Berlin sights & cold beer |
Dear Jim sensei,
We stayed in Berlin for three days. We walked around the city to see some historical buildings. 15K+ steps per day!
It was hot and sunny, which was perfect weather to have cold beers :)
Reiko & Tomoko
English language school in the heart of the Japanese Alps, and English language learners sharing their experiences online. Teachers post regular items about teaching, learning tools, events in the school, their day to day experiences living & working in a foreign country. Students post on whatever takes their fancy - book reports, festivals in home towns, postcards from business trips etc. A little Brit of England in the guts of Japan!
Berlin sights & cold beer |
Dear Jim sensei,
We stayed in Berlin for three days. We walked around the city to see some historical buildings. 15K+ steps per day!
It was hot and sunny, which was perfect weather to have cold beers :)
Reiko & Tomoko
The British Museum |
We had a chance to visit The British Museum. It was so interesting to see objects from the ancient period. We were lucky to have sunshine earlier today! (Beautiful picture isn't it?) The temperature is much lower than that in Berlin. It was like late autumn.
Tomoko & Reiko
Day 1: Arrival in Edinburgh
Arrive in Edinburgh: Transfer to the hotel, and then leave my baggage there.
Edinburgh Castle: Explore this historical place. I’ll rent an audio guide because it is available in Japanese. Visit to Edinburgh castle from Royal Palace and Honours of Scotland to Mons Meg and the Scottish National War Memorial.
I’m sure that the place will make me exciting, so I need a rest to go around the castle. Take afternoon tea break. (I’ll make a reservation for tearoom in the castle.)
After enjoying Edinburgh Castle, I’m going to the Royal Mile to see historic street, visiting shops and landmarks.
At dinner time, I’ll eat Scottish cuisine at a local restaurant. I’ll enjoy beer and scotch during meal.
Day 2: still in Edinburgh
I’ll tour for Holyrood Palace where the official residence of the British monarch in Scotland.
Also, I’ll visit at the National Museum of Scotland. I’ll look at Scotland’s history and culture from exhibits.
At Dinner time, I’ll try a cozy pub or restaurant in the Old Town.
Optional: Attend a traditional Scottish Ceilidh dance.
Day 3: still in Edinburgh
I’ll go to ST GILE’s cathedral. I’ll try to join guided walking tours which is are free. (I hope to understand what guide saying)
Day 4: Loch Ness
I’ll visit the Loch Ness Centre and Exhibition.
I will enjoy a boat tour on the loch to search for the famous monster.
Fairy Pools: Hike to these beautiful natural pools.
Day 7: Return to Edinburgh
Morning: I’ll eat breakfast at the hotel.
The Edinburgh Dungeon: Scarry!! I don’t know whether I enjoy there.
Final Shopping and Sightseeing: Shopping souvenirs.
Departure: Go to the airport for my flight to home.
The Nobel Peace Prize winner I'd like to introduce is Barack Obama. He was once the president of the United States of America. Also, he was different from previous presidents in that he was the first Afircan-American, person of color, and Hawaiian-born president.
Although he was once out-ranked by former First Lady Hillary Clinton in terms of name recognition, his skillful speeches and charisma attracted people, and he gained supporters as he continued to campaign.While his policies are criticized for lacking specificity and being largely abstract & idealistic, his speeches have been described as the reincarnation of John F. Kennedy for their persuasiveness. In his speeches, he employs a technique of layering short phrases with frequent use of "we" and "you". In particular, two phrases "Change" and ""Yes, we can" were frequently used as catchphrases during the election campaign.
He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009. All media reports cited Obama's diplomacy as a victory for the prize, due to his vision of promoting international cooperation toward nuclear abolition, which he announced in Prague in April 2009, and his call for reconciliation and dialogue with the Islamic world, which he made in Cairo in June.
However, if we see only Obama's diplomatic ideals as the driving force behind his Nobel Prize, we are only seeing half the truth. There is another half which is not clear from the surface. That is the change in the US's security strategy that took place in the 2000s. behind this Nobel Prize lies the foundation of the cold, realistic US's security strategy, which is the globalisation of the use of advanced conventional warheads and the promototion of nuclear non-proliferation.Furthermore, Obama's visit to Hiroshima. the first by a sitting US president, was an historic opportunity of great inportance to commemorate the war dead and to revive international momentum toward a world free of nuclear weapons. At the same time, it symbolized the strength of the US - Japan alliance, an "Alliance of Hope", that has been built up over the 70+ years since the end of World War Two.
