Recently in Step 1 Category

There was a large class in the early Step 1 and a small on here. Yuzo and Mai were absent because I am sure they are both studying hard for tests. Speaking of tests, Saki had good news about the test she took for the university in Kyoto. Congratulations! Yukari also had good news because she was able to get train tickets to Sapporo on January 2nd.

We went over the homework which was about the past tense of regular verbs. The new lesson was about the past tense of irregular verbs. 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.

We had a large class tonight. Kazuo joined as a new student, but we also had two people from Carlos' 1C class here for make ups. This room is pretty tight when we get nine people in it. We went over the homework which was about the past tense of regular verbs. The new lesson was about the past tense of irregular verbs. We read the article about the women who went out with their friends and then did several activities related to it. The listening exercise gave people some trouble, but by the third listening everyone understood the key points.

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

Well, I can start posting again now that things are working correctly. In this class there were some interesting statues, but Rika was the only person that did an animal. She talked about the Banei horse that they have the airport. Yoshihiro talked about the statue of his favorite enka singer and everyone else had famous historical figures.

We went over the homework about the simple past tense and talked about the pronunciation of the ed endings. We them moved on to Lesson 5C and the reading exercise. In this lesson we looked at irregular verbs. There is a lot of homework for next week. First, you need to do the Vocabulary Bank on page 150, then the grammar exercise on page 57 and finally the Grammar Bank exercise on page 130 and 131.

People were surprised that I had gone to Shimane and like the other classes people had to stop and think about where Shimane is located. I liked the questions you asked and I hope I my answers might get you to think about visiting Shimane someday.

We continued on with the simple past tense and did the reading about the two Sydneys. The information in the book made it sound like there wasn't much to do there, but this site shows it might be an interesting place to visit.

The homework for next week is 5B on pages 130-31.

In this class too the high school students were absent because of test prep. There were a lot of good questions about my trip and people were surprised that it was for my 23rd wedding anniversary. For this class three out of the four students picked the statue of William Clark to write about. Hisami wrote about the statue of a Buddhist monk that is at a temple in Shimizu.

Going over the simple past went smoothly, but there were a few problems with making the questions in 2B on page 55. The homework for next week is 5B on pages 130-31. We will do more with this grammar pattern next week.

A small class tonight. I imagine that Ayano and Masami are studying for tests like most of the other high school students. I am sure they will be back next week. People asked a lot of good questions about my trip and for the people who were absent you can find out the answers from your classmates next week.

We went over the other part of the homework and then started the new lesson. We continued working with the simple past tense and regular verbs. The story about the two Sydneys was pretty funny; as long as it didn't happen to you.

The homework for next week is 5B on pages 130-31.

Keiko was back today and we learned that she had also taken a trip. She went to Gaum with a friend for four nights. Noboru is in England now and I hope that everything is going smoothly. Maybe he will take a look at the blog and post a comment to let us know how he is doing.

I got the homework confused a little today. I thought I gave this the same homework as the other Step 1 classes, but we didn't make it as far in the book as the others. Your homework is to write about a statue in Obihiro, Tokachi or Hokkaido. Use the writings in the book as an example.

The other part of the homework is to do 5B on pages 130 and 131.

After class today Ryoko served us Japanese green tea and sweets. It was very good and the tea bowls were very beautiful.

Today was Noboru's last class. He leaves for England the day after tomorrow. He is excited, but also a little nervous. Hiromi brought some food and we had a small party the last ten minutes of class.

In the lesson today we did a listening about Mt. Rushmore and talked about George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt. In the listening about Thomas Jefferson there was a mistake about the Louisiana Purchase.

The homework for next week is to think of five questions to ask about the trip that I am going on this weekend.

Monami was very sleepy tonight. She said she only got 6 hours of sleep last night. Eri was back from her school trip. She had a good time, but she was very busy so she couldn't send a postcard. She also said she didn't like the cockroaches in Okinawa.

The listening exercise was about Mt. Rushmore. I went there once when I was a child, but I really don't remember all that much about it, except the size. The Alfred Hitchcock movie North by Northwest has a scene at the monument.

The homework for next week is think of a statue in Obihiro, Tokachi, or Hokkaido and write a paragraph about it like the one in the book. Also do #5 on the same page. Finally, think of five questions to ask me about my trip.

Today was the first time this semester that we have had everyone here. Hopefully, that will happen more often from now on. I was mistaken about Saki and Hisami's trip to Kyoto. I thought they were going to be gone this week, but it was last weekend that they went. Hisami said the autumn colors were very beautiful.

The lesson today included a little bit of history and geography. The reading exercise was a little bit easier if you knew who the people were and what country the cities were in. The homework for next class is to find the statue of a person in Obihiro, Tokachi or Hokkaido and write a paragraph like the one in the book. Also prepare 5 questions to ask me about my trip.

Remember there is no class next week.

It is that time of year where people are changing their tires or having their tires changed. Eri said she changed her tires, but actually she had her tires changed at the gas station. Both Ayano and Jun forgot their special homework for this week, so I am sure they will post the answers to my questions in the comments.

Today's lesson included a little bit of history and geography. The reading exercise was a little bit easier if you knew who the people were and what country the cities were in. The homework for next class is to find the statue of a person in Obihiro, Tokachi or Hokkaido and write a paragraph like the one in the book. Also prepare 5 questions to ask me about my trip.

Remember there is no class next week.

Keiko was absent today because she has a cold and she will also be absent next week. Ryoko said she will also be absent next week. It will be a small class and next week will also be Noboru's last class before he goes to England.

People read their descriptions and they were a little different from other classes. There was about a grandson, a cat a classmate and a famous singer. People had a little trouble coming up with two questions.

We went through the review pages and this class like all the other Step 1s that did the review read the "I hate doing housework." as "I hate doing homework." I guess I know everyone's true feelings about homework now, but that won't stop me from giving you more. The homework for next week is to do 2a on page 52 and 5A a and b on pages 130-01.

The review lesson went pretty smoothly, but we didn't make into the next unit like I had planned. We will start that next week. The homework is from that unit though. I would like you to do 2a on page 52 and 5A on pages 130-31.

Saki was absent tonight because she is getting ready for a big test. I am sure she will do okay. Next week she and her mom will be absent because they are going to Kyoto.

We spent more time talking about the weekend because people had a lot to talk about this week. In the talk the Japanese dish nabe came up and people weren't sure how to explain it in English at first. With some work you came up with a pretty good explanation. This site has a a description that might help you next time.

We didn't make it as far as in the book as the earlier class, but the homework is the same. Do #2A on page 52 and 5A a and b on page 131.

A few people were absent today, but a couple of them may come to the class on Friday.

The description of your friends were very good and the follow up questions you asked were good also. At first you had a little bit of trouble thinking of questions, but the questions you came up with showed that you were listening.

We spent most of the class going over the review unit. The review units in this book are pretty good and it is a good way to find out what you need to work a little more on. At the end of class we had time to do one listening from Unit 5. It was about Mt. Rushmore. As I said in class I went there once when I was a child, but I really don't remember all that much about it, except the size. The Alfred Hitchcock movie North by Northwest has a scene at the monument.

The homework for next week is to #2A on page 52 and then the exercises 5A a and b on page 131.

Yoshihiro was absent today. When I spoke to him at English Expo he said he had a slight cold, so it must have gotten worse. Ryoko said her husband has also been sick. My wife has had a bad cough for a week. Be careful, this time of the year it is easy to catch something.

We went over the homework, but to answer the questions everyone had to look back at the text. Maybe we will need to do a little bit more reading comprehension practice. After the homework we started the lesson on clothes and shopping. I mentioned that there were many different names for clothes depending on which English speaking country you are in. This is an interesting site. I also mentioned that Noboru's cap was called a stocking cap in American English, but a tuque in Canada. I also suggested that if you want to know the English names of different types of clothing a good place to go would be an online catalog.

The homework for next week is to write a description of a friend. Use the one in the book as an example.

Monami wasn't too sad about the Ham Fighters losing the Nihon Series. She has hope for next year even though it looks like they are already making changes to the roster and coaching staff.

The postcard that Hiroe sent hasn't arrived yet. I will look around on my desk again, but I don't remember getting it. I did get a postcard from another student who went to Thailand last week.

We ran out of time, so we didn't have a chance to practice the conversation very much. We will do a little more with it at the beginning of class next week. The homework for next week is to write a description of a close friend. Use the the one in the book as an example.

Mai was back from her school trip and her postcard arrived earlier in the week. She had a really good time and liked the night view in Kobe.

We went over the homework and the homework for next week is related to this. You need to write a description of a friend. Use the one in the book as an example.

We did the listening exercise using the song Unchained Melody. It wasn't too difficult because the song is fairly slow. After that we started the exercise about clothes shopping. We talked about the different pronunciation of words and how they can cause some trouble. There is also a difference in clothing names between the different types of English.

We also did a listening exercise with the shopping conversation and the high school kids, like in the earlier class, didn't understand that American Express was a credit card, but the adults got it right away.

Ayano was back from her school trip and she hand delivered her postcard. She had a really good time.

We went over the homework and the homework for next week is related to this. You need to write a description of a friend. Use the one in the book as an example.

We did the listening exercise using the song Unchained Melody. It wasn't too difficult because the song is fairly slow. After that we started the exercise about clothes shopping. We talked about the different pronunciation of words and how they can cause some trouble. There is also a difference in clothing names between the different types of English.

We also did a listening exercise with the shopping conversation and the high school kids didn't understand that American Express was a credit card, but the adults got it right away.

Hiromi is on a trip to Tokyo, so we just had five people today. Keiko was back after a two weeks. She has been in Sapporo taking care of some family matters. Rika has been busy with her new part-time job, so she has been spending her weekends working.

