Poster project - Argentina

Poster project - Australia

Poster project - Brazil

Poster project - Canada

Poster project - Colombia

Poster project - England

Poster project - France

Poster project - Germany

Poster project - India

Poster project - Indonesia 1

Poster project - Indonesia 2

Poster project - Japan

Poster project - Korea (South)

Poster project - Mexico 1

Poster project - Mexico 2

Poster project - New Zealand

Poster project - Norway

Poster project - Pakistan

Poster project - Portugal

Poster project - Singapore

Poster project - South Africa

Poster project - Spain

Poster project - Taiwan

Poster project - The U.S.A.

DRAGON HEART

#14 Sir Bowen and Einon have very different ideas about Old Code.Write about their ideas.Who do you think is right?

Sir Bowen thinks that all kings and knights must live by the Old Code. If they do so, kings are kind to peasants and knights help kings, everybody in the country are happy. So Bowen wanted Einon to live by the Old Code in the future and to change the country.

Einon thinks that the Old Code is worthless, and kings don't have to live by the Old Code.　He is cruel king than his father now!

I think Sir Bowen is right. Because I think that kings have to be kind to everybody in the country, and the Old Code means this. The Old Code is the way of making country to be happy.

PS. If you want to know an outline of this story, check this site.

Heidi

#13 You are Clara. It is the week after Heidi arrives in Frankfurt. Write a letter to a friend. Tell her about Heidi.

Dear Johanna,

I have some big news!

I made a new friend. Her name is Heidi. I heard her Christian name, but she wants us to call herself Heidi. She arrived at my home with her aunt a week ago, and she is living with us.

As you know, I am an only daughter. I'm very happy it seems I have a young sister. She is eight years old.

Many things happened that surprised us for this one week. When I meet you next time, I talk about them directly. She also told me a lot of things about beautiful landscape of her hometown Alm, a wonderful sound of tree, her lovely goats, and her kind grandfather. I hope to visit Alm someday with Heidi.

I would like to introduce her to you as soon as possible. I think you like her, too.

Regards,

Clara

Gone with the Wind - Part One -

This is one of my favorite films. I watched it more than 20 years ago. After reading this book, I can see it happening all over again in my mind’s eye. I’ll have to read “Part Two”.

(Writing 39) When the Confederacy lose the war, Mammy and Pork – like all negro slaves – are free to go wherever they want to go. Why do you think they choose to stay at Tara? What do you think happens to other slaves after they leave the families they have worked for?

I guess the Mammy and Pork’s family was considerate of them like real family. Then they didn’t leave the family and took care of Scarlett’s mother and girls. About the other slaves, I think they were taken prisoner by Yankees.

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Our Christmas Pot Luck party

After the children's party earlier in the day, we could all relax a bit & get in the mood with lashings of wine & egg-nog on Sunday evening. Loads of food appeared (which the Shindai-sei mine-swept in true student style at the end of the evening) which I failed to thank everyone for taking the time to prepare.

If anybody tried some of Paul's quiche though, I strongly suggest you get medical attention immediately! Also needing emergency treatment should have been little Eric, but he's got a head made of cast iron by the looks of it - serious dents in our floor though! Joe & Ric had a free run of the place too, dodging grown ups' & table legs alike.

Yuki, Taka & Hijiri made their family debut at Luna, much to everyone's delight; "students who don't know each other" were very brave and took the chance to talk to us in a social situation, relax a bit and make new friends. It was a lovely evening, and thanks to all who came.

Merry Christmas!

Children's Christmas party at Luna

Sunday afternoon on December 16th was Christmas party time for all of our younger learners at Luna. It was a really cold day outside, so we made sure to do lots of running around to keep temperatures soaring & energy levels pumping.

Every year we try out new games and ideas, so that every year the party is fresh & fun. Of course we also make sure to include activities that have proved popular in years gone by - things like sticking the nose on the snowman, relay races with oranges, musical cushions & King-size blow-football. New things we tried out this year were a sausage race and learning how to dance - from the Rocky Horror Picture show...that was a real treat!

Santa's new helpers this year helped the event go really smoothly, and make sure we could all eat when we got tired & peckish! Thank you Maki, Tomoko & Ayaka - as well as to all mums & dads who joined in. As you can see, everyone wanted to meet Santa & get an early Christmas present - and happy to please, Santa very generously came to Luna with his sackful of goodies.

