【Nagoya, Chikusa Ward】Why Do Children Start Speaking English When They "Eat"? A Hugely Popular Experiential English Event in Chikusa Ward, Nagoya
Alive English School Chikusa Campus, operated by Alive Co., Ltd., held an experiential English event "Spring Table Party" for preschoolers and elementary school students on March 24, 2026. The event, which aimed to provide children with opportunities to naturally speak English through food education, garnered high interest with applications exceeding capacity.
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- 📰 Published: April 15, 2026 at 04:50
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Alive English School Chikusa Campus (Campus Manager: Aya Miyazaki), operated by Alive Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Nagoya City / Representative: Hiromi Mitsui), which runs English preschools, children's English conversation schools, and English after-school programs, held an experiential food education event "Spring Table Party" for preschoolers and elementary school students on Tuesday, March 24, 2026. This event was conducted as an open event accessible to anyone in the local community.
The characteristic of this event is "enjoying English through experience." While having lunch and cooking with foreign instructors, it provides a practical program that creates "natural English communication," offering children opportunities to engage with English through cooking and food education. This event also received high interest, with applications exceeding the capacity and many people on the waiting list.
Children working diligently
Children working diligently, smiles after completion
Alive English School Chikusa Campus continues its community-rooted educational activities
Alive English School Chikusa Campus has continuously aimed to "create an environment where all children love English," leveraging the area's characteristic of having many schools. To date, it has held numerous open events accessible to anyone in the community, continuously providing a place where children can learn while having fun.
Why do they speak English when they "eat"?
"Eating" is an instinctive pleasure for children. Therefore, in situations involving meals and cooking, children's hearts naturally open up, and feelings of wanting to "convey" their surprise, discoveries, and accomplishments are easily born. Children try to put their feelings into words at that very moment. And what is important at this time is how foreign instructors interact. Experienced foreign instructors guide children to natural English expressions by empathizing with their feelings without putting pressure on them. For example, when a child has a desire to communicate, by naturally presenting appropriate English expressions, children accept them without difficulty and begin to use them repeatedly. In this way, English changes from something to "memorize" to "words that are naturally born and used from the desire to communicate."
Event Outline/Features
Date: Tuesday, March 24, 2026, 12:00-15:00
Location: Alive English School Chikusa Campus (1F/2F Pine Elise, 1-7 Kikusaka-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya City)
Target: Preschoolers and elementary school students
Participants: 31 people (Capacity approx. 30 / many on waiting list)
Flexible participation options also meet parental needs
Three plans were available (Lunch + Cooking / Bring Your Own Lunch + Cooking / Cooking Only). The plan with lunch was particularly popular, with parents appreciating the convenience of "no need to prepare lunch," receiving positive feedback from working parents.
Experiential learning through English x simple cooking
For cooking, "banana sushi" was made. By making the process free of fire and knives, an environment was created where all children could actively participate and focus on using English. During lunchtime, children gathered with foreign instructors to eat, and conversations in English expanded on topics such as food preferences and spring break plans, creating natural communication close to daily life.
Comment from the person in charge | Why is it popular? — Learning born from the "instinct" to eat
Mei Tadokoro, the event manager, explains the reason for its popularity as follows:
"For children, 'eating and making' are instinctive and familiar activities. By making fun the gateway to English education, resistance to English disappears, leading to proactive participation. For parents, in addition to the value of food education, it is highly appreciated for its practical aspect of reducing the burden of preparing lunch. Also, the act of 'eating' creates conversation and a sense of security with people. The great value of this event is that an environment is created where English is naturally used as a tool to connect with people, rather than just for learning. Furthermore, through this event, we observed not only an improvement in motivation for English but also the development of non-cognitive skills such as proactivity and collaboration. All events hosted by our school this year have been fully booked and highly evaluated, and Alive English School Chikusa Campus will continue to promote education that fosters children's 'ability to live' and 'ability to connect with the world' while providing opportunities to 'experience' English."
About Alive Co., Ltd.
Company Profile
Headquarters: Izumi 21 Bldg. 1F, 1-21-12 Izumi, Higashi-ku, Nagoya City, Aichi 461-0001
Established: January 18, 2001
Capital: 22 million yen
Company Business: Operates English preschools, children's English conversation schools, and English after-school programs.
The characteristic of this event is "enjoying English through experience." While having lunch and cooking with foreign instructors, it provides a practical program that creates "natural English communication," offering children opportunities to engage with English through cooking and food education. This event also received high interest, with applications exceeding the capacity and many people on the waiting list.
Children working diligently
Children working diligently, smiles after completion
Alive English School Chikusa Campus continues its community-rooted educational activities
Alive English School Chikusa Campus has continuously aimed to "create an environment where all children love English," leveraging the area's characteristic of having many schools. To date, it has held numerous open events accessible to anyone in the community, continuously providing a place where children can learn while having fun.
Why do they speak English when they "eat"?
"Eating" is an instinctive pleasure for children. Therefore, in situations involving meals and cooking, children's hearts naturally open up, and feelings of wanting to "convey" their surprise, discoveries, and accomplishments are easily born. Children try to put their feelings into words at that very moment. And what is important at this time is how foreign instructors interact. Experienced foreign instructors guide children to natural English expressions by empathizing with their feelings without putting pressure on them. For example, when a child has a desire to communicate, by naturally presenting appropriate English expressions, children accept them without difficulty and begin to use them repeatedly. In this way, English changes from something to "memorize" to "words that are naturally born and used from the desire to communicate."
Event Outline/Features
Date: Tuesday, March 24, 2026, 12:00-15:00
Location: Alive English School Chikusa Campus (1F/2F Pine Elise, 1-7 Kikusaka-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya City)
Target: Preschoolers and elementary school students
Participants: 31 people (Capacity approx. 30 / many on waiting list)
Flexible participation options also meet parental needs
Three plans were available (Lunch + Cooking / Bring Your Own Lunch + Cooking / Cooking Only). The plan with lunch was particularly popular, with parents appreciating the convenience of "no need to prepare lunch," receiving positive feedback from working parents.
Experiential learning through English x simple cooking
For cooking, "banana sushi" was made. By making the process free of fire and knives, an environment was created where all children could actively participate and focus on using English. During lunchtime, children gathered with foreign instructors to eat, and conversations in English expanded on topics such as food preferences and spring break plans, creating natural communication close to daily life.
Comment from the person in charge | Why is it popular? — Learning born from the "instinct" to eat
Mei Tadokoro, the event manager, explains the reason for its popularity as follows:
"For children, 'eating and making' are instinctive and familiar activities. By making fun the gateway to English education, resistance to English disappears, leading to proactive participation. For parents, in addition to the value of food education, it is highly appreciated for its practical aspect of reducing the burden of preparing lunch. Also, the act of 'eating' creates conversation and a sense of security with people. The great value of this event is that an environment is created where English is naturally used as a tool to connect with people, rather than just for learning. Furthermore, through this event, we observed not only an improvement in motivation for English but also the development of non-cognitive skills such as proactivity and collaboration. All events hosted by our school this year have been fully booked and highly evaluated, and Alive English School Chikusa Campus will continue to promote education that fosters children's 'ability to live' and 'ability to connect with the world' while providing opportunities to 'experience' English."
About Alive Co., Ltd.
Company Profile
Headquarters: Izumi 21 Bldg. 1F, 1-21-12 Izumi, Higashi-ku, Nagoya City, Aichi 461-0001
Established: January 18, 2001
Capital: 22 million yen
Company Business: Operates English preschools, children's English conversation schools, and English after-school programs.