Online English Tutoring

Grammar Learning Steps

① Learn the rules of grammar
First, learn the rules of grammar. For example, for the present perfect (meaning “I have been doing” or “I have done”), you will learn the rule of using “have + past participle”.
② Try using the grammar rules
Confirm the rules you have learned by actually using them. Try to answer the questions while thinking, “The present perfect is 'have + past participle. You may make mistakes, but that is part of the learning process.
③ Memorize grammar rules
By practicing over and over again, you will quickly be able to remember the form of “have + past participle” without looking at the explanation. You will also be able to answer questions correctly and use it consciously when reading, listening, writing, and speaking.
④ Understand the rules naturally
When you read or listen to English sentences, you will be able to understand the meaning immediately without being conscious of the “have + past participle” form. This is a state in which you can understand the situation of “have been ~” reflexively.
⑤ Be able to use the rules freely
You will be able to speak and write naturally in English about the content of “have been ~” without having to think “have is a past participle…”.

Important Points
✅ Steps 1-3 are the stages of learning grammar with a strong awareness of the grammar.
✅ Steps 4 and 5 are the stages where you can use grammar unconsciously.
✅ Do not assume that understanding the rules = mastery of grammar!
✅ At the Step 3, you can score high on grammar tests.
✅ At the Steps 4 and 5, you will have the ability to “read, listen, speak, and write” English.

Listening Learning Steps

There are two ways to learn how to listen to English: “Close Listening” and “Extensive Listening”

① Close Listening
“Close Listening” means to listen to English over and over again while carefully understanding it.
※ In contrast, “Extensive Listening” means listening to a lot of English while grasping the general meaning.

🔹 Points of close listening
✔ It is more effective to listen to English that you can understand well even in a short time than to listen to English whose meaning you cannot understand for many hours!
✔ Use materials with scripts and explanations!
✔ Start with simple English at junior high school level!
✔ Repeat the lessons so often that you memorize every word!

🔹 Continue with close listening…
✅ The sounds you hear will match the actual English
✅ Get rid of Katakana English pronunciation
✅ Understand English sound changes (liaisons) by feel
For example…, 💬“Like it” is not ‘laik ˈɪt’ but ‘lai kit’! By listening to and discovering English over and over in this way, you will be able to hear English as “meaningful words.

🔹 Tips for Close Listening
✅Choose simple English conversations (skits) (ones you can listen to over and over!)
✅Don't “understand and be done”; listen further!
✅Pay attention to sound changes, words, grammar, intonation
✅Also use shadowing and dictation!

📌 Shadowing = practice imitating and pronouncing English sounds as you hear them
📌 Dictation = practice writing down the English you hear, word for word.

② Extensive Listening
“Extensive Listening” is the practice of grasping the general meaning of a passage, rather than listening to every word perfectly.
For example…
💬 “Oh, this is a travel story.”
💬 “It sounds like they are talking about work mostly.”

🔹 Points of Extensive Listening
✔ You don't have to listen to every word!
✔ It is important to grasp “what is being talked about”!
✔ Use a slightly higher level of English!

🔹 Steps for Extensive Listening
1️⃣ First listen once without a script
    (Check how much you can understand!)
2️⃣ Listen 3-5 times repeatedly
    (To get the details little by little)
3️⃣ Look at the script and check your answers
    (See which words you didn't catch!)
4️⃣ Listen again without the script
    (Check if you understand!)
5️⃣ Write down important words and phrases
    (Or write them down in a notebook or word sheet!)

🔹 Key Points for Extensive Listening
✅ Don't worry too much if you don't hear a sound you don't understand!
✅ Make it a priority to grasp “what is being said”!
✅ Review the sound sources you have learned by “listening passively”!

💡 Summary
📌 The basics of listening are “Close Listening” and “Extensive Listening”!
📌 Beginners start with “Close Listening”!
📌 When you can understand the sounds of English, move on to “Extensive Listening”!
📌 Review the material you have learned many times by “listening passively”!

Reading Learning Steps

Extensive Reading
Extensive Reading means reading English “as fast as possible” and “as much as possible. However, it is important not to read so fast that you cannot understand the meaning, but to read at “just barely fast enough to understand”. By continuing to do this, you will improve your reading scores for high school and university entrance exams, the English Proficiency Test, TOEIC, and other tests.

Advantages of Extensive Reading

① Develop the ability to read quickly
When you learn to read English quickly, you can prevent “back reading” (the habit of going back to the previous sentence and reading it again). When you read slowly, you may be tempted to try to translate English into Japanese or analyze sentences in detail. To eliminate this habit, you need to practice reading fast. However, it is impossible to suddenly read difficult sentences quickly. 
First, it is important to read
✅ Sentences that have few words you don't know.
✅ Easy sentences that you can read easily.
Ideally, the number of words you do not know should be less than 5% of the total number of words you read.Choose a level that is “easy to read” rather than “easy to read with effort”.

