13. Unique Estonian sport🏊

 Cited from https://www.visitestonia.com/en/why-estonia/winter-swimming-the-estonian-vitamin

Hi, everyone!! I read Japan times alpha the past week as well, and today I will share one of the surprising winter sport, winter swimming. It took place on a huge scale, and the number of challengers is over 500 from 9-year-old boy to 83-year-old woman.  Among them, there was a pregnant woman and she enjoyed the relay with her angel baby. 

A lot of common occurred this year due to the outbreak, and we have been hit hard by the following problems. Therefore, this year's is to take away the boredom and fatigue of coronavirus. In Estonia, in winter, the temperature is usually below freezing, and the water was at the time 4 degrees Celsius. However, the newspaper says it has gone wild and grown in popularity. It must have left hot news them. 

All over the world are still covered with disgusting news and we are in a dark life. Some people are suffered from enabling to find the loophole in long ways, but I think if all the people feel it as their own business and go back to their beginner's spirits, we can contain a wave of the tiny enemy. 

英語教育講義⑬ modification and enhancement of errors

To Coordinate the learners' process of studying 

I thought concrete ways of Focus on Form are useful for every language learner. In particular, in terms of reactive, when they make errors in grammar, there are some types of responses to what they say. Let's say if a student says "I meet my friend yesterday," in which the verb should be past tense, the teacher can refer to the mistake indirectly to let them notice. Among them, I liked Recast. Applied to the example, the teacher should say "Oh, you met your friend yesterday?" Indirect feedback never hurts anyone. 

I want to use the Focus on Form when I get a job!!

These days I often take part in online internships and had one today as well right before the lecture. We discussed the way of teaching English to those who are from all walks of life. With the change of entrance examinations at schools, students might have problems keeping up with classes. In addition, more companies incorporate overseas and the demand for business English is going to soar. To meet the demand and deal with the problem, cram schools and language schools are putting more time money on output than input. However, through this lecture, I sensed their ways will not be matched with all of the learners due to the gap of their levels and target ones. Therefore, when I get a job in an educational company and engage in teaching English, I would like to focus on how comprehensible and potential the materials and courses are. 

英語教育講義⑫ content-based language teaching

 Content-based Language Teaching

I half agree with Krashen's idea that only comprehensible input is necessary for second language acquisition. At my age, many students started learning English as a subject. For those learners, until they find their ultimate goal of English acquisition, the facilitators need to lead and organize the class to let everyone join with plain English. I have the same share of my junior high school. Without my good facilitator, I might not be here. Therefore, all teachers should take balanced teachers' participation into account and prioritize the curriculum to make students speak at a maximum with each level. 

院生コーナー👏

I was impressed with Senpai's presentation and at the same time, it brought back the feeling which I had in Singapore. He introduced the disparity of the class style of Japanese and American, and the latter is adequate to obtain vitality and creativity. Listening to his talk, I was convinced with that. When I was in Singapore, every student spoke out actively rather than care about making mistakes, and I feel more comfortable to integrate with it. After I came back to Japan, the sense still left within me and if possible, I want to go back to the sort of styles.  

12. German Xmas markets taking safety measures

Hello!! How it's going? 

Christmas Day is coming soon. My favorite Christmas tradition is the Christmas market originated in Germany, so today I will share this year's market there.

In line with the new normal...🎄🎄 

As seen Christmas market in Kumamoto every year, we love to celebrate the holy event and gather to warm ourselves. This time of year is a rousing period for them as well. However, the thing is drastically different from normal years. Owing to the spread of COVID-19, all close-contacts are supposed to avoid these days. (3Cs is one of the hot words this year!!)

Amid the disaster, they commenced hosting a drive-in event taken inspiration from the fast-food chain. In one of the towns, they had 500 cars in one weekend!! It was a big day for them to get the rope of boosting the economy. 

Merry Merry Christmas... 
It's awkward to take my friends out at ease. I'm going to be involved in the Kumamoto version of the Christmas market next week. When it sealed "safety measure taken," it proves that at least the stalls are reliable and take physical-distancing. Therefore, if you want to get out and enjoy shopping, how about seeking them?

