Recently in Step 1 Category

Chika and Misato have been gone for several weeks and Nao is back from her trip, but was sick today. I thought Mitsu was coming, but she must of had to work overtime tonight. It was only Atsuya, so we talked about several different things and then checked the homework. After that we did the reading about "internet addicts". Neither Atsuya or I are ones, but I probably use the internet more than he does. He did say that he never uses a credit card when he shops online. He always uses C.O.D. There is no homework for next week, but remember that it is our last class.

Atsuya thought he might be getting a private lesson tonight, but Mitsu showed up a few minutes after the class started. We talked a lot about our weekends and wonder where Nao was in Spain. I should be getting a postcard from her by next week.

Atsuya was busy last week and didn't have time to do homework. Mitsu had done the homework, but forgot her textbook at home. We will check that homework next week. Tonight's lesson was about different types of TV shows and if people like them or not. It will be interesting to hear what type of shows the high school students like next week.

Two people were absent tonight, so at the beginning of class we talked about everyone's vacations. Everyone had to ask at least one question. I also told you about my trip to the States and there were several questions.

After that we went over the homework and people had done a good job. There were a couple of people (you know who you are) who were finishing up the assignment just before class started.

There was still a little time left at the end so we started Unit 5. In this unit we will talk about what people do in there free time. The homework for next week is to do 2A.

I had a few surprises for you tonight and I am sure you are all looking forward to doing the homework. The listening exercises were easier for you than I thought. The only one that gave you trouble was the last question for Unit 4. Nao if you would like to pick up the homework, stop by JOY. It is on my desk. Call first to see if anyone one is here.

We talked a little bit about my trip and Chika asked me if I would bring back gifts. I said I would try, if I can remember. You can always remind me by posting a comment on the blog.

Only Misato absent this evening. We talked about the weekend as usual and Chika even remembered what she did. :) After that we practiced the ball toss again and Mitsu did a really good job. She said she had been practicing at home. The next thing we did was check the homework. I didn't think that people would think of many questions but you did a good job using different verbs.

The lesson tonight had an interesting reading about the average amount of time Americans spend doing different things. After reading that I think I will quit sleeping so much and stop watching TV. The homework for next week is to see if you can find similar numbers for Japan.

Remember if you have time, go out to Sarabetsu and watch the MamaChari 12-hour bicycle race because Atsuya will be taking part.

Well, we had a small class tonight because Atsuya and Nao were absent. I think they will be back next week. We worked on some conversation strategies. It is one I have mentioned before, but we haven't focused on it before. The key is to remember to always give more information in answer to a question. Tonight we used mainly "yes/no" questions, but people had some trouble when it came to using "well". We will practice that some more next week.

The homework for next week is #3C on page 39. Make as many new questions as you can by changing the verb.

Well, 50% of the class did the homework tonight and they all said it wasn't so difficult. Maybe next week we will get 100%. Misato had fun at her school festival and Nao enjoyed rafting. Atsuya did a ride out to Mikage that took him about 4 hours round trip. Ayumi had a sleep over at a friend's house and Chika went to Posful with a friend. The only person who I left out is Mitsu, but I don't remember what she did. Maybe she will post a comment and remind me.

We continued talking about routines and instead of daily ones we talked about things people do every week. It took people a little while to think of things that they do on a weekly basis. At the end of class we did an exercise to practice how quickly we could ask questions, but people had some trouble. The homework is to practice at home. You should also draw four pictures to help you remember some verbs that you have come across recently.

Everyone was back tonight plus we had Chifumi from the 1F class. We talked about the weekend and then moved on to the homework. There was a small problem, though. Only one person had done it all, so it took longer to go through it than I had planned.

We did have time to start the new unit and we talked about morning routines. Only Atsuya and Misato get up early and Mitsu is the only person who gets up late. We will talk more about routines next week. Don't forget your homework!

Misato was back tonight which was nice because Atsuyan and Nao were gone and Hisami has moved to the Tuesday night class. We went over the homework after a few students finished doing it.

The lesson was difficult and people didn't quite get it. You needed to show interest in what the speaker was saying by repeating the key information. The problem was that people couldn't always catch the key words. For this to work listening skills are very important. We will practice it a little more next week.

The homework for next week is to pp 31 and 32. You don't need to worry about #5 on page 32.

