Cross Cultural Awareness and English Spring 2014 Week 6: Love and marriage in Bangladesh

Hello everyone, Today we will continue discussing Love and Marriage. Look at the picture above. This is a picture I took of a Bangladeshi bride and groom at a wedding reception I attended in Dhaka, Bangladesh. In the photo below you can see me with my colleagues. The men, including me, are wearing a traditional Bengali shirt called a "panjabi". This shirt is called a Kurta in India. We were a little embarrassed because all the Bangladeshi men wore European business suits. 


 


Let's listen to two people talking about Love and Marriage in Bangladesh. Some people in Bangladesh have arranged marriages. Let's listen to a conversation about arranged marriages on my friend Todd Beukens' great website English Listening Lesson Library Online (ELLLO). Please listen to the conversation and do the quiz. 

Next, let's study some vocabulary. Please click the link: Cross cultural awareness and English vocabulary.

Now, let's learn more about Bengali weddings. Please click the link. Read the article and answer the questions:

1. What is a Ghotok?
2. What are the parts of the Bengali wedding?
3. What is Gaye holud? 
4. What is the Mahr?
5. Who arranges the wedding ceremony?
6. Who arranges the reception?
7. What is the "flower bed" ceremony?

That's all. See you next week.

Cross Cultural Awareness and English I Spring 2014 Week 5: Jewish Wedding Traditions

Photo downloaded from Wikipedia

Hello everyone!

Today we are going to finish learning about love and marriage in Greece. Then we'll learn about some Jewish wedding traditions.

First, let's review some vocabulary. Please click the link: Cross cultural awareness and English vocabulary.

Now let's learn about superstitions have Jewish wedding customs special.





What do you think of the superstitions you have read about. Are you superstitious? Can you think of any superstitions associated with Japanese wedding customs? Please post a comment.

Cross Cultural Awareness and English I Spring 2014 Week 4: Love and Marriage in Greece

Photo by Louis Konstantinou

Hello everyone!
Today we are going to learn about love and marriage in Greece.

Last week we learned about dowries. Dowries have been a part of Greek culture too. It's interesting that two very different cultures, China and Greece, can share a cultural tradition, isn't it?
You can learn more about Greek wedding traditions by clicking the link: Ten Greek Wedding Traditions.




Today's article is about μαντινάδες (Mantinades), which are love poems sung at weddings on the island of Crete. Crete is the largest island in Greece. It was once the centre of the ancient Minoan civilization, which was the oldest civilization in Europe, so Crete has a rich cultural tradition. This rich cultural tradition has given the people of Crete some wonderful wedding customs, including the Mantinades.

Before we learn about the Mantinades, let's study some vocabulary. Please click the link: Crosscultural awareness and English Vocabulary. 

Now let's listen to a mantinada. The song is called Ο ΥΜΝΟΣ ΤΗΣ ΜΑΝΑΣ - ΓΙΩΡΓΟΣ ΖΕΡΒΑΚΗΣ . Please click the link:

Vicky Loras, a Greek Canadian teacher of English in Switzerland tells us that the title means, "Hymn to Mother". The singer says that there are many kinds of love in the world but the one kind of love that stands out is love for one's mother. Why do you think that a man might sing a song about his love for his mother at his wedding?

Here is a mantinada shared by Christina Markoulaki,  a teacher in Heraklion, which is the capital of Crete:

Σιγά-σιγά μη βιάζεστε κι η πόρτα μας θ’ ανοίξει, γιατί έχει η νύφη αδέλφια και γονείς να τσ’ αποχαιρετίσει. 

Christina says, "...this mantinada warns the guests not to hurry because the bride will take her time to say goodbye to her family." This matinada shows the very strong connection between the couple and the family, which Christina says is,"... an entirely Greek phenomenon!"

Let's listen to this mantinada now. Please click the link: 

Ψαρογιώργης - Aνωγειανές κοντυλιές-Πεντοζάλης

 That's all for this week. See you next week!

Cross Cultural Awareness and English I Spring 2014 Week 3: Love and Marriage in China

Hello everyone, I hope you had a nice weekend.
Today we are going to start our next topic, Love and Marriage in China, but first let's study some vocabulary on Quizlet, please click the link: Cross cultural Awareness and English Vocabulary.

