A girl who has been exposed to English sounds since she was five years old will be entering junior high school this spring.
It is said that it takes at least 2,000 hours of listening to a foreign language before you can produce its sounds as if it were your native language.
At 30 minutes a day over the past seven years, her listening time has accumulated to 1,101 hours and 30 minutes. If she continues at this pace, it will take her another seven years to surpass 2,000 hours.
During last week's lesson, I asked her if she would continue with the 2,000 hours of listening to be able to speak English after her lessons with me were over, and she immediately replied, "Yes, I will."
I was a little happy to sense her desire to be able to speak English, something I had never sensed from her normally.
Rather than teaching English for exams, I teach the enjoyment of English as sound, with a focus on phonics, and how to teach English in a way that can be self-study and enjoyed for a lifetime.
Her "I do" was the best present ever.