Although Santa looked a bit tubby this year, he had to jog here as there's no snow for Rudulph & the reindeer to pull his sleigh through! All of our good boys & girls had a moment to talk to Santa (in English of course) & tell him something about themselves (kind of a test really!). Too soon, it was time for Santa to leave and for all of us to go home - another Merry Christmas now not faraway.

Thanks to everyone who made this party such a success - please Luna's unofficial website at http://groups.msn.com/Lunasfamily/santacomestoluna2007.msnw and also at Jim's flickr site for plenty more photos of all the fun.

Picture in London

I walked around London with the book "The Full Monty" in spite of the rain.

It was on 23 August, but it was a little bit cold.

I’m extremely sorry to be late to post this.

Ikaros

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Mr.Bean

Because Mr. Bean is so funny and strange, I recommend to read this book for the person who feels tired on his daily life. I was surprised to be able to read this story with no break!

Which "accidents" did you think were funny in the story ? Write about three of them.
1. The accident which Mr. Bean painted a face on Mrs,Whistler's face.
2. The accident which Mr. Bean picked up the bullet from a man's stomach.
3. The accident which Mr. Bean was held by policeman in the Airport.
I felt very funny that little things escalated to big accidents.

Masanori Yagasaki

How old do you have to be?!

Yesterday (Dec 13th) saw Luna international JP004 (our Cambridge ESOL Centre number) holding what one of the candidates called "The hardest English exam in the world"...C.P.E. I'm not sure if that is entirely true, but it's certainly not an exam you could pass by accident. It requires essentially native-speaker fluency in English - and in 5 papers a lot of language to process & produce under considerable time pressure. Anybody who can pass this exam joins a very elite club.

Actually, if anyone has passed this exam and has the relevant teaching qualifications & experience, I'd be prepared to hire them at Luna.

After three days then, we've looked after almost 60 candidates taking the Upper Main Suite of Cambridge ESOL's very good exams; delivered papers in Reading, Writing, Use of English, Listening & Speaking; we've had four pairs of very experienced Oral Examiners deliver the speaking tests - and they have been monitored for quality control; we've been inspected twice in a week, also to maintain quality & security.

I am proud that my school has risen to this considerable challenge, and that the dream I had over a decade ago finally came to fruition. My NHK students will have to forgive my absence tonight (and thanks Travis for teaching my class this evening) please?! I did enjoy a beer on the last Azusa home, reflecting on what we can achieve next year - going to be exciting I think.

Venue Inspection

Wednesday was day two of three, where we were running Cambridge Exams in Tokyo. The Certificate in Advanced English (CAE) is at C1 level of the Common European Framework. What that means is that candidates at this level can use language with ease & fluency. CAE may be used as proof of the langauge level necessary to work at managerial or professional level, or follow a course of academic study at unversity level.

So a very important test, and one which students have study long & hard for. It is very important in running the exams that candidates understand that we take their commitment seriously; we have been preparing for this for months as well. Candidates were impressed when I explained what the inspectors were doing - making sure that we were doing things properly. They found that rather reassuring to know that every venue running the exams has to perform to the same standard worldwide. Our venue was also surprised about this, but relieved to know that our preparations were in order & that by the end of the day we passed with flying colours.

Of course I also hope our 14 candidates passed too, but I can't make any comment on that because we send all materials to UK same day, sealing them immediately after the papers finish.
I really hope some of our students step up to this mark next year. It's so important to set goals, and just as important to measure your achievement against a meaningful barometer - in this case English learners all over the world.

FCE in Tokyo

Today sees the second leg of Cambridge ESOL's FCE exam, which we are running in Tokyo for the first time. We are delighted to be able to do so, with the help of Luke & Kuniko at I.L.C. in Akasaka.

I.L.C. asked us earlier this year where their students could take FCE/CAE/CPE, because the British Council would no longer accept candidates. At the same time, Cambridge ESOL were asking Luna to become a Centre for those exams (also called Upper Main Suite or UMS) on top of what we are already certified for (YLE,KET, PET, FCE, TKT).