We went over the homework, but people weren't too sure about their answers. I think Keiko has seen most of the movies that were on the list. We moved on to the next unit and talked about possessive pronouns and if you want to do more go here.

The homework for next week is to the exercises on page 49.

We had a large class tonight because everyone was here, plus Jun and Saori from the 7:00 class on Thursday. For Saori it was pretty much a repeat of last night's lesson.

Hiroe enjoyed Thailand and spoke English a little while she was there. She said she sent a postcard, but it hasn't arrived yet. It will probably get here this weekend.

The homework for next week is to do exercises a,b and c on page 49. We will also do more with possessive pronouns at the beginning of class next week. If you want to practice before class go here.

Yuzo was back after a two week break and Mai was gone this evening because she is on her school trip. She was supposed to send a postcard, but it sounds like she didn't do it. We will see if Mana can find time to send one next week when she goes on her school trip.

We went over the homework and talked about the movies. If you want to read more about them the best place to go is imd.com. You might even be able to find some movie trailer's to watch.

We moved on to the topic of music tonight and the grammar focus was possessive pronouns. To do a little more practice you can go here.

Jun was absent tonight and I was hoping to find out how the cheese fondue was that had on the weekend. Maybe he will do a substitution on Friday. Saori was back after missing a few classes. She said she couldn't do anything on the weekend because her husband had a backache.

We went over the homework and talked about the movies. If you want to read more about them, the best place to go is imd.com. You might even be able to find some movie trailer's to watch.

We moved on to the topic of music tonight and the grammar focus was possessive pronouns. To do a little more practice you can go here.

The countdown has begun for Nobru. He will be leaving for England in a few weeks. I think he is getting a little nervous, but I am sure he will be okay.

Keiko and Ryoko were both absent today. I believe that Ryoko was in Sapporo, but I don't remember Keiko saying she was going anywhere special. Hiromi did say that she will be absent next week because she is going to Tokyo.

We went over the homework and one part went pretty quickly because most peopled answer "no". We moved on to the next lesson and worked with object pronouns. To do more practice you can go here.

The homework for next week is to do the reading on page 44. Remember don't use a dictionary.

Yukari and Maki were absent this evening, but Yuichi, a new student, joined us for the first time. We went over the homework and there were a lot students in this class who answered with, "No, I don't."

In the speaking activity we did there was a generation gap between Eri and Hiroe. They didn't know much about the actors or pop groups that the other person mentioned. When Hiroe mentioned John Lennon Eri got a puzzled look on her face.

Tomorrow is Eri's birthday, so she is going to have a special lunch. Hiroe is going to Thailand for four nights. She will be in Bangkok. Of course, her homework is to send a postcard.

We had two people doing make up classes today. Mana has been here several times, but it was the first time for Masanao. We had an uneven number this week, so we had to have a group of three for many activities. The group of Mana, Mai and Hiroko had a little trouble each time deciding on what order they were going to ask and answer the questions. It made me laugh a few times. Hiroko seemed to get a kick out of it, too.

We started the new unit and in this class only one person knew most of the movies which surprised me. The early class was much the same. There was only one person who had heard of any of the movies. I didn't think they were that old and all of them were pretty famous.

If you want to do more work with object pronouns, go here.
The homework for next week is to do the grammar exercises on page 128 (4C) and the reading exercise on page 43. Make sure to do abc and d. Remember don't use your dictionaries. I am sure Mai will also remember to send a postcard from her school trip.

I really enjoyed the dinner on Monday, but next time I will have to be stricter about speaking Japanese. It is too bad that Ayano wasn't feeling well and couldn't join us.

We went over the homework and people did a much better job with the verb phrases on page 149 this week. After that we moved on to the new unit and focused on object pronouns. You can do more practice here. In the speaking exercise I thought there might be more of a generation gap because of the age differences, but it seems like it was okay. The homework for next week is the reading exercise on page 43. Do exercises abc and d.

I was partners with Hiromi today. It has been a long time since I have been her partner and she didn't seem too nervous.

We went over the homework and I gave you the short listening quiz. You did pretty well, but you could hear the difference the American and British pronunciations. After that we looked at using "like + verb + ing". People didn't have too much trouble with it. Next week do pages 128-29 4B and number 5 on page 43 for homework.

Yoshihiro gave us some tasty sweets from Hiroshima at the end of class. I had one with my afternoon tea today.

Hiroe and Eri were both gone this evening, but Fumiya was here from the 1G class. Yukari was back and she enjoyed her trip, but she was too busy to send a postcard.

We talked about likes and dislikes related to shopping. In this class everyone seemed to like shopping. You didn't have any trouble guessing my favorite kind of store.

The homework for next week is to #5 on page 43. Remember to think of the follow up question.

Remember if you watch the Ham Fighters game tomorrow, look for Monami in left field. She will be wearing a green t-shirt and the BB hair

Update:
I watched part of the game, but I didn't see Monami. Too bad the lost the game on Sunday.

Everyone was here except for Yuzo. He is on a Science Club trip to Muroran and next week he has a Photography Club trip to Wakkanai. He is a really busy guy. At 8:30 Mai was still the only student and she was really worried that no one else was coming, but then four people showed up at once and she got a big smile on her face.

We talked about shopping and people's likes and dislikes. The women in the class were surprised that Yoshihito didn't mind shopping with his family. To be honest, I don't enjoy shopping for clothes with my wife. Yukari said she can spend all day shopping for clothes. I can usually get my clothes shopping done in less than hour. I usually know what I want, so I go in and get it and get out.

The homework for next week is to practice the verb phrases on page 149 and #5 on page 43.

We had one observer this evening and I think she enjoyed the class. We talked about shopping and Jun, Junichi and I have similar shopping tastes. The high school students all said they hate shopping with their families.

The homework for next week is to practice the verb phases on page 149 again and do #5 on page 43.

Megumi didn't sign up for this class this term, but everyone else is back. Yukari wasn't here tonight, but she did a make up class earlier in the week. Monami had a great time at her school festival and her class won several events.

We went over can and can't and you learned a lot about your classmates. I think this class had more creative people than the other Step 1s.

The homework for next week is to p. 128-29 (4A) and p 149.

Yoshihito and Saki were absent this evening. We don't have any new students joining us this term. At the beginning of class I talked about the events we had last week and said no one from this class attended, but I was wrong. Saki did come to English cooking. She was in Joe's group and they made pumpkin pie. You can ask her more about it next week.

Like the other Step 1 classes this week we used can and can't. We discovered this class has no dancers or guitar players, but there are several singers. Also I think everyone said that they can program a video recorder.

The homework for next week is to do p.128 (4A) and p. 149. We will check them at the beginning of class next week.

Only one person who didn't come back this term. We may still get a new person or two as we move into the new semester. We practiced using can and can't today. There wasn't too much trouble using the pattern, but catching if someone had said can or can't was a small problem.

The homework for next week is to do p. 128 (4A) and p. 149.

Jun is going salmon fishing this weekend. Maybe he will post a link to some pictures of the fish he catches.

Everyone was back for the new term, but of course, Noboru will be going to Britain in November for a month. He said he is making progress in completing his preparations. Keiko had a good time in Hawaii and used English a little. She did get to use the line we learned in the coffee shop conversation.

We started the new unit and looked at using can and can't. You can get some more practice here. It covers some areas we didn't talk about in class, but I think you can figure it out.

Remember we don't have class next week and the homework is to do the exercises on pages (4A) 129 and (Verb phrases) 149.

This class was another one that had very good attendance. I think this class had four people with perfect attendance, but not many others with only one absence. I think almost everyone is planning to continue in this class, so there is a chance everyone can have perfect attendance next time.

I know I will see some of you at the events next week and if not next week I will see you in October.

This class started out with only a few students and we kept getting new people throughout the semester. The final number we ended up with was eight. In this class Yukari and Hiroko both had perfect attendance. Yuzo was close, but missed a couple of times. Mai did a lot of substitution classes, but not enough to get perfect attendance.

There are no classes next week, but I hope that some of you will come to the events.

Everyone felt that there was a lot of homework this week, but almost everyone had it done before class. There were a few places that people had trouble with, but on the whole you did a good job.

This class has improved a lot since April and if you keep studying hard you will improve even more in the next six months. This class also had the most students with perfect attendance.

I hope to see some of you at the events next week.

Everyone made it for the last class and everyone had done the homework also. There were a few places people had trouble, but on the whole everything was okay. The sequencers gave people some trouble and they were able to see how a mistake can lead to a communication breakdown.

For the next long weekend only Keiko and Ryoko are busy. Keiko is going to Hawaii and Ryoko is going to Sendai. The other people have nothing special planned. I hope some of you can come to the events we have planned for next week. If you I don't see you at one of them, I will see you on October 1st.

Monami was really tired this evening and Kaori and Saori had already done most of the lesson in doing make up classes earlier in the week. Luckily, I knew that would be the case so I could prepare something different for them to do.

We practiced the coffee shop conversation and Hiroe did a really good job. Everyone did much better than last week.

The reading wasn't too difficult and then you had a chance to interview your partners. I hope that you took good notes because you have to write four paragraphs like the ones in the book about your partner's favorite day.

All of our high school students were absent tonight. I guess everyone must have tests. I am sure they will be back for our last class next week.

Hiroko told us a little more about the cancelation of her trip to New York. It sounds like she might try to go in February. It can be pretty cold in New York that time of year.

We went over the coffee shop conversation again, but we need to work on doing it without looking directly at the book If we have time next week maybe we can practice it again. The homework for next week is to write four paragraphs about your partner's favorite day using the information you got from them in class. Also do the review exercises on pages 38 and 39. Remember no dictionaries for the reading on page 39.

It was nice to have Saori back tonight after a two-week break. She said she has been very busy at her office. We practiced the coffee shop conversations again and then had a contest to see which pair could do it the best. The winners were Fumiya and Eri, but Masami and Takemi were close because of Masami's little ad lib.

