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: Japan & the future・日本の未来

Hello! 

How are you? A big otsukaresamadeshita on the presentations last week. Good job on those! 

Now here is a post on the future - this time, Japan and the future. 

Look at the picture above. It shows an average Japanese family having dinner, and it comes from a Japanese magazine article from 1954 about home life. Is there anything different about family dinner time now than from then? 

Activity
What kinds of social or cultural changes can you see happening in Japan in the future? Japanese society and culture has already been through many changes since World War II. 

Take a look at these next group of pictures. They show some changes that have happened in around the last 50 years or so, up to now. What do you notice about the buildings, or the cars, or the way people dress? How do you feel that things have changed? 

Chuo-dori, Ginza, Tokyo, late 1960s

Chuo-dori, Ginza, Tokyo, today

Japanese young people, early 1960s

Japanese young people, today

Some contemporary fashions in Japan, late 1960s

Some contemporary fashions in Japan, today

Now let's take a look at this video about the Tsukuba Expo in 1985. This was almost 20 years later, but already things had changed since the 1960s: 

I have just two questions: 

What was the theme of the Tsukuba Expo? 

What kinds of achievements did the Tsukuba Expo want to show?

Other questions to think about:

So what kinds of changes can you imagine happening in society or culture in the future from now? What sorts of fashions might people be wearing? For example, would long hair come back into fashion among men? Would women wear mini-skirts again? Or - would men wear skirts and women wear suits? How about music? What would it sound like in the future? 

What designs in cars could you see in the future? Would we see a return to some older designs in cars? How about buildings? How might they be different? Perhaps would we see something in the future that people 50 years ago would never have imagined! 

Now here are the board notes for our class from 11/19:

See you next week!

Images: Top - by Unknown - Japanese magazine "Photograph Gazette, May 1954 issue" published by Government of Japan., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17850644/Ginza in 1967 - by Roger W from Sarasota, Florida, U.S.A. - Tokyo - Chuo-Dori, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=60804070/Ginza in 2017 - by Gary - DSC08269 - Chuo-dori Ginza, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=40961932/Japanese young people in 1964 - screenshot taken from Japanese+youth,+Tokyo,+1964+(11).jpg/Japanese young people today - screenshot taken from https://www.google.co.jp/search?biw=1199&bih=746&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=w2dXWpWxAcr08QXcjLHAAg&q=japanese+young+people&oq=japanese+young+people&gs_l=psy-ab.12...0.0.0.37755.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0..0.0....0...1c..64.psy-ab..0.0.0....0.ZsHKi1iiTEI#imgrc=VXhxXXgo1PeJ-M:/Fashions in the 1960s - screenshot taken from https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggSgihLQJ00A84oVxNXdnaTdsbeTOGyngG-Cw7QCFjOczG3LECPdEbMZn_H9xcCV5UGrB9aZYdZqsodtUNL0InEGB4x1qi37sgsipFgP8_t3ThGqxbukg0V5zUJZvTYyx5ZwU6YWul76k/s1600/Street fashion today – screenshot taken from images on Instagram.
I do not own the rights to the images originally posted on Instagram. All rights reserved on original images to the copyright holders. Screenshots of images uploaded for educational purposes only.

東京理科大学 Writing & Composition 1b: Cause & effect・原因結果

Hello!

How are you? Let's look at some basic cause and effect (原因結果). While I know you understand the idea of cause and effect, practicing how to write this in English can always help you. 

Before we begin, here are the board notes for our class on 11/11:

Special note: Once again - I am very sorry I gave you a longer and more difficult reading than what you could do. その難しすぎるの読んでことは申し訳すみませんでした。

So now let's step back a little to look at some cause and effect!

Activity 1

1. Look at these sentences. In your notebooks, write the effect (what happens) and the cause (why it happened), then share what you wrote to your classmates.  

a. He went to the convenience store because he needed some food.
Effect: (What happened?)
Cause: (Why did it happen?)

b. She could only eat a little soup because she was feeling sick.
Effect: 
Cause: 

c. The mother was very quiet because the baby was sleeping.
Effect: 
Cause: 

d. The man bought a vacuum cleaner because he wanted to clean the house.
Effect: 
Cause: 

e. The driver stopped the car because the traffic signal turned red.
Effect: 
Cause: 

f. The student raised his hand because he had a question.
Effect: 
Cause: 

2. Now look at these sentences. What is the effect, and what is the cause? Choose two (2) of these to do!

a. Metal corrodes because of contact with air.
What's the effect? What's the cause? 

b. He was vomiting this morning because he got drunk last night.
What's the effect? What's the cause? 

c. Yellow chromate ion solution becomes red because of change in the acid-base composition.
What's the effect? What's the cause? 

d. She couldn't sleep because she had drunk too much coffee in the afternoon.
What's the effect? What's the cause? 

Activity 2/homework
Watch this video about photosynthesis (光合成). It will show more about what the cause and effect process is about. 

If you go to YouTube at this link, you can turn on Japanese subtitles (字幕) if you need them. 

As you watch, make notes about each step in the process of photosynthesis. 

Watch the video as many times as you want or need. What are the causes - and effects - in this process? 

When you are finished, write this process in your own words based on your notes about the video. Read aloud to your classmates based on what you watched. 

Now here are the board notes for our class on 11/18:

Enjoy the festival! See you in two weeks!

Images: Top - by aussiegall - [1], CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4428411/Board notes - personal photographs. All rights reserved.
Video uploaded from YouTube. I do not own the rights to the video. All rights reserved to the copyright holder(s). 
Uploaded for classroom use only.

東京理科大学 技術英語: About hacking・ハッキングについて

Hello!

How are you? Good job and a big otsukaresamadeshita on the presentations last week! 

For the IT students of the class, here is a short video for you about hacking to go with your reading about catching hackers.   

I hope this can help you with your understanding about the reading. 

Now here are the board notes for our class from 11/12:

See you next week!

Image: By Santeri Viinamäki, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=53153294

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

東京理科大学 技術英語: About the Sagrada Familia・サグラダ・ファミリアについて

Hello!

How are you? Good job and a big otsukaresamadeshita on the presentations last week! 

For the mechanical engineering students of our class, here is a short video to go with your reading about the famous Sagrada Família in Barcelona, Spain - the lifetime achievement of the great Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí. It remained unfinished in his own lifetime, and under construction for decades after. 

The picture above is a model of the full structure, with the parts already completed in brown. 

In 2026, however, it is scheduled to finally be completed. This video shows some facts and interesting details about the Sagrada Família, and the architecture and engineering involved with it. 

I hope this can help with your understanding about the reading. 

Now here are the board notes for our class from 11/12:

See you next week! 

Images: Top -by Balou46, Io_Herodotus - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7050531/Board notes - personal photograph. All rights reserved.
Video uploaded from YouTube. I do not own the rights to the video. All rights reserved to the copyright holder(s). Uploaded for educational purposes only.