So we did the logical thing & combined forces. Wednesday we will run C.A.E. & Thursday C.P.E.
There are 33 candidates taking FCE today, and even in the large room available to us it was a tight squeeze to accommodate everyone. In the past, candidates had to take the speaking part on a different day. This is OK if you live locally, but impossible if you are coming a long way (Nagano? Nagoya? Hokkaido?)...so we are trying this way. Unfortunately, it is impossible to please everyone all the time.

Candidates took four papers - Reading, Writing, Use of English & Listening before the speaking tests to finish. It's a very long day - exhausting. At first candidates looked very nervous, later hot & tired. Our four Oral Examiners (thank you Jennifer, Mark, Phil & Martin) were busy and we justabout managed to finish on schedule.

For me this was a stressful day - preparing for it has taken a lot of my time over the last 3 or 4 months - and to finish it with everyone satisfied and no major problems was a relief. As well as running the exams, I needed to make sure the staff at ILC knew what they were supposed to do & when, what to say in the exam room & how to manage a lot of confidential material. So I was very relieved when we'd finished & the last candidates had left - only two more days of the same again!

(Thank you & sorry to my students whose classes I had to cancel today; I hope you can see the bigger picture - I want you to take the exams in Matsumoto!)

Three short stories of Sherlock Holmes

Which other famous detectives do you know from books, film or television? Write about one of them.

Kogorou Akechi is one of famous detective in Japan.
He is a fictitious character in stories that were written by Edogawa Ranpo.
He is a very brilliant detective who has cracked various difficult cases.
He is famous as a man who fought against Kaijin Nijumensou(a famous character as a formidable thief).
He is also famous for having led detectives group of boys named Shounentanteidan.

By the way, the name of the author Edogawa Ranpo is associated with his favorite other novelist Edger Allan Poe.

First Certificate in English - at Luna

I think I may have said this before, but FCE was the exam I wanted to have my school associated with years ago (before I even owned my school). It really is the benchmark exam for any serious English student to measure themselves up against.

I am delighted to report we had three candidates brave enough to tackle FCE this year in Matsumoto; all five papers were taken in the same day (which was exhausting I know). I need to thank Jon & Theron for doing the oral examining for us.

We also got inspected today, which was not unexpected; it is very important international standards are maintained even when we have a very small session in Matsumoto - candidates are taking the same exam on the same day worldwide. This was a very good practice for me, before we have a large session in Tokyo on Tuesday...there we will have more than 40 candidates from all over the country & overseas sitting the exam. Fingers crossed everything goes smoothly!

Last of the Mohicans

At the end of the story, Alice writes a letter to a friend in Scotland.She tells her friend about Uncas, Chinachgook, Hawkeye and Cora.Write Alice's letter.

Hawkeye is white man.Chinachgook is Mohican Indiean chief.Chinachgook is Uncas's father.Uncas is last of The Mohicans.Cora is my elder sister.
Uncas, Chinachgook and Hawkeye, they were really kind for us.And the fought to Huron and save us from Huron attack.So that we could arrive at fort and met our father.But I'm incredibly sad, Uncas and Cora dead by Huron Indean's knife.

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Mr. Bean

Which 'accidents' did you think were funny in the story? Write about three of them.

One of funny accidents was a trick on the riding machine. He enjoyed riding a crazy vehicle. If it was safety, I might enjoy it, too. But it was too dangerous for kids and old person to get in.

Other story that I felt funny is an occurrence about drying his trousers. I could not understand why wearing wet trousers is more shameful than dancing in front of a picture.

I think the funniest accident is a story of his speech. He didn't mention about a painting technique, touch, method, the history of an artist, and so on. In spite of his ignorance, he could get over the trouble successfully. Due to appeal to their sense of family, he succeeded in getting sympathy from journalists. He was so lucky!

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Babe - The Sheep Pig

Writing- Read Chapter9 again. Two dogs are killing sheep in the next village. The police telephone Mrs Hogget. Write their telephone conversation.

<>
H: Hello.
P: Hello, Mrs Hogget. This is a police speaking. I must inform you a bad news.
H: What’s happened?
P: Six sheep were killed by two wild dogs in the next village. They still seem to stay near here.
Check your sheep and keep paying attention to ensure your sheep’s safety.
H: Oh! That’s terrible. All right. Thank you for information.
P: OK. Bye.

