Culture through English A: Refugees・難民

Hello!

How are you? Today I would like to introduce a new topic about people in difficult situations - such as refugees (難民).

Look at the picture above. Why are so many people on a boat? Where are they going? Talk about this with your classmates. Make some notes about it.

Activity
Now do the same with these two following pictures. Who are the people in the pictures? What are they doing? Where are they going? Where might they be coming from? What are they feeling?

Most importantly - what's your opinion of their situations? Make some notes in your notebooks about them.

See you next time!

Images: Top - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Refugees_on_a_boat.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Refugees_on_a_boat.jpg/Boy - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Asylbewerber_-_15.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Asylbewerber_-_15.jpg/People on grounds - "Evstafiev Travnik refugees" http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Evstafiev-travnik-refugees.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Evstafiev-travnik-refugees.jpg/Man with passport and children - by Alemaugil - Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2956803/
All images from Wikimedia Commons. 

Writing English A: Opinion writing about refugees・難民のオピニオン

Hello!

How are you? Today let's look at refugees (難民) and the places they come from - and where they may go.

Activity
Look at the following four (4) pictures. What are they doing? Where are they going? Where might they be coming from? 

One thing they all have in common is that they can't live in the places they come from any more. What are some reasons why they have to leave where they come from? Moreover, what might be they feeling about leaving?

Most importantly - what's your opinion of their situations? Make some notes in your notebooks about them.

See you next time!

Images: Top - By © MONUSCO/Sylvain Liechti, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=32470185/Boy - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Asylbewerber_-_15.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Asylbewerber_-_15.jpg/Man with passport and children - by Alemaugil - Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2956803/Boat - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Refugees_on_a_boat.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Refugees_on_a_boat.jpg/People on grounds - "Evstafiev Travnik refugees" http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Evstafiev-travnik-refugees.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Evstafiev-travnik-refugees.jpg
All images from Wikimedia Commons. 

Writing English B: Fall semester final writing assignment・後期末作文

Hello!

How are you? Here is our fall semester final writing assignment.

Tasks
For our final assignment, you can write on anything you like - an opinion paper; comparison and contrast (比較対照) short paper of a topic of your choice - something factual like an issue in the news, or a comparison of some artwork or music; an analysis (分析) of a poem of your choice; or a creative writing effort such as a short story or poem. 

Guidelines
While you have maximum freedom on this assignment, there will be one rule for whatever kind of theme or topic you choose - that is, you cannot simply do the same thing you did before.

For example, if you would like to write an analysis comparing and contrasting two works of art - they cannot be the same works of art you wrote on before. They would have to be two completely different choices of art. Same with music, or an opinion piece - the subjects, or topic, have to be different from what you did before.

Notes on task examples - comparison and contrast

I do not want to give a list of topic suggestions as I have done before, as I would really like you to explore and have the freedom to write on what you really would like. But as an example of a comparison and contrast task, here is a suggestion for a topic: Comparing and contrasting your life in high school to your life in university. 

While many of you might have had similar experiences in your high school life, I would like you to go into details. First, where did you go to high school? What were your favorite classes there? What were the classes you didn’t like? What do you feel were your best subjects? How about your worst subjects? What about the school facilities (施設) – for example, the classrooms, places for sports, or things like the school lunches? What were they like? 

How do any of these things compare (比べる) with your life here at Daito Bunka so far? What do you find about the classes in university that are different (or similar) to your high school education? Once again – go into details about these things. What has been the most difficult thing you have found so far about your university life and education – and what has been the best thing?

Notes about poetry

If you choose to try to write a poem from the notes in the first semester, this may be quite challenging - but one that may also be new, unique, and even fun for you. In this choice, write an original poem in English on any topic of your choice. It could be about yourself, about people around you, about nature, animals, or a place. 

We have seen with the poetry we have read in the first semester how words can be used in ways that are unexpected in everyday writing –  about how they can create images, and how words can be used to show meanings that may be outside the regular way we use them.

This can be very freeform - words do not have to rhyme (韻を踏まない), and you can use words to bring out different feelings - for example, to show how something is like something else, or is as something that is unexpected.  

