Tuesday, April 21, 2015

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

Hello!



How are you? Today, I will answer some of your questions about me on your surveys.

When did I come to Japan? 
Many of you asked me when I came to Japan. Well, I first came here in 1981 in the U.S. Navy. Yes! I was in the navy (海軍)! I joined the navy when I finished high school in 1980. I was in the Navy for five (5) years, and I spent two (2) years here - in Yokosuka, from 1981 to 1983. (Maybe your parents were in high school, junior high school, or maybe even in elementary school, when I was here then!)

I liked it here, and I said if I had a chance to come back here I would. So in 1997, I had a chance to come back here. I have now lived here for 18 years! 

Am I married? 
Many of you asked if I was married. Yes I am! I've been married now for 11 years to a great and wonderful woman. Some of you also asked what her name is. Well, her name is Aika (愛香). I would like to show you her picture - but she doesn't like me to post her pictures on my blog. (I'll show you her picture in class sometime!)

Can I speak Japanese? 
ん・・・まだへた思う、日常会話大丈夫ですけど・・・簡単な話題、いろいろなことできる、でも困難なことが難しい。簡単メール、Facebookメッセージするできるでもエッセイのことできないですね。「例えば:このブログのAbout me「私について」下のプロフィールの書き、いつか文書、節を書いて助けを借りなければならかった!」それで、日本語の書き、作文をまだ習う・・・m(_ _)m

下に読み続いて:

Tuesday, April 7, 2015

このクラス、ブログにようこそ!Welcome to the class and this blog!

Hello!



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 - plus upload your writing! You can write comments here too. We can have fun in these classes!
lasses! 
ブログにようこそ!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!


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'll be happy 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 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.


ができる。楽しいクラスしましょう!
ントがで。楽しいクラスしましょう!
Let's have a great semester together!  



あとでね!See you in class!


Images: Personal photos. All rights reserved. 

Saturday, February 7, 2015

Words on Music (Part 2): your writing

Hello again!




How are you? Here is more of your great writing on music! Click on these links for the pieces of music here, here, here, and here. 

Here's the first piece of writing. What do you think of it? 

There was a man in somewhere. He was gentle and funny. One day, he went to one town. The town was fantastic and wonderful. And the man came across a woman. The woman is very beautiful. He fell in love, then he told to her. So they went to a café and they became friendly. But he loved her. When he came home, he thought “I have to say my mind to her.” And he said “I love you.” She was very surprised, but she said “Me too.” After nine months, they were married.

The woman lived 40 more years. He was very sad every day. The woman was very important person for him. He and she didn’t have a child. But they were very happy. So, he became alone.

One day, he had a dream. The dream was very happy. This was that they meet first. They were young and brilliant. He was crying and smiling during dreaming. When he waked up, he felt happiness. And he looked theirs album. All of pictures were full with happiness. He couldn’t stop tears. But he heard her voice “Sorry. But I want you to live a long time. Please, please.” Then he decided to live as much as possible. So after 10 years, he died silently and his face was very gentle and happy.

Wow! An incredible and moving ending. Here's another:

One day, there was a man of one. He is office worker in near big enterprise. He has worry and anxiety. He walking round the office, and he found the bar. There is the bar in near office. He went into the bar. The bar had a lot of people. For example, smoking man, woman drinking liquor, man to make a drink, and man playing the piano.

He sat in closer from the door, and he asked liquor. He heard the sound of the piano while drinking. He was moved by sound of the piano. His sound healed his heart. He was quiet listening to the worries and troubles. He went to this bar every day, and he heard the sound of the piano. He was overworked. So, he lost sight of own. But, he wanted to enjoy the life by his sound of the piano.

He has changed. He left the job, and he traveled. He went to a lot of country, and he met many people. He heard their experience. He lived for me until now. But, he is going to live for other people. He founded the company of volunteers, and he was success. He began to a new life by his sound of the piano.

Another incredible story! Let's read another:

A beautiful girl was in a beautiful place. There were a beautiful river, beautiful flowers, beautiful fruits, and a beautiful lake. It was the most wonderful and beautiful place in the world. However, there was nobody but her, and she had thought she had been all alone until she would be dead.

One day, a boy came into the place. He was an adventurer, so he had wanted to walk around the world. When he looked around the place, he was surprised. “What a beautiful view!” he said. As soon as the girl heard the voice, she ran to him, and they met each other for the first time. “What a beautiful girl.” he said. They looked at each other, and they fell in love. After that, they spent each loving day.

When they had their first kiss, an accident happened. Actually, she had a secret. If she would kiss someone, the one would be dead. They had never known the secret, so they kissed each other. Soon, he fell down right there, and she was into a panic. “What’s happened!” she screamed, but his eyes kept closing. She became all alone again.  

