CE-II Autumn 2013: Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone:
Today we are going to learn about Christmas in various cultures. First, let's look at a Christmas video card I made in 2010.



In the past, there were Twelve Days of Christmas. This period was known as Christmastide, or Yuletide. The twelve days of Christmas started on Christmas day and ended on or before the feast of the Epiphany (the 6th of January). In some cultures, gifts were given on each of the twelve days of Christmas. This tradition is rarely practiced now, but a song about it is still sung, "The Twelve Days of Christmas". Now let's watch another video. This is a Canadian version of the popular song. List the twelve gifts in the Canadian version. What kinds of gifts would you give in your own Japanese version?

That's all, have a safe and happy holiday. See you next year!

Integrated English 2 Autumn 2013 Happy Christmas!

Hello everyone, It's Christmas Eve. Happy Christmas. Today we are going to finish reading the Sign of Four, and then we'll talk about Sherlock Holmes and Christmas. First, let's study some vocabulary. Please click the link: Sherlock Holmes: The Sign of Four Vocabulary.

OK, let's listen to a Sherlock Holmes story set during Christmas time. This story is called The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle. Let's listen to the story, then answer some questions about it.



Well then, how do you think the diamond got into the goose's stomach, and who do you think stole Lady Morcar's diamond? We'll find out...next time.

Finally, Sherlock Holmes is what we call an iconic character (偶像視される［に祭り上げられる］役). This means that he is such a well known and well loved character that he is like an idol, and he represents the "ideal detective". Therefore, Sherlock Holmes has appeared as a character in many stories, even science fiction. Sherlock Holmes has even appeared in the popular British science fiction television programme Doctor Who. In last year's Doctor Who Christmas Special, the Doctor disguised himself as Sherlock Holmes. You can see a clip from the programme below.  Enjoy, and have a safe and happy winter holiday!

The University of Tsukuba Christmas Day Lesson

 メリークリスマス！Nollaig shona duit! Joyeaux Noel! Merry Christmas everyone! Today Christmas Day is being celebrated in many countries around the world. However, the 25th of December is not the only day Christmas is celebrated on. Christmas Day will be celebrated on the 6th of January in Armenia, and it will be celebrated on the 7th of January in Ethiopia, Russia, Ukraine, Serbia, the Republic of Macedonia, and the Republic of Moldova. 

In Japan, Christmas is mostly a secular (世俗的な) commercial celebration. Interestingly, Christmas Eve has become a time for Japanese couples to have romantic dinners and exchange gifts. 





Our Cross Cultural Awareness and English lecture today will be on love songs sung on the island of Crete in Greece. By the way, "Merry Christmas" in Greek is Καλά Χριστούγεννα!
Click the link today's lecture topic: The University of Tsukuba Cross Cultural Awareness and English Trimester 3 Week 3

Toyo Gakuen University Pre-Entrance Event for New Students

Hello and welcome to Toyo Gakuen University! Today we are going to learn English through J-Pop. 

Some J-Pop stars sing in English too. Look at the picture below. Do you know these J-Pop stars?

J-Pop Stars Picnik collage

Originally uploaded by Toyo Gakuen University English Classes

Now let's enjoy some music!
Watch and listen to the video below. Who is the singer? What's the song?

Look below. Here is today's lesson handout.

 
Thank you for coming today. I hope you enjoyed the lesson. I hope to see you again.

Merry Christmas!!!

Image made using Photofunia.com

Ho Ho Ho! Merry Christmas!!
I hope you are enjoying a lovely day today. I found a really cool video below that explains the Christmas story. Many thanks to Marc Helgesen and Curtis Kelly for this.
Enjoy!

I Can

American president Obama famously said, "Yes we can", but so many people think that they can't. These people need to change. The world is changing, and that is good. Change is good. Everyone can change. As the Scottish comedian Billy Connolly said, "You can change on your death bed".

A great teacher in India called Kiren Bir Sethi has taught children that they can change the world. Please watch her video. You can watch with subtitles. Look at the screencast to see how to do it.

Now click this link to watch the video:

キラン ビア セイシ: 子どもたちに “I can” と教え

Another great teacher in Nagoya called Chuck Sandy saw Kiren Bir Sethi's video and he was inspired. He has brought her idea to Japan. He is working to help young people in Japan change the world. He is working to help people change the world with an organisation called Design for Change Japan.

Today, I will go to Nagoya. I will go to Nagoya for a big teachers' conference. It's the JALT conference. At the conference, I will meet Kiren Beth Sethi and Chuck Sandy and many other great people at a Design for Change event. One of Chuck's students recorded a song for the event. You can listen to the song.  Please watch the video below.

See you next Wednesday. I can't wait to tell you about all the things I learned at the JALT conference.

The 11th Day of the 11th month: a Day of Peace

Today is a special day. Today is Remembrance Day. Remembrance Day is a day of peace celebrated in Commonwealth countries including Canada and the United Kingdom. The symbol of Remembrance Day is the poppy. You can see a picture of a poppy below.