Ayumi and Chika were the first two students tonight and they thought they might be the only students. The other students showed up shortly after that, so they worried for nothing. There was no homework to check this week, but we did talk about people's weekends. No one did anything really special. Chika did go to karaoke and she did sing one English song.

We did a game called Buzz to practice numbers. It was a lot of fun and we will do it again next week at the beginning of class. There is a lot of homework for next week. First you need to write 9 questions to ask your partners about their family members. Also do the Vocabulary Notebook section on page 30.

Kana was here from Trish's 1C for a make up class. It was the first time for her to come to this class. It turns out that Mitsu's cousin goes to the same school and Kana knows him. Obihiro is like a small town in some ways.

People did a good job with the homework and it gave you a chance to learn about the people you didn't talk to last week. Chika was absent last week, but she still she was prepared to talk about her favorite celebrities.

We continued talking about how to describe people and the word "strict" was a new word for many people. People described their friends, co-workers, and family members.

There is no homework for next week, but at end of class Chika asked why Friday the 13th was unlucky, so to find the answer read this. You might also want to learn about the history of Father's Day.

Chika and Misato were absent this evening and no one did a make up class, so it was a small class. After talking about the weekend we jumped into the new unit because there was no homework to check. In the new unit we are talking about celebrities. It seems that it was a new word for everyone. In the listening and reading there were a lot of good adjectives used to describe the celebrities and their works.

The grammar focus today was possessive pronouns and adjectives. You can do a practice exercise here.

The homework for next week is to write sentences using the information you got from your partner about their favorite singer, artist and so on.

We ended up with a lot of marks on the board today because there was more Japanese spoken than usual. I guess we will have to go to the 100 yen per word rule from next week.

The lesson finishing up the unit was about classroom English and there were a lot of good points remember. The one activity asking for the English name of the different items was a lot of fun. There were a couple items I thought you would know, but people didn't have any idea. Here is a link to some information about the stapler and why it might have its Japanese name. We also talked about this and I said it was called a monkey wrench, but I was wrong.

We had one person for a make up, but Hisami couldn't make it. She will probably do a make up class next week.

We talked about the weekend and then moved on to 2C (pp. 16 and 17). This lesson was about prepositions, singular, plural and possessives (one more here).

The homework for next week is to do the Vocabulary Notebook on page 20 and to look at the CD-ROM.

It was nice of Atsuya to print out the page about Mother's Day. Now you can study it a little more carefully when you have time.

I said for homework to come here and check for some drills and this one that I found here. I will keep looking for others, so check back later to see what I have found.

It was fun to hear more details about what you did during GW. It sounds as if everyone was able to relax a little during the break.

We worked with using the "be" verb with "he", "she" and "they" tonight. It isn't a difficult pattern, but it is one that people often make a mistake with. You can practice more here. If you go to main page of this site you find all kinds of drills.

I also promised that I would link to a site with information about the history of "Mother's Day" and why the carnation is associated with this day. You can read about it here and you can even take a quiz.

In this class we still haven't had full attendance. Hopefully, everyone can make it after the Golden Week break.

We practiced some conversation strategies for starting and ending conversations. At first people had some trouble, but by the end people had the hang of it. At the end of class we talked about people's plans for the break. Mitsu was the only person going very far. She said she will be spending a few days in Tokyo.

The homework for the break is to read my blog and post a comment to at least one of the days. Posting more than one comment is okay.

A new student joined us tonight and her name is Noe. That brings us up to seven students and I hope we will get a few more. Ayumi and Hisami, who were absent last week, we able to make it tonight. Atsuya was absent because his wife had a baby on Monday. He will be busy for the next several months and he will need to learn a lot special English to talk about babies.

I will put in information about the homework later, so please check back.

Well, I think we got off to a good start today. I wish everyone could have been here tonight, but I am sure they will be next week. We went over the way the class will be run and some important points about the textbook. You can read about how to install the CD-Rom in the book here. It is for the Step 3 book, but the set up is the same for book one.

The homework for next week is to do 2C on page 3 and the Vocabulary Notebook on page 10.

I was surprised to see Saki tonight because I thought she had left for Kyoto. There was a lot of homework to check because we didn't make it as far as I wanted the last class. After the homework we did a quick listening exercise that was kind of difficult. We had some time left at the end of class and you could ask any questions you wanted. Hiroko worked hard and asked a lot of different things.

I am sure all of you will study hard next term and continue to improve. I will be having a early class on Thursday, so I am sure we will bump into each other at JOY sometimes.

