Creepy Crawly Coloured Caterpillar - platefuls of fun!

Cover of The Very Hungry Caterpillar

I have very fond memories of reading "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" (in Japanese!) from a young age, and I have been looking for a way to incorporate and share one of my childhood memories with my students in a functional and constructive way. Unfortunately I do not have a copy of the book so I had to come up with an alternative method. After having a little think and brainstorming some ideas I settled on something that I thought would capture the interest of my students as well as providing a bit of variety in the classroom. So I would like to present to you my most recent classroom project: the "Coloured Caterpillar"!

Our new classroom friend

The idea revolves around making a caterpillar using either coloured card or painted paper plates which are in turn used to make up the different segments of the caterpillar. You then cut out an assortment of shapes, numbers, letters or whatever else you think would suit the activity, from coloured card which the students have to sort into the corresponding coloured segments of your "Coloured Caterpillar". You can stick the caterpillar to a table or even on the wall or your whiteboard/blackboard! If you are planning to stick your caterpillar to the wall/board you're also going to need a way for sticking your shapes/numbers/letters too.

Fun with paints!

You may be thinking that making the caterpillar is going to be a major investment of time and effort, but this is where your students come to the rescue. Rather than make the caterpillar myself, I decided that for this activity to become a success the more hands on approach the students had the better. I also didn't fancy spending an evening painting paper plates on my own. So I roped them into caterpillar making duty. What better way to engage the students by using resources that they have helped make themselves!

In the "zone"

I have to admit thought that I was a little hesitant before launching into this project, especially as I had planned for my youngest students to shoulder the responsibility of painting the paper plates. I had a bad feeling the students would become more preoccupied in painting anything but the paper plates! However, when I broke out the paint and paintbrushes my fears were laid to rest. The students took to the activity like a charm, they were the most focused and well behaved I had ever seen them. It was like magic. Unfortunately due to paint needing to dry, we weren't able to put out caterpillar to use immediately so the students had to wait patiently for their next lesson before they had a chance to admire their work.

Showing off

A job well done

Shapes to sort

So one week came and went and it was time for the big reveal. The long wait was over and the students were finally able to see their painted paper plates come to life in the form of a colourful caterpillar. As you could imagine the students were terribly excited, and once we had stuck down our caterpillar they dived into the tray of cut out shapes and started sorting at break neck speeds! The first time we used our "Coloured Caterpillar" we used shapes cut out from coloured card, and we have since moved onto using numbers and letters as well. I have used the

Diving in

"Coloured Caterpillar in several of my other younger classes too, one of them even making the connection to "Harapeko Aomushi" ("The Very Hungry Caterpillar" in Japanese) which I was delighted by! By using the "Coloured Caterpillar" my students have become more adept at recognising shapes, numbers and letters and can sort by each category. I think it's safe to say this project was a success!

If you decide to create your own "Coloured Caterpillar" for your classroom please share your pictures and any feedback you have! 

Damian Gowland

Daisuke recently joined us - here's his self-intro

We're cool - shades & ABCs!

Hiro cracked me up yesterday (for once not belting me in the gonads) with his super cool Korean dictator look, clinging to his cell phone throughout class. The girls are always cool anyway, and have lovely singing voices as you can hear. You can hear lots more Fotobabble creations we have created in classes at http://www.fotobabble.com/media/list?username=LunaJim

We'd love to know what you think - leave us a comment below?!

A look back at classroom smiles through March 2014

What a wild month March was! Snow that we thought would never end and our carpets still wet after the thaw. Business as usual nevertheless in the learning zone, with some big paint jobs taking place in Damian's classroom. We planted a mystery garden (now showing signs of life in all but one planter) and said goodbye to long-term students - going to miss you guys!

Success rewarded as well, with certificates arriving for YLE, KET & CAE passes - well done you!

April is going to be a busy month, and apologies in advance for the state we might be in at the end of the month. Join us, meantime, April 13th from noon onwards for our Cherry Blossom Party (details oin our Facebook page). Have a superb April - we will!