Posted for Eleanor
I would like to introduce about Mother Teresa.
Her real name was Agnes, and she was born in Skopje, in the Republic of North Macedonia.
Teresa decided to work in the slums of Calcutta, and she went out the monastery when she was 38. After a while, she collected the poor children who can’t go to school, and she opened air -classes at the slum in Kolkata.
In 1950, she moved to her nationary to India, and built monastery, school, hospital and so on. Many people thought wonderful that Teresa’s action. Finally, In 1979, she won the Nobel Peace Prize.
Posted for Youna
Japanese Serow
They eat plant leaves, tree barks, and fruits etc. They can be seen in mountains in early spring and late autumn. They are protected as a special natural animal by Japan and are also the prefectural animal of Nagano. Climate change causes animals in mountain that they are unable to secure enough food, and recently deer sometimes enter in area where Japanese Serow lived to find foods. It is likely to drop the population in the future again.
Japanese monkey (Macaca fuscata)
They can be found in not only countryside but also urban area because they operate in groups and not afraid of people. They are active during the day, and eat tree buds, fruits, and vegetables as well as small animals. At night, they sleep in safe places such as trees.
Japanese squirrels
They are active in the mornings and evenings, and can move swiftly even in the trees. Their summer fur is reddish brown, while their winter fur is gray-brown. They eat acorns, insects, and small bird eggs. They store nuts etc underground before winter starts, and dig them to eat during winter because they are non-hibernating.
Cuculus canorus
We can hear their chirp “Ka-kko” in Summer in Japan. Their body is approx. 35 cm and have head, back and upper feathers in gray, and belly in white.
It is famous for a summer bird in Japan and can be found everywhere in Japan. You can easily find them in central and northern Honshu. In Europe, it is famous for a bird that heralds spring. They spend winter in Africa and Southern Asia. By eating mainly caterpillars that other birds won't eat, they have an advantage to secure foods more than other birds.
Bush Warbler (Horornis diphone)
Bird called “Uguisu” is famous for a bird that heralds spring. We can hear their chirp “Ho-hokekyo” everywhere in Japan but have less opportunity. Even if we hear their chirp, it is difficult to find the bird because they keep watch for natural enemy. In the summer, they mainly eat small insects, larvae, and spiders, and in the winter, they eat seeds and nuts.
Ptarmigan (Lagopusu Muta)
Lagopusu means “Long-haired rabbit’s foot”. They live most of year in alpine belt and are the strongest bird in cold atmosphere. Their feathers turn whole white in winter to be a part of snow mountain. In spring, the upper part of male feathers is blackish brown and the one of female is mottled with light and dark brown. In autumn, their upper part of feathers turns gray-brown. Their inside feathers are white in all seasons.
Deoxyribonucleic Acid ("DNA") is the main unit of genes. However, until the 1950s, proteins were thought to work as genes. Alfred Hershey and Martha Chase revealed that DNA was in fact genetic material, using E.coli.
DNA is made up of phosphate, sugar and a base - of which there are four types...A:Adenine, G:Guonine, T:Thymine and C:Cytosine. A group of three bases, called Codon, specify one amino acid. Then, amino acids create proteins, which compose tissues, and tissues compose organs. That is why DNA is called the "Blueprint of Life".Today, genetics are contributing to our life in areas of health care, viology, agriculture and so on. In the past, when DAN was unknown/undiscovered, people mated plants from good harvests or with strong resistance against rough climates and diseases, in order to make future harvests stable. These days, scientists are able to produce genetically modified food, like they did in the past, but not how they did in the past.
Today's scientists use restriction enzymese like CSISPR-Cos9 to recombine genes directly. Using this method, we can produce desirable plants quickly and accurately. This technology is very useful for our society against global warming, rapidly increasing population and food shortages.
On the other hand, research on the positive or negative effects of genetically modified food on the human body is still ongoing. Some countires even ban such food; in Japan, products with genetically modified ingredients must be clearly labelled.
The discovery of DNA changed our notion of life, and made new technological pathways which are still not fully understood.. People need to understand DNA correctly, and make use of genetics safely and ethically.
Posted for Yuto, after listening to a BBC Patented podcast (about submarines!)...clearly, a medical student in the making!
Posted for Moeka
January: A Japan Antarctic Expedition group led by Mr. Shirase gave up reaching south pole.
February: Arizona became 48th state of America.
March: The Ozaki Yukio who is chief of Tokyo sent three thousands of cherry blossoms to Washington D.C.