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Colouring & drawing

I've got some cool artists in one of my classes on Wednesday afternoons! This week we drew pictures called "Outside". Unfortunately it was a bit too cold to go outside, but we could remember the view from Luna's lovely big windows.

Then we coloured in, my favourite part of teaching! I always think of my old friend Ciaran when my students do colouring, because one child asked him if 'he could learn English by colouring?' Classic question. Today we learned outside words (like 'rock', 'river', 'tree', 'bridge' etc) - we already know all our colours!

Anyway, my tots today produced a great set of pictures which we wanted to share. Here's Shuntaro's masterpiece, which he was very proud of (he has a scrapbook of things he's drawn at home, so this will join his collection) when he showed his mum. Good job kids!

Working on Sundays

I have to admit, working on Sundays is not my favourite routine! I guess it goes with the territory - owning your own business & trying hard to stay ahead. The language school business is a very competitive one.

Every year the Japan Association of Language Teachers (JALT) have a jamboree (Conference), which is attended by the "Great & the Good" of the industry - leading academics, famous authors, reknowned teacher-trainers, obscure researchers & many, many more. There are three days full of presentations, workshops, discussions etc, and an exhibition room packed with publishers & wholesalers, companies with EFL support materials & software developers.

I try to go every couple of years - it's expensive, and not always in a convenient location. The last two years it has been in Tokyo, so I've been able to attend. Bizarrely this year, I was so busy bumping into people I only got to one keynote speech - interestingly about "How many words you need to be a good (or 'effective') reader". A lot of you know I am a big fan of reading?! This speech made me want to crack the whip even harder - our students really need to get busy!

So who did I meet then? Well, I had a good chat with my friend Koichi, who works for Oxford University Press. He's a Shinshu boy, and we've been friends for over a decade. We usually don't talk about books, but on this occasion we did, as OUP has a really cool range of new reading materials from the UK. I also spied a series of lovely, interesting books I'd love to use at Luna, teaching other subjects in English (Science, History, Geography etc). Maybe a bit hard for most students, but certainly useful for returnees (children who've lived overseas).

I also met up with Tomomi at Cambridge University Press; she came to visit me earlier this month in Matsumoto & we had a good chat about Young Learners exams around the country. She, and quite a few other people I've met recently, are keen to become Oral Examiners for us next year (great news!).

In the coffee shop I caught up with Cambridge ESOL's Senior Team Leader, and a group of past & present Cambridge examiners, including Simon who'll be examining CAE for us in December. There were some familiar faces from the Matsumoto/Nagano/Ueda area, as well as catching a quick word with Taro from Hokkaido (YLE examiner) & Cynthia from Kyushu (she does everything).

I thought a pint with Luke would be relaxing, as we discussed next month's exams at his school: not so! I was introduced to one of his friends who knows one of my friends, and who is doing exactly what Shuji asked me about 2 years ago - putting dictionaries on mobile phones. I nearly spilled my beer, as she also told me about her next project to get reading books available onto mobiles...I can't wait! It also turned out Luke knows a guy from Australia that I used to know from Ueda - small world as usual. All in all, a busy Sunday - and for a working day not a bad one at all, as I managed to get in a couple of pints of Guinness & some fish & chips too!

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Postcard from Taiwan

How are you doing? I am in Taiwan now and enjoy doing business and playing at night. I will be back in Japan when this mail gets to you. From your class member Junichi M.

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Luna firsts - Niigata & Tokyo

Today Luna International added two new 'venues' for Cambridge ESOL exams under our status as a Centre (Japan's most active).

Alan Morrison owns an English school called Sunshine, in Ojiya-shi, Niigata-ken; Trevor Joseph owns King's Road English School in Akasaka, Tokyo. Neither school has previously held Cambridge ESOL exams before, and naturally both Alan & Trevor were nervous about 'getting it right'. I am delighted to say that both ran really well-organised sessions, under a lot of pressure, and that all candidates today were able to sit their exams in professional & proper circumstances. Well done Alan & Trevor - you both earned a cold beer this evening, and put your schools on the map. Both Alan & Trevor should be very proud of themselves/their schools & students.

Both Sunshine & King's Road deserve a big thank you from me. In Niigata, we need to thank Ayako for her help ushering & Mark Brierley for giving up his day & a long trip from Matsumoto to invigilate & examine. In Akasaka, thanks due to Martin Nuttall for helping make sure the sessionwent smoothly, and to Malcolm Prentice/David Munn for examining a lot of candidates in cramped conditions & under time pressure.

