特別ポスト: a, an とtheの使うこと

Hello to all my students,

Image "Back To School Text On Back Head" courtesy of koratmember/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Here's a special post for all of you about how to use a, an, and the. Knowing how to use these words is very important!

Using 'a' or 'an'

We use a or an with any noun. (aとかan は何でも名詞を使う。)

1.  'a'

例えば：Here is a textbook. 

textbook     textbook     textbook

textbook     textbook     textbook

(何でもテキスト。)

I like to study in a coffee shop.

coffee shop     coffee shop

coffee shop     coffee shop

(なんでもコーヒーショップ。)

Mark is a boy in our class.

Keiko         Takeshi        Mark                   

Maria          Taro           Anne

Maria is a girl in our class.

She writes in a yellow notebook in English class.

We eat our lunch in a large cafeteria.

2. 'an'

*We use an with nouns that begin with vowel sounds, and nouns with silent “h.” (anは名詞の母音とサイレント”h”が始める 。)

例えば：I eat an apple every day with lunch.

(何でもリンゴ。) 

I like to have an egg on toast with coffee for breakfast.

(何でも卵 。)

He has an idea about what to cook for dinner.

(…)

She’s wearing an orange dress today.

There’s an umbrella on the floor next to Keiko’s bag.

Our class will start in an hour.

Using 'the'

We use the with specific or particular nouns. (the は特定の名詞を使う。)

例えば：Here is the English textbook.

history textbook     Japanese textbook    

English textbook    science textbook

Starbucks is the coffee shop I like.

Doutor     St. Marc     Tully’s     Starbucks

Keiko is the girl in the first row.     

                     1^st row: 

Keiko         Takeshi        Mark     

                    2^nd row:  

Maria           Taro            Anne

Taro is the boy in the second row.

Russia is the largest country in the world.

Russia: 17,098,242 km²

Canada: 9,984,670 km²

U.S.: 9,826,675 km²

China: 9,596,961 km²

(…)

Mr. Suzuki is the teacher for our history class. 

Keiko, Maria and Anne are the girls in our Japanese class. 

The English class is down the hall next to the computer room. 

I hope this will help you to remember how to use a, an, and the in speaking and writing. 

See you again!

週1・2 - ECA (Speaking) I (C, W & A): 洋服の描写

Hello to my speaking students,

Image "Close Up Necktie Of Businessman" courtesy of hin255/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net

How are you? Look at the picture above. What is it? What colors do you see? 

Now look at these different clothes and styles. What are these people wearing? Let's talk about them!

1. 

例えば：He's wearing a __________. 

2. 

3.

4. 

5.

6.

Photo credits: 1. "Handsome Young Businessman" (courtesy of imagerymajestic) 2. "Beautiful Young Woman" (courtesy of posterize) 3. "Woman In Black Shirt And Jeans Skirt" (courtesy of marin) 4. "Young Handsome Man" (courtesy of marin) 5. "Fashion Model In Spring" (courtesy of posterize) 6. "Enjoy On Sunny Day In Park" (courtesy of Photokanok)/All pictures from FreeDigitalPhotos.net

週1・2 - ECA (Speaking) II (All): 人物の描写

Hello to my speaking students,

Image "Beautiful Young Woman" courtesy of posterize/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net

How are you? Let's learn more about how to describe people (人物を描写).

Homework
Look at these pictures. Write about the people in these pictures. The picture at the top of this post is an example (例えば) :

This person has black shoulder-length hair and dark eyes. She's thin and good-looking. 

Now try to write some extra details about their clothes (洋服がさらに細かい描写): 

She's wearing a black sweater and gray scarf with blue jeans. 

So, your description (描写) can look like this: 

This person has black shoulder-length hair and dark eyes. She's thin and good-looking. She's wearing a black sweater and gray scarf with blue jeans. 

Try with these other pictures! 

1.

2. 

2. 
3. 

3. 

4. 

5.

6. 

7. 

Have fun!
Photo credits: 1. "Beautiful Young Woman" (courtesy of posterize) 2. "Preparing For Dinner" (courtesy of imagerymajestic) 3. "Smiling little girl 

Photo credits: 1. "Preparing For Dinner" (courtesy of imagerymajestic) 2. "Seated African Child" (courtesy of africa) 3. "Older Man With Hat" (courtesy of Rosemary Ratcliff) 4. "Young Woman In Stylish Outfit" (courtesy of posterize) 5. "Genial Older Man" (courtesy of Rosemary Ratcliff) 6. "Old African Man" (courtesy of africa) 7. "Asian Woman Smiling On The Bedroom Floor" (courtesy of Feelart)/All pictures from FreeDigitalPhotos.net

週1・2・3 特別ポスト - ECA (英語基礎表現) I (Super A): answers to your pre-teaching survey questions

Hello to my Super A students!

How are you? Here I will try to answer your questions from your pre-teaching surveys.

