聖学院大学児童英語コミュニケーション・5月31日lesson plan & review ・more about words & ideas

Hello to all my Jido Eigo Communication students,

Thank you for your hard work today in class, especially Moeko and Elaine! You did a great job and I'm proud of everyone in the class with your effort.

Here's the lesson plan for 5/31:

Here are the board notes about word combinations - words and other words that go together with them:

Here are some word maps - words, and the ideas that go with them. 例えば：when you think of an event, what other ideas do you think of?  Look at event in the picture below:

An event has a result (結果). It also has a purpose (目的). It also has an aim (的). And it has a goal (目標). We prepare an event (or - prepare for an event = イベントが準備する), and we can also work for an event. 

Now look at the one for water. Can you see the ideas that fit with it?  And can you find verbs (動詞) that go with it?  When you connect words like this, you can see how to use them better. 

We will do more on this next week. See you then!

KIFL Senka Global Studies & Business Communication Skills - 5/30 lesson plan, review & BCS mid-term short presentations

Hello to all Senka students,

Thank you for your hard work today, especially with my terrible throat! My apologies to all of you on that. Here's the Global Studies lesson plan for 5/30:

Here are the board notes for the jobs you wanted when you were younger compared to the jobs you are looking for now:

I found these very interesting, and your views on your changes interesting too. Good job on these! All of you spoke very well and had well-thought-out things to say. I was happy with each one of you.

**DON'T FORGET YOUR MID-TERM SHORT PRESENTATIONS FOR GLOBAL STUDIES NEXT WEEK (6/6)! A topic of your choice either from the orange textbook, or from outside of it relating to the overall Global Studies theme! Good luck on it - and ask me anytime if you have any questions on anything.

Here's the business class mid-term presentations review and notes:

You prepared well for what were short presentations, and I was happy with what you did. Reika - for missing two classes you were well-prepared in advance. Good job there! It must be busy for you with your job hunting.

Yusuke - you made a good move to speak without notes. This is really what you have to go for when doing a presentation. This was really good!

A GENERAL COMMENT:
Overall, one thing I would like to see all of you do in future presentations is go more for showing your pictures (or Power Point slides) and speaking from them, rather than from lots of notes.

So, I recommend that you practice for future presentations by arranging your visual materials (logos, pictures, charts, etc.) and connecting a note - maybe a key word or a key phrase - to each picture. This would really help you be more natural in your speaking, and allow you to ad-lib more comfortably.

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT -FOR NIKO:
Check out these two links here and here - and post a comment telling me what you think. They may not be pretty - but they are very different ideas about what a comic book can be.

See you all next week!

星薬科大学薬学英語I・SQ3Rについて

Hello all Pharm Eng I students,

Thank you for your hard work today on the mid-term review. Many of you did excellently on the test. Congratulations!

Let's review the SQ3R reading technique I showed you in class after the test today:

SQ3R - Survey, Question, Read, Recite and Write

1. Survey what you will read. Don't read it in detail! Check over it and get an idea about it.

 2. Question each section of what you will read. This means making questions out of each part. Look at the titles of each section and make a question out of the title of each section.

FOR EXAMPLE: In Unit 4, there is a section on acids and bases - so: What are acids and bases?

3. Read, recite, and write (the "3 Rs") about each section. THIS IS IMPORTANT!

 * Read each section! As you go along, make more questions about important points you find.

 ** Then - recite each section! This means saying it out loud to yourself.

                                      (picture courtesy of Shutterstock)

***After that - write what you said, and remember, from each section in a notebook.

Try this! See how it works for you. See you next week!



聖学院大学児童英語コミュニケーション5月24日・lesson plan & board notes ・link for Golden Week in English

Hello to my Jido Eigo Communication students,

Hope you are having a good weekend. Here is the lesson plan and board notes for our class on 5/24:

MORE ABOUT HOLIDAYS IN JAPAN!

See more about how to talk about holidays in Japan in English. Click on this link - it's about the special days of the Golden Week holiday - Showa Day, Constitution Day, and Green Day! 

See you next week!

KIFL English for the Hospitality Industry 2A 5/22-23 lesson plans & review of present perfect verb tense

Hello to the EH2 class,

Here's the lesson plan for yesterday (5/22):

For 5/23, we continued with this plan by adding the page 36 CD listening, and the page 35 reading about the complaint email.

PRESENT PERFECT REVIEW: 

1. The present perfect is used for actions from the past that still have an impact in the present.

I have worked at KIFL since 2007.
You have been students at KIFL since last year.
They have started their new jobs from this morning.