People arrived at the last minute today, so I thought we might have a small class at first. We ended up with everyone, but Masami and Saori. We talked about what people did last week on Thursday and the weekend. There was nothing extra special except Eri moved to a new townhouse.

We went over the homework and then did the last lesson. This lesson focused on the past particple and the simple past. There were a few problems, but I think you had things figured out by the end.

At the end of class there was talk of having a class party and I am sure it will be as fun as the last one. The last time it was difficult to find a day that everyone was free, but this time it might be much easier. I am sure you will be hearing from one of your classmates with more details.

Rika was absent today because her daughter had her elementary school graduation. It is nice that I will have a chance to see her tomorrow.

We talked about the weekends and everyone had pretty good ones except for Hiromi who was sick. She said she had the chills and stayed in bed all weekend. Ryoko mentioned she watched the baseball game last night and thought it was boring. I have to agree. I watched the last part and it seemed more like watching commercials with a little baseball in between.

We continued working with the past participle and past simple patterns. You did a good job and didn't make many mistakes

Today was the last class and Hiroe and Kaori were kind enough to bring us some cream puffs. You had a chance to meet Paul and speak with him a little. He will be taking over this class next term, but many of you will be moving up to Step 2 or to another day of the week. If you want to speak to Paul some more then come to the events next week.

I was very impressed today the way everyone got up and introduced themselves to Trish and Paul. You did a great job. Rika had some good news today. She found a new part-time job and she may even get to use some English!

We went over the homework and it took a little longer than I thought it would, but you did a good job with it. People couldn't really decide which city was the most dangerous, but there were several suggestions. At the end of class we were able to do the Find someone who activity and I was surprised that only Ryoko was the only person who had been to a fortune teller. I am sure there will be more surprises next week when I hear the sentences that you write as homework.

We had a very different class today because we had so many observers. There were three soon-to-be high school students and Trish, our new teacher. To check the homework today we split into two groups and asked the different questions, but it took much longer than I thought it would. We ended up not getting as far as I thought we would. We ended the class with the song The Best. We didn't have time to listen to it twice, but I think you caught the important parts.

The homework for next week is to do the grammar exercises (8A and B) on page 137. Also remember that Hiroko is going to come to Travel Around Night on Wed., March 26 to talk about her trip to New York. If you can, please try to come.

I thought we were going to have small class tonight, but we ended up with quite a few students. We went over the homework and the first part was pretty easy. It was the questions about Japan the caused some problems. There were some different answers for some of the questions. For example, for the longest river or the windiest place there were several different answers. I guess we need to search the net for the correct ones.

We moved on to Unit 9A and started working with the present perfect form and the listening exercise was pretty funny. The homework for next week can only be done by people who were because you need to use the information you got from your classmates. Write sentences about the people who said yes to the questions in #5 on p. 101. We will work more with this grammar pattern next week.

Well, Yukari is in Okinawa today, so we will see when we get the postcard. I am pretty sure that it will arrive before next class.

We had a few disagreements about the answers to Japan Quiz that you made. There were several different answers for the longest river and wettest place in Japan. There were basically two opinions about the best time to visit Japan. One group thought it was spring and the other fall. If they were just talking about Hokkaido I would say that fall is the best. I have never been to Honshu in the spring, so I can't really say much about it.

Next week is our last class and the homework is 9A on page 138.

This class was the last class to present their favorite dishes and I was surprised how few duplicates there were. I think the only dish that was mentioned twice was the oyakodonburi.

Today's lesson was about comparatives and we will talke about superlatives next week. . If you want to practice more you can go here and here.

There is some homework for next week. First do #3 on page 91 and then #5. For number five you need to write out the question and the answer. Remember that these questions are about Japan.

Monami wasn't here tonight, so we couldn't ask her how she felt the test went. She will learn the results next Monday, so she can let us know on Friday.

This class also had a variety of dishes. Yukari talked about potato salad and she said she used a dash of vinegar and Hiroe and I were surprised. I asked her why and she tried to explain the Japanese term. I think I understand what she wanted to say, but what she might want to say "mask the flavor".

Tonight's lesson was about comparatives and superlatives and there were a few problems. If you want to practice more you can go here and here.

The homework for next week is to do #3 on page 91 (also check for the answer) and #5 on page 91 (write out the questions and the answers). We will jump to Unit 9 next week.

