Amanojaku

I love the sound of taiko. Taiko drums are often heard in summer in Japan. We hear them at festivals that we call matsuri.

The first taiko performance I ever saw was in Asakusa, near the famous temple we call Sensoji. I was very impressed by the performance. All the drummers were very small women. They had so much energy.

We can see taiko concerts too in summer too. I attended a great concert given by Amanojaku on the thirteenth of August at the Nerima Cultural Centre. The concert was a celebration of the 100th anniversary of Japanese immigration to Brazil. The concert was fantastic. I was very tired and sleepy but I did my best to keep my eyes open because it's important to SEE taiko as well as hear taiko. A taiko performance is like a dance!

This video is from Amanojaku's DVD called The Soul Beat of Japan. I hope you enjoy this example of traditional japanese culture as much as I did.
Do you like Taiko? Do you play Taiko? Please leave a comment?

World Happiness Music Festival

I went to the World Happiness Music Festival. The World Happiness Music Festival was held at Yumenoshima Park. Fourteen bands played including: The Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra, anonymass, LASTORDERZ, Keiichi Suzuki's band Captain Hate and the Seasick Sailors, ccc (This is really the band's name. I don't know how to pronounce it.), Pupa, naomi and goro, Bonnie Pink, Lily and Frankie, Ganga Zumba, NRT320 with Maki Nomiya, Sheena and the Rockets, Tokyo Burabo and HASYMO. HASYMO is the new name for Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO). The bands that I enjoyed the most were The Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra, Pupa, Ganga Zumba, and HASYMO.
Here are some photos I took at the festival.

Bonnie Pink

HASYMO

I really enjoyed HASYMO's performance. I have wanted to see Ryuichi Sakamoto, Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi perform for twenty-five years. I first heard YMO when I was a disc jockey at CJAM-FM radio in Windsor, Ontario, Canada.

Here is a video of HASYMO playing one of my favourite YMO songs, Rydeen.



There was a lot of good food at the festival too. I ate Loco Moco. Loco Moco is Hawaiian food.

Loco Moco made in Japan

Wearing a Hawaiian shirt. Eating Hawaiian food.

Did you go to a music festival this summer? Do you like any of the bands that palyed at the World Happiness Music Festival? Post a comment.

Toyo Gakuen University Open Campus Lesson: English for travel purposes

Welcome to Toyo Gakuen University!
In today's lesson you will learn some useful English for travelling.
I love travelling. Please look at my travel map.

1. Bora Bora, French Polynesia


2. Quebec City, Quebec, Canada


3. Udaipur, India


4. Galway, Ireland


5. Barcelona, Spain


6. Dublin, Ireland


7. London, UK


8. Melbourne, Australia


9. Hilo, HI, USA


10. Tokyo, Japan

• View my profile


• Create your own travel map or travel blog


• Travel Info at TripAdvisor

Today we are going to learn how to speak to an immigration officer.

First, Let's learn some useful vocabulary. Click this link: Travel English.

Let's play some games with the new vocabulary. Click this link: TYG Travel English.

Now let's practice speaking to an immigration officer. Click this link: Passport On-line Activities.

Did you enjoy this lesson? Please write a comment.

Mr. Stout's Blog now available as a podcast.

You can listen to this blog now!
Click "listen now". It's the button under the title of this post. Now you can listen and read.
You can subscribe too. That means that every time I write a new post you can listen in iTunes.
I was able to make this blog a podcast by using odiogo.com. I'd like to thank Isabelle Jones, a Spanish and French teacher in the UK, for introducing me to odiogo.com.

Odiogo logo uploaded to flickr by Svletlana Gladkova on the 13th of February 2007

How I learn English - a contest from i-osmosis

i-osmosis is an English learning website operated by my friend Abhishek's company Cactus Communications. Learners can get instruction in writing English for exams including TOEIC, TOEFL and EIKEN. i-osmosis has courses in writing for general purposes too.
i-osmosis also has a Japanese website, i-osmosis.jp.


i-osmosis is having a contest called "How I learn English". If you're interested please visit this link: http://www.i-osmosis.jp/how_i_learn.html. Five Amazon.com vouchers worth ¥1,500 each are available.
Good luck!

Toyo Gakuen University Open Campus Lesson: Learning English through Music

Hello! Welcome to Toyo Gakuen University. Below is a video we'll watch in our lesson. Here are some cool links too:
First, a link to a playlist I made on YouTube of videos with lyrics and subtitles:
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=0F18E8397C420965
Next, a webpage made by Clair Taylor, a Toyo Gakuen University teacher:
http://www.hm.tyg.jp/clair/
Finally, a website about J-Pop in English:
http://nippop.com/
Enjoy!

Toyo Gakuen University Interest-based English 12 - Music PowerPoint Presentations

Students in the Interest-based English 12 (Music) class have finished their presentations! They worked hard and did a great job.

These presentations are profiles of musical artists. Each student chose an artist that he or she liked. Then they found photos on flickr and on artist fan sites. After that, they did research using wikipedia, and other websites. They used three wikipedias: English, Simple English and Japanese. After they got the information they wrote the key points on their PowerPoint slides. Then they changed the key points into sentences and recorded a narration. If you want to learn more about this class and this project please read my EFL Classroom 2.0 blog post. All the students said they enjoyed making the PowerPoints very much. I'm very proud of their work. Enjoy!