After that we did the reading and in the practice exercises there was a question about when to use "and" and when to use "or". There was an example in the reading, but many people missed it. I promised that I would put a link for an easy explanation, but I can't find one. Remind me to explain in class. You can probably find the answer yourself if you look at the reading again.

There is a lot of homework for next week. First you need to write four paragraphs about your partner's favorite day using the information you got from them in class. After that you need to do the review exercises on pages 38-39. For the reading on page 39 remember you aren't supposed to use your dictionary.

Noboru and Yoshihiro were both back today. Yoshihiro had a good trip to Penticton, Canada. It sounds like it was a very busy schedule. Noboru's presentation went well at the vet conference in Sapporo. His schedule also sounded tough, but it was more for the after conference activities.

I was happy to hear that Keiko's favorite day of week is Monday. She said she likes Mondays because she has English class then. The favorite seasons were well balanced, but nobody mentioned winter. In some of the other Step 1 classes a few people mentioned winter as their favorite season.

We worked with the coffee shop conversation and this class had more espresso drinkers than any other class. I am still looking for a really good espresso in Obihiro, so tell me the name a place, if you know of one.

The homework for next week is to do the review exercises on pages 38 and 39. Also don't do the reading on page 37 because we will do it in class.

Monami was absent today and I think it was because she has tests next week. We went over the homework and learned about people's farvorites. Kaori was absent and I am interested in hearing her ideas. I will try to remember to ask her next week. Remind me if I forget.

We will continue to practice the coffee shop conversation and a few other things at the beginning of class next week. The homework for next week is not to read the article in the next lesson.

Saki was back today and she said she was okay after her accident last week. She was in an article in Chai about sweets and she said she liked strawberry parfaits. Saki also said that she saw one of Yuzo's photos at an exhibition in Tokachi Plaza. The exhibition is over now, so we can't see it ourselves. Hopefully, the next time he has a photo in exhibition he will let us know, so we can see it.

We went over the homework and this class has a few people who enjoy the morning. Hiroko didn't have any public holidays that she liked because she always has to work those days.

The coffee shop conversation should be useful for Hiroko when she goes to New York this fall. We will practice this more next week because it needs to be a little smoother and the clerk needs to listen to the customer more carefully. One of the items on the menu for the coffee shop was a brownie. You can read about them here and see a photo.

There is no homework for next week.

There weren't too many surprising answers for people's favorites. Most everyone liked the weekends and the holiday times. It was in the times of day that there was the most variation. I don't remember hearing too many people say that morning was their favorite.

We practiced the coffee shop conversation and listening exercises. We will practice that some more next week. We will do a conversation for a restaurant later in the book.

There is no homework for next week, but if you want a chance to win the comment contest you should start posting comments soon.

It was a fairly small class tonight. Masami from the Thursday Step 1 did a make up class, but I thought we might have a few others. We went over the time expressions and talked about people's favorite times of the day, seasons, days of the week and so on. The homework for next week is to answer the questions in the reading on page 35. The important part of is to think why.

Mai, Yuzo and Saki were all absent tonight because they have tests coming up. Saki's mother said that on the weekend Saki was hit by a car while she was riding her bike. Saki was okay, but she did hurt her ankle, so they went to the hospital. They were at the hospital for about 4 hours.

We went over the homework and talked about when people do different things and what time they do other things. We also listened to two people talk about their favorite times, days of the week, season, public holidays and so on. The homework for next week is to answer those questions for yourself. Remember to answer why.

Quite a few people were absent tonight. Toshiya was working on a special project and the high school students (except for Hanaka) have tests coming up. We went over the books that I forgot to ask about last week. Jun and Fumiya both disliked theirs and Jun-ichi was disappointed with his because it was different than the titled implied. Eri liked hers and thought it was okay.

We went over the other homework and then diid the listening exercise. The people talked about their favorite times of the day, week, seasons, and public holidays. The homework for next week is to answer those questions for yourself. The key point is to say why.

Everyone was back today and it sounds like most people had busy weekends. Noboru had to work, but had half a day off on Sunday. He used the time to play with radio controlled cars with his son. Ryoko helped out with a charity bazaar and she said they made about 100,000 yen! She said most of items were only 100 or 200 yen.

We went over the reading about life in Okinawa and did the questionnaire. Keiko and Hiromi both lead a Okinawan lifestyle. They are the only two people out of all the Step 1 classes that I teach.

We continued talking about time expressions and months of the year. There is a lot of homework, but I don't think you will have much trouble with it.

We haven't seen Megumi for awhile, so I hope she can make it next week. Yukari was also absent tonight. I was hoping to hear how she liked the rock festival that she went to.

We went over the homework and talked about summer vacation. Several people traveled around Hokkaido. Monami is a big Fighter's fan and she was able to go to a game in Sapporo. They lost the game that she went to, but she still had a great time.

We worked with time expressions and prepositions of time. The worksheet I gave you will give you a little bit more practice and so will the other grammar homework.

Hiroko and Yukari really read the blog carefully during the break. They were able to answer almost all of my questions. This class also did a good job posting comments. Mai wasn't sure how the system worked so she ended up posting the same comment many times. When you post the first time it takes some time for me to okay it, but the second time you post a comment it should come up right away.

This class had much lower scores on the survey than the other classes. I am not sure why, but maybe everyone doesn't get enough exercise. We continued talking about time, dates, months and prepositions of time. The homework for next is to do the homework and do the reading exercise (#5) on page 35.

I almost forgot about the question about siestas, but if you want to learn more go here.

I think we have broken the SSS with this class, but there are one or two people who still like to sit in almost the same place every week. We talked about summer vacation and went over the homework. In this class many people read a book during the break, but I forgot to ask about them. We will do that at the beginning of the class next week.

We continued talking about time, dates and prepositions of time. The homework next week is to do the worksheet that I gave you and page 127.

Keiko was absent today, but everyone else was here. Everyone did the homework and everyone seemed to enjoy the books that they read during the break. A couple of people even swapped books after class. I hope you will keep using the graded-reader library every week.

Rika was gone today, but Emiko from Joe's class came for a make up class. We went over the homework and listened to the advice that the professor had for Simon. There were four or five bits of advice for Simon.

We talked about daily schedules and you interviewed each other about your schedules. Some of you are very busy. I think one of the best answers was to the question, "What time do you finish work?" and the answer was a housewife's work is never done.

The homework for next class is to write sentences about your partner's schedule and to read a graded-reader or my blog. If you read my blog, I hope you will post a comment.

Hiroe and Kaori were both back this week. Kaori had a good time in Hawaii and was able to use English. She did her homework and sent the English postcard. It only took four days to get here.

We talked about schedules and practiced times some more. Like the other Step 1 classes I gave the same homework choices. You can read a graded-reader or follow blog and post comments during the break. In this class only a few people got books, so I guess I can expect a lot of comments from this class.

I was very impressed with how much faster people were able to do the times tonight. It was interesting to hear the difference in the schedules between the high school students and the adults schedules. All of the adults get up before seven and the students, especially now with summer vacation, get up around eight. I think Hisami got up the earliest.

After that we started to work with adverbs of frequency and the ones we worked with are just a sample. There are many more. There a lot of good practice exercises on the web and here is an one example. This quiz is a good way to practice for what Saki asked about in class.

The summer vacation homework is to read the article about Okinawa and then do the questionnaire. The other part is to read a graded-reader (no one took one home) or check the blog and post comments to my posts about what I am doing during the break.

Have a good vacation and study some English!

Tonight's class was a little different because we had an observer. He was a high school teacher from Akeshi and he wanted to see how we teach classes. As we had an odd number at first he joined in the first couple of activities.

We went over the homework, which was to write sentences about your previous partner's schedule. This time Ayano was paired with Jun and she told him about Toshiya's schedule. Toshiya is Jun's co-worker, so he knows his schedule pretty well. There seemed to be some times that didn't match, so there may have been a communication problem somewhere.

After that we started to work with adverbs of frequency and the ones we worked with are just a sample. There are many more. There a lot of good practice exercises on the web and here is an one example.

The summer vacation homework is to read the article about Okinawa and then do the questionnaire. The other part is to read a graded-reader (many people took one home) or check the blog and post comments to my posts about what I am doing during the break.

Have a good vacation and study some English!

Yoshihiro was gone today, but Yukari from the 1H class was here, so we still had a even number. There was a lot of shopping done on the weekend and people didn't do too much outdoors because of the weather.

We practiced telling time and looked at the daily schedules of Louisa and Simon. They were both stressed and after learning their schedules it was easy to see why. The homework for next week is to write sentences about Simon's schedule.

I forgot to put in the link I mentioned in class.

Hiroe and Kaori were absent tonight, but they did make up classes earlier in the week. Koari went to Hawaii, so we should have a postcard by the next class.

This class was much better with telling time this week, but if you would like to practice more you can use a site like this and there are many others on the web.

The homework for next week is to write sentences using the information you got about your partner's schedule.

At the first of class I had everyone move around because you had sat in the same places that you did last week. Remember to try to sit by someone different every week.

We did something a little different with telling time by having everyone model a clock. It was tough, but people got good at it after awhile. We had several listening exercises and the second one was a little more difficult.

The homework for next week is to look at the activities on page 147 and write down the times you usually do them.

Everyone was here except Masami, but she did a make up class earlier than the week. People had a lot of different looks. Hanaka got contacts, Jun got a haircut and new classes, and Saori was wearing her hair in pigtails. I wonder if it has something to do with the hot weather we have been having.

People have been practicing telling time because they were able to do it much faster than last week. We talked about people's daily schedules and next week for homework you need to write about your partner's schedule.

Since Noboru has joined the many of the activities have been much easier to do because we have three people. I think by the end people had a better feel on how to use adjectives.