Acting out not acting up - working together through role playing

For our next instalment of "Luna's got Talent" I would like to introduce Rui, Kaito, Kotone and Moeka acting out the story of Max and Digger from Review 2 of English Time 1 (written by Susan Rivers and Setsuko Toyama). In this story Max gets a little too greedy and gets a stomach ache!

During rehearsals the boys were much more focused on creating the most extravagant and eccentric foods and drinks from the props they had available, while the girls focused more on learning their lines. As you can see from the performances the boys tended to forget their lines! Luckily for the boys the girls were on hand to prompt them when they did. It was great fun getting the students to play the role of director and calling out stage directions when it came to the performances, it's always fantastic to see your students working together to create something they can all be proud of. A great way to build on conversational language whilst having tons of fun.

Rui (Digger) & Kaito (Max)

Kotone (Digger) & Moeka (Max)

Damian Gowland

Noisy little boys - after reading The Canterville Ghost

There are two noisy little boys in the story; are they familiar? 

Write about any noisy young children you know, and why you like (or don't like) them.

I have a niece and a nephew. As my older sister's house is near my living place, I often go to her house and stay with her, the niece
and the nephew. Since they were very little, they always talk to me at the same time or try to talk to me while another one is talking with me. As they were talking to me continuously even if another one still talk with me, I always admonished them that they have to talk to me one by one and listen the talk of another one. Now they are 13 years-old and 11 years-old but sometimes still keep me crazy. However, I like to talk with them as I can feel they have been growing by what they talk. Especially for the niece is very talkative, she often call me or LINE me to talk about her friends, schools and her parents.

Posted for Reiko

Send us a postcard - or double homework!

We are very excited to hear about all of our students' travel stories in the next week or two, during the end of year break...

If you send us a postcard we will feature you HERE on the blog and you escape all homework assignments :)

Jim's new car...

Or you can keep a diary & take some pics and escape that way!

Of course, bringing back a souvenir is cool, but they are heavy & expensive and we don't like macadamia nuts (sorry!).

We would love to hear about your trips - so please share?! Top of the list is Remi's visit to Jim's nephews' house of sport in Australia, all alone!

We'd love to hear all of your stories of course - little or large - so don't be shy :)

Changes to Cambridge English: Advanced from 2015 (video)

Buy one, get one free - boardgames flipping the classroom

For us adults, having to go grocery shopping can be a bit of a tiresome chore. If you are forgetful like me, you will have to make a list, check it twice and then remember to take it with you when you go to the shops! At Luna we have turned grocery shopping into a fun activity which the students can enjoy with the help of the "Shopping List" game. If only I could do my grocery shopping in the classroom!

Shopping carts and shopping lists

The students get their own shopping list, made up of 8 different items, and their own shopping trolley, which they must fill up with the items on their shopping list. There are cards, which are placed face down, for each of the food items found on the shopping lists and it is the students' job to find and name all the food items on their shopping list. It's a great way of introducing new food items that the students unfamiliar with, as well as allowing them to recycle language they have encountered in their textbooks.

Is it on the shopping list?

We all know that food vocabulary is an integral part of learning any language, especially if you don't want to unwittingly order a plateful of tripe or a bowl full of fish eyes at a restaurant! The great thing about the "shopping list" game is that as well as building the students' vocabulary of food items, alongside incorporating the target language you have been teaching in the classroom. You can elicit what the students' favourite foods are, what they could make from the items on their shopping lists or even get the students to make shopping lists of their own! Another way to implement this game in the classroom is to set up a role play activity where the students take on the roles of a cashier and a customer. So why not give the game a go in your classroom with your very own twist!

No it isn't!

Only if the students would get this excited when their parents take them grocery shopping!

Damian Gowland

A respected teacher - Jungle Book after reading

Mowgli gets a lot of good avice from his teachers. 

Write about a teacher you respected and why their advice was important for you.