2. It is also used for talking about life or working experiences without saying any time period or point.

I've (= I have) worked at a number of universities, colleges, and schools.
He's (= he has) traveled around many countries in Europe and Asia.
She's gone back and forth between the Philippines and Japan.

3. We can also use it in time expressions that connect the past to the present.

So far, I've worked every weekend this month.
Over the last few days, they've had a lot to do.

See you next week! 

KIFL Senka Global Studies & Business Communications Skills 5/23 lesson plan, your favorite foreign person in Japan & review for 5/30 BCS mid-term short presentations

Hello to all my Senka students,

Here's the Global Studies lesson plan for 5/23:

SPECIAL NOTE TO EISUKE IN GS: You can find the answers to your question from page 15 Part 1a about the real numbers of foreigners living in Japan in 2006 on Part 4, pages 18 and 22, in the orange Global Studies textbook (I'm sorry! I had no time to post the numbers here!). 

*REMEMBER: Who is your favorite foreign person living in Japan (such as a TV personality, actor, actress, journalist, commentator, singer, musician, etc.)? I'd like to hear more about yours. Post a comment to this blog post and tell me!

Here's the Business Communications Skills lesson plan as well:

ALL OF YOU  DID VERY WELL TODAY IN BOTH CLASSES! YOU HAD GREAT DISCUSSION AND GROUP WORK. YOU ALL DID A GREAT JOB!! I was especially happy today - thank you for your effort. 

**REMEMBER: FOR BCS NEXT WEEK (5/30) - Mid-term short mini-presentations about the companies or organizations you selected - A FEW NOTES:

When preparing to speak to the class: 

1. Begin with the name of the company or organization and where it is located (headquarters and  where the company or organization was founded if it was started in a different location).                               

2. Then go to when it was founded (what year).                                                                                         

3. Have a brief history about the company/organization - where or how it grew bigger, what markets it      entered, and most importantly - when did it expand its operations to Japan? (when did it first enter         Japan, and where? Tokyo? Osaka? Give examples.)                                                                                   

4. Show or talk about a product or service the company/organization is involved in. (If you have an           example of a product from a company that you use and if it's small - BRING IT TO CLASS!)                                                                                                                                              

5. Thank the audience (your classmates) and ask them for any questions or comments about your         company or organization.

***REMEMBER! You don't have to select only a company. You could select an organization - such as a university, or non-profit organization (such as, for example, the Red Cross). 

When we're finished with our presentations on 5/30, we'll continue with the budgeting activity we started today (5/23) in the business class. 

Good luck! I'll look forward to hearing each of you speak next week. 

星薬科大学薬学英語I・5月22日lesson plan & review for mid-term on 5/29

Hello to all my Pharm Eng I students,

Here's the lesson plan for 5/22:

 And here are the board notes:

Here are the Unit 3 questions for you to review:



FOR OUR MID-TERM REVIEW NEXT WEEK:

Click here for the Unit 2 review questions. For Unit 1 review questions, click on here.

Good luck on any exams you have for other classes. And don't forget your Unit 2 homework next week - selecting 2 of the 3 idea questions and writing your own responses to them! See you next Tuesday!

星薬科大学・special posting for Hoshi ESS & Tuesday 1st & 2nd period Pharm Eng I students for 5/21

Hello to the Hoshi ESS and my Pharm Eng I students,

This is a special posting for the Hoshi ESS plus all my Pharm Eng I students on Tuesdays. Hope all of you are doing well in your studies.

I said at the beginning of the year that I would try to post videos, pictures and other things for all of you around the classes through the year. I think it might be easier for me, and maybe for all of you, if I post for the whole class and the Hoshi ESS. All of you are free to check these things out. Doing this as a separate post from the posts about the lesson plans might be easier for me too.

For the ESS, ERI MURAI (Tuesday 2nd period), YUTAKA AKI (Tuesday 1st period), and TOMOKO EHARA (Tuesday 1st period) - and also all of you in my Tuesday classes too!

First - Eri Murai - you said on her pre-teaching survey that you would like to learn daily conversation in English. Here's some advice for you - but this is good advice for all of you in the classes, and for all the ESS members too!      

THE KEY POINT IS - TALK ABOUT YOU AND YOUR INTERESTS!

Before any English class starts, and right after the class finishes, volunteer to come to the teacher and share what you did over the weekend, or what you are doing in classes. It does not have to be a difficult topic - easier is best! But the most important thing is to speak on something of your interest. Try it! Don't worry about grammar or vocabulary. The more you use your English - the more you will be relaxed with it. YOU CAN DO THIS WITH ME! 

