"Whenever I communicate with English learners, I think of my past self who trying his best, but was struggling to express himself in English.
To see someone trying their best is in itself inherently beautiful."
Hi, my name is Takuya! Here're questions to get to know about myself!
Q. What makes you unique? Do you have a particular passion or interest that captures who you are as a person?
My experiences at my first job that I worked as an import and export coordinator has changed my whole perspective on how I live my life.
While the harsh working environment in Japan forced me to work normally from 7:30am to 11pm every day, the working hours eventually became from 7am to 4am over a week one month after I had started the job.
I continued the work for about two years as in my country, Japan, it tends to be not socially acceptable to quickly change jobs. It was no surprise I saw that some coworkers look deeply depressed, while I had become lost myself.
In this circumstances, I have thought "I do not want to end my life like this", and "I will live with my work that I can be really passionate about and be good at to fulfill my life."
Everything for my plan of coming to Canada has started from this life-long resolution to myself. It is as if it was yesterday that my parents had said, "You are the only one who decides who you are."
Here I am in Canada, graduated from Humber College TESL program, worked as an ILAC teacher for 1 year, and became a sole proprietor for my original ESL business.
Q: What made you decide to become a teacher?
Being an ESL teacher has become my ideal job after studying English for 14 years and struggling to improve my own language skills. English is completely different from my first language, Japanese.
While teaching children and adults in Japan, I realized that there are many people who are faced with the same difficulties that I have had. This has inspired me to embrace English as the field in which I can help learners the most. Through my own struggles, I can empathize with students' adversities, acknowledge their efforts, and lead them to success.
Q: How would you describe your teaching style?
Both energetic and entertaining while delivering informative learning to students are the first keys to build rapport with students.
I believe that they are an imperative combination to create close relationships with students in an efficient and casual setting, which has been encouraging my current students to be more interactive in class, increasing their confidence.
While Toronto has diverse backgrounds of both students and teachers, I believe that it is inevitable as teachers to represent that regardless of nationalities and the educational backgrounds we all are able to be active and successful communicators of English as a second language.
I always try to be the one who prove this both as a learner and teacher of English while understanding reputation of shyness as Japanese.
Q: Describe one of your favourite teaching moments and why it was impactful.
The diversity of cultural backgrounds of students is one of the most unique aspects that I was fascinated by. When I was teaching in Japan, almost all of students at my school were Japanese having similar backgrounds.
Now I truly realize the great positive aspects that students have both culturally and individually different opinions and ways they express themselves in every single topic we have in class. It is always stimulating and motivating in interacting with others.
