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Please note that there are probably a few mistakes in the transcripts. There is a lot of text to look through and its very time consuming. You can use it as a guide to practise your English but I can’t promise that everything is perfect. If you have any questions you’re welcome to ask me.Michael:00:00Hello and welcome to the English with Michael podcast, the best place to come to study English as a second language as well as to practice the British accent with me, Michael Lavers, as your teacher.Michael:00:21Hello English learners once again, happy Wednesday. Welcome back to the English with Michael podcast. Today we have a very special interview between me and Stew sensei. So Stew sensei is an English teacher from the UK, from London, but he's working and living in Japan. He's working in a Japanese, Japanese school. So we had a really, really interesting talk about different aspects of language learning, teaching English. He spoke about his best advice for English learners and many other things like that. So I really, really hope you enjoy our talk today. I'll mention this again at the end. If you want to find out more about Stew, you can check him out at Stew sensei or you can go to the show notes for this podcast at Stew that's S, T, E w and then you can find out everything about him and all the links to his pages on there. And don't forget because we are two native speakers talking. There might be some areas that you don't quite understand, some difficult expressions perhaps or talking very quickly maybe. So if you find that difficult, also go to that link I just mentioned and click on the transcript button at the top and then you can read everything we're saying while we're saying it. But without any more delay, here is my conversation with Stew:Michael:02:06Thank you very much for joining me on the podcast. So how are you?Stew:02:11I'm fantastic. Thank you. Really great. Fantastic. I'm so happy to be here.Michael:02:16Perfect. I'm really happy to hear that. So could you give us a little introduction about who you are and what you do?Stew:02:25Sure. My name is Stewart or Stew Sensei. And I do some free English content on Instagram. I live in Japan and I teach English at a school for ages between zero to 16, but the level of the kids is very, very high. They're treated as if they're basically native speakers. So it's kind of interesting.Michael:02:49Oh, okay. Because we have spoke before and, you know, we did an Instagram live before, but I really didn't get much chance to ask you about these things. So I'm really interested to learn more about that. So you work in a school, but you have the social media too, but you don't teach online, is that right?Stew:03:07I used to, I did. I used to. I it was kind of a, I taught many adults before in the past. But it was a kind of a thing to do, to meet, make ends meet. So basically in England, you know, the healthcare system's really good, actually everything paid for and you don't have to worry about anything, whereas in Japan you have to pay for quite a lot of stuff. So my partner got pregnant so I ended up needing at the same time we want to come back to England. So in that process I had to save up double the amount of money. So I started teaching online. Great fun, fantastic fun teaching adults. Really opened up my skillset as a teacher, changed the way I looked at a lot of things. And yeah, it did a bit of online teaching and now I just do Instagram. For me honestly, it's just a bit of fun. It's enjoyable to talk to people and help them. So that's it.Michael:04:06Oh, that's really good. I, I find quite often it's the people that are doing it for fun, they get the most popular, so, then I can see you are, you are quickly growing your follower count.Stew:04:16Yeah. Yeah. I mean it's like, it's great to talk to other teachers, you know, cause like I don't have the best part about is I don't have a restraint as in like I'm worrying about getting a sale or something like a, I don't know, a lot of teachers and there's nothing, obviously nothing wrong with that. It's a perfect way to use Instagram is to build up your clientele. But from, I think without that, without that ball and chain, let's put it that way, without that ball and chain, I feel less restricted. I feel like I can just do what I think rather than having to worry about a reaction, you know? So I think that benefits me massively. I'm just lucky really. Yeah,Michael:04:56Really good point. Really good point. You have that more, more freedom perhaps. Yeah.Stew:05:00Yeah. Yeah. That's it. Exactly. And I would be ... If I had to, if it was like for my livelihood, I would understand, like I would be worried about every post that I put out. So, you know, I'm just lucky that now I can just literally just go around talking to people and help as many people as possible in a different way. You know, I, I, I'm not frightened about what I save if they say something that sometimes people need to hear like a bad feeling or a good thing. I don't mind. I tried to be as positive as possible, but, you know, I'm not frightened of it affecting my livelihood, which is definitely a benefit I think.Michael:05:37Yeah, absolutely. I completely agree. Do any of your students know about your Instagram, by the way?Stew:05:44My, well I, it's not hidden. Let's put it that way. My old students, I mean it was like a half a year ago when I did online teaching and I tried to tell them about it. But you know, everyone has different methods. I kind of think like social media teaching still in its infancy actually. It's not quite reached its full potential, although there are a lot of teachers doing it. I don't think it's quite developed yet. And I'm, I'm, some people still, you know, they don't want to use Instagram, they don't want to use Facebook. They, or they only use one method, you know, like they only learn on