② Become able to understand English as it is in English
As you continue to read more and more, the meaning of English will come to you the moment you read it.
For example, when you see the word “baseball,” you can picture the word in your mind without having to translate it into “baseball,” right? This is the state of being able to understand English as it is.

The process of memorizing English words
1️⃣ Don't know the word
2️⃣ “I should know it, but what is it?”
3️⃣ “Oh, in Japanese it's 〇〇!”, remembering it somehow
4️⃣ You can understand the Japanese meaning quickly
5️⃣ Just by looking at an English word, an image comes to mind
This 5️⃣ state is that you understand English as it is, so you need to be exposed to the word over and over again.

What it takes to “understand English as it is
To be able to understand English as it is, you need four things
✅ Know the meaning of the word well
✅ Familiarity with the subject matter
✅ Read or listen to English that is easy for you
✅ Have a lot of experience with English
By continuing to “train yourself to understand English as it is”, you will get rid of the habit of reading back and forth, and you will be able to read smoothly.

Training to understand words in word order

①Practice understanding English as it is without “reading backwards”.
For example,
📌 I saw the pictures which he had taken in Germany.
   （私は彼がドイツで撮った写真を見た。）
Translated normally into Japanese,
「私は(I) / 彼が(he) / ドイツで撮った(had taken in Germany) / 写真を見た(saw the pictures)」
and the order is different from the English word order.
However, when understood “in English word order,” the sentence becomes 👇.
✅ I saw the pictures/私はその写真を見た
✅ which he had taken/それを彼は撮った
✅ in Germany./ドイツで
In this way, it is important to get into the habit of taking the meaning in English word order.
By repeating this, your listening and reading comprehension will improve dramatically.

②Reading while predicting improves comprehension!
When reading in English, it is easier to understand if you anticipate what is coming next. When you read English, it will be easier to understand if you can anticipate what is coming next.
For example
When you read “I saw the pictures…”,
you consciously wonder what they looks like.
Then, when the information “which he had taken in Germany” is followed, you can understand the meaning smoothly.

Summary
📌 Points of Extensive Reading
✔ Choose “easy English” with few unfamiliar words
✔ Eliminate the “habit of reading backwards” by reading fast and a lot
✔ Become able to understand English as it is in English

📌 How to understand English in word order
✔ Comprehend sentences in word order, without reading backwards
✔ Develop the habit of “reading while anticipating what is coming next
✔ By repeating this, both reading speed and listening ability will increase!

Speaking Learning Steps

In speaking, as in listening, it is important to “understand English as it is.

When to hear English
Ideally, when you hear English, you should be able to image it as it is. For example, “He is a good tennis player.” When you hear this statement, you can understand it in two ways

① Through Japanese (for beginners)
Hear English ⇒ Understand in Japanese ⇒ Imagine the situation

⇒ ⇒

② How to image directly (ideal form)
Hear English ⇒ Imagine the situation

⇒

The goal is for beginners to be able to use method①, but eventually to be able to understand English using method②.

When to speak English
There are also two ways to speak English

① Speak directly in English (ideal)
Imagine him playing tennis ⇒ Translate the image directly into English

⇒

② Think in Japanese and then convert it to English (for beginners)
Imagine the situation ⇒ Think in Japanese ⇒ Convert it into English

⇒ ⇒

To learn to speak English smoothly, it is important to move from stage ② to ①. To do so, Instant Englsih Composition is effective.

Instant English Composition
Instantaneous English composition is training to immediately change Japanese sentences into English and say them out loud. By continuing this practice, you will be able to speak English smoothly. It is especially useful for English composition for high school and university entrance exams, as well as for preparing for the English Proficiency Test and TOEIC SW (Speaking and Writing) exam.

Tips for Instantaneous English Composition
As a beginner, you tend to convert Japanese into English one word at a time.
✖Bad examples
1. 彼は → he
2. 〜です → is
3. 上手な → good
4. テニスをする人 → a tennis player
This way, it takes a long time to speak.

〇Good examples
1. Imagin "He is a good tennis player ”.
2. Render into English “He is a good tennis player.”
In other words, the “image → English” flow is also important when speaking English.

Develop the habit of “Japanese → Image → English"
When practicing instantaneous English composition, it is important not to use Japanese as a mere translation tool.
Instead of translating the Japanese one word at a time, be aware of the need to translate images into English.
For example:
1. When you see the sentence “He is a good tennis player,” imagine him playing tennis
2. Express that image in English → “He is a good tennis player.”

