My favorite pet 【U-Pa-Ru-Pa】

 If someone asked me, “I want to get a pet. Do you have any recommendations?”

 I would say, “I recommend a Mexican walking fish!”

Do you know what that is? In Japan, it’s called an “Upa-Lupa.”

They look a little strange but very cute. On each side of their face, they have three pairs of fluffy gills. Most animals change their body as they grow, but Mexican walking fish stay the same from when they are babies in when they are adults. This is very rare.

They can also grow back their legs if they lose them. This amazing skill has caught the attention of doctors and scientists. Maybe one day, people will also be able to heal quickly, just like them.

Mexican walking fish love to eat red worms. When food in front of them, they eat it very fast. I usually feed them with tweezers, but I have to be careful so they don’t bite the tweezers by mistake.

They don’t know when to stop eating. Sometimes they eat too much and die. They eat so happily that I always want to give them more, but I try not to.

When you watch them in an aquarium, you can see them moving their small legs as they swim. They are so cute that you can lose track of time.

Why not think about having one of these adorable “Upa-Lupa” as part of your family.

If you care for them with love and responsibility, you’ll surely get to see just how adorable they can be!

Rina's snow animal - not melting!

We'd love to know what you think about Rina's after reading creation! Please leave a comment!

 

A rabbit talks!

 Koharu wrote about her favourite animal, and talked about it/recorded herself using an iPad app (chatterpix) - as you can hear, her pronunciation is very intelligible with intonation across longer uttereances under control, and word stress + individual sounds clearly enunciated. All of which should add up to success in a #younglearners #CEFR_A1 #CambridgeMovers speaking test

 

A talking platypus

Check out Minami's unseen platypus project, as an after reading piece for her graded reader (OUP Read & Discover) series. She narrates her illustration beautifully :)

 

 

Ten little fingers - maximizing wordwall

Wordwall keyboard skills

When half the class is away, the rest of us will play! 

Rather than push ahead and lose classmates, we circled the wagons and consolidated together :)

Luna's own brand on Wordwall is a dedicated series of materials per text book/readers that our students enjoy enormously; reusing the vocabulary in slightly different contexts/different images...pause for thought, reasons for openning our books & checking each others' spelling...any and every which way to recycle, drill, and thrill!

To polish off our fun, we played a Detective Game about a monster - arms, legs & ears all a bit strange! 

Moster time - Study Cat

Postcard from - readers in China!

Hello Jim sensei!

Yumi & I have been in China factory this week. We've been busy for the meeting everyday. The Chinese that Yumi learned is "Ming Pai Ra"

See you next class :)

Graded readers on tour!

 

Postcard from... Kata Bay, Mie coast, Japan

A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to explore this lesser travelled road down to the south of Nagoya, south of the Ise Peninsula. I took R42 to get south, then bailed onto the more rural R311...slow, windy, and unforgivingly beautiful vistas around every corner. An absolute gem of a coastline road, demanding frequent jaw drops/stops for pictures, and checking the map for shrines and the like.

Asuka Shrine, Katacho

Asuke shrine was one such beauty spot; unassuming yet pristine a few yards from the shore of Kata Bay. Not far away, the fishing boats of Sonecho sat in tranquil waters as the summer heat & humidity drilled into the day. And I say 'tranquil' with a very big Japanese caveat - exactly a week later this whole coast was under tsunami alert following the huge earthquake off Kamchatka...on any coast in Japan you MUST be aware of your escape route (uphill!) and heed any warnings seriously. My trip would have stopped instantly had I ventured along this coast a week later - happy to report, there was not a tidal wave of note, and no damage reported.

Although steamingly hot, the blue skies reflected the azure sea; the inlets and bays are mostly natural (not the concrete monkey puzzles that blight Niigata's shoreline), alternating rocky headlands and forested scarps, with sandy beaches and tiny fishing ports. Ashamed to say, on this trip I was on camera safari with road to burn, not a culinary exploration (next time, when I slow down to tackle restaurants!).

Despite driving for hours, I barely saw a soul - and not a single influencer with a selfie stick :)

The beaches were bare, the rock pools inviting some snorkelling. Every single bay begging a go-slow vacation, reminding me a lot of the Tokushima coastline, south of the city itself. 