Drive-ins, scattered huts: German Xmas markets find ways around virus. (2020, December 18). The Japan Times alpha, p.12-13. 

11. Owl Creek Bridge and Other Stories

There are eight short stories in this book. Among them, I will introduce a man's pure but miserable love story, Beyond the Wall. 

Dampier is a book lover and spends all his time reading books. He has never been interested in falling in love. But one day, he comes across a girl with a bright and beautiful face. She is a niece's landlady who owns his apartment and lives next to him. Since the first meeting with her, he has no choice to concentrate on reading books and thinking about the girl. As his feeling becomes intensive to her, he is getting like a stalker. Every day he is knocking the wall between his room and her room to satisfy himself. The ultimate ending is as you expect. 

All the short stories of this book can be seen in the aspect of war and it is a bit hard to read the whole without looking into dictionaries. However, if you want to stretch your brain as a practice, I will recommend it. 

Bierce, A. (2007). Owl Creek Bridge and Other Stories. Oxford: Macmillan Readers. 

英語教育講義⑪ Working memory is necessary when learning languages

 Working memory is

I learn three memory that we go through when listening to someone's talk. I suspect you know the conception of short-term and long-term memory. Short-term memory functions on a daily basis such as when you repeat someone's phone number and words. However, learning languages need working memory that comprises three components. We experiment with how it works when we listen and mumble after someone's talk. Though today's activity, I noticed the thinking process is similar to shadowing something. When I study listening parts of the TOEIC test, I try to repeat just after the audio and interpret it in mind. As repeated the same thing, unconsciously, some words and phrases I want to memorize embed in my head, and I can go to the speaking step. With my experience and today's lecture, working memory has a good work, which helps us learn chunks by heart. 

英語教育講義⑩ Information Gap activity and other ways to boost skills!

Get out of framed ways of speaking English!!

How can we expand our repertoires of communication styles? Though I love reading books and listening to people's speaking, I feel agitated when I speak out in class or talk with my friends. One of the reasons is I count on limited-expression too much, and some pause occurs in recalling new words I learned. Like those who have the same concern with me, I feel the Information Gap activity is helpful to go forward to the next level. The Information Gap activity is pair learning by giving hints to each other and filling in the blanks. Moreover, it aims at checking your vocabulary realm and doing input from the pair's talking. 

Who am I?? 

The activity has lots of common with the other activity, "Who am I?" This week, I will host an English activity event and do "Who am I?" It is for international students and Japanese students. Now I'm exchanging ideas to proceed with the event smoothly and check the rules. Like the Information Gap activity is intended to provide conversation time with learners, we want to make it more reasonable for those who are studying English zealously. I believe in both activities, the facilitator should not hurt their inquisitive attitude when they make mistakes or are stuck with some problems with speaking. 

10. The Escape and Other stories

 

There are four sarcastically funny short stories in the book. Among the stories, The Escape is so amusing that I could often giggle while reading it. The main character, Roger is handsome and rich, and many women want to marry him. However, he always makes an escape when those women turn up in front of him. He is satisfied with the bachelor life. At a party, he meets Ruth for the first time in a while. She has married two husbands so far, and both are dead. Therefore, he is engaged to her to make her happier. Soon after their engagement, something wrong occurs. He recalls the merry lonely life and doesn't love her anymore!! Then, one clear idea comes to his mind. He promises her that if they find a nice place to live, they will get married. He brings a bunch of lists of houses for sales, and they begin hanging around to seek the best house. After they complete viewing them privately on the list, he gathers the property information and lists up them. They do it over and over again. As might be expected, she is tired of going with him, and the ending is as you suspect. 

The storyline has another unpredictable ending to make his strategy successful!! If you are even slightly interested in it, why don't you reading it??

Mugham, W. S. (2005). The Escape and Other Stories. Oxford: Macmillan Readers. 