April: The Titanic sank on her first voyage.
May: Stockholm in Sweden hosted the Summer Olympic and this was the first Olympic for Japan.
June: Mt. Katmai erupted, and its power was one of the biggest volcanos.
July: Emperor Meiji passed away. His death marked the end of the Meiji era and the start of Taisho era.
August: The 1st taxi company in Japan was established.
September: 661 people died by one of the biggest typhoons named 1st typhoon in Taisho era. It made much damages especially to areas along the Sea of Japan and Hokkaido.
October: The 1st Balkan War broke out in 1912 and ended in 1913. It was War between Ottoman and Balkan who consist of Greece, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Serbia.
November: The Japanese government officially established the Imperial Guards Division, an elite military unit responsible for protecting the Emperor and the imperial family.
December: The 1st police dog started the job. The explosion in the coal mine in Yubari, Hokkaido took 216 lives though the explosion in same coal mine took 276 lives last April.
I'm having really exciting days in Nomadic Mongolia, incredibly wide and wild.
People are brave and powerful.
I have been having absolutely precious experiences, such a living ager of nomad, wild horse riding...
Also, I was able to enjoy the annual traditional national festival "Naadam".
My dear friends help everything. How lucky I am!!
I can't forget these lovely exciting days in Mongolia.
Teruki
One day, while cutting bamboo, the old man saw a shining bamboo. He cut open the bamboo and inside these was a beautiful girl. The old man and his wife were very surprised but delighted. They named her "Kaguya-hime" and raised her as their own daughter.
Kaguya-hime grew up quickly and became a beautiful young woman. Many men came to ask for her hand in marriage, but she turned them all away. Kaguya-hime told her parents that she wasn't from this world and that she must return to the Moon.
The old man and his wife were very sad, but they understood. One night, a group of moon people came down on a bright, shining chariot to take Kaguya-hime back.
Kaguya-hime said goodbye to her parents and gave them a letter and a small bottle of elixir. She told them to remember her and promised to watch over them from the moon.
The old man and his wife watched as Kaguya-hime went up to the sky, becoming a beautiful light in the sky.
Posted for Miki
There was a time when I did not want to go to junior high school.The reason was school-provided lunch.
As you may know well, the school lunch is nutritionally balanced and included meat or processed meat every day. Furthermore, there was a policy at the time that it was good to eat all of our school lunch and not leave any food, so it was not allowed to leave food on my plates. I struggled to finish my school lunch thinking how to swallow it itself or with other foods because I am unable to eat meat or processed meat. If there were things that I could not eat no matter how hard I tried, I packed them in my lunch box behind my teacher’s back to dispose them at home. However, I always had another concern because I had trouble that the juice from garbage made my school bag dirty.
I understood at that time that during growth period, it is important to eat without being picky about what I eat. Also, I learned some problems about food until now. There are a lot of people in the world who are unable to eat enough. Leaving food is not good action to aim for the 17 SDGs. I think the current school lunch style to share the food in advance to someone who wants to eat more is better and I often wish I was in junior high school now.
Once upon a time, there was a girl named Ella who lost her mother. A new mother and sister came right away, but they were very terrible people. Ella had to make meals and do the laundry because her new mother and sister didn't do anything. After a while, Ella's father also passed away.
The dress for a dance party at castle was also torn, Ella was very sad. Then a fairy, called Fairy Godmother, appeared. She have Ella a beautiful dress, glass shoes, a pumpkin carriage, and more. She told Ella "You have to be back by 12 o'clock".
Ella was very happy to go to the dance party. In the castle, Ella was able to dance with the prince and had a good time. Ella heard the bell announcing it was 12 o'clock. She ran away from the castle. The prince chased Ella. While she was running, one of her shoes came off. Ella arrived home and the magic was lost, but Ella was very happy.
After a while, the prince came to the city. He said to the people of the city "I will marry the girl who can wear this glass shoe." Ella was able to wear one of the shoes. Ella lived in the castle as the prince's wife. They lived happily ever after.
Posted for Ayumi
Once upon a time, there was a family of crabs. One day the mother crab found a big rice ball. She was so happy, and tried to bring it back to her house for her children. Then she met a monkey.
"Hey, you!! I'm so hungry. Give me your rice ball." he said. However, the mother crab refused."Okay. Then let's trade your rice ball for my persimmon seed" the monkey suggested. "If you have this seed, you can grow a persimmon tree. You can eat many persimmons." In the end, the mother crab gave the monkey the rice ball.