YouTube. They only learn on Facebook. And you know, as a teacher we like yourself, like as we spoke before, you're on many different platforms. So you have to try and be as flexible as possible. And I see that as if someone doesn't join me from my old clientele, I don't mind. I'm not too bothered. It's just everyone has their own methods of learning, you know, that's the most important. As long as they learn the most effective way for them.Michael:06:48Yeah, definitely. I think a big problem is people have associations with like social media, so people will think Instagram is just for travel pictures or for food pictures and they kind of, they can't get over that kind of barrier. That is only for not for language learning.Stew:07:05Yeah. I 1000% agree, you know, same as YouTube is just for video and and just for like vlogs for example. And you know, Facebook is just for college kids as it once was. And Instagram is just for professional photos as it once was, but it's not anymore, you know, it changes over time. Same as Tik tok won't just be for kids as some point. I'm sure it seems quite popular these days for many adults, especially in Japan actually. I was surprised. Yeah.Michael:07:36Okay. Okay. But I think it came from China originally, didn't it? The tik tok appStew:07:40Yeah it was musically originally and then developed into Tik Tok and but it was super interesting because I, cause I live in Japan, I, the only feed I get is from the Japanese were mostly from Japanese feed. So I don't actually see much like American or English or British, sorry. British content. So I only see like these famous people in Japan doing stuff on Tik Tok because it's just automatically here because I'm like country that I'm living in so super interesting to see that. It's kind of like the anime debate, you know, anime in Japan is for everyone. Whereas anime when it goes translated and moved abroad is just for kids because it's a cartoon. It's a similar kind of concept. Yeah.Michael:08:30Probably for the best though. Cause I use Tik Tok sometimes when I want to cringe, which means you know, when, when you want to look at something really awkward and feel horrible about it. And I think the ones that I see, often like American, I guess, well maybe mostly British, they're like so cringy like it really makes me feel so awkward by I can't stop watching.Stew:08:51Yeah. But it's, it's interesting, super interesting in again, is it's, you know, Japan karaoke is like an everyday thing. You don't have to have a drink before I have it before doing karaoke, you know, whereas in the UK, I think like I associate drinking with karaoke. So you know, it's like just a different culture I'm sure. And a super interesting. Yeah,Michael:09:12Yeah, yeah. I've never seen anywhere in the UK doing karaoke that was not incredibly drunk.Stew:09:18Exactly. And I used to be the same as, I'd have to always be drunk. In fact, I had an interesting moment to tell you about. So I went to a, I had the amazing fortune of going to see when wedding in here in Japan, then weddings in Japan and normally quite closed for immediate family compared to the West, you know, where we're like, we have like a hundred people and it's every like if third cousin or whatever. Whereas here it's like really immediate family or very close friends. And I had the, such a privilege to go to see, to be part of one. This was a couple... The lady was Japanese. There's, is Japanese. Sorry, the lady is Japanese and the man's British. And we went back the after-party was like karaoke. And so we went to the karaoke place and obviously all the Japanese people were like, well she start singing and all the British people were like, what? We haven't had a drink yet. So super awkward, like start obviously everyone at the end was fine but you know, super all good beginning and then built up and was amazing at the end. But yeah, super interesting seeing the two cultures classroom.Michael:10:29Yeah, that sounds like a lot of fun. But yeah, I think as bad as it can be, alcohol kind of brings cultures together I guess.Stew:10:36Yeah. Yeah, I think so. We're experiencing it now with the rugby world cup, so,Michael:10:41Ah, yeah (of) course. Yeah, there's lots of it. Yeah. But yeah. Okay. So yeah, you said you're a teacher in Japan. That's really interesting for me. And what's really interesting is that you can, you're in a special position where you can compare online to classroom teaching because I have never taught in a classroom before. So what would you say are kind of the pros and cons of teaching? Well in one rather than the other.Stew:11:09So this is super triple, super interesting. So because my classroom is a bit different to the average classroom in, in Japan. So the average classroom in Japan is usually just a per one teacher, the front of the class, everyone else behind desks and you're teaching in that kind of style and there's like an assistant teacher that's a native speaker who does like a bit miming mimicking so they can practice here in native voice. But mine is a little different 'cause we just concentrate on speaking, it's like hardly not so much textbook and it's not really the same kind of style. And it's more personalised. So compared to online though, online teaching is one on one obviously. And that's really good for learners I think. I think that's so beneficial. I'd prefer like one-on-one as much as possible so you can deal with each each characteristic you want to improve for the learner and you can be, like I say, you can personalise it as much as possible and help them prove specific things. Whereas with a classroom it's a bit more difficult because it's more kids or people or people.Michael:12:23Yeah, definitely. You have, I guess you really takes a different skill to kind of involve all those students together. I can imagine that being tough. I mean, I, I'm a big fan of one on one. I think that works best