ECA (英語基礎表現) II (Super A): metaphor/隠喩

Hello!

How are you? These are the videos to go with the worksheets for today's special lesson.

Here is the first video - "Blank Space," by Taylor Swift:

Here is the second video - "Torn," by Natalie Imbruglia:

Here is the third video -  "Clarity," by Zedd featuring Foxes. (I could not upload the video from YouTube directly to this post, so click on this link and go directly to YouTube.) 

So please listen to these, and do the worksheets!

See you next time!

Image: personal photograph. All rights reserved.

Videos uploaded from YouTube. Uploaded for classroom purposes only. I do not own the rights to the videos or the musical compositions. All rights reserved to the copyright holders.

ECA (Speaking) II (A): 中間プレゼンテーションについて

Hello!

How are you? Today I would like to show you a theme for our mid-term presentations (中間プレゼンテーション) - the most valuable things in your life.

The pictures above are my most valuable things - my family's old passports. The two pictures above are from two of my father's old passports. They're very old.

The picture below is of one of my mother's old passports. It's from 1954. That's a long time ago!

             

So here is your theme - think of something valuable to you; something that means a lot to you. Present on it for this Friday (金 ・11/27).  

It could be something real (もの), like a book, or a bag, or some piece of clothing. It could also be something factual (こと), like a memory, or a belief (信仰、信念) you have about something.  

Make these the best presentations you can make. I'm going to grade you on them much more than what I have graded you before!

Good luck! See you Friday! 

Images: personal photographs. All rights Images: personal photographs. All rights reserved. Images: personal photographs. All rights reserved. 

ECA (Travel English): 中間プレゼンテーションサポート

Hello!

How are you? This is another post to support you in your mid-term presentations (中間プレゼンテーション). If you want to see the post from last week about presentations, click here.

First, here are my board notes from today (11/19). Here are the groups:

Team Silent will present on British food.
Monokuma's Family will present on comparison and contrast (比較対照) between food from Hawaii and food from another state in the U.S.
Yuzupan will present on food of India.
C Group will present on Vietnamese food.
Sousou Better will present on Mexican food.
A Group and B Group - I need to hear from you about what country's or culture's food you'll present on!

Here are more board notes. Here's the task and responsibility (担当者) sheet:

Here are some hints and tips for you about your posters or Power Point slides:

Now here are some more hints and tips for you!

1. Make small note cards to write key words or phrases on

This will help you to talk about your topic more than just read from your poster or slides. The people listening can read your poster. The key is to talk about your topic! 

You can make cards from paper - take an A4 or notebook-sized paper and fold (折る) it into 4 parts. 

2. Have each member of your group speak a different part of the presentation

In your groups, every member should speak on a different part of the presentation - one member introduce the topic, then another member go into the next part of the talk, and so on. 

* Here is some useful expressions for you to use when speaking in your presentation! Using these expressions is called signposting - using words and phrases that show the audience how you introduce your topic, how you go to the next part of your talk, and so on. 

a. Introducing your presentation

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...

b. Ordering points or parts

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

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

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

c. Finishing one point and starting a new point 

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...

d. Giving examples

For example...

To give you an example...

A good example is...

e. Finishing your talk
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.

You don't have to use every one of these expressions! But for each part of your talk, you should use at least one of these expressions as you go along.

I hope this will help you in your presentations. 

Good luck, and see you soon! 

ECA (英語基礎表現) II (Super A): 作文4

Hello!

How are you? Today I will show you the 4th writing assignment (作文4).

You have already done the first part of your writing - selecting one (1) of the pieces of music to write about. Now here is what you do:

If you have written it in your notebooks - please type it up (with correct formatting!)

If you have already typed it up - look it over and check to see if you have correct formatting!

Now here is the next step: 
1. Review all the paragraphs you wrote about each piece of music you listened to. Now do a comparison and contrast (比較対照) with two (2) of the pieces of music, in 1-2 paragraphs. 

Begin with a topic sentence. 

例えば：
Of all the different pieces of music, I thought the first and fourth ones were the most interesting.

2. From here, compare (比べる) and contrast (対照する) what you thought of the two pieces of music with however and whereas. Write a little about the feeling or image you got from them. You can use things from what you wrote about them before. 