She started to take care of the tree. After a while, the seed grew up to be a big persimmon tree. It had many persimmons. The mother crab tried to pick them, but she couldn't because she was too short.
Suddenly, the monkey came and said "Hey, may I help you? I can climb it."
"Yes, please. Thank you." she said.
But when the monkey reached the top of the tree, he started to eat all the persimmons. The mother crab got angry. "No. You should come down from my tree right now."
Then the monkey threw some hard persimmons at her. "Shut up!" he said. One of them hit her, and she died.
After a few days, her children tried to kill the monkey. They had some friends who could help them. The chestnut, a bee, a cow dung, and a handmill. When the monkey came into their house, the chestnut and the bee stabbed him. The cow dung lost his footing. Finally, the handmill crushed him. They killed the monkey and lived happily ever after.
Posted for Akane
This after reading project page, in an Oxford Read & Imagine level 2 graded reader (The Big Storm), was all about personalising the background story to the adventure > going for a picnic. Sub-topics here recycle vocabulary sets of food (likes & dislikes), friends (physical descriptions), weather, places to go around town...we all love recycling language! (This is approx CEFR A1; 450 Headwords at this level, 689 words in this title)
As with all young learners, some love drawing & in Japan, have ninja-like skills - others (like me) have a complete phobia about blank drawing spaces and will produce the bare minimum as quickly as possible (and only after considerable cajoling!). NB This was not an arts/crafts lesson - rather, get us some content to work off, with the writing aspect my targetted outcome. (As with any open-ended task like this in my classroom in Japan, I try hard to minimise the use of erasers...a quick correction or fine tune is fine; rubbing out/erasing 20 minutes-worth of work & starting over is not!).
Regardless of artistic skills, we all needed encouragement to look back through the book to get 'more' ideas...and the same applied to finding the words we subsequently 'needed' to produce the written output. Importantly, don't cramp the artwork with this 'news' in advance (otherwise you'll end with carefully chosen/limited drawings!)...so then to find the words/structures we need to describe our work. From the story already (quizlet set of the glossary here by the way!)
Following this, the message of this song is words that express simple feelings we feel every day I think. This song's lyrics and melody makes me relaxed and cheerful. The songs lyrics is not exactly thing, but this abstract words gives us inspiration, and I feel like I understand it somehow. What's your opinion?
The song has got the "Orikon" 43rd in 2001 and 136th in 2002. Also, the song has got gold medal in 43rd Japan Record Award. This is amazing thing, don't you think so too?
I recommend you watch Ghibli, "Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi" at first, and I want you to listen carefully of BGM. You can hear this song too.
Posted for Eleanor
My favorite song is C.A.E. "Cause and Effect" is full name of this songs. Misekai was released this song in May 2023. I lke this song lyrics which were written by Amarashi who was inspired by Neg's illustraion and he made sound.
This song got 1,000 Repost and 18,000 likes on twitter, and 340,000 view on youtube.
Amarashi said about this song "Salvation is not the only beautiful ending". I think this song give us coriage.
I like this song, and I'll continue to listen to this song.
Posted for Hinata
I would like to explain about the song "Strong" from Cinderella. At fist I chose this song because I
watched the movie when I was a little child. After I watched it, I came to like it and I found this song on the internet.
Sonna Rele |
This song was written by Sonna Rele in 2015. Sonna Rele is a singer songwriter from UK. Before it was released she was an ordinary person while she found by Ne-Yo and after that she debuted. "Strong" was a very big hit so she became more and more famous and she recorded other music, for ecample "Kaise Juda Rahein", Just like kiss me", "Time" and "Something's Gotta Give". However, the most famous song is "Strong".
Cinderella had animation and live-action. "Strong" was released especially when the movie was produced into a movie. All six songs played in the movie, but this music became very famous and popular with popular with other people who watched Cinderella. Many people were interested in the songs Finally, this song is very famous right now.
I was attracted to the bright tune, positive lyrics and the powerful singing voice. It is synchronixed with Cinerella's life and when I liste to this song, I am reminded of the world view of the movie.Of course, there is a difference between the world of fairy tales and the real world, but I like this song because it gives me a push at times like that. I will continue to listen to this song and nowadays I wish lots of people will listen to this song.
Posted for Yona
Kolkata is located in West Bengal, India.
The population is 14.85 million.
During the colonial period, Kolkata was the capital of the empire.