Now that was great! Let's see one more! 

When I came to I was in the silent forest. I don't know what brought me here. The big and tall trees surround me and they don't allow me to see the sky. I started walking to find the other creatures, but nothing was found by me. 

I wandered in the forest, but I don’t know how long I wandered. I felt I may get tired, so I decided to take a break. When I sat down on the ground, I heard any sound. I tried to find where the sound come from. It was a bird. It flied around me as if he invite me to somewhere. Therefore, I followed him. I think I walked so long distance, but I didn’t get tired. He brought me to the small space where is not surrounded by the trees.

When I came to I was in noisy station where I used to use to go to the university. I was surrounded by a lot of people. They were interested in nothing except themselves and they continued their walking. Then, I understood there are no change between the silent forest and the noisy station.

Another interesting story! Click on the page link to read more:

Friday, February 6, 2015

Words on Music (Part 1): your writing

Hello to all of you!



How are you? I know the university is finished until April, but I wanted to upload some more of your great writing on the music I played for you in class. 

First, here are the selections of music I played for you. Here is The Bad Plus, with "Big Eater":


Next, is Weather Report with "Teen Town":


After that, we have Jeff Beck's "The Final Peace": 


Finally, here is Jason Moran and "Gentle Shifts South":


After the page break, let's read your great writing about these different pieces of music! Can you guess which writing is about which music? Take your guess!

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Final writing assignment back stories/期末作文の写真について

Hello,



How are you? Do you remember the pictures in the final writing assignment (期末作文)? Here are these pictures again, but with some links to information about them. 

I am enjoying reading your stories to these pictures, but all these pictures have real stories to them. For example - look at the picture above again. It looks like an old country house on the outside, but it has a unique story to it. Click on this link for more, and on this link here about the picture. 


Look at this next picture. It looks like a quiet beach now, but it was once a place where great history was made. Click on this link to find out more about this place.




Now look at this next picture again. This was the birthplace of a famous person from the 20th century. Click on this link here to find out about who the person was. 




Finally, while this final place has people in the picture, the place was very important. Click on the link here to find out more, and click on this link about the two people in the picture. 


I hope these are interesting for you. 

おつかれさまでした!It's been great working with all of you this year. You've been some great students. Have a great spring holiday! 

Images: Top photo - "Arromanches" by Bulo78 - Own work. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Arromanches.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Arromanches.jpg/Barn - "Pollock-barn" by Dmadeo - Own work. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pollock-barn.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Pollock-barn.jpg/Building - Picasso’s birthplace - By Dominik (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/Pablo-Picasso-Birthplace.jpg/
Couple - Woodstock couple by Burk Uzzle/image reproduced from file courtesy of Laurence Miller Gallery/laurencemillergallery.com
All images from except Woodstock couple from Wikimedia Commons. All rights reserved. I do not own the rights to these images. All images uploaded for educational purposes only.

Final writing assignment 2/期末作文2

Hello!



Happy New Year! How are you? Today, let's look at our final writing assignment (期末作文): writing about a place. 


This is very important - because we are finishing the year here at Daito Bunka, this is like a writing test - so we have to do this in one class time!

Rules:
You have a choice of four (4) different places. Choose one (1) of these places. 

Your task is to write a 3 paragraph short story about one of these places. 


Your papers must have correct formatting, with correct spacing.


Your papers must have titles for your stories.

Your papers must have your name, date and the name of the class on it.


Your writing must have some long sentences, with connecting words (and, but, or, so, because, whereas, however など).


Very important - your paragraphs should be long. Do not make them too short!


You have to start and finish your writing today. The very best writing on these pictures I will put together into a collection called Places and Traces - so write the best you can!


Imagine stories for these places. For example - t
ake a look at the picture above. What is your impression (感想) of this place? Imagine people, characters, situations, and even a history about them and the places.  I will show the top picture again:









Good luck!

Images: Top photo - "Arromanches" by Bulo78 - Own work. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0 http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Arromanches.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Arromanches.jpg/Barn - "Pollock-barn" by Dmadeo - Own work. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pollock-barn.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Pollock-barn.jpg/Building - Picasso’s birthplace - By Dominik (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/Pablo-Picasso-Birthplace.jpg/
Couple - Woodstock couple by Burk Uzzle/image reproduced from file courtesy of Laurence Miller Gallery/laurencemillergallery.com
All images from except Woodstock couple from Wikimedia Commons. All rights reserved. I do not own the rights to these images. All images uploaded for educational purposes only.

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

White Rooms and Secret Stories (Part 2)

Hello!



How are you? Today I'd like to post a 2nd part to our collection of your stories called White Rooms and Secret Stories. Here are some more of your great stories!