Altogether, 20 candidates took K.E.T. today, and 26 took P.E.T. A lot of candidates came from the two schools hosting the exams today, but also a lot of private candidates from far and wide; high school & university students, housewives, engineers & business people alike sat side-by-side.

Results will be available online within 4 weeks, and candidates will receive their certificates mid-January. I am really excited with today's session for Luna too - first time we have run multiple venues for Lower Main Suite exams. Altogether a very good day!

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National Holiday

Feel I must share with you the fact that Luna's teachers were at work today, in their free-time, researching for new ideas & plotting our Christmas party. Not many school's staff have that kind of motivation & commitment...

Postcard from Saint Paul de Vence (France)

Hello everybody (Luna, NHK, Sayuri)!
I'm staying in an old village in France. It's at the top of a small mountain, like a hill. The houses, which were built in the 16th Century, are impressive. It is impossible to turn into the village in a car, so it is tough to stay in a hotel inside the village with big luggage. There are lots of tourists in the narrow streets. I prefer Roquebrune, which is a tiny village where we stayed 2 days before we came here. I was able to be like a villager. *Sorry lots of mistakes! Teruki

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Chess Titans

Hi everyone! I have recently discovered Chess Titans on my computer and have become quite addicted to the game. So far I have won 2 games of 6, which gives me a 33% success rate, not bad for a beginner! If anybody is keen for a non-virtual game please give me a shout, I'd love to practice my skills against a real opponent. In the meantime I'll be building my artillery! Cheers for now, Tana.

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Postcard from Portofino (Italy)

Hello Sayuri, Luna & NHK guys!!
It is the third day of my trip! I am at Santa Margherita-Ligure in Italy, a beautiful seaside resort near Genoa. I am writing this card on the terrace of the fantastic hotel. I can see the bright sea, birds are singing. We drove here from Milan yesterday. For dinner, we had extremely delicious seafood at an "at-home" restaurant - 'Restrante Arfled'. It became one of my best restaurants in Italy. We are going to Portofino (my dream), and get to Cote D'Azure in France today. The photos on this card are quite old-fashioned, but it is not old-fashioned here! I love Italy. Teruki

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Congratulations Trudi!

Brilliant news from China, where Eugene proposed to Trudi during the week. A delighted Trudi accepted, of course! Nice ring on display, of course!

Trudi worked for Luna a couple of years ago & has kept in touch while
teaching in China, and has been back to visit us too. Best news of the week,
and all of our best wishes from all of us to the happy couple.

Tokyo bookfair/Expo

An annual event that I strongly encourage our teachers to attend. We can join in workshops where authors develop ideas for using their books & materials; we can pick up new ideas for teaching different areas such as phonetics; we can find out about new trends and technology; we can discuss teaching philosophies with our peers; we can meet the publishers and see what is new on the shelf.

And quite a lot more. I have a lot of friends working in the profession - as authors, salespeople, teacher-trainers, etc - and the bookfair is a good excuse to socialise as well, network a bit, and make sure everyone knows Luna International is going strong. It strikes me as odd that other schools do not take advantage of this weekend, because even though I've been going regularly for the last 15 years, there's always something new to pick up.

This year my staff & I attended the following presentations:

• Magical keys to the world of the Oxford Reading Tree (Setsuko Toyama). Setsuko has presented at Luna in the past, and will be coming back in 2008. Luna uses the Story Tree series of readers, which are better for students. Have a look at the display in the school?
• Teaching reading to Children (Jason Good).
  
• Task-based learning and authentic news reports (Daniel Ferreira).
• Tips for teaching JHS/HS with 'My First Passport' (Jon Robinson)
• What students really need for the TOEIC (Grant Trew). Grant presented at Luna early this year, and is a source of excellent exam-taking skills... doesn't have to be TOEIC!
• Three worlds unite - using literature in the EFL classroom (Michael Stout). Several good ideas to connect readers with the 'real' world.
• What else can you do with stories? (Tomomi Katsuki).
• Fun supplementary activities for kids classroom (Hugh Graham-Marr)
• Thinking beyond the story - exploring graded readers (Richard Attwood)
• Developing confidence in early readers (Patrick Jackson). This the inspiring author of Potato Pals (new link on the right), who is a very good presenter & also coming to Luna in 2008.
  