St.Paul's Cathedral, Howrah Bridge and Mother Theresa's house are the famous buildings.
Posted for Nanaha
The most favorite song ever I have heard is "High Hopes" by "Panic! at the Disco" in 2018. It has wonderful lyrics and it shows us the solution of life. This song was written by 4 people in 2015.
First no one wanted this song, but the vocalist of "Panic! at the Disco", Brendon Boyed Urie, liked it and started recording. Previously, the main part of this song was rap, but it was changed to uptempo chorus. Interestingly, a moving studio was used for recording.
After it was released, a man who climbed up the outside of the building in MV be the big reason for a hit. Countless people around the world covered it as a sign of how famous it is worldwide. In fact, it ranked in a lot of music award and saw MV in Youtube 700,000,000 times.
In conclusion, I love "High Hopes" because of its lyrics, tempo & MV. This song makes me indominable.
Posted for Yurina
Timbuktu Mosque |
The weather in Timbuktu is hot all year around. Timbuktu is world heritage. So I think Timbuktu has grown.
Timbuktu is famous of spices. It has twelve, for example cinnamon and black pepper.
Reasearched and written by Hana, after unit task from Oxford DiscoverAvoiding the repeated task of writing about our hometown, our young learners were instead tasked to find out about another city. Here is what Nicole discovered for Norway's capital city. After her mini-talk, we raided Google Maps to have a look around!
Oslo was founded as a city at the end of the Viking Age in 1040, under the name Anslo, and established as a trading place in 1048 by Harald Hardrada. The city was elevated to a bishopric in 1070 and a capital under Haakon V of Norway around the year 1300
Yo Hitoto |
Asked to find out about a certain place around the world, as a follow up to a study unit in Oxford Discover text books (instead of everybody writing the same tired description of Matsumoto, which I know they are repeatedly made to do through their school careers here!).
Souichiro researched about this city in Penang.
Georgetown in Malaysia is a World Heritage Special Zone. They have many kinds of people & many culture. And their population is two hundred thousand. Attraction is Penang Museum, Skywalk, and Kek Lok Si temple. There are British buildings, too.
Taylor Swift is a really famous singer, al over the world. Amazingly, she has already won 12 Grammy Awards. However, she hasn't only performed music. She has shown us heart-warming contributions to society.
Taylor is a 34 year-old singer songwriter, who is from the USA. Her hit songs, which she composed, have been enjoyed by countless people. I think there is no one who has never heard her music on the Earth. She is a really successful celebrity!While Taylor has been developing her music and adored by her fans, she has made a lot of contributions to society. She has donated millions of dollars to people in difficulty. Maybe most famously was donating millions of dollars after a tornado in Tennessee, where she is from. She didn't only donate, but also launched "Speak Now...Help Now" fund. This funding institution has helped victims of tornadoes and floods.
Following this, she has met a lot of children in difficulty, like those who are in hospital. The most heart-warming episode is that she made a song "Ronan" for a young kids Ronan, who died of cancer aged three. How kind a person is she?
In conclusion, Taylor Swift is making a big difference to people all around her. She was selected as a celebrity who contributed to sociaty by dosomething.org, an American charity group in 2014. She is a real role model for us all!!!
Posted for - a Japanese HS teen fan :)
Motoki Omori is the vocalist of Mrs. Green Apple. The band was formed in 2013. "Mrs. Green Apple", the band name, means "we want to keep going like a green apple - never ripen". "We want to project a soft, androgynous image as a band".
Motoki Omori |
When he was in the first year of junior high school, he started DTM. At the time, Omori said "I didn't understand the concept of programming, so I was just groping around and trying things out" He didn't know how to recors guitar, so he played drum sounds on an electric paion and recorded the rhytm by putting a microphone close to the speaker.
Later, wanting to learn chords, he started playing the guitar. He had a toy guitar at home, so he took it to a music store and learned how to change the strings - and bought a Les Paul type guitar from an unknown manufacturer. He was self-taught in songwriting at the time, but he used his experience, starting out with the bass, to create his songs from chord progressions. In addition to creating original songs, he copied 'Radwimps' and 'One OK Rock'.
Now he is very popular, and he is widely loved by fans of all ages, not just young people. Songs which his band wrote are positive and make people cheerful. His positive and interesting character makes us curious about him. He and his band have never forgotten their original intentions, that made them more and more popular. Nowadays, they are famous not only in Japan, but in foreign countries too. Do you think that they could be more famous or popular? I think they will be!
Posted for ...a high school student