Starting this month, I have been teaching English to a new group of engineers and sales reps. I am highly motivated and excited to help them improve their skills. Here is the summary of my classes this week.
In the beginner class, I try to speak only English so that the students can get used to an English-speaking environment smoothly. I taught how to introduce themselves and how to describe the locations of things using prepositions “on” and “in.” Also, I asked them to translate Japanese greetings into English.
In Business English, I offered my students suggestions on how to improve their English. I advised them to memorize useful phrases as an assignment. I also shared some PR texts and asked them to revise them to make them more persuasive.
In Technical Writing, I taught my students how to write instruction manuals clearly and concisely.
I suggested that they should avoid using “very,” “extremely,” and “significantly” in manuals.
Yes: This machine is precise.
No: This machine is very precise.
However, when you mention an increase or a decrease, do not omit these adverbs if they are necessary.
Yes: The production speed increased significantly with this machine.
I also recommended using simple verbs like ”make,” ”build,” and “use” effectively in manuals.
As for nouns, I advised my students to be careful when using uncountable nouns such as “equipment” and “machinery” (In contrast, “devices,” “machines,” and “units” are countable.)
In Engineering English, I taught:
・the names of different types of drawings.
・basic electrical terms and expressions related to current, voltage, and resistance.