How much to write

I would like to see you write as much as you can - go for more than what you may have done before if your assignments have been shorter. For the comparison and contrast and opinion choices, I would like you to write around 4-5 paragraphs. But do not limit yourselves - write as much as you can!

I am gathering your writing into the various books I have mentioned before in class. For poetry writing, I would like you to try to write at least three (3) verses in the poem. I am gathering these into a new collection called Ways with Words - a collection of student creative writing. 

So whichever is your choice of writing, try to write to the best you can, because your work may be published (出版した) on both the blog and in these books!

Deadline (締め切り) 

It will be in the new year, on our last day of class, on January 15th, 2020 (1/15/20), and it will be a final version (完成版). This means you should begin writing now – do not wait until the day or night before! 

Good luck! I hope you can enjoy writing on your choices. 

Image: Personal photograph of public artwork along wall, Nakano-ku, Tokyo. All rights on artwork reserved to the artist. 

Writing English B: Fall semester final writing assignment・後期末作文

Hello!

How are you? Here is our fall semester final writing assignment.

Tasks
For our final assignment, you can write on anything you like - an opinion paper; comparison and contrast (比較対照) short paper of a topic of your choice - something factual like an issue in the news, or a comparison of some artwork or music; an analysis (分析) of a poem of your choice; or a creative writing effort such as a short story or poem. 

Guidelines
While you have maximum freedom on this assignment, there will be one rule for whatever kind of theme or topic you choose - that is, you cannot simply do the same thing you did before.

For example, if you would like to write an analysis comparing and contrasting two works of art - they cannot be the same works of art you wrote on before. They would have to be two completely different choices of art. Same with music, or an opinion piece - the subjects, or topic, have to be different from what you did before.

Notes on task examples - comparison and contrast

I do not want to give a list of topic suggestions as I have done before, as I would really like you to explore and have the freedom to write on what you really would like. But as an example of a comparison and contrast task, here is a suggestion for a topic: Comparing and contrasting your life in high school to your life in university. 

While many of you might have had similar experiences in your high school life, I would like you to go into details. First, where did you go to high school? What were your favorite classes there? What were the classes you didn’t like? What do you feel were your best subjects? How about your worst subjects? What about the school facilities (施設) – for example, the classrooms, places for sports, or things like the school lunches? What were they like? 

How do any of these things compare (比べる) with your life here at Daito Bunka so far? What do you find about the classes in university that are different (or similar) to your high school education? Once again – go into details about these things. What has been the most difficult thing you have found so far about your university life and education – and what has been the best thing?

Notes about poetry

If you choose to try to write a poem from the notes in the first semester, this may be quite challenging - but one that may also be new, unique, and even fun for you. In this choice, write an original poem in English on any topic of your choice. It could be about yourself, about people around you, about nature, animals, or a place. 

We have seen with the poetry we have read in the first semester how words can be used in ways that are unexpected in everyday writing –  about how they can create images, and how words can be used to show meanings that may be outside the regular way we use them.

This can be very freeform - words do not have to rhyme (韻を踏まない), and you can use words to bring out different feelings - for example, to show how something is like something else, or is as something that is unexpected.  

How much to write

I would like to see you write as much as you can - go for more than what you may have done before if your assignments have been shorter. For the comparison and contrast and opinion choices, I would like you to write around 4-5 paragraphs. But do not limit yourselves - write as much as you can!

I am gathering your writing into the various books I have mentioned before in class. For poetry writing, I would like you to try to write at least three (3) verses in the poem. I am gathering these into a new collection called Ways with Words - a collection of student creative writing. 

So whichever is your choice of writing, try to write to the best you can, because your work may be published (出版した) on both the blog and in these books!

Deadline (締め切り) 

It will be in the new year, on our last day of class, on January 15th, 2020 (1/15/20), and it will be a final version (完成版). This means you should begin writing now – do not wait until the day or night before! 

Good luck! I hope you can enjoy writing on your choices. 

Image: Personal photograph of public artwork along wall, Nakano-ku, Tokyo. All rights on artwork reserved to the artist. 

Writing English A: Opinion writing about tattoos・入れ墨のオピニオン

Hello!

How are you? Today, let's begin writing about opinions. 

Look at the picture above. What is it? It's a tattoo machine - for making tattoos. 

