Talking Heads - young learners introducing themselves confidently

 

 With the new school year, we've found a few new classmates to get to know, and new books to get used to. Great opportunity to brush off an old favourite, Chatterkids app, to record our voices over our super cute self-portraits. Very easily done, and learners keen to 'bling' their pictures and rehearse their output, and willing to speak up with the anonymity cloak! 

Tundra Biome project - taking a text book project home

 

Check out this original work from three of our junior high school students, as a project extension to our class studies in Everybody Up 5. Class one = collecting ideas & googling for images, making notes, with my initial visualisation being a copy & paste job. However, as everyone was already using the PC in my classroom, I decided to let go of the mouse & keyboard & assist from the back of the room, leaving them with a Jamboard canves to populate instead. Two lads in class, sharing typing duties with a third collaborator online chirping in with editing ideas etc. I'm not 100% sure about their animal identification skills!

Biome research - googling!

There is not as much English content as I would have liked, but the task got the boys working together & thinking creatively, adding sticky notes & checking spelling, and learning how to collaborate with this online whiteboard tool. Class two: learning PC skills never did anyone any harm - it always dismays me how little Japanese students can do with tech. Regardless, this output was a personal mission for them & I am sure will settle the 'biome' concept into their memories.

Well done lads!

Expanded horizons - biome take away

Getting older – does it mean your life is getting worse?

Some people say that the childhood is the best time of your life, and that the older you become, the worse your life is. However, there are many older people who look live happily. 

 There might be some advantages for old ages, as well as disadvantages. On the minus side, you have many troubles with your health when you get old. For example, farsightedness or blurry sight from cataract, hearing loss, weaken legs, diabetes or even a serious disease such as cancer will be revealed. However, there are good solutions for your weakness today. 

For aged eyes, glasses for farsightedness or you can regain good visions with only one-day surgery. In most regions, older people can take their health check for free or cheaper and they can reach health service easily so that disease is found early enough to expect good prognosis. When you get worried about your health or any other problem, your friend will help you whom you’ve met through life. In younger ages, people move so fast and so often, only true reliable friends will remain as your friends when you become old.

To sum up, despite the weakness of old ages, I believe that old people can live stronger and happier than we think, with a little help of families, friends and the and the development of science and medicine.

Reiko’s best buddy

His name is H.He's from Japan and he lives at home with his parents and two sisters. He's 14 years old and he's a junior high school student.

He's short and he has curly black hair.He usually wears glasses.

He's shy and quiet, but he's talkative when he is with good friends. I think he's kind but a bit stubborn.

He likes reading books and newspapers. He reads a book whenever he gets free time.He's interested in many things, especially science and mathmatics. He belongs to the Science Club at school and he enjyoys it's activities.

Kaoru's best friend

 My best friend

My best friend is Mitsutoshi. We met for the first time at our elementary school. We went to different high schools and met again in the toy department of Aeon when we were university students.

He is as tall as me, but he is well built. We are the same age, so he is also going grey.

He is an employee of GP, and works in beverage sales. He is very kind. After the Great East Japan Earthquake, when my family was living in Tokyo, he sent us a box of bottled water. We were very grateful to him because we could not buy water at stores at that time.

He was a member of the modeling club during his university days, so he is very good at making plastic models. He taught me the technique of plastic model making.

During the pandemic of COVID-19, we have not seen for about two years.

You may not be able to help laughing at Box Cart Race

It has been decided that the event “Red Bull Box Cart Race” will be held in Matsumoto next year.

The original name is “Soapbox race”. It is said to have begun when American children enjoyed race using a soapbox with wheels. This race is called as below. “Box Cart Race in South Africa and Japan because soap box is less familiar with in Japan. “Red Bull Billy Cart Grand Prix” in Australia. “Red Bull Carros Locos” in Peru which means “Crazy race” in Spanish. “Red Bull Caisses a Savon” in France. “Red Bull Ladeira Abaixo” in Brazil which means “to the bottom” in Portuguese. “Red Bul Trolley Grand Prix” in New Zealand. “Red Bull Zeepkisten Race in Netherland.