I was planning to blast along to see the shrines of Kumano - but decided they could wait for another day. This gorgeous day needed my full ocean-side attention. If you have the chance to drive this way, I couldn't recommend it more strongly. Don't be in a rush like me - stay local, go for a swim, and detox!

Sonecho fishing boats

Kajikacho fisherman's hut

Kata Bay

Off to the races - confidence booster

 How chuffed can a young learner possibly be! Only been teaching this lad a few weeks, but he's hit the Everybody Up Starter learning curve hard and sure!

His older brother & sister are already rock stars at Luna, but they'll have to up their game to stay ahead of this little tiger..I couldn't stop him diving into the next word he knew :)

 

Postcard from Oxford, England

 

Hi :)

It's already been almost three weeks since I arrived in Oxford!

For now, I'm doing well here (though I had been having a sore throat!).

I don't feel improving my English skill, but I'm going to keep studying hard!

I'll send you another postcard later.

Mitsuna

Jim's weekend on the job - Tokyo

Delighted to report that I was involved with another training session for Cambridge Assessment English last weekend, as Team Leader for Kawaijuku JP026. On this occasion I was looking after A2:Key & B1:Preliminary levels

Speaking Examiner training team, July 2025 

I was annoyed that a couple of applicants didn't bother turning up (nor contacting us with an excuse/apology) as that robbed other people of the chance to join this otherwise fully booked event.

As it was, we had a very mixed group of English language teaching professonals join the team. Language school teachers,high school teachers, dispatch/ALTs, freelancers & directors of studies. Some people very new to the country, and other old-hands; some dedicated Tokyo-dwellers and others more transient - one participant actually living in Osaka made the trip especially. And six nationalities; more folks from Singapore & Atlanta Georgia than Yorkshire!

As ever, the various experiences of such a group only adds to the eventual outcome, with voices considering how to assess speaking tests vs standardised criteria; noticing different aspects of candidate output, removing personal bias/preferences; gaining exposure to other approaches & ideas...and also picking up best practice off each other in the interlocutor role, learning off each other & giving/recieving feedback.

It is never possible to cover everything an examiner needs to learn in the limited time available to us - a weekend seems like a long time, right? It isn't...Hence the very real need for all Speaking Examiners, globally, to recertify annually in order to build up layers or professional ability, fine tune perfomances and focus in more detail on certain aspects of interlocutor & assessor roles.

My next training session for Kanto area teachers will be Sept 20th, at B1:Preliminary & B2:First, which I'm really looking forward to!

My favorite pets - Bau and Alan

 I have had two dogs in my life. The first dog my family owned was named "Bau". Her name came from an animation named “Heisei Dog Bau’s Story”. She was a female Shetland Sheepdog. Although this breed is known for being intelligent and elegant, she often gave us trouble, such as eating mice or running away during walks. She had long curly hair, which made her difficult to spend the hot summers.

The second dog was named "Einstein," but we called her "Allan" for short. She was a female Beagle. Her floppy ears would flap, and her tail would wag every time she moved, making her always look cheerful—but she was actually quite moody. Beagles are the kind of dogs that want to play with others but can't make the first move. "Allan" also sometimes ran away during walks, which caused us trouble. She lived a long life, and we spent 16 years together.

Through my experience of raising animals, I realized how important it is to think about others and to be kind to them. I am truly grateful to our dogs Bau and Allan. That’s why I feel concerned about animals being displayed and sold in pet shops. The small animals you see in such displays are undeniably adorable. Raising animals bring us many joyful moments, but we must take responsibility for their entire life.  At the end of their lives, we will need care. I hope people make the decision to become an pet owner only after seriously considering whether they can care / treat it with kindness until the end of their life.

Kenshin's platypus project

Check out Kenshin's description of Australia's very shy platypus (an animal he's never seen( but we read about in an Oxford Read & Discover graded reader - we can travel in our minds!
 

Yushin's snow animal

Check out Yushin's after reading project! How cool is his snow animal (in the middle of summer - we're melting!)

 

Postcard from Sydney, Australia

 

Hi everyone at Luna!

I arrived in Sydney in the middle of winter, but the weather is beautiful! I stayed near the fabulous Harbour Bridge in a traditional little hotel above a pub...perfect!

I took a ferry to Manly, across the harbour and had delicious fish & chips on the beach. The view of the Opera House from the boat was magnificent!

