Thursday, December 21, 2017

Culture through English 2B: Final presentation project groups & topics・期末プレゼンテーションのグループ、トピック

Hello!


How are you? Today here are the groups and members, and the groups' topics, for our final presentations on January 18th

Here are the groups and their members



Please remember that we will have a presentation practice on our first class in 2018 on January 11, so please have your presentations about 75-80% finished for then. I can coach all of you, then you can finish your presentations and give them in class on January 18th

Have a great holiday and see you in January! Good luck!
Images: Personal photographs. All rights reserved.

Wednesday, December 13, 2017

Culture through English 2B: Fall semester presentation project supporting notes & images・後期プレゼンテーションの附記、イメージ

Hello!



How are you? Here are some supporting notes (附記) for your final presentation projects


Look at the picture above. We read about this in our textbook - the famous La Tomatina festival in Spain. 

Starting research ideas

The pictures below show some famous festivals and celebrations around the world. Your group can choose one (1) of these - but please make sure that you have a different festival or celebration from the other groups

Do not only look at these pictures. Find other celebrations around the world to choose from. These are only starting ideas. 


For whichever festival or celebration you choose, please show this in your presentation:


  • Where exactly the events are located in the country
  • What kinds of things people can do there
  • What kind of special food or drink might be there (if there is any)
  • When these events are held
  • What the history of the event is - when it started, who started it, and reasons why 
  • How to get to the location all the way from Japan (by air, then train, air, or bus) 
Burning Man, U.S. 

Rio Carnaval, Brazil

Tet festival, Vietnam

Oktoberfest, Germany

Canadian National Exhibition, Canada


Holi, India


Once again - you can use these ideas, but please search out other festivals and celebrations as well.

Have fun!

Images: Top - "La Tomatina (25.08.2010) - Spain, Buñol 30" by flydime - La Tomatina (25.08.2010)/Spain, Buñol. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:La_Tomatina_(25.08.2010)_-_Spain,_Bu%C3%B1ol_30.jpg#/media/File:La_Tomatina_(25.08.2010)_-_Spain,_Bu%C3%B1ol_30.jpg/Burning Man - "Lightmatter burningman" by Aaron Logan. Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lightmatter_burningman.jpg#/media/File:Lightmatter_burningman.jpg/Carnaval - "Grazieli Massafera como Rainha da Bateria da Grande Rio 1" by Team at Carnaval.com Studios - Grand-Rio-37.JPG. Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Grazieli_Massafera_como_Rainha_da_Bateria_da_Grande_Rio_1.jpg#/media/File:Grazieli_Massafera_como_Rainha_da_Bateria_da_Grande_Rio_1.jpg/Tet festival - "Thương xá TAX, Tết 2012" by Pinus - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Th%C6%B0%C6%A1ng_x%C3%A1_TAX,_T%E1%BA%BFt_2012.JPG#/media/File:Th%C6%B0%C6%A1ng_x%C3%A1_TAX,_T%E1%BA%BFt_2012.JPG/Oktoberfest - "Oktoberfest inside Hippodrom" by Aschuff - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Oktoberfest_inside_Hippodrom.jpg#/media/File:Oktoberfest_inside_Hippodrom.jpg/Canadian National Exhibition festival - "Canadian National Exhibition 2012" by Kotsy - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Canadian_National_Exhibition_2012.jpg#/media/File:Canadian_National_Exhibition_2012.jpg /Holi festival - "Samaj gathering during Lathmar hoil" by Narender9 - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Samaj_gathering_during_Lathmar_hoil.jpg#/media/File:Samaj_gathering_during_Lathmar_hoil.jpg

Culture through English 2B: Final presentation projects・後期プレゼンテーション

Hello!



How are you? Today, I will introduce our final presentation project (後期プレゼンテーションプロジェクト) - presenting about famous festivals (祭りand celebrations around the world.

The picture above is of a unique festival held every year in the U.S. called Burning Man. It's held in the western desert, in Nevada, every summer. I won't tell you any more about it because you might want to research about it! Here's what we'll do:

Topics
This time we will have one (1) topicfestivals (祭り) and celebrations around the world.

