ECA (Travel English): 海外の有名な祭り

Hello!

How are you? Today, for our last class of the year, let's do something a little different - let's look at some famous festivals (祭り) around the world! 

The picture above is of a unique festival held every year in the U.S. called Burning Man. It's held in the western desert, in Nevada, every summer. 

I won't tell you any more about it because today we'll do an activity about it, and some other festivals around the world, where you have to find out about it! Here's what we'll do:

Activity

1. Get together with others in a group. Look at the top picture again, and then look at the pictures of some other festivals in different countries. 

Tomatina festival, Spain

Rio Carnaval, Brazil

Tet festival, Vietnam

Oktoberfest, Germany

Canadian National Exhibition, Canada

Holi, India

2. Now your group choose one (1) event. Go on the Internet and find out the following things:

• Where exactly the events are located in the country
• What kinds of things people can do there
• When these events are held
• How to get to the location all the way from Japan

3. Now your group pair up with another group. Teach the other group about what you found out, and let the other group teach you about their festival. 

Have fun!

Images: Top - "Lightmatter burningman" by Aaron Logan. Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lightmatter_burningman.jpg#/media/File:Lightmatter_burningman.jpg/Tomatina festival - "La Tomatina (25.08.2010) - Spain, Buñol 30" by flydime - La Tomatina (25.08.2010) / Spain, Buñol. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:La_Tomatina_(25.08.2010)_-_Spain,_Bu%C3%B1ol_30.jpg#/media/File:La_Tomatina_(25.08.2010)_-_Spain,_Bu%C3%B1ol_30.jpg/Carnaval - "Grazieli Massafera como Rainha da Bateria da Grande Rio 1" by Team at Carnaval.com Studios - Grand-Rio-37.JPG. Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Grazieli_Massafera_como_Rainha_da_Bateria_da_Grande_Rio_1.jpg#/media/File:Grazieli_Massafera_como_Rainha_da_Bateria_da_Grande_Rio_1.jpg/Tet festival - "Thương xá TAX, Tết 2012" by Pinus - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Th%C6%B0%C6%A1ng_x%C3%A1_TAX,_T%E1%BA%BFt_2012.JPG#/media/File:Th%C6%B0%C6%A1ng_x%C3%A1_TAX,_T%E1%BA%BFt_2012.JPG/Oktoberfest - "Oktoberfest inside Hippodrom" by Aschuff - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Oktoberfest_inside_Hippodrom.jpg#/media/File:Oktoberfest_inside_Hippodrom.jpg/Canadian National Exhibition festival - "Canadian National Exhibition 2012" by Kotsy - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Canadian_National_Exhibition_2012.jpg#/media/File:Canadian_National_Exhibition_2012.jpg /Holi festival - "Samaj gathering during Lathmar hoil" by Narender9 - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Samaj_gathering_during_Lathmar_hoil.jpg#/media/File:Samaj_gathering_during_Lathmar_hoil.jpg

ECA (Speaking) I (D): グロバル・グロカルプレゼンテーションの準備「日系ブラジル人・教育」

Hello!

How are you? Today I'd like to show you some examples of posters that have been done by students I have had before on topics about Japanese-Brazilians and education. 

The poster above is a shot from a great Kodomo student I had last year, who was part of a group who did a presentation on famous Japanese-Brazilians. She was a real artist - she drew these pictures! Here is the full poster:

So here are some other shots of posters on themes of Japanese-Brazilians and education. Take a look a these and you can get some ideas on how you can prepare your posters! 

I hope these can help you. Take care!

Images: Personal photographs. All rights reserved.

ECA (Speaking) I (J): グロバル・グロカルショートプレゼンテーションの準備「移民・難民」

Hello!

How are you? Today I will show you some presentations on immigration (移民) and refugee (難民) topics, like the refugee topic one at the top here.

We will do some short presentations about immigrants and refugees and problems they may have when coming to Japan or other countries. Here are some great posters from students I had last year doing the same topics.

Look at these posters. You can get ideas about how to do your own posters from these great examples (例え):

I hope these help you. Take care!

Images: Personal photographs. All rights reserved.

ECA (Speaking) I (D): 日系ブラジール人教育

Hello to my Kodomo speaking students,

How are you? Today, let's start our special topic - about Japanese-Brazilians (日系ブラジール人) and some problems they have living in Japan.

The picture at the top of this post is an educational center for Japanese-Brazilian people. There are many Japanese-Brazilians living in Japan.

Here is a video about the problems that many Brazilians have in Japan, especially with education. Watch this video. What do you think? Make some notes about the video (you can write your notes in Japanese or English). When you are finished, answer these questions in your notebooks:

1. When did Japanese first begin leaving Japan for Brazil?

2. When did Japan first begin letting Japanese-Brazilians to come to Japan to work?

3. What is the name of the Japanese-Brazilian school in Toyoda?

4. What does the school do for the children’s parents who do not have jobs?

5. In 2009 how many Brazilians did Francisco Freitas say were in Japan?

6. What percentage of Brazilian children are not in Brazilian schools?

7. What problems do some Brazilian children have when going to Japanese schools?
8. What did Rodney Freitas say about how Japanese-Brazilians are treated in Brazil?

We will make some presentations about immigrants (移民) and the problems (問題) they have in Japan.

I hope this will be interesting for you. Take care!

Image: By English: Abasaa 日本語: あばさー (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0f/Japanese_Brazilian_Center_Educational_Institute_in_Oizumi.JPG

Video uploaded from YouTube. I do not own the rights to this video. Uploaded for educational purposes only. All rights reserved to the owner(s).

ECA (Speaking) I (J): 東京に難民の雇用

Hello to my Nichibun speaking students,

How are you? Today, let's start our special topic - about refugees (難民) in Tokyo.

