Writing English 2A: Special post on hikikomori and social adjustment・特別ポスト「引きこもりと社会適応」

Hello!

How are you? Here is another special post to go with our 2nd writing assignment (作文2) - your opinions about hikikomori and what they need to re-enter society.

Support & preparation (準備)
If you choose to write about this topic, here is some support for you. 

Watch this video. This is a Japanese short news documentary about hikikomori and the efforts of a special school, called One Step, that intervenes (取りなして) in family situations where there are hikikomori, and tries to help them take the first steps to integrate (溶け込む) back into normal lives.

Watch the video as many times as you need to. When you are finished, answer these questions in your notebook about the different parts of the video (you can make notes in English or Japanese):

First case – the 47-year-old man

Where is the man living?

How long has the man been living in his room?

How does his parents feel about his situation?
How much money have they lost because of his situation?

How did he react when the One Step School people tried to interview him?

What were some of the things that the man had written in the letters?

What was his job?

What did Hirooka-san from the One Step School say about hikikomori?

According to the newspaper story shown in the video, around how many hikikomori are there?

Second case – the 41-year-old man

In the man's home, what did the One Step School people find when they first walked in?

What did they find near the washing machine?

How long has the man been building up the garbage in his house?

What might have happened to have caused him to build up the garbage?

Around how many hikikomori are staying at the One Step School?  

What kinds of services does the One Step School have for the people who stay there?

Task 
Now look at your notes and write 3-4 paragraphs about what you think of what hikikomori need. 
What are your ideas about how they can re-enter society? 

If you believe that hikikomori are not society's problem and that they should not be given any help, give 
your reasons why.

I know this is also a deeper topic than what some of you have done before - so as I say in my handout 
about our 2nd writing assignment, I will give some extra points to you for trying for this topic.

Good luck! I look forward to reading your great writing about this issue.

Take care!

Image: By علاء - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=56389070
Video uploaded from YouTube. I do not own the rights to the video. Uploaded strictly for educational purposes only. All rights reserved to the 
copyright holder(s).

Writing English 2A: Special post about refugees & immigration ・特別ポスト「難民と移住」

Hello!

How are you? Here is a special post to go with our 2nd writing assignment (作文2) - your opinions about refugees (難民) and what they need for immigration (移住).

Support & preparation (準備)
If you choose to write about this topic, here is some support for you. 

Refugees have many problems, and many things they need. Watch this video. It's mostly in Japanese, but with some English, with Japanese subtitles  (日本語の字幕). 

Watch the video as many times as you need to. When you are finished, answer these questions in your notebook about the different parts of the video (you can make notes in English or Japanese):

日本のメッセージ
1. What did the first woman say about coming to Australia as a refugee?
2. What did the second woman say about communication between the government (政府) and refugees?

シンポジウムから待たヒント
What did Ishii-san say about the two women's refugee stories?

日本にできること
What did Moriya-sensei from Hokkaido Educational University (北海道教育大学) say about the needs of refugees?

長野県松本市の取り組み
What did Takizawa-sensei from Toyo Eiwa Women's University graduate school (東洋英和女学院大学大学院) say about help for refugees in Matsumoto city in Nagano (長野県松本市)?

求められる視点
What did Daniel Alkhal (ダニエル・  アルカル ) from the UNHCR (国連難民高等弁務官事務所) say about the three different steps of support refugees need?

Make these notes in your notebook. You can make these notes in Japanese or English.

Task 
Now look at your notes and write 3-4 paragraphs about what you think of refugees and their needs, especially in coming to Japan.

If you believe that refugees should not come to Japan, give your reasons why.

I know this is a deeper topic than what some of you have done before - so as I say in my handout about our 2nd writing assignment, I will give some extra points to you for trying for this topic.

Good luck! I look forward to reading your great writing about this issue.

Take care!

Image: By Mikhail Esteves from Bangalore, India - Mae La Refugee Camp, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2720844
Video uploaded from YouTube. I do not own the rights to the video. Uploaded strictly for educational purposes only. All rights reserved to the 
copyright holder(s).

Writing English 2A: Writing assignment 2・作文2

Hello! 

How are you? Here is our second writing assignment (作文2) – writing opinions on news and issues (時事問題) topics.

Topics

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 student life at Daito Bunka
• 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, but also even more timely and important. I will give extra points to students who try for writing about these topics - and I have separate supporting blogposts for these topics: 

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

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, because your work may be published (出版した) on both this blog and in the Voices & Ideas book. 

I would like to see maybe 3-4 paragraphs' worth of writing. 

