More answers to your survey questions (Part 3)/アンケートの答えをつづき (Part 3)

Hello once again!

This is the last post to answer your survey questions about me! 

Some questions about books and movies
A student asked me: what's your favorite book?

I think my all-time favorite book is by Henry Miller, called Tropic of Capricorn. In Japanese, that book was called 南回帰線.  It's one of the funniest books I have ever read, and I have loved it even now.

If you want to know more about Henry Miller, click on this link.

One person asked: what is your favorite movie? That's a tough question, because I don't know that I have a favorite movie, because I have so many! So I'll show a clip of a movie I really liked when I was in university called The Unbearable Lightness of Being (in Japanese, 存在の耐えられない軽さ).  
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It is one of my most favorite movies of all time. Here is the Japanese promotional trailer for the movie:

This movie made me want to travel to eastern Europe - especially the Czech Republic, Poland, and Hungary. On that point, one student asked me: where is the best country you've been to? Well of course, I live in and love being in Japan, and I grew up in Australia, but maybe the best country I have traveled to was Poland.

The food was great, the people were wonderful, and there are so many famous places there. I really liked the Czech Republic too - it was the background to 存在の耐えられない軽さ. 

Finally, a student asked me: how many countries have you been to? Well, I have been to Japan, the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Tahiti, Mexico, Canada, the UK, Germany, Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, and Austria.

Some more questions about me
Finally, here's more about me! One person asked me: where did you enjoy hanami? 

Well, that person was asking about this picture:

This picture was taken in Shakujiikouen, in Nerima-ku in Tokyo. It was next to my wife's parents' house.

Another student asked me: what do you do on weekends? 

To answer that question: I get busy on weekends - walking our dog, cleaning our house, sometimes writing blogposts, and cooking dinner. My wife cooks on the week days when I'm working, so on weekends, I usually try to cook.

That's it! I hope I have answered all of your questions. Take care, and see you in class!

Video uploaded from YouTube. I do not own the rights to the video, or the film in it. It is uploaded strictly for educational purposes. 

More answers to your survey questions (Part 2)/アンケートの答えをつづき (Part 2)

Hello again!

How are you? Here is another post on your survey questions.

Questions about Japan
Some students asked me this question: what do you like in Japan?

Well, I think the person is asking about places. There are many places I like! One place I like is Karuizawa, in Nagano. Another place I like is Fukuoka. The bayside of Fukuoka is a lot like two cities in North America I really like - San Francisco and Vancouver.

Another part in Japan I like is the train ride going down the Miura Peninsula (三浦半島). I like the small towns and cities there, like Taura and Zushi, and of course, Kamakura.

Another person asked me: where do you want to go in Japan? 

That's an interesting question. One place I have not been to that I want to go to is Nagasaki. It's a historic place and every time I see it on TV, I see video of their famous street cars, running on the rails in the streets. It's very European and charming. It looks like a very interesting city.

Questions about food
One person asked me: what do you like about Japan? It feels like a Japan question - but to really answer that question, I can say that like many things, but maybe most of all, I love the food here, especially the fish dishes. I love fish, so of course, I love sushi and sashimi!

Another student asked me what my favorite food was, and I can also say it is unagi. I love it! I love the smell, the taste, and the sauce of unagi.

One interesting question I got from a student was: what kind of curry do you like? My answer - spicy  curry! I love Indian and Thai curry. I like Japanese curry too, but Indian and Thai curry are my favorites.

Questions about animals
A student asked me: what is your favorite animal? Well, I love cats!

Last year, My wife and I went to Odawara with some friends. Odawara is a charming city and was fun to walk around in, and this picture above is from a shop window there. We saw this cat in the window! Maybe he was the pet of the shop owner.

We have three cats and one dog at home! Our cats' names are Czerny (ツェルニ), Sesame (セサーミ), and Pepper (ペッパー).  Our dog's name is Freddie (フレディー). Here are their pictures:

I don't want to make this post too long, so I will make one more post for you after this to answer all your questions.

See you there!

More answers to your survey questions/アンケートの答えをつづき

Hello again!

Here are more answers to your survey questions!

Questions about English and teaching
I got some questions about English and teaching.

One person asked me: what is the best way for me to study English? Another person asked me: what should I do to talk well to you? 

My best answer to the first question is this:

DON'T STUDY ENGLISH ANYMORE! START USING IT!  I'm serious. Don't study English any more - you have studied it enough! I want you to use it - in speaking and writing. Use it with me. Post comments to this blog anytime! That's the best thing you can use for your English.

My best answer to the second question is:

USE ENGLISH WITH ME ANYTIME YOU WANT! That is the best way to talk with me.

Some questions about teaching:

Why did you become a teacher? Well, I became a teacher because my best friend is a teacher - a high school art teacher in my hometown. He was first an English teacher - in Poland. He was a great example for me to become a teacher.

Another question: what makes you happy as a teacher?

This is great question! I love this one. well, my best answer to this question is this: what makes me happy as a teacher is when I see students doing things they have never done before, and having a good time doing them. 

I hope, in this class, that I can show you things you have never seen before, and help you in your writing to do things you have never done before. I will try!

Questions about my wife
Some of you have also asked: are you married? Well, the answer is yes!

Some of you who knew I was married asked: where is your wife from? Well, she is Japanese - she was born in Shinjuku, but was raised in both Tokyo and Saitama, in Sayama.

Another person asked me - how old is she? Well, she's now 48 years old.

One person asked me what she cooked that I like. Well, she's a great cook who can cook many dishes very well, but maybe I would say that one dish of hers I really like is grilled salmon. She does that especially very well!