for me. But yeah, I mean, in the future, do you see yourself continuing to do like classroom stuff or do you think you'll ever go back to online teaching one day?Stew:12:43I've got no problem with it. Online teaching is fun. There's the, the biggest, I'm super open to anyone, like anyone I meet, even if they, but the biggest challenge for me as an online teacher was the difference in culture with the different ways we react to certain things. You know, English, British people are super apologetic or if something goes wrong, we just apologise, even if it's not our fault, which is not a good and bad, you know? And there'd be instances where there'd be some issue or something and no apology or anything. So there's just a different culture. That's why I say like, it evolved my teaching style because I found like I couldn't, my initial thing, if I wasn't a teacher I'd be like slightly upset or frustrated. Whereas as a teacher I found like I just, I'm just laid back. I'm like, it is what it is in every culture is different. It's nothing meant towards me, but and I'll still try and help the person as much as possible and that's the aim should be for every lesson unit to try and help them build their skills as much as possible. I love the one on one concept is the best, is that the best way to learn? For sure. But it's not the most cost efficient all the time, you know? So it's difficult mix isn't it?Michael:14:04Yeah. Maybe you have to find the balance, whether you're learner or teacher. It's good to find that balance perhaps, but yeah, very good point you bring up, I mean, there is that difference and I think I struggled with that. You know, I, I would say generally when two people in England, the talking or maybe people in the West, you kind of smile, you show kind of friendly, you know, gestures to each other or there are many cultures in the world where it's kind of not so normal to smile at people you don't really know. So I've had many lessons where people were like staring at me, they look angry. First it was quite difficult, but then I kind of understood that it's just their culture. They are happy to see me, but they don't show it the same way that I'm used to. And I think there's differences. Yeah,Stew:14:50That is it, as a teacher we just can't take anything personal because we don't know the whole backstory. And I always think like, so I used to work in a hotel, so I'm used to like the customer backlash if something goes wrong. But I always thought like in the, the, the biggest thing that really changed my thinking was thinking back to those times you remembering, I used to think when I worked in the hotel, I used to think to myself, I don't know what their day's been like. You know, when they come through the door, it could be like a really bad day and I don't know the whole picture. So I decided working in the hotel, my job was to make sure that they left the home to hell in a good mood, in a positive mood. And then I took that into teaching. I decided that's the way I should teach in, in essence, is to try and make sure, regardless of that attitude, they enjoy the lesson. They feel like they've learned something and they go off happy afterwards.Michael:15:46I love that. That's really good. Really good. And yeah, you really don't know what people have been for. You really, you can't make assumptions that they're in the same position as you, kind of, mentally (and) in life. Yeah. I love that. Really good. Yeah. Yeah. And I, I know this already actually, but are you, are you learning any languages yourself?Stew:16:05I'm not trying. Well it's on pause. Not on pause cause it's impossible cause I live in the country, but I'm in the process of learning Japanese. Yeah.Michael:16:14So Japanese is your main focus. Like do you have any other knowledge of languages or is it kind of full focus on Japanese?Stew:16:21Like I have like I can speak, I can probably count one to 20 in most lang... Not most languages, that's a complete lie in like two or three different languages. But you know, that's not really like speaking a language as such. But for Japanese, if I was learning another language, Japanese is the main, it's the most important for sure cause of living here. But my situation is a little difficult to do that. Working in an English school, don't speak any Japanese ('cause obviously it's in English). And then I come home, I have a family, so we're trying to teach my kids two languages. So I don't speak any Japanese at home either. So it kind of restricts my time. But I'm finding I'm learning via osmosis most of the time anyway, so, yeah. Yeah.Michael:17:06I think, I think being in that environment I guess would help wouldn't it?Stew:17:09Yeah, yeah, exactly. That is it. Yeah. But I was like studying, I've been through the process already. I was like trying to study hard and do that and I get what learners are feeling, you know, is tough. It isn't easy for sure.Michael:17:23Yeah. It's important to have that I think as, as a teacher. Definitely. like,Stew:17:28Yeah, I agree.Michael:17:29Yeah. Did you learn, did you start learning before you came to Japan or did you learn after you got there? Yeah,Stew:17:36Yeah, I did. I definitely did a bit. Yeah. I'm like, I probably nailed, you know, Japanese, it's got three writing structures, so I nailed down two of them before I arrived. But the third one is like probably the most important, but the difficult to learn.Stew:17:50So it's a task in itself. But I think and I'm glad I did the basics. I'm glad I got some basics out of the way and like I can get by and it's fine. I'm fine with that. The minute and the future I want to progress. But my concentration is on family and my students on Instagram and whatever platforms that, that's more important to me than my own small issue for the small time being, you know, we live a long time, so this is just the moment. I always think so. Yeah.Michael:18:24Yeah, yeah. You