This report summarizes the English program "Lake Side English Camp," which was held near Lake Tateshina in Nagano Prefecture from August 26th to August 28th, 2025 (3 days).

To sum up this camp in one word:

We have received many inquiries about English Camp from our customers for some time, and this summer was the first time Campship held it.

This camp is a program where everything from daily life to activities is conducted entirely in English. There are no English lessons during the camp, and instead, participants live in English with foreign instructors and leaders who can speak English, listening to lots of real English and trying their hand at speaking and conversing in English.

Over the course of three days, advanced English speakers can enjoy conversation in English, while beginners can overcome their nervousness and try to communicate in English using their own knowledge! Although it was a short time, the children, who were a little nervous at first, naturally spent more time speaking English and interacted more with the foreign instructors, smiling.

We will report on the three-day program that made English more accessible!

The camp takes place in the Yatsugatake area of ​​Nagano Prefecture

This time, the camp was held at a camp field near Lake Tateshina, which has a lake and cabins, in an attempt to create an environment similar to that of summer camps overseas. The participants spent three days experiencing nature up close, with a variety of experiences, including canoeing at nearby Lake Shirakaba and visiting Yatsugatake Farm.

English Program Features

The English program is designed differently from our other programs, with the camp conducted entirely in English. For native English-speaking children, the camp will be a "regular, fun camp" experience using English. On the other hand, for children who are beginners in English, the camp is unique in that it is designed to be a "camp where they can interact with English" through the following four approaches.

[Hearing opportunity]

(This time, 37 children were accompanied by 4 foreign teachers and 7 English-speaking leaders and staff.) The foreign teachers will explain the schedule, activities, what to bring, games to play, and more in English, allowing for more time for English Showers.

[Reading Opportunity 】

Children participating in the program are given a travel guide, the "Campers' Handbook." This handbook is written entirely in English and contains vocabulary related to camp and everyday life. In addition, before each activity during camp, a whiteboard is used to write down the English vocabulary (target vocabulary) that will be used in the next activity, allowing children to naturally encounter new vocabulary.

[Writing Opportunities]

We have a review time once a day, where students write down what they have learned in a bookmark to help them solidify the vocabulary and expressions they have learned.

[Speaking opportunities]

We provide opportunities for children to speak in English, such as by allowing them time to ask questions before and after the activity, and by asking them to share their impressions after the activity.

We want camp to be fun. How can we make learning more natural during that time? English camps are designed with that in mind.

For children who have difficulty understanding the content, Japanese staff will provide supplementary explanations in Japanese to an appropriate extent in order to ensure the safe progression of the program.

Program Highlights

Day 1

The first day of English Camp! In the morning, children begin to gather at Shinjuku Station. They are about to embark on a three-day, two-night adventure with their new friends, leaders, and native English teachers with years of teaching experience!

After saying goodbye to their parents, the children boarded the Azusa Limited Express. Carrying their large luggage on their own was a step towards independence! The children immediately began thinking up original games to play with their new friends on the train.

Take a bus from Chino Station to the lodge. When we arrived at the lodge, we first went to put our luggage in the cabin. The kids were excited to see the lodge and Lake Tateshina right in front of them.

First, we had lunch together in a place chosen by each group, such as on the terrace or inside the lodge. Many children had seconds of curry rice.

After a short break, we played a game to help students remember everyone's names. We formed a large circle and gathered everyone's name tags on a table in the middle. Name tags were drawn at random and students had to guess the name written on them in English by asking, "Are you ~~?" Although the children were a little awkward at first, they seemed to enjoy actively using English.

After the self-introductions, it was time for the first group activity: Lake Tateshina Hunt. In this game, groups walk around Lake Tateshina while filling out a worksheet of questions about the lake written in English. A student who was good at English took the lead, making sure everyone in their group understood. Enjoying the sights and sounds of Lake Tateshina and the surrounding forest, the group members quickly became friends.

After the group finished the Lake Tateshina Hunt , it was free time! They got soaked playing with water guns and soccer with their leaders. It was great to see the children having fun in the open nature.

After a bath, it's time for dinner! Tonight's dinner is taco rice. Our English teacher explained the origin and history of taco rice. We arranged fresh vegetables such as corn, broccoli, pumpkin, tomato, zucchini, peppers, and lettuce on our plates. Just like at lunch, there was a line for seconds! It was a delicious dinner.

After dinner, we had a campfire. It was a huge campfire, and the children were fascinated by the sparks flying high into the sky. We all sang English songs such as "The More We Get Together" and "BINGO," along with the choreography taught by the teacher. The children had a blast with the challenge of singing and dancing at high speed! Laughter filled the field at night.

