Culture through English A: Most common names in Spain・スペインの一般的な名字

Hello!

How are you? Let's look today at names in Spanish!

The picture above shows the most common surnames in Spain. You can see that overall, the most common surname is Garcia. 

Activity/homework

There are some interesting points about naming in Spanish that are different from both English and Japanese. 

Watch this video about Spanish names. Watch it as many times as you want or need, then answer the questions below it in your notebooks.

(If you cannot see the video, go to this link, or go to YouTube and look for "Primer Nombres y Apellidos" at https://youtu.be/HUosdlR6Gy8)

1. What is the first name called in Spanish? 

2. What has had the biggest influence (影響) on names in Spanish in history? 

3. What is another influence on naming that is talked about in the video?     

4. What are last names (surnames) called in Spanish? 

5. How many surnames do Spanish people use? 

     *Which name comes first, and which name comes second? 

     *What is traditionally used to connect the two surnames?  

6. What does the ~ez at the end of some surnames (like Gonzalez, or Martinez), mean? 

7. What does the de mean in surnames?  

8. In the example of Pablo Picasso, which side of the family does “Picasso” come from – his father’s, or mother’s? 

I hope you find this interesting!

Image: By anonymous (No machine-readable author provided.) Alfanje~commonswiki assumed (based on copyright claims). - No machine-readable source provided. Own work assumed (based on copyright claims)., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1430242

Video uploaded from YouTube. I do not own the rights to the content. All rights reserved to the copyright holder(s). Uploaded for classroom purposes only. 

Culture through English A: Most common names in Vietnam・ベトナムの一般的な名字

Hello!

How are you? Today, let's look at Vietnamese names!

You might notice an important point - that Vietnamese surnames (名字) match to kanji. 

Before the French came and colonized (植民した) Vietnam in the early 19th century, the Vietnamese language was written in Chinese hanzi - the Japanese version of which is kanji. Since then, however, the Vietnamese language is written in a version of romaji. 

In Vietnam, the most common surname is Nguyễn (阮「グエン」).  

Activity/homework
Watch this video about Vietnamese names. Watch it as many times as you want or need, and answer the questions below it in your notebooks. 

(If you cannot see the video here, go to this link, or go to YouTube and look for "Vietnamese Culture #2: Vietnamese Names" at https://youtu.be/dPeSxwvjiTc)

1. How many names do most Vietnamese people have?  

2. Where does the surname (family name) come in the naming order?

3. What percentage of the Vietnamese population uses Nguyễn as a family name?

4. What do women do with their own family names when they get married? 

    * What is one purpose of a woman’s family name when she gets married? 

5. What is the main purpose of a middle name in Vietnamese? 

    * What is another purpose of a middle name? 

6. Who usually decides the given names in Vietnamese culture? 

7. Where do given names come from in Vietnamese? 

8. What kinds of meanings do given names have in Vietnamese? 

I hope you find this interesting!

Image: By Hintha - Lê Trung Hoa (2005) Họ và tên người Việt Nam, Hà Nội, Việt Nam: NXB Khoa học Xã hội (Social Sciences Publishing House), CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21862789

Video uploaded from YouTube. I do not own the rights to the content. All rights reserved to the copyright holder(s). Uploaded for classroom use only. 

Culture through English B: 11/20 board notes・11月20日のボードノート

Hello!

How are you? Here are the board notes for our class on 11/20. Above are the main board notes. 

Now here are the supporting board notes:

I hope these notes help you. 

See you next week with your great presentations!

Images: Personal photographs. All rights reserved. 

Writing English B: 11/13 board notes & style rules for artists' and musicians' names, titles of artwork & pieces of music

Hello! 

How are you? In this post are two (2) things: For one, the board notes for our class on 11/13, and for another, some stylistic rules for writing titles of works of art and pieces of music. 


To begin with, at the top are the main board notes. Below are the other notes: 

Now let's look at how to write titles of artwork and pieces of music! 

1. Names of artists, musicians, & musical groups

Names of artists, singers, and names of musicians (either their real or stage names) are written naturally, with only the first letters of their personal, and family, names in capital letters (大文字). For example:

claude monet   Claude Monet

Wolfgang Amadeus mozart   Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

KUSAMA yayoi   Kusama Yayoi

taylor Swift   Taylor Swift

Eric clapton   Eric Clapton

SAKAMOTO Ryuichi   Sakamoto Ryuichi

Stage names or nicknames of musical artists, and names of musical groups, unless the artists state differently, also follow the same pattern. 

Lady Gaga
Freddie Mercury 
Prince
Aiko

The Beatles (only at the beginning of sentences; when in sentences - the Beatles; same for any other bands with "the" as the beginning of their names) 
Queen
Yellow Magic Orchestra
Babymetal 

2. Titles of works of art & music

Titles of paintings or sculptures are in italics, with the most important words in a multi-word title with capitalized first letters. For example: 

Mona Lisa 
Girl with the Pearl Earrings 
The Thinker (only at the beginning of sentences; when in sentences - the Thinker; same for any other works of art with "the" as the beginning of their titles) 
Painting #1

Titles of pieces of music are a little more complicated. Complex works of classical music and jazz, such as symphonies, concertos, suites, tone poems, and operas, are in italics, in English or even from another language. For example: 

Symphony No. 9
Concerto for Flute and Violin 
Trois Gymnopédies
Tristan und Isolde

Rhapsody in Blue
Porgy and Bess
The Far Eastern Suite (see the note above about works of art with "the" in their titles - pieces of music follow the same pattern) 

However - titles of songs, especially popular songs, are in quotes (" "). For example: 

"Like a Rolling Stone"
"Bohemian Rhapsody" 
"Gangnam Style"
"Gimme Chocolate!!" 

But - titles of musical albums are in italics. For example: 

Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" was the biggest-selling single off their 1975 album A Night at the Opera. 

The Beatles' final album Abbey Road had some of their last great songs, such as "Come Together," "I Want You (She's So Heavy)," and "Here Comes the Sun," and the Beatles as a band ended their time together on a high point.

I hope these notes help you with the writing of names of artists, musicians, and bands, and titles of works of art and music. 

See you next week!

Images; Personal photographs. All rights reserved.