have to be flexible, don't you? And kind of change your priorities depending on what comes up in life. Yeah.Stew:18:30Yeah. I think that learning a language can almost overtake your mindset. And if... You can worry a lot, you know, it's difficult to work out how to show how you've improved, you know, how can you see that physically? You can't physically, obviously it's very difficult about having a test. So I kind of just think it's a long process isn't, it's a long game. It's not a short game. You know, I can't, you know, the free.... The one that kills me all the time is the fluent in three months course - I never think that's possible in my personal opinion because I think like it's a long game. It's always a long game with every language. There's so much to learn and it's always evolving in every language and not just English. And I think if I can feel something that I've improved or I'm not, I'm not beating myself up about not being perfect every single time I'm thinking if I speak something and it's good and like I understand something, then I, I'm happy, you know, that's my goal. Everyone's goal is different. Obviously everyone has different timescales as well. I think that's super important. But being self aware is the most important thing, you know, and realizing that you have certain goals you want to hit or whatever as a learner try and get your target set out. Just don't be too vague. Vague in a C I think is the killer for most learners and that makes them want to stop. So, yeah.Michael:20:02Yeah absolutely Yeah. Set specific goals and that might be the key to making our progress in a language. I think that's, that's a good advice for any, any learner, definitely. Have you ever had any kind of, I'm sure you have something, any embarrassing situations or kind of funny mistakes that you've made in Japanese perhaps when you've lived there? Any that come to mind?Stew:20:26All the time. Yeah. I can tell you like the amount of times that for some stupid reason, no it's not... I'm going to say in this mannerism, because for me it's, it's super frustrating as a learner, as I'm sure everyone will feel, who's listening, who's a learner, who has a similar issue. So in Japanese, they have the word for beautiful and the word for hateStew:20:48Virtually the same. So just with one small vowel change or like a phonetical change, so and spicy, all three of them are very similar. So I've made numerous errors where I wanted to say something is beautiful or something in it said hate or spicy by accident. It's awful. Yeah.Michael:21:09I've never heard of that before, but I can, I can see that. Yeah,Stew:21:12Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. This what is it... 嫌いい. I, I can't remember top of my head.Michael:21:21Yeah 嫌い、辛い、and, what was the other one 綺麗 right?Stew:21:21Yeah, exactly. Yeah. That's perfect. So yeah, they're all very similar sounds.Michael:21:28You're looking at the sunset going: wow. It's so spicy.Stew:21:31Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well saying I hate it. And then that's the one that really like, cause you're beautiful and hate are so opposite, you know, that's the killer. And like there's a million of them in English as well. I know. So that's why I feel for learners, especially the worst one... Is English is awful. Really an awful language to learn because you have so many different varieties of it. And then you like, you think, you know, words say you visit America and you've only learned British English and then you say, Oh look at that aubergine over there and no one has a clue what you're talking about. Yeah. You know, because they don't use the word. So that's like super disheartening as a learner. And I kind of try and reflect on myself as a teacher. How do I, how would I feel like that? You know that's awful innit. So that's why I try not to beat myself up. If I make a mistake, if you make a mistake, you're more likely to remember as well, that's the stupid thing. You're more likely to not make the mistake once you've made it, or at least you have it in your memory: oh I made that mistake, and then like a month down the line you're like, ah, I don't really make that mistake anymore because you remember it so often.Michael:22:35Yeah. Because those embarrassing kind of moments, sticking your memories. So it makes it hard to forget. Definitely. Hmm.Stew:22:42Yeah, for sure.Michael:22:43Yeah. Yeah. No, I like that a lot. I think it's important to kind of know that making these mistakes, it's not a big deal. Just get over it. I mean, one other that... Going, going on from what you said, I.. You know, in, in, at least in Britain we say wicked, which means kind of cool. Oh yeah. Wicked mate. Do the Americans say that? Do you know?Stew:23:04I think so as well. Yeah. But also like, it's like the, the opposite version as well. So, yeah, so that's a super interesting one to pick because like some of my posts are like quizzes or something on Instagram. And so I always, I try and respond to, I know I don't try, I respond to every single person myself, you know, no robot or anything. I want it to be as personal as possible. And in the process I want to, if someone, if many people would say the correct answer, I don't want every answer to say perfect, perfect, perfect. You know, so I try and use as much vocabulary as I can in the answers. Now "wicked" one of theStew:23:45Ones I thought, "Oh, that'd be great to use." But the thing is, it can cause so much confusion that one phrase. So I kind of I just think to myself, you know, it's not worth that hassle for the minute and it's something that maybe needs its separate post rather than confusing too many people. So wicked's a good example of that issue as well. Yeah,Michael:24:10Definitely. Definitely. I'm at words take on their own meaning and they change meaning over time. Yeah. So just for learners who don't know, wicked coming