Next - for Yutaka Aki - you said you wanted to read more books easily in English. Here's what you - and everyone in our classes and the ESS interested in reading more in English can do. (Yutaka - this is the same advice I gave your classmate Asuka - I'll give it to you too!)

THE KEY POINT FOR READING IN ENGLISH IS - RELAX!

If you want to read for relaxation in English, choose a Japanese book you already know with a good English translation. Read it for pleasure - don't translate any sentences or even vocabulary. Read it the same way you would read it in Japanese. If you can't find an English translation of a book you like - then find a story in English that is similar to a story you like in Japanese. The more you take English with relaxation and pleasure - the more comfortable you will be with it, and the better your reading skill will get. Try it!

Finally - for Tomoko Ehara - you said on your pre-teaching survey that you're in the music club, and that you like to play guitar. For you, all your classmates and friends in the Tuesday classes, and the ESS - here's a video of an incredible guitar player from the U.S. named Stanley Jordan.

Here's a little extra homework for you, Tomoko: Watch this - and tell me what you think of it. Post a comment to the blog or tell me in class. (Any of you who want to comment - post a comment on the blog!)

See you in class Tuesday!

聖学院大学・星薬科大学・神田外語学院・芝浦工業大学・How to post comments on this blog using a Google account

Hello to all my students,

If you have a Gmail or other Google account (like a Google Doc, for example), you can post comments to this blog very easily. Here's how:

1. On any post you want to comment to, click on the comments link at the bottom of the post.
2. Write your comment in English or Japanese.
3. Where it says Comment as, scroll down in the small window to Google (Accounts).
4. Click the Publish button - you will be redirected to your Google login page.
5. Log in to your Google account - you will be redirected back to the blog, and your comment will be posted.

Try this - tell me how it works for you!

KIFL English for the Hospitality Industry 2A 5/16 lesson plan & tour guide area drawing notes from 5/8-9

Hello to my EH2 students!

Finally I'm posting for you! I will post here our lesson plan from 5/16. Before doing so, I will post the great tour guide area drawing notes from 5/8-9 that Michelle and Tomoyo gave me permission to do:

First, Michelle Kiyono's guide drawing to Manila:

Here is Tomoyo Kimura's work for Sawara city in Chiba:

This was very good work, with good spoken guiding from all of you! Now, here's the lesson plan from 5/16:

We will work more on the present perfect next week (5/22-23). See you then!

KIFL Senka Global Studies & Business Communications Skills 5/16 lesson plans

Hello to all Senka students,

Here was the Global Studies lesson plan for 5/16:

Please don't forget to look at the details of the final presentation handout I gave all of you last week!

For the Global Studies class - we will be doing short mid-term presentations in the GS class, as well as the business class, in June (check the syllabus please)! Choose any topic you like - it could be:

1. Something we have already studied from the Global Studies textbook
2. Some theme or topic you would like to look ahead to in the GS textbook -OR-
3. Something outside of the textbook that fits with one of the themes on our syllabus

Here was our lesson plan for Business Communications Skills:

Here were our board notes:

Refresh yourselves on the business homework for next week, and the homework for May 30th! 

*For the business class - A HELPFUL HINT when discussing or writing a description about a company or organization: Think from the most general description about the organization (name, where located) step-by-step to the most specific (about target markets, any specialized products or services in certain markets, and so on). I will show you more next week!

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT:

By special request from Nao - you had said you would like to see some of my artwork. I don't know what you'll think of this - but here is one example of a photograph of one of my paintings:

I'm sorry for the picture quality! The light wasn't good. Below is a better one, with a detailed part:

Tell me what you think of these. See you next week!

星薬科大学薬学英語Ｉ・5月15日・lesson plan & helpful hints

Hello to all my Pharm Eng I students,

Here is the lesson plan for 5/15:

Here are the board notes for the comprehension (understanding questions):

Here also are the board notes for the idea questions:

As you see in the lesson plan and the idea questions notes, I am asking you all to do a lot of homework over the next two weeks. Let's review the homework:

For next week (5/21): textbook page 12 (parts of the brain picture), and scanning Unit 3 vocabulary: choose 6-8 nouns (名詞) from the unit and try your own semantic network with them (if you were not in class on 5/15 - find out what a semantic network is - click here)

For 5/28 - choose 2 out of 3 of the idea questions and write thinking responses to the questions showing your ideas to questions #1 or #2. Question #3 is a little different question: It's in the textbook - but you have to read well to find it!

I think all of you are good students and because of this, I am challenging all of you! Try your best - I will support your effort!