Saki and Hisami were absent again tonight because Hisami had a cold. We were looking forward to congratulating Saki on her graduation. We had a lot of good laughs about a lot of different things tonight. Shinobu could hear us down in the office.

Tonight's lesson was about comparatives and superlatives and there were a few problems. If you want to practice more you can go here and here.

The homework for next week is to do #3 on page 91 (also check for the answer) and #5 on page 91 (write out the questions and the answers). We will jump to Unit 9 next week.

A small class again tonight, but this is a busy season, so I should expect it. Both Ayano and Hanaka had parties for friends who graduated last weekend. They even did something very similar. They went bowling and afterwards they had dinner at an all you can eat restaurant (smorgasbord).

The favorite dishes that people talked about were interesting and would be good things to bring to the pot luck dinner on the 28th. Ayano's choice of a chicken and egg bowl might be a little difficult to make for a lot of people.

Tonight's lesson was about comparatives and superlatives and there were a few problems. If you want to practice more you can go here and here.

The homework for next week is to do #3 on page 91 (also check for the answer) and #5 on page 91 (write out the questions and the answers). We will jump to Unit 9 next week.

It was the first time in a long time that all five people were here. Ryoko was in Kyoto last week and she said that it snowed three days.

We used the food diary that you kept to also use quantifiers and you can practice more here or here.

The homework for next week is to think of your favorite dish (to eat or make) and make a list of ingredients. Make sure that it has a lot of ingredients. You will share the information with your partner next week. We will do Lesson 8A & B next week.

A large class tonight because Hanaka and Masami from 1G joined us. Eri was the only person absent. Like all the other classes we went took extra time on the homework, but I think it was time well spent.

We used the food diary that you kept to also use quantifiers and you can practice more here or here.

The homework for next week is to think of your favorite dish (to eat or make) and make a list of ingredients. Make sure that it has a lot of ingredients. You will share the information with your partner next week.

A small class tonight and I am not sure why. Saki might be busy getting ready for graduation and Mai may have tests. It's too bad they weren't here because we got to hear some stories about Hiroko's trip to New York. Hopefully, she can come to the Travel Around Night, so that she can share them with even more people.

We spent a lot of time on the homework, but I think it is important to have a good understanding of the countable and uncountable nouns. We used the food diary that you kept to also use quantifiers and you can practice more here or here.

The homework for next week is to think of your favorite dish (to eat or make) and make a list of ingredients. You will share the information with your partner next week.

A small class tonight because I am sure Masami and Hanaka were home studying hard for their tests.

We spent a lot of time on the homework, but I think it is important to have a good understanding of the countable and uncountable nouns. We used the food diary that you kept to also use quantifiers and you can practice more here or here.

The homework for next week is to think of your favorite dish (to eat or make) and make a list of ingredients. You will share the information with your partner next week.

Ryoko is on a trip to Kyoto, but I wonder if the bad weather on Saturday delayed her flight? Yoshihiro used the new bridge out of Ikeda that opened on Saturday. He said it is really nice and wide, much better than the old one.

We went over the homework and there were some problems. You can read more about simple present and present continuous at the links. I think I linked to these (exercise 1 and exercise 2) last week, but if you haven't done them you should try to do them this time.

This morning we started the unit on countable and uncountable nouns. The main homework for next week is to keep a food diary. Also do 7A on page 135 and finish the food vocabulary on page p. 153. We may start 7B, but I may also jump to another unit.

Monami had her big test last Friday and she thinks she did okay. She will have another on March 5th. Until then I am sure she will be studying hard.

The homework went a little more smoothly in this class than the two classes last night even though there were some people who hadn't completed it. You can read more about simple present and present continuous at the links. I think I linked to these (exercise 1 and exercise 2) last week, but if you haven't done them you should try to do them this time.

We moved ahead, so that we can cover as much material as possible in the time we have left. Tonight we started the unit on countable and uncountable nouns. The main homework for next week is to keep a food diary. Also do 7A on page 135 and finish the food vocabulary on page p. 153.

We had two people doing make up classes today, Ryoko from Carlos' class and Eri from my 1G class. I was able to read Hiroko's postcard from New York to everyone. She was kind of embarrassed when I started, but she had addressed it to everyone.

The homework took a little longer than I expected because people were having trouble with the simple present and present continuous. I think I linked to these (exercise 1 and exercise 2) last week, but if you haven't done them you should try to do them this time.

