基礎英吾I-4A： A tool for listening and speaking - English Central

Hello everyone,
today we are going to sign up for English Central. English Central is a cool website. You can practice listening to English by watching videos on English Central. You can practice pronunciation too.
It's fun.




Please click the link for your class.

K5: http://www.englishcentral.com/class/14996-toyo-gakuen-university/k52012
N1: http://www.englishcentral.com/class/14996-toyo-gakuen-university/n12012
G3: http://www.englishcentral.com/class/14996-toyo-gakuen-university/g32012
N9: http://www.englishcentral.com/class/14996-toyo-gakuen-university/n92012

Enjoy!

基礎英吾4B Speaking Unit 4 Vocabulary Flashcards

Hello everyone!
Today is testing day!! While you wait for your turn to do the test. Please study the vocabulary from our text book, Conversations in Class  Unit 4. You can study it using Quizlet below. If you need to sign up for Quizlet, click this link to learn how. Introduction to Quizlet　(Quizletを始めるにあたって)

Choose a Study ModeScatterLearnFlashcards

Study these flash cards

After you do the test please take this English Language and Technology Survey
Good luck!!!

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.

Toyo Gakuen University Freshman English 4 - Semester 2 Test 1 Study Guide

Image by estherase

The time has come. You will take your first test of semester 2 in your next class. Here's your task:

Roles: Caller, Receiver
Situation: There's a Hallowe'en Party in the English Lounge
Tasks:
A. Caller

1. Call your new English friend Chrissie.
   
2. When a different person answers your call, ask if you can leave a message for your friend.
3. Leave a message:

a. Say your name
b. Spell your name
c. Say your telephone number
d. Say the day, time, and location of the party

B. Receiver

1. Answer the call
2. Take a message
3. Check the information: caller's name, telephone number, details of the message
   

Click these links to prepare for the test:
Unit 7 - Special Occasions
Taking and leaving a phone message
Pronunciation of "th"

Remember! If you prepare and practice you will get an "A".

Toyo Gakuen University Freshman English 4 - Unit 7: Special Occasions

Today we are going to talk about special occasions. Look at the picture. What special occasions can you see? What other special occasions can you think of?
Holidays are special occasions too. What holidays are on these dates?:

• January first
• February third
• February fourteenth
• March third
• April first
• April twenty-nineth
• May fifth
• December twenty-third
• December twenty-fifth
  

Let's listen and practice saying dates.
Click this link: Randall's ESL Cyber Listening Lab - Calendars.

Let's review the pronunciation of "th".

Toyo Gakuen University Freshman English 4 - Speaking Semester 1 2008 Final Exam Study Guide

The semester is almost over. Wow! Time flies. The final exam schedule is:
K5 - Wednesday, the 9th of July 2008, 2nd period (10:40 - 11:30)
K6 - Friday, the 11th of July 2008, 3rd period (1:00 - 2:00)
K7 - Monday, the 14th of July 2008, 2nd period (10:40 - 11:30)

If you are late DO NOT ENTER THE CLASSROOM! Go to the English Lounge. Students who arrive 30 minutes late will not be able to take the final exam.

The final exam has two parts. Part 1 is a roleplay about asking for directions and giving directions.

You can prepare for Part 1 by watching a video about giving directions from Real English.com.

Part 2 is a roleplay. You will do one of the roleplays below:
A. On the telephone - Taking and leaving a message. You can prepare for this by listening to "Phone Message" on Randall's ESL Cyber Listening Lab.



B. In a restaurant - Ordering and Taking an order. You can prepare for this by listening to "Heavenly Pies Restaurant". This is also on Randall's ESL Cyber Listening Lab.


You can also watch this funny video.


The Smallest Restaurant in the World from mmmarzio on Vimeo.

C. Making a date to see a movie. You can prepare for this roleplay by listening to "Movie Show Times". This is another audio track from Randall's ESL Cyber Listening Lab. You can also watch the videos that I posted on the 11th of June.

The most important thing you need to do is PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Good Luck!

Making a Date

Recently we have been learning about dates and time in the FE4-Speaking Class at Toyo Gakuen University. For the next test you will have to make a date to go to a movie. Here's a video from EF Education First to help you. The video talks about polite ways to make a suggestion in English. There are various ways to make a suggestion including:

• How about....?
• Would you like to...?
• I was wondering if...?

Which of the ways above do you think is the most polite? Watch the video and find out.