Today, I would like to post something extra for two students - two helpful hints for ASUKA TAKANOHASHI and HARUKA TSUCHIYA - and share with the Hoshi ESS (English Speaking Society) too!

I don't have any video for the both of you today, but I have advice for you I hope will help you.

ASUKA - on your pre-teaching survey, you said you enjoy reading novels, and that you want to read them in English. Here's what you can do:

If you like famous Japanese writers such as, for example, Haruki Murakami, find an English translation of one of their novels that you like, and that you can get easily. It's best to start out with a book you already know. Read it in English the same way you would in Japanese - don't look up any words in the dictionary (though you could make a semantic network if you like, or a word list, as you go along). Don't try to translate - read for pleasure. Since you will know the story already, the meaning will be the same - the only difference is the language. Take your time to read - don't struggle with it. You don't have to understand every word - so long as you get the main ideas, you're okay.

For a book you like that you can't get an English translation for - try to find a similar kind of story in English. Don't try a difficult book - try for something that you believe you can read at a level that is a little lower than what you can read easily in Japanese. The most important thing is also to get a book that you don't struggle with, and that you can read for pleasure. And when you read, do the same thing as I said above - don't try to translate - read only for pleasure. If you struggle with it, it will not be fun.

HARUKA - on your survey, one thing you said is that you like to learn more medical terms in English. Here's what you can do:

This is something I will show the class as another word-learning technique - but I'll share it with you first.

Many English medical terms come from Greek and Latin root words. So take a prefix (the 1st part of a word) that you can make as many words you can from. Make a word list or semantic network with them. If you know the prefix, you will know the basic meaning already.

In your textbook, go to the back of the book - pages 156-161. In them, there is a long list of these root words, with examples and Japanese meanings. Take a look at them. Some of them match in meaning with the Japanese words - especially with the kanji. If you can also connect the kanji with the root meanings, you will be able to guess the meanings of many medical terms.

Hope this helps you.

See all of you next week!

星薬科大学薬学英語・意味ネットワークの紹介

Hello to all my Pharm Eng I students,

This is a special posting about semantic networking (意味ネットワーク). This is a very useful method for you to gather up the meaning of words. In the pictures below, I will show you a very simple example.

Here are five words that are indirectly related. Some of the words have more direct connections than others.

Now I found one connection, and labeled it with a simple sentence - cats like fish.

Now I found two more connections - cats make good pets, and fish make good pets.

Now I found two more connections to that - people like fish, and people keep pets. 

So we can see the meaning pattern here with these words. Now try this one for yourself:

What connections, and what sentences, can you think of that would help you to remember the meanings of these words? Try it!

聖学院大学児童英語コミュニケーション・5月10日・lesson plan

Hello to my Jido Eigo Communication students!

Welcome to my blog. I will post things on it for you.

Today, here was our lesson plan. Because I changed it, I will write it here like this:

1. Warmer - what did you do over Golden Week?
2. Question-answer + question or comment
3. Handout - Exercise 4: follow-up questions
4. Poster design and presentation projects handouts

REVIEW OF QUESTION-ANSWER + QUESTION OR COMMENT:
This is an important and useful technique in English when meeting a non-Japanese English-speaking parent for the first time. But it is also useful in everyday English conversation too.

Look at this pattern you can use in everyday conversation with an English-speaking friend:

A: (Ask a question)  What did you do over Golden Week? 

B: (Reply with an answer)  Not much. I stayed home and relaxed. (Add question) How about you? (OR add a comment to the answer - It was good. [add optional "how about you?" question])

A: (Replies with answer) I had a great time! I went to Kyushu. 

B: (Asks a question with part of A's reply, with a comment)  Kyushu? Wow. What did you do there? 

A: (Replies with new answer and another question and/or comment) ...

Both people can keep this pattern going and make longer replies and ad-lib more questions using the content of each other's topics. 

Hope this helps your English! We'll practice this more next week when meeting someone (like a parent of one of your students) for the first time (5/17). Don't forget to look at the poster design and presentation handouts I gave you. See you next time!

KIFL Senka Global Studies & Business Communication Skills - 5/9 lesson plans, homework reminder & video

Hello Senka students,

I was happy to see all of you today! Here is the Global Studies lesson plan for today (5/9):

REMINDER: Please read page 11 in the orange Global Studies textbook, and be ready to talk about the article in class for next week (5/16).
If you do note-taking in your notebooks as I showed on the board - a double column-entry diary - this will really help you talk about the topic next week. Be ready!

Here is the Business Communications Skills lesson plan for today (5/9):

As you can see, I changed the order of the company names and countries matching quick activity to the end. My apologies! ( I did not want to erase the board again - hope this was not confusing for all of you.)

