東京理科大学 A英3: Writing assignment 6・作文6

Hello!

How are you? In this post, I will introduce our 6th writing assignment (作文6) for the year - writing our opinions on news and issues topics (時事問題) of your choices.

Topic

You have a lot of freedom with topic choices for this writing assignment. Choose any news item, or an issue in society – in Japan or another country – that you have an opinion about. 

But if you have trouble thinking of a topic, here are some choices for you. Look at these and choose one (1):

• The aging population (老齢人口) of Japan and what older people need for their support
• Social media and its problems (for example, fake news, or selling of people’s personal data by Facebook or other social media sites)
• Issues and/or things that need improvement for your university student life
• Possible problems and/or issues connected with the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics
• Voting rights (投票権) for 18-year-olds in Japanese elections (選挙)

For an extra challenge, here are two topics that are even deeper, and also even more timely and important. One of these we have already looked into today - about hikikomori. But I will give extra points to students who try for writing about these topics – and I will have supporting blogposts for these topics:

• Hikikomori and their needs for social adjustment (社会適応) in Japanese society
• Refugee issues (難民の問題) and what refugees need for immigration (移住) to Japan

I am gathering writing on these topics into a book called Voices & Ideas - this is a book about student opinion writing on news topics and social issues. The best of your writing on this topic could go into this book, so write to the best you can! 

How much to write

I would like you to write as much as you can, around 3-5 paragraphs' worth of writing - but of course if you can write more, go for it!

Deadline (締め切り)

It will be December 17th (12/17), so I want you to work on your first draft (下書き) in class from now in your notebooks in pencil. Bring your drafts to the next class. 

I will try to talk to as many of you as I can to review your drafts, and you can change things about the draft as you need to, then write to the finish, print the final version out, and turn in your work. 

Good luck with this! I look forward to reading your great writing on these issues!

Image: By Skagens Kunstmuseer - Lisette Vind Ebbesen med en kopi af dagens avis, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=56159623

東京理科大学 A英3: Routines & problems・日課、生活の問題

Hello!

How are you? Let's talk about routines (日課) and possible problems (問題) you can have in them! 

What order (順番) do you think this routine of different people should go in? 

Look at these pictures. What's the right order (正しい順番)? When you're finished, write the order in your notebooks. 

Pre-class preparation/Activity 1
Now let's try these. What's the right order? What are some possible problems you can see in this routine? 

a.

b.

c.

d.

e.  

f.

g.

h.

i.

Activity 2

Now talk about this routine, and of problems you can see people might have in it! 

例えば: You could wake up late for work because you forgot to set your alarm clock.

How about your daily routine? What time do you get up? Come to campus? Finish your last class? Go to a part-time job if you gave one? What problems do you sometimes have in your daily routine? 

Have fun! See you next class!

Images: Top - "Schedule In An Organizer" (courtesy of Stuart Miles)/1. "Business Meeting" (courtesy of Ambro)/2. "Adorable Couple Watching TV" (courtesy of imagerymajestic)/3. "Woman Asleep" (courtesy of Danilo Rizzuti)/4. "A Cheeseburger Isolated" (courtesy of Grant Cochrane)/5. "Businessman Running With Briefcase" (courtesy of imagerymajestic)/6. "Drive" (courtesy of graur razvan donut)/7. "Drinking Coffee" (courtesy of Ambro)/8. "Woman Cooking Pasta" (courtesy of imagerymajestic)/9. "Bedroom" (courtesy of winnond)/All images from FreeDigitalPhotos.net

電気通信大学 ASE I: Poster presentation design sample・ポスタープレゼンテーションデザインの例えば

Hello!

How are you? Today here is an example of a poster presentation design template. While it is small, I will go through some key sections for you to show what role they play. 

Summary (要約) 

This section forms your summary - it shows the important points on what you'll present on as your argument.  

Examples (例えば)

These are examples of points you can show and argue for in your topic. 

Conclusion (まとめ)

This is your conclusion. It restates your points and argument in different words. 

I hope all this can help you in your design and thinking. 

See you next week! Good luck! 

Images: Screenshots of personal poster design. All rights reserved. 

電気通信大学 ASE I: Presentation topic 2・プレゼンテーション2

Hello!

How are you? This is a reminder to all of you about our 2nd presentation topic - about the ideal schedule of your life at the university, or in a working life. 

While I have already given you the handout about the presentation today, I am posting this here as a reminder to all of you about the theme and what you can do. 

Things to think about
What are the things you have to do in your daily life, and what are the problems or things you complain about the most in your life? If you had the power to organize your life in a way that would be better for you, what kind of schedule would you have?

For example, what kind of schedule would you have here at the university? When would you like to have your first class of the day? Would you want to have some classes at night?

As for a job – if you could set your own hours, what would they be? When would you even get up in the morning (or even afternoon)? Also - would you work at an office, or at home? 

Deadline (締め切り)

We will do these on June 20th (6/20), so this time, there are two big differences:

1. You have only one (1) week to prepare these. 

2. You will present individually – but like before, to a small group.

Guidelines

1. While I am thinking in terms of posters, if you really would like to do Power Point, you are free to do so – though you would only have a week to prepare. Come and see me to let me know if you want to do a Power Point show.

2. As for posters, A3 size is good, though if you would like to go a little larger, that is okay.  But show a section on your poster where you would write a short summary (要約) of your topic.

