English lessons by 91-year-old woman in Kagoshima gaining popularity

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elbudamexicano at 10:15 PM JST - 19th April

Good for this bilingual obaachan! I hope you can keep on teaching for at least another couple of years and break some kind of world's record (like that one sponsored by same UK beer maker)
Den Den at 11:06 PM JST - 19th April

It is a disgrace. 500 yen! What an insult. English teachers are highly skilled and most important of all, are native speakers. I will dread going to Kagoshima, where old ladies might try to speak Taiwanese American English to me with a Southern Kyushu dialect!!! What if Sakura-jima erupts and they try to tell me to run for my "life"? I might start running to my "wife" instead.
noborito at 11:21 PM JST - 19th April

Den Den, Look at the salary's of English teachers in Japan now. Under 200,000 yen a month for 40 hours of work. Nearly minimum wage. What's the point. MC D. Might pay higher now for full time workers.
PaulieWalnuts at 02:11 AM JST - 20th April

it doesn't say she is charging 500 yen for a private class. she is quite possibly teaching 10 or more at once and raking in cash. I teach english, get 300,000 yen a month for on average 25 hours of teaching a week. beats Mcdonalds.
grafton at 02:33 AM JST - 20th April

I think its wonderful that this old lady is doing something useful that she enjoys doing. She’s obviously a very special lady & I wish her a lot more years of enjoying herself.

I have only one issue with the story, not the lady, she isn’t teaching English, she’s teaching some kind of mixed up Taiwanese American English which is fine so long as we all recognise that & not try to make it something it isn’t & then go on to try to deride the real English teachers that are teaching real English. And no I am not talking about those gap year cretins that can hardly speak their own language & so teach something that is way too close to street language. Even what baba is doing is better than that.
ThonTaddeo at 03:41 AM JST - 20th April

I'd pay a lot more than 500 yen to listen in on this woman's classes.

She was born in 1917 and lived in Los Angeles until 1930, and then presumably never lived in the English speaking world again after that. So her English is going to be basically unaffected by the changes in slang words, loss of distinctive accents and pronunciation, and overall 'leveling' that brings people's pronunciation closer together.

She's basically a living representative of pure 1920s LA English, and how many people like that are still alive now? Even the myriads of nonagenarians in California have still lived there in more recent times and presumably have had their own English affected by modern speakers. I myself am old enough to have vivid memories of my great-great-grandparents' English, the vibrant New York dialect of a century ago, and it sure has changed since then -- if I said 'terlet' and 'fawties' for 'toilet' and 'forties', I'd be laughed out of the room, but people said that a century ago. And this woman won't have been surrounded by 21st-century speakers, subtly affecting her own speech.

Speaking with her would be like travelling back in time -- close your eyes and it's the Roaring 20s again. She should put these lessons on television, or at least make videos for the benefit of people who can't get down to Kagoshima. Anyone have her address or phone number?
noborito at 05:26 AM JST - 20th April

PaulieWalnuts 300,000 yen a month is about the average pay of a 21 year old in a Japanese company after bonus. So like I said, almost minimum wage. It's not that much per month for living in the most expensive place in the world. I believe that is still under the full-time salary at Mc. Donald's. Remember, salary's in Japan are based on 14 to 16 months not 12 like most English teaching jobs. So, keep your job. a search of jobsinjapan or gaijin pot would show that you are making about double the current rate. Which I would like to call the working poor. I don't think now is the time to teach in Japan. As for this woman, shes old. She doesn't need the money. Just doing it to fill her time. Good for her.
Himajin at 08:40 AM JST - 20th April

Her teaching style, her natural English sometimes mixed with her Kagoshima dialect

Taiwanese American English to me with a Southern Kyushu dialect!!!

Are you confusing 'dialect' with 'accent'?

As far as I can tell from the story she was born in Taiwan but lived in the US, how can it be 'Taiwanese American English'? 'Teaching style' doesn't mean she's teaching them to speak English and Japanese mixed together. No one here uses a bit of Japanese to get a point across that students are absolutely stuck on?
LoveUSA at 10:03 AM JST - 20th April

I am sure she is a better teacher than most of you who are against her. You do not know neither her level nor ability but are quick in critisizing her. It is great that she helps the people in her community. Her students are in their 80s, so do you think they really need native speaker's pronunciation? hahaha
PaulieWalnuts at 10:50 AM JST - 20th April

PaulieWalnuts 300,000 yen a month is about the average pay of a 21 year old in a Japanese company after bonus. So like I said, almost minimum wage

maybe but they have to work like slaves for it. my job is so easy it's almost a hobby

Moderator: Back on topic please.
LFRAgain at 12:27 PM JST - 20th April

Ms. Honda, by charging 500 per hour, in all likelihood isn't in it for the money. The ￥500 per student probably covers the cost of tea and sweets, and I'll bet you dollars to donuts she's in this for the fun of it, not to fleece her clients of as many yen as she can get before hopping over to the next city in search of "better opportunities."
telecasterplayer at 03:05 PM JST - 20th April

Good for Grandma! Though I wonder if people are learning the latest America English phrases such as "flivers", "flappers" and "Model T"..

‘‘You Only Live Twice’‘—the fifth James Bond film in the series.

fifth and the best..
pffft at 01:52 PM JST - 21st April

￥500/hour is pretty good for Kagoshima. I doubt she does it for any reason other than pure altruism.
Richard_the_First at 02:51 PM JST - 22nd April

English teaching isn't well paid. It might seem reasonable enough until you realise that the teachers are not 'life' employees, thus will not get bonuses. My friend's twice yearly bonus equals about the same as her annual salary, so a double wage basically.
Good_Jorb at 11:56 PM JST - 24th April

What an insult. English teachers are highly skilled and most important of all, are native speakers.

Are you being facetious or serious? Higlhly skilled English teachers in Japan is an almost a perfect example of an oxymoron. I am sure she can teach English just as well, if not better then many of forginers teaching in Japan.