REMINDER: I did not show it here - but remember your Business Communications Skills homework for next week (5/16) - page 12 in the blue textbook - Parts 1 & 2! I will check it.

SOMETHING EXTRA: This is for fun, and it's for you, "Niko" (Ayako Seto)! I said to you in our first class that there used to be a singer named Nico. She was from Germany, but she became famous first as a model in France and the U.S., then as a singer.

This is a video of one of her songs. You might like it. You might not like it. Either way, watch it and tell me what you think of it.

See you all next week!

KIFL - Senka Global Studies & Business Communications Skills - welcome to my blog

Hello to my Senka students,

Welcome to my blog! Hope you had a great Golden Week.

Today let me show you this blog. You are welcome to browse it anytime. While I have work between different universities, you can check out what students at these other places are doing. They can also check out what all of you do as well! I will upload things (videos, images and links) to the content of our classes, and to your interests, whenever I can.

This is a quick post and I have not had time to upload a lot for you today, but here is a video of the incredible tornado that struck Tsukuba in Ibaraki over Golden Week.

Do you feel that climate change might have anything to do with this event? Watch it or think about it, and tell me what you think.

星薬科大学薬学英語Ｉ・Unit 2 intro lesson plan ・ヴィデオ・ウエブサイトのリンク

Hello Pharm Eng I students,

Here is today's lesson plan (5/8):

We had no time to do the word networking activity today. So we will do this as our warmer next week (5/15). I will show all of you what word networking means. It is another useful technique you can use when gathering and learning new words.

For today, here is a video for CHIAKI UEHARA (1st period). You said you work in an ice cream shop. Have you ever wanted to make your own ice cream? Here is a video recipe for you: Indian mango ice cream. Watch this and tell me what you think.

For RYUZO ARAI (2nd period): You said in your pre-teaching survey that you feel it is important to read English every day. So let me show you a website I have a link to on the side of my blog. It's called Breaking News English. You can access it here.

It's free and on it, you can find many short articles on many topics in English. It has vocabulary and sentence-making activities, and an interactive feature you can use on a computer. Check it out and tell me what you think!

星薬科大学薬学英語Ｉ・Unit 1 lesson plan & review ・ヴィデオ

Hello to all Pharm Eng I students,

Hope your Golden Week was good. Here is the lesson plan from last week:

We didn't have enough time to do the Unit 1 board game. So the board game is our warm-up for this Tuesday (5/8).

If you would like to review Unit 1 on your own or with a classmate and if you have a Facebook account, you can download a free Hoshi Unit 1 worksheet I made here.

I will try to post something extra for all of you, especially for your interests. This video is for YUKI KITSUKAWA in the 1st period class, but any of you are welcome to watch it if you like.

On Yuki's pre-teaching survey, she said she loved Japanese rock 'n' roll. It's a Japanese band I'm sure you know, Yuki. It's Hi-Standard, who were very popular in the U.S. It's their version of an old 1960s song, "California Dreaming." Watch it - and tell me what you think of it!

(WARNING: The singer says a dirty word in English after the song is finished. If you do not like these kinds of words - I apologize. This is for student interest and comments - and that's all!)

Also - for SAORI NISHIO (2nd period) - you said you like Bali very much. Here is a video for you about traditional dancing in Bali:

Please tell me what you think of it!

聖学院大学・星薬科大学・神田外語学院・芝浦工業大学：Scribdワークシートの説明

Hello to all my new students!

I hope you all had a good Golden Week.

There is a website called Scribd where I am uploading worksheets for all my classes at all my different jobs. You can see the website and my page here.

On Scribd, students can download and print out worksheets for free. So instead of me printing out worksheets, you can print them out, anytime. You can even start your own Scribd accounts for your own work.

You can access Scribd through Facebook. I do not think you have to friend me on Facebook to download and print out any documents (though I am happy to accept any friend requests from students! It may also be easier for you to download and print out if you friend me on Facebook).

Hope this will help all of you. I will add more worksheets and other documents as much as possible.

To all my students - about this blog

When I started this blog in 2010, I knew it would be a big job to keep it going. But when I worked my full schedule, it was harder than I thought to keep the blog going. So after posting on it last year but letting it go down again, I thought that maybe a blog was too difficult for me. But I have decided to try again.

I will work hard to post as much as I can for all of you worksheet contents, videos, pictures and other things about our classes and your hobbies and interests. I hope this will be useful for all of you, and that you can use it and even post comments of your own on it. よろしくおねがいいたします！