News

Introducing the Speaking Test Strategies course

By Jeremy S on October 19 2017

The English Farm is introducing our newest course: Speaking Test Strategies.

It is an update on our popular GBC course, and has been expanded and revised. There are new practices, more effective strategies and a greater focus on implementing the ideas in each lesson.

This course is the result of teaching the GBC course in thousands of lessons, finding what works and refining and perfecting each point. The Speaking Test Strategies course will replace the GBC course. 

New schedule system launched

By on October 17 2017

The English Farm is excited to launch our updated lesson scheduling system.

With a clean, user-friendly interface, you should find it easier to book lessons and check your schedule. However, the best part of our new system is behind the scenes—the system is fully customised, so it enables us to update and adapt to our future needs. That means, the more we learn about how the scheduling system is used, the better we can make it for our students and teachers.

New scheduling system coming soon

By Jeremy S on October 12 2017

We are pleased to announce that our new booking system is close to completion. You can expect it to be rolled out very soon.

The updated system will be a significant improvement, but it means a new user interface, so it may be necessary for you to take a few minutes to familiarise yourself with the new system.

A news release similar to this one will be published during rollout, so at that time, it’s highly recommended that you take time to explore the system.

Homework bug update

By on July 6 2017

Hi,

Some of you have been affected by a bug in the homework system. The result is that sometimes you are double charged for submitting homework. 

Unfortunately, we still cannot find the cause of this issue. Hopefully, we will discover the cause soon. In the meantime, we have created an audit system to check if you have been double-charged and to refund missing points. We will use this system frequently to ensure that points are corrected.

I am sorry for any inconvenience that this might cause you. 

Best,

Matthew

GBC seminar tickets on sale now

By on May 27 2017

Hi,

Tickets for our first offline event, a GBC seminar in Akasaka on June 7, are on sale now. Please buy your ticket from this page:

https://theenglishfarm.com/gbc-seminar-june-7-2017

​The seminar will be presented by Jeremy. Yumi, Sara and I will be there, as well as our Tokyo staff, Kiyoko and Tsuneo.

Tickets are limited and this event is only for English Farm students. There are only 15 tickets, so space is limited. Each ticket allows you to bring a friend for free.

See you there!
Matthew

Announcing our first G.B.C. seminar

By on May 21 2017

Thanks for your continued support of The English Farm.

We would like to announce that The English Farm will be holding an offline G.B.C. seminar in Tokyo in June.

Date: June 7th (Wednesday), 19:00 - 21:00
Venue: Akasaka Conference Centre
Price: ¥5,000
Presenter: Jeremy
Assistants: Sara, Yumi, Kiyoko, Tsuneo and Matthew

Tickets will go on sale next week. Places are limited and are only available for students of The English Farm. 

Bugs after update

By on April 30 2017

Hello everyone,

We did a big update to The English Farm core on Friday. It seems that there are some new bugs in the system.

If you have any trouble with the system, please reply to this message and let me know.

I am sorry for any inconvenience this has caused you.

Best wishes,

Matthew

New attendance policy

By on April 18 2017

Hello,

We would like to announce our new attendance policy. This policy is effective from today.

To be marked present for a lesson, students must:

  1. attend a minimum of ten minutes of their class; and
  2. talk (voice or video) with their teacher on Skype.

The following do not count as attending the lesson:

Meet our three new teachers

By on March 20 2017

Hi everyone,

We have had three wonderful new teachers start with The English Farm recently. I'd like to introduce you to them. Please take a moment to read their profiles. When you get a chance, reserve a lesson with each new teacher. You'll learn new and interesting things from them, and it will give you more choices and flexibility in your schedule.

New teacher: Matt Vivian

By on January 13 2017

A new teacher has joined us this month, Matt Vivian. Matt is a New Zealander, and lives in Auckland. He is available 7 days a week in the mornings and at lunchtime:

  • Monday 5:00-10:00; 12:00-14:00
  • Tuesday 5:00-10:00; 12:00-14:00
  • Wednesday 5:00-10:00; 12:00-14:00
  • Thursday 5:00-10:00; 12:00-14:00
  • Friday 5:00-10:00
  • Saturday 6:00-12:00
  • Sunday 6:00-12:00

(Times shown in Japan time.)

Matt has a lot of different work experience, and promises honest and engaging lessons!

New booking system BETA ready

By on December 1 2016

This is Matthew from The English Farm.

The beta version of the new booking system is now ready. We will soon send you a message to notify you that you have lesson points. The system looks like this:
 

As a beta, we expect that there will be some parts that are not functioning smoothly, or don't look so pretty. We ask for your patience and understanding with this, and apologise in advance for any inconvenience this causes you.

November schedules full

By on November 28 2016

Hello,

Many students have a course deadline of November 30th. For this reason, all teachers schedules are full until the end of November as these students finish their courses.

We are sorry for the inconvenience.

Best regards,
Matthew

December reservations

By on November 28 2016

Hello,

Please remember that we are updating our booking system. December schedules are not yet open. You will be able to reserve your December lessons soon. We will announce it when the system is ready.

We are sorry for the trouble.

Best,
Matthew

Matthew's schedule open

By on August 13 2016

Matthew's schedule is now open from September 5th. He is also available from the 22nd to the 24th of August. Because of the time difference between New Zealand and Japan, he will not be able to teach at night (Japan time) anymore.

New teacher: Betty

By on August 13 2016

We have a new teacher starting this week! Her name is Betty. You can see her profile here:

http://theenglishfarm.com/users/betty

Betty is from the UK. She is a very experienced teacher, and has been teaching GBC for about 5 years. She lives in the Canary Islands, Spain. That means she is available at night in Japan. She will be working Monday to Thursday.

Welcome, Betty!