週8・9 - ECA (Speaking) I & II (D, J & A): 場所・位置・イベント

Hello to my speaking students, 

Image "Fun At Party" courtesy of ponsuwan/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image "Fun At Party" courtesy of ponsuwan/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net

How are you? Let's talk about places (辺地) and events (イベント)! 

Activity
What kinds of places or events would you like to go and see? Look at these places and events. Which ones do you like? Which ones are interesting? Which ones do you like better? Which one do you like the best? Which one is the most interesting? Talk about these places and events! 

例えば：
A: Which place looks better to go to - a tropical island or the Great Wall of China? 
B: Hmm...a tropical island. I want to go there.
A: A tropical island? How come? 
B: Because it looks so relaxing. How about you? 
A: Well, I think the Great Wall of China is more interesting to go to.
B: ...

1.

a tropical island 

  the Great Wall of China

2.

   a fireworks display

a live concert

3.

 an open-air market

the Sydney Opera House

4.

Times Square in New York

a Japanese street festival 

Have fun!

Photo credits: 1. "Cloud Reflection At Dusk" (courtesy of samuiblue) and "Great Wall Of China" (courtesy of cescassawin) 2. "Fireworks" (courtesy of noppasinw) and "On The Stage" (courtesy of George Stojkovic) 3. "Shop" (courtesy of Dino De Luca) and "Sydney Opera House At Night" (courtesy of Susie B) 4. "New York Times" (courtesy of Antoine Henrich) and "Japanese Street Festival" (no attribution - personal image) /All pictures except Japanese Street Festival from FreeDigitalPhotos.net 

週9 - ECA (Survival English): 買い物: フリーマーケット

Hello to my Survival English students,

Image "Shop" courtesy of Dino De Luca/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net

How are you? I have a video for you. It's about two Japanese tourists in Frankfurt, Germany, at a flea market. 

Homework
Watch the video. How many things can you see in the video? Can you name them? Write down in your notebooks all the things in the flea market you see.

Uploaded from YouTube. I do not own the rights to this video. This is strictly for educational use.

Have fun! See you in class!

週8・9 - ECA (英語基礎表現) II (Super A): 比較対照：音楽の感じ (Part 1)

Hello to all my students,

Image "New York Times" courtesy of Antoine Henrich/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

How are you? Let's do something more today with the music I played for you in class! Thank you for sending me your files. 

Please listen to the first two pieces of music again - and this time to click on some videos of the first two artists whose pieces of music I played. I also have information links you can click on about these artists. 

Would these video images, and reading about these musicians, change your ideas about what you wrote? 

Activity
1. Here is a video clip of the first piece of music you heard - Jacques Loussier and his version of J.S. Bach's "Siciliano in G Minor." Listen to this. 

Click here (ここもクリックしてください）for a Wikipedia article (in Japanese) about Jacques Loussier. 

2. Here is a video clip of the second piece of music you heard - Ronny Jordan and his song "After Hours." 

Click here (ここもクリックしてください) for a Wikipedia article (in Japanese) about Ronny Jordan. 

What do you think of these musicians? Does seeing the artists' pictures or some images connected to their music, or reading about them on Wikipedia, change your own images of the music? 

Hope you enjoyed listening to them again. 

See you next time!

Videos uploaded from YouTube. No copyright infringement intended. Uploaded for educational purposes. I do not own the rights to these videos or the compositions. 

週8・9 - ECA (英語基礎表現) II (Super A): 比較対照：音楽の感じ (Part 2)

Hello to all my students,

Image photographed from CD cover for purposes of subject illustration. No copyright infringement intended. 
I do not own the rights to this image.

How are you? Here is Part 2 about the pieces of music I had played in class for you last week, and that you did your homework on. 



Activity
1. Please listen to the third and fourth pieces of music again. Here is the third piece of music I played for you - Miles Davis' "Portia":

Click here (ここもクリックしてください) to read a Wikipedia article (in Japanese) about Miles Davis. 

2. Now watch and listen to the fourth piece of music I played for you - Frank Zappa's "Little Umbrellas": 

Click here (ここもクリックしてください) to read a Wikipedia article (in Japanese) about Frank Zappa. 

Does seeing images to the music, or reading more about the artists, change your feelings or images about them? 

See you next time!

Videos uploaded from YouTube. No copyright infringement intended. Uploaded for educational purposes. I do not own the rights to these videos or the compositions. 

週8 - ECA (Reading) II (Super A): Unique communities around the world

Hello to my reading students,

Image "Buddhist Prayer Flags" courtesy of Rawich/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

How are you? While we have been reading and discussing what we have read for some time, this is the first project I will give all of you for our reading class. 

