規則がなくても、子どもたちはみんなちゃんと普通に英語で授業に参加してくれました。

In the afternoon, all of the Saturday School students gathered in the library as Janina led the students in a fun brainstorming activity where students had to name mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and birds. Then Janina took the older students to the library and I taught seven students that had been in my morning class. The textbook lesson was on the water cycle, so we did a simple science experiment and drew a diagram.

KOBILS has a very relaxed, non-competitive atmosphere, but it seems the students work hard and are very proficient in English. They can use English naturally and I rarely heard them speaking Japanese, despite the fact that there is no strict “No Japanese” rule.

I’d like to thank Janina and the students of KOBILS for making me feel so welcome. I had a great time!