3. Because this time we are going quicker, and possibly a little “lower-tech” with these presentations, you have the freedom to do what you want with design – though I will post a short blogpost with an example of a template for you to get ideas from. 

Good luck! See you next time!

Image: "Man Working On Office Desk In Vintage Tone" (courtesy of surasakiStock)/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

ECA (Culture) A: カルチャーショック

Hello!

How are you? Today let's look at culture shock (カルチャーショック).

Here is a short video about foreign students talking about their culture shock experiences at a Japanese university. Let's watch and listen to their stories!

What do you think of their experiences? If you have been to another country, have you been surprised or shocked about what you have seen? How about by people there? 

Let's talk about these!

Take care!

Image: Personal photograph. All rights reserved.

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

芝浦工業大学Writing 1B 12/21 – expressing an opinion & writing a proposal final essay: outlines and supporting reasons

Hello all Writing 1B students,

Image "Notes" courtesy of healingdream/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net

How are you? Here, I'll show you a step-by-step guide as to how you can develop your final essay.

STEPS
1. Make an outline (あらすじ). Here's a good example:

ToTopic sentence: Vending machines at Shibaura should serve fruit and other healthy snacks.

RcReasons: Fruit and healthy snacks give students and teachers more energy.
RcReasons: They make people feel less tired.
RcReasons: They are often low in fat and calories.
RcReasons: They are often cheaper than chocolate or soda.

2. Develop your reasons by adding more information, with signal words. For example:

To begin with, fruit and healthy snacks give students and teachers more energy because they are made of natural sugars that the body can take in more easily.

In addition, they make people less tired and this helps them to keep going longer through the day.

They are also often low in fat and calories, because doctors often recommend fruit, for example, to people who are trying to lose weight.

Finally, they are often cheaper than chocolate and soda and easier to throw away in the garbage because they are often not in wrappers or containers.

3. Put these reasons with supporting information into paragraph form. For example:

To begin with, fruit and healthy snacks give students and teachers more energy because they are made of natural sugars that the body can take in more easily. In addition, they make people less tired and this helps them to keep going longer through the day. They are also often low in fat and calories, because doctors often recommend fruit, for example, to people who are trying to lose weight. Finally, they are often cheaper than chocolate and soda and easier to throw away in the garbage because they are often not in wrappers or containers.

From here, you can now start developing your proposals (企画書) in January!

Check this blogpost out as many times as you want or need to refresh yourselves on this writing! See you in 2013! Have a great holiday!

芝浦工業大学Writing 1B 12/21 – expressing an opinion & writing a proposal (Part 2)

Hello to all my Writing 1B students!

Image "Business People In Discussion" courtesy of Ambro/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net

SPECIAL NOTE: Thank you to anyone who came to the makeup lesson (補講) last Saturday (12/15). I know many of you were busy and could not come, but for those who did - thank you so much!

Today, I will repost what part of the lesson from last Friday (12/14). I know we did not get so far last week, so let's do this in today's class. For this lesson, we don't really need our textbooks.

LESSON
Expressing your own opinion about something - look at this topic idea:

Expressing your own opinion about something - look at this topic idea:

Something that could be improved at this campus of Shibaura.  

Something that could be improved at this campus of Shibaura. 

Now what do you think of things at Shibaura - such as the student activities and clubs, classes, professors, food and drink services, or other things you can think of? Could anything be better here? What would you do or suggest to change things?

Begin writing some ideas, because we will now start a short paper about them. In the paper, you will make a proposal to change what you think should be changed on campus.
here.ere. Share your ideas with others in the class.
ACTIVITY
Share your ideas with others in the class! Write an email to a classmate - cc me - and share your ideas with him. He can do the same - he can share his ideas with you too.

Make an outline (あらすじ) about what you think could be made better here at this campus. Type them up on the Word document you've saved. We'll go over them in January - and I will show you how to develop your ideas into a small, short paper.
January - and I will show you how to develop your ideas into a small, short paper.

See you in 2013! Happy New Year - and I hope you have a safe and relaxing holiday!

芝浦工業大学Writing 1B 12/14 – expressing an opinion & writing a proposal

Hello to all my Writing 1B students,

Image "Business People In Discussion" courtesy of Ambro/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net

How are you? Today let's look at two things - expressing an opinion, and writing a proposal based on it.

WARMUP

Look at your descriptions of people from last week (12/7). Now let's read some out loud and the class guesses who the person is! (Write the description on the Word document you've saved if you haven't already!)

HOMEWORK CHECK

Textbook pg. 111 #5-8 (& any of #1-4 you didn't finish last week)

LESSON

1. Textbook pg. 127-128 expressing an opinion #1 & 2

2. pg. 129-130 topic sentences that express an opinion #1-3

ACTIVITY

Expressing your own opinion about something - look at this topic idea:

Something that could be improved at this campus of Shibaura.  

Now what do you think of things at Shibaura - such as the student activities and clubs, classes, professors, food and drink services, or other things you can think of? Could anything be better here? What would you do or suggest to change things?

Begin writing some ideas, because we will now start a short paper about them. In the paper, you will make a proposal to change what you think should be changed on campus here. Share your ideas with others in the class.

HOMEWORK

Make an outline (あらすじ) about what you think could be made better here at this campus. Type them up on the Word document you've saved. We'll go over them next time - and I will show you how to develop your ideas into a small, short paper.

*SPECIAL REMINDER- we will have a makeup class (補講) tomorrow (12/15) in the 4th period from 2:40-4:10. See you then!