Like Botswanan marriage customs, Chinese marriage customs include a "bride price". Chinese marriage customs also include a dowry. You can read about Chinese pre-wedding customs by clicking the link. Let's watch a video of a Chinese wedding. Now let's study some vocabulary,

For homework, please watch the video below. After that, please download the article, "Thousands marry on love you forever day". Read the article and do the tasks. Enjoy!

Cross Cultural Awareness and English I 2014 Week 1: Welcome!

Hello everyone, welcome to the University of Tsukuba!

Today I'm going to introduce you to the course. Please click the link to download your Course Outline.

Well, as you saw from the course outline, we will be discussing love and marriage in various cultures this semester. Let's listen to a great song by Frank Sinatra called "Love and Marriage".

 As the song says, "Love and Marriage" go together like a horse and carriage. "Love" and "marriage", and "horse" and "carriage" are collocations. (コロケーション、語と語のつながり、語の配列、連語（法）、連語構成語) Can you think of any more collocations related to the topic of love and marriage? With your partner, please make a list.

Now, let's learn some vocabulary. We will be using an online vocabulary learning tool called Quizlet. Please click the link to download a document called Getting Started with Quizlet. I have created a class for us on Quizlet. Please click the clink to join the class. Please click the link: Cross Cultural Awareness and English Vocabulary. Please study the flashcards for 5 minutes. 

Now let's share our opinions about love and marriage with the people sitting next to us. Would you like to get married some day? 

That's all for today. Next time we'll talk about love and marriage in Botswana. See you!

CE-II Autumn 2013 Week 10: Electric cars

Hello everyone,
Today we are going to talk about cars. Our reading is about electric cars, and the video below is about hydrogen cars. First, let's learn some vocabulary. Please click the link: Cross Cultural Awareness and English 2 Vocabulary.

CE-II Autumn 2013 Week 8: Free Bike Programs

Hello everyone, Last week we talked about trash. Look at the picture on the left. These are abandoned bicycles. Often, abandoned bicycles become trash in Japan. Many of the bicycles are in good shape, and they are still ridable. What a waste? In other cities, abandoned bicycles are reused. Throwing away perfectly good bicycles is a terrible waste and bad for the environment too, don't you think so? Free bike programmes are one example of how abandoned bicycles can be reused. Today we are going to read about a free bike programme in San Francisco.

Bixi, a bicycle sharing programme was developed in Montreal, Canada. Bixi has spread all over the world now. There is a Bixi system in my hometown, Toronto. If you visit Toronto you can get around the city on a Bixi bicycle. The cost is low. It's good exercise, and it's good for the environment.






Are there any environmentally friendly programmes in Japan to reuse abandoned bicycles? Do a Google search. Use these keywords for your search: abandoned, bicycles, Japan, programmes, reuse.
After that, post a comment here. Tell us about the programmes you found.
See ya!

CE-II Autumn 2013 Week 7: Down in the dumps

Hello everyone, Last week we talked about endangered and extinct species. Let''s review. Please click the link: CE-II Autumn 2013 Week 6.

Today we are going to read about the largest garbage dump in the Middle East. You can see a picture of Hiriya below. Hiriya is in Israel.

Downloaded from wikipedia

First let's study some vocabulary. Please click this link: Cross Cultural Awareness and English 2.

You can read more about Hiriya here: Garbage to Green: 10 landfills turned into nature preserves, and here: Trashy Travel: Isreal's new recycling park.

There is a park in Toronto that was once a garbage dump. It's called Centennial Park. You can see a picture of the ski hill in Centennial Park below. 

Uploaded to Flickr by Boblink

So, how do Japanese deal with garbage? According to the New York Times, over 80% of garbage in Japan is incinerated. Click here to see an interesting story about garbage in Japan by the New York Times: Trash in Japan - 44 types of garbage. 

What do you think of the way Japan deals with garbage? What do you think about sorting garbage? Please leave a comment below.

CE-II Autumn 2013 Week 6: Going, going, gone

Hello everyone,

Today we are going to talk about endangered and extinct species. Can you name 10 or more extinct species? For example, Tyrannosaurus Rex is an extinct species. Can you name 10 endangered species? For example, the common chimpanzee is an endangered species.

Now let's study some vocabulary. Cross Cultural Awareness and English 2.



Now let's watch another interesting TED Talk. In this talk, Stewart Brand tells us that we now have the technology to bring some extinct species back to life. In other words, the movie Jurassic Park may not be science fiction anymore, but rather "science fact". What do you think? Is "de-extinction" a good idea? Should we bring extinct species back to life? What could be some of the consequences? Post your answer as a comment on this blog.

