Hi everyone! My name is Daniel Wee from Malaysia. Please call me Daniel. I am currently a graduate student majoring in language and information sciences at the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. I came to Japan in April 2018 to further my studies under the MEXT scholarship program.
My hobbies are chess, basketball, and learning languages. I am interested in teaching English and other languages because I used to run a school in my hometown of Malacca, where I taught Korean and French as well. Currently I am trying to learn Spanish, Italian, Russian, Arabic, Portuguese and German.
I used to work in government bureaucracy as a civil officer for 2 years and in the private sector as an event manager as well as an assistant stockbroker for one-and-a-half-year while being back in my country. I was also an English conversation instructor in GABA for a year and am currently helping out as a teaching assistant for freshmen students in my university’s English foundation classes. It is really nice to be able to meet new people an discuss many different topics with them! In my university classes, we have students from many countries and discussion is widely used as a teaching approach. Therefore, it is always interesting to listen to different ideas from people, understand their culturally uniqueness and exploring their diverse backgrounds!
My favorite animals are cats and rabbits. If anyone is curious, I enjoy watching Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls play during their 90s championship runs.
The countries that I have visited besides Japan are the United States (Chicago and Boston), Korea (Seoul), Singapore, Indonesia (Bali), Taiwan(Taipei), mainland China (Nanning), and Australia (Melbourne).
I used to study in Japan for 7 years under the same scholarship (my major was secondary and high school science education) before working for 5 years in Malaysia. At the moment, my research is focused on trying to find a new accelerated learning method for any language, such as using physical and online games. As for my teaching philosophy, I believe in a fun encouraging atmosphere with lots of engagement and speaking time for my students! So, please speak a lot and ask many questions during my lessons!
Finally, to sum up my introduction, my favorite color is blue! (laughs). Hoping to meet all of you soon! Have a wonderful and enjoyable time learning English! My favorite motto: “A little bit a day goes a long way” (Meaning: If you keep learning consistently, even if it is just a small step each time, eventually you will get to your destination someday!)