In the news…

Mr. Tadashi Ishida, the founder of the LLL SIG, was featured in a newspaper article earlier this spring. The article appeared in the evening edition of Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei) on March 13, 2008, and describes Mr. Ishida’s work as an English language teacher for older learners.

Mr. Ishida, 68 years old, teaches a weekly English class to men and women who are 60 years old and over at a community center in Taito Ward, Tokyo. Recently, one of his male students returned to class after having been hospitalized for a cerebral infarction. His recovery, Mr. Ishida believes, was due to the fact that he wished to continue to study English with his classmates. This shows the great joy and intensity with which many older learners study English.

Mr. Ishida became an English teacher about twenty-five years ago after working in an office. He says that, although young language learners are better able to remember and apply what they have learned, his older learners have no trouble understanding the grammatical concepts taught in class. He feels that the key to teaching English to older learners is to give them a thorough grounding in English grammar. Mr. Ishida, an older teacher, lives for teaching English. He published a book for older English learners in 2005. The title of the book is Hajimeyou! Ikigaitoshiteno Eigo (Shumpu Publishing).

2008年3月13日付け日本経済新聞夕刊の夕＆Eye欄に下記の記事が載りました。石田正さん(68)は東京・台東の社会教育センターで60歳以上の男女に毎週英語を教えている。石田さんは「生徒には脳梗塞で一度入院し、復帰した人もいる。『また学びたい、仲間に会いたい』という思いが生きがいになったようだ」と、同年代の語学熱に驚きの表情。

石田さんは会社員などを経て約25年前、英語講師になった。「若い人は記憶力が良く応用もきく。シニアはその点で劣るが、理解力は高いので文法をしっかり教える」ことが教え方のコツという。石田さん自身も講師の仕事が生きがい。2005年には「はじめよう！生きがいとしての英語」（春風社）を出版した。

そして、シニア向け英語学習本として、「はじめよう！生きがいとしての英語」（春風社）が紹介されています。