We skipped ahead, so that we can cover as much material as possible in the time we have left. Tonight we started the unit on countable and uncountable nouns. The main homework for next week is to keep a food diary. You only need to record an item one time. Also do 7A on page 135 and finish the food vocabulary on page p. 153.

I was able to share the article about Fumiya that was in the newspaper last week. After class people were able to ask him a few more questions.

The homework took a little longer than I expected because people were having trouble with the simple present and present continuous. I think I linked to these (exercise 1 and exercise 2) last week, but if you haven't done them you should try to do them this time.

We skipped ahead, so that we can cover as much material as possible in the time we have left. Tonight we started the unit on countable and uncountable nouns. The main homework for next week is to keep a food diary. You only need to record an item one time. Also do 7A on page 135 and the food vocabulary on page p. 153.

Rika called just before class to say she wasn't feeling well and couldn't make it today. I hope she is feeling better soon.

We went over the homework and then practiced the present simple and present continuous and more practice is here. We did the reading about the London Eye and if you want to know more go here.

There is a lot of homework for next week. First look at 6D on page 133 and then the vocabulary on page 152 and finally do #4 on page 71.

Several people were gone this evening, so it was a small class. At least it was an even number so it made it easy to do pair work. Yukari and Kaori both went out of town on the weekend. Yukari visited a friend in Kushiro and Kaori did a day trip to see the ice floes in Abashiri.

We went over the homework and then practiced the present simple and present continuous and more practice is here. We did the reading about the London Eye and if you want to know more go here.

There is a lot of homework for next week. First look at 6D on page 133 and then the vocabulary on page 152 and finally do #4 on page 71. Also if you haven't look read this page, give it a try.

I was surprised that Hiroko was back tonight. I didn't think she was getting back from New York until today. I also thought that it was really cold in New York, but she said it was warm. Maybe we can hear more about her trip at Travel Around night in March.

Tonight we also welcomed Tomoko to the class and we are waiting for Yuzo to come back. I spoke to his mother and she said he won't be able to make in February, but will be back in March.

We went over the homework and then practiced the present simple and present continuous and more practice is here. We did the reading about the London Eye and if you want to know more go here.

There is a lot of homework for next week. First look at 6D on page 133 and then the vocabulary on page 152 and finally do #4 on page 71. Also if you haven't look read this page, give it a try.

There was good news for Masami tonight. She passed the written section of the Eiken test and she will be having the oral section in a week or so. Junichi was back after a three-week break. He said he went on a business trip to Kanazawa.

We went over the homework and then practiced the present simple and present continuous and more practice is here. We did the reading about the London Eye and if you want to know more go here.

There is a lot of homework for next week. First look at 6D on page 133 and then the vocabulary on page 152 and finally do #4 on page 71. Also if you haven't look read this page, give it a try.

This last week in all of my Step 1 classes we talked about good neighbors and pretty much everyone has good ones. This article is about bad ones and after reading it I am sure you will feel lucky.

Eri was the only person absent tonight and Hanaka was here from the 1G class. The homework went smoothly and we were able to move on to the lesson about neighbors and present continuous . It seems that Kaori was the only person who has neighbor troubles. The only other person who lives in an apartment is Maki. She said she greets her neighbors, but doesn't really talk to them.

The homework for next week is to do 6C exercises on page 133.

Hiroko is on her trip and I am really looking forward to hearing her stories when she gets back. Yuzo was also gone tonight, but we had an observer to even out the numbers. She might join this class from next week.

We went over the homework and then started talking about neighbors. It seems everyone has good neighbors in this class. The question I forgot to ask is if you are a good neighbor.

The homework for next week is to do the 6C exercises on page 133.

Junichi was gone again tonight and that makes two weeks in a row which is very unusual for him. I hope he hasn't caught that cold that is going around. Hanaka was on a school ski trip. Hopefully, she had a good time and avoided getting injured. Jun went ice fishing again last week and his son caught a 35 cm char. It was a battle with the little fishing pole and reel that are used in ice fishing.

We went over the homework and people had a tough time drawing pictures of their partner's room. There was also a little trouble with some of the prepositions. After that we talked about being good neighbors and Eri said her neighbors were very quite, almost too quite. She never hears anything from them.

The homework for next week is to the 6C exercises on page 133.

It was an interesting challenge for you to draw a picture of your partner's room based on the 10 sentences they wrote. Everyone wanted to help and point out the mistakes even though I said several times not to. After that exercise we talked about bad neighbors and in this class everyone has good neighbors and Yoshihiro even has some famous ones.