Guidelines
Like before, you have a choice between making a poster presentation or Power Point show. But this time I will make some rules I want you to follow:
  • You can still present in groups – but I want each member to show what their job is in the group (for example, the planning notes from the person who designed the visual material like a poster or the slides, plus separate notes from the person who looked for vocabulary and spellchecked, and so on). The other side of the sheet I have given you in class is for your planning and preparation.
  • Because of this, every member of each group has to come to class every time.
  • I would like these to be the best presentations you can put together – so because of this, we have to have a practice time, with coaching from me if your group needs it.
  • Every group must have a different topic – no groups can have the same topic.
Schedule & deadline (締め切り)
Our presentation day will be on January 18th (1/18), so you have more than one (1) month to prepare them. Because I am giving you this project now, here is our schedule for the rest of our time together:
  • 12/14 – introduction to the project; choosing group members; naming groups and choosing jobs in groups for preparation; coordinating ideas between groups on topics; beginning outside class research
  • 12/21 – teacher check of group names and members, topic choices, research and coordination of topics between groups; check of jobs among group members; in-class research and preparation
  • 1/11 – in-class research and preparation; presentation practice; final outside class research
  • 1/18 – final presentations 
You must be there on the day to present! Please be ready. 

Good luck! I look forward to our presentation day on January 18th! See you next week!

Image: "Lightmatter burningman" by Aaron Logan. Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lightmatter_burningman.jpg#/media/File:Lightmatter_burningman.jpg

Tuesday, December 12, 2017

Writing English 1B: 6th writing assignment・作文6

Hello!



How are you? Here is the post about the 6th writing assignment (作文6) - your ideas of an ideal working life and lifestyle for yourselves

While I have given all of you the handouts about the assignment, I will post it on here as another way to remind all of you about what you can do. 

Topic
Think about the kind of working situations you would like to have. Would it be working in a company (株式会社)? Or would you maybe like to work more independently – for example, in a company that would let you to make your own schedule - perhaps even work part of the time from home and if you meet deadlines, you could even work anytime you wanted?

Would you like to even have a different kind of schedule – for example, working at night or even on weekends, and sleeping and resting during the daytime? Would you prefer working freelance (自営業), or even starting your own business, either with another person – or on your own?

I would like you to cover these points in your writing:
  • the kind of working situation you would like (working for a company, working alone, having your own business, working different kinds of hours)
  • the kind of place you would like to live in (such as in Tokyo or another big city, or perhaps in a small city or even a town somewhere in the country)
  • the kind of life you see for yourself in the future (married, staying single, living in a large house or mansion, or some other kind of living arrangement)
While this assignment is only one topic, you have a lot of freedom to write about the kind of working life and lifestyle you wish for in your future.

How much to write
I would like you to write as much as you can, around 4-5 paragraphs' worth of writing. 

Deadline (締め切り)
It will be December 20th (12/20), so I want you to work on your first draft (下書き) in class today in your notebooks in pencil. I would recommend as well to work on this outside of class.

Next week, I will try to get us into a computer room, where we can then work on the final versions on Word. 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 in class, print the final version out, and turn in your work. 

Good luck with this! I hope you can have fun with this, and enjoy writing about your ideal working life and lifestyle. 

I look forward to reading your great writing on this topic! 

See you next week!


Image copyright-free photograph from Apple. 

Thursday, December 7, 2017

Writing English 2B: Historic places (supplemental for 5th writing assignment)・歴史的な場所「作文5の附記」

Hello!



How are you? As I said in class in the post about the 5th writing assignment, (作文5) you have a choice of topics. You can write about yourself - or you can write about a historic place in Japan or another country

This is a supplemental post (附記) to go with the post about your 5th writing assignment - about some historic places (歴史な場所)! 

(You can click on here to see the 5th writing assignment post without going off this post!)

Do you know the place in the picture at the top? It's in Saiwaicho in Kawagoe-shi in Saitama. Saiwaicho is the old part of Kawagoe, and during the Edo period, Kawagoe was called "Little Edo" (小江戸). Even now, it is famous for its historic buildings.

Examples & ideas 
What do you know about these places? You can choose one (1) of these as a way of starting yourself about writing on a historic place. 

Important note:
For students who want to write about historic places, I would like each of you to choose a different place - I do not want more than one student writing about the same place! Please remember this!


Itsukushima Shrine, Hiroshima


Dogo Onsen, Matsuyama, Ehime


Anne Frank House, Amsterdam, the Netherlands


Panathenaic Stadium, Athens, Greece


Topkapi Palace, Istanbul, Turkey


Borobudur Temple, Java, Indonesia


Ellis Island, New York, U.S.



(no picture)
Your own idea of a historic place in Japan or another country!


I hope this is interesting for you!

See you next time!