9. The courage to be disliked

 "You are not the center of the world." (p. 167) 

As I proceed with job hunting even online, sometimes I'm so questionable and concerned about the path I walked so far. Amind the pandemic, many people are suffered from every fear of being infected, fired and separated from their environment physically. So do I. However, The courage to be disliked relieved and gave me inspiration about the insight of life. Today I will pick up my favorite part of the story and share it with you. 

Before getting into it, I will introduce the characters and their situation roughly. There are two people: a philosopher and a youth. The boy feels inferior to his personality, school life, and relationships. The teacher is delivering a lecture from the perspective of philosophy, mainly focused on courage. He insists if the boy can admit his individuality, not citing other people's one, he would find himself wonderful and valuable. 

In my recommendation part, Chapter 4, the two people think of courage in a real group. The topic is a sense of belonging. What makes it? I thought a sense of belonging is endowed by other people surrounding me. However, the philosopher questions the youth about his role in a belonging. He tells that the boy should not be just a passive person who is waiting for happiness, but intend to contribute to the growth of the group. Even one thing can be seen from a variety of perspectives, and they teach me a more worthy way. 

Kisumi, I. & Koga, F. (2018). The courage to be disliked. Tokyo: Diamond Inc. 

英語教育講義⑨ What is Communicative Learning Teaching??

 Communicative Learning Teaching is…

CLT is one of the active learning languages ways which puts more importance on giving opportunities that learners can speak. It was originated in Europe and then has been researched for a long time. The biggest feature is to combine grammar learning with output time by switching words and phrases. With their feeling lively, learners put them on the specific situation in each case. Then, if the learners are more advanced than the given levels, they can go on their conversation deeply. I thought it is effective for second language learners who are in non-native speaking counties to practice delivering.

 

I have some questions…

I took in how approachable the way it is to build up their skills and experiences in class. However, at the same time, I have some question and qualification to ask other classmates who intend to be an English teacher. Active speaking classes are essential to check if the learners surely memorize the words and phrases in an appropriate situation. Therefore, if you teach English at a junior high and high school, how do you want to control the balance of input and output in class? Then, why do you do that?

I have another question. What level of learners should do the CLT? If you have any suggestions, please share your idea!!

 

My outside activity…

I have contributed to the student committee’s activity which encourages different university students to communicate with each other. We are holding an English online event on December 6^th. This year, we have had 5 online events, and 3 of them are relevant to English activity. I have felt the quality of the event has soared step by step, and it can lead to Communicative Learning English. I hope what we have acquired in this lecture will be applied to your other field and future. 

8. Arashi's final concert in empty Olympic stadium (The Japan Times alpha)

 

The news that the Japanese top boy band will suspend their activity made me very amazed. Many of my friends have been big fans of them since they were elementary school students. Although basically I'm not type of getting into idol groups, I know some hit songs which bring me wonderful memories with my friends. 

Due to the pandemic, even the competent band cannot carry out face-to-face concert. Instead, including J-pop bands, a lot of music bands are planning streamed or ondemand live via SNS and official websites. 

This is one of the top high school brass bands in Japan. Osaka Toin brass bands have an explicit reputation for the transparent sound, marched dance, and expression. When you want to relax and change your mood, their harmony should be the best supporter. 

The Japan Times alpha. 

英語教育講義⑧ Our comprehending test!!!

 10-minute test!!

In the first part of the class, we took the small test about SLA. Though this test, I could review the whole contents quickly, and deepened the interest toward SLA. Among some points, I got more interested in meaning-focused input and output. I believe meaning-focused directly related to conveying messages. It is much more valuable than just learning it by heart. To be more meaningful, the learners put importance on the quality, so they are short-cut in learning languages. 

A big challenge!! 
I gave a presentation about Kumamoto municipal administration!! 