例えば：
Of all the different pieces of music, I thought the first and fourth ones were the most interesting. Both of these pieces had something unique. (入ってに比べ) The first one had a very moving feeling, and I had the idea that something sad had happened. I saw a older man walking slowly, along a path in a park, and he was thinking about his past life but feeling strongly that he did not have a future. (…)

(入ってに対照し) However, the fourth piece of music was very different. It was like a carnival or circus, where there were many things happening all at once. (…) 

3. Now finish your writing with a concluding sentence (終わり文書). 

例えば：
Of all the different pieces of music, I thought the first and fourth ones were the most interesting. Both of these pieces had something unique. The first one had a very moving feeling, and I had the idea that something sad had happened. I saw a older man walking slowly, along a path in a park, and he was thinking about his past life but feeling strongly that he did not have a future. (…)

However, the fourth piece of music was very different. It was like a carnival or circus, where there were many things happening all at once. (…) 

(入ってに終わり部分) I liked the first one. However, I liked the fourth one more because it was…, whereas the first one was…

Do this on a separate page, then print out. Now you have finished the 4th writing assignment!  

Good luck! See you next week!

Image: "Pink Lotus" (courtesy of seaskylab)/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

ECA (Travel English): 秋期・中間プレゼンテーションについて

Hello!

How are you? This post is about mid-term presentations (中間プレゼンテーション).  Our topic will be food from different countries and cultures!

Think about the Mexican dishes from our lesson on Santa Fe, New Mexico. You can present about some Mexican dishes - or you can choose some dishes from another country and culture.  

We'll do our presentations in class in our 8th week (8週) in groups, so this will be like an exam - so it's important to work with classmates you like! 

Your group can do a Power Point presentation, but if you want to do a poster presentation, this is what you need: 

Guidelines for posters (ポスターの指導基準)
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 150 yen.　

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

Here is an example of a presentation poster about Chinese food: 

Now here is what I would like you to do for your poster: 

例えば：

I would like you to have: 
4-6 pictures of two or three different dishes
Ingredients to each dish
Recipe for each dish
Which part of a country the dish comes from

準備しましょう！Have fun!

Image: Top - "Classic Hamburger Sandwich" (courtesy of KEKO64)/FreeDigitalPhotos.net/Chinese food & poster layout shots - personal photographs. All rights reserved. 

ECA (Travel English): ニューメキシコ州・サンタフェの料理、場所

Hello!

How are you? Do you know the name of the place on this map of the U.S.? 

It's New Mexico. New Mexico is not part of Mexico - it is a state (州) in the U.S. On this map, New Mexico is in red.

Today, in our new textbook unit, we're going to Santa Fe, New Mexico. It's one of the most important and interesting places in New Mexico. 

Today, we'll first look at food! Santa Fe has a strong Mexican influence (メキシコ系影響). This means that Mexican food is a big part of the local culture of Santa Fe. Here are some dishes that are common and popular:

This is a breakfast dish called huevos rancheros (rancher's eggs). This is a big breakfast!

Now look at this one. It's called carne asada:

Doesn't it look great? Now check this one out. They're tacos. 

Now for sweets, look at this. It's called a sopaipilla: 

Let's do a tour! Here are some pictures of scenes around Santa Fe. If you don't know about Santa Fe, what's your impression (感想) of it?

What ideas do you get about Santa Fe, like the food, or the places in it? Let's hear your ideas and talk about them with your classmates. 

Take care!

Images: Top: Screenshot of "New Mexico in United States" adapted from photograph by TUBS - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:New_Mexico_in_United_States.svg#/media/File:New_Mexico_in_United_States.svg/Huevos rancheros dish - "Ela huevos rancheros" by ​English Wikipedia user Elchavobeer. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ela_huevos_rancheros.jpg#/media/File:Ela_huevos_rancheros.jpg/Carne asada dish - "Carne asada". Licensed under Public Domain via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Carne_asada.jpg#/media/File:Carne_asada.jpg/Tacos - "001 Tacos de carnitas, carne asada y al pastor" by Larry Miller - Flickr: Tinos Tacos, Roseburg, Ore.. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:001_Tacos_de_carnitas,_carne_asada_y_al_pastor.jpg#/media/File:001_Tacos_de_carnitas,_carne_asada_y_al_pastor.jpg/"Sopaipilla" by Miia Hebert - Flickr. Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sopaipilla.jpg#/media/File:Sopaipilla.jpg/Santa Fe downtown overview - "Santa Fe NM". Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Santa_Fe_NM.jpg#/media/File:Santa_Fe_NM.jpg/Building - "Santa Fe adobe" by karol m from arizona, USA - Flickr. Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Santa_Fe_adobe.jpg#/media/File:Santa_Fe_adobe.jpg/Church - "SantaFeNM StFrancis" by Carptrash at the English language Wikipedia. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SantaFeNM_StFrancis.jpg#/media/File:SantaFeNM_StFrancis.jpg

ECA (Travel English): about me (Part 2)/私について

Hello again!