My 1st grade’s teacher was an old man. He looked very scary face. But he was kind for me. He taught us not only studying but also how we should spend in the school or society. He taught us school discipline, too. The most impressed his advice was that when I come back home, I have to talk about one of my today’s news with my parents. I talked my news every day. This was good for me and my parents. For me, it was good opportunity that I talked with my parents a lot. And for my parents, they could know how I spent in the school. So we talked about my school life a lot every day. I still talk about my news when I meet my parents. He wrote a letter which was written about what we studied that day, almost every day to our parents. And he sent students handwriting New Year’s card every year till he was in poor health. I think if I wasn’t a his student, I spent a different school days. I thank him very much.

Posted for Yuri

A very long journey to Disneyland and back - another Tale from Longpuddle!

Write about a peaceful long journey you made? 

Where were you going, and who with? 

Why were you travelling, and how did you feel about arriving?

I went to Tokyo Disneyland with my boy friend last month. It was a bus tour and should be for a day trip, but it was the most unforgettable and longest journey in my life.

Tokyo Disneyland was established thirty years ago and has served the anniversary events since last April to the end of this March. I’m same age as the park, so I wanted to go there within my thirty years old. It snowed, but we could go the park smoothly and we had believed that we would be able to go home without any serious issues.

The bus left the park at nine PM and stopped at a service area close to Hachioji junction. It snowed a lot and any cars could not move ahead to Yamanashi and Nagano prefecture. We had to stay two nights in the service area consequently. Fortunately, there were rest rooms and restaurant, but we could not take even the shower for three days.

Finally, we moved to Tokyo station by train and took Shinkansen to move to Nagano station next morning. Then, we transferred to Shinano express to back to Matsumoto station.

It was a long journey and very tired, but I was very happy that my kind boyfriend and people supported on several scenes.

Posted for Chinasa

Jim reads: "We're going on a Bear Hunt"

Interview with a Vampire - magazine article (after reading)

All readers, I have big news!!!!! I get opportunity to interview to Dracula and ask him six questions. He answered my questions honestly.

1. Is taste of blood similar with tomato juice?
Ahh, it is more fruity flavor for me.

2. Have you ever been to beach in summer time?
Never! I can't live under sunshine, but I wish I could lie on the beach.
 3. What type of girls do you like?
I prefer ample figure girls because such kind of girls seems that they have good taste blood.

4. Your body is slim. How do you keep your body shape? Do you do excise or go to gym?
I often go to Pilates studio, of course in the night. 
 5. Do you want to marry?
Yes, I do. I'm looking for future partner.
 6. How many kids do you want to have?
Three kids! 

Posted for Miyuki

What can you see from your bedroom window?

            When I asked my younger students “what can you see from your bedroom window?” I got a rather dull and boring answer of “a wall”. One of my students even said that he doesn't have a bedroom. I had to make sure he wasn't Harry Potter! These were not exactly the responses of inspiration and wonder I was hoping for. I couldn't even use the Japanese Alps in view from out of my classroom window as creative inspiration since it was dark. As I wanted my students to transfer their bedroom views onto paper, I realized this was going to be rather an unfruitful activity if we spent the next part of the lesson drawing our neighbour’s walls.

So I took a slightly different approach. Instead of asking “what can you see from your bedroom window?” I asked “what would you like to see from your bedroom window?”. This gave the class the spark I was looking for, giving them the incentive to use their creativity and imagination. The students began to draw the most bizarre and wonderful things you could imagine: from dinosaurs to an octopus climbing Mount Fuji, even the vast expanses of space!

Once our visions of wonder were completed, we learnt how to spell and write all of the marvellous things we had just drawn. This allowed the students to recycle the words they have learnt previously as well as learn how to say some of their favourite things in English! The students took great pride in hanging up their make believe bedroom view around my classroom, boasting to their fellow classmates of all the new exciting words they have learnt.

A fantastic way of engaging the students while giving you the opportunity to learn a little more about them. So the question is; what can YOU see from your bedroom window?

Damian Gowland

February slideshow review

I noticed we were so busy digging snow outside or putting buckets under drips inside in the last couple of weeks that we didn't take any pictures. I'm sure you can all remember what snow looks like though...

Here's a peek of some of the fun we got up to during February - hope you like the slideshow!



If you want a copy please email me; you can also find it to share on our YouTube channel

Leading a horse to water; how to make it drink?