Tattoos have a negative image in Japan, but some young Japanese people feel they may be cool because many young people in other countries have them. 

Activity
Here is a selection of pictures of some tattoos. Which ones do you like - or not like? How do you feel about tattoos? Do you have a negative image about them - or do you think they're cool and stylish? 

Choose one (1) picture and write a quick paragraph in five (5) minutes about it. Write anything that comes to your mind when you look at it. Negative opinions are okay! 

1.

2. 

3. 

4. 

5. 

What do you think of these tattoos? Have you seen any like these here, or on the internet? 

Extra activity/homework (for those who are interested in this topic)
Choose one (1) of these tattoos and write two (2) paragraphs about what you think of it. (It's okay not to like it - you can write about what you don't like about it). 

Here are the board notes for today's (5/22) class:

See you next time!

Images: Top - by Manfred Kohrs - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12806627/

1. Courtesy of gettattooideas.net/2. Courtesy of netluxury.com/3. Courtesy of www.tattoosbeautiful.com/4. Courtesy of inkdoneright.com/5. Courtesy of tattoowell.com/I do not own the rights to the photographs of tattoos or their designs. All rights to images and designs reserved to the copyright holders of the images and/or artists. Uploaded strictly for classroom use. 

Culture through English 2A: Immigration & naturalization・移住と帰化

Hello!

How are you? Today let's look more at immigration (移住), with a connected topic about naturalization (帰化) - the process of becoming a citizen of another country. 

What makes people not only want to leave their country to start a new life in another country, but to become a citizen of it? In addition, how easy – or difficult – is it to become a citizen of one country or another? In the case of Japan, how can a foreign-born person become a Japanese citizen? 

Watch the video below. It's in English, but you can turn on Japanese subtitles if you need them.  It's about an American who became a naturalized Japanese citizen. 

Watch the video as many times as you want or need. As you watch, make some notes about anything interesting or surprising to you. 

What do you think of it? 

I hope you find this interesting. See you next time!

Image: Screenshot taken from photograph originally on http://wonderfulengineering.com/passport-can-get-almost-anywhere-without-visa/
Video uploaded from YouTube.
All rights reserved to the copyright holder(s). I do not own the rights to the original photograph or the video or its content. Uploaded for classroom use only. 

Writing English 1B: Supporting post for final writing assignment - opinion writing (Part 2)・期末作文のサポート「オピニオン書き」(Part 2)

Hello!

How are you? Here is a support post for any students who are interested in doing opinion writing for the final writing assignment (期末作文). 

Ideas 
You can take your ideas from the news - either from TV, or the internet, or newspapers or magazines - and you can base your topics on anything - politics (政治), society (社会), sports, movies, music, and so on. 

Task
When writing your opinion, follow these guidelines:

First, show the issue or problem and where you first saw it or heard about it - on TV, the internet, radio, in the newspaper, and so on.   

After that, show what impact the issue or problem has or is having in Japan - with a certain type of people (for example, older people, or university students, or workers, or children, and so on), or in a certain area (the Tohoku, Okinawa, the Kanto, and so forth), or in a certain field or industry (companies, shops, schools, universities or other things). Try to find out and show details (詳細) where you can. 

Finally, bring in your opinion of the issue or problem - what do you think of it, and what solution (解答、答え) would you propose for it - if you feel you can propose a solution or answer to the problem or issue? 

You do not have to do a big or heavy topic if you don't want to! Here are some ideas for you if you can't think of any on your own. Choose one (1) of these: 

• Voting (投票権) age - in Japan, it is 20. Should it be lowered to 18 years of age, as it is in many countries? 
• Tattoos - in Japan there is a big taboo (禁物) against them. But do you think they are really a big problem? 
• Smartphone access and use among children - this has become a big issue lately. Is it okay for children to get access and use smartphones, or should there be an age restriction (制限)? 
• Foreign immigration (移住) to Japan - this has also been a big question lately. Should Japan allow some numbers of immigrants (移民) to come in to help increase the numbers of workers? 

Good luck! I hope these ideas can give you something to write on if you can't think of what to do for our final assignment.

Take care! I look forward to reading your great writing on this task.

See you next week!