How are you? As promised, here (finally!) is my Part 2 of answers to your pre-teaching survey questions. 

I have been busy, so I'm very sorry this is so late, but I finally had the time to put up this Part 2 post. I hope I can answer these questions well!

First, many of you asked this question: what are your hobbies? 

Well, I'm busy and these days I don't have much time for hobbies, but when I do have some free time, I like to search around YouTube for old videos and old TV shows from when I was younger in the U.S. and Australia. 

I also like to walk - I love walking, especially in Tokyo! When I do, I like to take pictures of things I find interesting - streets, old buildings, places and things that most people don't notice much. I think there's a lot of history in these things and I like to take pictures of these kinds of things. 

Here's an example. I found these pictures on a wall near Nakano station in Tokyo:

Aren't they great? They were lined up one after another. I had to take these! Some unknown artist did these. I love them! Things like these are what I love to find. Here's another picture from the same wall: 

I think these are incredible!

Now here are some more questions. 

Some of you asked me this kind of question: where do you want to travel to?  

Let me change that question, and tell you about places I think are good to go to for you!

If you want to see something unique, and some place in America most people outside of the U.S. don't go to - I think my home state of Idaho in the U.S. is a unique place to travel to! It has everything - mountains, desert (砂漠), forests, everything! Here are some pictures of things you can find:

My home state of Idaho - it can be an amazing place!

Here are some more questions. 

A few of you also asked me this question: are you married? 

The answer is yes! I am married. I have been married for the last 11 years to a fantastic and wonderful wife. (I would show you her picture, but she doesn't like me to put her picture up here. So maybe I'll show you her picture in the class!)

One person asked me: what's your blood type? Well, my blood type is O+. 

One more person asked me: what kind of music do you like, and do you like singing? 

I like rock, jazz, and R&B. They're my favorites! But I'm sorry to say that I don't like singing. I have a terrible voice!

I have many other things to say, but I have to stop for now. I'm too busy to go on! So for now, that's all.

See you next time in class!

Images: Top and painting shots – personal photographs. All rights reserved.

Idaho mountains - "Owyhee Mountains". Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Owyhee_Mountains.jpg#/media/File:Owyhee_Mountains.jpg/ mountain range -

"Seven Devils" by T. Demetriades - http://www.fs.fed.us/r4/payette/local-resources/images/photo_pages/council_camp_photo.shtml. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Seven_Devils.jpg#/media/File:Seven_Devils.jpg/sunset  -

"May -conservationlands15 Social Media Takeover- Add the Continental Divide Trail - the “King of Trails” - to Your Bucket List (17701256575)" by Bureau of Land Management - May #conservationlands15 Social Media Takeover: Add the Continental Divide Trail - the “King of Trails” - to Your Bucket List. Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:May_-conservationlands15_Social_Media_Takeover-_Add_the_Continental_Divide_Trail_-_the_%E2%80%9CKing_of_Trails%E2%80%9D_-_to_Your_Bucket_List_(17701256575).jpg#/media/File:May_-conservationlands15_Social_Media_Takeover-_Add_the_Continental_Divide_Trail_-_the_%E2%80%9CKing_of_Trails%E2%80%9D_-_to_Your_Bucket_List_(17701256575).jpg

ECA (English Through Songs) B: Taylor Swift - "Red"/テイラー・スイフト「レッド」

Hello!

How are you? Today I would like to introduce a new song to you - Taylor Swift's "Red." Here is the video for it:

In this song, she uses many colors as metaphors (隠喩、例え) to show feelings. What other colors does she use in this song, and what feelings do those colors show?

Taylor Swift is from the U.S. and is one of the biggest stars in music in many countries now, including Japan. If you would like to know more about her, click here for her Wikipedia article (日本語).