The grammar point today was the present continuous and for more practice you can go here.

A very quite weekend for most people. Kaori did go skiing in Tommamu and Yukari went to some concerts, but everyone else stayed home.

We quickly went over the homework and did the series of reading and listening exercises. They were a little difficult, but you did a good job with them. The homework for next week is to do 4A & B on page 67 and then do the Vocabulary and Speaking exercises on page 68.

Have a nice Groundhog's Day tomorrow.

Saki and Yuzo were absent tonight. I think Yuzo may have tests and Saki's mom said she had a cold. Both Hiroko and Yukari had new looks tonight. I noticed the difference in color with Yukari, but wasn't so sure with Hiroko.

We started by practicing the prepositions and then listened to both parts of the ghost story. Hiroko said she had experienced seeing two ghosts in her room. I didn't ask her when this happened. If it was something recently or a long time ago.

There is a lot of homework for next week. First you need to write nine sentences about a room in your house. Next you should do the 6B grammar exercises on pp. 132-133. Finally, read the exercise on page 68. Hiroko has special homework to send a postcard from New York. Remember that next week you can sign up for classes and if you have any questions about the evaluation that I gave you please e-mail me or talk to me after class.

Eri was here early tonight. I was surprised because she was sitting in Bucky Hall with Masami 10 minutes before class started. She said that her car was in the repair shop and someone dropped her off. It didn't sound like she had been in an accident.

We went over the the prepositions again and then listened to the second part of the ghost story. It was difficult, so I wasn't surprised that we had to listen to it several times. The ending wasn't very surprising, except only Hanaka thought it would be interesting to stay at that hotel.

There is a lot of homework for next week. First you need to write nine sentences about a room in your house. Next you should do the 6B grammar exercises on pp. 132-133. Finally, read the exercise on page 68. Remember that next week you can sign up for classes and if you have any questions about the evaluation that I gave you please e-mail me or talk to me after class.

Everyone was here today, plus a student from one of the evening Baisc classes doing a make up. We had an even number which made it much easier to do several of the exercises.

Hiromi and Rika both watched SmapSmap last week after Yoshihiro mentioned that they would having a petanque. After watching the show Hiromi still wasn't too sure about the rules. She will have to go to one of Yoshihiro's match and get a lesson.

We finished up Lesson 6B and the homework for next week is to write 10 sentences about a room in your house. Try to use all the prepositions that are on page 66 1A also do the reading and vocabulary exercise on page 68 A & B.

Fumiya from Step 1G joined us tonight and the reason he missed class last night was because he was working on this project. The only person absent tonight was Yukari and I am sure she will do a make up class sometime next week.

I don't why but in this class too the homework check took longer than I thought it would. My timing has been of all week for some reason. If you want to do more work with the prepositions of location you can go here. The homework is to write nine sentences using the pictures in the book and the prepositions that we used. Also don't look at the reading. We will start with that next week.

Yuzo was the only person absent tonight and I am not sure if it was because of the snow or tests at school. Hiroko will be making her trip to New York soon. She had planned to go last year, but there was some trouble with hotel reservations, so she couldn't go.

The homework went smoothly and we started to work on the prepositions of location, but we couldn't make it to the reading 2nd reading exercise I had planned.

The homework for next week is to write nine sentences using the prepositions in the book.

Fumiya and Junichi were gone tonight. We went over the homework and it took a little longer than I thought it would. We did the work with prepositions of location and the reading exercise.

Well, we went over the homework, but I think the hardest part for this class was not looking at the next lesson. Everyone in this class likes to look ahead and be prepared. This time I asked you not to look at the next lesson because I wanted to do a speed reading exercise. You did pretty well with it and were able to answer the questions.

We worked with prepositions of location and you can do more practice here.

The reading is about a haunted hotel and a skeptical journalist. What do you think? Does Stephen see a ghost? We will find out next week.

Tonight Yukari and Kaori had already heard the listening exercises because they had done make up classes earlier in the week. While the rest of the class did those they had a special word search to work on. If you would like to try them let me know and I will make a copy for you.

We started Unit 6 which is about housing and the types of things you will find in a house. There was the one ad for a house and in this class almost everyone was interested in it. This link will take you to some listings for houses and apartments in the Minneapolis, Minnesota area (similar climate to Hokkaido). See if you can find one you like and we can talk about them at the beginning of class next week.

