Bus man's holiday - examining at Ueda Nishi High School

I had the pleasure a couple of weeks ago to conduct the speaking exams for students at Ueda Nishi High School (Nagano prefecture) at CEFR B1:Preliminary for Schools level, for our centre (JP004). I teamed up with a new colleague (John) who was good enough to drive (heavy snow the night before prevented me from doing the honours).

It was obvious that the students at this school had prepared themselves to exchange ideas and collaborate in their conversations, making our jobs relatively easy! The only disappointment for us was that there were so few candidates (from the English conversation club) when in fact the entire school studies English with a couple of full-time ALTs backing up the very competent and enthusiatic Japanese teachers. 

Maybe next year?!

A positive experience - having a go at a Cambridge exam!

Not too hard :)

For the last year, Monwa-sensei has been busy working hard at Ueda-Nishi High School. Tough, with family & friends very out of reach in South Africa...but not such a hard assignment with the very keen English Conversation Club members eager to practice and improve their language skills.

And on March 27th, have a Cambridge opportunity for learners to prove they really "Can Do" for the first time. Thank you teachers at the school for letting us all have this chance, especially as our Speaking Examiners have long needed the experience of practicing with real teenagers, and not each other!


We ran a full 'mock' exam session. Listening was 'hard' because it was "British" - but half the voices were North American. Actual issue = unfamiliarity with the format (such as being able to read the questions first, and hear everything twice...and have to distill meaning rather than detail) ie read the question better!

We Can Do!