Shane Training Centre Shane Corporation Japan

Shane Training Centre

Why choose Shane Training Centre?

Shane Training Centre (STC) has been providing English language teaching and training since 1977. STC has been providing the CertTESOL since 2006, and the TCL Diploma TESOL since 2009. It is the only Trinity accredited centre in Japan, dedicated to promoting and fostering teacher development.

Our goal is to provide focused training to ensure teachers are the best they can be and for continued professional development.

More confident teachers lead to more teacher satisfaction, thus giving the best learning experience to learners.

STC is part of Shane English School (SESJ) a well-established and respected chain of EFL schools in Japan established in 1977. SESJ is part of the local neighborhood, providing a friendly, professional service to various learners of all ages and levels. A great emphasis is placed on providing a good quality, good value, caring service to learners.

As part of the Z- kai Group we are dedicated to the development of educators, future leaders who will contribut

Founded
1977

Reviews

Priyanka
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Living through Unit 3 and 4 exams; Dip. TESOL.

Hello I have recently completed my TESOL Diploma Unit 3 and 4 and would like to share my experience for those who are thinking about embarking on the ‘DIPLOMA JOURNEY’. Quite undoubtedly the days and months preceding the external exam is going to be few of the toughest days and months of your life but at the end there is boundless joy and happiness of having completing the exams successfully.
The diploma has been a very self-awakening experience for me. When I had started teaching at Shane I had zero experience. Doing the diploma alongside my daily teaching has helped me identify my strengths and weaknesses and has helped me grow professionally.
10/10, would recommend it to all those looking for more in an ESL career.

Recommendations (for those in the early stages of the course):
1. Communicate with your tutors. The more you communicate the easier life becomes for you.
2. Don’t procrastinate and try to complete your TP well before time.

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Ashley
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Diploma at Shane

As of this Sunday, I've now completed the Trinity TESOL Diploma with Shane. The two years spent working on this alongside a full-time job have been really challenging but ultimately rewarding.

I had been teaching for four years when I started. I felt like I wanted a new challenge and a way of moving forward. Now that I've finished, I've transformed my teaching (the phonology section of the course was especially enlightening) and hope to progress into management in the future.

If you're thinking of taking this course, then it's definitely a worthwhile investment. It will be a battle, though, and you'll need to fight hard. The assignments are demanding and I had to overcome several setbacks in order to defeat them. Luckily, Sophia and Gavin prepare you for everything and help you push yourself to become a better teacher and achieve the course objectives.

What was the most nerve-racking moment and how did you overcome it?
The most nerve-racking moment was the external exam, where we knew we had one shot to give a good lesson or fail the teaching practice section. I overcome it through practice, staying calm and knowing I had prepared a good lesson.
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Maria
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Great experience

The course was very intense but really interesting, even having a decent experience in teaching, I could learn a lot and I feel more confident and overall that made me a better teacher. The group of students we did our practice with is just amazing, kind and willing to learn. Big thanks to the tutors for their support. It felt overwhelming with all the papers at first, but with their help it become doable and easy to understand. Totally recommend for all who wants to develop their career as a teacher. The best teaching training in Tokyo.

What was your funniest moment?
Learning unknown language, was fun and challeging
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Anthony
4/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Personal Experience with TCL Diploma TESOL

I had completed the TCL Certificate TESOL with Shane English Schools Japan and found the experience rewarding yet challenging. I knew that the Diploma course would be twice as difficult, but helpful for my career change. I decided to give it a go, thinking that I would finish it within a year. Sadly, the course took much longer than anticipated, particularly with Section 2 - the Portfolio, and after a number of failed attempts, I was on the verge of giving up, and was lacking motivation to complete it. I was also working in a team-teaching environment and rarely taught independently and didn't have the opportunities to observe peers who were native speakers, so it was not easy to find the hours needed.

However, having said that, the other three parts of the course were innovative and practical. I gained much experience and opportunities to refine my EFL teaching, particularly to adult learners. I was able to reflect on habits (too much teacher talk, not making best use of monitoring time) that I wanted to change. The phonology component also gave me a lot of insight into pronunciation teaching, particularly in identifying and refining strategies in teaching problem sounds to Japanese learners. In addition, I got timely feedback from my tutors and much encouragement from them every time I made draft submissions.

I would recommend this course for those who are serious with developing their career in TESOL education and have already had a few years of experience in the field, particularly in immersive education. I rushed straight into the course with the bare minimum required and found it slightly discouraging when the expectations were so high. I also ended up changing careers before finishing the course, so I became highly unmotivated to finish it for the sake of not wasting the 80% I had already completed.

If you did this all over again, what's one thing you would change?
I would recommend starting Section 2 as soon as one begins the course, as the time it took to complete it by far exceeded the weighting this component had. I would also recommend devoting the entire year to just working on this course, as I was trying to juggle my full-time job, Japanese language learning and volunteer work with this course unsuccessfully.
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David
4/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Thoughts on the Dip, 3 in the bag and 1 to go!

