Recently in Chikudai Category

Just in case anyone from this class stops by, I want you to know that the diaries are in some baskets on a table in front of Mr. Hill's office in the North Wing on the 3rd floor. (A whole string of prepositions.)

Another guest this week and Yumiko was back. We moved through a variety of topics and one of them was Tokyo. I have visited the city several times and recognize most of the major sections, but some of the places people mentioned tonight I had no idea.

Another topic that Yumiko brought up was the silence that occurs in conversation. I looked around on the web and found some summaries of academic papers, but nothing simple. I will keep looking to see what I can find.

The homework is to look over my blog and try to decide what some of my hobbies and interests are. Then post a comment telling me about one of your hobbies or interests.

Update:
You only need to post the comments once. It takes a little time for the comments to show up on the blog, so if you don't see it right away check back in an hour or so.

The homework is to look over my blog and try to decide what some of my hobbies and interests are. Then post a comment telling me about one of your hobbies or interests.

Just an announcement to everyone that you should use the enshuw folder for your homework. Make sure to put it in the correct folder and to use you student number as the title of the document. If you see any of your classmates tell them about this.

I was a little surprised that everybody was here today. With the Golden Week holidays coming I thought people might decide to take a long, long weekend.

At the beginning of class I pointed out the mistakes with the subject lines of the e-mails that you sent. For my e-mail filters to work correctly, I need you to use the correct subject line. It will make my life much easier.

We covered a lot of ground with the lesson today and the two grammar points were good review. Actually, those were the exact problems people had with their self-introductions. If you want to practice more about object pronouns and you can go here.

The homework for next week is to do 1 & 2 on page 20. Do it in the textbook and send a copy to me by e-mail. It needs to be in my e-mail box before 10:30 on May 15th

Remember that when you come to class to start up your computers right away and login. When you login into the CALL system use your first name in Romaji.

I showed you the example of how I want you to e-mail your homework, but you can donwload a copy mailsample.pdf and this is how I will correct the story you send.(mailsample1.pdf) Tell your classmates about this just in case they don't read this.

Oh, before I forget, you should also put the keyboard and mouse back under the computer when you finish the class.

Today we used one part of the CALL room system and there were a few glitches. I hope to get things figured out for next week. I am not sure if we will add any of the audio features yet. Remember that when you come to class to start up your computers right away and login. When you login into the CALL system use your first name in Romaji.

There was some confusion about how to send the homework. The easiest way will be to send it by e-mail as an attachment. I didn't show the example to you of how I want you to e-mail your homework, but you can donwload a copy mailsample.pdf and this is how I will correct the story you send.(mailsample1.pdf) Tell your classmates about this just in case they don't read this.

Oh, before I forget, you should also put the keyboard and mouse back under the computer when you finish the class.

I should have posted something last week about the textbook, but I forgot. Even though I didn't post anything most of the people in this class bought the book. I showed the example to you of how I want you to e-mail your homework, but if you want to see it again you can donwload a copy mailsample.pdf and this is (mailsample1.pdf) and example of how I will correct it.

The homework for next week is to do the reading on page 8 and then pick one of the examples from 2A on page 9 to write and article like the one in 2B. It should be 200 words. Use this e-mail address camps(at).joyworld.com because my Chikudai address isn't working too well yet.

Enjoy the holiday on Tuesday.

I thought this class was going to be my smallest, but I think it has turned out to be the largest. Remember to always sit in pairs and set as close to the front as possible. Also remember that when you come into the room to put your homework on the table at the front of the room.

There was a real mix of B5 and A4 paper, but this was the first class to have someone hand in a unique size that was larger than A4. Remember to put your name and student number in the top right hand corner of the paper. If you hand in more than one page, make sure to staple them together.

You had to write a description of what you thought my house looks like, so I will try to post a picture here when I get home tonight to give you a better idea about its appearance.

The homework for next week is to write a story about th e picture of the person sitting on the beach and to do pages 24 and 25.

Update: Here is a picture of my beautiful, large, fairly new, triangular, white wooden, American house.

The numbers for this dropped off just like in the Friday classes. I guess people found other classes that were at more convenient times. The smaller numbers will make this classes easier to teach and the homework more manageable

In his class almost all the students submitted their homework on the A4 paper, so we will see how the afternoon class does.

In this class, like the morning one, many people used B5 notebook paper for the homework. It is okay for this time, but make sure that you use A4 next time. Also make sure to write your name and student number in the upper right hand corner; not the bottom or left side. Also remember that the homework is due at the beginning of class and can not be handed in late.

This class ended up with a lot of space, so I guess people decided to take other classes instead. Hope you have a good weekend.

There was a little confusion because there were some people who wanted to take the class, but weren't signed up. I think we got things sorted out in the end.