This race started in 2000 at Brussels. More than 110 races have been held in the worldwide. At the race held in London in 2019, more than 20,000 people visited. Racer can ride a handmade car without engine. All teams are scored in some points of Creativity, Performance, and Time to goal. External design including costume, Car performance etc. are very important to laugh audiences much and to win the race. All teams drive the funniest handmade cars at full power and play it straight.

Due to COVID-19, we had to stay at home almost 2 years and this race will be an unforgettable event for audiences. I recommend our company to sponsor this event.

 

My friend

Her name is S. She is 24 years old. She's an esthetician.  She's from Matsumoto city and live with her boyfriend. She has black hair and is medium height. She is an extrovert and clever but she is a little stubborn... She likes studying nutrition for good health and beauty.

Report about Golden Gate Park

Summary:

There are a couple of theme areas in Golden Gate Park, the Conservatory of Flowers, the de Young Museum of Art, and the Japanese Tea Garden.

Now, each area requires special restriction for COVID-19. You need to check the rule before you visit all areas.

1. The Conservatory of Flowers

This place is highly recommended to whom is true horticulturists. The Conservatory of Flowers is botanical garden opened in 1879. The place has historical and symbolic attraction.

2. The De Young Museum

You can see art displayed in showcase, photograph, and costume from the world. De Young Museum has been a good place to explore in San Francisco for five centuries. Now, following special exhibitions are held. 

1. Frida Kahlo : Appearances Can Be Deceiving

You can see a treasure trove of Kahlo like jewelry, clothing and prosthetics.

2. Uncanny Valley : Being Human In The Age of AI

Contemporary art to ask what it means to be human in age of data.

3. The Turkmen Storage Bag

Some of museum's most prized pieces of Turkish textiles.

3. The Japanese Tea Garden

The Japanese Tea Garden is an oasis in San Francisco.

The garden was produced by a Midwinter International Exposition in 1894.

After the fair, Makoto Hagiware, a Japanese landscape architect was in charge of maintaining the garden as a permanent garden. With his passion, the garden grew from one acre to five acres and some of the trees are more than one hundred years old.

Now, the garden gives you quiet and peaceful time away from noisy city, and you can enjoy Japanese sweets in a tea room.

The Japanese Tea Garden will be only open Wednesday through Sunday each week, from 9 a.m. to 5:45 p.m.. Bathrooms will be closed for COVID-19.

A best friend

What’s the definition of a best friend? How long we have known each other? How close we are to each other? How many secrets have we shared with each other? I’m 28 years old,but I’m still not quite sure.

T and M were my best friends, I believe. We met at university, and we lived in the same student dormitory.

I spoke to them for the first time, I was a second year student. We were elected as supervisors at the dormitory. We had spent time together in hard ship, and were closer than anyone else. I thought that we would keep in touch and get on well after graduation.

For some reason, we have suddenly stopped keeping in touch recently. It could be because M is getting married, or maybe it’s because I deleted my instagram account. I’m not sure that we’ll continue to be estranged from each other or not.

Posted for Anna K.

My favorite Knight of the Round Table - Sir Gawain

There are a lot of knights in this story. Among them, Sir Gawain was especially attractive to me.

Sir Gawain was generally said to be the nephew of King Arthur. Gawain’s parents were King Lot of Orkney and Morgause. When King Lot  died, Gawain became the head of the Orkney clan, which includes his brothers Agravain, Gaheris, and Gareth, and his half-brother Mordred.

Though Lancelot is often referred to as the greatest knight, Gawain is also referred to as the greatest knight of the Round Table. He was most recognized from story of “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”.

“Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” is one of the King Arthur legends.

During a New Year’s Eve feast at King Arthur’s court, an unexpected visited. The knight’s belongings were green, even a horse. The Green Knight approached about the game that he will allow whomever accepts the challenge to strike him with his own axe, on the condition that the challenger find him in exactly one year to receive a blow in return. Sir Gawain took his challenge instead of King Arthur. One year later, he fulfilled the Green knight’s promises. In addition, he met some challenges and coped well it.

