Monday, September 10, 2012

The University of Tsukuba CE Humanities A - Week 2

Hello everyone,
Today we are going to start our first unit of study.

Let's study some vocabulary. Please click the link: Unit 1 - Identity Vocabulary

Now please look at the image below. What is it. What information is printed on it?


Now click the link to download the course outline.

Finally, let's watch a video. This is a video conversation between Sarah of the Daily English Show and a man called Achille. Achille was born in Quebec. Therefore, his mother tongue was French. He moved to the United States. Achille's experience was very interesting.

Watch the video. What do you think of Achille's experience? How do you think you would feel if your second language became your main language and you were unable to express yourself easily in your mother tongue? Post your answer as a comment below. Click the link to watch the video.

See you next week!

36 comments:

  1. saki hasegawa10:40 pm

    I think his experience was sad but also valuable.And he was great as he was hungry to learn English.I think his feeling to English is need for me to improve my English. If my second language became my main language anod I couldn't express myself in my mother tongue,I would feel that's life.Of course it is sorry to forget my mother tongue,but it is important to learn second language to live.Even though I forget my language,it is essential to love my country.

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  2. Arisa.I10:57 pm

    I think Achille's effort is wonderful. I envy him. I want to enjoy studying another language as him.
    It is very stress for me that my second language become my main language. Japanese often has difficult phrases and I usually use them. When I talk, I think of those phrases but I don't know what to say English.
    I should effort to express in easy Japanese and English and talk in English positively.

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  3. Akiho9:42 am

    I am sad if I cannot express myself easily in Japanese.
    And I may feel whether I am Japanese or not.
    To forget Japanese seems to forget Japan.
    I want to go abroad and speak English well,but I don't want to forget Japanese.
    To do so, I feel much effort is needed.

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  4. Akihiko12:01 am

    First I just think Achille's experience was valuable because he had a chance to learn two languages.
    Of course I understand it was hard for him but I have wanted to speak English and other languages except Japanese.
    So I feel that way.
    Also I'd not care if I couldn't express myself in Japanese.
    I don't mind how to do that.
    I'm sure it is difficult for me to express myself in other languages but it won't affect my identification.
    Although Achille's mother told him to pretend French, I needn't to give up being Japanese.
    Perhaps I'd be so confused if I lost my citizenship.

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  5. shoko6:46 am

    My name is Shoko.
    I think Achille's experience is sad.
    If I can't use my mother tongue freely, I would become uneasy and keep my words to a minimum.
    Because when I express my self in Japanese, I sometimes speak before I mediate how to say.
    But I think Achille's effort is good.
    It's important to accept one's destiny.

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  6. Masako11:44 am

    I think his experience is sad.
    When he couldn't speak French in United States,he might feel he was not French yet.
    But I think he is grete because he studied hard to speak English.
    So I also think his experience is precious.
    If I can't speak Japanese in other country,I can't bear that life.
    So I want to speak Japanese regulaely with Japanese frinds.
    Of course I study hard to live that country.
    When I want to improve my English,living in United States is best.
    It is important to keep balance between mother tongue and second language.

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  7. I think his experience is valuable beause he could know two culture and learn two language.

    If my second language became main language, I would be a quiet person and feel lonely.
    But I want to make friends!!
    So I'll learn the language very hard as if Achille.

    But I don't want to lost my Japanese friends, so I try not to forget Japanese.

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  8. itokon3:18 pm

    If i was put in the same situation as Achille, iI would be impatient of it. I would be sad not to tell my friend my true feeling in my mother tough and might be disappointment.


    Achille made an effort to live in foreign country. It is fantastic for me because i have a difficult time learning English and Spanish.But i cherish Japanese
    best,because it is only my tough.

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  9. Sayaka6:20 pm

    I think his experience is wonderful.
    To learn other language is very good because we can communicate more people of other countries.
    If my second language becomes my main language, I can’t express myself at first.
    However I think I will able to express little by little.
    So I don’t care about my language.
    I want everyone not to stick only their own culture.
    And I hope so myself.
    Then I think people don’t feel resistance about languages.

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  10. aiman9:44 pm

    I think its kind of sad how Achille and his mom pretended that they did not came from Quebec. But I think I can understand why they did that. Maybe making a good impression of themselves are very important to them.