The first class of the term always requires a lot of explanations and handing out of materials which takes away from the time we can spend on the textbook. We did a some of it and most of it was pretty basic. For homework you need to get the information you got from your partner and you need to write a self-introduction. Also do the Vocabulary Notebook on page 10.

I heard from the bookstore staff that many of you are going there to buy the B5 spiral notebook, but they don't carry them. If you want to buy one you can get them at the 100 yen store near Ito Yokado. I can ask the staff to buy some, but it may take awhile for them to arrive. You might be better off to walk down to the shopping center and get it.

Also I was asked many times if you had to write in the diary everyday. No, you don't have to do it everyday, but you should think of schedule that makes it easy to write 4 or 5 pages a week. Don't wait until the night before I collect them to start writing.

I was able to track down the key for the control panel during the lunch break, so I was able to follow the lesson plan. This class ended up being a little larger than I had first expected. When I left on Friday I think there were only 30 some people signed up, but we ended up with almost 60.

If you have any questions about the homework remember you can e-mail them to me or put a comment on the blog.

Well, things didn't go as well as I had hoped today because I didn't have the key for the control console. Hopefully, by next week everything will be sorted out.

Even without the key and all the high-tec toys we were able to cover most of the items I wanted to cover. There were some questions about the homework and I think I answered most of the questions by the end of the class.

This class didn't have a full 60 people, but we were close. I think the final number was closer to 56 or 57. We covered most of the preview unit and I think you have a feel for what you will need to do in the class. There are several things to do with the computers that I will have to show you how to do next week. It is very important that you bring the information about your school computer accounts with you to class next week.

Also the homework is to fill in the information in the Grammar Chart and to write a short story about the picture of the cat. Make sure to write it on A4 notebook paper and put your name and student # in the top right hand corner.

Oh, I forgot to mention in class, but if you find a mistake in the post and point it out in the comments you get 3 extra points.

We had 60 people today and a few people had to play junken to get the last seat. You seemed a little overwhelmed by all the things I threw at you today, but once you have the textbook I think it will be a little clearer. One thing I should have stressed is that the homework should be on a A4 looseleaf notebook paper.

Have a nice weekend and start writing in your diary.

Oh, I forgot to mention in class, but if you find a mistake in the post and point it out in the comments you get 3 extra points.

The class turned out to be smaller than I expected and now I wonder what the Thursday class is going to be like. With only ten people we will be able to do a lot of different things and spend a little more time on different parts.

We started with the reading about the history of mysteries and people were able to answer many of the questions. I was a little surprised that no one likes mysteries in this class. Hopefully, after we finish this class you will change your opinion. People didn't know many Japanese mystery writers. When I did a search on the internet this is what Wikikpedia has.

The homework for next class is to do the exercise on the handout that I gave you. You don't need to send it by e-mail just write the information in the space I provided.

As I said in class I want to say thank you for your comments and suggestions. I have already decided that I will change a few things next year when I teach this class based on what you had to say.

I haven't corrected the tests yet and will probably do them tomorrow. If you would like you name tags with your photos and grades just let me know by e-mail. and I can try to get them back to you.

Everyone did a good job in this class and I hope you will continue to study English. I look forward to having you in one of my classes in the future.

Well, the test is over and I will try to get it corrected so you can learn you grades as quickly as possible. I don't think there is anyone in this class in danger of failing. It has been a fun class and I hope to see some of you in future classes.

Today was the last class before the final, so we did some reviewing. In the different activities I had you talking to different people and talking about many different things. In the last activity I had to take part because we had an odd number of people. I wish I could have walked around and heard more about what you were talking about. I am sure many of your stories were very interesting.

The homework for next week is to send me an e-mail with your opinion about the class. What did you like? What didn't you like? What do you think I should change? I am sure all of you thought there wasn't enough homework. :)

Today was a review day for the final. I really moved people around and gave you new partners. This class had a bad case of the same seat syndrome and I know next year I am going to insist that people sit beside someone new each week. It was interesting to watch you interact with new people.

The homework for next week is to send me an e-mail with your opinion of the class. Please be honest because I am always looking for ways to improve my classes.

This fads that people talked about in the this class were similar to the ones the Monday class talked about. Yuuki was the only one to talk about Billy's BootCamp.

We worked with the future tense today, so people talked about their plans for the weekend and other things they might be doing in the future. I was surprised that no one thought they would be living in Obhiro 10 years from now.

The homework is to send me an e-mail telling me about your dream vacation.

There some interesting descriptions of fads. Some of the fads may not be one in the long run because they will become a regular part of our lives. I think mp3 players and electronic dictionaries are two good examples, unless they both become part of our cell phones.

The homework for next week is to send me an e-mail telling me about your dream vacation. You need to tell me where you are going, what you are going to do there, and what you are going to take. Also tell me why for all of those points.

As I mentioned at the beginning of class, people had trouble with count and non-count noun section of the quiz.