Photo by Sermoa

You can learn more about Remembrance Day by clicking the links below:

Posts about Remembrance Day on this blog
Remembrance Day on wikipedia

Give peace a chance!

Toyo Gakuen University Hallowe'en Party 2010

Hi everyone!
Yesterday we had a great party in the English Lounge. Fifty students came to the 5th annual Togaku Hallowe'en Party. Mr. Hardy was the host. We ate sweets. We drank pop, juice, and tea. We carved jack o' lanterns. We sang songs. We played games. It was a great party. I made a video of our party. The song that you can hear in the video was written and performed by my very good friend Marc Fedak. You can hear more of Marc's music on line. Please click this link: marc fedak on soundclick
Enjoy!

A Special Presentation for Peace

I got a message from my friend Michele Steele about a special presentation about peace. On the 13th of November, Anna Baltzer will be speaking at the Daito Bunka Kaikan. You can see the details in the picture below. Ms. Baltzer's presentation is sponsored by JALT Gunma Chapter and the JALT Global Issues in Language Education Special Interest Group (GILE).

I hope to see you there!

The Hire Hire Festival at Toyo Gakuen University

Hello everybody,
Well, it's that time again!! The Hire Hire Festival starts tomorrow.
I spoke to Yuka, one of the organisers of the festival. Our chat was made into a podcast by Jerry Talandis, one of the great teachers at Toyo Gakuen University. You can listen to the podcast by clicking the link below.  There are many great things to see and do at the festival including:

• a flea market
• fireworks
• stamp rally
• stand-up comedy
• live music
• food stands
• ..and many more things!!

Please leave a comment.
Enjoy!

ELP 5: The Hire Hire Festival

MASH Equinox Tokyo at Toyo Gakuen University

What did you do on the long week-end? I spent my long week-end at Toyo Gakuen University Hongo Campus. I spent 4 days at a fantastic conference at Toyo Gakuen University Hongo campus called MASH Equinox Tokyo 2010.

©MASH Collaboration 2010 http://flic.kr/p/8C6gVt

Other Toyo Gakuen University teachers and students participated in the conference too. Andy Boon was one of the organisers. Daniel Beck did a great pecha kucha (ペチャクチャ) presentation. Hitomi Sakamoto-sensei, Clair Taylor, and Clare Murray attended the conference. Most importantly, Toyo Gakuen University students volunteered to help out at the conference. We were all very proud of them.

©MASH Collaboration 2010 http://flic.kr/p/8C6DSX

Clair Taylor and Scott Thornbury

Clair Taylor and Michael Stout having a laugh at MASH Equinox 2010

©MASH Collaboration 2010 http://flic.kr/p/8C6DsH

I was also delighted to see my friend Jennifer Ypantidis give a great presentation. We worked together at Kanto International High School.

There will be many more conferences at Toyo Gakuen University this year. Why don't you volunteer to help out at a conference? If you volunteer at a conference you will meet many kind and interesting people and you will have a great chance to practice speaking English.

Kanto International High School Study Abroad Class of 2008 Reunion

Kanto International High School Study Abroad Class of 2008 Reunion, originally uploaded by mick62.


Last night was a very special night. Last night I met some of my students from the Kanto International High School Study Abroad Class of 2008. We met at Gonpachi. Gonpachi is famous. Gonpachi was in the Quentin Tarantino movie Kill Bill. It was so great to see them again. They are all adults now! Amazing! All of them speak English so well now too. I'm so proud of them. I was delighted to learn that some of them are studying linguistics now, and at least one wants to become a language teacher - a Japanese language teacher, but a language teacher none the less! Shall I say it again? I'M SO PROUD OF THEM. They are my reward!!! 
I'm also very grateful that we are still connected through Facebook and Twitter. When I was a student we didn't have social networks, so I've lost touch with most of my teachers and professors, and while I was in school and university we never developed learning networks. I'm much luckier than my teachers and professors were.
Some of the fantastic work of the students in this class and the students in the other Kanto International High School Study Abroad classes can be seen by clicking this link: Kanto International H.S. Projects. 
If you are a teacher or student with a similar experience, please share. Please post a comment below.

The Dalai Lama has the courage to speak "broken English". Do you?

Last month, His Holiness The Dali Lama visited Japan. My friend Larry Cisar  invited me to see the Dali Lama at the Foreign Correspondents' Club press conference. Unfortunately I had to work that day. I hope I can see him the next time he comes to Japan.  I am always moved by the Dalia Lama's words. I was especially happy to read the words quoted in the image below. His words made me think. If a great man like the Dalai Lama is willing to risk losing face (顔が立たない, 恥をかく) by speaking "imperfect" English, why are so many English language learners afraid to practice speaking English? Why is it such a source of embarrassment to them? Ichirou has lived in America for many years now. He uses English in his day-to-day life, but he never gives interviews in English. Why? Is he better than the Dalai Lama. Are you better than the Dalai Lama? Of course not. If the Dalai Lama has the courage to speak broken English so should everyone. ダライラマが出来るなら、皆も出来るね。

Image by Garr Reynolds and JUDIT KAWAGUCHI

You can see the entire quote in the image above in Japanese. Please click this link: http://preview.tinyurl.com/2d5mwpp
These images were made by a great teacher called Garr Reynolds. I've learned much about giving presentations from him. Mr. Reynolds used a photo from an article about the Dalai Lama's visit on Judit Kawaguchi's Blog.

