Happy Canada Day!

Happy Canada Day everyone!
I discovered a really cool music video. The video is called Canadian, Please. The music is like rap. You can read the lyrics as you watch and listen.
Enjoy!

Toyo Gakuen University Extension Centre Class: Destination Canada!

Here's a video about the CN Tower in my hometown Toronto. Enjoy!

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".

<

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

The 100th Anniversary of Anne of Green Gables

Image originally uploaded on
http://www.aquilabooks.com/L%20M%20Montgomery/MontgomeryAnneofGreenGables.html

Anne of Green Gables is a very popular novel. It is popular in Canada, the USA, the UK, Japan, and many other places too. Anne of Green Gables was first published in 1908. So, it was published 100 years ago.

Anne of Green Gables is the story of an orphan girl called Anne. Anne has red hair that she wears in braids. In the story, Anne is adopted by a man and woman called Marilla Cuthbert and Matthew Cuthbert. Anne goes to live with the Cuthberts on a farm called Green Gables. The farm is called Green Gables because the roof of the farm house is green. Also, the roof is gabled. Green Gables is in a town called Avonlea. Avonlea is a fictional town on Prince Edward Island.

Image by doubleblue. Dowloaded from wikipedia

Image uploaded by chensiyuan to wikipedia.

The author of Anne of Green Gables was Lucy Maud Montgomery. In the picture below, Maud ids a little girl. Her life was very similar to Anne's life.

Image is public domain. Copyright has expired. Source: http://207.61.100.164/cantext/canlitr/montgome.html

Anne of Green Gables has been made into plays, musicals, and many television series and films. Isao Takahata made a Japanese anime series based on Anne of Green Gables. The voice of Anne was played by Eiko Yamada.

Many people from all over the world visit Prince Edward Island. They want to see Anne's home. As you can see in the pictures below, they sometimes dress up as Anne too.

Image by Quasimime. Originally uploaded on 21 August 2005

Photo taken by Will Pate on May 9, 2007, uploaded May 12, 2007.

It's amazing that a little novel from Canada is still so popular after 100 years.
Happy Anniversary Anne!

400th Anniversary of the Founding of Quebec

400th anniversary of Quebec, originally uploaded by Jeffrey and Rachel Vanneste.

Today is the four hundreth anniversary of the founding of Quebec by Samuel de Champlain.
Vive le Quebec!

Today is Canada Day

Most Canadian photo ever? Terry Fox takes his message to Pierre Trudeau on Canada Day, July 1, 1980, originally uploaded by penmachine.

July 1st is Canada's birthday. Canada is 141 years old today.
Recently, Canadians were asked to choose the most iconic Canadian people, places, and events. Two of the people chosen are in the picture above, and one of the events - Terry Fox's Marathon of Hope.

Happy Birthday Canada!!!

A Comparison of Canada and Wales

Toyo Gakuen University FE3-Listening Semester 2 Homework Assignment 1

In Unit 6 of American Headway 2 we have been practicing listening to comparisons. There are two videos below. The first is about Canada, Mr. Stout's native country. The second is about Wales, Ms. Birchley's native country. Watch and listen to the videos. Answer the questions that follow the videos.

Some facts about Canada

The image of the Canadian dollar in this video was created by ManHole.ca
The audio comes from ESLPodcards.com

Some facts about Wales

The photo of the castle ruins in Wales is by Sayaka Eguchi, University of Wales Aberystwyth.
The audio comes from ESLPodcards.com

Questions

1. What is the population of Canada?
2. What is the total area of Canada?
3. What is the population of Wales?
4. What is the total area of Wales?
5. Which country has a larger population?
6. Which country is bigger?
7. Which country's time zone is closest to zero GMT (グリニッジ標準時) ?
8. Which country has more time zones?
   
9. Which country has the most valuable currency?
10. If you had to choose, which country would you like to visit and why?
    

British Columbia joins Canada 20 July 1871

Vancouver, British Columbia, originally uploaded by chuqui.

Today is the 136th anniversary of British Columbia joining confederation.

British Columbia is the red area on the map. British Columbia is usually called B.C.

This is Mount Robson. It is the highest mountain in the Canadian Rockies. It is 3,959 metres tall. Mount Fuji is 3,776 metres tall.

The Father of Modern Medicine: Sir William Osler
Born on this day - 12 July 1849

Did you know that one of the greatest doctors in medical history was born in Canada? You can learn more about Sir William Osler by reading his biography on wikipedia.