Working with telling time was fun and we will do more with it next week.

Megumi and Eri were back tonight. They both had a really good time at their school festivals. We went over the homework and practiced telling time. In the activity we did we also played paper, scissors and stone. Monami had an interesting sideways technique. We will do this again next, so practice at home so you can do it faster. The homework for next week is to match the pictures and words on page 147.

Well, this week was a little less crowded, but Hisami and Yoshihito both decided to join the class. We continued practicing telling the time and people were getting a little faster. We will do a little bit more with that next week.

We also talked about daily schedules and I think Hisami was the one who got up the earliest. Some people have very rushed morning routines. The homework for next week is to match the pictures and words on page 147. These are some very useful words to talk about your daily life.

Quite a few people were absent tonight. Toshiya went to the Hamada Shogo concert, but I am not sure about the other people who were gone.

We practiced telling time some more, but tried to get people to do it faster. We will do this activity again next week, so practice at home. We also talked about daily schedules and the high school students really rush in the morning. It sounds like Jun's kids wake up really early. When my son was little he always slept late; me I am early riser.

The homework for next week is to match the words and pictures on page 147.

Sorry again! I forgot to post something after class. I am going to have to sit down and write something before I leave on Friday because I always forget on Monday to get something up.

People did a good job with all the activities and I think the homework I gave you will help you understand the grammar even better.

Wow, ten people tonight! There were two observers and two people doing make up classes and all the regular members showed up. I really like classes with 8 or 10 people because I think the chance to talk to many different people makes the class more interesting.

We went over the homework and people found the song a little difficult, but I think enjoyed it. The other activity went well, too. It took a little bit longer than I had planned to do those things, but we were able to start the new lesson. Like the early class, this class also had trouble with telling time. Make sure to study the chart on page 126 and practice at home this week.

The homework for next week is to read the article on page 30, but don't use a dictionary. Try to guess the meaning of the words highlighted in yellow. We will compare guesses next week. The other part of the homework is to find the origins of Marine Day that falls on Monday.

Tonight we had the smallest class ever. I wonder where everyone was tonight. I guess we will find out next week. Jun did do a make up class in the late class.

We did a lot of different activities with the adjectives, but then moved on to the new lesson at the end of the class. We worked on telling time and there was a little bit of trouble. At home this week you should really look over the chart on page 126. The homework is to read the article on page 30, but don't use a dictionary. Try to guess the meaning of the words highlighted in yellow. We will compare ideas next class.

Monday is Marine Day, a national holiday, and your homework is to find out the origins of the holiday.

It has been interesting going over the homework the last week. In every class the same parts seem to give people trouble. We worked with the adjectives + nouns . A number of people had worked ahead and completed many of the exercises before class. Remember it is much better to go back and review than go ahead in the book. If you would like more material to do, I can give you some other types of homework.

The homework for next week is the worksheet and the grammar exercise on page 127. Remember there is no class next week because of the national holiday.

It was good news for Monami last week because she made it into the best 8 in the table tennis tournament. This weekend Kaori has a tennis tournament in Tomakomai, so we will have to make sure to see how she did. Both Eri and Megumi have their school festivals the next weekend, so I am sure they will be busy getting ready this week.

We worked with adjectives + nouns tonight and did a quiz about the USA. There were a few misunderstandings, but by the end I think everyone had it figured out.

The homework for next week is the worksheet I gave you. You only need to do the top part of the song side.

Saki was all sparkly tonight because she was still partly in her costume from her school festival. Mai wasn't here tonight because I am sure she is busy getting ready for her school festival.

It took a little time to get through the homework and everyone thought the reading exercise was difficult. We worked with adjectives + nouns tonight and did a quiz about the USA. Hiroko is going to New York this fall, so she knew a few of the answers about the city. This is an interesting site about New York City. If you want to know why it is called the Big Apple go here.

The homework for next week is the worksheet and you only need to do the top of the page on the song side.

We had an observer from Jun's company tonight. I am not sure if he signed up, but if he joins this class we may have to switch to a larger room.

We worked with adjectives + nouns tonight and did a quiz about the USA. There were a few tricky questions and I forgot to mention that the pictures in the book gave some good hints. This is an interesting site about New York City. If you want to know why it is called the Big Apple go here.

The homework for next week is the worksheet that I gave you. On the song side you only need to do the top of the page.

Everyone brought there homework or sent me an e-mail. I have tried to reply to everyone who sent me an e-mail, but Noboru's bounced back for some reason. I will try to remember to print it out and give it to you next week.

Yukari joined us from the Thursday late class. She got a quick lesson in the rules of Petanque at the beginning of class because her partner was Yoshihiro. Today it was the first time for Keiko to be a partner with Noboru. In the warm up exercise they had a little bit of trouble keeping the conversation going.

We went over the hotel check in conversation and people did a pretty good job, but the key is can you do it without the textbook. The homework for next week might be a little difficult and it has several parts.

Sorry it took me so long to get something posted. I thought I had posted something on the weekend, but guess I was mistaken. If you check the site on Monday and I haven't posted something make sure to send me an e-mail telling me I forgot.

Yukari was the only person absent today, but she sent her e-mail early in the week. I got e-mails or comments from Misao and Hiroko, but nothing from the high school students. I heard from Yuzo's mom that they were having computer trouble at their house.

We went over the hotel check-in conversation and practiced it several times. People really didn't have much trouble with it. The situation was a little strange for the high school students because none of them had ever checked into a hotel. When they stay in a hotel it is usually with their families or a school excursion, so they don't have to do the process.

The homework for next week is pretty long. You need to look at the review exercises and do the the vocabulary, grammar and reading sections on pages 26 and 27.

Almost everyone in this class sent me the homework by e-mail. I will try to send an answer back sometime tomorrow afternoon.

We went over the hotel check in information and practiced the conversation many times. There was one point I forgot to mention and that was about payment. They might ask you, "Will that be cash or charge?" or something like that.

The listening exercise gave people a lot of trouble today and we listened to several times. I tried to explain the idea of terms of endearment, but I am not sure if people really understood the concept.

The homework for next week is grammar, vocabulary and reading sections of the review exercises on pages 26 and 27.

It is official we now have six students in the class. This will really make it easier to do different kinds of activities. Today we did two info gap exercises, but there was a little too much "giraffe neck" in the first one. The next time I had you move around so it would be a more difficult to see your partner's paper.

The homework for next week is to send me an e-mail introducing yourself. Look at the example in the book and try to write one similar to it.

Yukari was absent tonight, but I understand that she is going to come to the Monday morning class. Megumi was also absent, but I don't know if it was because her test schedule or she has something else going on.

We went over the homework and did several exercises to practice the relationship words. There was also the chance to talk about jobs as well. The new material focused on the kinds of symbols that you might see in a hotel or information about hotels.

The homework for next week is to send me an e-mail like the one on page 25.

I guess Mai called after I went upstairs to say she couldn't make it tonight, but I am not sure of the reason why. Hopefully, she can make it next week. Saki's trip to Sapporo was very informative and she learned a lot about the colleges she is interested in.

Like the earlier class, some of the words in the hotel symbols activities gave you some trouble. The pronunciation was difficult and you weren't sure of the meaning. Check you dictionaries this week.

There seemed to be a some confusion about the homework, but I think if you read the directions in the book you will understand what to do. I am looking forward to reading your e-mails.

When everyone is here Room 2004 is a bit cramped. It was fun to talk about people's families and there were a few cases where people didn't know how to say what someone's job in English was. That is something to check if it happened to you.

We also did the hotel symbol activity and there were several words that people didn't know. You should make sure to look them up at home. They are ones you would see in hotel information.

The homework for next week is to send me an e-mail like the one in the book. If you put in all the information that answers the questions then you will have done a good job.

It was great to have Keiko here today. Last week she thought she might have to be in the hospital for a week. It turns out that her check up showed that everything was okay. The doctor recommended that she get more exercise, but not much else.

We had an observer today and it turns out he knows Yoshihiro because they are both from Ikeda and they are both veterinarians. Nobuharu will be going to Britain sometime in the fall. I am not sure if he will be joining this class, but if he does it will be nice to have an even number of students again.

The homework for next week is to the exercises on p. 145.

Everyone was here in this class, too. It makes a big difference in attendance when the test season has passed. The high school students will be getting busy preparing for their school festivals in the coming weeks, so attendance may get spotty again.

We went over the homework and did the listening exercises. After that we started work on the possessives. For a little more practice you can go here.

For some reason things were moving a little slowly tonight. I am not sure why. Maybe everyone was extra tired. The homework for next week is the grammar exercises on p. 125 and the exercises on p. 145.

In this class too, everyone was back. Yuzo and Mai didn't think they did very well, but Saki was confident she did a good job. She was very honest and said she had studied hard, so she knew she had done a good job.

We went over the jobs and did the listening, but people weren't able to guess Phil's job. I think only one pair had the correct answer. The next part of the lesson was about possessives. For a little more practice you can go here. In one exercise Saki almost gave me her electronic dictionary. When I asked her if it was mine she said "yes"! She was a little surprised when I put it in my pocket.

At the beginning of class Saki and Misao were talking about music. Saki mentioned Bjork, but Misao had never heard of her. Saki also likes Green Day, but Misao hadn't heard of them either.

Toshiya was the only person absent tonight. The high school students were all back, but none of them thought they had done a very good job on the tests.

We went over the jobs and did the listening exercise. After that we started the new lesson and worked on using possessives. You can do a little more practice here. The homework for next week is p. 145.

Last week I kept track of how many times people spoke Japanese in class and it was over 21 times. I did the same thing this week and it only happened six times and one them was mine. It was much better this week. Let's see if we can make it zero next class.