The picture above is of Buddhist prayer flags. Many religions have formed unique communities around the world, and for your homework, you read about the Amish in your textbook and discussed it today. The Amish are an example of a religious community. But there are also many unique communities in many countries around the world based on other things - such as language, or ethnic identity. 

Homework activity

Research about a unique community in a different country and design and present a small poster about it on A4 paper. The community can be based on religion, ethnic identity, language, or another unique point you find. Here are some examples of unique communities around the world for you to choose from:

the Ainu (Japan)
the Irish travelers (Ireland)
the Bretons (northeastern France)
Swedish-speaking Finns (Finland)
the Basques (southwestern France & northeastern Spain) 
Russian Jews of the Jewish Autonomous Oblast (Siberia, Russia) 
French-Canadians (Quebec, Canada, and other parts of eastern Canada and the northeastern U.S.)
the Lumbees (North Carolina, the U.S.)
the Sikhs (India) 
the Falashas (Ethiopia, Eritrea, Israel)

- or - another community you can find out about.

You can use Internet articles and download pictures too from English, Japanese and other sources (Chinese and Thai are okay). But you must write on the posters, and present, in English.

As a sample of the kind of research you can do, check out this article here about the Swedish-speaking Finns. 

Here's an example of a poster you can design (this one is A3 size - but you only have to do A4!)

Have fun with this - and good luck! Please remember - this is for next week. So get to work! 

See you next class!

週7・8 - ECA (Survival English): 中間プレゼンテーションのサポートつづいて

Hello to all my Survival English students,

How are you? Here is one more post for you about presenting. 

Speaking in your presentation
Look at the video below. Watch it as many times as you want. It's a Korean English teacher talking about her hagwon - a Korean English school. Look and listen to how she talks, and how she goes from one point to another. 

This video is long, and you don't have to present for this long! But it's still good for how she speaks about her topic. 

Video upload and link from YouTube. I do not own the rights to this video or the link. 

They have been uploaded and linked to this post strictly for educational use. 

Now click here to watch the 2nd part of the video. 

Here are some useful expressions!

I posted this last week - but I'll post it again here. 

You can use these expressions when speaking in your presentation. Using these expressions is called signposting - using words and phrases that signal how you introduce your topic, how you go to the next part of your talk, and so on. 

1. Introducing your topic 「トピックの紹介」

Thank you for your time today. we'd like to begin by...

First of all, we'll...

Starting with this point, we'll...

We'll begin with...

2. Ordering points or parts「部分の順番」

First(ly)...second(ly)...third(ly)...last(ly)...

First...then...next...after that...finally...

To begin with...later...to finish up...

3. Finishing one point and starting a new point 「部分の終わり、新しいことを始まっている」

We've looked at...(now) let's turn to...

And that's this point...now we'd like to show you...

From here let's look at...

4. Giving examples「例えば」

For example...

To give you an example...

A good example is...

5. Finishing your talk 「終わった時のフレーズ」

We'd like to finish by saying...thank you for listening today.

Let us finish by saying...thank you for your time today.

To sum up...and that's all. Thank you for listening.

I hope this helps you. Please ask me for help if you need it. 

Have fun!

特別ポスト - ECA (Speaking) I & II (D, J & A): 中間プレゼンテーションのポスター

Hello to all my speaking students,

How are you? Here is a simple but special post. Here I will show a sample of some of your wonderful posters from the Friday mid-term presentations. Take a look at the one above!

I was very happy with these and wanted to take more pictures, but I didn't have enough time to take more. 

I'm very proud of all of you for your hard work and effort. I'll look forward to seeing you all for the mid-term speaking test on Tuesday. 

So take a look at these posters! 

See you next time!

週7・8 - ECA (英語基礎表現) II (Super A): 比較対照

Hello to all my students, 

Image "Sydney Opera House At Night" courtesy of Susie B/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

How are you? Today, let's look at comparison and contrast (比較対照) between different places. 

Look at these pictures. Which kind of place would you like to live in? 

1.

2. 

3. 

4. 

5.

6. 

Where would you like to live? Which place would you not like to live in? 

Have fun!

