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!
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.
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.
Yuming, one of my favourite artists started her tour concert at the end of September and she came to Nagano for two days. I was very lucky to get the tickets for two concerts exactly the same one.
We (my husband and I) were so excited that we arrived at the concert hall really early but there were so many people just like us waiting for the door to open.
They used the digital ticket system so we had to have a smartphone to show the ticket onthe screen. Somehow the door person gave us a stamp on the screen ticket and we werequalified to enter the hall. First thing that we needed to do was cleaning our hands withpraying alcohol. Then they handed out a special face shield and we needed to put it onwith a mask underneath during the concert. They said that they used some special ultraviolet rays to sterilize some viruses. Also there was an announcement to ask for good behavior during the concert as the new standard after Covid 19. What is good behavior like?
The stage set looked like a room in a big submarine and we were all at the bottom of the deep sea, just like the tour title "The town in the deep sea" Suddenly a pipe organ began to play gloriously. That was following the first song "Kageriyukuheya", my favourite song! That was her very early tune and she made it with theinspiration of Procol Harum "A Whiter Shade of Pale". I was surrounded by her solemn music and tears were coming up. It was the first live concert for me ever since this pandemic had happened. I was extremely happy!! I love music!!
Her concert was famous for the artistic stage production and the fifth song "Notre-Dame" was brilliant. On the huge screen above the stage we could see a bird's-eye view of Notre Dame and I felt like I was flying like a white dove, which was incredible.
We were so excited and stood up and started dancing and clapping hands!
On the first day, an old woman behind us complained about our bad behavior and asked us to sit down very politely but on the second day, we were on the fifth line from the front and almost the center, great seats! There was certain big fun of Yuming around, then we were all enjoying ourselves without any hesitation but not shouting off course.
In the end the day-two concert became so lively and exciting, so much better than theprevious day that the audience and the artists were all happy, satisfied and content. That's what the concert should be!
I realized how much I love music and concerts!
We need art! We need music! That makes us happy and well!
My name is Kanako. I was born and raised in Chiba prefecture. I have a 4-years-old son and a 6-years-old daughter.
Likes and Dislikes
I like listening to music and taking a walk and doing yoga. I hate cold places and noisy it.
Hobbies and interests
I've played the flute since I was ten years old. I'm interested in cooking and making cakes.
My New Year's Resolution
I make opportunity to perform the flute. At a first step, I played the flute last month at Christmas party of children's center. It was performance after long time. I'm planning the recital for close person with a pianist of my friend.
Hi, I'm in China now. I'm writing this postcard on a beach with a beautiful red sky on my back.
My holiday started in Thailand. I met traditional people and they show me a dance. their clothes were beautiful too. After that I rode a long boat through the villages. It made me calm & I could feel the nature.
Next day, I flew to Beijing, China. At night, people were singing & dancing in the city!! I was shocked. I saw kung-fu too. I learned a little bit, but it was too difficult for me. There were a lot of children, and their movement was amazing and so cool! You should do it some time.
The day after, I drove around beijing and the other big cities. The food was delicious and the people were so kind.
The guide man told me that there is a famous alien museum in Beijing, so I'll go there after I finish writing this.
I couldn't have enough time time to go more, but this trip was fantastic! I want to come here again and you should definitely come.
See you.
Tomoro
Written under FCE-style time pressure, after hearing 6 short instrumental/vocal chunks of music & challenged to draw what came to mind immediately. Writing from the picture announced afterwards, otherwise it instruct the free-range of ideas. Inspiration chunks courtesy of Bjork/Anoushka, The Reverand Black Grape, Mark Knopfler, Clannad, Carolina Chocolate Drops, - and if I could access my own iTunes library on my home PC I'd tell you the other one! Tomoro has never been to China or Thailand, except in my classroom!
Thursday is singing day - Jim's class in the afternoon really enjoys belting out a tune, even with almost no practice. Very quick ears and have a knack of coping with lyrics - the artwork in Everybody Up lends itself to this nicely.
For once I will be picky with Everybody Up as a text though, as I realised (the way the children copied) the audio is weak on something I think should be over emphasised - 'more oomph' was something I got laughed at for saying during my CELTA course way back when - that DON'T needs extra weight to convey the negative meaning of the utterance, and that the /t/ sound on the end of it is vital...instead there's a pretty lame "I donelai ........" which is meaningless. It might be construed as elegant ellision, but the message is hidden & therefore counter productive. OUP, you can do better on this one!