Deadline (締め切り)

It will be June 13th (6/13), so I want you to bring in a first draft (下書き) next week in your notebooks in pencil. I will go over more how you can build your opinion writing, with language for opinions - phrases, expressions, and vocabulary. Then you can write to the finish and turn in your work on 6/13. 

Good luck! I look forward to reading your great writing on news and issues topics!

Image: Screenshot taken from https://www.japanvisitor.com/japanese-culture/cult-japan-newspapers

I do not own the rights to the original photograph. All rights reserved on original photograph to the copyright holder(s). Uploaded for classroom purposes only.

Reading English 1A: Spring semester mid-term presentations・前学期中間プレゼンテーション

Hello!

How are you? Today I will introduce our spring semester mid-term presentations (前学期中間プレゼンテーション). While I have given all of you the handout about it, I am also posting it here as another way to help you know what you can do. 

At the top is an example of a poster about Brazilian food. This is an example of the kind of thing you can do. 

Topics
You have a choice of topics to present on. Choose one (1) of these: 

• An interesting sport or game from another country
• Food from another country
• Your dream home and place in Japan (or another country) to live

Guidelines

For this presentation, you can design a small poster or make a Power Point show. 

If you design a poster, I would like you to follow these guidelines:

• It has to be on A3 size paper
• You have to have 4-5 pictures on it (hand-drawn or photos, or a mix)
• It has to be colorful and interesting to look at

If you make a Power Point show, I would like you to follow these guidelines: 

• You have to have a title slide - then 5-7 slides with pictures and text on it - then a closing slide
• It has to be colorful and interesting to look at

Deadline (締め切り）
We will do these presentations on May 30th (5/30), so you have two (2) weeks to work on these.

Next week (5/23), please have a topic idea to show me and we will make some time to do some work in class on the presentations. I would like to see your work and give you some advice on what you can do to make the best presentations you can. Please be ready on 5/30! 

Good luck! See you next week with your topics!  

Image: Personal photograph of student poster. All rights reserved on content to the student(s).

Culture through English 2A: Spring semester mid-term presentations・前期中間プレゼンテーション

Hello!

How are you? Today, I will introduce our spring semester mid-term short presentations. Our topic will be about our family origins (素性) and migration (移動) patterns. 

Where did your parents - your mother and father - come from? How about your family history before your parents? Which parts of Japan did your grandparents, or their parents, come from? 

If you are from another country, which part, or parts, of the country did your family come from? If you have part of your origins in Japan and part in another country, which country was it and which side of your family - your mother's or father's - is the connection with the country on? 

Topic, task, & guidelines 

Look at the picture above. It's a small rough poster from a student who researched her family's migration history - the places where her parents came from and how they met. 

This is a good example of what you can do. I would like you to do some research - which could include asking your parents and/or grandparents - on your family's origins. You can make a Power Point show, or a small poster. 

Have some maps - you can hand draw them or download from the internet and note them yourself on computer - and some pictures of the places where your family and some relatives (親族) came from and where they went. 

If you hand draw things, simple pictures are okay - but make your posters or scanned pictures colorful and interesting to look at. 

Include information on your displays such as: 

• Where your grandparents (or great-grandparents, if you can find out) came from and where they met
• What the family names of the grandmothers (or great-grandmothers, if you can find out) were
• Where your parents met and when they got married
• When your parents moved to where they now live

For this presentation, you can design a small poster or make a Power Point show. 

If you design a poster, I would like you to follow these guidelines:

• It has to be on A3 size paper
• You have to have 3-4 pictures on it (hand-drawn or photos, or a mix)
• It has to be colorful and interesting to look at

If you make a Power Point show, I would like you to follow these guidelines: 

• You have to have a title slide - then 5-7 slides with pictures and text on it - then a closing slide
• It has to be colorful and interesting to look at
• Bring your own computer or tablet - I cannot give anyone any computers!

Deadline (締め切り）
Our presentation day will be on May 30th (5/30), so you have two (2) weeks to prepare.

For next week (5/23) - bring enough content so you can give me an idea about how you would organize your talk. This way we can do some basic presentation practice. 

You do not have to be 100% finished with your display - but you should have enough content to practice with. I would like to see the work you have done and give you some advice on what you can do to make the best presentations you can. You can then finish your work outside of class after and be ready to present on 5/30. 

IMPORTANT NOTE

Because this is our mid-term presentation, we all have to be here on the day of the presentation. Not coming will lower your grade. This is because we have to move onto other topics after these presentations, so we have to keep going on the syllabus. We will have no time for makeup (補講) presentation days for this.

So please be ready with your presentations, and be here on the presentation day!   


Good luck with this! I look forward to our presentation day!

Image: Personal photograph of student poster. All rights reserved on content to the student.