Have courage. Practice what you learn, not only English, but everything you learn, and make a contribution to the world.

Toyo Gakuen University Christmas Lesson

Well, Christmas is almost here, and the year is almost over, so as a special treat, we are going to have a Christmas lesson. First let's learn about Christmas around the world.

Let's watch a video.

Merry Christmas! See you next year.

Remembrance Day 2009

From Michael's Mash-Ups

Today is Remembrance Day. Every 11th of November in Canada we remember the terrible tragedy of war and we pray for peace. We also recite a poem called "In Flanders Fields".
Here's a beautiful video made by a teacher in Canada. Please pray for peace today.

Toyo Gakuen University Special Events: Halloween

We celebrated Halloween at Toyo Gakuen University!
Students and teachers had a party in the English Lounge. We carved pumpkins, played games and ate snacks.







The K9 Freshman English Reading class had a special lesson about Frankenstein.

Mr. Stout's Blog-For students and teachers: Toyo Gakuen University FE-2 Special Halloween Lesson: Frankenstein

Finally, I found this cool website by a woman in Hawaii who made Halloween bentos. Check it out!


http://www.aibento.net/2009/10/23/frankenstein-bento-403/

Toyo Gakuen University Festival 2009

Toyo Gakuen University's annual festival was held last Saturday and Sunday. I went to the festival on Saturday. I enjoyed it very much. I enjoyed the dance performances. I enjoyed the gospel groups's singing. I enjoyed the food. I especially enjoyed seeing third year and fourth year students. I don't see third year and fourth year students often because they take their classes at the Hongo campus.



Everyone worked hard to make the festival great. Everyone was smiling and enjoying the festival. It was great!
What was your favourite thing at the festival. Please leave a comment.

英語総合1B - Poetic Social Mission: A Special event by onedrop.org

This image is protected by copyright ©onedropfoundation. The image was downloaded from http://www.youtube.com/user/onedropfoundation . The image is used here in accordance with the non-free use rationale.

We have been learning many things about water in Unit 2, "Water: Our most important resource", in our textbook Tapestry Reading 1. You can review the things we've learned by reading the blackboard notes that I posted on this blog.

Recently, I discovered something wonderful! I discovered onedrop.org. ONEDROP.ORG was founded by Guy Laliberte. Guy Laliberte is a Canadian! He was also the founder of Cirque du Soliel (太陽のサーカス). Maybe you know Cirque de Soliel because Cirque du Soliel has a theatre at the Tokyo Disney Resort.

Now Guy Laliberte is on the International Space Station. Last weekend, he presented an incredible webcast from the International Space Station called Poetic Social Mission. The purpose of the webcast was to teach people about the importance of water. The webcast was broadcast from places all over the world including Osaka. Many artists, scientists, and world leaders from all over the world participated in the webcast including former American Vice President Al Gore, David Suzuki, Peter Gabriel, Joss Stone, and Tatsuya Ishii (石井竜也).
Thanks to onedrop.org and the the Poetic Social Mission webcast I have learned many more things about water including:

• 70% of the earth's surface is covered by water
• Most of the water on earth is salt water, which we can't drink
• We need fresh water (淡水). We get most of our fresh water from rivers and lakes.
• Only .007% of the earth's water is contained in rivers and lakes
• 60% of the human body is water
• We have more rain because of global warming
• Many girls in the world cannot go to school because they are busy collecting water

Little by little, we are losing the water we need. You can make a difference! I have promised to drink less bottled water. Bottled water is wasteful (浪費的な). What will you do? You can make a promise on the onedrop.org website. Click here to make your promise: Get involved . Please post a comment telling me what you have promised to do to save water.

Happy Canada Day

Today is Canada Day! Today Canada is one hundred and forty two years old.

Here's a video tour of Dan Beaudoin's interesting house in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. The house is decorated in maple leaves. The people in Windsor call it "Canada House".

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You can see some more cool pictures here. Click the link. Happy Canada Day Shared via AddThis

東洋学園大学 First Year Orientation

The new school year has started. On Saturday the fourth of April, first year students at Toyo Gakuen University came to school for orientation. They had lunch with teachers, professors and staff members. They also learned about the university and the various clubs by doing a stamp rally. Here are some pictures of the orientation below.

Some of the clubs set up booths to recruit new members

Andy took his students for a tour of the campus

We had lunch in the cafeteria. Click the picture to see the notes.

Here's Mr. Hardy in the English Lounge.

The orientation was a big success. Classes start on Wednesday. I'm looking forward to it!