Last month, I participated in Kumamoto city municipal verification meeting with my friend. It was one of Kumamoto Junior Chamber projects for youth. At the meeting, there are two agenda: city development and public transportation. I was in charge of the latter subject.
In Kumamoto, many people own their cars, which causes main intersections traffic jam. Therefore, I suggested MaaS application for Kumamoto city mayor. MaaS stands for Mobility as a Service. It is a concept of combining public transportations such as train, bus, taxi, and subway by using ICT. MaaS compiles every information about traffic and road information, therefore it demonstrates users the best route at reasonable price. The more the application collect the users, the better the traffic situation will be. 
My idea came from a map application which helped me in Singapore. Including Singapore, some Asian countries go advance in terms of Internet products. However, even main cities in Japan have not yet introduced effective application. I hope Kumamoto city will take a lead to clear up the congestion problems in Kyushu. 

Our story is on Facebook page, so if you are interested in, please check it out. 

https://www.facebook.com/admini.shion/posts/1673003716194619

7. The Quest

 'He told me to give it to Mr Blackburn, on a boat called The Quest.' (p.57) 

      We are on a boat, along the Gulf of Thailand. The boat starts sailing as usual to seek secret wreck sunk under the sea... You don't know what there are in the hidden ship? There are a lot of valuable traditional Chinese porcelain from the inheriting dynasty. A man called Daeng, and a boy, Lek is looking for the big treasure. Then, they want to sell them at higher place to farang, trader team from Western countries. However, their adventure is interrupted by another gang collectors. 

    Mark and John are enjoying sailing together. One day, they come across the group of Daeng and Lek, and the seller ask them to purchase them. However, Mark and John refuse the demand because the porcelains are National Museum's. Mark and John don't want to steal the nation's treasure, but want the location where the wreck is. At last, Daeng and Lek give up selling them to the two men. Instead, they get to provide the information with them. The four make an appointment to see in the following day, and seek the old wreck. 

Loader, Mandy. The Quest. (2005). 

     

英語教育講義⑦ What we do now!! 2

Changing my attention to the mouth...

Today the latter part of students shared their ways of learning English. Among them, I was so curious about the use of movies and other visual materials. One of the girls introduced how to improve listening skill with foreign movies. She was told by her teacher that it is more comprehensible to catch the words by pay attention to the actors' mouth movement. I often find at loss when watching movies in English, in particular, the actors become emotional. Therefore, I was satisfied with her suggestion to understand the words and facial expression at the same time. 

Learning partners support you!!

The other I clearly remember is to make learning partners to give and take some information about the interest. From my personal experience, it is effective to maintain our motivation high and support you when you have difficulties. Outside university, I have English learning partner. She is also interested in international affair and communicating with people in English, and we often join discussion and communicating events together. She is two years older than me, and have fruitful experience abroad. Therefore, when I have questions in learning English or organizing events in students committee, she always help me get rid of any concern. I recommend you make a partner who gives you advice and consult. 

英語教育講義⑥ What we do now!!

 A variety of ways of learning English. 

Today we shared our own ways of learning English. Some people recommend wordbooks which are useful for TOEIC and TOEFL test.  Some people continue the ways from their high school age, and they are proud of the worn out textbooks or their footprint. Everyone has incredible ideas, and then do 'try and go' again and again. Among them, there is recommendation I was so impressed, that it is vital to get feedback from other people. I get in touch with my friends on SNS in English, however most of them don't want to correct my words when I say unnaturally. In her case, she goes to a experienced tutor regularly and makes it as a habit. I think learning with someone who teaches the right and wrong makes a shortcut to brush up English. 

It is also important to observe yourself before learning something. 
There is a girl who analyzed her character very well and applied to her own ways. She said she buys some magazines or books that she is interested in. While paging through them, she finds new interest and relate it to learning English. I agreed that it can boost her motivation continuously and bring her new knowledge.

I look forward to listening to the latter part of people's stories next week 👋

6．Casino Royale

The bitch is dead now. (p.71) 

Do you like action films? I've been got into those since I was 5th grade at elementary school. However, this is almost the first time I read the genre in books. 

James Bond is an agent working for British Secret Service. His mission is to financially destruct Le, Russia's agent. He is near ruined already, therefore James went to a casino table with his mission partner. Although they won at hundreds million dollars, they are kidnaped by Le. Eventually, they are rescued by their companion, but... 