cool. But also it can mean evil kind of. Again, it's kind of an opposite kind of like, yeah. A bit like your Japanese problem with pronunciation.Stew:24:24Um yeah, yeah. Totally apart from it's the same word.Michael:24:27Yeah, exactly. So that's even harder, right?Stew:24:31Mm. Yeah. That happens a lot in English. You know, we, we, we, it evolves so quickly and like until starting on Instagram, I never knew what "lit" meant apart from lighting a match and now like I see it on, it's so easy to access like this phrase on your posts, you can put it on your posts. It's like, what the hell? What does that mean? You know, it doesn't make any sense to me, but it means like "great" essentially, you know? So that's completely out of context to what the original meaning was. So English evolves so quickly. It's hard to keep up. So don't, I don't, I really must stress the learns to never beat themselves up if they don't understand everything. Cause it's always evolving. There's always something slightly different to what you think. And it's just every, every, every new thing makes you stronger. You know, I'm a hundred percent believe that.Michael:25:24Yeah, you can be better than you were the day before that that is a win for most people - just improving from what you worked yesterday. And I think it goes back to what you said before about kind of fluent in three months. So it depends how you define fluent I guess. But I lost my train of thought. What was I saying?Stew:25:44Oh, about fluency in three months.Michael:25:46Ah, never mind.Stew:25:49Yeah, that's I would say like, like you say I would say that fluency depends how you define it. Like my different, I think fluency is a word that gets chucked around too much, for one. And I think that in my opinion it has maybe a different meaning to many other people I've seen, the way that people learn and they call it fluency. And it's not fluency by definition, you know? So I think it's like one of these evolving words. I'd almost say that buzzword, people use it to sell stuff. So it always worries me when I say when I see something that says become fluent, you know there is an element of you can become fluent in, in English obviously, but it's not as short fix for sure. I think having a time frame on it is a bit a bit cheeky in my opinion, butMichael:26:44Yeah, yeah, it is attractive to see that. But yeah, I did remember what I was going to say. No, actually I was going to say when people ask me "how long does it take to be fluent in this language?" That's something that always kind of, yeah, it's not quite that easy because as you were saying is such a long process that no one is ever going to reach that level of perfection. There's always going to be a new horizon that you have to kind of work towards.Stew:27:10Yeah, exactly. So like we talked about before about fluency, so I'll just repeat some of the stuff I said before and I personally believe that fluency is just, fluency is all about how you speak. It's all about speech. But I think you have to understand what you're talking with. The person you're talking to, your listening skills must be good enough to become fluent in the language as well. It's not just speech because speech doesn't work without listening. You know, you're not just a one way. It's not a one way street, you know, to two way conversation ways. And it's all about the how you're speed or how clear you are. Well that's going into other bits as well. But how often you pause. And I'd say as long as your speech is clear and your, your speed is a level that it's not unclear to what you're trying to say and you're not taking too many pauses that your fluency's reasonable.Stew:28:07And it can be like, people think English is a hundred percent game. You can't complete it 100%. It's not a game. You know, it's fluencies and another one, you can't 100% fluency, I don't think, because there's always a word that I don't know. It comes up and then you pause. You've got no choice. And yet what's that? You know? And these kinds of things happen. So I think sometimes learners get hit by these words that are put out there a lot like fluency and like you say is the definition for it is definitely evolving for sure.Michael:28:44Yeah. It's very abstract.Stew:28:44Many people have different ways to call it. Mm.Michael:28:47Yeah, definitely.New Speaker:28:48Yeah - abstract - good word to say. Yeah,Michael:28:50Yeah, yeah. I mean, looking more specifically at the English language, what would you say is that, say, let's say like speaking for example, what would you say is the best way to learn and practice your speaking skills for a learner?Stew:29:07Do that, that's a kind of a big question really, because it depends, again, it's all about goals, isn't it? And what your aim is. If we're talking about just speeding up your speech, for example two from being like as plodding pace to like a natural pace, you could do some mimicking. You could do some, like for example, with films I'd say I'd definitely say you need to speak to people is a very key thing. If you don't use it, you lose it. I always believe that one for sure. Like I hadn't ridden a bike for a long time. You don't lose it necessarily with a bike, but like you definitely lose some skill and you have to regain it, you know? And people always say, that was the big one for me from the learners that come to a lesson and they say, I learnt it four years ago, but it's not there anymore.Stew:29:57So then you asked how often they use it and they say they didn't, well, obviously it's going to lower because other things go into your head, you know, adults and then you have bills to pay and relationships that deal with, then you don't concentrate on it. And that's why I'd never put pressure on like people who are learning learn that your own pace. And if you can't do it one week, it is what it is. Just try to get back on it as soon as you can and revise, just