Image credits: 1. "Beautiful Sunset" (courtesy of Photokanok) 2. "New York Times" (courtesy of Antoine Henrich) 3. "Cotton Field" (courtesy of scottchan) 4. "Old Timber Barn" (courtesy of Poulsen Photo) 5. "Colorful Palace of Pena Landscape View in Sintra, Portugal (courtesy of artur84) 6. "Traditional Village" (courtesy of Witthaya Phonsawat)/All images from FreeDigitalPhotos.net 

週7 - ECA (Speaking) I (D & J): 中間プレゼンテーションのサポート

Hello to all my speaking students,

How are you? Here is a new post for all of you to help support you in your short mid-term presentations for this Friday. Here are some phrases you can use when presenting your posters「プレゼンテーション中、この言葉、便利なフレーズが使う」:

Useful phrases 「便利なフレーズ」
These are the most important things about myself. 
Let me show you...
(I'd like to show you...)

First, let me tell you about...
(To begin with, these are my hobbies and interests. I like (to)...)

I also like (to)... (I'll show you here...)

This is my family. (This is my mother, father sister, brother, and me.)
(Here is my family. These are my parents, and here are my brothers and sisters...)

Here's where I live (now). (I live in...)
(I come to Seigakuin by ________.  It takes me _______ minutes by _______.) 

Before Seigakuin, I'll tell you (a little) about where I come from/where I grew up. 
I grew up in _______ (and lived there until I was _______ years old). 

This was my house/school. (I went to _______ elementary school (in _______ ).) 
(This was my best friend in elementary/junior high school/high school. His name was _______.) 

So that's me! And these are the most important things about myself. Any questions? 

Click here to see the first blogpost from last week about our presentations.

Good luck - and have fun!

週7・8 - ECA (Survival English): 中間プレゼンテーションのサポート

Hello to all my Survival English students,

How are you? Here is another post for all of you about topic ideas, words and phrases you can use in your presentations.

Some topic ideas

• Food & drink from another country
• Greetings and everyday phrases in another language 「外国語の挨拶、日常的なフレーズ」
• Festivals and celebrations in another country 
• Transportation in another country
• A famous or important sightseeing spot in another country (= church, temple, building, park など)
• Customs in another culture
• Games or sports in another country

You can think of your own ideas too! You can look at the textbook for some ideas. 

※下に「Read more >>」のこと、情報がクリックしてください。

週7 - ECA (Cinema) II (All): アバウト・ア・ボイのポスターサポート

Hello to all my Cinema students,

Image photographed from film script book for purposes of subject illustration. No copyright infringement intended. 
I do not own the rights to this image.

How are you? Here is an extra post to support you for your posters.

Adjectives 「形容詞」
Adjectives 「形容詞」are very important words. They are very useful for describing characters, scenes and situations in the movie「人物、場面、情勢が描写している」. 

mature = 十分に成長した 「≠ immature = 未熟な」 
funny = おかしい 「≠ serious = 真面目な」 
deceptive = 欺瞞的な 「≠ genuine = 本物の、真の」
fake = 偽の偽の偽のal「同上」
selfish = わがまま 「≠ selfless = 没我的な」
dark = 陰気な、暗い 「≠ hopeful = 希望している」
charming = 魅力的な、素敵な 
「≠ boring = すまらない、退屈な」
responsible = 責任のある、信頼できる 
「≠ irresponsible = 無責任な」
helpless = 無力な 
「≠ empowered = 権力のある、権限がある」

Check your dictionary for more words! 

Sentences「文」
Here are some example sentences using these words 「例え文」: 

Will is immature, but charming. 
Marcus is very responsible, but sometimes helpless. 
Fiona works hard to be a selfless mother to Marcus, but she can be a little boring. 
The "dead duck" scene is funny, but happens before the serious scene with Fiona. 
The women at SPAT are trying to become empowered in their lives. 
Will has been very irresponsible with women all his life.  

Try to write sentences using these words, and other words you find in your dictionary. 

※下に「Read more >>」のこと、情報がクリックしてください。

週7 - ECA (Cinema) II (All): アバウト・ア・ボイ一番好きな人物、場面

Hello Cinema students,

Image photographed from DVD cover for purposes of subject illustration. No copyright infringement intended. 
I do not own the rights to this image.

How are you? I hope you had a good time at the Veritas festival last week. 

Today I have a short project for you. In the movie so far, I would like you to select who your most favorite character or what your most favorite scene in the movie is.

今日はショートプロジェクトが始まり、今まで、映画に一番好きな人物とか場面を選ぶ。

If you select your favorite character (一番好きな人物), make a list of these points: 

1. Who is he or she? 
2. What do you like best about him or her? 
3. What is his or her best quality (長所)? 
4. Which scene do you like him or her best in?  

If you select your favorite scene (一番好きな場面), make a list of these points:

1. Who is in the scene? 
2. What happens in the scene? 
3. Why do the people do what they do in the scene? 
4. Why do you like this scene? 