I'm going to see a rugby match tonight, then travel south to see my brother's family. hope you are not missing me too much?

Jim

Let's talk! Students with after reading projects

We think these two young learners really do speak for themselves! 

 

Smashing phonics on a desktop!

 You got the idea straight away...

You know your letter sounds, and your homework was great...letter writing is spot on and your pronunciation is just right. But the other student in the class is absent today & I really do NOT want to move on until they can also get the input to proceed. So instead of doing this at home (which is tough, because you need a parent to help you on a PC (or use their device & find the link from Google Classroom)...lets have some fun in-class, so you can read/spell/pronounce all the words you know, set a high score & gain confidence with not only your English, but peripheral tech skills too!

Check out this task (and you can choose various ways to play & also use a number of print options too) as a review 'game' for CVC words with central /e/ from Oxford Phonics World 2. Piece of cake to make (but no need, I aleady created stuff for all chapters for the first three levels!) and many ways to implement one-to-one, group work, books open or closed, asynchronous, in class or at home!

Hazuki talks about...her chimpanzee

 

Although we do not have chimpanzees native to Japan, we do have loads of monkeys up in the hills, and famously a monkey onsen in Nagano prefecture, which is a very popular tourist attraction

This is Hazuki's after reading project, where the task was to write about her favourite wild animal (and sketch it) then narrate using Chatterpix on (my) iPhone. As you can see & hear, a really good expansion beyond a graded reader, and a piece of work to be proud of.

Milking a glossary with Wordwall

Making the most out of even the simplest graded readers!

Familiar vocabulary recycled in any good graded reader series, but the secret is to make sure students can actually read and spell the words, use the vocabulary flexibly (not just recognise a particular picture & blurt it)!

We love using the various applications/games that wordwall offers, with the added twist of PC skils (mouse/keyboard), letter recognition (upper/lower case) & QWERTY layout (not a linear ABC from the poster on the wall). Have a go yourself here, and consider all the ways your learners can recycle, drill, revise (you know, the deadly sins of teacher talk!) both at home, or in the classroom when a buddy is absent.

Project Platypus - creative Kana

Check out Kana's fantastic artwork! Truly the best artist I think I've ever had in my English classroom...put her mind to Australia's most shy creature and also narrated her description of it, as an after  reading project (using Chatterpix). I love this app, as it is personal yet maintains our students' privacy :)

How would you rate Kana's work (I'm at A++)?

 

 

Chalk man makes a come back - "This is me!"

We returned to old school project work recently, breaking out the chalk to add some reality to the 'our bodies' topic in Everybody Up 1...we 'traced' each other (as well as the Big Boy himself) in our car park and added details to profiles (importantly, eyes, ears, fingers.... AND pants!).

Good PR as mummies got out of cars/off their phones to ask what we were doing - "This is me!"..."This is my head, these are my legs" etc. Lots of laughs and genuine engagement, even for the artistically challenged (like Jim!)

Big Boy + Little Learners!

Where's my neck?

 

 

 

 

Yukihi's snow animal

 

Check out Yukihi's lovely after reading project - created with Chatterpix in a matter of minutes. Student's own design on paper, descriptive writing & then reading own work fluently :)

The news headlines (late June, 2025)

 A feature in The Guardian Weekly news magazine is a round up of global headlines ("Global Report") which I've been using to create a regular quiz on Wordwall - a matchng task which requires skimming and scanning reading techniques, as well as a good grasp of colloquial language & newspaper headline jargon, and flexibility with synonyms & geography. All-in-all, a jolly good challenge.

You, dear reader, do not have the articles to hand - so how well up on the news have you been keeping?

This particular challenge is from the end of June, 2025.

https://wordwall.net/resource/95023891

China's snow bird - a writing & speaking project

 You've read the book, and enjoyed the thrills & spills with familiar characters...digested new vocabulary and recycled more; read bits out loud and shown understanding of the text.

Make your own character - a snow animal - including a bit of 'dictadraw' (add a scarf/hat etc), then write a description of your new animal with words from the glossary...and then read your work.

Win win using chatterkids app (students quickl learnt how to manipulate/edit/enhance their own creations!), following up our OUP Read & Imagine graded reader. After reading = fun activity & a legacy moment!