Jim also went to a meeting of school owners, where a few interesting things were discussed - including the death of NOVA of course! We did of course have a couple of pints with old friends in the pub as well, where all the best business is done anyway. We met Trevor Jones, the owner of King's Road English School in Akasaka - venue for KET & PET exams in a couple of weeks.

All in all a very good weekend; think you'll agree Luna's teachers try harder than most.

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Bonfire Night

Remember, remember,
The fifth of November,
Gunpowder, treason and plot.

Yes, tonight is Guy Fawkes Night (or "Bonfire Night") in Britain.

But I found this amazing race which is far more exciting - double click on the title above, and put your seatbelts on!

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With extra bits!

I went to Tokyo last weekend, for a bookfair. Sounds dull? It does, doesn't it! Over the years, the Tokyo English Language bookfair has produced some of the most incredible urban myths (I'll post a collection one day!). However, the most important thing for me, with my school owner's "hat on", is that I re-establish links with authors and publishers and introduce my staff to authors, publishers & colleagues/peers.

Luna is a small school. No debate there. But you really should see the response our staff get when they give a Luna International business card to people at an event like this! It's like Moses at the Red Sea. Doors open, eyes widen, "ah, Jim. Just a moment, I'll get my boss." It's great! And it makes my teachers feel really important - and makes them feel good about joining my staff. A Luna International business card is like a Gold American Express card!

In the 18 years I have been teaching here, I have been attending conferences/workshops/meetings/training events/bookfairs all over the country. Luna International's teachers have been attending the same events since the school started, which means that our teachers are at the forefront of new developments in English teaching - they meet the authors and get to talk about "teaching stuff", they are asked to test new material for the next generation of books (as we have been in the past - we piloted material for English Time and Potato Pals for instance ...check out the links which are now extremely active. Click on one!)

Anyway, news soon about the bookfair, who we met, what we learned etc., as well as a few new links. Meantime, I just want to ask if you like the new 'functionality' I've been able to add to the blog. Do you like the new bits (widgits, technically)? I think I'll add a poll (questionnaire) next week.

Is there anything else we should think about adding? Incidentally, some students cannot post from work (firewall/security issues) - so please email me from your home email address so I can then invite you again. Remember, this is still a closed group.

For now, any bets on when we get visitor number 1,000?

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My hometown - Shimosuwa

I live in Shimosuwa, which is a town around Lake Suwa. It has a population of about 20,000 people. It isn't so big a city.

Shimosuwa is famous for Suwataisya, which is a big and famous shrine. There is a big festival called "Onbashira", which is held once every six years. Most people living in Shimosuwa, prepare years before. We enjoy "Onbashira" and a lot of visitors come from throughout Japan and overseas.

My house is near the Tho River. We call it "Tho-gawa" in Japanese. In the summer, a lot of children swim in it. A lot of families enjoy barbecues on the banks. We can feel cool in the summer there. I like the Tho River very much.

The weather is clearly defined in four seasons. In the rainy season, sometimes the Tho River is brimful with big water, because of heavy rains. In the winter season, we have to clear snow from the neighborhood. It is hard work for me , but it is good exercise for my health.

There are a lot of natural things near my house, such as the Tho River, rice fields, fields, etc. I love nature. So that's the main reason why I like living here.

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Reader - Walk About

Mary remembers a day in the bush:

I wake up early morning and looked for the things that can be eaten. Fortunately, we found some kinds of nuts and were able to pass hunger with them. On the other hand, we also had to find the way that returns to our home. When we are thinking about that we encountered with a bush boy. Firstly, because I didn't know how to communicate with bush boy, I feared to him. Besides we couldn't communicate by own language. For a while, Peter began to play with him. Swimming, Dancing, etc. Unconsciously, Peter was able to take communication and he began to understand the words that bush boy spoke. Also bush boy seemed to know what we want to do. In order to make it to the nearest town, we were walking day after day in bush. Bush boy became sick by the long journey. Day by day, he lost vigor. Finally, bush boy died. I regretted my thought that I scared to him. Thereafter, we could return to my home. I am writing about our varied experience now. Masanori Yagasaki

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