After a month or so of "I don't know", "I guess", "Yeah", "Maybe" & "Not really" responses to just about everything we have tried, Damian & I have been scratching our heads & thinking outside the box for this class, considering a project-based approach. Our learner is far too cool for school, and his English far too good for a traditional approach...plus we know he will start yawning & pull his hoodie back up as soon as we revert to type & try to start teaching. A follow up to an in-class brain-storming activity never got off the ground because the written product was so utterly bizarre I did not know where to pick up...man-eating carrots, flying volcanic robots & reincarnation. My efforts to flesh out the narrative had us going in ever-tightening circles of teen logic & reticence.

Clearly this kid plays way to many games. A Placement Test we rely on had given us our first 'false' reading (I think) in that he was about 2 CEFR levels below where we had pencilled him, so we are still trying to establish a baseline level we can work from. OK. Writing didn't quite work out, so let's see what we can do about a vocabulary exploration.

Word Up the tool of choice here, expecting a short 'it's too hard/boring' after 20 minutes...but no. "Can I use a dictionary" and "I'm gonna loose if I just use 3-letter words, aren't I?" revelations. Uncovered a will to win/compete with people (not just programmes) and thinking about strategy - as well as accepting tips/hints to do better (after outright rejection at first - couple of big scores from me vs 'dog' did the trick!).

So, introspective reluctant learner wants to win - games - and has an impressive vocabulary. Dislikes traditional classroom approach but mum wants him to be given essays for homework! Gamification might be an answer; I have seen a few presentations now of using games for courses, but I'm not a gamer myself...I really doubt I could become a Minecraft ninja in a hurry and build this into a strategy. Likewise, I have no interest in descending into the depths of Second Life and all the escapist/obsessive traits that seems to bring out in people. Last thing we really want to do is loose this learner into an even deeper layer of withdrawal from us! Not that we can play crossword games every week either (fun though that would be for me!).

Conundrum. Any suggestions, fellow teachers?

February review - in pictures

Planting season - Luna's indoor market garden launched again

For reasons which will become clear in the fullness of time, I only wanted to plant short things this year, in our gardening workshop. Things we can carry without having to cut down a supporting lattice of canes, netting etc. Last year's tomatoes were amazingly tall, productive and resilient - one still giving us fruit until Jim had to chop it down to make space for water-damaged materials from our sodden storeroom last week.

A very willing bunch of short people came along this afternoon to get their hands dirty - but first we needed to d
ocument the seeds (get our hands on them and investigate size, shape, colour etc. We drew pictures of them and had a guess at what they might grow into. Some very interesting ideas such as 'cream', 'ants', 'daikon' & mushrooms...and I can't tell you what they actually were because the packets got mixed up in the rush to prepare this morning! Some seeds were big & round, others so tiny we couldn't pick them up; some long & thin, or prickly-shaped, or like pepper-corns.

 Damian is playing in Tokyo this weekend, so we hijacked his classroom and filled 9 planters with a different set of seeds each - we recycled the soil although Jim did prep with nutrients, water, and a good stir beforehand. Some we drilled holes for, others we sprinkled in a line. In one, we found a bulb which had just started making roots/shoots & quickly re-planted as an extra surprise - was it an avocado maybe, or a tulip bulb? Let's hope we didn't disturb it too much!

The next few weeks will be an exciting wait for shoots to appear - but might be a longer wait than usual as our winter is very cold & snowy this year. Watch this space!

Thank you mums & dads for lending a hand; great to see Susumu back from his London adventures. Thank you Eleanor for big sister job, and to Masa, Sakura, Kai, Minii for your green fingers :)

Lights, cameras, English!

It’s always great experimenting to find new ways of teaching in our classrooms and engaging our students while doing so. However, it is sometimes the simplest activities that can produce masterpieces brimming with the student’s enthusiasm, passion and creativity. In this instance it is the tried and tested role play. Role playing is a fantastic way to the students to have their own input and use their imagination whilst reinforcing the language that they have encountered in the classroom. The student’s visions and ideas never cease to amaze me when they are given the freedom to experiment themselves. It’s as if you’re watching a group of young Steven Spielbergs going to work, just without all the fancy equipment and dinosaurs running around!