Talking text - Chiharu's Snow Rabbit

 

Listen to super Chiharu describing her "Snow Animal", an after reading project from OUP Read & Imagine graded reader "In the Snow". Extensive reading really works for our students' four skills and is an excellent outside of class  learning component; boosts language (grammar as well as vocabulary recyclying), imagination, reading large chunks of text & coping with comprehension questions quickly > great exam preparation too.

Creating this work = loads of fun as well - self & class as a group proof-reading & practicing, encouraging and giggling :)

The Scarlet Letter - A brief biography of Nathaniel Hawthorne

Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) was an American novelist and short story writer.

He is known for Dark Romantic novels and stories such as "The Scarlet Letter" and "The House of the Seven Gables".
His works often focus on history, morality and religion.
 
He was born in Salem, Massachusetts, on July 4, 1804 and his family was a prominent Puritan
He was raised by his mother and relatives after his father died when he was four.
He enrolled Bowdoin College, graduating in 1825.
He published his first novel, "Fanshawe," in 1828 which is based on his experiences at Bowdoin College.
Horatio Bridge offered to cover the risk of collecting these stories in 1837 into Twice-Told Tales, which made Hawthorne known locally.
Regarding to his family, he married Sophia Peabody in 1842.
They had three children: Una, Julia, and Rose.
"The Scarlet Letter" and "The House of the Seven Gables," were published in 1850 and 1851, respectively.
He was rewarded in 1853 with the position of United States consul in Liverpool shortly after the publication of Tanglewood Tales.
He died in Plymouth, New Hampshire, on May 19, 1864.

Postcard from...Taipei, Taiwan

 

Hi! Jim!

I'm visiting Taiwan, just two days.

Taiwan like Japan, so I can't feel like travelling abroad.

But, Taiwanese food is delicious and quite different from japanese foods, so I'm enjoying to eat!

See you next class!

Makiko  :)

Salem: where Nathaniel was born

The author of this book, The Scarlet Letter is Nathaniel Hawthorne.  He was born in Salem, Massachusetts in 1804.  Salem is a famous historical place, where The Salem Witch Trials happened.  In 1692, some young girls acted strangely, and they claimed they were being hurt by witches.  The town of Salem set up a special court to decide who was a witch.  Many girls were arrested and put on trial, and 19 girls were executed.  Later, people realized the trials were wrong and all those were based on fears.  Through the Salem Witch Trials, many girls who didn’t do anything wrong were pulled to the court and wrongly sentenced as a witches.  Nathaniel’s great-great-grandfather was the Judge of the Salem court.  Nathaniel felt guilt for his family history, and he changed his family name by adding w to be different from his family’s dark past.  I think Nathaniel put the ideas from The Salem Witch Trials in his work, like sin, punishment, social criticism, etc.

My cute cousin Gouta

Of all my relatives, I like my cousin Gouta the best. He is ten years younger than me. He is a really cute boy and extremely funny for me.

He is now an elementary school student, and he plays baseball every day. He told me his dream is to become Ohtani Shohei , so he practices baseball extremely hard. He lives with his mother and father, and he does not have any sisters or brothers. His father always takes care of him.

 He also studies English, and the last time I met him he taught me how to say colors in English. He must be an international person in the near future.

He practices baseball and studies English really hard, so I am looking forward to his future. I believe he will be a successful and quite a rich person. Hahaha.

Posted for Yurina

"Hunting" should be illegal or not

 I believe that hunting is a complex issue with both moral and practical considerations. 

The first thing I thought was that hunting should be illegal. A lot of people believe that animals have a right to live freely. Actually, some species are facing extinction or have already disappeared from the earth due to humans’ overhunting. It is also one of the reasons for damaging the biological pyramid, which is a problem for humans as a result of its negative effects. 

If hunting is illegal, poachers would be punished strictly. It would protect extinct animals, then I believe it may return to us with good effects for humans.

On the other hand, I think it is necessary to hunt, and it shouldn’t be illegal.

Hunting can help manage wildlife populations, preventing overpopulation. It is kept in balance of ecology. Take an example, the number of deer and wild boars has increased, leading them to go to urban areas to search for food. There is a rising number of accidents with trains and cars. Also, they are causing significant damage to agriculture, forestry, and fisheries. 

From the perspective of human culture, hunting is not only a traditional practice but also an important part of way of life. Hunting provides food, clothing, and materials for various traditional crafts. Additionally, it is often relations with ceremonies that celebrate the relationship between humans and nature. 