If you are conscious of speaking while “picturing” English in this way, you will be able to speak English without using Japanese.

Why Instantaneous English Composition is Effective
If you continue this training, you will be able to respond to a variety of situations.
By imagining various situations and translating them into English, you will be able to broaden your range of expression.

Summary
✅ Get into the habit of understanding English with “images”.
✅ In instantaneous English composition, do not translate one word at a time, but use the whole image in English.
✅ Once you acquire the flow of “Japanese → Image → English,” you will be able to speak English without using Japanese.
The above will enable you to speak English without Japanese.

Even beginners can learn to speak English smoothly by continuing to practice instantaneous English composition little by little every day!

English Reading Guide

To learn English, it is important to learn while actually using it. However, in Japan, there are few opportunities to interact with foreigners, and even if you learn English, there are few situations in which you can use it. This is where “Reading English” comes in handy.

However, finding English language materials that are appropriate for your level can be surprisingly difficult. Studies have shown that in order to understand an English text smoothly, you need to know at least 95% of the words in it. Conversely, if you know only 65% of the words in a sentence, the sentence will look like this:

The world's _____ problem is _____ due to human activities. Many _____ are facing _____ because of deforestation and _____ . The _____ of fossil fuels has also contributed to _____ change. Experts say that if we do not take _____ action, the situation will continue to _____ , leading to more _____ in the future. Governments and _____ organizations are trying to _____ solutions, but progress is still _____. It is important for everyone to _____ steps to _____ the environment for future _____ .

Thus, the words appear to be missing and can only be read with a dictionary. However, if you know 95% of the words, the sentence looks like this:

The world's climate problem is worsening due to human activities. Many species are facing _____ because of deforestation and pollution. The burning of fossil fuels has also contributed to climate change. Experts say that if we do not take immediate action, the situation will continue to _____, leading to more natural disasters in the future. Governments and environmental organizations are trying to _____ solutions, but progress is still slow. It is important for everyone to take steps to protect the environment for future _____.

(Blanks in order : extinction / deteriorate / implement / generations)

At this level, you can read smoothly even if there are some unfamiliar words.

Key Points to increase your vocabulary
Choose materials that are appropriate for your level, and start with words that make up only about 5% of your total vocabulary that you do not know. By doing so, you will be able to read English smoothly while increasing your vocabulary without difficulty.

Speed Reading

The Importance of Speed Reading
There are two main reasons why speed reading is necessary.
① To obtain more information in a shorter time
② To obtain more accurate information
At first glance, ① “to read quickly” and ② “to read accurately” seem to be contradictory. However, just because you read slowly does not mean that you can understand accurately. Rather than following words one by one, it is easier to read in “word chunk” to accurately grasp the overall meaning.
<Following words one by one>
Climate 　change 　has 　become 　a 　serious 　global 　issue, 　affecting 　millions 　of 　people 　and 　causing 　extreme 　weather 　conditions 　such 　as hurricanes, 　droughts, 　and 　heatwaves. 　Many 　scientists 　believe 　that 　human 　activities, 　including 　the 　burning 　of 　fossil 　fuels 　and deforestation, 　are 　the 　main 　causes 　of 　this 　problem. 　Governments around 　the 　world 　have 　started 　to 　take 　action 　by 　implementing policies 　to 　reduce 　carbon 　emissions 　and 　promote 　renewable 　energy sources 　such 　as 　wind 　and 　solar 　power. 　However, 　individuals 　also need 　to 　contribute 　by 　using 　less 　plastic, 　conserving 　energy, 　and supporting 　eco-friendly 　products. 　If 　we 　work 　together, 　we 　can 　slow down 　global 　warming 　and 　protect 　our 　planet 　for 　future 　generations.
<Read in”word chunk”>
Climate change has become a serious global issue, // affecting millions of people / and causing extreme weather conditions / such as hurricanes, droughts, and heatwaves. // Many scientists believe // that human activities, / including the burning of fossil fuels / and deforestation, / are the main causes of this problem. // Governments / around the world / have started to take action / by implementing policies / to reduce carbon emissions / and promote renewable energy sources / such as wind and solar power. // However, / individuals also need to contribute / by using less plastic, / conserving energy, / and supporting eco-friendly products. // If we work together, // we can slow down global warming / and protect our planet / for future generations.

