Rodger Sensei
Friendly English classes in 内本町 with coffee & snacks
Osaka EXPO English – Practical English for 2025 Visitors
Hello! Osaka will soon welcome the world, and many of us will meet foreign guests—at volunteer booths, in shops, on trains, or simply in our own neighbourhoods. This weekly class helps you feel ready. We meet every Thursday morning from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m., the same calm hour I use for my senior class, so trains are quiet and your afternoon is still free.
Each lesson starts with a small set of new words and phrases that you are likely to hear around the EXPO site. We might learn how to say digital pavilion, wheelchair access, or passport stamp. After a short practice, we jump into friendly role-plays: perhaps you are guiding a family from Canada to the Yumeshima ferry, or explaining the cashless payment system to a visitor from India. I give you simple scripts at first, then we improvise together so you can answer real-life questions with confidence.
The class is held in my cosy home classroom near Suita Station. There is fresh coffee, tea, and a light snack waiting, and the atmosphere is informal—feel free to ask questions at any time or try a sentence twice. Because the group is small, I can adjust each activity to match your level and your job: shop staff practises greetings and receipts, volunteers practise emergency directions, taxi drivers practise short conversations about traffic.
All handouts are in large, clear print with furigana for any difficult kanji. You take them home each week to review at your own pace.
If you would like to join, just send me a short message with your name and the Thursday you would like to start. Pay on the day—cash or PayPay—and come see how enjoyable it can be to get EXPO-ready English in a relaxed home setting. I look forward to helping you welcome the world to Osaka!
Osaka EXPO English – 8-Week Warm-Up Course
(Thursdays 10:00 – 11:00 a.m.; coffee, tea, and light snack included)
Lesson 1 – Welcome to the World
We begin with friendly greetings and simple small-talk: “Where are you from?”, “Is this your first time in Japan?”. You’ll learn clear ways to introduce yourself as a volunteer, shop clerk, or helpful local, and practise a short role-play at the information counter.
Lesson 2 – Getting to Yumeshima
This session focuses on transport words—subway, shuttle bus, ferry, IC card—and polite phrases for guiding visitors from Umeda or Namba to the Expo gate. We act out map-pointing conversations and announce transfer times like a station attendant.
Lesson 3 – Tickets, QR Codes & Security
You will master the language of entry: e-tickets, passport check, baggage scan, re-entry stamp. Through a friendly checkpoint role-play you’ll offer calm instructions, solve common problems (“My QR code won’t scan”), and keep the line moving with a smile.
Lesson 4 – Pavilions & Must-See Spots
This week we introduce key pavilion names and Expo themes—Future Life, Green Tech, Digital Pavilion. After a short guided tour video, you’ll practise recommending highlights: “The VR garden is five minutes that way” or “The robot show starts every hour.”
Lesson 5 – Food, Shops & Cashless Payments
We cover food court English—halal, vegan, allergy, refill, receipt—and Japan’s cashless culture. Role-plays include taking an order at a takoyaki stand and helping a guest pay with a foreign credit card or smartphone wallet.
Lesson 6 – Accessibility & Family Care
Learn gentle language for assisting wheelchair users, parents with strollers, and visitors who feel unwell. You’ll practise offering a rental wheelchair, finding the nursing room, and directing someone to the first-aid center or quiet rest space.
Lesson 7 – Emergencies, Lost & Found
Today’s class prepares you for the unexpected. We rehearse calling security, describing lost items, guiding people during a sudden train delay, and using calm, clear phrases in both minor (lost phone) and major (first-aid needed) situations.
Lesson 8 – Farewell & Explore Osaka
In our final session you’ll learn cheerful goodbye phrases and suggest after-Expo sightseeing: “Try the night view from Abeno Harukas,” “Don’t miss takoyaki in Dotonbori.” We wrap up with a free-flow role-play that ties all vocabulary together so you leave ready to welcome the world with confidence.