Hi Everyone,

I hope you had a great day today. The weather was fantastic and I spent the day running and cycling in some beautiful countryside near where I live.

When I am not teaching IELTS, I spend a lot of time outside, running, cycling and hiking. I am lucky because I live close to some amazing areas. From my house, I can see the skyline of Mount Otake and Okutama and it is very easy for me to go running, cycling or hiking in that area. I also live close to the Akigawa River and nearly every day, I go running through small villages and rice fields and see the scenery change with the seasons. At the moment, autumn is coming, the rice harvest is finished, the oranges are ripening on the trees and the maple and ginko trees are changing to incredible crimson and gold colours. Last week, I also had a rare sighting of Japanese kingfisher (kawasemi) which has a beautiful, blue back.

On top of the scenery, I meet incredibly friendly people every day, especially early in the morning when people are out for a walk or are walking their dogs. All of this reminds me why I love living in Japan, and why I have lived here for over 16 years now. 

Japan has amazing countryside, and when I am running, cycling or hiking, I am always thinking about how I can describe the things I see and experience. As a result, I have decided to offer a new lesson, called 'Outdoors Japan'. In this lesson, we can talk about outdoor activities, such as running, cycling, hiking or even skiing and snowboarding, and I can teach you new vocabulary to help you talk more clearly about outdoor activities and nature in Japan.

I have a lot of photographs and teaching experience, and I can use this to give you lots of opportunities to talk about the outdoor activities you enjoy doing and what you enjoy about doing them.

You can arrange a lesson by clicking here, and I also offer a free 30 minute trial lesson.

I look forward to talking to you about outdoor activities and the fantastic nature that Japan has. 

Mark