How to Practice Speed Reading
1. Phrase Reading
Phrase reading is a method of reading with an awareness of “chunks of words. The following rules will help you read effectively.
① Break the sentence into large chunks before conjunctions.
In the case of “Conjunctions + SV…, S’V’～” break the sentence before the second S’.
② Separate in front of a preposition
Make a “word chunk” of “preposition + object”
③ Create a “word chunk” of “verb + object”
When a verb appears, make a “verb + object” chunk as soon as possible.
④ Separate before infinitives, participles, and related words
Make a chunk with the phrase or clause in mind. (For infinitives, use noun phrase, adjective phrase, and adverb phrase; for participles as postpositional modification, use adjective phrase; for participle constructions, use adverb clause; and for relative pronoun, use adjective clause.)
⑤ Find idiomatic expressions quickly.
In parallel with word study, learning idiomatic expressions and phrases is a prerequisite.
If you put the above into practice, you will be able to read the following.

Climate change has become a serious global issue,

/ affecting millions of people / and causing extreme
(Participle Construction)　　　
weather conditions / such as hurricanes, droughts,
　　　 　　　　　　　(Idiom:such as)
and heatwaves. // Many scientists believe // that
　　　　　　　　　　　　　 　(conjunction:that)
human activities,/ including the burning
　　　　　　 　(Preposition+O)
/ of fossil fuels / and deforestation,/ are the main
(Preposition+O)
causes / of this problem. // Governments /
(Preposition+O)
around the world / have started to take action /
(Preposition+O) (Idiom:start to) (Idiom:take action)
by implementing policies / to reduce carbon
(Prepositoin+O) (Infinitive:to V)
emissions / and promote renewable energy
　　　 (V+O)
sources / such as wind and solar power.
　　　　 (Idiom:such as) 　　　　　　　　
// However, // individuals also need to contribute
(Discourse Marker)
/ by using less plastic, conserving energy, and
(Preposition+O) Idiom(A, B, and C)
supporting eco-friendly products. // If we work
　　　　　 (Conjunction: If)
together, // we can slow down global warming
(Idiom:slow down)
/ and protect our planet / for future generations.
(V+O) (Preposition+O)

2. Skipping over unknown English words
The purpose of skipping over unknown words is to understand the meaning of the entire English text. It is not to skip over words at random, but rather to read by using clues in the parts of the text that you can understand, without getting attached to unfamiliar words or parts of the text whose meaning you do not understand.
3. Keep abreast of the latest themes in English literature
Having knowledge of various fields makes it easier to predict the content of a text.
4. Develop a reading habit
By increasing your opportunities to read English texts, you will naturally learn to read faster.
5. Strengthen your vocabulary
The more words you know, the less you need to skip reading.
6. Utilize the first sentence of a paragraph.
One method for efficiently comprehending long sentences is to read only the first sentence of each paragraph. Using this method, you can quickly grasp the gist of the entire sentence. However, this method is not always effective. Depending on the structure of the sentence, it may be necessary to read the details, so it is important to use different methods depending on the situation.

Supplementation
Two patterns of people who are good at reading long sentences
①People who are good at modern Japanese sentences
Reading long sentences in English is basically the same as reading contemporary Japanese. People who are good at reading modern Japanese are those who read books, newspapers, magazines, etc. often and know common sense. Such people usually understand the gist of the Japanese, even if there are difficult words in Japanese. These are not people who have memorized Japanese words one by one in a vocabulary book. In addition to having a wealth of background knowledge, they are also familiar with reading sentences. Being “accustomed to reading” means that they know how to read from beginning to end quickly and easily. Even if you don't understand a passage, you can ignore the parts that don't seem to affect the overall point and continue reading. These people are quick to grasp the point that the author is making, and they should be able to predict what is going to be written next while reading a sentence. In other words, they can approach English with the same sensation, and since they know how sentences go together on a hunch, they can read more and more with near-perfect accuracy.
②People who are not good at reading modern Japanese
Since you have not acquired the habit of reading modern Japanese sentences, the first approach is to learn English vocabulary and grammar. Once you have acquired the vocabulary and grammar, we will familiarize you with reading long sentences in your spare time (or decide to do one every day). As you work on this approach, reading long sentences will become less of a chore. You will be able to predict the development of the story, and you will become good at reading long passages.

Most people are of the type ②, and after acquiring vocabulary and grammar as piecemeal knowledge, they wait for the next exam with them and read long passages only just before the exam, and they do their best only when they have no choice.

Therefore, even after you have mastered vocabulary and grammar, continue to read long passages voraciously, acquire the knack of reading, and become good at reading long passages.

Summary
To improve your speed reading, keep the following points in mind.
①Practice phrase reading.
②Grasp the overall meaning while skipping over unknown words.
③Expand your vocabulary and deepen your understanding of grammar and syntax.
④Acquire knowledge of a wide range of subjects on a regular basis.
⑤Always be conscious of reading quickly, and get into the habit of guessing the meaning of unknown words.
If you practice these points, you will improve your speed-reading skills and be able to understand long sentences in English smoothly.