Ultimately, I think whether hunting should be illegal depends on various factors.

The wonderful character in my workplace

 Let me introduce you to the member of my workplace! 

Tomoko-san is our manager. She is thoughtful. She has a wide perspective and she always helps us when we are in trouble. I think that it is wonderful how she expresses her opinions logically and confidently to anyone.

Miyuki-san is my supervisor. She is bright. Although her jobs seem very hard, she is always cheerful and keep smiling. I am able to get power from her! She thanks people for even the small things. I think she is a really kind person.

Ritsuko-san is my direct supervisor. She is kind and sedulous. She always answers my any question. Thanks to her, I have been able to learn many things about the details of my work. I think she is good at work. I want to be hard-working as Ritsuko-san in future!

There are also many other wonderful, kind, and cool people working at my workplace. I have a lot of respect for all of them!

Chinatsu

Postcard from Chicago, USA

Jim sensei,

Hello from Chicago!

Chinatsu and I had a business trip to the US. On Sunday afternoon we walked around Chicago downtown and took many beautiful pictures. We enjoyed American food with locally brewed beer. We will make efforts to improve our English so that we can communicate with our customers more fluently!

Chinatsu & Tomoko

 

How do you think about "Hunting"?

 We sometimes encounter wild animals due to some reasons. Wild animals may come near human dwellings to search for food as they are unable to find it in their territories due to climate changes and natural disasters. Humans may build their homes in the area where wild animals live.

I think that hunting is not immoral and shouldn't be illegal. Wild animals will face more challenges in finding food in the future due to climate changes and natural disasters. It is common knowledge that wild animals only search for food and do not intend to harm humans. To make wild animals aware of the danger of approaching human dwellings, it's best to return them to their area and to protect wild animals’ lives. However, wild animals have a habit of coming back again if they have tasted once. Thus, we will need to use Hunting continuously to protect people’s lives.

Each community should control land utilization and development plans (also known as land adjustment plans) to distinguish between areas where people and wild animals live. And then, if necessary, I think that hunting should be kept to the minimum needed to protect people's lives, taking into consideration the ecological effect.

These are why Hunting is not immoral and should not be illegal for me.

Postcard from the tropical rainforest - Malaysia

 Hello, Jim :)

How are you?

I'm enjoying my life!

I'm going back to Japan February 17th

See you in the next lesson :)

From Sachiko

The pros and cons of getting older

 Some people say that getting older is the best time of your life. However, getting older has noth advantages and disadvantages.

On the plus side, you can have more freedom. For example, you can vote, drive a car, drink alcohol, spend money and make decisions for yourslef. Also, you can gain more knowledge and experience.

However, for every plus there is a minus. One disadvantage is that getting poor health, so you have to eat healthy foods and exercise. Also, you become too busy, because you have to work, so you don't have much free time for hobbies and interests. Maybe you will become stressed.

In conclusion, I think that getting older you will have less free time and poor health, but you can gain a lot of experience. Both childhood and getting older have good points.

Posted for Ayumi

Postcard from Maroc - Morocco

 My dream came true at last!

I am travelling around Morocco!!

I feel like travelling different countries each day. What a exotic, wonderful country!!

Especially I was really excited to see the sun rise at the Sahara Desert. The colours of the sand  and sky were changing every moment. It was a unforgettable experience.

Teruki

Beats Studio 3 - product review

 Awesome headphones for any situation

I use my awesome headphones when I simply want to listen to music, or to study, but also on a train or on an airplane. The noise cancelling function it has works very well, so that any noise in a cafe, train or airplane won't bother me at all! However, this function might be dangerous if you use it while you are on a street, since you cannot notice bikes or other vehicles around you.

The quality of sound is also pretty good. It has strong bass, which is great for rock music. I chose the red ones, but there are many other color options. Also, since Beats is an Apple brand, they are very easy to connect to your device by Bluetooth. 

Although they are an awesome product, there are some negative points. First, they are expensive - worth it, but at about Y40,000, beyond the pockets of most students. Second, when I wear them for a long time, my ears start to ache. They are not too tight, but somewhere squeezes my ears in an unnatural way.

Apple has released new color collections, as well as updated the product in 2022.

Why don't you try the? I strongly recommend them.

Posted for Yuto...following his final English lesson with Jim, as he is heading off to university.