We talked about what images foreigners have of Japan. There were a lot of interesting answers, but what surprised me was how no one mentioned technology. When I used to do this exercise years ago it was mostly technology. In this class and Monday people mentioned anime, manga and food.

The homework for next week is to do the reading and send me an e-mail explaining a recent Japanese fad.

I reviewed count nouns and non-count nouns at the beginning of class today because that part of the quiz seemed to give everyone the most trouble last week.

The lesson today looked at the differences between countries and at what age it is okay to start dong different things. People got to share their ideas about typical foods, clothes, music, sports and names in Japan.

The homework for next week is to do the reading exercise and then send me an e-mail describing a recent Japanese fad.

I was surprised that most of your stories were true. I expected it to be about 50-50 of true to made up stores.

I misjudged the number of copies for the quiz. There are usually 2 or 3 people absent between the two sections, so I always print fewer than the actual number of students. This time no one was absent in either class.

It was interesting that in this class more people agreed with Julie's opinion than her father's. In the Monday class it was the exact opposite.

The homework for next is to send me an e-mail with your summer vacation plans.

A few people were sneezing and coughing with summer colds today. I hope I don't catch one!

We talked about school subjects and the ones people like and don't like. We also did the listening exercise. I was surprised how many people agreed with Julie's father's opinion. In the speaking exercise you had to walk and talk today. This room is a little small for this kind of thing, but I think people got the idea how difficult it can be.

The grammar point we looked at was the future tense, so the homework is to send me an e-mail about your plans for summer vacation.

This class also had some very interesting posters. Some were easy to guess, but others were almost impossible. Compared to the Monday class, this class had a lot strange things to talk about.

I asked this class about the mujina story and no one knew about it. You can read about it here.

The homework for next week is to send me a story about something that happened to you. It can be something that is true or something that you have made up.

There were a lot of interesting posters today, but there were a few that I couldn't understand. We did the listening exercise and when I mentioned the story about a mujina, no one seemed to understand what I was talking about. About 10 or 12 years ago it was story used for the junior high school English recitation contest in Obihiro. I was a judge so I heard the story hundreds of times over a two or three-year period.

The homework for next week is to send me a story about something that happened to you. It can be true or something you make up. I will have to try to guess which it is. Be careful and make sure to use the past tense form of the verbs.

The pacing was off today because several people wanted to leave early so they could see the pigs slaughtered. The people who left early have to send me an e-mail telling me about what they felt. The other people just have to make an A4 sign showing things you can or can't do, but you can't put any words on it. Remember you shouldn't show it to any of your classmates before class. The last part of the homework is to write about 5 Japanese customs and why people do them. Send this one by e-mail.

The room was pretty hot, but later a breeze started coming in and made it a little more bearable. Hopefully, it won't get too hot later in the summer.

I haven't had a chance to look over all the e-mail yet, but people seemed to have some trouble using the pattern. Look over my corrections carefully when you get them back.

In today's class we talked about rules and customs. We listened to Julie talking to her homestay mother and found out there were somethings that she should do and shouldn't do.

The homework for next week is to make an A4-sized poster with a warning sign of some kind. Also send me an e-mail with 5 Japanese customs and the reasons why you do them.

This week's homework is to help me plan a class barbecue and picnic. Read about my plan and tell me if you think there is too much, too many, enough or not enough of a particular item.

This class is smaller (24) than the Monday class and has more women than men. I think we can get by with 15 hamburgers, 10 hot dogs (with matching number of buns). For toppings I think we will need one bottle each of ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise and BBQ sauce. It think we will need 5 tomatoes 5 onions 3 heads of lettuce and two jars of pickles. Potato salad is a very popular dish at picnics in America, but so is macaroni salad. I think I will make 3 large bowls of macaroni salad. We will need chips so I think I will buy 6 big bags of corn chips and 6 bags of potato chips. Of course, we will need salsa, so I will buy 3 jars. For dessert I think watermelon and melon would be best. I will get two large watermelons and 4 yubari melons.

In this class I think there are only three people who are 20 years old, so we will only need two six packs of beer and one bottle of wine. For soft drinks I will by 6 liters of oolong tea, 2 liters of CC Lemon and 2 liters of Pepsi.

English Haiku
Toshiaki
He and I feel good
Rays of the sun run between trees
The no name place exists.

I must apologize for not getting your homework back to you sooner. My plan is to be caught up with everything this evening.

Now for this week's homework. I said for the end of term class party I would post a shopping list and I want you tell tell me if there will be enough, not enough, too much or too many of the items. Look at the grammar exercise we did at the end of the class for an example. Here is the list.

We have 38 students in the class and the split between men and women is about 50-50. I want to this to be an American style barbecue/picnic so we won't have yakiniku.