Yoshihiro couldn't make it at the last minute. I don't know the reason, but we can ask him next week. We had so surprising news from Keiko today. She is going to enter the hospital this week to have a heart check up. She may be hospitalized for a week. We will keep our fingers crossed that everything will be okay.

We went over the homework and there were a few problems, but I think we got them all straightened out. We read about Annabel and her job. There were some good points and bad points, but I think on the whole she likes her job. The homework for next week is to look at the list of jobs and and the pictures on page 144. You need to match the pictures and the names of the jobs.

Kind of small class today. Both Maki and Megumi were absent and Eri came a little bit late. I am sure Megumi was studying for here tests.

We went over the conversation and worked on making eye contact. We will practice this a little bit more next week. For homework next match the names of the jobs with the pictures on page 144. We will do an activity with it next week.

With this being test season for the high school students I didn't expect any of them to show up, but Mai did make it. We did the reading and looked at the different words. You had to try to think of ways to explain the meaning of the words without using Japanese. You came up with some pretty good ideas.

The homework for next week is to match the pictures of the jobs with the names. We will use this information for an activity at the beginning of the class next week.

We had a big class this week because Toshiya was back and Saki (1H) was here for a make up. It would have been a tight fit if Ayana had come.

We went over the homework and practiced the conversation from the worksheet. We had a little bit of trouble with the eye contact at first, but by the second and third time you had the hang of it. We also had a small problem with people slipping into Japanese. After I started marking the board every time I heard someone speak Japanese you were a little more careful. I was pleased to see we broke the SSS this week. Try sitting beside someone new next week.

The homework for next week is to check the jobs on page 144 and make sure you know what type of work each one does.

Monami from the Friday Step 1I class joined us for a make up class today. She is a junior high student, but had the day off from school today because Sunday was sports day. I think she was a little surprised when she came in because the age of the students in this class is a little older than her Friday class.

We talked about what Steve and Simon had in common and as example I found out that Monami and I both like rocky road ice cream and Yoshihoro and I both like wine.

We almost had everyone today, but Megumi and Monami were absent today. With sports day and tests I imagine they are both pretty busy. Eri said she was going to spend the weekend studying.

We continued working with the present tense and listened to the date between Darren and Natasha. It didn't go very well because they really didn't have much in common. Maybe they both weren't honest on the online dating form.

The homework for next week is the worksheet and the grammar exercises on page 125 (2B).

Saki and Mai were absent tonight. For Saki that is three weeks in a row. I hope she can find time to do some make up classes. I want her to get her money's worth. Mana did a make up class tonight for the second week in a row. Everyone had seen the article about Yuzo's photograph. Maybe he can bring some of his photos to show us sometime.

A few people forgot that the worksheet was also homework, but it was easy enough that it didn't take long to finish it. Don't forget the worksheet we have for this week. No one has any special plans for this weekend, so it should no problem to get it done.

It is getting to be test season for the high school students, so I thought at least one of them would be absent tonight. It sounds like next week is when their tests start.

We went over the homework and there weren't any big problems and then we started the new unit. We practiced some of the same grammar that we looked at last week, so people were able to do it pretty easily. We listened to the conversation between Natasha and Darren. We decided that their date was a disaster. They had nothing in common.

The homework for next week is to do the worksheet and the grammar exercises on page 125.

Mami joined us from Carlos' Tuesday night class. With her here we had an even 6, so all the pair work went really smoothly today. We went over the homework and people didn't seem to have much trouble with it.

After that we talked a little bit about Britain and what percentage of British people do different things. The homework is to do the reading on the bottom of the page and if you want to learn more go here. Also you need to find the numbers for Japan. If you can use the internet search engines you should be able to find the information pretty easily.

The other part of the homework is to do the worksheet that I gave you.

Monami was really worried that she would be the only student tonight. At 7:00 she was the only person here and every time she heard footsteps in the hall she would go to the door to see if it was one of her classmates. By 7:10 everyone was here, so she worried for nothing.

We talked about last weekend and went over the homework. We started the new unit and looked at the percentage of British people who do certain things. One of the homework assignments is to find the percentages for Japanese people if you can. The other part of the homework is to read about things that are typically British and if you want to learn more go here. Also don't forget to do the worksheet that I gave you.

Misao was back after a two week absence and both Saki and Mai were gone tonight. We did have Mana here from Carlos' Tuesday night class. We went over the simple present tense verbs on page 143 and did the info gap exercise about Steve and Simon. They are brothers, but didn't have much in common.

The homework for next week is the worksheet, the grammar bank (p. 124) and find the percentage of Japanese people who do the things in 1A.

Jun was back tonight and he brought some delicious chocolates. He and Toshiya had a good time in France. Hanaka had ballet recital and Masami went to see her dance, but Hanaka was embarrassed and didn't want her to tell us much more.

We went over the homework and started Unit 2A. There was a short reading about what is "typically British". If you want to read more things like this go to this site. We also looked at using the simple present tense in positive and negative sentences.

There is a lot of homework for the next class. There is the worksheet, the grammar bank on p. 124 and finding the percentage of Japanese people who do the things in 1A. It will take some searching on the internet to find the information. Good luck!

Today we had everyone here for the first time in a long time. We caught up on everything people have been doing. Ryoko had successful charity tea ceremony on the weekend, but Yoshihoro didn't do as well as he had hoped in the petanque tournament in Mori.

We went over the airplane conversation and the dialogue at the airport. Remember to study the airport tapescript and think how you can change it to use at Tokachi-Obihiro Airport. Also do the review exercises on page 14.

We had Mami and Rika doing make up classes tonight and Monami was back from her school trip. She enjoyed the Rusutsu Resort the most of all the places she went.

We did a variety of exercises and practiced getting drinks on the airplane and meeting someone at the airport. For homework next week look over the tapescript because we will practice that conversation in class again. Also do the review exercises on page 14.

Misao and Saki were absent this evening. The weather was pretty bad, so I am sure Saki couldn't ride her bike and I guess Misao had a cold. I hope she is feeling better soon.

We continued with the singular and plural a little bit more and then moved on to the last lesson of the unit. We looked at the type of conversation you might have on an airplane and at the airport when picking someone up. There were several new words that came up and people did a good job with it.

The homework for next week is to look at the tapescript for 1.37 on page 114. We will have similar conversation next week. Also do the review exercises on page 14.

I guess I was wrong about Jun and Toshiya being back from France. Maybe they will be back next week.

We continued with the singular and plural a little bit more and then moved on to the last lesson of the unit. We looked at the type of conversation you might have on an airplane and at the airport when picking someone up. In the second conversation there was a little bit of mix up about who was who. Mark is the man being met at the airport and Allie was the person picking him up.

The homework for next week is to look at the tapescript for 1.37 on page 114. We will have similar conversation next week. Also do the review exercises on page 14.

Only three people today. Keiko mentioned last class that she would be going to Hakodate with her mother for a week or so. This morning Rika called and said she would be absent, but I didn't hear the reason. Maybe she had a flower viewing party!

We worked on singular and plural again today. We focused on using this, that, these and those. By the end of the lesson I think you had the hang of it.

For homework next week do 1D on page 122 and also fill out the form on page 13.

Almost everyone showed up tonight, but at 7:00 it was only Megumi. She was a little worried that she might be the only student tonight.

Kaori did a lot of traveling around Hokkaido and she camped in several different places. Some other people went to Sapporo or went out for dinner several times. It sounded like people really enjoyed the break.

We went over the homework and almost everyone had done it. It didn't seem to give people too much trouble. The homework for next week is to the grammar exercise on page 122 and fill out the application form on page 13.

Misao was absent today, but Rika from Carlos' class was here for a make up class. People forgot to check on what movies the pictures were from. If you have time check this week for homework.

We went over the other homework and talked about Golden Week at the end of the class. Hiroko and Yukari went to Tokyo during the break and they said it was really crowded. Both Saki and Mai were playing tennis over the break. Yuzo took photos.

We looked at the different classroom items and practiced using singular and plural. We did an activity using this, that, these and those. It was kind of fun trying to guess what some of the items were.

I made a mistake and forgot that Jun-ichi will be joining this class. I thought he was just doing a make up class. Sorry Jun-ichi. Jun and Toshiya are still in France and I think they will be back next week.

We worked with classroom items and classroom English. We looked at singular and plural using this, that, these and those. We also listened to the song Eternal Flame by the group The Bangles.

The homework for next week is to the grammar exercises on page 122 and fill out the application form on page 13.

It was nice to have Yoshihiro back today. Working on the election committee was very tiring, so he didn't have time to study. He used the Golden Week holidays to recover. Other people didn't do anything too special. Hiromi went to Sapporo, Rika stayed home, Riyoko sprained her ankle at just before the break, so she also stayed at home. Keiko didn't go anywhere either.

We went over a few of the things we talked about in the last class and at the end of the class we started 1D. We will continue with that section next week, but Keiko will be absent because she is going to Hakodate with her mother.

Sorry it has taken me so long to get something posted here. I am sure you all were wanting a reminder about the homework. The main point is to do the grammar exercise on page 122, but also be ready to talk about your Golden Week holiday.

Yuzo was back today and Saki was here, but without her tennis bag. She said she didn't have practice today because of the rain. We learned today that Mai and Saki have something in common. They went to the same kindergarten. Saki is older, but they seem to remember each other.

I gave you some special homework this week and that is to find the name for that special kind of sushi shop. If you look on my blog you can find the answer.

Toshiya was absent today because he had a party and Masami was gone because she has a cold. We went over the homework and there were a couple of places where people had trouble. In talking about the weekend Jun went to his son's school's parents' day and put up the carp banners. When you start seeing them you know spring is here. Also in talking about the weekend Eri and Hanaka learned how important it is to use answer plus when having a conversation.

Jun and Toshiya will be going to France on business, so I am looking forward to getting their postcard. I hope everyone has a good Golden Week and we will have a chance to hear what everyone does the first class after the break.