All of the books we use for young learners at Luna incorporate either a story or conversation, which allows the students to build on their communication skills by role play as well as having tons of fun doing so! The students love utilizing props and incorporating their own actions and stage directions to give their own unique creative spin to their work.

Here you can see some of my students acting out the roles of Max, Digger and Pat from a story from English Time 2 (written by Susan Rivers and Setsuko Toyama). No signs of stage freight here! I just hope my students won’t forget me when they make it to the big screens as the next Morgan Freeman or Kate Winslet. Perhaps not as they may feel let down by my shoddy camera skills.

Damian Gowland

Fotobabbling along a Luna!

Check out our top of the pops this week!



Above, very early progress in Everybody Up (Starter) with 4 & 5 year olds.

Below, a curtain call for two students quitting to go to a juku - they have to 'learn' a different kind of English to be 'successful' in school tests. I have ranted and raved about this insanity before, but it still makes my toes curl. Both these lads started on the carpet at Luna in pre-literacy classes and are now on the cusp...over which I doubt they will clamber with katakana-isation, translation, death by grammar, insensible reading tracts etc. Goat? Has been got. So, one for the archive very soon, from English Time 4.

Dracula - after reading report

A lot of films have been made of this story! 

Write about your favourite version, explaining why; include details about the director, actors etc...

I know about the story of the Count Dracula and a lot of films have been made of this story, but I have not ever watched the film of this story itself actually. But I have watched a lot of similar films with Vampire theme. The most impressive film is “Interview with the Vampire”. As you may know, very famous actors and actresses like Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt and Christian Slater appeared on the screen. Even only this made me very interested. Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt ware known as handsome actors in those days. I was very interested in how they play the role of the villain like vampire. The result was successful. They played the difficult role excellently. Especially, Tom Cruise looked like a real vampire. Moreover, this film was not just a horror film. It showed the history of vampire family, how they became vampire and lived as a vampire. This point of view was very great. It is like an epic of vampire family. In case you have not watched this film, I will recommend you watching it absolutely.

Posted for Hiroshi

Everybody Up author Patrick Jackson pops in!

Five yard scrum - Potato Pals' ball

You can imagine my shock to hear a lot of grunting & groaning coming out of Damian's classroom the other afternoon. What the hell is going on? Open the door to find him locked in hand-to-hand combat with @patjack67 and his son, recreating a scrum from the epic England v Ireland tussle last weekend at Twickenham!

The books he has written for Young Learners (which we use) are called "Everybody Up" (not "Scrum V" or #carrythemhome ). His readers series for very Young Learners, Potato Pals, are acclaimed worldwide - and were piloted by Jim at Luna pre-publishing (and reviewed in a local yakitori with OUP!)

We are accustomed to having  the great and the good of Planet EFL visiting us at Luna. Over the years we have welcomed a number of authors such as Barbara Hoskins-Sakamoto and Ritsuko Nakata (Let's Go, by OUP), Setsuko Toyama (English Time - also OUP)  to the school. This is the first time one has turned up on a school day and joined in with our students! A staggering privilege, especially as the next classes both Damian and Jim were going to teach use Patrick Jackson's books!

Luka meets Patrick Jackson in HER class!

Our YLs were delighted to practice their greetings, and to review their "Hello" song with him...no, he did not sit at the back and brood about how we were wrecking his books! Got stuck right in with some singing and dancing, and showed no sympathy when Jim's knee went, bouncing around to "Everybody Up"!

Here is Patrick's account of his trip up here 
https://www.facebook.com/patjack67/posts/10153844384625494?stream_ref=10

Listen - http://www.fotobabble.com/m/bElTVHM1VTYzcVU9

As you can see, we had a very jolly afternoon, and completely out of the blue (we would have baked a cake!) hosted a leading light of the EFL world in our dripping wet building. Made Damian & Jim feel 10 feet tall, and impressed the living daylights out of our mums (who have just paid for their shiny new books with Pat's name on the front)&

Thanks so much for the flying visit - I'm afraid the rain today has killed your snowman though. Hope your socks dried out on the train?

