I have been using YES for one year now. I started using YES because I was tired of all the time it took me to prepare my lessons. More than the preparation time was the time that it took to just think of what to prepare. I used text books but with limited success and I just didn't feel like they were very beneficial for the students. Just getting the kids to say something or answer questions was like trying to pull teeth. However with the YES system and the extensive set of cards it has been very easy to get the kids to speak. Young children more or less need to be told or shown what they need to say and with the cards there is always a target vocabulary word or grammatical sentence that needs to be produced according to the card.

All in all the YES system has reduced my preparation time to almost zero while making my classes more enjoyable to teach and a little less stressful. I have seen students that were never able to put together more than two word sentences now putting together more and more complicated sentences. All in all it is a great system and I feel I am giving the parents more value for their money than I was without it and certainly more value than other schools in the area. English schools seem to be sprouting up all over and this is one thing that is helping me stand out a little from the crowd.

Ralph Greene, Greene’s Eikaiwa, Nagoya

I have been using the system since May 2003. I have been teaching in Japan for over 20 years.

A friend told me about YES after reading a Japan Times article. I had previous experience with a similar but more primitive image based system. Even that basic program took the students to a higher level faster. I had been waiting for someone to develop an image based system and wondered why the big publishers of English materials didn't pursue this style of teaching foreign language. When I heard the basic premise of YES I knew that it would be better than any book or method currently used at conversational schools.

I decided to use YES because it is more effective and efficient than any book or method that I know of. The students retain 20%-40% more of the English lesson than with other approaches.

I think this is due to the supreme design of the system and the constant recycling of previous taught vocabulary and grammar balanced with introducing new vocabulary and grammar patterns. Interested parents can easily follow the progress of their kids and even support the lessons at home with the study guides. The system makes reporting to the parents easy and adequate. I feel that the students are getting their moneys' worth. I love it!

Gayle Ogawa, Yes Eikaiwa (no relation!), Chiba-Shi

Hello! My name is Vanessa Richardson. I have been teaching English in Japan for over eight years. During that time, I have used various teaching methods and texts. About 3 years ago, I started using The YES program, a card-based system. The use of flash cards to introduce and practice vocabulary and grammar affords me more flexibility in meeting the needs of each class. By changing the order of presentation or manipulating the card groups, the teacher can affect the students’ response. Because of he wide variety of sentences and games, I find that the students speak in English more frequently, and have better retention of vocabulary and sentence patterns. Each pre-planned lesson packs enough repetition to ensure each student achieves the target, and enough humor and surprise to guarantee student enthusiasm. The Lesson Plan is easy to understand, easy to use. My class preparation time is reduced, which gives me more energy to focus on teaching. Douglas Young has developed a wonderful learning system and teaching tool! I say, “YES to YES”

Vanessa Richardson, I Know English Eikaiwa, Ibaraki-Ken

I have been involved in teaching English in Japan for over 30 years. The last few years specifically with children from kindergarten to High School. The biggest problem with students in this age group is the lack of good teaching programs. I found it difficult trying to put together materials that would suit their interests and abilities. Then I was introduced to YES. What a revelation that was!

The system intelligently and thoughtfully co-ordinates verbs and nouns in a fun and amusing way, using colorful and laughter-provoking picture cards. The Workbooks are also first rate, and these are a big hit with the mothers.

For the teacher not only is the system fun and easy to use but also it does away with that time-consuming preparation. Just go in there with the cards and lesson plan and smile along with your students. I can’t recommend it highly enough.

John Lomas, Independent Teacher, Ibaraki-Ken

YES is all that a teacher needs to have for successful classes. It is a great help that I don't have to make lesson plans. I can add new students to already established classes. In the beginning I thought it was impossible to cover the whole material in only 8 lessons. Then it became clear that because the knowledge is accumulated over many sets of cards, it is quite easy to go over all the material without any problem.

The children keep telling me that it is easy. We repeat the words and sentences so many times that the children have the confidence they need to speak like they never had when we used the traditional stile of textbook.

Of course there are still good students and slow students but if I would make a graph of my students progress, ALL the graphs would go upwards. This wasn't true four years ago when I first met with YES.

Corinna Kashiwa, Independent Teacher, Ibaraki-Ken

Having been using YES for over 2 years now, I have been able to see the consistent progress made by students. YES requires little preparation time once an understanding of the cards has been gained. The cards are such that the ways in which they may be used are only limited by your imagination.

From my experience the children really enjoy learning using this method. They love the variation which the system allows for and are self-motivated by their obvious rapid progress.

Sally Smith, Teacher, Formula 1 School of English