Image: By Norman Rockwell - U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=16925968

Writing English 2A: Refugees・難民

Hello!

How are you? Today I would like to introduce a new topic about people in difficult situations - such as refugees (難民).

Look at the picture above. Why are so many people on a boat? Where are they going? Talk about this with your classmates. Make some notes about it.

Activity
Now do the same with these two following pictures. Who are the people in the pictures? What are they doing? Where are they going? Where might they be coming from? What are they feeling?

Most importantly - what's your opinion of their situations? Make some notes in your notebooks about them.

See you next time!

Images: Top - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Refugees_on_a_boat.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Refugees_on_a_boat.jpg/Boy - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Asylbewerber_-_15.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Asylbewerber_-_15.jpg/People on grounds - "Evstafiev Travnik refugees" http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Evstafiev-travnik-refugees.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Evstafiev-travnik-refugees.jpg/Man with passport and children - by Alemaugil - Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2956803/
All images from Wikimedia Commons. 

作文3/3rd writing assignment

Hello! 

How are you? Today I will show you our third writing assignment - expressing an opinion on something you feel about to your classmates.  This will be due next week (7/13).

Guidelines

We will do this assignment in a unique way - we will have different groups in our class, like this: 

例えば：

Each group will think of some topic ideas for another group to write about. Each group will be writers - and readers - of other groups' ideas.  

例えば：Group 1 thinks of some topics - Group 2 has to write about those topics to Group 1.

例えば：Group 2 thinks of some topics - Group 3 has to write about those topics to Group 2.

例えば：Group 3 thinks of some topics - Group 4 has to write about those topics to Group 3.

例えば：Group 4 thinks of some topics - Group 5 has to write about those topics to Group 4.

例えば：Group 5 thinks of some topics - Group 6 has to write about those topics to Group 5.

例えば：Group 6 thinks of some topics - Group 7 has to write about those topics to Group 6.

例えば：Group 7 thinks of some topics - Group 8 has to write about those topics to Group 7.

例えば：Group 8 thinks of some topics - Group 9 has to write about those topics to Group 8.

So then we come to a full circle:

So then we come to a full circle:

例えば：Group 9 thinks of some topics - Group 1 has to write about those topics to Group 9.

Important note: All groups will also peer review their partner groups' writing!  

Topics 

What topics can you choose from? What can you write about? Anything is okay! Here are some ideas - but you can think of other ideas of your own: 

Things that can be improved about Daito Bunka (classes, buildings, lunches, programs, etc.)

The latest fashions and what you think are good - or bad

The latest music and what you think is good - or bad

News or political topics (Britain's vote to leave the EU, the refugee situation in the Middle East or Europe, the future of Japan, etc.)

Social issues (ethnic minorities in Japan, LGBTQ people, hikikomori, etc.) 

Important note: I will collect the best of this writing into a blog collection to be published - so write to the best you can! 

So good luck! See you next time!

Image: unattributed image from the Internet. All rights reserved.

トレンド、オピニオン：入れ墨/trends & opinions: tattoos

Hello!

How are you? Today, let's begin writing about trends or opinions. 

Look at the picture above. What is it? It's a tattoo machine - for making tattoos. 

Tattoos have a negative image in Japan, but some young Japanese people feel they may be cool because many young people in other countries have them. 

Activity
Here is a selection of pictures of some tattoos. Which ones do you like - or not like? How do you feel about tattoos? Do you have a negative image about them - or do you think they're cool and stylish? 

Choose one (1) picture and write a quick paragraph in five (5) minutes about it. Write anything that comes to your mind when you look at it. Negative opinions are okay! 

1.

2. 

3. 

4. 

5. 

What do you think of these tattoos? Have you seen any like these here, or on the internet? 

Write 2 paragraphs about it and what you think of it. (It's okay not to like it - you can write about what you don't like about it). 

Good luck - and see you next time!

Images: Top - By Manfred Kohrs - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12806627/

1. Courtesy of gettattooideas.net/2. Courtesy of netluxury.com/3. Courtesy of www.tattoosbeautiful.com/4. Courtesy of inkdoneright.com/5. Courtesy of tattoowell.com/All tattoo designs rights reserved to the artists. Images uploaded strictly for classroom use.