practice over the stuff that you've done at the minimum. And you'll eventually get your speech, your speech will become better. And but you have to use it, you have to use it. It's so key.Michael:30:34Yeah. Really good advice. Really good advice. So using it, use it or lose it to summarise. Yeah. Going back to like the bike example you used, I think that's a good one because I heard, I heard this somewhere and I think it's true in my experience is once you get to kind of an intermediate, maybe like be one or even be to level, maybe be one. Once you get to that point in a language, you kind of, you'll never forget it completely. You always remember the basics. Even if you don't study again, that seems to make sense to me, you know? But if you don't study, you will always kind of, it will decrease and go down to the basics so it will get worse but will never forget it.Stew:31:14That is it, yeah, you're right. It's the same, same as the bike, you know, and you have to read practice and then get yours. You can, when you're, when you first learn and you get good before you buy a car, you you ride a lot, you know, and you get very fast and you know, like little things that will help you go faster and then you don't use it for a long time 'cause you buy a car and then you suddenly get back onto it, for example here, and then you don't have the same skillset. You know, you, you have to rebalance yourself. You have to do some certain elements of when you put, put the brakes on, when your awareness of the things around you, cha has changed, you know? And I think that's the same for language. Definitely. What you're saying is 100% correct because you do, you can fall back onto the basics is there, the two wheels are there on the bike and the same as like the basic structures.Stew:32:06But there'll be, you know, English has so many tenses that it can be confusing even for someone who's very high level and then suddenly drops down and hasn't practiced in a long time. You know? So I always think just some, it's not always possible. Life gets in the way, but some, if you can manage any kind of practice just to listen in, just listening as a basic, it's very small. You watch a film, just watch it in English. Even just hearing it, the little bit of osmosis will be there, you know, and you'll get something back. So you don't want to lose everything, you know?Michael:32:43Yeah, Perfect. Yeah. I think any even a little bit is better than nothing. I think that's a good way to look at it. Hmm.Stew:32:48Yeah, definitely so.Michael:32:50By the way, how long, how long have you been living in working in Japan now?Stew:32:54I've been here for three and a half years.Michael:32:56Three and a half years. Okay. Do you ever get homesick? Do you miss, Do you miss the U KStew:33:02What do I miss? I unfortunately, I worked so long in a hotel that I kinda got sick of people. Like, don't get me wrong, I love people, but English people, you know, when they go to the pub and they, there's so many times when people like basically finish their meal and then say it was the worst meal they've ever had just to get their money back for it. I find there was a bit of bummed out by people, but I love, I really miss salt and vinegar crisps and gravy and good cheese. They're, the three things I miss are good tea bags as well. There's not many places we can get tea bags here, but that's just, that's a super British one.Michael:33:42Mm. Yeah. Japan isn't much of a, a cheese country is it?Stew:33:46Well, there's stuff here but it's super expensive and really small. Whereas in England you can get like a, well like a key low cheddar for like two pounds. So it's completely different and the quality level is completely different. So it's just the one. Yeah, small things. So it's super small.Michael:34:04Yeah. I love, I love, that's what I love about travel and stuff like that is it really makes you appreciate your own country. And like little things that you never kind of would expect that you would miss. I mean, can be a positive thing.Stew:34:16The UK is a great place to live. There's no, you know, since living here. I love it. I love Japan more than anything. I mean, no, I wouldn't want... At the minute. I don't want to move back. And I think it should know bad issues have happened. But you know, they have typhoons, earthquakes, volcanoes, you know, like the middle of a danger zone. Whereas England? You get nothing. Nothing at all. The weather is always the same basically. You know,Michael:34:41Predictable.Stew:34:41Yeah really predictable. Whereas here like it can be, it can change like that. Summer humidity's mental, it is super, super hot and then in the winter is quite cold. So, and then they have the rainy season. We don't have that in the UK either. So there's like, so much that we take for granted, I think in England.Michael:35:04Yeah. I, I have a theory that anyone who complains about British weather, eh, probably someone who's not really traveled before.Stew:35:11The glass is always greener innit, yeah,Michael:35:13Exactly. Yeah. I think it's very temperate.Stew:35:16Yeah. One idiom I never really used until like a week ago. I think it's great. It's a really, like, we always see that as a learner as well. Yeah. So as a learner, we always look at the people around us and think, "Oh, they're good. I'll never get to that level" But that's because they've been through the process we've been through, they've been us already, but we can't see so difficult to see, you know? So the grass is always greener with learners. I find that a lot and me, myself included.Michael:35:43Yeah. I think, I think that applies to so many things in life. And again, just for listeners who aren't sure, grass is always green and means, what would you say? Like something that you don't have looks more appealing? Looks better, right?Stew:35:54Yeah. That's, that's pretty much bang on. Yeah. So in the example of a learner, you