Check this first one out!

I have had many crazy dreams in my life, but last week I had the craziest dream of all. This dream was very interested and a bit scared. This dream made me feel mysterious. I didn’t know why I had such a dream myself.

I got on the plane for ten hours, and arrived at the United States. My best friend married, and she held a wedding ceremony in the United States. She looked very happy and she was very beautiful. After her wedding ceremony, I went to watch the sunset, it was very beautiful. Because I was tired, I came back to the hotel.

I closed black curtains before taking a bath. When I looked at the outside of the window, a tiger was in the balcony. I was very surprised, but the tiger was very cute and friendly. I slept with it, I spent one day. I made friends with the tiger very much. I will never forget this dream.

Great! Let's check out this next one:


Last year, I have traveled to America. I got on the airplane. Airplane is so frightening because very higher and faster! Airplane is scary though, strange figure has been seen in the bathroom of the airplane. When I opened the door, there was a tiger! But the tiger was sadly face. I became the tiger and friends. I called the tiger “Alice.” Alice gone very tame to me, seemed to have a like love to me.


I got off the airplane, outside was hearing dark anymore day. And then, appearance of Alice was freaking!! And, Alice has become to the human figure!! So looks very beautiful girl, I would be love at first sight. But Alice during the day and return to the tiger, changes to human form when it comes to night. I had seen as a one of the lover Alice.


We were good relationship now living together. Then one day Alice and I decided to get married. And we lived in peace in the white house. I didn’t show the true figure of Alice to anymore.

Hmm…marrying a tiger! What a life! Now how about this one: 

I was ready to come home last Friday after a hard week at work, but when I opened my front door, I could not believe what I found there.


There was a boarding gate through there must have been an outside of my company. Two well-dressed men escorted me around an airplane and I was taken to a luxurious room. After I was taken there, the airplane took off without being explained. I was very tired so I spent sleeping on a luxurious bed in the room, and having dinner. I had delicious dishes for the first time. The plane landed unknown place before I knew it. But I did not feel scary wonderfully.

Two men escorted me around a station next. An inside of a train was also luxurious. I saw train tracks and cables when I looked outside from the train window, and I saw birds that I have never seen kind of. I began to think that where I was taken to and where here was. I explored the train to look for the two men.

First of all, I went out the room. It was amazing view when I sew first. There was a lion. However, it was a baby lion. I approached the lion softly and the lion nestled close to me. Strangely enough, the lion became attached to me soon so I advanced with the lion. I found a room and looked into the room. The room was pitch-black. I draw curtains after I groped those. The room was all while but just curtains were black. It was already a time of sunset.

Very good! Now how about this story?

There was a woman who had a beautiful black hair. Her name was Jenny. When she was child, she dreamed that she wanted to marry with a white man so she went to America after she grew up. Then, she met a good looking white man. The more the time went on, the more they were friendly, in the end they were more than friends. Finally, the man asked Jenny to marry him looking at beautiful sunset. Jenny said “Yes!” in a breath.


Before Jenny’s bridal, there were Jenny and her man in the church. When they prepared the ceremony, a sister came to them and said “Don’t enter the room!” She pointed toward one room. Jenny asked the reason. “I can’t tell” the sister said.


After the ceremony, Jenny was so happy, but she was curious about the room, so she decided to enter the room. When she opened the door, there was only a big grey curtain and she opened the curtain. There was a big hungry white tiger. She was so surprised and tried to run away but the room door was locked. She couldn’t go out. Finally, nobody has seen Jenny since.

Where is Jenny? No-one knows! Well, let's look at this next one: 

I have had dreams in my life, but I lost dreams. My dream was to get married wonderful man. I met wonderful man three years ago. He is very kind and good worker, so he loves me. I changed my life since I have met him. My character was shy and negative, and I did not like my character. But I can like my character because I could have confidence. And I feel happy every day.

I am in beach to see sunset. I was born near the beach, and I grow up with the beach. This beach was supported me every time when I bored something. I was not good at talking with someone because my character was shy and negative. But I have been feeling that this beach conceal my negative emotion. I had uneasiness about newly married life. I had to move into urban city by airplane. I was happy to get married wonderful man and move into urban city, but I was sad because moving out other place is solitary. There is my husband, but somehow my feeling was bad. I noticed that I love my hometown when I decided to move out other place. I was pleasure of greeting married and wedding, but I do not know why, I am depressed.

I realize I live in Tokyo when I see a lot of train tracks and cables now. I see these for the first time after coming Tokyo. I am in white room at my new house. I know I am in my house, but I do not feel secure. I want to go back my hometown to see sunset in my favorite beach. 

There's more after the page break!