According to the story, I can imagine that Sir Gawain had loyalty but also nobility. So, I understood that King Arthur put him trust.

The Cable Car Museum

 The Cable Car Museum in San Francisco was established in 1974. It is operated by the Friends of the Cable Car Museum as a nonprofit educational facility.

Open 10am to 4pm from Monday to Thursday, 10am to 5pm from Friday to Sunday and closed on Monday. 

Admission fee is free.

Located in the Washington/Mason cable car barn and powerhouse.

There are various mechanical devices - grips, track, cable, tools and a huge collection of historic photographs. You can see the huge engines and winding wheels that pull the cables from the museum deck. 

Three antique cable cars are also famous. The Sutter Street Railway No. 46 grip car and No. 54 trailer and the Clay Street Hill Railroad No.8 grip car which is only car from the first cable car company.

At the museum store, books, clothing, cards and even real cable car bells are available. 

http://www.cablecarmuseum.org/

© 2004 - 2021 Friends of the Cable Car Museum

Bus man's holiday - examining at Ueda Nishi High School

I had the pleasure a couple of weeks ago to conduct the speaking exams for students at Ueda Nishi High School (Nagano prefecture) at CEFR B1:Preliminary for Schools level, for our centre (JP004). I teamed up with a new colleague (John) who was good enough to drive (heavy snow the night before prevented me from doing the honours).

It was obvious that the students at this school had prepared themselves to exchange ideas and collaborate in their conversations, making our jobs relatively easy! The only disappointment for us was that there were so few candidates (from the English conversation club) when in fact the entire school studies English with a couple of full-time ALTs backing up the very competent and enthusiatic Japanese teachers. 

Maybe next year?!

William Tell & other stories - Nanaha's choice

 

Waving at the International Space Station

As regular readers will know, we are really keen to get our students at Luna into the reading habit, and creating independent thinkers & travellers of the mind. I think it is really important to enjoy what you are reading, and that it means something to you.                                                                                                                I was thrilled we managed a stellar "Eureka" moment last night with a group of extremely chuffed Eigonauts! Having finished their first choice readers (action packed stories) the last one in the bag was "In the Sky". Potentially a bit dull & flat - except we have an incredible resource just outside the front door!                                                                                                                                        During our previous lesson we'd talked about planets & stars, constellations too; we'd spotted Orion easily and noticed the half moon from the car park. Tonight's mission was time critical (and weather). My satellite tracking app told me it'd appear on the southern horizon at 18:32, giving us 8 minutes before the end of class to spot the International Space Station. My girls were watching the countdown while we did a few other tasks, and coordinated with our classmate in Nagano - via Zoom - what we were going to do & how (needed to use my iPad to "take the class for a walk!").                                                                                                                                                                                                            First of all we found Orion again, and tried to spot Gemini. We had watched a short NASA video

constellation identification

explaining the constellations in view in March, but we could not see Castor or Pollux. The moon was hiding brightly, behind BigBoy (restaurant next door) which was also very lit up, making our view west & south somewhat obscured. Next, we realised the buildings in front of us hid the horizon, and from the app we could see the ISS was going to keep fairly low as it tracked westwards over Utsugushigahara.                                                                                            We dashed upstairs and turned all the lights off, stepped onto the roof (safely!) and were immediately able to see the bright white dot moving across the dark sky exactly where the teacher said it would be! The girls realised that if they might be able to see it again in an hour & a half, it must be going very fast indeed! I asked them if they thought the seven astronauts would be waving back ("probably not, it's dinner time" they decided!)...but they kept waving frantically anyway :)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        And that was about all we had time for, though homework is to draw a picture of the night sky (I found them in the waiting room with the lights off, being very diligent, later!). "Happy?" I asked them. Far from it - they were deliriously chuffed to bits...and so, therefore, is the teacher.

Tracking satellites 

The "AHA!" moment :)

A lovely city, Florence in Italy

 

I have just read “Death of an English man”, written by Magdalen Nabb who was born in England in1947, and lived in Florence as well as Italy since 1975. The story is a murder mystery, set in Florence.