I think we will need 38 hamburgers and 25 hot dogs plus the same number of buns. For toppings we will need 10 tomatoes, 5 onions, 3 jars of dill pickles, plus one bottle each of mayonnaise, ketchup, BBQ sauce and mustard. We will need an assortment of chips so I think I will get 5 bags of potato chips and 5 bags corn chips. To go with the chips we will need 3 jars of salsa and I will make big bowl of guacamole. It will take 6 avocados, 2 red onions and two cartons of plain yogurt. We will also need potato salad, but to make it takes too much time, so I will buy it from a supermarket. I think we will need 4 liters. I think we will also need deviled eggs. I will need two dozen eggs and a jar of real mayonnaise. Finally, we will need some dessert. I think I will make homemade vanilla ice cream with strawberry topping. We will need 1 liter of milk, 4 cartons of real cream, a bag of sugar, some vanilla essence, 3 eggs and a bag of rock salt. For the strawberries we will need 10 boxes.

I almost forgot that we will need some drinks. In this class there aren't very many people who are 20, so we won't need much beer. I think two six packs should be enough. For soft drinks I think 1 case of oolong tea, 1 case of cola and 1 case of green tea will be enough.

Update: I will be posting some of your classmates English haiku.
Yuki
Walking in the pasture
I watch many sheep are sleeping
Then, I fall asleep.

Junko
Under the blue sky
Spreading out green and yellow
It has come at last

Daichi
As for a greeting
Eye contact and smile are key
And as in your life.

We looked at New York City, talked about places people would to visit and learned about several different cities around the U.S. I was a little surprised that so few people have traveled overseas. There seemed to be a lot more in last year's class. I was also a little surprised how little you knew about New York.

I am looking forward to reading your English haiku.

In talking about people's images of New York I was surprised that no one mentioned Matsui and the Yankees. Also no one in this class has been to New York. In the info gap exercise there were also a lot of foods people had never heard of. I am not sure if you can get any of them in Obihiro. There was a restaurant in Obihiro that had t-bone steaks and bbq ribs, but I think it went out of business.

The homework for next week is to send me an English haiku by e-mail.

Sorry, I haven't gotten back all of the e-mails yet, but I hope to get them all done tomorrow. I should be able to get this weeks back sooner because I don't have the Thursday class this week. We went over the listening activities and did the information gap today. In preparing for the conversation there were the questions about what you have been up to recently. I was a little surprised that no one had selected "yes" to the "Are you dating someone new?" question. Maybe everyone is too busy.

The homework for next week is to send an e-mail describing what people are doing in the picture we used for the information gap exercise.

I learned why Shosuke missed the quiz last week. He said he broke his nose playing rugby and was in the hospital.

People did a very good job with the homework this time and you descriptions gave me a very good image of the places where you live. Some of them seem really small while others have quite a bit of space. The only people who seemed to have roommates were the people living in the dorms.

The homework for next week is to send me an e-mail telling me what everyone is doing in the picture on page 41.

We had our first quiz today. I checked them after class and some people didn't seem to understand how to do numbers 1 and 2. In number 1 you needed to list 5 important points to remember when introducing yourself. You need to smile, make eye contact, give your name and so on. For number 2 you were supposed to compare your personality with a friend's or family member. For example, "I am quite, but my wife is talkative."

Today's lesson was about prepositions of location. The homework for next week is to e-mail me a description of your room. Use as many of the prepositions as you can.

We had our first quiz today a people did a pretty good job. I will hand them back next week and we will talk about a few of the problems. I think everyone got their homework in on time this week, but few people waited to the very last minute. Remember to look at my changes and try not to make the same mistakes the next time. I have noticed that few people have done that.

The homework for next is to send a description of your rooms telling me where different things are located.

You did pretty well today. I noticed that almost everyone has the textbook, but there were still a couple of people who didn't have one. I think there should be enough in the bookstore, so go check.

We talked about adverbs of frequency today and for the homework you need to send me an e-mail telling me about your schedule. Use all the adverbs we used in class and make sure that you write them in a paragraph format.

In the listening exercise Asuka caught my mistake and had the confidence to correct me. That was great and I am glad that she decided to do it. As I said in class, "Even a monkey sometimes falls out of a tree."

Update: I have gotten some of the homework from the Thursday class and people are just telling me their schedules, but they aren't using the adverbs of frequency from the book. Make sure to use as many of these adverbs as possible.

A couple people were absent today because of sporting events. I forgot to mention in class that we will be having a quiz at the beginning of class next week. It will cover Units 1-3. It will only take 15 minutes.

We started work on adverbs of frequency and if you want more practice you can go here.

The homework for next week is to send me an e-mail telling about your life at Chikduai. Use as many of the adverbs of frequency words as possible .

Update: I am not sure if any checks this blog much, but just in case you do and you haven't sent your homework, make sure to use as many adverbs as possible. Tell you classmates to.

