Wednesday, July 13, 2011

応用英吾I-2A Reading: And the winner is...

Well everyone, we have a winner. A couple of weeks ago, I asked you to write original stories based on your favourite characters in The Inverted Eagle. Both Adam Gray and Marcos Benevides, the authors of your textbook, have read your stories and selected a winner, and the winner is...Shin!
Here's what Mr. Gray said about Shin and his story:

"(Shin) had a good command of English, and in addition, the story about Miguel wanting to join an NPO and go to India seems very realistic based on the characters. I like the end, where he flashes five years forward and Miguel and Allison have two kids and she is there at the airport to see him off."

Mr. Gray also liked Hiroaki S's story very much. He said:

"Honorable mention to #10 (Hiroaki S), whose story made me laugh out loud. Kevin in flight school! Great idea."

You can read Shin's story and Hiroaki S's story below. I have corrected the grammar and vocabulary usage errors.

Shin's Story

     It had been many months since the case of the Inverted Eagle had been solved, and with their parent's permission, Miguel and Allison were together and in love with each other. Miguel was very busy because of his studies to be a doctor, but he and Allison had a date once a month, eating lunch, going to a movie or just talking late at night. Even a common date like that made Miguel happy.
 One day in the library in Georgetown University, Miguel was distressed. He didn't want to be an ordinary doctor but a member of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). MSF is an NPO and a doctor who belongs to MSF treats the poor all over the world. Therefore if Miguel became a member of MSF, he couldn't be with Allison, so he couldn't make a decision. As time passed, his head was full of these worries, and one night in autumn, he called Allison.
 "Hi, Allison. How are you?"
    "Ah, the temperature has begun to drop rather low here these days, but I'm OK. How about you, Miguel? How are your studies going? Well?"
    "Yes, they are going well. I'm trying hard, but, uh...."
He kept silent a little time. She sensed that something was strange at once, and broke the silence earlier than Miguel.
"If you're keeping something from me, tell me everything without worries. It's all right, Miguel."
 Hearing this, Miguel felt that he'd been released from pain completely. Then he decided to tell the truth and....
 After five years, Miguel is at an airport to fly to India as an  MSF doctor. Allison and two babies that look like Miguel are there to see him off. 

Hiroaki S's story


     Two months after his mother was arrested, Kevin got a job working in a convenience store. He was working at his part time job when a robbery happened. He captured the robbers. Ellie, by chance, walked by. She praised him and he got a big award from the police. He was in the paper and after that he was on TV. After that, he had girlfriends and enrolled in a flight school. Three years later he became a pilot and he flew all over the world. After, he lived in Tahiti. He married and had two children and he whiled away the rest of his life.

You can read the original versions of Shin and Hiroaki S's stories here: http://www.box.net/shared/2loey3coaka0xn1otk21 


Please leave a comment. Let us know what you think of these stories and also tell us what you think of this project.





Tuesday, July 12, 2011

英語総合1A Global Issues Spring 2011 Final Exam Study Guide

 
This Image  is an edited and modified version of image by Lipo's sojourn (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ikkoskinen/309990286/)

The semester is almost over! The final exam  is 18 July 2011 (1st period).
Please study Units 6 - 11. Please study carefully pp. 22, 25, 26, 29, 30, 33, 34, 37, 38, 41, 42, and 45.
The final exam with have short answer type questions, and long answer type questions. You will have to show that you remember the content of the textbook, and that you understand the content of the textbook.
Here are examples of the kind of question you might see on the exam. These questions WILL NOT be on the exam. They are examples only:

What are the 2 lessons that Gandhi’s philosophy teaches us? (2 points)

List 5 similarities between Nelson Mandala and Gandhi. (5 points)



I recommend that you do the Wrap Up activities for units 6 - 11 on pp. 72. I also recommend you study the vocabulary using Quizlet. Please click here: 英語総合1A Vocabulary.
Good Luck!