There are some technical terms related to spy with lively speed like a movie. In some parts, I could not take in the situation even though I tried over and over again. Therefore, if you want to read action stories in books, I recommend you first check the movie trailer and start taking up. 

The link below is one of my favorite action films' trailer. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wkih9Yvxq0

Fleming, Ian. Casino Royale. (2006). Oxford; Macmillan Publisher Limited. 

英語教育講義⑤ The effective and meaningful way of learning

What is valuable input for myself? 

It is essential to let my brain expose to large amount of input from books, audio, and other materials. In the process of doing it, I should find what field I am interested in, and the reason to keep my motivation high. On top of that, today's class makes me realize we need to limit to simple material. Yoshii sensei said they are supposed to be almost comprehensive.

Continuous and step-by-step output....

I and seminar members began self-talk every day, and in the last seminar, we did catch-up and gave each the feedback. Some of them record it as a short video and some write down what is in mind on a diary. Since we are English learners in non-native speaking country, it is vital to make opportunities to speak up and convey messages in English voluntarily. Therefore, this attempt is a wonderful idea to look back what I do now and make free time in between somethings practical time. 

Finally..
The links below is what I'm taking now into my learning routine. The repeating after someone talking or paraphrasing are harder than I thought. However, it will teach me the way of thinking in English as native speakers normally do. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAU2zx2Ri_M

5. The Picture of Dorian Gray

Knock, knock. Trick or treat? Halloween is also here, so I brought one horror story this week. It is The Picture of Dorian Gray written by Oscar Wilde. We learnt his writing style, which make you scared with only words. Therefore, I suspect this story also make you mood of Halloween... 😨

Basil and Harry are nice friends from university age, and they are curious about art very well. Harry always praises Harry's portraits and suggests him to arrange them in a gallery. However, he firmly rejects. He says he does not want people to know his feeling and it is not worth being recognized. 

Dorian is a portrait model of Basil's works. He is so rich and handsome that everyone is envy of his beauty and favored home environment. He loves himself on the Basil's paints since the same look and character seems showing what he looks like. Every time he sees another him with bright skin and perfect smile on the paint, he thinks he does not want to get older and uglier. Then, it gets him to pursing what he want and getting rid of enemies around him. What happens to real Dorian at the end? 

Although I can not say the fact of the story, it reminds me of the common rule of arts. I played the piano for 13 years and learnt the music I play reflects my feeling and condition sensitively. For instance, when I was in a bad mood, music sounded violent and unstable. That is the hint to read this story!! If you want to read something horrible, it is surely to enjoy you. 

Wilde, Oscar. The Picture of Dorian Gray. (1891) Oxford; Macmillan Publisher Limited. 

英語教育講義④ Several factors for learning languages 👀👂👄

Be positive!!

Today we checked how much we have what it takes to learn language first. For quite some time, I've got on with English, but the check result made me a bit depressed. Among the check items, it was surprising that much risk-taking can bring a lot of mistakes. When sorting out a task for the first time, I tend to challenge something new voluntarily. However, when I learn languages, I should cut down the will power...  Moderate is good for everything!

Mysterious critical period and silent period... 

So far I have listened to the story of critical period several times. Yet, I wonder why some children can start speaking perfect English out of the blue even though they don't want to on their own. Considering critical period, I guess the length of silent period depends on their character and tendency like the items we tested. Not all of the children are not extrovert and positive to learning languages, therefore there must be differences among them. Moreover, I suspect their nationality and native languages have effected to the both periods. For instance, language distance between Japanese and Korean is so close that Japanese children who are learning Korean may spend shorter silent period than they are learning English. Mystery is just becoming more intense. 

4. The Princess Diaries 3

 Michel told me he has been in love with me for a long time too. (p.69)

Can you believe a normal girl turn to be a princess of Royal family all of a sudden? Mia, the protagonist lives in New York with her mother and stepfather. Her school life is smooth sailing like other girls with boyfriend matter and grade matter. Until her real father living in Europe catches cancer...