Everyone was back from the break rested and ready to go. Some people went home over the break and others had club activities. I am behind on correcting the homework, but I will try to get it back to you by the end of the week.

The homework for next week is to send me e-mail telling what Tokachi products you would send to friends and relatives. Try to think of 5 different things if you can.

We are getting into a rhythm and people are getting to know each other. In looking over the e-mail homework that you have sent and I have returned you may have noticed that I have been adding articles. To practice a little more go here. The homework for Golden Week is to send me and e-mail telling me about what you do during the break. I know that Chikudai has the tradition of the older members of a club taking the new members on a trip somewhere around Hokkaido. There should be a lot to write about. Remember to write in paragraph style, not just unconnected sentences.

Most everyone sent their e-mail, but some people put too much information in the subject line. All you need is Mon 1:00 and nothing else. Most people had the textbook, but their were still some who haven't gotten theirs yet. Remember the textbook is required for this class and you need to have it by next class. Those who didn't have one today can see how much trouble it causes for your classmates.

We went over introducing ourselves and then introducing other people. The handshake still needs some work for some people. We also worked on describing people and the textbook introduced some useful adjectives.

The homework is to write about 5 people who are important to you. Also find the English names for the Golden Week holidays and tell me what you do. All these should be sent to me by e-mail.

Update: In going over the homework and the nameplates I discovered that I don't have a student number for Hirotsugu. If you read this Hirotsugu or someone else in the class does please tell him to e-mail me his student number.

It looks like we lost a few people, so the size of the class is much better. Some people still hadn't gotten their Chikudai accounts yet and didn't have their own computers so they couldn't send the homework. You have 2nd chance, but you still need to send this week's homework on time.

I hope more people will come to blog and look around. It seems no one visited last week.

The class was a little larger than I thought it was going to be. Last year I only had one large section. This year both sections are around 30 people. Watching people today it seems everyone is interested in trying to use English. If you keep that attitude throughout the class you will make some progress.

I have already gotten some homework, but there seems to misunderstanding about what to put in the subject line. You only need to put Mon 1:00 nothing else. You should put your name and student number in body of the message.

We practiced handshakes at the beginning of class and if you want to learn a little more go here.

The class wasn't as large as I thought it was going to be. Last year when I had my class in this room I had over thirty people. I think you understood how to do introductions and we talked about handshakes. This video will show you some dos and don'ts about shaking hands. The English is a little too difficult for you, but you can understand a lot from just watching it.

Don't forget to buy your textbook for next week and to send me the e-mail with information on the three people that you talked to. Also don't forget to bring back your nameplate with a photo attached.

Things did go as smoothly as I had hoped today. When I arrived at the university I discovered that I had left my masters of the handouts I wanted to make copies of in my office. I then had to track down a printer to print out my files. Once everything got done then I could set up for class.

People had a chance to rethink who the thief and who the police officer were. I won't say more now just in case someone from the Thursday class stops by, but I will say most people were wrong.

For the Thursday class we will have our first class on January 25 and not the 18th.

The Thursday class was evenly split on who was the thief and who was the police officer. At the end only a couple of people didn't change their minds about who the thief was. I guess we will have to wait until after the break to find out.

Don't put your homework off for too long otherwise you will forget some of the important points.

In reading the e-mails people have sent there seems there was a misunderstanding about the word costume. I wanted you write about the type of costume you might wear to a masquerade party.

Both classes had a lot of people who wanted to witches. I guess it has to do with the popularity of Harry Potter. No homework for next week, but I am thinking of some good ideas for winter vacation. I will tell you what it is next week.

It seems everyone was able to download the crossword puzzle without any trouble last week. Sorry about the white on black design. It must have used up a lot of ink if you were printing at home.

With Episode 9 we did a little bit with describing clothing. People had a hard describing my shirt. The best way to describe would be a blue plaid. I am looking forward to reading about your costume ideas.

Some of the conversations you wrote for Lt. Washington and the Interpol agent were pretty good. In looking over the Barcelona tours everyone wanted to visit the Gaudi buildings and many of wanted to see a bullfight. In your planning all of you forgot to take in account the siesta time. This could cause you some trouble because some places may be closed.

I will get the crossword puzzle up as soon as possible, so keep checking back.
Here is the puzzle. Download file

We will be back to our regular pattern next week because tomorrow is a national holiday. People sent the information about Marseilles. I mentioned that it was the gateway to Provence and many people who arrive on a tour ship would do a tour of Provence.

The homework for next week is to plan a tour of Barcelona and write a conversation between Lt. Washington and the Interpol agent.

Today's reading was difficult, but I meant it to be. I was pretty sure no one knew what a pawnbroker was. There was really not much of way to guess at the meaning from the text. The meaning was not that important to the overall understanding of the article. Also not many people were familiar with eBay either, but in the States and the rest of the world it is bigger than Yahoo Auction.