    I understand how he feels. I, too, am having the same problem as he was. Well, maybe not as tough as what he had gone through though. At least, in a way, I have chosen this problem myself, while Achille had no other choice.

    Not being able to express yourself to other people is a really sad thing. Sometimes it makes you wanted to run from the reality. But you know that you can't run from it. The only thing you can do to survive in a new environment is to blend in as much as you could, including changing your language and culture.

    I hope that I would be able to blend in with my new environment, and at the same time, not losing my own identity.

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  11. Yuki Izumi11:40 pm

    I think he had so many sad experiences
    because there was a language barrier.
    But he changed this difficulty to be a good chance
    to learn English.
    He didn't ran away from hard face of situation.
    I think he is very tough.
    If I were him,I would struggle to express my feelng,
    but probably I would give up to do.
    I don't have any confidence to keep up
    making efforts like him.

    And he seems that he thinks both French and English
    are important to progress his language ability.
    I think he treats two languages equaly and importantly
    as his own culture.

    Now, I sutdy English as asecond language.
    I feel I should study harder like Achille.
    I think it takes so long time,I try to make efforts.


    ReplyDelete
  12. Ayaka9:15 pm

    Hello , I am Ayaka.

    After watching the video , I think it seems stressful for me to be in such a position.
    If my Japanese could not be understood by my friends or my teachers , I would be very sad and feel lonely.
    So , I think Achille got tired from express himself to others.

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  13. I think Achille's experiences would trouble him in his daily life.
    The language difference would cause the confusion when he expressed his emotion. Perhaps it made him introvert a little.
    However, it is said that using English is the most effective way to study English.
    As you know, English is the useful language, which can convey our think to anyone in all over the world.
    Therefore we can say that the experiences fostered his internationality.

    Of courese, that's a difference story wherether I can change my mother tongue to English for my advantage because I love my mother tongue, Japanese.
    Our language are not the mere symbol which can convey our think, but our pride as Japanese.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Marina10:48 pm



    I think Achill's effort to learn English is wonderful and valuable.
    It's very sad for me to be unable
    to express myself easily in Japanese.
    But I must learn my second language to live.
    He was hungry to learn English.
    I want to have such a strong heart.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Hiromi Nagano11:16 pm

    I think he was sad because he couldn't tell people his feelings.
    I stayed America few years ago,and I couldn't communicate with my hostfamily very well.
    So I understand his feelings.
    But if I can speak English frequently,I can communicate with other countries people.
    How interesting it is!
    So I think his experience is sad but valuable.
    And I want to be able speak English to communicate foreign people as if English is my first languege.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Keisuke Igarashi12:47 am

    I think he was sad because he may not want to move.
    I also think he had a hard time living in foreign countory.
    But that experience made him strong.
    Although living in a foreign countory and lerning foreign language aren`t easy,such experience make people tough.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous12:52 am

    I guess what Achill exprienced was hard for him when he was a child.
    He made a lot of effort to get to able to speak English.
    However, it is very valable for him, I think too.

    If I had to speak in second language, I would struggle to express myself and study the language hard or cultivate nonverbal commuication, for exsample music.
    On the other hand, I guess I would stick to Japanese because it's my significant identity.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Kentaro1:07 am

    I think Achille is very positive and has a strong and indomitable mind.
    He talks about his past story with smile.
    His experience seems so hard for other person but he overcame these difficulties.

    If I were unable to express myself easily in Japanese, I would make an special effort to communicate in other langage like Achille.

    ReplyDelete
  19. masaki takano1:46 am

    I would have troubles in saying anything if our second language became our main language. I want to keep up Japanese as a Japanese. But Achille was put in such a environment. He had to pretend to be from Paris, not from Quebec. Where someone come from is their identities, so I think he felt worry about his own identity when he was young. It was lucky that he could take advantages by keep up French, but he might not so happy in using French as a French not a Quebec man.
    English is used in communication, academic situation, business and so on. It was a global language. On the other hand, what is Japanese? Why we use it? What is identity? By watching the video,I thought such a thing.