Start as you mean to go on!

I came to Matsumoto, having been based in Chiba before, looking to expand my horizons, gain new experiences and to further develop my teaching career. I have always had in interest in travelling and experiencing the delights that the world has to offer first hand (hence basing myself in Japan!), and I jumped at the prospect of living and working in the mountainous landscapes of Matsumoto. When I first learned that I would be working for Luna, I was eager with anticipation get off on the right foot and to prove to myself, the school and to the students of my teaching capabilities.

            My first month at Luna has already flown by and what a month it has been! Getting used to a new city and a new environment is never easy but I feel extremely fortunate to be surrounded by such wonderful people and to be part of a school that has a real community feel shared by the staff, students and their parents who have welcomed me with open arms. Of course it has by no means been an easy introduction into the world of teaching, familiarizing myself with a plethora of new textbooks, resources and students, facing the wrath of the recent snowfall (I have never had to move any snow in my life, let alone several times my body weight!), the flu outbreak where students and staff alike were dropping like flies, as well as trying to work out how the kettle works! On a few days I felt as if I had hurtled into a huge brick wall and I have doubted myself at times on my class management and teaching techniques. But it is these times of adversity and hardship that allow you to improve yourself as a teacher and to learn from your weaknesses to strive for a better learning environment for your students. It is also very important to bear in mind that the negative times are often offset by the positive ones. Even just the simple joy of seeing your student smile for the first time or observing your students immersing themselves with the new activity you have been wanting to try out in the classroom. I even had one of the students, from a class I covered for when Jim fighting a losing battle with the flu, come to the school with his mother in tow the day after his lesson just to say hello to me. It’s moments like these that really warms your heart as both a teacher and a mentor and shows you how much of a positive influence you can have over your students. It’s moments like these that I will continue strive for as I continue my time teaching at Luna.

            A special thanks to Jim, Yukari and Tomoko for making me feel at home from the get go, helping me find my feet and letting me be part of this wonderful community. I appreciate all of the work you have done for me and I hope the future will be full of many more new and exciting challenges.

Damian Gowland

Learning first letter sounds with Quizlet - on the desk, tablet, phone, online, offline, in bed....and now with your teacher's voice!

Yesterday afternoon, I spent most of the afternoon in between my kindy classes and my evening job, whipping together a series of flashcard sets for our new kindy+ class on Saturday afternoons. I did start this job on Monday, with a whole day ahead of me to scan, get creative, add audio etc...blog post coming very soon (more a rant, really) explaining why that did not go to plan! It took me an extra 24 hours to finish the job I thought would be finished by Monday lunchtime...

Quizlet, people, Quizlet. I love Quizlet. Last week I noticed I had made 666 sets of flashcards. That is a lot, but I was actually worried about the number - especially as we have recently hired Damian as well! He's fine by the way...I checked - he thinks the ceilings are leaking, but it's actually Holy Water!

Anyway, exciting new class on Saturdays needed a bunch of online support from us, especially as mums are iPhone savvy and keen to boost learning and language exposure outside of class. Each unit is now supported with a dedicated set of flashcards (our own audio being added this week, a big improvement on the computer generated default setting previously), and a number of extra sets with built in variety/increased challenges. Of course we use actual flashcards in class - and how! - and the children have their own sets...but who to play with at home?!

Here is a sample of a larger set, asking learners to match a group of images to a letter of the alphabet which has their first/initial sound in common. Easier to do than explain - take a look, have a try!



What do you think?  Here is the link to the other 'sets' in the 'class' http://quizlet.com/class/965611/ What other sets would you like us to add? Which feature do you like the best?

Why not register for a free Quizlet account for free at www.quizlet.com and join this class - or any of the other classes we have created?

We'd love to know what you think...use the comment tab!

Modern Times - film review (with Wikipedia assist)

The Tramp working on the giant machine in the film's most famous scene (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Modern Times was directed by Charlie Chaplin. He also stars in it, played, produced and wrote the music.

Modern Times is a 1936 comedy film, in which Chaplin's iconic Little Tramp character struggles to survive in modern, industrialised world.