There is a lot of homework for next week and Yukari and Kaori did a good job in explaining it to everyone. Start with p. 151 1 & 2 and the go to pages 132-33 and do 6A A & B on singular and plural and finally do #5 on page 65. Also don't look ahead to the next Lesson 6B because we want to do the reading in class.

Everyone was here tonight and we had Kaori from 1I on Friday night. She told us a little bit about her trip to Australia. Hopefully, she will come to Travel Around Night at the end of the term and share more information about her trip. In the warm up exercise we heard the good news that Hiroko just bought a condo. She is really excited about it. I am sure she will have fun shopping for furniture and decorating it in the coming months. I think she said she will be moving in in March.

We started Unit 6 which is about housing and the types of things you will find in a house. There was the one ad for a house and in this class almost everyone was interested in it. This link will take you to some listings for houses and apartments in the Minneapolis, Minnesota area (similar climate to Hokkaido). See if you can find one you like. Hiroko can see if she got a good deal or not.

There is a lot of homework for next week. Start with p. 151 1 & 2 and the go to pages 132-33 and do 6A A & B on singular and plural and finally do #5 on page 65. Also don't look ahead to the next Lesson 6B because we want to do the reading in class.

Almost a full house tonight and only Ayano and Kazuo were absent. Ayano and Junichi were lucky because they won prizes in the attendance lottery.

It sounds like the cold I had is still going around, both Junichi and Jun were sick over the weekend. It was extra hard on Jun because he was home alone. His wife and kids were still in Tokyo and then didn't get back until recently.

We started Unit 6 which is about housing and the types of things you will find in a house. There was the one ad for a house and in this class very few people were interested in it. This link will take you to some listings for houses and apartments in the Minneapolis, Minnesota area (similar climate to Hokkaido). See if you can find one you like. Maybe this will give Fumiya some ideas for his apartment hunt.

There is a lot of homework for next week. Start with p. 151 1 & 2 and the go to pages 132-33 and do 6A A & B on singular and plural and finally do #5 on page 65. Also don't look ahead to the next Lesson 6B because we want to do the reading in class.

Yukari from the 1I class on Friday night joined us for a make up class today. It was the first time for her to come to this class. People were happy because that way no one had to be my partner for the warm up activity.

There was no homework to check so we jumped right into Unit 6. This unit is about housing and items we can find in different rooms. There were also some good listening exercises today. There is a lot of homework for next week. First look at the vocbulary on p. 151 and then the grammar exercises on pages 132-33, next do #5 on page 65. Remember also not to look at Lesson 6B. We want to do the reading in class.

A small turnout and because I was absent for the last class of the year I didn't give this class homework. Hiroe had done a make up class in the Thursday 1H class last year, so she did know about the homework. We went through the review lesson in class. The exercises didn't give people much trouble, but in the reading the bit of sarcasm through everyone in all the classes.

There is no homework for next week. We will start Unit 6.

In this class Hiroko and Yukari both traveled over the break. Hiroko went to Tokyo and Yukari to Sapporo. Hiroko said she went to Ginza and it was packed. Yukari was able to get some good deals at the sales in Sapporo.

We went over the homework and talked about New Year's Resolutions. There were some very good ones and I hope that everyone can keep them.

There is no homework for next week.

It too bad that some people were absent tonight because you missed out on the attendance lottery and handmade udon noodles from Junichi.

Junichi told us about his trip to Niseko and his chance to speak English with some Australians. Jun went to Tomakomai to visit his in-laws and the other people stayed in Tokachi.

We went over the homework, but didn't start a new unit. There is no homework for next week and we will start Unit 6.

People had pretty quiet vacations. Ryoko did have some health trouble and Hiromi had a relative who fell and broke her hip. Rika also quit her part-time job because of some problems with one of her co-workers.

Today we went over the homework and there were a few places where people had the wrong answers, but on the whole everything was okay. We talked about New Year's Resolutions and everyone wants to improve their English this year, but Hiromi was the only one who said she wanted to pass the Eiken test. I am sure she will be able to do it this year.

There is no homework for next week, but remember we do have class next week even though it is a national holiday.

Tonight we had a couple of people doing make ups and I presented Yoshihito with his prize for getting matching all the answers for the JOY Big 5 News. From this class only Hisami and Saki came to the party, and they enjoyed talking with the JICA people.