As soon as she knows her real father's disease, she has got to Genova to succeed the throne in the future. While school life in New York goes on, she takes princess lessons and take part in Royal event at her break. My sense is her student life changes by leaps and bounds. Therefore, as we, readers can get into the world, we become more attracted. 

I recommend books in diary form if you want to learn causal, daily conversation between native speakers.  As we learn in class with textbook or some academic material, most of the words are more formal and classic than those on diaries. Sometimes, in daily conversation, maybe you have experienced, they are a bit stiff and not comfortable to talk with friends. However, diaries are written for the writer in mind and so close to honest talk. I feel it is effective for you to adapt frank words. 

Cabot, meg. The Princess Diaries. (2007). Oxford; Macmillan Publisher Limited. 

英語教育講義③ Our mother tongue has influence on learning English

Babies have great abilities to adopt languages!!! 

I am convinced that they are good at recognizing and absorbing sounds easily. When my sister was a baby, I watched NHK educational TV program, and read English children book together. At first, she seemed not to curious about English, but gradually she asked me to let her read English book. Soon after this period, it got her to voicing simple words such as apple, lion, and orange. She is really getting good at memorizing and connecting words. maybe than me... Therefore, I believe it is important to soak in a variety of sounds during childhood. 

Transmission among languages😮

My group discussed the transmission from aspects of learning languages and accepting culture. In terms of learning languages, one of my members mentioned about Japanese-English, and she said her friend was embarrassed with her Japanese accent such as L and R. Moreover, I remember when I was a junior high school student, there was a boy who was confused with the tense. As Mr. Yoshii explained, Japanese people use Past Tense though the sentence should be Present Simple. Therefore, the distance between two languages has greater impact especially, on beginners. With regard to accepting culture, I think I could get a good influence from learning English. Last year, I went to Singapore to study English, and met a girl who was not fearful of making mistakes rather confident. There, I learnt they are the key to step up to the next. Now, I believe I will pass up fortunate opportunities if I hesitate not to make mistakes. 

3. Love by Design

 'I was so upset. I wanted to make him jealous. I nearly married a terrible man.' (p.57) 

What is the most necessary thing for you in your life? Some people say it must be money, house, and fame. Some says they can not live without family and friends. What about you? 

This is a long story of a pure youngster and beautiful girl. Tom intends to go to a college to learn art, but he fails. At present time, he is working as a staff of a library to save up money. In the library, Rita shows up to browse magazines. She has been longing for becoming a fashion model since she was small. However, she can not learn the manner of walking or posing like a star due to her poor home. Since they have a common with going for a dream, they get close quickly. They sees every day and before they know, they feel love. One day, Rita gets a offer from a man who owns a fashion company and is called a big fish in the field. They signs a contract, and then the terrible nightmare starts... 

I love unpredictable ending in a romantic story. The story plot are almost the same; a heroine is in a difficult situation, and a hero struggles to help her. Still, every author adds other key point to their hard time. In this story, the bad man is a key person to tell you the secret behind the story. The business man uses their unfortunate destiny and they bet their chance. Every time I read this kind of stories, young people just do not realize they are late bloomers. To put it in our real life, we may have more opportunities to enhance your skills and broaden our sight. 

McGovern, Kieran. Love by Design. (2005). Oxford; Macmillan Publisher Limited. 

英語教育講義② Motivation for learning English

When I face my motivation problem....

     If you put a lot of effort to accomplish something, I suppose you have experienced of changing your level of motivation. In my case, so far I have had two types of ups and downs while learning languages. One is when I set a goal score of TOEIC and burned the midnight oil. However, I could not be satisfied with the result at all. Then, I felt miserable and lost my motivation. The other is when I was stuck with a lot of things to do. Club activities, part time job, and preparing for job hunting.... They got me worn out completely, and then I could not concentrate on learning English. 

What can I do??

     I sensed a sort of dilemma which means I have a goal to freshen up English, but I can not do what I want to do. Therefore, I decided to keep my daily routine to maintain my motivation steadily. Soon after waking up, I make a to-do list in a day including English learning such as reading books, reviewing words I previously learnt, and speaking with friends on SNS. Every single day, I try to fill the check box as soon as possible. 

