“Together we win” (our slogan) when you study at Olives Language School & Gakudo! You learn a new language & culture by professional foreign & local teachers in a natural setting with various methods and strategies. We are not just after passing tests like “juken” (school entrance exams) & “eiken” (English Language Proficiency Test) but develop the students’ communicative skills like speaking, listening, reading, writing and critical thinking. Part of our 1-hour lesson time is Crafts & Communication for toddlers (Olives Kids English Club) and primary students (FCMN English School). The original crafts per month enable them to creatively express themselves and practice their English language skills. The junior high school students to adults (Olives Language School) have extra-curricular activities like writing their diaries and sharing the news of the week. Our Business English Classes have helped a lot of our adult students to be more confident in their career and overseas trips. In my 27 years of teaching in Japan, I use Oxford University Press and Matsuka Phonics Institute textbooks and resources. Since last year, we added Jolly Learning Resources in our multi-sensory learning system.

When I moved to Tachikawa City in 2010, there’s no language school near Tamagawajosui Station. With the prompting of my neighbors and a growing number of inquiries for private tutorials, I considered them on weekends as I was still teaching at 2 junior high schools during the day and at the YMCA in the evening throughout the weekdays. The 9.0 big earthquake in Tohoku area on March 11, 2011, that affected us in Metropolitan Tokyo, somehow led me to decide to finally put up my own school as working for a dispatch English company was as shaky as the situation in Japan then.

On December 9, 2014, Olives, Inc. was legally registered in Tachikawa City which is the umbrella company of Olives English School and Gakudo. It’s overwhelming to receive a lot of students from neighboring cities and in our community that I hired a lot of international teachers and staff.  Apart from the textbook-based lessons & free talk, we introduced various thematic events for our students to learn (and with the hope to accept) different cultures.   The excitement and enjoyment of our students and their family members, relatives, and friends made these annual events “a school tradition” that we even include business establishments around our school during our Halloween trick-or-treating. It’s like a community fair coordinated by Olives, Inc. 

Our schools are also decorated with unique colorful ornaments to go with the theme and most of them were handicrafts by our students. We extended our classes to other learning centers like inside condominiums, offices, houses and even at Tachikawa City Future Children Center (https://t-mirai.com/).

Annual Autumn Event of Olives Schools: Halloween Trick-or-treating around Tamagawajosui Station. Great partnership with the shops in 2 border cities — Tachikawa & Higashiyamato!

In 2017, Olives, Inc. planned to expand the educational services to “gakudo” (after-school program). Part of the project is to renovate the 2 buildings of the school. Well, its long delay, the unexpected twists and turns cost a lot — energy, time, money and even students. Today, February 21, the project was finally finished and I paid in full right away the construction company as I don’t want to have a loan.  It’s also a statement/testimony that foreigners like me from the Philippines can actually plan, pursue and pay building renovations. The long-delayed project could be the Japanese construction companies’ doubt if we foreigners can pay millions-worth projects. It’s a big expense but it’s needed to give more room for quality educational services…To date,  there are about 10 new English schools near Olives Language School & Gakudo and the competition gets stronger….My 68-year old student responded me when I introduced “gakudo” as our new project in 2017, “Why not consider a learning program for the elderly since we are fast growing in number instead of the babies in Japan.  You have a bigger market for us.” 

The swing in our school garden! Hope to have Barbecue & Free Talk Sessions or Movie Watch Party here in the summer.

Time to stretch more my muscles and discipline my time now…. and keep the faith in our Sovereign God for more students and projects.

Come & visit our schools & gakudo or attend our classes and events!  Get to know our 5 mascots and how they came into being. 

Valentine craft made with elementary students today!

Olives, Inc. billboard at Tamagawajosui Station!