Newsletter for November, 2000
Student of the year 1999
Every year at the Kiwi College barbecue, one of our students is chosen as Student of the Year in recognition of their effort, attitude and progress.
Last year's winner, Michiyo Okamoto, is an excellent example of the importance of positive attitude for success in language learning, as in most things in life. A member of our Friday afternoon advanced adults class, which now uses Cambridge University Press's Interchange 3 (when we do use a text), she started off in basic class which used Interchange 1, then the entry level book in the Interchange series.
Coming to the study of English in what she admits is middle age , Michiyo brought the same positive attitude to learning English as has served her well in her other endeavours; she is a local amateur tennis champ and recently came third in a Tokyo-wide garden design competition. In fact, the photograph shows her in her garden.
As well as doing her weekly Kiwi College homework regularly (like most of of students), she also did our voluntary program of listening tapes, something she says has served her in good stead in her frequent travels overseas. Like most of our "New Lifer" students, she is learning English to travel the world, enjoy herself and make new friends.
Recently returned from a two week trip to Boston where she was the guest of a family whose daughter she had looked after years ago as a homestay mother, Michiyo says, "While in Boston I spent a lot of time at dinner parties and playing golf with American women and their families and friends, and I found Kiwi College's style of teaching to be very useful in that our teacher always encourages us to give our opinions in English, even from the beginner classes.
This is something Japanese are not used to and are not good at, but foreigners expect you to be intelligent and to have an opinion and to be able to answer questions about your own country - which many Japanese can not and do not do. Therefore, I am glad that we so often discuss current affairs and what's happening in Japan and the rest of the world at Kiwi College. I also found the same thing in Australia when I spent two weeks visiting my daughter several years ago".
Profile
Our first profile of KC associates is our own Akiko Anne Hori, the cheerful voice on our end of the phone and the author of email and faxes. Akiko was born in Los Angeles , but came to live with her family in Kumamoto, Kyushu when she was five. After passing through the primary and secondary levels of the Japanese education system, she went back to California with her family to go to university in Sacramento, California where she met her Japanese husband when they were both teaching Japanese.
Because of her bi-cultural background and experience and the fact that she is now in the throes of getting her first born into the first steps of the Japanese education system, she is a keen observer and useful contributor to Kiwi College's efforts to promote international understanding via its overseas homestay and study program.
One reason she is our first profile is that she will be leaving us to have her second baby in the not too distant future, so keep your eyes on the Jobs Section of the newsletter.
Example
course costings (November/December)
The following are costings of courses typical of the Japanese autumn, which
of course is spring in New Zealand. All prices are in yen, incorporate airfares
from leading travel discounters and use an exchange rate of ¥50=1$NZ.
If you are interested in doing these courses, especially the Summer School,
it is very important that you decide quickly and reserve your seat for
the time you want to study as it can be very difficult getting a seat
on a plane to New Zealand during or even near peak holiday times in Japan.
In any event, if you are interested go to the Inquiries
page and fill in the form or email me in English at warwick@japan.email.ne.jp
| Four month Full Time (New Lifers') English and Activities Course | ||
| Tuition fees (morning and afternoon) | = | 300,000 |
| Homestay fees | = | 140,000 |
| Homestay finding, and other fees | = | 16,500 |
| Airfare (Low season) | = | 100,000 |
| Total = ¥ 556,000 | ||
| Four month Full Time (New Lifers') English and Activities Course | ||
| Tuition fees (morning and afternoon) | = | 154,000 |
| Homestay fees | = | 70,000 |
| Homestay finding, and other fees | = | 33,000 |
| Airfare (Low season) | = | 160,000 |
| Total = ¥ 417,000 | ||
Three
Week Summer School - Intensive English
This a full time (morning and afternoon) "sampler" course for those who are thinking of studying in a NewZealand high school in the 2001 academic year or as a brush up intensive for those sitting English finals at school or university in Japan in February-March. This can be a full time in-class course or an English in the morning course, followed by practical English useage with sports or hobbies in the afternoon
| Tuition fees (morning and afternoon) | = | 50,000 |
| Homestay fees | = | 25,000 |
| Homestay finding, and other fees | = | 16,500 |
| Airfare(before Dec. 20th) | = = |
107,000 (Korean
Airlines) 121,000 (Qantas) |
Total = ¥198,50 - ¥212,500 Note: Airfares jump quite a lot after December 20th. | ||
The above,
while fairly accurate, are based on a cross section of schools' fees. As
always, prospective students receive an exact quote and invoice for their
course and pay directly to the school - not to Kiwi College
Links
Inquiries