     One reason we can not keep our motivation or give up the goal is you do not take in  what you are doing. By writing down what is on your mind, I think you can straighten your thinking, which stimulates yourself. 

     Another way to solve the problem is to get your point checked objectively. If my motivation goes down unfortunately, I always get feedback about my way from my friend. Her nationality is Japanese, but she has lived in New York before. We have shared both of bitter experience and joy of learning, therefore it is no doubt she has known about me better than anyone else. Like this, if you have any person to consult about your goal or dream, I suspect you can be free from your matter and find your setback or weakness. 

2. Far from the Madding Crowd

 ' People don't say very nice things about an unmarried man who works for a beautiful young woman. That's the reason that I was going to leave you and the farm.' (p78) 

I have never read such an unexpected twist at the ending, which took me some times to take in what is going on in the story. This is the unusual love story of a man and woman in England. 

The story starts with Gabriel's love for Bathesheba.  When Gabriel meets her first, he falls in love and confesses. However, she rejects strongly because of his poor family. Bathesheba is called the most beautiful farm owner in the town, and some men has desires to court her. Among them, there are another two men who have passion insanely for her. Gabriel gets married to one of them, but the husband is killed by the other man.... The accident disturbs her peace of mind fiercely, and then what happens ??

All of the diplomat the characters use is so interesting that I can remember the scene clearly. Until Gabriel becomes a wife of a rich man, she is said by some men, "If I wait for another six years, would you marry me?," or "There is no reason to refuse my propose." Every time I saw the persistent men around Gabriel, I was rooting for her. I hope you all enjoy a lot of dishonestly tricky strategies as well. 

Hardy, Thomas. Far from the Madding Crowd. (2007). Oxford; Macmillan Publisher Limited. 

1. The Wizard of Oz

 "The Good Witch kissed Dorothy and smiled. The kiss had left a strange mark on Dorothy's forehead. (p.14) " 

The importance of facing your weakness is a main moral lesson for children around the world. I have read The Wizard of Oz for the first time although it is one of the most famous American fables. In addition, I sensed something critical from this. That is... ??

 Dorothy, the protagonist is blown away to the land of the Munchkins by cyclone, and gets lost. On the way to the Great Wizard, she meets some friends, Cowardly Lion, Scarecrow, and Tin Man which all have each setback. The lion fears everything, the scarecrow doesn't have brain, and then the tin has no sense. They are announced if they beat the evil witch, all problems will be fine. From the time, their adventure gets start. 

I believe the story applies our bias against the characters in a good way. The efficacy brings the greater influence to the readers. For instance, the protagonist is a girl, not a boy, and she is so decisive and courageous that it is no doubt we admire her smartness. Then, the lion is not the strongest animal in the story. All of the interesting setting contradicts our common sense and stereotype. That's why The Wizard of Oz has been handed down from generation to generation. 

Baum, Frank, L.. The Wizard of Oz. (2007). Oxford; Macmillan Publisher Limited. 

英語教育講義① What is SLA for ?

SLA is one of the foreign language learning fields. It sheds light on several factors such as the learning process, pedagogy, learner, and four skills. The most incredible thing I learned today is it is better to look at than to write when memorizing new vocabulary! However, at junior high or high school, we were recommended to just write and connect with Japanese 😞💦 In my personal experience, to a periodical extent, the old-fashion method can be effective. The entrance exam for university or immediate test are good examples. If we persuade to exquisite the true English skills, there must be a lot of things to take care of.  I hope the students who take this class and want to become a teacher will apply more theoretical method to English education. 

When I get a new word from a material, I google the image and other meanings to connect it with what I've already caught. Although I've made some attempts, it is the best for me now. Does anyone have more interesting ways?

SLA Junior Seminar 15: The Prisoner of Zenda

'Rudolf! He has my name,' said the red-haired man. (p.24) 

I wonder if I had another sister who looks like me. Rudolf Rassendyll has connected with Prince Rudolf since their great-grandfather's era. Mr. Rassendyll's adventure starts with his journey in Europe. 

