週6 - ECA (Speaking) I (C, W, & A): 過去について：Hokkaido summer

Hello to all my Jido, Ningenfukushi, and Obei speaking students,

How are you? Today I will tell you about a trip I took to Hokkaido two years ago. 

First, we went to Sapporo. 

We walked around Sapporo. This was me in front of the old Sapporo City Hall (元札幌市役所).

We went to Hokkaido University. This was me. The sign says "Boys be ambitious" (ボイズ・ビ・アンビシャス). 

We took the train to Otaru. The man with the hat and backpack is my father-in-law (義理お父さん). We walked around many places in Otaru!  

This is my wife. We were so hungry! She wanted to eat everything. We ate a lot of great food in Otaru. 

We drank some great beer in Otaru. This was a big glass!

We went back to Sapporo and walked around more. My wife got very hot and we sat down. We were tired, but happy!

Activity
Let's draw some pictures of a holiday you had or a special place you went to. Then, let's talk about it with each other in class. 

See you next class!

特別ポスト- ECA (Speaking) I & II (C, W, A, & All): first speaking practice posters (Part 2)/スピーキング練習1ポスター(Part 2)

Hello to all my speaking students!

How are you? Here is Part 2 of our posters from last week. Take a look at this one above. Isn't it great?

Here are some more of your wonderful and interesting posters. Take a look at them and see how good your work is. I'm very proud of your hard work on these. You can feel the same way too!

I have enjoyed and loved these posters. We'll do more like these soon. 

Take care! See you next class!

特別ポスト- ECA (Speaking) I & II (C, W, A, & All): first speaking practice posters (Part 1)/スピーキング練習1ポスター(Part 1)

Hello to all my speaking students!

How are you? In this post, I would like to show some of the great posters you made for last week's speaking practice on the themes of health and happiness, and directions to your favorite places. I was very happy with your posters, and proud of all of you who did them.

Please let me show the great work that you did!

My photograph was not the best shot of this poster, but I hope everyone can see the great work in it!

Here are some more wonderful health and happiness posters. Please enjoy them!

Now, here's a couple of great posters on directions to your favorite places. Check these out!

This is Part 1. Look for Part 2 to come tomorrow!

See you then!

週6 - ECA (英語基礎表現) I (Super A): Describing people & their feelings/人物、気分を描写している

Hello to my Super A students,

Image "Old African Man" courtesy of africa/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

How are you? Let's learn about how to describe people and their feelings (人物、気分を描写する).

Activity/homework
Look at these pictures. Write about the people in these pictures. The picture at the top of this post is an example (例えば) :

This person has a long, curly white beard. He's older and smiling. He looks happy.

Now try to write some extra details about his clothes (洋服がさらに細かい描写): 

He's wearing a cream-colored hat and shirt with a white t-shirt underneath. 

Now add something at the end about his feeling (気分): 

He looks happy.

So, your description (描写) can look like this: 

This person has a long, curly white beard. He's older and smiling. He's wearing a cream-colored hat and shirt with a white t-shirt underneath. He looks happy. 

Try with these other pictures! 

1.

2. 

2. 
3. 

3. 

4.  




5. 

6.

7. 

8.

9. 

Have fun!
Photo credits: 1. "Beautiful Young Woman" (courtesy of posterize) 2. "Preparing For Dinner" (courtesy of imagerymajestic) 3. "Smiling little girl 

Other photo credits: 1. "Preparing For Dinner" (courtesy of imagerymajestic) 2. "Asian Woman Smiling On The Bedroom Floor" (courtesy of Feelart) 3. "Older Man With Hat" (courtesy of Rosemary Ratcliff) 4. "Asian Woman Have A Headache" (courtesy of tiverylucky) 5. "Young Woman In Stylish Outfit" (courtesy of posterize) 6. "Genial Older Man" (courtesy of Rosemary Ratcliff) 7. "Beautiful Young Woman" (courtesy of posterize) 8. "Young Man Thinking Seriously" (courtesy of podpad) 9. "Seated African Child" (courtesy of africa)/All pictures from FreeDigitalPhotos.net

週4・5 - ECA (Speaking) II (All): 道を教える

Hello to all my Speaking II All students,

How are you? Let's talk about directions (方向)!    

Activity

Look at these pictures. They are the directions to Seigakuin from a train station, but the pictures are not in the right order (違う順番). With a group or a partner, can you put these pictures in the right order? 

When you are finished, can you talk about these directions? Here is some language you can use for the order (順番) of the directions: 

First...    go straight...    down this street...    turn right...    turn left...   

next to the...    between (the)...    across from (the)...    at (the corner)...    

on the left...    on the right...     

Try it! The picture above is the first picture. Here it is again: 

A. #1

B. 

C. 

D. 

E. 

F. 

G. 

H. 

I. 

J. 

K. 

Homework

Take 4-5 pictures of the way from your train station to your home. Bring them to the next class and show your classmates. Talk about your directions from your station to your home.

Have fun!

特別ポスト: a, an とtheの使うこと

Hello to all my students,

Image "Back To School Text On Back Head" courtesy of koratmember/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Here's a special post for all of you about how to use a, an, and the. Knowing how to use these words is very important!

Using 'a' or 'an'

We use a or an with any noun. (aとかan は何でも名詞を使う。)

1.  'a'

例えば：Here is a textbook. 

textbook     textbook     textbook

textbook     textbook     textbook

(何でもテキスト。)

I like to study in a coffee shop.

coffee shop     coffee shop

coffee shop     coffee shop

(なんでもコーヒーショップ。)

Mark is a boy in our class.

Keiko         Takeshi        Mark                   

Maria          Taro           Anne

Maria is a girl in our class.

She writes in a yellow notebook in English class.

We eat our lunch in a large cafeteria.

2. 'an'

*We use an with nouns that begin with vowel sounds, and nouns with silent “h.” (anは名詞の母音とサイレント”h”が始める 。)

例えば：I eat an apple every day with lunch.

(何でもリンゴ。) 

I like to have an egg on toast with coffee for breakfast.

(何でも卵 。)

He has an idea about what to cook for dinner.

(…)

She’s wearing an orange dress today.

There’s an umbrella on the floor next to Keiko’s bag.

Our class will start in an hour.

Using 'the'

We use the with specific or particular nouns. (the は特定の名詞を使う。)

例えば：Here is the English textbook.

history textbook     Japanese textbook    

English textbook    science textbook

Starbucks is the coffee shop I like.

Doutor     St. Marc     Tully’s     Starbucks

Keiko is the girl in the first row.     

                     1^st row: 

Keiko         Takeshi        Mark     

                    2^nd row:  

Maria           Taro            Anne

Taro is the boy in the second row.

Russia is the largest country in the world.

Russia: 17,098,242 km²

Canada: 9,984,670 km²

U.S.: 9,826,675 km²

China: 9,596,961 km²

(…)

Mr. Suzuki is the teacher for our history class. 

Keiko, Maria and Anne are the girls in our Japanese class. 

The English class is down the hall next to the computer room. 

I hope this will help you to remember how to use a, an, and the in speaking and writing. 

See you again!