The film is a comment on the despotic employment and fiscal conditions many people faced during the Great Depression, conditions created in Chaplin's view by the efficiencies of modern industrialism. The movie also stars Paulette Goddard, Henry Bergman, Stanley Sandford & Chester Conklin.

The Tramp working on the giant machine is the film's most famous scene.

He finally suffers a nervous breakdown and runs amok, throwing the factory into chaos. He had more hardship, time in hospital, in jail, and leads a fugitive's life.

In the final scene, Chaplin & the hero walk down a road at dawn, towards an uncertain but hopeful future.

Posted for Keiko

Huckleberry Finn - after reading

Huckleberry Finn & Tom Sawyer are very famous names. Why isn't Jim?

I think there are some reasons why Jim isn’t very famous name.
One is because of Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer is name of story. So people have some chances to hear their name.

Second is that Huck & Tom are boys. So if readers are boys or girls, they may be able to be Huck or Tom when they read the story. Or they may be able to be Huck & Tom’s friends. And they had adventures with them. But Jim is older than readers. So people couldn’t to be him when they read the story, I think.

Third is because of Jim is a slave. I got some information about slave from the story of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”. In this story (“Huckleberry Finn”), Jim’s master was not a bad person. But I don’t have a good image for slave. People worked very hard. But they couldn’t get any money. And they didn’t have any freedom. I think Jim is a good person, but I don’t want to be a slave. Some readers may think so, too.

Fourth is Huck and Tom are active and positive person. So I think they are attractive. They are admired by readers.

Posted for Yuri

By these reasons, Jim isn't a very famous name, I think.

The Eagle of the Ninth - book review

SPOILER ALERT

In the second century AD, the Ninth Roman Legion disappeared in Britain, and the Eagle, the symbol of the Legion's honour was lost. Later, Marcus, whose father also disappeared with the Legion, travelled to Britain to bring the Eagle back & know whether his father already died or not, accompanying Esca who was the young slave. During the journey, he pretended an eye-doctor to get into the tribes. Getting information from Guern, Dergdian and Tradui, finally they found out the Eagle and could bring back home. The truth of the disappearance was that some men including his father were killed by tribes, the others became members of the tribes.

I like the story has reality. Nothing happened special for disappearance of the Legion.

There was no characters or events I didn't like.

After reading the story, I was sure that invasion has nonsense. I like such a historic novel, and this story reminded me of a film "Apocalypse Now" which is a 1979 American epic war film during the Vietnam War. In this story, US Army Captain became the king of his own country there. I guess that the similar things would happen whenever & wherever the war occurs. I recommend leading this book.

Posted for Atsuko

Cultural differences - after reading The Canterville Ghost

 The Americans in this story are very different to the British. 

How are Americans different to people from your country?

One of our main customers for electric shaver is American’s company. I often communicate with them by e-mail and a few times to meet them in a year. Whenever I go to America, I am surprised two points on the difference between Americans and Japanese.

One thing is the volume of meal. I love steak and pizza, but everything is too big for me to eat up. The cups for drinks are also big. I never drunk it up. Americans, however, can eat and drink up. I can understand why their body is very big.

The other thing is the endurance of cold. I feel that Americans are very tough even if it is very cold. I cannot stay in the room without outerwear, but Americans wear half sleeve shirt. I also saw some Americans who visited Japan wear half sleeve shirt even if it was winter.

Honestly, I don’t want to live in America as it is not comfortable on the meal and temperature. I, however, like to visit America and enjoy talking with Americans and finding the difference between America and Japan.

Posted for Chinasa

My friend on the fiddle - Tales from Longpuddle (after reading)

 Write about a time when your friends played live music (well or badly).

My friend, Masako can play fiddle.

One day, she invited Chinasa, Reiko, and me to the recital of an orchestra, which she trained in. I was very pleased to be invited her recital because she hadn’t allowed us to come and see her recital for a long time. I felt I could be a little more her close friend. I met her at work, where she was cheerful and unfussy person. I heard that she had played fiddle since childhood, and I thought it was great hobby when I heard she played fiddle.