Oops! I forgot to welcome Ayano to the class. Welcome Ayano I am sure you will have a good time in the class.

A real surprise today because it was only Rika and Keiko. Hiromi and Ryoko didn't mention that they were going to be absent today, so something must have come up. Keiko's bad luck continued on Friday she hurt a tooth when having lunch. She will have to go to the dentist tomorrow. Rika had a quite weekend, but did go to conveyor belt sushiwith her children. The one problem was she didn't have much money so they had to keep a running total to make sure they didn't eat more than they had money to pay for.

The homework for next class is to do 1C on page 122 and to keep notes about what you do during Golden Week. We will talk about Golden Week on May 7 and you don't want to keep saying I don't remember.

We had a bit of surprise today. With a few people doing substitutions we had a full house. The same thing happened last night, but in Room 204 it is really crowded. Remember to call and check to see if there is space for the class that you want to do a make up in.

We went over the homework and played Buzz one more time. It is more fun with a large class because you really have to listen. I think we may do it one more time next week, but with a twist.

The homework for next week is 1B on page 122 and #2 on page 140.

Yuzo was absent tonight, but I am sure he is checking here for the homework for next week. The focus tonight was nationalities and country names. We looked at the flags and tried to match them with the countries. I think we got about 50% right.

The homework for next week is to do the Grammar Bank on page 122.

We had a big class tonight! Everyone was here and then we had three people doing substitutions. Room 2004 is a little small for 10 people, but we were able to squeeze everyone in.

We talked about countries and nationalities and there was little quiz about languages and music. I was surprised that no one knew where Guinness Beer comes from because you can buy it in many supermarkets and bars.

The homework for next week is to the Grammar Bank on page p. 122.

Keiko had a bad experience last week. She had gone out to lunch and when the waitress was bringing food to the table she slipped. The bowl of rice porridge she was carrying spilled all over Keiko's head and back. It was really hot, but luckily, she wasn't burned. She wasn't able to have lunch because it was such a mess. The restaurant did give her a 2000 yen gift certificate.

Hiromi had left before I gave the homework last week, so she was surprised when I said okay let's check the homework. It wasn't very difficult and she was able to do it quickly in class.

There is a lot of homework for next. One is you should probably practice buzz, next check the flags and the countries in the word bank and then do the grammar exercise on page 122.

Hiroe and Kaori were back tonight. This class, except for a couple of people, were together last year in the Basic Level. You know each other pretty well, but you will have a chance to learn even more about each other in the coming months.

It will be difficult to post something directly after class, but will do my best to get something here as soon as possible.

The homework for next week is to do #1 on page 140.

We got to meet Saki tonight. She was absent last week, but said she was really looking forward to coming class last week. We have now met everyone in the class, but we may get one or two new people after Golden Week.

We practiced introductions again and everyone's handshakes were much better. This video shows some of the points I made last week. The English is a little, but I think you can enjoy it.

The homework for next week is to do #1 on page 140.

Saroi was absent today because she has a bad cold. I hope that she is feeling better soon. There is a bad cold going around so be careful.

We had a chance to meet Fumiya and Yuko tonight. Last week they came to different classes. Remember if you can't make it your regular class you can do a substitution class. You should call first to see if there is an opening for the day you want to come.

We practiced introductions again and everyone remembered the important steps. This link will take you to an interesting video about shaking hands. The English is a little difficult, but you can understand by watching it.

The homework for next week is to do #1 on page 140.

Three out of four of you attended the Grammar Day workshops and everyone said its was difficult, but interesting. Ryoko even thought it was too short. We went over using contractions again and then finished up Lesson A. I said there was no homework for next week, and then Hiromi had to leave. After she left then I remembered when needed to do #1 on page 142. We will check it next week.

This was the last of my Step 1s this week. This term have more Step 1 classes than I have had in years. You are very lucky because I will be able to use many different ideas and by the Friday I will have all the bugs worked out. You will get the perfected lesson.

People already using the substitution system. We had two people doing make ups for classes they missed earlier in the week. It is great system and I hope you will take advantage of it.

This class is a mix of new students and continuing ones. There were a couple people missing and hopefully, they will here next week. We learned a little bit about each other and we discovered a few things that people like or dislike. For example, we learned that Hiroko likes jazz and Yuzo likes rock music. As a matter of fact, Hiroko is going to Sapporo for a Ayado Chie concert on Sunday. We can find out more about it next week.

We got off to a good start today. We were missing a couple of people, but Fumiya did a substitution class in the 8:30 class. This will be really convenient because you have two choices on this day. If you can't make it to your regular class you can come at another time.

I introduced the warm up activity that we will be using every week and you had a chance to introduce yourselves. We will have a chance to learn more about each other in the coming weeks.

I think we got off to a good start today. We went over the new textbook and looked at the different sections. We will be jumping around a lot in this book, so it is a good idea to know where things are. We worked on introductions and most people already know how to do this, but it doesn't hurt to review.

Yoshihiro will be gone for most of this month because he has to help with the election. I hope he will be checking here so that he can keep up on what we are doing.

Today was the last class, but Yoshihiro couldn't make it today either. Until last week he had perfect attendance. Hiromi was the only one with a perfect record this time.

After class we had some organic Peruvian coffee that Ryoko brought back from her trip. It was really good. She also had a new cookie from Rokutei. I think everyone is going to continue in this class and I think we may have one or two new people. I'll see you next week.

Kasuaki didn't think he would be able to make it tonight and he was right. People thought he may have already left for Sapporo. I didn't think that Natusko would make it either because she is busy getting ready to move. She is busy packing, but she won't leave Obihiro until April 1.

We went over the homework and did a class quiz. I asked a bunch of questions about your classmates and myself. People did a pretty good job answering them. Taiki was the winner with 11 points. I won't have any of you in my classes next term, but I will see you in Bucky Hall I am sure. Keep studying hard!

Yoshihiro was absent today. This was the only class he has missed this semester. Hopefully, he can come to class Thursday morning to do a make up and keep his perfect attendance. We practiced inviting people to do different things and also practiced accepting and declining. We will work a little bit more with this next week.

The homework for next week is #11 A & B. If you want to read more about the festivals in the book go here and http://www.lgfl.net/lgfl/leas/ealing/web/EGFL1/teaching_learning/subjects/REandSACRE/RE_spotlight/Festivals/Jan_Saraswati.htm.

We had fun with inviting people to do different things and talked about different festivals. If you want to read more about Las Fallas go here and Vasant Panchami. I mentioned that in my hometown they have two big festivals every year. You can read about them here.

There is a lot of homework for next week, so don't forget.

Ryoko brought her pictures from her trip to Machu Pichu. It looks like an amazing place. I would like to visit there someday.

People couldn't remember what their partners had said they were going to do on the weekend. I should of had you take memos. We did talk about what people did and Yoshiro was a weekend carpenter. He said he made a sign, but not what it was for. I guess we will have to drive to Ikeda to find out.

The homework for next week is to find three events that are going to happen between March 21 to March 30. We will use the information for an activity next week.

We had an observer tonight and Taiki had a new haircut, so he looked like a new student. There was no homework to check this week. We practiced inviting people to do things and how to accept or turn them down. We will practice this again next week.

Next week the homework is to do the reading on page 101. Do exercises A and B.

It sounds like Ryoko had a good time on her trip to Peru, but there was bad news when she got back. While she was gone some burglarized her house. The only thing they stole were some gift certificates, but in searching for money they trashed the house. I really feel sorry for her.

People did a really good job with the homework and Ryoko and Rika were able to guess the three people that you talked about. In the new unit we talked about celebrations and the types of events that are celebrated in Japan. We also practiced using "going to". There is no homework for next week, but I did suggest that you start review the vocabulary lists at the end of the book.

I am sorry that I almost forgot to check the answer for the old saying I gave you last week. Narumi did find the answer even though she couldn't explain it in English. Now we just have remember what happens at the end of the month.

We talked about different kinds of celebrations and how people might celebrate them. I mentioned that in America people send out graduation announcements and often send cards and gifts to people who are graduating. In my day the popular gifts were luggage or typewriters, but I am not sure what they give to graduating seniors now.

No homework for next week, but I have some ideas for an interesting warm up for next week.

A small class today. Of the five students, two were on trips. I should be getting a postcard from Ryoko sometime this week.

We went over the reading and you had to summarize the article about Justine Kerfoot. Nobody thought living at the Gunflint Lodge would be very easy back in the 1930s. I think you might enjoy it now.

We practiced making questions and each one of you had to think of seven questions about a famous person. For homework next write a paragraph about your person. We will see if Rika and Ryko can guess who you are talking about.

Also find out how to explain the Japanese saying about the Hina dolls. Plus search the blog for the meaning of the American saying that I gave you.

Only half of the class had done the reading, but it gave them a good chance summarize the article for their partners. We practiced making the questions and then you needed to ask them about the famous people I gave you. It seems like it was really difficult. Remember the homework is to find out as much as you can about that person. Also write a paragraph about a famous Japanese woman, but make sure not to show it to anyone before class.

The final bit of homework is to find the meaning of the saying that I wrote on the board. If you search my blog you should be able to find the answer.

Hiromi did a good job with her letter, but she was the only person who did that part of the homework. We talked about the currents and looked at the map a little bit to see where the bottles were found. You can read more about ocean currents and see a good map here.

Next week the homework is to do the reading, but remember do not use your dicitionary. Just underline the words you don't know. Also next week we will have a small class because Rika will be gone and Ryoko will be in Peru at Machu Pichu. I look forward to getting her postcard and hearing about her trip when she gets back.

The list of verbs people made were really good. Some were longer than others, but I think they gave you an idea of the things you do in a week. I was a little surprised that there were so few that were the same.