For homework next week send me information about Marseilles. Follow the instructions on the sheet.

In the Thursday class you had to summarize the first six episodes. You did a pretty good job, but there a couple of points that you had wrong. There was a lot of information that you had to catch in today's episode, so it was more difficult than some we have had.

It seems at least one student reads my blog. Haruna knew that I came to Chikudai by mistake last week. We went over Episode 5 and at the end people made their predictions about who they thought the thief/killer and the police officer was. The homework is to let me know the reasons why you picked those people.

The Thursday's class were different. There was no clear choice about who was the thief and who was the police officer.

Opps! I went out to Chikudai for class today, but I was in for a surprise. There were no Wednesday classes because of the a schedule change. This Friday there aren't any classes because of the school festival, so they moved Friday's classes to today. I thought it was a little strange that no one had shown up 10 minutes before class because there are usually two or three people who come very early. When it was 1:00 and there was no one, I checked my schedule and saw that there were no classes. I guess I will see you next week.

I got the day right this time and all of you showed up for the Thursday class. Now that the Thursday class is ahead I will have to wait to post details about the story on Wednesday, so that I don't give too much away. I probably shouldn't worry so much because I am not really sure if anyone in the class ever reads these posts anyway.

Enjoy the school festival.

The final class list has arrived and in the Wednesday class we will have 25 people and 8 on Thursday. In both classes the Italian vacation homes seemed to be the most popular. After Italy it was France and then England. Recently, Ireland has become popular with Europeans, but by far I think France is the most popular for Americans.

Don't forget to give as much detail as you can when describing yourself and your friend.

This is the third week of classes so everyone needs to make a final decision about taking or dropping this class. I guess I will have a final class list next week. One point I forgot to mention about the e-mails you send is to make sure you put your name (in Romaji) and class number in it. I also forgot to stress that you need to mark your attendance on your name plate every week.

In both classes people came up with some good information on Mediterranean cruises. In the other homework about the type of cruise ship you would like to be on, most people wrote that they would prefer the medium sized ones. The main reason seemed to be that you would get more personalized service and could get to know the other passengers.

The homework for next week is to write the conversation of Robert introducing Agatha to Lucy and Frank. Look at the tips on the handout I gave you. Also remember to e-mail information about vacation homes in Europe.

We are still taking care of some of the paperwork chores, but by the end of the next class everything should be set. I am already getting some of the homework from today's class, but there seems to be a misunderstanding. I would like you to find out about actual Mediterranean cruises. Go on the web and see what kind are available. Remember to send the url of the site where you find the information in the e-mail. Also in the e-mail subject line use Wed LR. Make sure not to put a period after Wed and there is no space between L and R.

In both classes people talked about the Star of Africa and in Wednesday's class several people researched about the Hope Diamond. The Star of Africa is part of the British Crown Jewels and I asked both classes if you knew about the Japanese Imperial family jewels. I found this and this, but not much else. Look around and see what you can find.

I didn't stress the address for the blog today in class, so I doubt anyone will be reading today. I am going to the post for this class a little differently this time. Instead of making posts for Wednesday and Thursday separately, I am going to make one post and combine information for both sections. I may make an basic post on each day, but they make make changes on Friday. This way I can give information that won't give the Thursday class an advantage. Check back here on Friday for more information.

Today was the final and I hope it wasn't too difficult. A few people said the listening sections were hard. I will try to get them all corrected and the grades handed in by Thursday next week.

I hope everyone has a good summer vacation. From the e-mails I got last week it seems most of you are going to get your driver's licenses during the break. I will have to drive carefully when October rolls around.

Today was our last regular class and next week is the final. Almost everyone is okay and has nothing to worry about, but doesn't mean you shouldn't study for the test. The last homework is to send me an e-mail with your summer vacation plans. It should be 150 words.

There were some interesting reasons why people decided to come to Chikudai. Shio had a little trouble coming up the English word to explain her decision, but after class I think we came up with the correct expression. The best explanation would probably be she came to Chikudai on a whim.

The quiz was a little difficult because so many questions had to do with people who died long before you were born. James Dean used to be really big in Japan. I am sure your parents and grandparents know who he is. I thought people would know Indira Gandhi, but I was wrong.

The final test is coming soon, so try to use this weekend to study.

It was such a hot and beautiful day today that I expected many of you to skip class, but there was only one person absent today! As I said in class Chikudai students are amazing! We did Unit 10 and talked about different school subjects and the classes that you are taking this year. Many of you said several of your courses were boring. What makes a class boring for you? Do you ever tell the professor or lecturer that the class isn't interesting?

The homework for next week is to send me an e-mail telling me about how you spend the Ocean Day holiday weekend. The essay has to be 150 words.