Mr. Rassendyll is unemployment despite that he is fluent at several foreign languages. He decides to go on a trip to Europe for a while, and then comes across Prince Rudolf. They become close soon after first meeting, therefore had a nice supper at that day. After a few days, Mr. Rassendyll knows that Mr. Prince Rudolf is unconscious because he is taken poison by The Duke of Strelsau. At that time, Prince Rudolf has an argue with The Duke of Strelsau regarding the next throne. Since before the very coronation ceremony, Mr. Rudolf plays the king's role instead of Prince Rudolf and confesses his love for his princess. The Princess swears to become a queen in the future, so Mr. Rudolf thinks he has to wake the true king up and solve the problem...

This is a book recommended by one of my friends in class. While giving a book speech, we have different perspectives and appealing points. Therefore, it is more intriguing to read after listening to your classmate's review and keeping what they said in your mind than just reading on your own. In addition, if you can not understand some parts in the book, why don't you reflect their book blog? 

Hope, Anthony. The Prisoner of Zenda. (1893). Oxford, UK: Macmillan Publishers.

SLA Junior Seminar 14: The Hunchback of Notre-Dame

'Stories of about the Cathedral of Notre-Dame and the hunchback of and the priest passes from person to person through Paris.' (p.52) 

 This is a story of an ugly man who rings a bell in the Cathedral of Notre-Dame. 

Quasimodo is the man who has the job. When he was a infant, he was left on a road and adopted by the priest of the cathedral. As time passes, a beautiful gypsy dancer, Esmeralda appears in Paris, and then the priest feels passion for her. The priest let the hideous Quasimodo abduct on purpose, and plans to become a hero to help her. However, Esmeralda has a lovely husband. Above all, she learns that  Quasimodo just follows the priest's. Soon after the priest knows that Esmeralda hates the priest, he tries to kill her husband... By using the power of the church to obtain inquired love, he is getting insane. What is going to happen to them? 

The ending of the original story is totally different from a movie produced by Disney animation. Although the Disney version is got rid of scenes and settings relevant to religion and brutality, actually there are a lot of strange points in the traditional version. For instance, the whole story centers the authority of the church in the 15th century, however the characters appears not to have faith in God, rather the priest abuses his status and trust from citizens for his sided-love. In addition, at that time, the court indicates the present one as we can imagine. That is witch hunt. When I read this part of the court, this did not come to mind and considered it just a punishment. However, the witch hunt was meaningful to keep the society peaceful and ordered. If you would like to compare the two stories, please take a look at the website on the bottom.   

Hugo, Victor. The Hunchback of Notre-Dame. (2004). Oxford, UK: Penguin Readers. 

👉15 points of the differences between two 

https://ciatr.jp/topics/190530

SLA Junior Seminar 13: Bites of Britain, Tastes of Japan

'It is easy enough to blame the change on British food.' (p.100)

The author, who lives in Japan, get a job, has a family described just what he wanted to say to someone. He tells Britain and Japan have good points and weak points as well, so he takes some samples, some bites of Britain, some tastes of Japan. Today I am sharing with you a stories that I chuckled while imagining what he wants to deliver.

What do you have in your mind when it comes to traditional British bites? Fish and chips, English breakfast, meat pie, scones... any else? The native English man was shocked to read that the British people are now the fattest in Europe on account of the greasy, sugary and over-roasted food. Why do they have such dishes normally? Actually, it derives from the cold weather. In old England, they needed the fat and starch to keep them warm. Then, the typical eating habit became natural and common even people afford to have heating system and rich houses. Needless to say, it is no doubt they are getting soft and flabby. 

However, from other perspective, it is no trouble if they do workout and move more actively to consume calories they take. Or else, they are supposed to reconsider the process of cooking. At the end of the short story, he added that British people will never give up their food, because even if the rest of the world mocks. Like this, he gives us trivial topic that are so funny and common in Japan. If you want to bite the culture, why don't you open the page? 

Cheetham, Dominic. (2003). Bites of Britain, Tastes of Japan. Tokyo: NHK Publishing.