電気通信大学 ASE II: Timelines of things from past to present & future・過去、現在、未来のタイムライン

Hello!

How are you? Today let's look at more ideas about the future, but from a different viewpoint - from timelines of things from the past to the present, and what we could imagine about the future. 

Look at the picture above. It comes from a magazine in the U.S. called Popular Science. It has been published for a long time, and this picture is from 1947. In one of their magazines from 1947, Popular Science had a report about the future. It imagined many things about it. From the picture, what do you see that it imagined about the future? Talk about it!

例えば：In the picture at the top, maybe they thought all our electricity (電気) would come from nuclear power plants (原子力発電所) in the future. 

Now look at this short video. It's the opening and closing credits to an animated cartoon from the early 1960s that was popular in the U.S. It was called The Jetsons and it was about an American family living in the future. What sorts of things do you notice in the video? 

What do you think of that? Every culture has its own ideas about what the future looks like. The Jetsons video clip plus the picture at the top are very some American ideas, especially after World War II and into the 1950s and 1960s, about what the future would look like. Would any of these ideas be the same as some Japanese ideas at that time about the future?  

Activity
Now how have some things developed and changed over time? Here are two (2) other short videos for all of you - one is about money, and the other, about cars. 

In a pair or group, choose one (1) video. Watch it and note how things have changed with the topic - either money or cars - over time. 

Then - get together with another pair or group who has watched a different video. With the other pair or group, compare and contrast (比較対照して) what you have seen in your video - and give each other some ideas about the future with the thing you watched about (either money, or cars). 

About money

About cars

Have fun! See you next time!

Image: Screenshot of illustration uploaded to Popular Science website. 

Uploaded for educational purposes only. I do not own the rights to this illustration. All rights reserved to the copyright holder(s). 
Videos uploaded from YouTube. I do not own the rights to the animation or other content within. All rights reserved to the copyright holders. Uploaded for educational purposes only.

電気通信大学 ASE II: The future・未来

Hello!

How are you? Today let's look at some ideas about the future (未来). 

Look at this short video. It's the opening and closing credits to an animated cartoon from the early 1960s that was popular in the U.S. It was called The Jetsons and it was about an American family living in the future. What sorts of things do you notice in the video? 

What do you think of that?

Now look at the picture above. It comes from a magazine in the U.S. called Popular Science. It has been published for a long time, and this picture is from 1947. 

In one of their magazines from 1947, Popular Science had a report about the future. It imagined many things about it. How many of these things have become real? 

Every culture has its own ideas about what the future looks like. The Jetsons video clip plus the picture at the top are very some American ideas, especially after World War II, about what the future would look like. Would any of these ideas be the same as some Japanese ideas at that time about the future?  

Activity

Let's look at these other pictures from the 1947 Popular Science article. What do you think they imagined in these pictures? 

例えば：In the picture at the top, maybe they thought all our electricity (電気) would come from nuclear power plants (原子力発電所) in the future. 

1. First - let's try to imagine what they thought in these pictures!

2. Next - let's see where these pictures came from with a report about them. Go to the Popular Science website here to find out!

Have fun! See you next time!

Images: Screenshots of illustrations uploaded to Popular Science website. 

Uploaded for educational purposes only. I do not own the rights to these illustrations. All rights reserved to the copyright holder(s). 
Video uploaded from YouTube. I do not own the rights to the animation within. All rights reserved to the copyright holder(s). Uploaded for educational purposes only.

津田塾大学オペン・スクール時事英語でディスカッションII・2/20 - about employment: IQ test

Hello to all my discussion students,

Image "Business Meeting" courtesy of luigi diamanti/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image "Business Meeting" courtesy of luigi diamanti/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net

How are you? This post is some follow-up homework to our lesson today. Watch it at home or wherever you can access a computer. It's fairly long and you can skip some of it, but it was still the best I could find after searching for some time. I was looking for something interesting that would fit tonight's theme, and this seemed to be the most unique I had come across. 

This is something some of you may be familiar with - though to be frank I'm not sure. It's an IQ test the American narrator of the video says is given in Japanese companies to new recruits. Never having worked for a Japanese employer in a business setting I have no way to know if this is really true - but I found this to be interesting and thought I should share it here.

This video uploaded from YouTube. I do not own the rights to this video. It is strictly for classroom use.

This video uploaded from YouTube. I do not own the rights to this video. It is strictly for classroom use.

If in fact this is true and even if it isn't - or is, but is not as you see it here - a few questions for you: 

1. Do you believe this kind of test has any merit? If so, how - and if not, why not?
2. If you have taken a test similar to this, how well did you do? 
3. Should there be tests such as these in companies? Why or why not? 
4. Does this kind of test call on thinking skills that are actually used in day-to-day work? 

*Update - I overlooked posting the rules of this test! My apologies. The rules come from the YouTube post I got this from (I will leave them in the original font and point size so you can see clearly): 

Mother can't be alone with either of the sons without the father present (Shaken baby syndrome).
Father can't be alone with either of the daughters without the mother present (Incest/pedophilia).
The thief can't be with any of the family members without the police present (Snatching your people up).
Only the mother, father, and police can operate the raft.
Only two people can be on the raft at once.

Watch, and post some comments about it to this blog post - or send to me at my email address (washizoraATgmailDOTcom) anytime between now and next Tuesday if you have difficulty uploading. I'll be interested to know what you think. 

See you next week!

KIFL WIT Discussion I (1st period) - 2/6 - some open class short presentation images

Hello to all my 1st period discussion students (and anyone else who reads this!),

How are you? Today we had a period of short open class presentations on topics of
How are you? Yesterday we had a period of short open class presentations on topics of student choice. Above is one of the pictures of Tomoe Haga's talk on alcoholic drinks in various countries and areas. Good job Tomoe!

I am posting these to show what students like yourselves are capable of doing, and as a "thank-you" to all of you for your effort - especially in the terrible weather we had yesterday morning that made coming to KIFL difficult for many students. 
that made coming to KIFL difficult for many students. 

This next shot above is of Mana Inoue's talk on American-style diners. Very good - and it
This next shot above is of Mana Inoue's talk on American-style diners. Very good - and it makes me hungry! Here's another shot:
makes me hungry! Here's another shot:

Below is Shiori Nonaka's poster on Valentine's day customs in various countries and
Below is Shiori Nonaka's poster on Valentine's day customs in various countries and areas. Good job Shiori!
areas. Good job Shiori!

 

Finally - while I wasn't able to get any shots of it as it was Internet-based - thank you to
Finally - while I wasn't able to get any shots of it as it was Internet-based - thank you to Natsuki Sakurai for her talk on Japanese-influenced American animation. It was very entertaining!

Good job to all of you! See you next class! 
Good job to all of you! See you next class!

Cheers!

Cheers!

聖学院大学ECA (Speaking) I (J) 10/25 - violence in movies, anime & TV shows「暴力的な映画・アニメ・テレビ番組」

Hello to all my Nichibun Speaking I students,

Image "Police Line" courtesy of Simon Howden/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net

How are you? Today, let's look at violence (暴力) in movies & TV shows.

Watch this short anime clip below. It's the opening to Speed Racer - the American name for マッハ Go Go Go. This was an old Japanese anime from the 1960s - maybe your parents watched it on TV when they were children. Do you think there's much violence in it? 

Take a look at this next clip. It's from the movie Gangs of New York, starring Leonardo DiCaprio. What do you think of the violence in this clip?

How about this next clip? I'm sure you know this! It's a scene from ウルトラマン (Ultraman). What do you think of the violence in this clip?

See you in class!