You can hear my guys putting a bit more gusto into their final plosives!
We ended up with a class invasion, as the next class arrived early and wanted to see what the fun was all about; we were missing our gate keeper Yukari downstairs (our son Ceilidh is unwell again). I was delighted the younger ones trumped their older mates in a game of I Spy - they started at the age of 2.5 with Luna and have been absorbing vocabulary voraciously ever since! No harm in letting students know that the competition is catching up quickly :)
As many parents of our learners will know, we like to use a lot of songs here at Luna. We particularly love Super Simple Songs and rate them very highly...why not engage at home with your children + animation?!
How did Jim find out about SSS? At an ETJ Bookfair in Tokyo several years ago, Rob Habbick of course, introduced him to Devon Thagard.
I was thinking about drilling last week, and not just because I've got a hole in one of my teeth...and I put the idea into my 'blog about this soon' folder. This folder is just next to 'go home & eat dinner' in my head, and I think I must have been hungry that evening.
I just came across Martin Sketchley's timely post on his really good blog http://www.eltexperiences.com ARGH!!! on drilling which reminded me I had something to say! Martin's post is here by the way, and I especially agree on using music to do the hard work. A couple of the other ideas are new to me, but as our landlord complains about noisy kids (yes, he's a real gas) the full-volume one will have to wait a while. Find Martin on twitter as @ELTExperiences
Devon Thaggard of Super Simple Songs fame is an exponent of using music all the time - warmers up, coolers down (if that is a proper phrase I don't know!), scene shifting & transitioning, background & subliminal input...all of which I like but I find myself up & down like a yo-yo doing that, and so do this once in a while. But I do like to use his songs a lot - check out some of our Audioboos here.
Songs obviously have rhythm, and I enjoy the challenge this brings to my learners as they are in (L1) habit of giving each consonant the same weight, and not elliding (joining words together). Enunciating nicely yes (I hope - they are copying me after all!) but not getting whole chunks out quickly enough or with too much "oomph" (my favourite technical phrase in EFL since my CELTA course!).
The other day I was introducing my YLs to the this/that concept...by way of a song in English Time 1 (OUP). The children already knew the vocab, so simple matter of sticking the flashcards out of arm's reach (around the room, spread out a bit). Having never hear the song before, I just asked them to listen and touch or point at the approriate card. Windmills! Second time was more co-ordinated, and they wanted to join in (fine - not me forcing them too, and they wanted to know what the other words were...OK, I gave them!). They wanted to try again and do better...it's working!
The lyrics for the songs are in the back of the classbooks, which I really like - and they are also indented to identify different 'parts' in back & forth or question/answer chants. This is a flower That's a bird This is a flower That's a tree......
This makes it really easy to assign parts to students individually or in pairs/little groups, reading their 'bit' and hearing the other bit (a slow read through, focusing on actually reading - remembering? - the words). And then press play for a full speed go with all the words in, emphasising the this/that distinction as a 'battle'. Replay quickly with roles switched, and the little troopers will be singing all the way back to home :)
Here is a very impromptu audio grab of our efforts - remember, this was the 1st time they'd come across the song!
It's absolutely true - our children are better suited to handle the real world. Clearly, children who do not learn English at Luna are a pale imitation - almost two dimensional - and dwell only in the shadows! Even under bright lights at harmony Hall, the Luna advantage is obvious.
The Suzuki Institute's annual 10 Piano Concert in Matsumoto is further proof. Sayaka wore a stunning gold dress and performed her piece with cool maturity and skill. Is this the girl I first taught when she was barely able to stand up, way back when?! Takao & Yoshiaki all grown up in suits and spiffy haircuts - didn't they used to punch each other in the nuts & draw naughty pictures in their books?! And what about Yuki-chan - an English Rose by any definition in her fabulous red dress. Fingers flying over the keys so gracefully.
Now, I'll be the first to admit Suzuki Method has its limitations, and that I'm not a real fan. However, the evidence on display today was of prodigious musical talent and no notes. Literally. Suzuki's idealogy is to learn by ear; learning English is not dissimilar, but if you can't read & write then I think you're going to be snookered sooner or later, aren't you?
Anyway, massive applause to all of our young learners past & present who tickled the ivory today. As a non-musician I stood (at the back) in awe. Very well done!!!