A couple of people guessed the murderer, but the reason wasn't exactly the same. If you liked that mystery you should look through the graded-reader library and see if you can find some like it.

The homework for winter vacation is the review unit.

I am sure were surprised when Urashima-san showed up to teach the class tonight, but I am sure he told that I had to help with a wake and a funeral in my neighborhood.

When I told Urashima-san what we were doing in class I forgot to tell him about the homework for winter vacation. You need to do the review unit and if you meet anyone in the class please pass on the information, just in case they don't check the blog.

Everyone was wondering what happened to Masami when we found her mother waiting for her after class. It turns out she fell asleep after school and didn't wake up in time for class. I guess she will just have to quit studying English so late into the night. ;)

We learned the identity of the murderer and no one guessed correctly, but I will admit that the story didn't give us very many clues.

The homework for winter vacation is to do the review unit. We will also talk a lot about your winter vacation.

There were a lot of good guesses and Hiromi came the closet to having the correct answer. I won't say too much else here because the other Step 1 classes haven't heard the ending yet.

The new lesson was a shopping conversation. We talked about the types of the things you might find in a gift shop and of course, there is a big difference between the States and Japan. I mentioned that some people might buy thimbles and this site gives some good information on the hobby. This link will take you to a site about spoons.

The winter vacation homework is to do pp. 62-63, but skip the Can you Hear the Difference part.

Saori and Masami from the 1G class joined us tonight. Masami had a special challenge tonight. If she spoke any Japanese she had to pay me 100 yen for everyword., but she went the whole class without saying a word of Japanese. I knew she could do it. I am sure she can do the same thing next week, too.

The murder mystery listening exercise has been difficult for every class. We will hear the ending next week, so don't miss class. Make your guesses about who the murderer is and why you think it is that person. The rest of the homework is 1D and 2A and B on page 59.

It was a class of high school students at first today, but the other students all arrived a few minutes later. Mai said she was really sick last week and still wasn't 100% yet. After class I heard from Yoshihito that next week will be his last class because he is being transferred to Chiba over the holidays. He will be very busy in the coming weeks.

It took us a little longer to go over the homework than I had planned, but I think it was good review of last week's lesson. After questioning your partner about a recent night out or day out we moved on to the murder mystery. Like the earlier class it took several listenings to get all the information from the interviews. You will need that information to pick out the murderer. You need to also say why you think it is that person. Finally, do parts 1D & 2B on page 59 for the rest of the homework.

Well, Eri was back tonight. She said she was sick last week, so she stayed home all weekend. Fumiya had a party and they went to karaoke, but he didn't sing any English songs. Last week after class Jun took pictures of JOY's Christmas tree, but they didn't turn out very well. He tried again after class, so maybe he will post a link in the comments.

We went over the homework and then started on the murder mystery. We had to listen to the interviews with the different suspects several times. Using the information from the interviews you need to decide who the murderer is and why you think it is that person. Also study the irregular verbs on 154.

Update: I forgot to tell everyone about Hanaka's good news. She got 100% on her last English test at school. Congratulations Hanaka!

Ryoko had a busy morning. She came directly from a hot spring hotel. She had a end-of-year party with a group she belongs to. She said she also went to a senior citizen's group home to do the tea ceremony on Saturday. Everyone else had very quite weekends. Yoshihiro was sick so he stayed home all last week. No postcard from Noboru yet, but I am sure he is very busy. I guess we will need to wait until he gets back before we can hear about his trip.

We went over the homework and did the listening exercise. This class thought the one reading was about Rio, but it turned out you were wrong. It was Moscow and the listening today was about Rio. We also looked at the pronunciation of did you in the questions. After that we started the new lesson and did the listening about the murder mystery. We will find out the ending next week. The homework for next week is to think about who the murderer is and why.

Sorry, it has take me sometime to get things posted about he class, but I have been busy trying to get the blog back working correctly. I think things are almost back to normal, but there is still a ways to go.

Maki was absent tonight because she took Urashima-san's special workshop about how to use his new book. She did a make up class in the 2nd Step 1 class. We went over the homework which was about the past tense of regular verbs. The new lesson was about http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/330/grammar/irpast.htm. We read the article about the women who went out with their friends and then did several activities related to it. We will start with the listening exercise related to this article next week.

The homework for next week is to do the Grammar Bank 5C on page 57 and don't look ahead to the next lesson.