CE-II Autumn 2013 Week 5: A Trapper's Life

Public domain image downloaded from wikipedia

Hello everyone,

Today we are going to finish our discussion of overfishing, and then we'll talk about animal trapping. You can download the answers to the questions about the Jeremy Jackson TED Talk by clicking the link.

Animal trapping is a controversial topic. Organisations including People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PeTA) campaign against animal trapping. A Japanese celebrity, Aya Sugimoto has participated in PETA's "I'd Rather Go Naked anti-fur campaign. On the other hand, some people depend on animal trapping.



Before we read about trapping, let's study some vocabulary. Please click the link: Cross Cultural Awareness and English 2 Vocabulary Flashcards .

What do you think of animal trapping? Post your answer as a comment. Click the link to learn how to post a comment on this blog.

See you next week!

CE-II Autumn 2013 Week 3

Hello everyone,

Last time I asked you to watch The Story of Bottled Water and answer some questions, relating what you saw in the video with what you have read in your textbook. Here's is an example of a good answer to the first question:

Question 1:According to the Story of Bottled Water, "Municipal water is regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which does frequent testing, as do local authorities." However, according to How Safe is Your Water?, "...there are no requirements for daily, or even weekly, tests for chemicals, lead or pesticides." Do you think water safety should be more regulated in the United States? Why? Why not?



Possible answers :

Yes, I think water safety should be more regulated in the United States because if water safety were more regulated in the United States, people would not feel the need to buy bottled water. Bottled water is both expensive and wasteful (The Story of Water p. 1,2; par. 7). Also, even if you buy bottled water, you can not be sure it is safe. (How Safe is Your Water? p. 32; par. 6).

No, I don't think water safety should be more regulated in the United States because the water in the United States is already safe. According to The Story of Water: The federal Safe Drinking Water Act empowers EPA to require water testing by certified laboratories and that violations be reported within a specified time frame. Public water systems must also provide reports to customers about their water, noting its source, evidence of contaminants and compliance with regulations. (P. 1; Footnote 3)

Now let's look at the other 4 questions before we move on to today's reading.

Today's reading is called Waste not, want not. In Japanese we have a similar saying,  勿体無い (Mottainai), which expresses regret concerning waste. Mottainai is an important part of Japanese culture. You can see "mottainai" written in many places in Japan including on Pizza Hut boxes.

However, despite the importance of mottainai in Japanese culture, there is a lot of waste, especially food waste. 


According to the Japan Times, about 23 million tons of food were discarded in 2007, which was worth about ¥11 trillion ($120 billion).  Japan's annual agricultural output is worth about ¥11 trillion too. So that means that Japan wasted as much food as it produced. Furthermore, it cost ¥2 trillion ($21 billion) to process that waste. What do you think of that? 

Another thing that is wasted all over the world is water. 
Today we are going to read about reclaimed water.
First, let's study some vocabulary. Please click the link: Cross Cultural Awareness and English 2 Vocabulary.

Now let's read the article and answer the questions.




Finally, please post a comment. Do you waste a lot of things? Is Mottainai important to you? How do you practice Mottainai?
See you next week!

CE-II Autumn 2013 Week 2

Hello everyone,

I hope you stayed inside, stayed safe, and had a nice relaxing "Typhoon Day" yesterday.
Today we are going to review the homework about Michael Pritchard and his Life Saver bottle.

First, let's study some vocabulary. Please click the link: Cross Cultural Awareness and English 2 Vocabulary.

Next, let's review last week's homework.

Our next topic is tap water. Do you think tap water is safe? Do you drink tap water, or do you drink bottled water because you think it is safer? Do you think that bottled water is more delicious than tap water? Let's watch an interesting video: The Story of Bottled Water. You can download the annotated script for this video too.

Watch the video and read the annotated script then answer the questions on the worksheet. You can download the worksheet here: Bottled Water vs. Tap Water.

For homework please read Waste not, Want not on pp. 37-39. Answer the questions on pp. 38 and 39.
See you next week!

CE-II Autumn 2013 - Welcome back!

Hello everyone, welcome back!

Today we are going to start our next unit of study. We are going to study....water.
First, lets study some vocabulary. Please click the link: Cross Cultural Awareness and English 2.
Now click the link to download this semester's course outline.