Another person asked me: what did you say when you proposed to your wife? Well, I said - "so…how would you like to get married?"

Questions about music
I got one question about music: what kind of music do you like?

Well, I will answer this so I can post videos of the kind of music I like! I like rock and jazz, especially rock music from the 1960s and 1970s. Here's an example of one rock musician I like - Jimi Hendrix:

Here's an example of a jazz musician I like too - John Coltrane:

I have some more questions to answer, so look for Part 3 of my answers soon!

See you then!

                            All videos uploaded from YouTube. I do not own the rights to these videos. They have been uploaded here strictly for educational use.

Answers to your survey questions/アンケートの答え

Hello!

How are you? As I have promised, I will answer your survey questions.

Questions about me
First, many of you have asked this question: how old are you? Well, I'll tell you. I'm 52 years old.

One or two people asked me: where are you from? Well, I put this on my profile on this blog in both English and Japanese - I'm from the U.S., but grew up in Australia.

One person asked me: do you like turtleneck sweaters? The answer is yes, I do! 

Another person asked me: what's your favorite kanji? Well, that's a hard question, but I guess one kanji I really like is this one:

園

In English, this is "garden." It's very simple, but I love the design of the kanji. It's like a woman in a beautiful kimono in a nice space!

I also like my wife's kanji too, because it's a beautiful one too: 愛香 (あいか).  In English, this means "beautiful fragrance."

Questions about sports
I got some questions about sports. Here's one:

What's your favorite baseball team? I don't know that I have a favorite baseball team, but one major league team I like is the Detroit Tigers. Detroit, as a city, has had a lot of problems, so when their sports teams play well, I'm very glad. The Tigers were a poor team for a long time, but over the last few years they have gotten much better.

I think for Japanese teams, I really like the Hiroshima Carp and the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles. The Carp weren't very good for a long time, but they also are playing much better now. The Golden Eagles are still a new team, and they beat the Giants for the Japan Series last year! I was so glad!

Another person asked me: what's your favorite basketball team? Well, right now, maybe the Portland Trail Blazers, because they're doing very well in the NBA playoffs right now. They're the closest good team to my home state of Idaho in the U.S., so I'm really happy for them.

A student asked me: do I know world soccer teams? The answer is yes, I do! I know all the English Premier League teams. I also know the big Serie A teams, and the Liga Espanol teams too. Of course, I also know the Bundesliga teams too.

Maybe my favorite English team is Wigan Athletic. They were a small team that went all the way up in English soccer to the Premier League. They won the FA Cup last year of the first time. Here's a video of Wigan Athletic FA Cup victory highlights:

But one question another student asked me was: what's your favorite sport?

For me, that would be ice hockey. This is my favorite sport. It's fast, hard, great scoring, and I love it!

This was a clip of Game 6 of the 2013 Stanley Cup finals - the championship of ice hockey in the U.S. and Canada.

I have many questions to answer! So this is Part 1 of my answers. Look for Part 2 next!

See you then!

All videos uploaded from YouTube. I do not own the rights to these videos. They have been uploaded here strictly for educational use.

Writing about a gift/プレゼント、おみやげを描写している

Hello!

Image "Orange Colored Box" courtesy of adamr/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

How are you? Today let's begin our first writing assignment (作文1) - writing about a gift. 

Activity

Look at the gift box in the picture. What do you think is in it? Imagine what kind of present is in the box. Who is it for? Is it expensive? Where was the gift bought? 

Thank about all these things, and write a short paragraph, 4-5 sentences long, about it.  

Good luck! See you next time!

Paragraph formatting/節のフォーマットしている

Hello!

Image "Notes" courtesy of healingdream/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

How are you? This post is about formatting paragraphs (節をフォーマット) plus some rules about writing names of places, bands and album titles in English.

NOTES
These notes are things to do in your writing. 

1. Remember that you are not writing sentences! You are writing paragraphs (節). For example:

My life at Shibaura            My life at university is good.
My life at Shibaura            I have made many friends here. 
My life at Shibaura            The classes are hard.
My life at Shibaura            So far I enjoy this school. 

ブッ！

(That's not good!) 

Please write like this: 
My life at university is good. I have made many friends here. The classes are hard. So far I enjoy this school. 

2. Connect your sentences to make longer ones. For example:

My life at university is good and I have made many friends here. The classes are hard, but so far I enjoy this school. 

Finally, remember to put capital letters for days of the week and months. For example:

   wednesday Wednesday       april 2nd   April 2nd

Also - names of places or music groups are not in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS, or with "quotes" around the names! For example: 

I went to "Hakone" in February.  I went to Hakone in February.

I really love GLAY.  I really love Glay. 

My favorite group is "Aqua Timez".  My favorite group is Aqua Timez. 

Plus - song titles do have "quotes" around them, but albums or CDs are in italics. For example:

正：I really love Glay and their song "Winter, Again." 

正：The first CD I ever bought was the Beatles album Rubber Soul. 

I will show you more on formatting and rules for titles of books and stories soon! 

See you next class!

このブログにようこそ！

Hello to all my Daito Bunka students,

このブログにようこそ！私はリー・アーノルドです。楽しいクラスしましょう！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！

How are you? I'm Lee Arnold. Welcome to my blog, Sekaijin's Learning Pages! 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! 

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.

I write this blog for all of you here at Daito Bunka. Let's have fun in our classes! 

がでいクラスしま！

ントができる。楽しいクラスしましょう！

あとでね！See you in class!