I also liked the letters you wrote in reply to the letter in the bottle from New Jersey. I think it would probably be impossible for a bottle thrown in the Atlantic Ocean to end up on the beach on the Pacific side of Hokkaido. Go here to read a little more about ocean currents and the Nike shoes incident I mentioned in class.

We started the new unit and did a few listening exercises. The homework for next week is to do the reading, but do it without using your dictionary. We will talk about it next week.

Attendance has been very good the last few weeks. Ayami hasn't been to this class, but she has been doing make up classes other nights. Hopefully, Ayami can make it back to this class soon.

Everyone had two versions of their weekends and some of them were very creative. We practiced the conversation techniques and by the end people were getting much smoother. Try to keep them in mind whenever you are having a conversation in English.

We worked with past tense of regular and irregular verbs and if you want to practice the spellings go here.

There is a lot of homework for next week. First keep a list of actions that you do this week. If you don't know the English word, check your dictionary. Make sure to write down the past tense form. You only need to list the action once. Then do exercises 9 and 10. Once you do the reading you will understand what you need to do in exercise 10.

Yoshihiro was absent today, but I am sure he will try to do a make up class later. Today we did things a little differently. Instead of starting off with talking about the weekend, we went over the announcements first. Then we did some review and then talked about the weekends. This week's homework was to have two stories, one good and one bad. Your partner was to practice the responses we learned last week. It didn't go as smoothly as I had thought, so we will practice a little bit more next class.

The homework for next class is to do pages 89 and 90.

The advice letters that people wrote were very good, but I think Narumi's was the best. She said to forget the guy because he won't change. She thought he was a workaholic. We moved on to the new unit and looked at the pairings of nouns and adjectives. This unit had some good examples of answer plus and responding to information. We will work with these two points more next week. Remember you need two versions of your weekend next. One of them needs to be for a good weekend and the other a bad one.

Congratulations Hiromi on coming to blog without your husband's help. I hope you will try posting a comment next time.

There was some good advice in the letters you wrote and there were only a few grammar mistakes. This new unit has a lot of good points and we will be spending a little more time going over them.

The homework for next week is to make two versions of your weekend. Make a good one and a bad one. We will use them to practice making responses next week.

Yasuko always has busy weekends. Last week she went ice fishing on Saturday (no fish) and on Sunday she drove to her one of her favorite bakeries that is in Kamibesei. Narumi went to see the movie Marie Antoineitte. She thought it was very beautiful, but there wasn't much of a story. Natsuko went shopping for new snowboard equipment and Makiko has been building a snow statue for the Ice Festival with people from her company.

People did a great job with the vocabulary diagrams. Remember this a good way to think about the words for a particular theme. It would be a great way to learn the English words for one of your hobbies.

Tonight's grammar focus was difficult, so we will work on it a little bit more next week.

After asking people how often they use a computer in this class I guess no one checks the blog. Yoshihiro sometimes uses a computer and Rika uses a one about 10 minutes a day, but only to check e-mail.

We worked on using the modifiers and at first they gave people some trouble. After going around and using them a few times people got the hang of it.

The homework for next week is to #10 A, C and D on page 84. We will start unit 14 from next week.

This class had two winners in the attendance lottery. Kazuki won a 2nd prize and Taiki got 4th. Kazuki was worried that maybe he used up all his luck for this year.

We talked about aliments and remedies today and at the end of class we talked about home remedies. I mentioned this site. Take a look and let me know what you think next week.

The homework for next week is to do #5 on page 81 and #7 on page 82.

Some very quite weekends. Keiko was in Sapporo and Hiromi went to the restaurant Little House on the Prairie in Shikaoi. Her lunch was delicious, but the place was really crowded. I haven't been there for awhile, but I have always had good meals there.

We started the new unit and talked about ailments and remedies. I asked for a few home remedies, but people didn't come up with too many. This site was made by ESL students and there are many home remedies from around the world.

Everyone seems to have had a good winter vacation and enjoyed the homework. :) We went over everyone's New Year's resolutions and in this class many of them had to do with losing weight or getting into shape.

There is no homework for next week and we will start Unit 13 next class.

I was a little surprised to see so many of you here today. I thought with the icy roads everyone would decide to stay home. It was nice to have Keiko back today. It has been over a month since she was here. She is a little rusty, but I am sure she will get back to her previous level very quickly.

We talked about New Year's traditions and words that are useful in the winter. We also went over the homework. There is no homework for next week and we will start Unit 13.

We quickly went over the homework and then did two Christmas related activities. The one listening activity was from A Visit From St. Nicholas. You can check the words by following the link.

The winter vacation homework is to do the review unit and read one of the graded readers. Be ready to tell you partner about the book the first class after the break.

I was hoping that we would be able to see Yoshie and Keiko today and wish them a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Today was Naoko's last class, so we used the last part of the class to have a small tea party. Naoko made some cookies, Hiromi brought some snacks from Okinawa and Ryoko made madelienes. We also did a Christmas quiz, but everyone thought it was difficult. If you want to learn more about Christmas traditions from around the word go here.

The winter vacation homework is to do the Review Unit on pages 77-78.

Natsuko was back and I got hear a little bit about her honeymoon trip to Italy. She was gone eight days and saw a lot of beautiful places. It was a busy schedule though.

We worked with adverbs of frequency today and some of the patterns that we practiced should come in handy at the Christmas party when you are talking with the people from the JICA center.

The homework for next week is to write about yourself. Follow the example in the book.

Rika and Yoshie were both absent today. We haven't seen Yoshie in awhile, so I hope she can make it for the last class of the year.

This was no homework to check this week, so we spent a little longer on the warm up. I should have made a Carlos quiz for you because it sounds like you learned a lot about him. Maybe we can do that next week.

We did some work with adverbs of frequency. People had a chance to talk a little bit about what they do through out the seasons. This is part of the homework for next week. Read #10 on page 76 and then write something about yourself.

Next week we will be saying good bye to Naoko because it is going to be her last class.

Misao and Saki joined us for make up classes tonight so the room was kind of crowded. Yasuko shared her bad news with us. Everyone was shocked that her house had been broken into and all her money stolen. Be careful and check all your locks!

The scripts that people did were very good. Some of you could write scripts for TV. After checking the homework we started the new unit about weather. We did the listening exercise and if you would like to see video of a weather forecast you can go here. The homework for next week is #7 on page 74.

I hope you enjoyed that class with Carlos. I guess he didn't give you homework, so I will think of something else to do at the beginning of class next week.

We did several fun activities tonight that gave you a chance to use the present continuous. The homework for next week is difficult, but I think you will enjoy using your imaginations.

It is too bad that so many of you have parties the same day as JOY's Christmas party. Maybe next year we can avoid the busy day.

We haven't seen Yoshie in awhile. I hope she can make it back soon. People said the homework was difficult, but everyone did a great job in writing the dialogue for the second scene in the script. The part that was missing was setting the location and the feelings of the actors. The ideas people had were really imaginative.

We started the new unit about the weather and seasons. We looked at stress and what words should be stressed in a sentence. We also learned how to turn a noun into an adjective by adding a "y".

There is no homework for next week and you will have a substitute teacher next week because I will be in Sapporo.

Makiko joined us from the 1G class. She had to miss a class earlier in the month because she was busying moving to a new apartment. There was no homework to check this week, so we jumped right into the new lesson. We continued practicing using the present continuous form, but today we worked more with making questions.

The homework for next week (#12D) is going to be a challenge so make sure to give yourself some extra time. Read the script again carefully and think about what scene 2 should be.

It was nice to have Natsuko back this week, but both Ayami and Kasuaki were absent. Makiko was glad she had changed her tires on Saturday when she woke up and saw the snow this morning. Several of the students haven't changed them yet.

We started Unit 11 and learned that Narumi has the most phones and I was second. Right now Makiko only has a cell phone, but think she is planning to get a landline. In the States now many young people only have cell phone.

There is no homework for next class, so enjoy Labor Thanksgiving Day. This year the holiday falls on the same day as Thanksgiving Day in the USA.

A small class today. Only Yoshihiro, Naoko, Rika and Hiromi made it. We went over the homework and people's descriptions of themselves were very good. You all used the grammar patterns that we had been practicing. We moved on to Unit 11 and people had telephone habits similar to the people in the book, except no one spent several hours on the phone like Miguel.

The focus of this is unit is present continuous. We will do more work with this pattern next week. The people who were absent this week will be happy to learn that there is no homework for the next class.

It sounds like you had a good party last Friday and I'm glad that you sang some English songs when you went to karaoke. There was good news for Taiki because he passed the first part of the Eiken test and he will have the interview section this coming Sunday. I am sure he will do okay.

We continued practicing can and can't. We found out the Kazuaki can do the tango a little and that Yasuko and Maiko can both snowboard. The homework for next week is to write about a friend or family member telling us the things they can and can not do. Look at the example in #10 on page 64.

Yoshie was the only person absent today, and Ryoko said she will be absent next week. We went over the homework and then finished up the rest of Unit 10. At the beginning of class when we were talking about the three-day weekend Hiromi mentioned that she had seen something about musk ox. If you would like to see more about them go here.

The homework for next week is to write about yourself. Follow the example in the book on page 64.

We had to use a different room today because things weren't cleaned up from Expo yet. Next week we will use our regular room. In this class most of you came to one of the presentations at Expo and those who didn't come this year, I hope you can come next year.

We started the new unit and talked about sports that we like and don't like. We also stared working with can and can't. The homework for next week is to write ten sentences using the information that you got from your partner. Also do the reading on page 62.

It was nice to have Kazuaki back tonight. He said he didn't have time to study when he was in Tokyo, but he didn't seem too rusty. We went over the the reading about new urbanism. I mentioned that I thought Ozora was designed and built following some of the ideas of new urbanism, but no one seemed to know when this area was built. Hopefully, someone will find out for next week's class.