Finally, let's watch a video. Please click the link. The video is a TED Talk. The TED Talk is by a man called Michael Pritchard. Michael Pritchard has invented an amazing water bottle. Watch the video and answer the questions below:

1. Why did Pritchard invent the Lifesaver bottle?
2. Why is the filter in the lifesaver bottle so good?
3. What is the benefit of processing water at the source?
4. How much money is needed to make water safe for everyone in the world?

That's all for today.

See you next week!

Cross Cultural Awareness and English 2013 Semester 1 Week 7: Final Exam Study Guide

iStockphoto

Hello everyone,
Well we've come to the end of the Spring Semester. Wow! That was fast!! The next time we meet it will be time for the final test. The final test will be:
Monday the 17th of June.
Please click the link to download your study guide.

Let's study some vocabulary. Please click the link: Cross Cultural Awareness and English Vocabulary. 
Next, let's review all blog posts from this semester. Please click the link:
Cross Cultural Awareness & English Spring 2013

By the way, I found something very interesting, a Konkatsu app! It's called Shall we date? "KONKATSU" for marriage. You can see a screen shot of the app in the image on the left. It's available in the American Apple App Store. Interestingly, I couldn't find this app in the Japanese App store.





Study hard! See you next week.

Cross Cultural Awareness and English 2013 Semester 1 Week 5: Love and Marriage in Bangladesh

Hello everyone, Today we will continue discussing Love and Marriage. Look at the picture above. This is a picture I took of a Bangladeshi bride and groom at a wedding reception I attended in Dhaka, Bangladesh. In the photo below you can see me with my colleagues. The men, including me, are wearing a traditional Bengali shirt called a "panjabi". This shirt is called a Kurta in India. We were a little embarrassed because all the Bangladeshi men wore European business suits. 


 


Let's listen to two people talking about Love and Marriage in Bangladesh. Some people in Bangladesh have arranged marriages. Let's listen to a conversation about arranged marriages on my friend Todd Beukens' great website English Listening Lesson Library Online (ELLLO). Please listen to the conversation and do the quiz. 

Next, let's study some vocabulary. Please click the link: Cross cultural awareness and English vocabulary.

Now, let's learn more about Bengali weddings. Please click the link. Read the article and answer the questions:

1. What is a Ghotok?
2. What are the parts of the Bengali wedding?
3. What is Gaye holud? 
4. What is the Mahr?
5. Who arranges the wedding ceremony?
6. What do many of the wedding ceremony traditions revolve around?
7. Who arranges the reception?
8. What is the "flower bed" ceremony?

Finally, please leave a comment. What do you think of Bengali wedding traditions?

Cross Cultural Awareness and English 2013 Semester 1 Week 4

Hello everyone,

Today we are going to review last week's class and then talk about Jewish wedding traditions. 

First, let's review some vocabulary. Please click the link: Cross Cultural Awareness and English Vocabulary.

One of the Greek wedding traditions we learned about last class was the tradition of throwing rice at the end of the ceremony. Sophia Mavridi, a teacher in Athens, told me that this tradition has been officially banned in many places because some people over did it and disturbed the ceremony. Throwing rice or confetti is a tradition at some weddings in Canada too, but many churches have banned throwing rice and confetti because confetti is difficult to clean up, and people can slip and fall on rice.

Let's listen to a mantinada. The song is called
Ο ΥΜΝΟΣ ΤΗΣ ΜΑΝΑΣ - ΓΙΩΡΓΟΣ ΖΕΡΒΑΚΗΣ . 
Please click the link.

Vicky Loras tells us that the title means, "Hymn to Mother". The singer says that there are many kinds of love in the world but the one kind of love that stands out is love for one's mother. Why do you think that a man might sing a song about his love for his mother at his wedding?

Here is a mantinada shared by Christina Markoulaki,  a teacher in Heraklion, which is the capital of Crete:

Σιγά-σιγά μη βιάζεστε κι η πόρτα μας θ’ ανοίξει, γιατί έχει η νύφη αδέλφια και γονείς να τσ’ αποχαιρετίσει. 

Christina says, "...this mantinada warns the guests not to hurry because the bride will take her time to say goodbye to her family." This matinada shows the very strong connection between the couple and the family, which Christina says is,"... an entirely Greek phenomenon!"

Let's listen to this mantinada now.

 Ok, now let's turn to p.135 in our text book. Let's read about Jewish wedding traditions.
See you next week.