JISHIN Eikaiwa

Do I need to learn English to live in Portland?

This is a very good question.

The answer is no. Portland has excellent resources to help people who don't speak English. All government agencies in Portland employ Japanese translators, and it's likely that your company does the same. There are many other Japanese expats in Portland, and so you never have to speak to Americans. As a volunteer at Jacob Wismer Elementary School, I saw many Japanese ex-pats live here for a few years and then return home without ever learning English beyond basic greetings. They did just fine. With the advent of cell phone translation technology, living in a foreign country without speaking the language is even easier today.

When I lived in Japan in 1997-98, I met many American and British people who spoke no Japanese. Many of them had lived in Japan for years. One American gentleman told me that he had lived in Japan for seven years. He had created a system that allowed him to avoid having to use Japanese. He knew English-speaking barbers who would cut his hair, he knew which salespeople at the mall spoke English, he made use of his company's bilingual staff, and he could point to items at the grocery store. All of his friends were from English-speaking countries. Even though he couldn't talk to Japanese people, he told me he had friends in Tokyo from all around the world: America, Canada, Australia, and Britain. He told me he loved Japan and planned to live in Japan as long as he could. He loved Japan without ever speaking to Japanese people.

Japanese was a luxury for my American acquaintance, the same way English is a luxury for you.

A Different Kind of Luxury

But even though English is a luxury, it would be a grave mistake to put it in the same category as other luxuries. A designer handbag will help you look and feel good when you go out. A dinner at a nice restaurant will taste good for the night. A two-week trip to Hawaii will make you feel good for two weeks. English, on the other hand, lasts forever. Not only does it last forever, but its impact on your life can grow over time.

A second language permanently opens up a whole new world. It is both a form of cultural knowledge and a tool. When you learn English, you learn the wisdom that has been passed down through generations of English speakers, all the way from the days of Shakespeare through the American Revolution through the Civil Rights Revolution to now. You will learn how English speakers think, and you will learn how English speakers view the world. If you find a good English instructor, you will learn the culture at the same time as you learn the language. All that wisdom can become yours--just by listening and speaking.

Perhaps even more importantly, English is a tool. You will be able to converse with the people around you. It will enable you to make friends with people from different cultures. With English, you will be able to speak with European people, Indian people, Chinese people, Korean people, and Black people. You will be able to create connections with non-Japanese people. You will be able to better understand the American people with whom you live. You will better understand the ideas in American movies and media. You will become bilingual and bicultural. It will change your outlook forever. If you speak only Japanese, this means that you can freely converse with around 125 million people around the world. When you're able to communicate in English, you can speak to over 1.35 billion people. Think of all the possibilities this tool can open for you. While you are in Portland, it will help you to create lasting connections and memories with the people around you. Your time in the United States will only last three to five years. Why not make the most of it?

You won't have to be a Japanese expat who can only talk to other Japanese people. You won't have to be like the American man in Tokyo who had to devise clever ways to avoid speaking Japanese. You won't have to live in a Japanese bubble. American life will open up for you. You will live more like an American while you are here in America.

The benefits of English do not end when you go back home. Your English abilities will continue to be useful whenever you travel, whenever you want to speak to your children in English, and whenever you watch movies. The benefits never go away.

JISHIN EIKAIWA

The best time to study English is now, while you are living in an English-speaking country. I've taught English in both the US and in Japan, and I can assure you that there is no substitute for the opportunity for immersion that you have right here. You are unlikely to have this opportunity again. If you decide to study English in the US, you have a wide array of choices from which to choose. From (nearly) free local group lessons to free YouTube lessons to various internet training courses to traditional book learning, the possibilities are endless.

The name of my company is Confidence English. It isn't Fun English or Hobby English; it's Confidence English. My singular goal is to get you CONFIDENTLY communicating in English. It's not just a hope or a wish; it is the very purpose of JISHIN's existence. If you're not confidently expressing yourself in English, I don't rest.

Learning a language takes a lot of work and a lot of time. My aim is to help you improve as quickly as possible in as little time as possible. My general formula is simple: input and output. We practice output when we meet once a week, I give you homework, and you practice input and output on your own every day during the other six days. Of course, it's more complex than that, and the exact course of our strategy will depend on your individual attributes, but that's the general idea. We just keep on listening and speaking. Along the way, I will be your coach and guide to help you integrate with American culture. We regularly hold group activities where you can meet the other students, but our main lessons are one-on-one, which means that the entire one-hour lesson belongs to YOU.

The best way to determine whether JISHIN is right for you is to schedule a FREE trial lesson. The trial lesson is 30 minutes, and we can talk after the lesson to answer any questions. Please click the button below to contact me today.