Of the four areas of English; 1. Hearing, 2. Speaking, 3. Reading and 4. Writing, an English teacher
should focus on the hearing and speaking areas almost exclusively. (Japanese have had enough experience with copying and translating
english words and sentences.)
* I try not to bring any written material to class. Written English only slows down the conversations.
How can I get the students interested in speaking English?
1. I ask them for THEIR topics. And, 2. I ask them questions about each topic.
(At first, you need to ask a lot of questions so that they can get used to the questioning process. Conversation
is Questioning and Answering. Without questions, there is no conversation.)
What should I have as a backup if things grow stale?
1. Bring along a lot of PICTURES of current events, topics of your own interest, and topics of what you
think your students might be interested in. (I try to keep the topics on the lighter side. When things grow stagnated, I just
move on to the next picture.)
What is the most important thing when it comes to teaching English in Japan?
1. I think it is important to enjoy yourself. If you are truly having fun, THEY will have fun.
And, that makes for better learning.
Note: I know that Japanese need to increase their reading and comprehension speeds. But, unless you can
get them interested in reading English, they just won't read. (not even your textbook... I don't use a textbook.)
As for writing, I encourage them to write every day. I even give some students a notebook. I
promise not to read their notebooks, but I mention that I would like to glance through it in order to check if they have been
writing EVERY DAY. It's probably a good idea to ask them to write about their life. I also mention that they should
not edit their notebooks. (That's when they will throw away their notebooks.) But, by simply writing every day, they
will greatly improve their writing skills.
I am deeply ashamed at having failed until now to respond to your gift of one chest of wheat, one basket of yams, one basket
of melons and various other items, which I received on the third day of the sixth month.
This place, the valley of Minobu, is located in the area of the three villages of Iino, Mimaki and Hakiri of Kai Province,
in the northwestern corner of the village of Hakiri. To the north, the peak of Mount Minobu pierces the heavens; to the south,
Mount Takatori’s crest merges with the clouds; to the east, Mount Tenshi rises as high as the sun; and to the west,
great sheer mountains stretch across to the summit of Mount Shirane. The screeching of monkeys resounds in the heavens, while
the earth is filled with the chirping of cicadas.
I feel as if Eagle Peak in India had made its way here, or as if I were seeing Mount T’ien-t’ai in China right
before my eyes.
Although I am neither Shakyamuni Buddha nor the
Great Teacher T’ien-t’ai, because each day I read the Lotus Sutra day and night and discuss the Maka Shikan morning
and evening, this place is like the pure land of Eagle Peak and in no way different from Mount T’ien-t’ai.
Nevertheless, I am an ordinary person dependent on other things for my existence. If I were without clothes, the wind would
penetrate my body, and if I did not eat, my life could not be sustained. It would be like failing to replenish a lamp with
oil, or failing to add wood to a fire. How could I continue to live? If my life should become difficult to maintain, if the
provisions needed to sustain it were to be exhausted, in one to five days the voice that now reads and recites the Lotus Sutra
would also be silenced, and weeds would grow up thick before the window from which discourses on the Maka Shikan are heard.
Such are the conditions under which I live, but I wonder how you were able to perceive this.
Because a hare made offerings to a person walking about in exercise after meditation, the heavenly king took pity on it
and placed it in the moon. Now, when we gaze up at the heavens, in the moon we see a hare. In your position as a woman, you
have made offerings to the Lotus Sutra in this defiled latter age. Therefore, King Bonten will look after you with his divine
eye, Taishaku will press his palms together and pay obeisance to you, the earthly deities will delight in reverently holding
up your feet, and
Shakyamuni Buddha will extend his hand from
Eagle Peak to stroke your head. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.
With my deep respect,
Nichiren
The twentieth day of the sixth month in the second year of Koan (1279), cyclical sign tsuchinoto-u