We reviewed several things today before the quiz. In the question and answer activity there was a lot of interesting ones. You also did a good job describing the different items. The homework for next week is to send me an e-mail with five words from Units 7-9 that you really want to remember. Write another way to say the same thing or describe how to use the item.

In my walk around the room while you were taking the quiz I noticed that people seemed to be struggling and many of you didn't have a chance to finish the quiz. I guess this one may have been a little too difficult. If you found it too difficult you may want to put in some extra time studying for the final test.

The homework for next week is to do #2 on page 74. Remember to e-mail me the answers. I forgot to write that on the board, so tell any classmates that you see.

Sorry I forgot to post something.

We practiced telling stories and reacting to news that we hear. To do this well it takes good listening skills. This ability is what improves the fastest if you live overseas for awhile. I have been fooled into thinking someone's ability is higher than it really is because they can respond so quickly. I only discovered after talking to them a little longer that they really couldn't speak that well.

The homework for next week is to send me a story telling me about something special that happened to you. Make sure to give me details.

People did a great job with the nationalities and foods. Of the list of food some people hadn't eaten any of them while others had tried 3 or 4. For the picnic plans there several unrealistic ones, but some others the amount and variety of food was perfect.

We talked about rules and cultural differences in today's lesson. People had a harder time coming up with Chikudai rules than the Thursday class. Nobody mentioned about rules against plagiarism What happens to someone at Chikudai if they are caught?

The homework for next week is to send me 5 Japanese customs and why you do or don't do those things.

I was very surprised on how well you did with the nationalities and foods for each country. Were there any foods that you really want to try? There was a misunderstanding about the second part of the homework. Many people didn't make a list of the items that they wanted to buy. If you have questions about the homework don't hesitate to e-mail me or post a comment here.

The homework for next week is to send me 5 Japanese customs and why do people do them. If you want help, you should watch Mr. Baseball. There are several funny scenes that have to do with Japanese customs.

Luckily, in this class no one was hungry today so we didn't have any growling stomaches as we talked about all those delicious foods. I was a little surprised that so few of you had eaten some of the dishes we looked at in the vocabulary exercise. I think in doing the homework you will find many more interesting dishes.

Remember when you send the list of foods you plan to have at the class picnic make sure you put down the how much or how many of the items you are going to need.

Everyone seemed to enjoy not having homework last week. Only one person took advantage of the extra points. We started talking about food and nationalities. Part one of the homework should give you some internet searching practice. If you were absent today and want to get the worksheet you can download it here or ask to make a copy of your classmates. The other part of the homework is to plan a class picnic for 45 people. Think of all the food and drinks you might need. Send me an e-mail with our plans and also bring a copy to class.

We practiced using quantifiers and for more practice you can here.

Today was a review day. We practiced several items from the three units we just covered. People did a good job guessing what the person was doing. The most difficult action was the Yosakoi dance.

I hope the quiz wasn't too easy. I haven't corrected them yet, but I will give them back to you next week. There is no homework for next week.

Update: If you want extra points answer the 8 questions on page 49 and e-mail them to me.

As a couple people pointed out I forgot to give homework today. If you want extra points send me the answers to the 8 questions on page 49. Also check back here later if you want to see pictures of my office.

Last week we didn't have class because it was the anniversary of Chikuda's founding. I asked how old Chikudai is and no one knew. To learn more about your university you can go here.

Today's information gap was about different cities in different parts of the USA. One of the cities mentioned was Memphis. You will be hearing more abut this city at the end of the month because I understand that Prime Minister Koizumi is supposed to visit there with President Bush. You might be familiar with it if you like John Grisham books because he sets many of his stories there.

I am surprised how punctual people in this class are. In last year's classes I had several people who always arrived just before the deadline. I must admit I prefer everyone to be on time.

People had a chance to talk about there apartments and use the prepositions we studied last week. You could mainly use the information that you had put in the email. Speaking of the email, many of you used the word contribute in the information that you sent me about the bazaar. The word you should have used is donate.

The homework for next week is to read the postcard on page 42 and send me an email telling me about what you are doing at the place you are visiting. Use your imagination.

Everyone seems to healthy now. Today was the first class in several weeks that everyone showed up. Take care of yourselves, especially with the dorm festival coming up.

We reviewed prepositions at the beginning of the class and then started Unit 5. We talked about new things that people are doing and we did several listening exercises. In the practice conversation Shigehiro used the phrase, Mind your own business that we learned last week. That got him extra points today.

I gave back the quiz and people were a little surprised that they got the first part wrong. Remember read the directions carefully.

Next week there is no class so I probably should have given you more homework, but I am sure you will put a little more time in the the exercise on page 42.

We had our first quiz today, but I haven't had a chance to look them over yet. I will probably spend all day Friday correcting Wednesday and Thursday classes. We worked on prepositions of location and if you want to practice more you can go here.