    ReplyDelete
  20. chihiroN9:33 am

    I think it is admirable that he was hungry to learn a new language when he emigrate to U.S.
    If I were put in his situation, I'm not sure I could think so.
    Everyday life wituout my mother tongue is terrible for me...

    ReplyDelete
  21. The experience must have been very hardship for him.
    I also experience which resembled him now.
    I belong to E.S.S.
    I do the English debate there.
    However,I am very weak in English.
    So,it is a very impatient thing that it cannot be made language in spite of understanding with the head.
    So he also must have felt what I feel that I little sympathize with him.

    ReplyDelete
  22. kosuke12:57 pm

    I guess it was a hard experience for him.
    Maybe he couldn't express himself and communicate with others.
    Furthermore he was supposed to came from not Quebec.
    What a stressful situation for a child.
    I think this means loss of his identity.
    I guess language and hometown are very important for one's identity.
    So, after watching this video, I think what we can do for keep us identity when we were exposed such a situation is important thing.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Sayaka Hashida1:16 pm

    I think being unable to speak one's native language is irritated for me.
    It is fearful to have an experience like Achille , but I think that it is good for the language which can be spoken to increase.
    If my second language became my main language and I were unable to express myself easily in my mother tongue , I am in trouble.
    In Japan, the talk may not pass by the difference in a dialect.
    As such time , I would like to talk in the language which I want to speak.
    English as second language is important , but I hope to value a native language.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Kishimoto1:31 pm

    I think achille had a great experience about language.
    I may not need to learn other language because I am a Japanese.
    But Achille`s emvironment is different:he ia from Quebec.
    He had atrouble to express his feelings.

    ReplyDelete
  25. I think his experience is valuable because by this experience, he had knew two cultures. Language is also culture. So, if you know two languages, you can think by two way. Then, you can be flexible than person who can speak only one language. I think it is wonderful. But, pretending his from is sad thing. Maybe he loved his hometown Quebec. I love my hometown, Fukuoka too. So, I feel sorry to him.
    And, for second question, I think second language cannot exceeds mother tongue. I think mother tongue is your identity. So, lossing this means lossing yourself. Even if I forced to such a situation (second language become main language), I'll cherish Japanese and my accent of this.

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  26. Yuichi1:37 pm

    What I admired is his strength.
    I'm sure that Achille is the man who has strong mind and energy to effort.

    If I were faced with such a situation, I would become uneasy and confused.
    He helped me to think that I want to consider about problems of language.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Takuto1:39 pm

    I think Achille's experience is sad. If I could not use my mother language freely,I didn't know what to do and wanted to cry. So I respect him because he has very strong mind. Although he put such a situation,he overcome it. I moved it.

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  28. Yuki Yoshimura1:44 pm

    I think Achille had a difficult time before he can use second language. It may be very hard to be unable to communicate with others normally. But,that experience made him strong.
    If I were in such a situation,I would try to communicate with others in second language little by little,and never give up.

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  29. Atsushi2:03 pm

    Achille had a hard experience.
    I cannot express my feeling by second language.
    So,I cannot stand that situation.
    I respect him.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Taichi2:04 pm

    I think mother tongue is one of the most important things of one's identity.
    Mother tongue is not only for communication but also use thinking. The changing in Achille from one country to another must be serious.

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  31. Chika2:04 pm

    I can't express my emotion fully without my mother language.
    So,I think Achille's experience is hard for him.

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  32. Eishi3:00 pm

    He is very nice man, because he studied English hard while his mother tongue is French.I want to act like him!

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  33. I think his experience is sad.
    If my second language became main language,I could not express all of my feelings and thoughts.
    It is great to learn some languages but speaking them is not so easy.
    Experiences about languages have a great influence on one`s identity.

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  34. I think moving to U.S whithout ability to speak english was not comfortable for Achille.
    But he overcomed his difficulties by his effort.
    That experience maybe gave him confidence.
    So he looks satisfied,for me.

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  35. Yuka.M7:04 pm

    If I can't speak my mother language freely,I must feel depression because maybe I can't tell my opinion enough.
    But I hope I can do my best in such situation.Though I'm not good at speaking second language,I want to try to communicate with others in that language.

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  36. I think his experience is hard.
    BUT,it is good for his life !
    I would like to be like him.
    Because his mind became powerful through his hard experience.

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