Images: By Collin Grady - http://www.flickr.com/photos/collingrady/3262169/, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3617955/ Itsukushima Shrine - bJordy Meow - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=30863836/Dogo Onsen - By Japanexperterna.se - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=31737348/Anne Frank House - by Massimo Catarinella - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6153482/Panathenaic Stadium - by Badseed - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6517570/Topkapi Palace - by Carlos Delgado, CC BY-SA 3.0, https:/Borobudur - By Gunawan Kartapranata - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4838861/commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17885392/Ellis Island - By AllieJo - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=51968447

Writing English 2B: 5th writing assignment・作文5

Hello!



How are you? Today I will introduce our 5th writing assignment (作文5) - writing an essay, with an outline to go with it.

I will introduce this writing assignment differently - this time, posting it here on the blog first. I will give all of you a handout about the assignment next week (12/14), with some other things that you will need to do for the assignment. 


Topics
You have two (2) choices on what to write about. Choose one (1) of them:


1. Write about yourself
While this may seem easy in one way because you know yourself – and in another way difficult, because you might feel that because you are young, you have not experienced much in life – this could be a good topic for you to do because you can touch on your family history, and the personalities of your family members, as well. 

Go into details! For example, not only things such as where you were born, but also where your parents met and when they got married. Of your parents, are you more like your mother, or your father? In addition, who do people say you look more like – your mother or your father? 

Do you have any brothers or sisters? If so, are you the youngest, or the oldest, or in the middle? Of your brothers and sisters, who do you get along with the best? Also, which one are you more like? 

Of course, please go into things such as hobbies and interests, and things you like to do, just as you did when you wrote your pre-teaching surveys back in April. But I would like you to go much deeper and longer than what you did before, with more detail. 

Important note:
Your outlines (あらすじ) that you did in class today (12/7) you could use to help you with your writing – if you want to do this topic!

2. Research and write about a historic place in Japan - or in another country
While this may seem like such a different topic that it is a little strange because of it, this might also be a good choice for you just because it is so different! 

For this one, choose a historic place somewhere in Japan or in another country. What happened there? Is there a monument or statue about what happened? Could it even be a park, or a UN World Heritage Site? What impact does the place have in Japanese history - or in the history of the country you chose? Even more importantly – what impact do you believe it has had in Japan – or the other country? 

For example, here is a picture of Mont St. Michel in France: 


 

As you might know, Mont St. Michel is a place that is an island at high tide and connected to the land at low tide. It is a famous sightseeing spot not only in France, but Europe as well. But even more – it is important in French history. Do you know what that might be? Find out if you're interested!

If you want – you can research and write about one of the places in the blogpost about historic places I showed you in class

While we have already done a little of this in the spring semester when we wrote about places, this time I would like you to go deeper and longer about a historic place, with more research and a few citations of sources of information the way you did on the 4th writing assignment. 

How much to write

As I show at the top, I would like to see around 1 to 1 1/2 pages. (Make the paragraphs at least a little longer!) But if you can write even a little more – go for it!

Deadline (締め切り)
It will be December 21st (12/21), so I want you to bring in an outline next week (12/14) in your notebooks in pencil. From there, please follow the important points I will show you in my handout on 12/14! 

Then – do your rough draft (下書き) writing in class. Then type your writing on a Word document to turn in class on 12/21. 



Good luck with this! I hope you can have fun with this, and enjoy trying out writing an essay about yourself or a historic place.

See you next time!


Image: By Underground pictures - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=44907843/Mont St. Michel - by Diliff - Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15845315

Wednesday, December 6, 2017

Culture through English 2B: Festivals・祭り

Hello!



How are you? Today let's look at festivals (祭り)! Japan is a great country for festivals. Which famous ones have you been to? Are there any famous festivals in your hometown or home area? 

Activity 
Take a look at these pictures. Which parts of festivals do you like the best? Which did you like when you were kids? Talk about these with your classmates!

food stalls

game stalls

shooting stalls

fireworks


dancers

Have fun!  See you next time!

Images: Top - by 克年 三沢 - 2012-05-06_14.34.08, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=44586593/Food stalls - Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=58149/Game stall - by ajari from Japan - Flickr: Asagaya Tanabata Festival_10, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22872248/Shooting stall - by katorisi - Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3178109/Fireworks - "Fireworks" (courtesy of noppasinw)/Dancers - "Sakura Matsuri Japanese Festival DC 2012 (7091131693)" by S Pakhrin from DC, USA - Sakura Matsuri Japanese Festival DC 2012. Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sakura_Matsuri_Japanese_Festival_DC_2012_(7091131693).jpg#/
media/File:Sakura_Matsuri_Japanese_Festival_DC_2012_(7091131693).jpg
Fireworks photograph courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net