Essay : An Old Story: Memories of Café English Lessons near Tokyo
Please forgive this old person for indulging in a little reminiscence. It was more than twenty years ago. For several years, due to ill health, there was a period when I was unable to work outside the home. Then, fortunately, I happened to find a good doctor, and I finally began to feel that I might be able to return to work. If I were going to work again, I thought, it might be useful if I could speak at least a little English. But in those days, there were no video-sharing sites, no social media, and not even internet radio. The only thing I could listen to, more or less, was what was then known as FEN, the radio service for American military personnel stationed in Japan. There were very few opportunities to come into contact with English at home. So I started looking for somewhere near my home where I could practise speaking English. And that was when I found a teacher offering what was advertised as ‘500-yen English conversati...