Interview with President

Last week I had another interview with Watanabe-san, an editor at the business magazine President. A few months ago they ran a series of articles on TOEIC. Each TOEIC expert they interviewed had two pages or so in their magazine. I was one of the people they wrote about. Apparently, that series was well-received by their readers, so Watanabe-san contacted me and asked to have another interview so that he could write a second article. I think it will appear next month.

I really enjoy working with Watanabe-san. This time there was no photographer, so it was just the two of us having a conversation. He is very knowledgeable about language learning, so the discussion was very stimulating for me, personally. I look forward to reading the first draft of the article. And I am honored that such a prestigious magazine as President has decided to run another article so that I can share my views on TOEIC and language learning, in general.

Robert  

記事のタイトルを入力してください（必須）

Hello, Everyone!

It's been a long time since I posted.

The big news in my personal life is that my son was born on July 1. Even though there have  been many other things happening, I must admit that helping out with the new baby has been the number one priority!

But there have been several other, very interesting events, too.

Just one example. Yesterday I worked with a big insurance company. I realized (again) that motivating people to resume their English study is just as important as providing them with useful TOEIC strategies. Once people have decided to "buy in," then they are much more likely to devote the necessary effort they need to 1) acquire the strategies we teach and 2) to faithfully practice these skills in order to achieve their English study goals.

One of the real keys to that motivation is to help them remove their fear of making mistakes. Once they realize that English is simply a "tool" to help them navigate a diverse, global world, i.e., that they don't need to be perfect everytime when they speak in English, they are much more willing to utilize their natural intelligence and abilities to use English as a (sometimes imperfect) tool to communicate. That's a huge breakthrough for many people. We we can help them to do this, it is professionally very gratifying.

Robert