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.