One student asked me what Japanese food I liked. Well, I like many Japanese dishes, but my favorite one might be unagi. I love unagi! I love the richness of the sauce for it, and the softness of the meat. But it's expensive, and high in calories, so I don't eat it so much. Once in a while, however, I like to have it!

The same student also asked me what surprised me about Japanese culture and customs the first time I came here. Well, I think it might have been how people take any chance they can to take their shoes off. I knew that people took their shoes off at home, but I didn't know that people also sometimes took their shoes off in restaurants. That surprised me! In the U.S., you don't do this, and anybody who did take their shoes off, even under the table, would get very strange looks from people.

This student also asked me this question: "If you got much money you can't use out, what would you use (it for)?" That's an interesting question I didn't expect! I guess what the student means is what I would do if I didn't have enough money to go out somewhere. (I hope that's what this person means!)

Hmm…I think that if I didn't have enough money to go somewhere, but maybe had a little to spend on something, I would rent a DVD of a movie I really like, cook a nice meal, then watch the movie at home.

Another student asked me if I had been to China. I am sorry to say that I have not been to China, though I now know some people from there and would be interested in going. This student also asked if I had been to Thailand, because I had a picture from there on my welcome blogpost.

Well, I am also sorry to say that I have not been to Thailand. The picture on my welcome post was from the Internet. One time, I looked around on the Internet for pictures of different greetings (挨拶) from different cultures, and I found the one from Thailand. I thought it was a great picture, very charming, of Thai people greeting each other in the typical wai, which is common in Thailand. I wish I had taken this picture!

One other student also asked me if I liked Japan, and what kind of place here I liked, and didn't like. Well, I have lived here now for 17 years, so it's home to me anymore! As far as places I like here, I have to say that Tokyo has always been a world in itself here. It has so many parts to it that are unique, and that I can explore with imagination.

As far as other parts of Japan I like, I have to say I also like the Karuizawa area in summer. It's very comfortable and relaxing. I also like the coastal and beach towns along the JR Yokosuka line going down to Kamakura, like Zushi and Hayama. I feel that I'm really on the Pacific Ocean in those places, and I like being near the coast. I come from Idaho in the U.S., and it's landlocked, with no ocean. So I love being near big water!

For places I don't like…well, I find Omiya to be mostly uninteresting. I like Urawa so much better, because it has more character to it. I also have to say that I don't like Tsukuba in Ibaraki so much, because I lived there for six years and it was kind of boring. Whenever I had a chance, I would go to Kashiwa in Chiba, or Tokyo. Kashiwa is a nice small city I moved to and lived in for three years after I got married and left Tsukuba.

One more student asked me how old I was, and where I was from. Well, I was born in California in the U.S. in 1962, so I am now 52 years old. (I just had my birthday on April 8th!) I lived in Australia for nine years, from when I was almost three years sold until I was almost 12 years old, then we moved back to the U.S., to Idaho, in the Pacific Northwest of the U.S. I went to junior high school and high school, then later university, in Idaho.

Finally, one more student asked me if I was a Christian. Well, I am not a church-going one, so I'm afraid I'm not one to ask about the Bible. But here at Seigakuin, there are many people who are very knowledgable about the Bible, and whom students can ask many rich and interesting questions to.

That's all for now! Please keep your questions coming! At any time, please feel free to post comments and questions.

See you in class!

週1・2・3 - ECA (英語基礎表現) I (Super A): Places & travel experiences/場所・位置・旅の経験

Hello to my Super A students, 

How are you? Let's write about places (場所) and travel experiences (旅の経験)! 

Activity
What kinds of places or events have you been to? Look at these places. Which ones are like places your have been to? If you have not been to these places, which ones are the most interesting to you? Which one do you like the best? 

Talk about these places, then write about them! 

a tropical island 

  the Great Wall of China

a Greek temple

 

Angkor Wat

 an open-air market

the Sydney Opera House

Times Square in New York

a Japanese street festival 

Have fun!

Photo credits: Top photo: Gate: "Gate, Hakone" (personal image)/Tropical island: "Cloud Reflection At Dusk" (courtesy of samuiblue)/Great Wall: "Great Wall Of China" (courtesy of cescassawin)/Greek temple: "Ancient Ruins In Delphi" (courtesy of thephotoholic)/Angkor Wat: "Angkor Wat Sunrise" (courtesy of J Frasse)/Open air market: "Shop" (courtesy of Dino De Luca)/Sydney Opera House: "Sydney Opera House At Night" (courtesy of Susie B)/Times Square: "New York Times" (courtesy of Antoine Henrich)/Japanese street festival: "Street Festival, Hakone" (personal image) /All attributed pictures from FreeDigitalPhotos.net 

このブログにようこそ！

Hello!

How are you? I'm Lee Arnold. Welcome to my blog, The Daily Sekaijin! On it I will post videos, pictures and other things for you for our classes. You can write comments here too. We can have fun in these classes!
classes! 
ブログにようこそ！ブログが授業のためにヴィデオ、写真、画像やアップする。どちでも英語とか日本語コメントの書くができる。楽しいクラスしましょう！

Now - I will show you a little bit about myself. 