Her recital came. It was sunny day in fall.

She showed up from the left side of the stage. The orchestra consists of forty people approximately.
I don’t know well about kind of instrument, but there were six people in the fiddle team. The conductor started music, and she also played fiddle with other member. She was very serious and concentrated in her play. She had a different face, comparing to work. She never lost her concentration during her play.

It was fantastic playing, and I felt how much she liked playing fiddle, and had a passion on music.
I saw Masako after she played; her face was back to her cheerful face as usual. It was good time to see her private face, and I grew to like and admire her more than before when I saw her fresh face.

Posted for Yumi

Writing about The Big Apple - after reading New Yorkers

 Write about your trip to New York

It was a first visit to New York when I was 23 years old.

I worked for travel company in Matsumoto, Japan at that time. I wanted to go to various place as much as possible as I thought the experience could be helpful for my job.

As some of my friends lived in Las Vegas and Boston, I planned to go to visit these friends and stop by New York as well. I was interested in New York as it is a famous city in the world. After visiting Boston, I went to New York. I was excited the scenery such as yellow cab, Times Square, the Statue of Liberty which I've seen before in TV and felt that I actually came to New York!

As there is only one day for staying NY, I couldn't enjoy all of things I wanted to do but tried to do as much as possible. That was very enjoyable but I felt NY is too big to enjoy for me, it's kind of same feeling I visit to Tokyo. There is everything in the world in Tokyo and NY, but it's too much for me as I grew up in the countryside.

I thought it is the best for me that I live in countryside and sometimes visit the big city when I want to enjoy new things!

Posted for Reiko

I can't remember my part of the conversation if I stand up

So I asked my students if they took their English notebooks with them when they travel on business (the reason we are studying in-house)...a lot of blank faces at first, then shaking of heads as if it were a really stupid thing to ask!

OK then, you take take your textbooks..."Eh?"

Or the interactive DVD/workbook with your laptop...insane suggestion?

Thing is, I'm the native speaker/teacher operative, and I can't remember the right way to do stuff all the time in a business context (introducing colleagues, asking for assistance, making small talk etc) and need to double-check. It really is OK if my students do too!

Everyone comfortable sitting down? When was the last time you greeted a customer to your factory with a rug on your knees? If it's cold in the lobby, you'd better make sure you get this role play sorted out quickly and properly - no giggling please! In front of everyone walking past? Absolutely...can't perform now, imagine what you'll be like if an actual foreign visitor turns up. And if the conversation breaks down or turns left...deal with it professionally, or get help. Meantime, stay calm; name, rank, & number.

Talking Animals - after reading The Jungle Book

There are a lot of stories about animals that talk. 

Describe your favourite one, and explain why you like it.

I only reminded the Japanese old stories for children when I saw this question. Such as Momo-tarou, Akazukin-chan, Urashima-tarou, etc.

After that, I reminded a famous animation from Ghibli. It is "Majo-no-Takkyubin" ("Kiki's delivery service" in English). The heroine is Kiki who is a young witch. She needs to live alone in a city to be a grown witch. She goes to a city with her black cat named Gigi. Gigi can talk to Kiki and always encourages her when she faced problems. But Kiki cannot understand what Gigi says when it comes to the end of story. I think it means the day when Kiki can live her life without Gigi's help.

 I like this story because it gives me a positive feeling after I watch this film.

Posted for Tomoko

Sniffing, sneezing, snuffling & snoozing...flu bug

Quick apology for lack of content the last few days; has been plenty happening at Luna but I have had no idea what because I've been in bed with the flu & associated killer headache.

No fun at all

Thank you Damian for digging out the school in your "Oh my God, it's really deep snow" -unsuitable shoes on Saturday AND Sunday, as well as for covering some classes with Laurie as well. Thank you Yukari for keeping everything more or less together...

Now it's my turn, as my family is all sick & in bed with temperatures etc feeling blurgh...hope everyone else manages to avoid the flu-bug? Business as normal as possible here at Luna Towers, but please understand if the phone does not get answered!

Jim

January slideshow of all the best smiles!

Press play!