The picture you see at the top is of a young refugee (難民) working in Afghanistan. Many countries have refugees. Japan has many refugees, especially from Africa and other parts of Asia.

This is a video about refugees (難民) in Tokyo and some jobs they do. Watch this video. What do you think of it? Make some notes. You can make notes in Japanese or English. When you are finished, answer these questions:

1. What kinds of daily needs (日用品) are there for refugees (難民) at the Refugee Support Association center (難民支援協会) in Shinjuku? 
2. What did Doi-san (土井さん) of Human Rights Watch (ヒュマンライッツウオッチ)  say about refugees and business chances? 
3. What is the name of the nail salon in the video? 
4. What country does Nang Sie Hom (ナン・シーホン) come from? 
5. What did the owner of the nail salon say about her nail artists? 
6. Where does the Refugee Support Fund (難民起業サポートファンド) get its money from? 
7. What kind of job does Melipp Senbu (マリップ・ センブ) have? 

We will make some presentations in groups about refugees in Japan. What problems do refugees have, and what can we do to help them? 

I hope this is interesting for you. Take care! 

Image: By NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan from Afghanistan (120410-N-3069F-025  Uploaded by russavia) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1e/120410-N-3069F-025_%287109524151%29.jpg

Video uploaded from YouTube. I do not own the rights to this video. Uploaded for educational purposes only. All rights reserved to the owner(s).

ECA (Travel English, English Through Songs, & Culture B): 中間プレゼンテーションポスター

Hello! 

How are you? I'd like to show a collection of poster presentations from some different classes - Travel English, Culture B, English Through Songs, and my great speaking classes.

I'm proud of your work and want to show it here to you and others! The posters here are from Travel English, English through Songs, and Culture B.

The one at the top is from Travel English, on some great presentations on food from other countries and cultures. This one is about the food of Vietnam. I'm hungry already!

Here are some more from Travel English:

Great! Now here are two posters from English through Songs on artists the students chose to present with songs of the artists they liked:

Aren't they great? Now here is a poster from Culture B on marriage customs from different countries and cultures. This one was on Germany:

That was a good one! 

Look for more displays to come. 

See you!

特別のポスト: 海外の生活のチャレンジ/life outside our cultures

Hello!

How are you? Today we will start a special topic on global-glocal issues - living outside your own culture, such as in another country, and the challenges people have in life. 

Let's watch a video by a Seigakuin student from China - Xu Linfei (Julia). In it, she talks about her life as an exchange student in Japan. 

The video comes from the ECA website global-glocal page. Click on this link to go to YouTube to watch this video.

Activity/homework
Watch Julia's video. On the video, you will see some questions. While watching the video, answer the questions in your notebooks. These are the questions:

1. Why did she decide to study in Japan?
2. What impressed her the most about Japanese people?
3. What did she miss most about how people interact in China?
4. How has the experience of living in Japan changed her?

You can see more videos on the ECA global-glocal page here.

I hope this has been interesting for you.

See you next time!

Image: "Passport Visa Stamps" (courtesy of Christineg)/Dreamstime.com

ECA (Speaking) I (J & D): 移民

Hello!  

How are you? Today I'd like to introduce a new topic to you about immigrants (移民) - people from one country who move to live in another country.  

Look at these pictures. Can you guess who are Japanese, and who are not Japanese? For the ones who are not Japanese - what are their countries? 

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

See you next class!

Images: Top - By Jean Colemonts/http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AJapanese_Brazilian_Miko_Curitiba_Paran%C3%A1.jpg/1."Akemi Barbara Katsuki" by Hardworking/http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/75/Akemi_Barbara_Katsuki.jpg /2. "OFeldman, Tokyo, 2012" by Ofer Feldman- Own work/http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:OFeldman,_Tokyo,_2012.jpg#mediaviewer/File:OFeldman,_Tokyo,_2012.jpg/3. Berzoini125494/Ryan Higa by Gage Skidmore/http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Berzoini125494.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Berzoini125494.jpg/4. Gage Skidmore/http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/Ryan_Higa_by_Gage_Skidmore.jpg/5. By norio nakayama (Flickr: 大宮アルディージャ vs 清水エスパルス @ NACK5スタジアム)/http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/Dido_Havenaar%2C_assistant_coach_for_Shimizu_S-Pulse.jpg/6. By Cristiano Sant´Anna/http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3b/Michio_Kaku-cropped.jpg/All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. I do not own the rights to these images. Uploaded for educational purposes only.

ECA (Speaking) I & II (J, D, & A): 場所・イベント

Hello! 

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

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

The holidays are coming soon. What kinds of places or events would you like to go and see? The picture at the top of this post is of a Japanese street festival in Atami, in Shizuoka.

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 roller coaster at an amusement park

Have fun!

Images: Top - "Street festival in Atami" (personal image)/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 roller coaster image (no attribution - from Apple Microsoft Word Clip Art gallery)/All attributed pictures from FreeDigitalPhotos.net/personal image - all rights reserved  

ECA (Culture) B: 系日本人

Hello!

How are you? Today we'll watch and listen to some stories of people born in Japan who are not Japanese citizens (公民). 

This video is about Caucasian (white, or 白人) people who were born and grew up in Japan. 

Watch this video, and answer the questions I have given you on the handouts.

There are many stories of people such as these of all kinds, like black, other Asian, and so on - do you know any people like these, born and raised in Japan? What are their lives like? What kinds of problems do they have? 

See you!

Image: Personal photograph. All rights reserved.

Video uploaded from YouTube. All rights reserved to the copyright holder(s). Uploaded for educational purposes only.

ECA (Travel English): 道を教える

Hello!

 

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

Activity

Look at these pictures. They are the directions to Seigakuin from Miyahara 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!

Images: Personal photographs. All rights reserved.