As a teacher I felt stifled and wasted, no opportunities for promotion or self growth, I needed an outlet for my energy and enthusiasm. So I started the TESOL Diploma in 2018 to grow and develop as a teacher. Initially I found it hard to get into a study routine, and making the time to read and research was also a challenge with work and family commitments, however I found my rhythm and have managed to clear three of the four parts of the course. The written grammar exam and the research projects are self paced and it is easy to skip studying or take a week off, a better plan is a little study everyday and more as you reach your submission dates. The teaching practice and phonology are on a schedule and the teacher trainers keep you on track, but the last 4 weeks are pretty intense so be prepared to pull out all the stops! I just completed the assessed teaching practice and phonology and with it comes a heightened sense of awareness in the classroom. I can see what is happening, understand why it is happening, and make educated decisions on where I need the lesson to go and how to get there. This is eminently satisfying and the blood, sweat and tears invested have paid back dividends ten fold. The course exposes you to some of the many publications on English teaching and as you read and reflect you realize this is a way for you to continue to grow and develop as a teacher after you complete the course. If you are considering self improvement and are prepared to invest the time and energy I would highly recommend this diploma course. Though it is an English teaching specific course, I believe many of the principles or lessons you learn will be of benefit to you outside this area of specialization.

What would you improve about this program?
Offering a digital library or subscription service that can be searched using key words.

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Alumni Interviews

These are in-depth Q&A sessions with verified alumni.

Nivedita Singh

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Why did you choose this program?

All teachers are language teachers.

Although my interest lies in teaching Biology, getting a science teaching job was challenging when I came to Japan. My friends suggested that I teach English for a while, and the TESOL Certification was a prerequisite for a non-native speaker. My reason for joining this course was quite practical but the experience brought a lot more to it.

I found plenty of online courses as I surfed online. However, only Shane Corporation was the one which had a classroom learning opportunity, and who doesn't prefer a hands-on learning experience?

What did your program provider assist you with, and what did you have to organize on your own?

My program provider is an extremely interesting person, and we are still in touch. I always imagined that she had an enormous wallet where she stored countless activities or learning engagements. If you are in a fix about how to deliver something, she would always have ways to demonstrate it to you. At times she helped me twitch my context to make it relevant to Japanese learners. She would even reply on the weekends to check our lesson plans and give suggestions. I liked getting her constructive feedback on my lesson observations.

However, I wish that we were helped in developing the skill of reflection instead of merely telling us to reflect. Same goes for how to collaborate with other teachers or assign tasks. Also, the lesson plan templates were just handed over without helping us understand what goes into a lesson plan, or why and how to plan one by ourselves in the future.

What is one piece of advice you'd give to someone going on your program?

Never give up. It's going to be hectic but rewarding as well. The best part is when you see an improvement in yourself after all the hard work.

One odd thing for me was that I expected classrooms in Japan to be techno-friendly smart classrooms but to my surprise, a lot of places, including Shane, don't prefer it.

In Tokyo, the small cozy apartments are waiting for you! You come here to experience the greenery and beautiful Japan but when you look out of your windows, you can see a labyrinth of buildings.

If you are a no-fuss public transport person, the metro connectivity and frequency here is amazing; it's affordable and punctual.

You don't have to fret about food choices in Tokyo as there are innumerable pocket-friendly restaurants from vegan to Halal.

The last one (and the world knows about it¬) is language. Be ready with a few Japanese greeting words; trust me you will need it. A culture of 'formals' and 'no tattoos' is not compulsory. However, I personally advise that if you are teaching an aged Japanese person, you should probably keep your tattoos hidden under your formal shirt.

What does an average day/week look like as a participant of this program?

I did an approximately four-week course and honestly, it did make me go breathless at times. It drives you to push all your inhibitions aside, reflect on your own practices, and keep giving your best.

If you are someone who gets worked up by the extrinsic fear of failure, then you can sometimes relax. However, if your sheer motivation is an intrinsic drive for success, you have to work extremely hard.

During the course, you have one day of conducting classes and the other to observe your peers. The formal ones are scary and the latter ones were my comfort days. Be ready to keep one day out of your lovely weekend for laundry, sleeping, going out, and the other to complete your Journals

Going into your experience abroad, what was your biggest fear, and how did you overcome it? How did your views on the issue change?

Coming from India, I should probably say "no water" in toilets but Japanese super techno-savvy toilets helped me flush all of my inhibitions away. Kidding!

The language barrier and limited social life, which I'm still working on by trying to learn Japanese, has been my biggest fear. After joining University, I found people who talk in English, and so the network grew.

Mostly, Japanese people are extremely helpful. They will go out of their way to help you out even when they think you speak 'gibberish'.

As hay fever and pollen allergies are usual in Japan and I'm asthmatic, this did trouble me for a while. I think my medical insurance took care of it, though.

The 'top-down' approach at traditional Japanese workplaces would be my biggest fear, and fortunately, I have yet not experienced it.