Here's another video about making dates. This video is an animated video. My friend Paul made this video. Paul has a video podcast called ESLpodTV. It's a great podcast. This video is about an English man called Ed. U. Cator. He calls his new friend to invite her to his house. You can learn more about making suggestions, invitations and polite requests (丁寧語、招待) in this video. here's some vocabulary to help you:

guy - person, usually a man

anytime - whenever

nothing special - nothing different or unusual

accent - the way your voice sounds shaped by where you’re from

housewarming party - special event celebrating moving into new home

neighbours - the people living nearby

got nothing on - not doing anything at that time

few - a small number of something

funny - strange

I was wondering if… polite expression requesting somebody do something

If you’re free… - expression often used to ask for a date or request favour

Educator Diaries 3 from kibishipaul on Vimeo.

When we make a date in English we need to be able to say dates. For example: June 11th, August 30th, December 25th. We need to be make to make the "th" sound. You can watch some videos about making the "th" sound by clicking here.

When we make a date in English we need to be able to talk about time as well as dates. Here's a video from Real English about time.

Here's another video that talks about prepositions of time. This video comes from JenniferESL

For your next test you will have to make a date to see a movie. Good luck!

Even More Pronuciation Practice: Hard and Soft "th", "l" and "r"

In American Headway 2 Unit 10 we have learned a new word, "through". "Through" has two difficult sounds.

Here's a funny cartoon showing how to pronounce "th". This cartoon was originally posted by an English teacher called Rafael de Carvalho Pullen Parente on his blog, Teacher Rafael.


Now, here are two videos to help you pronounce "through". The "th" sound in "through" is the soft "th" (/θ/) sound. The hard "th" (/ð/) sound is the "th" sound in "this".
These videos were made by an English teacher and soccer coach from Glasgow, Scotland called Brian Gallagher. He has a unique school in Japan called Fair Play Soccer School. Students at Fair Play Soccer School learn English and Soccer.
Since Mr. Gallagher is Scottish, his accent is a little difference from mine. However, it's close enough.

Watch the videos. Look at the speaker's mouth. Use a mirror and practice the pronunciation of "th", "l" and "r".

Hard and Soft "th"
l" and "r"


Watch again! Practice! Enjoy!

A Visit to the Doctor

Here's a video to help you with American Headway 2 Unit 8 p.65, Everyday English: A visit to the Doctor. This video is in English and Korean. So, by watching it you can learn a little Korean too!
Below is some vocabulary to help you on a visit to a doctor in an English speaking country:

1 diarrhea 下痢
2 food poisoning 食中毒
3 flu インフルエンザ
4 hurt 痛む
5 swollen glands リンパ腺がはれた
6 nauseous 吐き気を催させる
7 swallow のむ、のみこむ
8 sneeze くしゃみをする
9 runny nose 水洟。鼻水を出ている
10 ankle 足首
11 ache 痛む
12 temperature 気温、体温
13 examine 診る
14 pharmacy ファーマシー、薬局
15 infection 伝染
16 medication 薬物
17 prescribe しょほうせんを書く
18 symptom 病気の徴候、症状
19 illness 病気

Enjoy!

More Pronunciation Practice: /Th/, /s/ and /z/

Here are two videos from Action Language Academy. Watch the videos and practice.

Special Occasions and Dates

This is a video from Real English.com. In this video people talk about their birthdays and other special occasions. Listen. can you hear the dates? Listen and practice saying the dates.

Practice pronouncing "th" in dates, for example: fourth, fifth, sixth, and so on. Look at the picture below to help you. The picture below shows the shape of a mouth making the "th" sound. Look at the tongue. It's between the teeth.

Click the image in order to make it bigger

Many student make the "s" sound instead of the "th" sound. For example, some students say, "tense" (緊張した)when they want to say "tenth" (10th).

The picture below shows the shape of the mouth making the "s" sound. You can't see the tongue.

Practice the dates that you hear on the video using a mirror. Then you can see if you are making your mouth the correct shape.

Going to a Movie
Making plans and Time

In the Freshman English 4- Speaking classes at Toyo Gakuin University students learned how to read a movie timetable and make plans to go to a movie with a friend. This video by EFpodEnglish shows two people making plans to go to a movie. Enjoy!

Giving Directions

Toyo Gakuen University FE4-Speaking Level 2
A Video for Unit 3

This is another video by Paul Carr from ESLpodTV. As an introduction to the video Paul wrote:

• Topic: Animated drama series (アニメ連続ドラマ)
• Level: Beginner (初級)
• Language: polite requests and invitations (丁寧語、招待)

This is the third lesson in the animated series about Edward Ulysses Cator - a teacher from Britain who moves to the USA to take up a new job. These stories are aimed at beginner level students and will relate Edward’s experiences adapting to his new life and job in America. As with other lessons on this site there will be a video, mp3 listening file and PDF lesson to download for each episode. Enjoy the show!