The homework for next week is to send me a description of your room or apartment. Use at least five prepositions. Also find out what information you can on the Chikudai Bazar that is coming up. I mentioned the musical Guys and Dolls that will be held on Saturday, May 27th. It is going to be at the Otufuke Culture Hall and the doors open at 4:30 and the show begins at 5:00. I couldn't find out where the tickets are being sold, but you could call the Culture Hall or the Obihiro International Relations Section to find out.

A few people were absent because of handball games and others are sick. I got most of the homework before Thursday, but some e-mails were still coming in in the morning. When I got back to the office I got several more. Remember you have to have them to me before 1:00 on Thursday. If they arrive at 2:30 you are out of luck. Don't procrastinate!

We went over adverbs of frequency and if you want more practice go here. The homework for next week is to send me five sentences with information from your partner. Use the adverbs of frequency we practiced in class. If you were absent, then you should interview a friend or classmate and send the information about them.

A question for you. There was something the newspaper yesterday (according to my wife) about a charity bazaar at Chikudai or being sponsored by Chikudai. Could find out more information for me and post it in the comments or tell me in class next week.

At the beginning of class we shared information about our GW. Some people did a some interesting things, others stayed around Obihiro and some even studied! In today's lesson we talked about adverbs of frequency. If you want to practice some more go here.

The homework for next week is to send me sentences using the adverbs of frequency we studied, but using the information you learned from your partner.

The final class list is out and it looks like we will have 46 people in this class. It is a large number, but if you keep performing the way you have it will go smoothly. I forgot to mention in class, but someone left their textbook last week. The person's older brother's name is Kesuke and her older sister's name is Shiho. If it is your textbook, send me an e-mail.

As I mentioned in class be careful with your spelling and make sure you read over your homework before you send it to me. Enjoy your Golden Week holiday and I will see you on the 11th. Remember to keep checking the bookstore for the textbooks.

At the beginning of class we talked about friends and relatives and then we started Unit 2. In Unit 2 there was a picture of a shirt from Hawaii and there was the question about what it was called. From a quick search on the internet it looks like Hawaiian shirt or Aloha shirt is fine. The word souvenir also came up. Check the meaning here.

The homework for next class is to send me an e-mail telling me about what you did during the holidays. Also find out why Green Day is Green Day.

I haven't counted the number of students we had today, but it seems like there were fewer people. The room got way too hot, so I know many of you felt sleepy. This is a common problem with most of the Chikudai rooms, they are too hot or too cold and seldom just right.

We didn't get as far as I had hoped today because not enough people had books. I hope the bookstore gets in more books early next week. Remember to send me the homework by e-mail and be sure to only put Chikudai Thurs and nothing else in the subject line. If you do this it will make it much easier to reply to you.

Two new students joined us yesterday, so welcome Mika and Takeshi. I spoke with Takeshi after class and he said he spent 8 months in Australia last year. He said he learned a lot of English during that time. If you study hard in this class the next few months you to will learn a lot of English.

We started with the textbook today and did the listening exercises. We also the info gap. People did a good job not speaking Japanese. The homework for next week is to write 5 sentences comparing yourself to someone you know. It can be a family member, friend or co-worker. Send the sentences to me by e-mail. Remember to put Chikduai Wed in the subject line, nothing else.

I have to admit I was a little surprised by the number today. I was expecting at the most 20 people. Having 49 people in a class is challenging, but I think we will do okay if you really try to speak English. If you would like a smaller class you can come to the Wednesday class.

In looking over the information you gave me I was surprised how few of you have been overseas. In the classes I taught last year many more students had been to a foreign country. Hopefully, after taking this class you will have a chance to travel during one of the breaks.

The homework is to send me an e-mail with a self-introduction and I have already received a few. To read this site on your cell phone you can use this address:http://winksite.com/joyworld/mobile.

Have a nice weekend and enjoy Easter

I would like to welcome my Chikudai students to the blog. I hope that you come and look at the site very often. It looks like we will have a small class, so we will be able to do a lot of interesting and fun things. I hope you will try to speak English for the full 90 minutes. Don't forget to send me an e-mail with your self-introduction and to buy the textbook before next class.

I mentioned that if you want to read the blog from you cell phone you can. If you look at the bottom of the column on the right you will find a Q-code with the site address. I mentioned in class about Easter, so if you want read more go here.

I enjoyed answering your questions today. You had many that were the same, but each person had one or two that no one else asked. I will start grading your tests tomorrow, but I don't think anyone has to worry too much.

Good luck with the rest of your finals and Yasushi the best of luck in your job that starts in April.

Today was the last class and you had a chance to read some of your classmates' papers. I haven't had time to look over your comments yet, but I probably have will have an opportunity this evening. If things go well I should be able to have your papers back to yo