see your level, you have your own gauge, although whether it's correct or not, it's all under a different interpretation really. But you see your level and then you see someone else speaking in one moment in most cases. And then you think, I would, I wish I was fluent to use a good word, but I wish I was as fluent as that person. But you know, I think that's because you see them in that one moment. You know, they could be in their strongest element talking about a topic they really enjoy. And that's super interesting - segue - is that my, in my sessions. So you go about goals, you were telling me earlier, you talk about goals, et cetera. In your first session, I would just talk to them about what their interests were to find out what I can help them learn best with.Stew:36:48'Cause I find building fluency is really difficult when you're talking about subjects you don't care about, you know, even for myself. And so I, I really struggle to want to speak about something I've got no interest in. And you know, and the unfortunate thing, this.. Some really good Japanese textbooks like Yankee series, but it's all based towards students. So then the, some of the material is like talking about the major, their majors in school and stuff like that. And for me, it's no interest at all. So I can't build my fluency around that. So I would always, I took that experience and I would apply it to my lessons, my trial lessons, and say, what, what's your interests? What do you like? And then we'd start to build conversation about that. And most of the time, those people that say they're terrible English, once I told them about something they love, it's like a different world, you know? It's crazy. So it just super interesting. The psychology of people is really interesting for me. Yeah,Michael:37:53Absolutely. Yeah, I think that's, again, one of the big benefits of one-to-one lessons is you can personalise it to make it enjoyable for them. So I always like to ask students about their hobbies because I can kind of, I know what they hate, what they like. Maybe that's not talking about politics, but let's talk about sports for example. Yeah, that's really good. So I, I know so many weird Japanese words. That's kind of based around my hobbies. Like there's so many simple words that I don't know. Like, I dunno, I'm looking at a cable, I don't know what a cable is, like a wire for example, but I know how to say coordinates or something weird like that because I've got so many weird hobbies.Stew:38:34Yeah, yeah. No, I, you know, I get you. That's, that's for me, that's the stuff you're going to use as well, you know.Michael:38:40Hmm. Yeah, exactly. Because yeah, it's what's appropriate for your life.Stew:38:44Yeah. And you're like, your general conversation doesn't talk about climate change. That's why I never get that idea. I get like there, there's a whole section of vocabulary surrounding that. Yeah, there is a lot of words, but as a native speaker and learners want to speak like late of speakers. Yeah. So as a native speaker, it's not something my conversation every day of the week. So if we're talking about building fluency, you should be talking about like your average conversation that you're having to start with anyway until you want to really challenge someone. So yeah, it kills me when a test says some question like that. It really does.Michael:39:23Yeah, that is a good point. I mean obviously for some people that is something they really care about, but maybe, maybe for most or many people it's not going to be an everyday topic. Yeah,Stew:39:32Yeah, exactly. I mean like same with football. Not everyone's going to enjoy it. I said soccer earlier as well. I've been working in American school, so my language is starting to change. Also the Japanese for football is soccer, so that doesn't help. But you know, not everyone's interested in soccer so it's j.. (Ah I've done it again) interested in soccer. So you know, it's just super interesting really like how people's minds work. And I think as soon as you click onto something and many students would tell me what they don't like, you know? And I think that's a great thing to do. Be honest with what you do and don't like as a learner because if you like something and that'll help you develop quicker, that's what you want as well as a learner. You want to develop fast, you want to, you know everybody's in a rush would learn in it. Although I personally think it takes a long time to master a language. You still, you should do it around things you enjoy, especially at the start so you get the most out of your time. So yeah,Michael:40:33Definitely. Yeah. Maybe to play, to play devil's advocate, you know, to argue for the other side now, do you not think that it could also be useful to focus on things that you don't like? Because in you know, in everyday conversation we might come across things or people talk to us and we can control what they're saying. So we might have to kind of respond to them and it might be something that we're not interested in. But do you think that we have to kind of focus on that or learners have to focus on that at all?Stew:41:04It's really interesting. I just super, super interesting really, because in my personal opinion as a teacher, not a learner looking at a learner, I'd be saying if I start talking to them about something that's not interesting, they're less likely to want to continue, you know, that comes across my mind. Now the key is to know their level. You know, if, if a level of a learner is not high, I'd rather talk about stuff they know to help build their confidence. And we talked about earlier that competence is super important isn't it, in trying to build that up. So that they speak more and more as a learner. But if their level is high, the challenge should be there for sure. And, and also like someStew:41:54It depends on the goals again, some tests require you to