399th Anniversary of the founding of Quebec City

On 3 July 1608 Ville de Quebec was founded by Samuel de Champlain.

Quebec City is beautiful. It's the first place I travelled to on my own. I went to Quebec on a ski trip when I was 16 years old with some school mates. I went to Quebec on a ski trip again when I was in university. I hope I can go back to Quebec some day.

Canada Day
The 140th anniversary of Canadian Confederation

The first of July is a special Day in Canada. When I was a boy it was called Dominion Day. Now it is called Canada Day.

Canada Day Party 2006 in Yoyogi Park, Tokyo, Japan

On 1 July 1867, the British colonies of Quebec, Ontario, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick joined and The Dominion of Canada was born. Later, the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland, and the territories joined.

The video below is a school project made by a student in Canada. It is very funny but not historically accurate. The video's titles have many spelling and grammar mistakes too. Can you find them?

The project got only a B- !! The teacher must be very strict (厳しい) and a rather humourless person (くそまじめな［ユーモアを解さない］人間) because the video is very funny. You can see a more accurate video on: http://www.musee-mccord.qc.ca/scripts/projects/CH/animCH.php?tourID=GE_P1_2_EN&Lang=1&type=quicktime

Enjoy!

Sushi Samurai

Many people in many countries are interested in Japanese culture. Many Japanese words are also English words now too. For example: sushi (寿司) and samurai (侍). The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) has a game called Sushi Samurai on it's website. It's a fun and easy game.
Check it out!

A New Toronto Landmark Opened Today

3_ROM_Crystal_9115_square, originally uploaded by wvs.

A new Toronto landmark (目立つ建物) opened today, The Michael Lee-Chin Crystal. The Michael Lee-Chin Crystal is an expansion (増設) of the Royal Ontario Museum. The Royal Ontario Museum is usually called the ROM by people from Toronto.

One of the exhibitions (博覧会) in the The Michael Lee-Chin Crystal will be curated (展覧会の主事を務める) by Japanese artist Hiroshi Sugimoto (杉本博司).

The ROM has another connection to Japan, The Prince Takamado Gallery of Japan. Prince Takamodo (高円宮憲仁親王) studied at Queen's University in Canada.

I'm looking forward to visiting the ROM the next time I'm back in my hometown.

The Daily English Show goes to Canada

Hokkaido's favourite English teacher, Sarah, has gone to Canada and she's producing the Daily English Show from Canada until October. This is the first show from Canada. In this show Sarah talks to a man called Matt from Oakville. Oakville is near Toronto. I lived there for 5 years after university.

One of the interesting parts of this show is that you learn about Toronto slang and Canadian spelling. You also learn about WWOOFING and organic farming.

Enjoy!

May is Asian Heritage Month in Canada. This year in Toronto many events are being held including readings by Asian Canadian writers including Kerri Sakamoto and Paul Yee. Also, concerts including Tabla Fusion. In addition, special classes are being held including origami, tea ceremony, Kamishibai, and Chinese Opera.

According the United Nations, Toronto is the most multicultural city on earth.

Ball Hockey

This is a video of a coed ball hockey game in Winnepeg, Manitoba, Canada. As you can see the game is a lot of fun. Starting this week, I will teach special ball hockey classes at Toyo Gakuen University. The classes will include the history and culture of hockey, in all it's forms, and of course, we will play the game.

The Pen is Mightier than the Sword

Today is the anniversary of the birth of two great men, William Shakespeare and Lester Bowles Pearson. Both Shakespeare and Pearson changed the world - using a pen.


Shakespeare is the greatest writer in English literature. He added over a thousand new words to the English language and his plays have been translated into every major living language.



Pearson was a diplomat and a politician. He won the Nobel Peace Prize.

Twenty-fifth Anniversary of the Canadian Constitution

On the 17th of April 1982, Queen Elizabeth the second signed the Constitution Act 1982 into law. This was a very important day in Canadian history. On that day, Canada patriated its constitution (憲法) and became fully independant from Great Britain.

The Fastest, Toughest, Coolest Game on Earth

This is a great music video that shows why hockey is the best. Enjoy!!!

42nd Anniversary of the Canadian Flag

The red and white maple leaf Canadian flag was raised for the first time on 15 February 1965. Incredibly, some Canadians didn't want Canada to have a flag of it's own. To get the whole story visit the The Canadian Encyclopedia