Sunday, July 10, 2011

基礎英吾1A Writing Task 6: Comparing and Contrasting two cities

Hello everyone,
Today is the last class! Today we will finish our last task, a compare and contrast paragraph about two cities.
First, let's study some vocabulary. Please click this link Comparatives.
Now let's practice using compare and contrast signal words. Please click this link: Comparison and Contrast Exercise #1.
Next, please read this blog post comparing two cities in Turkey. The English isn't perfect, but I think it will help you. Please click this link: Compare and Contrast Two Cities.

Now look at the pictures below. The first picture is of Bangkok, Thailand. The picture below that is Montreal, Quebec, Canada.  What are the similarities and differences between Bangkok and Montreal. Please read the paragraph below.

Bangkok skyline
There are some similarities and some differences between Bangkok and Montreal. On the one hand, both cities are built on rivers. Montreal is built on the St. Lawrence River, and Bangkok is built on the Chao Phraya River. Both Montreal and Bangkok have great food. Montreal has some of the best French restaurants in the world. Bangkok has many kinds of delicious curry. Both cities are business centres. Montreal is the business centre of the province of Quebec, and it used to be the business centre of Canada until the 1970s. Bangkok is the business centre of Thailand.


On the other hand Montreal and Bangkok are very different too. Bangkok has a larger population than Montreal. Bangkok also has more pollution. It's much dirtier than Montreal. Bangkok is also much hotter than Montreal.There is more rain in Bangkok than Montreal too. As you can see, in some ways Montreal and Bangkok are similar, but in other ways they are very different.

Port of Montreal
Now look at your first draft. Check the error codes written on your paper. Rewrite the paragraph. Correct your mistakes. your final draft is due on Thursday night at 6 pm. Enjoy!

Friday, July 08, 2011

応用英語I-2A Reading Final Exam Study Guide

Original illustration by Yuji Tachikawa from the eBook version.
Hello everyone!
Well the semester is almost over. Today we are going to review the story we have been studying this semester - The Inverted Eagle. The final exam is next Friday 15 July at 10:40. The exam will be an hour long. The exam is worth 40% of your final grade. Please study hard, and please go to the English lounge for Self Study Support if you need help. I'm the Self Study Support teacher on Mondays from 12:15 - 12:50.
OK, here's your study guide:

The final exam has two parts: Vocabulary and Comprehension.
Vocabulary - 10 points
Please review the vocabulary flashcards on Quizlet: Inverted Eagle Vocabulary.
Also, please review the vocabulary sections of the quizzes, and the puzzles in your textbook on pp. 16,17; 28,29; 40,41; 50,51; 63,64; 75,76. Please be sure that you have written every word in your detective's notebook including each word's part of speech (POS 品詞), an English definition (定義), and an example sentence (例文). You should use an example sentence from the story.

Comprehension - 30 points
The comprehension section includes questions from Quizzes 1-6. It also includes questions from the chapter puzzles. The question types include multiple choice (多項選択式の問題), true/false, fill in the blanks (空欄にご記入), and short answer questions. You will also have to fill in a timeline of the crime, and write a short summary.
Don't forget to review all the mind maps posted on this blog too.
Good luck!

Tuesday, July 05, 2011

英語総合1A Global Issues Unit 9 Gender & Language and Assignment 2

Hello everyone,
Today we are going to talk about gender and language. First let's scan Unit 9 for words we don't understand and add them to our flashcards on Quizlet.

Today we will be learning a little about the American anthropologist Margaret Mead. You can learn more about her from wikipedia in English and Japanese.
Your next assignment is to watch an interview with Miho, a young Japanese woman who lived and studied overseas. The video comes from The Daily English Show episode #320.



Monday, July 04, 2011

基礎英吾1A Writing Task 6: Comparing and contrasting two cities

Hello everyone!
Today we are going to start our last task for this semester. We are going to compare and contrast two cities.Look at the two pictures below. What do you see? What is the same? What is different?

Nurumberg
Nuremberg, Germany


The View
Kinugawa Onsen, Japan

You can get some more ideas for your paragraph from, our posterous class blog. Please click here: Togaku Basic English 1 Writing

Enjoy!!!