EEC NEWSLETTER

February 2022
Volume 46

ENGLISH EDUCATION CENTER, EHIME UNIVERSITY

Contents

Good-Bye from 4 Memorable English Teachers of EEC■ Good-Bye from 4

Mutsuko NAGASAKI

Andrew STRANGE

Memorable English

Sadly, I’m leaving Ehime university to go

Unfortunately, it is time to say Goodbye

Teachers of EEC

back to my hometown, Saitama. Thanks tofor me. I would like to thank all my stu-

the wonderful students and EEC teachersdents■ My Days in the UK

and staff members, the nine years I havework, it has been very

taught at Ehime University has been so ful-

fun, exciting and chal-filling, inspiring, and amazing that I felt it haslenging teaching andbeen like a dream. Of all the great memo-

learning with you all.

ries, I especially enjoyed the time I had withThe last two years es-

my dear students in the classroom. It was al-

pecially have been the hardest of myways delightful to talk with you, and it has

teaching career, with so much chaos andmade me think “language is

uncertainty in the world, which has re-for connection (not for perfec-

flected in the classroom. Even writing this,tion)!” Thank you for every-

we are unable to learn in the same room.

thing, and I wish you all theSo especially thank you for working sobest for the future. Your future

hard through all this, and doing your best

is so BRIGHT!

in these times. Although it has been the-Episode 2 ■ Determined to Learnforyourhard

hardest times, it also has made us stronger

Cynthia GONZALEZ“The two hardest things to say in life are‘Hello’ for the first time and ‘goodbye’ for thelast.”

English Professional
Course Invitation
The English Professional
Course is the specialized
curriculum for students
who wish to acquire skillfuland practical English ability. We accept up to 30
new students (who are intheir 1st year) every year.
Check out the message onthe Shugaku-Shien System
which is to be sent in the
middle of February for a
detailed explanation, andsubmit
required
documents during the application period, February 14 28.
The date of results is March
14. The announcement will
be on the bulletin board ofEEC, and individual message will be sent to applicants through the Shugaku-Shien System.

Do you rememberyour first day in myclass? I do! We wereboth nervous, but after a while welaughed,learned,and even had a little
bit of fun. Then, on
the last day of class, we all said ‘goodbye’and sent each other on our way.
Now, it’s time for the last goodbye. Thankyou for 3 amazing years. It has been a wonderful experience living in Ehime and teaching at Ehime University. My time and experience in Ehime and with you had a great impact on my life, and I’ll take all of thosememories with me on my next adventure.
Always remember, that “You can do it!”Even when it’s hard or you don’t want to …
you can.
And finally, my last piece of advice:
Follow your heart.
Chase your dreams.
And NEVER apologize for doing both!
Cynthialearners and educators, and people. The
silver lining.
I will be trying to return to Australia for myfamily, so I hope if you meet me in the future, we are both enjoying travel, and on
an Australian beach somewhere. Takecare, and good luck in the future!

Kristin ARMITAGE
After another wonderful
five years of teaching
here, it’s time to saygood bye again. I havelots of wonderful memories of all of the energetic and friendly students that I’ve met inclass and all the stressful and chaotic
times we had going to all online classes
and then a hybrid system after we realized the pandemic was here to stay. I
think the pandemic has made us all more
adaptable and put a spotlight on the factthat even though we may come from different backgrounds, at the end of theday we are all humans, and should bekind to each other. Good luck with youruniversity studies and your lives outside ofuniversity.February 2022 Volume 46

My Days in the UK -Episode 2Upcoming Events
GTEC Academic (Online)
for 1st year students
Jan 31 - Feb 8[*Schedule Changed]

Ehime Univ. Entrance Exams
1) Feb 25 - 26
2) Mar 12

Spring School Holiday
Feb 18 - Apr 7

Graduation Ceremony
Mar 24

Entrance Ceremony
Apr 6

Tatsuya Kobayashi (Graduate of Faculty of Law & Letters)
I don’t know whether it is because I’ve lived
in England before or not, but life in Liverpool
is not so different from life in Japan.
It’s been over half a year since I came to Liverpool, England. After ten days of quarantine, I studied in a language school for twomonths. As the last day at the school drewnearer, I began to prepare my CV (resume)
to work part time the following month. SinceI
couldn’tbebothered to try
somethingfromscratch, I chose towork in a hotel,
considering
mypreviousexperience in Japan. As
Anfield Stadium, Liverpool
for my private life,
I live with three housemates in the same
house I lived in four years ago. So, I’d already known two of them when I cameback and I got on well instantly with the other girl, too.
The only drawback (apart from being unable to access Japanese food) is that myEnglish speaking skills haven’t improved asmuch as I’d expected. Of course, I was notfoolish enough to expect to be fluent in justa few months, but this is a bit of a shock. I
am an extroverted introvert, who enjoys being alone as much as playing football, so socialising isn’t really my cup of tea. After pondering the matter for a few nights, I came toone conclusion; there is nothing wrong withnot speaking fluently. Even if I’m not fluent, I
can still communicate in English without really struggling. Besides, the very reason why I
came was to see what it would be like to livein England. After all, my motivation for learning English has always been intrinsic; pure interest in the language itself, rather thanachieving specific goals such as getting highscores on TOEIC.
What I’d like to emphasise is that it is of great
help to reflect on your learning journey every
now and then, and see if you’re on the righttrack based on your objectives. If you arepurely enjoying it like me, don’t stress toomuch.
(>>Look forward to the next episode!)
Check out the first episodeon the previous issue.

Determined to Learn
English Education Center
Ehime University
2nd floor, Aidai Muse,
3 Bunkyo-cho,
Matsuyama, Ehime
790-8577

Phone & FAX(089)927-8340

E-maileec@stu.ehime-u.ac.jp

Webpage
http://web.eec.ehime-u.
ac.jp/[Eng. Page] http://web.
eec.ehime-u.ac.jp/english/

Joseph Nattress (Assistant Professor)
I’m fascinated with human learning potential. We can learn anything if we care about
it enough to keep studying. Extremely successful people are not more intelligent thanmost people, they’re more committed. In mymany years teaching English in Japan, I remember two examples of Japanese students
becoming excellent English speakers throughtheir commitment.
One was in a firstyear,
midintermediate level, university English speaking class
I taught in Osaka.
The motivation level in this class was average. However, there were two female students in this class who were different. They
were friends who really wanted to learn English. They committed to speaking only English
any time they were together. They spoke
English with each other everywhere: in class,on the train, eating lunch, or walking aroundcampus.
Their English quickly improved. By the end of
the year, they were the best students in theclass, by far. In fact, the next year one ofthem was accepted as an international student in a design program at a community

college in Hawaii. Her English was so good,
she was accepted as a regular student, notas an “ESL” student.
The other example was a young professor I
used to teach with in Tokyo. His spoken English and American accent were impeccable.
When I met him, I asked him where he hadstudied in the United States. He told me hehad never been overseas. I was surprised.
When he was a university student, his English
professor suggested that students watch
English movies and repeat the words. My colleague loved movies, so he loved this assignment. He watched only
American movies in his sparetime. He watched them overand over again to learn thescenes. Then he practiced
speaking them. When I methim, he sounded like a native
English speaker.
These are just two examples of people learning because of their commit. You can learn
anything you set your mind to. What do you
really want to learn? Find a way to learn itthat is enjoyable. Then commit to learning it.
Over time, you’ll look back and be amazedby how much you’ve learned.