The Long Walk to English

This is the hallway that I walk down to teach English to two (sometimes three) kids. Every time I see this hallway I want to call out, "Dead man walking!" or I feel like I'm in a funhouse.

When I arrive, there are two boys, aged eight and eleven, and a girl, aged five. The girl is always happy and excited. The boys are less than thrilled. I have never experienced such a lackluster response when I enter a house, but these boys are so shy and seemingly not interested, I wonder what I can do to get them excited. I can usually get them involved when I bring a game, but it's like pulling teeth.

Today the eight year old simply walked away, and I talked to the eleven year old. I asked him what was wrong, and he told me that he was tired because he played soccer.

Me (in Japanese) What's wrong?

Him (in English) Tired.

Me: Why?

Him: Soccer.


I asked him if he liked English lessons, and he looked up a word in his electronic dictionary and showed me: ordinary, common. The eight year old said so-so. I can't tell if they really don't like it or if they're too cool for English lessons. It's not like I sit there and drill them. We play games! The thought just occurred to me that maybe they don't like starting with homework. I like to see what they're doing in school. Oh well.

Finally I brought out my game and told their mom that I would play with the five year old, and when I did, the other two got interested. We had a good time, but then when it came time to say goodbye, not a word out of them. It's puzzling, but I'll keep trying.