know knowledge about, like that kind of thing, like climate change or politics or something more in, more with a bit more wider range of vocabulary, you know, so it's all about goals. What goals you have - the learner, sorry. And the teacher being as adaptable as possible to them. And being able to judge the person's level is super important. But in my personal opinion, as a teacher, I'd be worried. Like if I say... The challenge should be there, I think it has to be talked about before you go, you plunge into it. You know, some students won't want to take the step. That's the class, the interest in thing. Some students won't want to do it and then you know that you want to push them in there, you know, and that's to try and build them a bit more. And some students just downright saying no and then that's up to them. But I think the conversation should be happened before. Just going for as a teacher, you know? But I do agree like you should have a bit of variety. I think as long as you're passionate about it, you'll learn. Yeah. That could be hate or like, yeah,Michael:43:05Definitely. That's a, that's a really good point. Passionate can be, can be positive or negative, but yeah, definitely. So maybe, yeah, I think what you're saying is perhaps when you're a beginner, when you're starting out, focus on what you really love, what you're passionate about. Then when you get to the advanced level, then maybe you can kind of venture out and look for some less common topics. Maybe topics that you don't like so much but will probably be useful for you perhaps would you, would you agree?, Yeah.Stew:43:31Yeah. I would agree because there's also going to be an element of boredom as well. There's so many things to take into consideration and that's why I say I like that. Find the psychology of a learner is super interesting for myself. Like I always try and think of, I love devil's advocate. That's like my favourite role to play in anything because it makes you think around and outside the box, you know? And you have to like think of every aspect as a teacher. You can't just be like, this is the lesson plan. It will always be the lesson plan. I don't think that works anymore. We used to 50 years ago when there wasn't any teaching available. But you know, nowadays it's changed. Everyone has their own learning style as we've worked out. And trying to think of what works for each individual is important. And I think as long as the student is happy to do it, crack on, do it and push the boat out. Especially as an advanced learner, you want to have a challenge. I think if you get too easy, you could be bored and then you won't want to continue.Michael:44:36That's true.Stew:44:36The important thing is the challenge, isn't it? Yeah.Michael:44:39Challenge. Perfect. So I, you know, when I'm, I'm mindful of your time because we're coming up to 45 minutes. So maybe one last thing. If you could summarise your advice for English learners into one sentence, what would it be?Stew:44:57Well, if you haven't noticed throughout the whole of this conversation I'm kind of tangent or I'm kind of vague and then go off topic and come back on topics. So it's kind of difficult for me to sum up into one sentence, but I would, okay. From here. It's just going to be one sentence. Just do. That's it. That's my advice. Do. If you don't do, you will never improve.Michael:45:21Perfect. Perfect. So just like, like Nike right? Just do it.Stew:45:26Yeah, essentially. Yeah, but without the branding. I didn't steal that at all. They can keep that branding. I don't want to be sued.Michael:45:33You've got "just do" that's different.Stew:45:34Yeah Just do, yeah, just, yeah, exactly. Just do you mean just give it a go? Nothing. What's going to hurt you? Nothing. If a person gets angry, that's their problem, not yours. You're just trying your best and that's the most important thing. Yeah, just really do. If you don't, you won't improve and then will be your fault at the end of the day. I don't want to sound like a sour cat. It is like you've got to have a bit of self assessment of yourself. If you want to improve, you got to put the effort in. Yeah, no, that's not one sentence. I'm sorry.Michael:46:07No perfect perfect you one sentenced then you expanded. That's great. And I think quite often the best advice is the simplest. So that that works really well. So, yeah. Before we go, maybe can you tell us or can you tell the listeners where can they find you if they want to know more about you?Stew:46:26Sure. I have an Instagram account. That's what my main focus is on at the minute. It's at Stew.Sensei.English and sensei spelled S. E. N. S. E. I. So yeah, you can find me there. Also beginning a YouTube and I'm on Tik Tok somewhere and on Facebook and LinkedIn, if you really look that far and Twitter, I'm everywhere. I wouldn't say update everywhere as regularly as Instagram. Instagram is my main key point at the minute.Michael:47:04Excellent. Excellent. And yeah, listeners, definitely check him out is really, really, really good content online. Very, very useful. So yeah, definitely do that. And I'll, of course, I'll put a link to everything he just mentioned on my website, so I'll probably, I'll make a link just for you. I call it stew. So S, T, E. W. right?Stew:47:26Fantastic.Michael:47:27I'll make you your own link.Stew:47:28Thank you. Thank very much for your time and thank you for inviting me on cause it's been really interesting for me. It's quite late here. So if I sound slightly a not so positive, I'm usually very positive, is a really interesting conversation. I loved it. Thank you so much.Michael:47:44Thank you very much. It's great to talk with you.Michael:47:50You have been listening to the English with Michael podcast to view the podcast notes for this episode and to listen to previous episodes. Head over to podcast ................
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