We made the campfire smaller and roasted marshmallows to eat! Each child took turns roasting with the leaders and teachers. The teacher told us that golden brown marshmallows are the best, so we roasted them carefully. The warm marshmallows brought big smiles to the children's faces.

After the campfire, we will observe the stars. We will look up at the night sky while being taught how to use a star chart.

We returned to the cabin and went to bed. Some of the children felt lonely at night as it was their first sleepover, but they overcame the loneliness by enjoying being with their friends.

Day 2

After breakfast, it was time for activities at Yatsugatake Agricultural College! Here, the children were able to choose their favorite activity from dairy farming, jam making, butter and cheese making, and tree climbing. English teachers participate in each activity and progress through the program while conversing with the children in a natural way.

Here is a look at the dairy farming experience. The lecturer from the Agricultural College conducted the program in Japanese, with the English instructor giving quizzes on the lecture content.

This is a video of jam and butter making. Everyone enjoyed listening to the cooking instructions from the foreign instructor.

This is tree climbing. After receiving instructions from a specially experienced instructor, you will attach a rope to the ground and climb up a tree.

After spending a fun time discovering new things and taking on new challenges, we will move to the fields to experience vegetable harvesting!

We harvested colorful tomatoes, eggplants, zucchini, cucumbers, peppers, onions, carrots, and corn to eat at our lunchtime BBQ. The tomatoes and corn we ate right after picking were incredibly sweet, and we felt grateful for the bounty of nature.

At the long-awaited BBQ, in addition to the vegetables they had harvested, they enjoyed sausages, bacon, and fried noodles made at the agricultural school. It was impressive to see the children washing the vegetables, using knives with the leaders, carrying plates, and acting more independently than on the first day.

After dinner, it was free time! We played with water guns, skipped rope, soccer, tag, and a parachute game in English. We all got to move our bodies and have fun, and for a snack we had ice cream made from milk produced at the agricultural school.

After lots of activities, we returned to the lodge to reflect on the day.

After that I took a bath and had dinner.

The second night was English Movie Night! Grabbing some popcorn, we watched a Disney movie with English audio and no Japanese subtitles.

At the same time, an Aboriginal painting workshop was held by an English teacher. Participants picked up stones of their choice during the day and painted their favorite pictures using the dot pattern that is characteristic of Aboriginal painting. Each participant created a colorful and beautiful piece of work.

One child came up with a game that everyone could play while still in their sleeping bags for the kids who might get lonely in the cabin at night, and I was very happy to see the children becoming such good friends.

Day 3

Today is our final day, so we pack up our bags, put away our sleeping bags and mattresses, and head to breakfast.

Today's main event was canoeing on Lake Shirakaba! After getting ready and putting on our life jackets, we concentrated on learning how to canoe, how to help our friends get in and out, and safety rules. We then enjoyed the thrill of steering the canoe ourselves. Our guide taught us all sorts of fun things, from paddling through the grass to feeling the cold water at the source of the river.

We paddled out onto land, drank spring water, and splashed around in the water. We then switched from single-seater canoes to double-seater canoes, and paddled freely, chasing our friends or paddling alongside them.

When they get hungry after enjoying canoeing, they spread out a picnic sheet and eat lunch. The children invited the leader to come over and sit on the picnic sheet, and when a friend from their group came over to invite them to play after they finished eating, they replied, "I was just about to come and say the same thing!", which made me feel warm and happy.

During the free time after lunch, the children enjoyed their time in the spacious playground to the fullest, catching insects, playing various variations of tag, and chasing their leaders with all their might.

We took the bus to Chino Station and bought souvenirs. It was adorable to see the children agonizing over their choices and deciding what to buy for their families with their own pocket money.

Finally it was time to board the train back to Tokyo. On the way back, there were all kinds of children, some fast asleep after playing, and some talking and playing with the friends they had made, but I was filled with joy to see so many more relaxed smiles than on the train to the place where we went.

lastly

For many of the children, this was their first time staying overnight, and I think it was a big challenge for them to use English for three days and two nights. The children who enjoyed themselves were really brave!

Looking back on these three days, the participants felt that it was a rich program in which they were able to grow in many ways, such as becoming closer to English and significantly improving their ability to understand the meaning of what was said in English, as well as deepening their understanding of how to interact with people and different cultures.

And I hope that the children who participated enjoyed this English Camp, and I look forward to seeing them again on the Campship!

Thank you all for joining the 2025 Lake Side English Camp!

Looking forward to seeing you soon at the next English Camp!