このビデオは初級生徒の為の新しい連続アニメドラマです。米国に来たばかりのEd. U. Catorと言うイギリス人教師の新生活の物語です。このレッスンはいつもと同じビデオ、mp3、とPDFテキストを使用します。

In part 3 of this series Ed invites Jenny to his housewarming party. Will she come? Watch the video and find out! You can see the transcript by clicking here. Spanish users can get a translation of the script by going to Rikai.com and following the instructions there. ( せりふの訳はそのページのURLをRikai.comへ)

There are some useful words and expressions to learn below.

guy - person, usually a man

anytime - whenever

nothing special - nothing different or unusual

accent - the way your voice sounds shaped by where you’re from

housewarming party - special event celebrating moving into new home

neighbors - the people living nearby

got nothing on - not doing anything at that time

few - a small number of something

funny - strange

I was wondering if… polite expression requesting somebody do something

If you’re free… - expression often used to ask for date or request favor

Enjoy!

Music for Language Learning 4

This week the music played in class has been related to Acid Jazz, Trip-Hop, Free Jazz, Nu Jazz and Fusion. Two of the artists have a connection to Japan, Kyoto Jazz Massive and Monday Michiru. Monday Michiru is the daughter of Jazz orchestra leader and award winning composer Toshiko Akiyoshi. I was able to attend a Toshiko Akiyoshi concert at the Tokyo Blue Note. It was fantastic.


This week's playlist:

US3 - Grand Groove

Miles Davis - On the Corner

Massive Attack - One Love

Monday Michiru - Yellow Bird (Incognito Flyin' High)

Miles Davis - New York Girl

Saint Germaine - Bohemian Sunset

Ornette Coleman - Spelling the Alphabet

Portishead - All Mine

Monday Michiru - Talk (Jazztronic Mix)

Saint Germaine - Jungle Jazz

Stanley Clarke - I Wanna Play for You

Massive Attack - Better Things

US3 - Knowledge of Self

The Lounge Lizards - She Drove me Mad

Ornette Coleman - Chanting

Kyoto Jazz Massive - Endless Flight (DJ Kawasaki Remix)
Underworld - Rez

The Smallest Restaurant in the World

At the moment, the topic in my speaking classes is restaurants.
This is a video from RealEnglish.com about a restaurant.
Enjoy!

Conversation: More about hobbies - what to say and what not to say

Conversation Strategies: Natural versus unnatural questions

This is a video from Action Language Academy, an Eikaiwa (English conversation school) in Japan. The video is called, 英会話 名古屋 Typical English Mistakes-1: Hobby. The video talks about a common mistake students in Japan make during an English conversation. The mistake that they make is asking the question "What is your hobby?" They make this mistake because the Japanese word 趣味 (shumi) is translated as "hobby". However, "shumi" can be translated as interest or favourite pastime.

Music for Language Learning 2

This week's playlist

Miles Davis: Concierto De Aranjuez
The Sundays: What Do You Think
Pink Martini: Bolero
Deutsch-Amerikanische Freundschaft: The Gun (Razormaid Mix)
Tangerine Dream: Exit
Camel: You Make Me Smile
Utada Hikaru: First Love (English Version)
Mary J. Blige: Can't Get Enough
Anita Baker: Sweet Love
Gil Scott Heron: Peace Go With You Brother
Henry Mancini: Love theme from Romeo and Juliet

Music for Language Learning

Recently I have been using music in my classes again. I have used music in my classes at Toyo Gakuen University. I have used music in lessons to help create a relaxing atmosphere and to set timings for the various tasks we do during lessons. I thought you might be interested in knowing what songs were played.
Last Week's playlist

John Coltrane: My Favourite Things

Miles Davis: Smooch

Stanley Clarke: Swung On

Jamiroquai: Cosmic Girl

Santana: Put Your Lights On

Massive Attack: Everywhen

Nelly Furtado: Afraid

Natacha Atlas: I Put a Spell on You

Robert Wyatt and Jimi Hendrix (playing bass): Slow Walkin' Talk

Soft Machine: She's Gone

Boards of Canada: In a Beautiful Place Out in the Country

Parliament Funkadelic: Tear the Roof Off

The Meters: Just Kissed my Baby

Six of the songs were performed by Americans. Three of the songs were performed by English musicians. The rest of the songs were performed by Canadians, Scots, Belgians, and Mexicans. Can you guess where the musicians in this playlist are from? Leave a comment and tell me your guesses.

If you want to hear more music by these musical artists or any other musical artists, type a name into the search engine of the Finetune Player on the right side of this blog.