 

Florence is my favorite city! I have been there half a dozen times, and every time I visit, I feel excited again and recognize that I love the city passionately.

 

I think you must visit the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore which is the symbol of the city it is amazingly beautiful. The exterior of white, green, and pink marble is stunning, hence the name “Cathedral of Flower”. You will be overwhelmed by the magnificent construction.

"Primavera" Uffizi Art Museum

 

Next you shouldn’t miss going to the Uffizi Art Museum (Galleria degli Uffizi). “Uffizi” means “offices” in Italian. This huge Renaissance style building used to be the municipal office of the House of Medici, who were the political dynasty in the Republic of Florence during the first half of the 15th century and collected numerous Renaissance art. Well known paintings such as “The Birth of Venus” and “Primavera” (Spring) by Botticelli , as well as amazing works by Leonard da Vinci are also parts of the collection. When I stood in front of the “Primavera” I was so impressed and couldn’t move for a while. You can appreciate many of the important art works there. There are many important artworks you should appreciate there.

 

Rivoire

If you feel tired, it’s a good idea to have a break at the cafe on the rooftop of the department store “Rinascente”. You can enjoy an espresso with a lovely city view. If you prefer a more elegant one, try “Rivoire”. It is an historical fancy cafe, facing the Signoria square. You can savour traditional chocolate and cakes with a fascinating atmosphere inside. They also have terrace seats. Their chocolate will be a special souvenir.

 

Santa Maria Novella Firenze

I would like to tell you one more place that I go every time I visit the city. It is an ancient pharmacy “Santa Maria Novella Firenze”. The history of it goes back in 1221. Dominican friars of the convent of Santa Maria Novella, started to grow herbs in the garden and created natural preparations. Now we can buy their original skin care cosmetics, with fragrances based on essential principles of aromatic plants. Their products are fantastic! You can find the shops in some Italian cities but Florence is the original, and inside the store is marvelous.

 

Teruki

 

Review of extreme sport "Crashed ice"

Hi,

I’ve watched a video of Crashed Ice. I had seen this sport before, but I didn’t know this is categorized as extreme sport. This sport is extremely fast, so it’s hard for me to follow player with my eyes. The game was over in the blink of my eyes.

I think the game was hard and dangerous. Although players wear a protective clothing which like ice hockey’s costume, they might be died if hit their head in the wrong spot.

It is unbelievable that player skates at top speed from beginning to the end. Just keeping balance on the ice is hard, however the player goes around a corner and jump over obstacle at an incredible speed. As the course is narrow, they clashed between each other. So, some players fell down during the game due to losing their balance. Even if a player could come out on top, there is possibility to be last.

Spectators didn’t know who will win the game. They were really excited watching the sport and the stadium had energy. Of course, I was excited to cheer the game!!

I recommend you that watching “Crashed Ice” and you should collect a lot of videos.

Have a nice holiday.

Miyuki

Kotaro & his Dragon Mother

Once upon a time, there was a good guy who managed cultivation for his village. He had girlfriend. They loved each other but he didn’t know her well.

One day, he secretly attached a long thread to her dress when she left his house. Next day, the thread showed the way to her house. However the road led into the deep mountains. He saw she was the incarnation of a dragon. She stopped meeting with him as soon as he visited her house.

After a few years, an old woman picked a baby out of a river. The baby was named Kotaro. Eventually, the old woman died, and Kotaro set out to find his mother, because he felt very lonely. He remembered that the woman had often told him that he was the child of a dragon and that he had been found in the river from dragon mountain.

While he travelled, he noticed that his village needed good fields for life. When he arrived at the pond where his mother lived, he screamed “ Mom ! “. A big dragon came from the pond, and he told his mother that he wanted to make her pond into a field to help his village as his father had did. His mother understood she would lose her living place if she accepted her son’s demands. Nevertheless she decided to help him. While she attacked her body to the mountain for cultivation, rumbling sound was very big. When that sound stoped, the new field was born. The village people lived happily ever after thanks to their fertile field.