NOW - make a small poster on A4 paper about your favorite character or scene, like this: 

Try to draw 2-3 pictures of the characters, or scenes, or find 2-3 pictures on the Internet, and put them on your paper. Something like this:

紙に人物、場面が紙で２、３絵を描く。（インタネットの写真が大丈夫。）例えば：

（ヴォキャブラーリ：mature = 十分に成長した、endure = 耐える、situation = 情勢  ）

Finish this and bring this to class next week!

Have fun! 

週7 - ECA (Survival English): 海外の健康情報、助言

Hello to my Survival English students,

Image "Shop" courtesy of Dino De Luca/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

How are you? Today, here are the answers to the activity that you have done about travel and health. What do you think of these? 

1. (c). You should only eat things that have been completely cooked and are hot. This is because the hygiene (衛生) might not be up to the same level as in your country. To make sure that you don't get sick eating the local food, make sure what you are eating is completely cooked and hot. It will taste better and protect your health!

2. (b). It's not a good idea to go into the empty restaurant because there's a reason why it isn't busy. It might be because the kitchen is dirty and serves bad food that people have gotten sick from. If local people are not eating at the restaurant, that's a hint that maybe it's not safe to eat there. 

3. (b). Without waiting, wash the cut with soap and water and cover it with a dressing and bandage. This is because even in mountain areas in what you might think are safe countries, infections (伝染) can come into the cut and make what is something small into something bigger. You can get sick from infections, but you can keep yourself safe by cleaning the cut and putting a dressing and bandage on it. It's a good idea also to check the cut when you get back to a place with people and change the dressing and bandage. If an infection still happens, go to a doctor or a hospital right away. 

Print this out, or save and bookmark this post. It's good advice for you when traveling. 

See you next time!

週6・7 - ECA (Speaking) I & II (D, J & A): 中間プレゼンテーションについて

Hello to all my speaking students, 

How are you? I hope the Veritas festival was a good one for you! 

The picture at the top shows the design of the posters for your mid-term presentations (中間プレゼンテーション). 

Please remember these points: 

1) Your posters have to be on A3 size paper (taping two A4-sized papers together is okay!)

Here is another picture about the design of the posters: 

2) You have to make a poster with pictures you draw, and photos, that you can talk on with a Q&A for 8-10 minutes (8-10 分). 

You will speak with a group that will ask you questions. Then you will change groups, and present again. We will do this 2-3 times (2-3回). 

Now, here are some of your great drawings from your speaking practices: 

You did a great job on these! 

So good luck on your posters. Please ask me for help anytime you need it. 

See you next time!

週6 - ECA (Speaking) I & II (D, J & A): 買い物 「フリーマーケット」

Hello to my speaking students,

Image "Colorful Puppets On A Market Stall In Kathmandu, Nepal" courtesy of think4photop/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

How are you? I have a video for you. It's about two Japanese tourists in Frankfurt, Germany, at a flea market. 

Homework/Activity
Watch the video. How many things can you see in the video? Can you name them? Write down in your notebooks all the things in the flea market you see. Check your dictionary for the names for these things in English if you have to!

Uploaded from YouTube. I do not own the rights to this video. This is strictly for educational use.

Have fun! See you in class next time!

週6 - ECA (Survival English): 中間プレゼンテーションについて (Part 2)

Hello to all my students, 

How are you? The picture above is of me giving a presentation at a conference (研究会) back in May. I was nervous - but I also had a lot of fun! 

This is another post about your mid-term presentations (中間プレゼンテーション). You will do these in the 8th week (週8). I will show you some more examples of poster presentations, with a little more information.  

Guidelines (指導基準)
特別: We'll do our presentations in class in our 8th week, so this will be like an exam - so it's important to work with classmates you like! 

Let's do poster presentations. This is what you need:

1) Your group will need one (1) A1-size sheet of poster paper. You can get this paper from a store that sells pens, paper and notebooks. One sheet costs 105-120 yen.　

2) Make the pictures big, to A4 size. Have 3-4 of these pictures on your posters.

Your layout should look like this: 

Your title goes at the top, with your names under the title. 

If you click here (ここにクリックしてください), you can see the examples of poster presentations I showed you in October. But here are some more examples of presentation posters: 

Look at these. Make the pictures on the posters bigger. 

準備しましょう！Have fun!

特別ポスト: A message to my students for the Seigakuin Veritas festival

Hello to all my students,

Image "Japanese Maple Leaves" (courtesy of Aduldej)/FreeDigital Photos.net

This is a quick message to all my students who are part of the Seigakuin Veritas festival.

Good luck, and have a good time. I hope it's a fun and happy time for all of you. 

See you next week!