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.