How much English do you need to participate in summer school?

Have you given up on participating in a summer school because you worry that your English is not good enough or simply because you lack confidence?

In fact, for junior high school students, the level of English needed for summer school is to function in daily conversation. For example, Can you introduce yourself and describe your family? Can you talk about what you like and don’t like? Can you explain your daily activities in school, such as what time you wake up, eat breakfast and classes you will study? Can you explain to someone how to reach the train station? Probably for most junior high school students, this level of English is not difficult.

The purpose of the summer school is to brush up on your existing English skills and to learn new vocabulary and improve your speaking and listening. If you already have advanced English skills, such as giving presentations, it is nice, but it is not needed for summer school.

So, to make the most of your summer school experience, please try to improve your English as much as possible before attending. One of the easiest and most effective ways of learning English is to listen to radio programs and public television programs that teach English. Many Japanese people are learning English well through such programs without ever studying overseas. Also, English language schools might be helpful, but these can be expensive and the progress is slow if only taking, for example, one lesson per week. It is much better to buy an English reader book or to watch a movie with English subtitles.

Nevertheless, summer school is a great opportunity to show the results of your English study and to understand your current English ability. The challenge for students to participate in summer school is not that high, but in order to make the most of this precious opportunity, why don't you plan to study English before participating?