Nobody knows where Kotaro and his mother lived, but we can still see their flight around the mountains near Ueda city in Nagano like a long bank of fog.

Posted for Yumi

Sayuri's favourite antique shop

" Skogen" stands still like a secret hideaway in tranquil woods where we certainly need to be guided by the car navigation system. Looking up at a big and stylish grey house with a huge garden in front, our expectations are rising to the top. When we open a big wooden door, there is a big entrance hall with some rather simple and natural wooden furniture which gives us a welcoming feeling.

" Skogen" is a vintage furniture shop specialized in Scandinavian countries where the owner visits once in a while and imports their one of a kind products. There are eight different rooms: living room, dining room, bed room and study and each room is ideal and finely arranged with well-designed lamps, tables, sofas, chairs and adorable small goodies from Northern countries which are famous for their sophisticated design and natural fabric with warm colours.

There are big windows in the enormous living room facing the lovely garden and lots of pretty candle holders are placed beside the windows which bring us beautiful and romantic night light.

This is an experience where you'll go on a journey into Sweden and others if you love it there, then this is the place to be.

This season will start on April 1st, opening from Friday to Monday, 11:00 to 17:00, advance booking required https://www.skogen.cc

Natur in Risonare in Kobuchisawa and Natur Karuizawa are sister stores which open regularly and are highly recommended as well.

My trip plan to London

 On the 1st day of a three-day trip, I am going to visit the Leeds castle which is called “The Loveliest Castle in the world” to see beautiful castles and gardens. In Japan, we can see temples and shrines, but have no chance to see castles. All things in Leeds castle will be completely new to me.

On the 2nd day, I am going to visit St. Peters Celtic Football Club who Mr. Daizen Maeda plays to watch a game. Mr. Maeda played in Matsumoto Yamaga F.C. and I will not be able to believe my eyes that Mr. Maeda plays in the worldwide big football club. Also, I would like to know how atmosphere supports make because I had watched a game between Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain in the Santiago Bernabeu stadium, and I was interested in the atmosphere of supporters and stadium.

On the last day, I am going to visit Spitalfields Market and take an afternoon tea. At Spitalfields Market, I may be able to find a design that I cannot find in shops in Japan. I found some instagrammable “afternoon tea” restaurants, but I want to take a traditional style of afternoon tea with various scones.

Cambridge Speaking Examiners - high maintenance!

Unfortunately, with the upturn of 'you know what' cases in Japan lately, I'm looking at having to provide certification for our nationwide network of Cambridge Assessment English Speaking Examiners online again this spring.


Really grateful that our Preparation Centre in Akasaka, Tokyo (King's Road School of English) provided me with the chance to video record more than 50 candidates back in early January. This was a massive undertaking, arranged during the Christmas holidays.

Over a dozen experienced Speaking Examiners offered up their free time for this crucial project on the day - demostrating for the first time how to properly, fully, deliver all levels of speaking examinations with covid-precautions/altered scripts & procedures in play, including groups of three candidates.

All of which means that we can now show recently trained/not examined yet/less experienced/'not examined since covid started' SEs copper-bottomed examples of how to deliver (interlocute)...properly.

I exhausted my go-to box of online certification tricks over the last two years. I'm quite sure Japan's Speaking Examiner team will be delighted with the quality of refreshing, relevant, and recent procedural examples they will be able to discuss & learn from as we certify this year.

When? All times JST = GMT +9. For SEs in Japan (as well as our disapora denied the opportunity elsewhere):

Feb 26 9:00am - A2:Key + B1:Preliminary
Feb 26 1:30pm - A2:Key + B1:Preliminary
Feb 27 9:00am - A2:Key + B1:Preliminary
Feb 27 1:30pm - Young Learners
Mar 13 9:00am - A2:Key + B1:Preliminary
Mar 13 1:30pm - A2:Key + B1:Preliminary
Mar 20 9:00am - A2:Key + B1:Preliminary

Contact Jim George oyajim@gmail.com if you would like information on attending future Cambridge Assessment English SE training - across Japan.