I hope you enjoy it.

See you next time!

Image: Personal photograph. All rights reserved.

Video uploaded from Vevo via YouTube. Uploaded strictly for classroom use. I do not own the rights to the musical composition or the video. All rights reserved to the copyright holder(s).

ECA (Culture) B: 性別と文化 「タイの結婚式」

Hello!

How are you? Today I would like to show you a video on marriage customs (各国結婚の風儀、文化). We will look at marriage customs in Thailand.

Marriage customs are a point in studying and understanding gender and culture.

This video is long (13 分!), but it has interesting points about a Thai wedding.

Activity/homework
Please watch and take notes about this wedding ceremony (結婚式). How is the man dressed? How about the woman? What are some things they do? How about the guests? What are they wearing?

Make notes in your notebooks about these and other points. You can make notes in English or Japanese. Bring these notes to the next class.

I hope you find this video and topic interesting.

See you next time!

Image: "Blessed Water At Thai Wedding" (courtesy of bigjom)/FreeDigitalPhotos.net.

Video uploaded from YouTube. Uploaded strictly for classroom use. I do not own the rights to the video. All rights reserved to the copyright holder(s).

ECA (Culture) B: 中間プレゼンテーションについて

Hello!

This post will help you to think about mid-term presentations (中間プレゼンテーション). I will show you some examples of poster presentations. Our topic will be on marriage customs in different cultures. 

Guidelines (指導基準)
We'll do our presentations in class in our 8th week (8週), so this will be like an exam! 

You can do a Power Point presentation, but if you want to do a poster presentation, this is what you need: 

1) You 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 150 yen.　

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

Here are some examples of presentation posters: 

 

Let's take a look at this one:

Good job there! Check this one out:

See you next time!

Image: "Presentation Word" (courtesy of Stuart Miles)/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

ECA (Speaking) II (A): ファションを比べる

Hello!

How are you? Today, let's talk about fashion, and what you think of some different styles. 

Activity 1
Look at these fashions from the past. Which ones do you like? First, here are some hippies from the 1960s:

Now, here are a group of German women wearing popular fashions in the 1970s:

Next, here is a picture of three girls. It's from my generation in the 1980s, and they are wearing styles that were popular then.

Here is a young person from the 1990s, wearing fashions popular then:

Finally, here is some popular fashion from the past decade - the 2000s:

What do you think of these clothing and hair styles from these different times? 

Activity 2
Now ask and talk about what you think of these styles with these words:

Cheap/cheaper (than)

Short/shorter (than)

Big/bigger (than)

Comfortable/more comfortable (than)

Expensive/more expensive (than)

Stylish/more stylish (than)

例えば：

A: I think clothes in the 1960s looked cheaper than clothes in the 1970s. What do you think?

B: Me? I think so too. They looked cheaper. I think clothes in the 1970s were more stylish. 

A: I think so too. They had interesting patterns. 

B: What do you think of styles from the 1980s? 

A: They looked cool, and the hair was bigger than the hair in the 1970s! 

B: (…)

See you next time!

Images: Top - "Close Up Necktie Of Businessman" (courtesy of hin255)/FreeDigital Photos.net/

Hippies - "Woodstock redmond hair" by Derek Redmond and Paul Campbell - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - 

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Woodstock_redmond_hair.JPG#/media/File:Woodstock_redmond_hair.JPG/Four women - "Bundesarchiv Bild 183-L0902-114, Leipzig, Messe, neue Mode" by Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-L0902-114 / Ulrich Häßler / CC-BY-SA 3.0. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 de via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-L0902-114,_Leipzig,_Messe,_neue_Mode.jpg#/media/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-L0902-114,_Leipzig,_Messe,_neue_Mode.jpg/Three girls - by jeanne [Public domain]/Young man - "Jonathan Brandis Wiki" by Airwolfberlin - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jonathan_Brandis_Wiki.jpg#/media/File:Jonathan_Brandis_Wiki.jpg/Man on red carpet - "Jared Leto - 66ème Festival de Venise" by Nicolas Genin - originally posted to Flickr as 66ème Festival de Venise (Mostra). Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jared_Leto_-_66%C3%A8me_Festival_de_Venise.jpg#/media/File:Jared_Leto_-_66%C3%A8me_Festival_de_Venise.jpg/All rights reserved to the authors of the original images.