My name is Mark Groenewold and I am a Canadian English teacher working with Otemae Junior and Senior High schools. I have been an English teacher for thirty-two years. I am very happy to have this chance to talk with you today.

Teaching English for thirty-two years is a long time. But I love teaching English. I love to help students learn English and to help students speak English and to help students express their ideas and feelings in English.

English is the international language of the world. Our world has a lot of trouble. Our world has a lot of problems. Our world has a lot of violence, and anger, and wars. We need to find some way to stop violence and anger and wars so we need to talk with everyone all over the world.

English is the best language that we can use to talk between countries. English is the best language we can use to make peace.

I think that all the English teachers at Otemae have a very heavy job. They need to help all the students of Otemae to learn English for school, and for tests, and for the future. But they are also teaching the international language of peace. It really is a heavy job.

I am very happy today to speak to our new students at Otemae. Welcome to Otemae! I hope you are enjoying your new school. I hope that you can make new friends. I hope that you will have many great experiences here. This is a great school, and also a great place to learn English.

Maybe you are feeling a little sad. Maybe you are thinking, “Hey Mark, I don’t speak English. I can’t speak English. Also, I don’t like English. I don’t like English because it is difficult. I don’t like English because I can’t get a good score on my tests.”

I understand. All the teachers here at Otemae understand. English is not easy. English study is not fun. Speaking English needs a long time. Maybe to really master English you need to study for about ten years, maybe even longer.

But English is still very important for you, and if you can change your feeling a little, it is possible to learn a lot of English. I have some ideas to help you master English. Here are some ideas, or “suggestions”.

First, don’t worry if you cannot remember English words. You need to study English words many, many, many times before you can remember them. You must repeat and repeat and repeat English words many times first. Slowly, very slowly, you will begin to remember those words. You should go very slowly.

Second, use a notebook to write down all the English words that you know. Then, start to write down new words you want to remember. Go slowly. Maybe choose a topic to remember words about. You can remember the English words for different fruits, then vegetables, then sports, then clothing, then countries, then feelings, then things in your house, and then…. Anything else. Just start writing down words you want to know in English.

Third, find some good book or Youtube channel or comic book in English that you want to study from. You can go very slowly and learn new words and expressions in a fun way.

Fourth, do not sleep in your English class. Your English classes are very, very important and you need to listen very carefully to your English teachers. Also, don’t sleep in your Math, Science, Japanese, Home Economics, or Social Studies classes too. Be a good student. Try hard and work hard.

Fifth, remember that you are not perfect. You will make mistakes. When we study English, many times we learn the best from our mistakes. So, go ahead and make a lot of mistakes. Every mistake is a wonderful chance to learn new English. Also, Otemae is the best school in Takamatsu for learning English. Your teachers here are the best. Listen to them and ask many questions.
I am so glad that you are here with us at Otemae. I hope that we can learn a lot of new English together.