This picture is of me and my wife's family. We're enjoying hanami. Did you have a hanami party this year?  

I hope I can be your teacher this year! Let me show you some pictures of me and my family. You can ask me about these pictures. I'll be happy to tell you about them. Here's the first picture:

Here's some more. Ask me about these!

Please ask me about these! I have things to tell you - and I hope you can tell me about yourselves.

ができる。楽しいクラスしましょう！

ントができる。楽しいクラスしましょう！

Let's have a great semester together!  

あとでね！See you in class!

特別ポスト - To all my students this year

Hello to all my students this year,

Unattributed image taken from the Internet - all rights reserved. 

No copyright infringement intended. I do not own the rights to this image.

How are all of you? This is a short post to say to all of you - thank you for being my students this year! I was very proud of the hard work all of you did this year. 

I hope you have a great spring holiday, and I hope I can have the chance to have some of you as my students again! 

See you in April!

特別ポスト - ECA (Reading) II (Super A)：ifを使った条件文のレビュー

Hello to all my students,

Image "Water Drops In Rainy Day" courtesy of Toa55/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

How are you? Here I have a video for you about the basic type of if-clauses (ifを使った条件文).  

Look at the picture above. Here's an example of a sentence using a basic if-clause:

If it rains, you will see water drip outside your window. 

Watch this video as many times as you want or need. I hope it will help you to understand this grammar point better for the posttest next week on January 27th (1/27). 

Video from YouTube. I do not own the rights to this video. It is uploaded strictly for educational purposes. 

See you then!

特別ポスト - ECA (Reading) II (Super A)：表現、現在完了形のレビュー

Hello to all my students,

Image "Classic Porsche 959" courtesy of M-Pics/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

How are you? Here I have a video for you about the present perfect tense (表現、現在完了形). 

Look at the picture above. Here's an example of the present perfect tense: 

The driver of this car has driven it over many long distances. 

So watch this video about how to use the present perfect tense as many times as you like or need. It will help you with understanding this verb tense for the posttest next week on January 27th (1/27). 

Video from YouTube. I do not own the rights to this video. It is uploaded strictly for educational purposes.

See you then!

特別ポスト- ECA (Cinema) II (All): アバウト・ア・ボーイ期末試験の勉強のこと

Hello to all my students,

Image photographed from DVD cover for purposes of subject illustration. No copyright infringement intended. 

I do not own the rights to this image.

How are you? Today, here are my class notes about what we will do on the final test next week on January 27th (1月27日の期末試験のノート):

Here are some more points, up closer:

Refresh from the book about these parts!



Know these points about these parts of the book!

I will show you some scenes and parts from the movie in the test.

Good luck! I'll see you next week in the test!

特別ポスト- ECA (Reading) II (Super A)：句動詞のレビュー

Hello to all my students,

Image "Painted Metal" courtesy of Supertrooper/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

How are you? What would you say about the picture above? I could say that the brown piece of metal was painted over with some blue paint.

This sentence is an example of a phrasal verb (句動詞). Today I have two videos for you about phrasal verbs. Here is the first one:  

Here's another video, with phrasal verbs using the word head:

Both videos from YouTube. I do not own the rights to these videos. They are uploaded strictly for educational purposes.

I hope these help refresh you for the posttest next week (1/27).

See you in the posttest!

特別ポスト- ECA (Reading) II (Super A)：助動詞のレビュー

Hello to all my students,

Image "Businessman Running With Briefcase" courtesy of imagerymajestic/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net

How are you? Very quickly - can you say what the man in the picture is doing?*

The picture of the man is important, because it shows how to use an auxiliary verb (助動詞). 

Auxiliary verbs help other verbs in showing action. Here I have a quick YouTube video for you about auxiliary verbs. You can watch this as many times as you like to refresh yourselves about auxiliary verbs for the posttest next week (1/27).

    Video uploaded from YouTube. I do not own the rights to this video.

It is strictly for educational use only.

See you next week for the posttest! 

*ANSWER: The man is running with a briefcase.

特別ポスト - ECA (Speaking) I & II (D, J & A): 期末テスト(スピーキング)のグループ、スケージュール

Hello to all my speaking students,

How are you? This is a short post about our final speaking test (期末スピーキングテスト) on January 21st (1/21). The picture at the top is a list of the topics you can choose from for the test. 

Here are the groups and times for the Nichibun class on 1/21:

I'm sorry that the pictures are not better! So Nichibun class members - please remember your group member's names and times you come in!

Here are the groups and times for the Kodomo class on 1/21: 

Kodomo class members - please remember your group member's names and times you come in!

For the Obei class - please come in as one group together, at the regular time! 

Thank you all so much! See you on the final speaking test day - 1/21!

Take care!