Please reward these students' hard work by posting a comment. I'm sure that they will appreciate it.
Thanks!

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!

Shibaura Institute of Technology Make-up Homework

This is homework for students who were unable to attend the make-up classes on the fourteenth of June. This homework is due on the 12th of July.
Download the worksheet here: http://www.divshare.com/download/4869283-245
Watch the video. Do the tasks on the worksheet.

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!

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!

Toyo Gakuen University Homestay English 2008 Final Exam Study Guide

The final exam is on Wednesday, the 9th of July 2008. The format will be the same as the midterm exam. The final exam will have 3 parts:
Part 1: Vocabulary. Study the vocabulary using wordchamp
Part2: Multiple choice questions about Units 7 - 12 in your textbook.
Part3: A short paragraph answer type question based on the videos below. You will be asked to:

1. List 2 good points about each homestay
2. Choose which homestay you'd like to do.
3. Give 3 reasons for choices.

The first is a video about a homestay programme offered by the International Education Program at the University of California Riverside.




Next, a video by the South China Morning Post about a homestay family in Beijing.



Next a Japanese student talks about her homestay in New Zealand.



Study hard and Good luck!!

Shibaura Institute of Technology Listening Comprehension 2008 Assignment 2

Here is your second assignment. This assignment is due on Tuesday, the 8th of July 2008. Download the worksheet for this assignment here: http://www.divshare.com/download/4845241-536

Watch the video and answer the questions on the worksheet.
The video is about a ski trip. The video was made by my friend Paul Carr. In this video, Paul goes on a ski strip to Niigata in Japan. Enjoy the show!

There are some useful words and expressions to learn below.

jump on ~ get on a bus or train

feline ~ cat like or like a cat

idiot ~ a foolish person

kids ~ children

prepare ~ to get ready

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!!!

Toyo Gakuen University Freshman English 2 - Reading Final Exam Information

Photo by dieselbug2007

The final Exam will be on the 14th of July 2008. The exam will cover Units 1-5. There will be 6 types of questions:

1. Timed reading: scan a reading for 1 minute in order to find specific information. This is a short answer type questions. You will have to write one word or phrase for the answer.
   
2. Reading for the main idea. This is a multiple choice type of question. You will have to choose from 4 choices.
3. Reading for details. This is a multiple choice type of question. You will have to choose from 4 choices.
4. Making inferences. This is a multiple choice type of question. You will have to choose from 4 choices.
5. Matching activity. Match the vocabulary from the textbook with the Japanese translation.
6. Personal response. This is a short paragraph type of answer. You will have to write 2 or 3 sentences in order to answer the question. Your answer should be at least 50 words.
   

The test will be 60 minutes.
Use the following resources from Sarah's blog in order to study for the final exam:

• On-line exercises from American Headway (Units 1-5)
• A timed-Reading about shopping. Click start reading.
• Vocabulary flash cards for Unit 1, Unit 2 and Unit 3.
• Readings with exercises about life as an immigrant to the USA:
• Newaz's Story
• Hannah's Story
• Sarah's Story
• Victor's Story

If you have any questions please e-mail me on michael.stout@tyg.jp

Finally, please post a comment on Sarah's blog. Please say, "Thank you !" to her for giving us all these wonderful resources.
Good luck!

San Francisco by Maria, Yulia and Karina

Shibaura Institute of Technology Listening Comprehension Mid-term Exam

The Midterm Exam is next Tuesday. You can prepare by watching and listening to some videos. Click this link to watch the videos: http://mrstoutsblog.blogspot.com/search?q=videos
You can get more practice by listening to these podcasts:

• English Journal Podcast
• ELT Podcast
• ESL Radio Show
• ELLLO Podcast
  

You can find links to many other podcasts by clicking this link: http://iteslj.org/links/ESL/Listening/Podcasts/


Happy listening and good luck on the exam!

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!

Talking about family

This is a great video from EF Education First. The topic of the video is talking about families.

Here's another video about families. This one is from Real English. Enjoy!

JALT CALL Conference 2008 at the Nagoya University of Business and Commerce

This past week-end, from the 31st of March to the 1st of June, I attended the JALT CALL Conference at the Nagoya University of Business and Commerce. CALL means Computer- Assisted Language Learning.

I met many old friends at the conference. I made new friends too. My new friend Martin is in the picture above. He is standing on the left. My old friend Adam is standing on the right. I'm in the middle, of course.

Some Toyo Gakuen University teachers attended the conference too. Andy Boon was one of the conference organisers.


Clair Taylor and Sarah Louisa Birchley were there too. I attended some presentations with them. I attended some preentations with Adam too. We went to a presentation about wikis. Another presentation I went to was about blogging. My new friend Steve Henneberry gave the presentation. Perhaps we will work on a blogging project in the future. Below is a voicethread slideshow of Steve's presentation.


The campus of NUBC is gorgeous. Below are some pictures of the Language Centre.



Here are some pictures of the campus. There are many beautiful trees and flowers on the campus of NUBC, and theres lots of grass!!


I hope I have a chance to visit NUBC again!