Sakura Tutor Interview

Q. Hi, Sakura. First of all, would you like to give us a short introduction.: A. Hello everyone! My name is Sakura. I was born in Brazil and moved to Japan when I was in elementary school. I originally spoke Portuguese, and learned Japanese when my family moved to Japan, and then learned English at University in Canada. I believe my background helps me to understand how my students feel when learning English, and the difficulties they may feel. In my free time I usually play the ocarina and play with my dog, Apollo. I also love gardening and I’m interested in sustainable lifestyle.
Q. Which part of Canada do you live in? Please tell us about your town.: A. I live in a city called Kelowna in the province of British Columbia. It’s about 4 hours away from Vancouver city. The nature here is very beautiful and because it’s not a big city like Vancouver, it’s very laid back and comfortable to live in. Kelowna is famous for its winery, orchards and the Ogopogo, a legendary lake monster that reputedly resides in Okanagan Lake.
Q. According to your profile, you worked on various international problems. Do you have any memorable episodes?: A. My most memorable experience was when I worked at an orphanage as a counselor in Brazil. Most of them were former street children with unimaginable hardship. There was one girl who seemed very scared of me when I first met her. I was there for half a year and the whole time she didn’t trust me. On my last day there, the girl held my hand and I felt that there was meaning to my work. I will never forget that feeling.
Q. I heard you were not good at English. However, you graduated university in Canada. Moreover, now you are a tutor who teaches English! How did you improve yourself? Could you please give an advice to students?: A. When I started studying English I watched children’s TV shows everyday. And I still do! I believe it’s important to expose yourself to the language every day. Start somewhere easy like TV programs for kids. You don’t have to live overseas as long as you do something and try and learn something everyday in English. Find something you like and try to incorporate English in it. For example, I enjoy cooking, so I usually find recipes online in English. I would say my kitchen vocabulary is really high thanks to the English recipes! English is also about balance. Once you work on your grammar, try something new to improve your fluency, then work on your listening, and don’t forget the pronunciation!
Q. What would you say are the biggest features of your lessons?: A. The biggest feature I would say is that all my lessons are conversational. I encourage my students to ask questions and we decide the format and content of the lesson together. Usually there will be some worksheets that would be provided to students. I also use Japanese in my lessons for explanations and where I believe it’s critical that the student understands 100%.After lessons, I usually send my students an email with “Today’s words and Phrases” so they can review some new things they learned in the lesson.
Q. What do you talk about in your popular free talk lesson, “今日ほんまにあった話” ? If a student is a beginner, he or she are worried about a free talk lesson. Do they need to ready any topics?: A. I usually ask the students what they want to talk about, such as what happened on that day, or on that week. For the first lesson, we introduce ourselves and talk about the students goals both in English and in Japanese. Based on our conversation, I can recommend the student a good class to take with me to help them to reach their goals.
Q. Finally, would you like to leave a message for our students.: A. Learning English is like running a marathon. It’s important to have a goal and always strive to reach that goal. It’s not easy and can be painful and lonely. However, run a little bit everyday and one day you will finish the marathon!