We started Unit 10 and talked about different sports. People were surprised that basketball was so popular in the Philippines. This article talks about the problems Philippine basketball has been having.

The homework for next week is to do the reading on page 60.

Ryoko had a good time in Aomori and she brought us back some snacks. We went over the homework and I pointed out the new Urbanism in the article sounded a lot like Ozora in Obihiro. The neighborhoods that you planned were interesting.

We had a little time leftover at the end of class today, so we talked about several different things. For some reason we talked about cars and compared how good of mileage our cars get.

There is no homework for next week because many of you are coming to Expo. Remember to get here early if you can.

Tonight Natsuko was back and Ryoko and Tamami joined us from 1F on Wednesday. That is quite a change from last week of having only two students. Yasuko said she had to play mini-volleyball last week, so she couldn't come to class. Narumi asked her if she got injured, but Yasuko said they moved real slow.

We practiced giving the location of places in downtown Obihiro. People did a pretty good job at guessing the places I described. Mossburger gave people the most trouble. We didn't go over the homework I assigned last week because only Taiki and Narumi had done it. For next week everyone else do #9 (ABC) on page 57. We will start Unit 10 next week.

Ryoko is on a trip to Aomori and she is supposed to send a postcard. Today I brought a sample of beet pickles and everyone seemed to like them. They are something my mother makes every year and whenever she has a party she uses them on the relish tray.

We continued talking about neighborhoods and did a little work with the map of Obihiro. The homework for next week is to think of three places downtown and write down how you would describe the locations. Don't show them to anyone because you will need to try to guess each place. Also read #9 on page 57 and answer part C.

Only Taiki and Narumi tonight. Yasuko and Ayami both did make up classes earlier in the week. Makiko was busy at work today. I am not sure about Natsuko.

We went over the homework and both of you did a good job. For the people who were absent this week we can go over the homework next class, but we have more homework for next week. Do the reading on page 57. Do parts a, b and c.

No new students have joined this class, but we may get someone in the coming months. There was good news from Yoshiro because he won the National Petanque Championships. He said he still has one more tournament this year.

We started the new unit and looked over using singular and plural. We also talked about neighborhoods and what kind of shops and facilities you might have. There was the question of how big is a neighborhood, but that is hard to say. There are so many factors involved in what makes up a neighborhood. The homework for next week is to write 5 sentences using is or isn't for things in your area and 5 sentences using are or aren't for things in your area. Also do #5 page 55.

We had a smaller class today because both Rika and Yoshihiro were absent. I believe that Yoshihiro attended the National Petanque Championships, so he might be a tired. Keiko said she went to Hawaii and had a very good time. She said she only spoke a little English in the restaurants.

We practiced some and any by playing the card game. I think it helped people practice the pattern enough that you were making fewer mistakes by the end. We also practiced accepting and declining offers.

The homework for next week is to answer the questions in #10 on page 50. If you want to you can also do the review unit. We will start Unit 9 next week.

We talked about shiso last week in class and I asked what it was called in English. The two names that came up were beefsteak plant and perilla. Those were new to me and I thought I had heard it called Japanese basil, but my google search didn't turn up anything searching that way. I did find that it is in the basil family, so I guess it might be safe to translate it that way.

We practiced accepting and declining offers today. I mentioned what I thought was a difference between Japan and the States, but people didn't seem to think that was true. This link will take you to a page that explains what I was talking about. Take a look at it and see if you agree.

There is no homework for next week, but if you want you can do the review exercises for units 5-8. We will start Unit 9 in the new semester. I hope to see you at next weeks events.

Sorry about not posting sooner. It has been busy the last few days. We practiced using any and some by playing the Go Fish with food items. I think people were getting much better at using the words and had a good time.

The homework is to do the reading on page 49 and answer the questions.

The special seat was filled by Ryoko this week. We talked about the weekend and both Ryoko and Yoshie were in Sapporo for a tea ceremony convention. Yoshihiro watched a sheepdog trial in Ikeda.

We started working on countable and uncountable nouns. They can be tricky and hard to use. We will continue to work with them and next week we will look at some and any. Here is some more information and practice. For homework next week also do #9 on page 49.

Narumi had some bad news tonight. Her son broke his nose. She did go into much detail on how it happened, but it sounds like he got hit by a baseball. He will have surgery next week. Natsuko was absent tonight, but I imagine she is busy with wedding plans.

We continued with Unit 8 and tonight we started talking about countable and uncountable nouns. Some food items can be confusing, so we will do a little more work with next week. The homework for next week is #5 on page 47.

This is the second week in a row to have full attendance. Maybe this will continue for the last two classes of the semester. Remember if you plan to continue in the class, make sure to sign up at the counter.

We finished up Unit 7 and we learned that we were split down the middle; half of the people in the class were night people and the other half morning people.

We started the first part of the next unit and looked at the pronunciation of many different types of foods. A lot of the vocabulary from this unit will be useful at English cooking on the 27th.

People did a good job with the homework and we got a better idea of each other's daily routine. We also found out who was a night person or morning person.

We started the new unit and we will work on it some more next week. There is no homework for next week.

Yoshie was back today. She said when she got back from India she was very busy everyday because she had many house guests. This should be a little slower in the coming weeks. Yoshihiro had sunburn from playing petanque all weekend.

We went over the homework and practiced "showing interest" in what you partner was saying. People had trouble responding quickly. It takes very good listening skills to do this well. We will practice this a little more next week. The homework for next week is #8 on page 43.

We did a listening exercise about hotel dining rooms and I thought I would try to find an article for you to look at. When I put a search into google, I was surprised how many hits I got for hotel dining rooms. There are a lot of first class restaurants in hotels to read about. This link will take you to one example.

It was nice to have Natsuko back. She was in Sapporo on the weekend getting ready for her wedding. It sounds like she is really busy with that. Almost everyone was watching high school baseball on the weekend. Ayami did see off the exchange students who stayed at her house and Narumi took her daughter to the airport, so that she could fly back to Nagoya.

We went over the homework and then practiced responding to information. Remember that is one of the hardest things to do. You need to listen to what your partner has to say, respond and then ask a question.

The homework for next week is #8 (A,B,C) on page 44.

The only person absent today was Yoshie. Everyone was looking forward to hearing about her trip to India. We talked abut my vacation and people had many good questions. During the break Hiromi had a chance to speak English. She said an Australian had questions about Japanese temples, but she couldn't really answer. That is a difficult topic and you need special words.

We talked about internet shopping and most people do, but catalog shopping seemed more popular. We also started the new unit and next week the homework is #3 on page 40. Also don't do the reading exercise. We will do that in class next week.

We had a chance to learn about people's summer holidays. Most people were busy and just about everyone is tired of the hot weather. We started the new unit and did several listening exercises. The homework for next week is to do #3 a, b and c.

Yoshie was absent again today, but I think she may still be in India. The postcard must be on its way by now.

We did things a little out of the normal order today at the beginning of class and things didn't go so well. When we finally talked about the weekend we heard that Naoko went to Shiretoko with her family. If you want to find out about other World Heritage sites go here.

We went over the conversations and used the the pictures that you brought. There was a big selection of clothing items. We will practice this more after the break because it is really useful. The homework for the break is to #2 on page 37.

Naoko joined us from the Monday morning Step 1 class and she had a chance to introduce herself to Natsuko. People brought some interesting pictures of a variety of clothing and some of the prices were interesting, too.

We talked about online shopping and everyone in this class has done it. No one seemed to be too worried about using their credit card online. There were several people who had used auction sites before, too. That is something I still haven't done on the internet yet. I have had a friend buy and sell something for me, but I have never done it myself.

There is no homework for summer vacation and after the break we will start Unit 7. We will also talk about what people did during the break. Have a good time and I will see you in two weeks.

Everyone was able to find some information about Marine Day and almost everyone found it on the internet. We heard a little bit about Spain from Ryoko. She said it was very hot and some days it was 40 degrees.

We started the new unit and talked about clothes. I mentioned the different names for colors. This site for curtains has some different names. The homework for next week is to bring three or pictures of clothing and put a price (in dollars) on each item.

Well, Natsuko was back tonight and Chisato was here from Braden's Step 1 on Tuesday. Ayami couldn't make it tonight, but I am sure she will be here next week. We talked about the weekend and Yasuko asked Taiki about the guest from the States staying at his house. He had to say, "I don't know," in answer to a lot of her questions, so his homework is to find the answers for next week.

We practiced the conversation and how to say prices. We will do this more next week so your homework is to bring some pictures of different types of clothing with a price (in dollars) on each one.

Ryoko is on a trip and we will see if we get a postcard from Spain or not. We also learned today the Yoshie will be going to India.

In class we learned that Naoko works at a coffee shop near the Hokkaido Hotel, so if you have time stop by and have something to eat or drink. Today in class we reviewed a lot points that we have been doing the last two weeks. After Marine Day we will start a new unit.

The homework for next class is to find out why we have Marine Day on July 17 and what kind of activities go on that day.

We learned that Shoji only has one more class. Originally, he was going to go to Denmark in the fall, but he will be leaving towards the end of this month. He is going to be there for a year and a half. I hope he will send us a postcard or e-mail sometimes.

We went over the homework and people talked about their families. Your partners had to ask follow up yes/no questions using do or does. We also practiced starting conversations and we will do this a little more next week.

The homework for next week is to look at the tapescript on page 135. You should practice the conversation using the CD that came with your book. Pay attention to how much information Ted gives to each question.

Yoshihiro was absent today, but Naoko, a new student, joined the class today. We worked on talking about our families and starting conversations. At the end of class we did the one minute talk. You were really surprised by how much information I was able to get into one minute. For your homework practice how you would answer, "Tell me about your family."

Yoshie, there is going to be someone from India at the party on Saturday, so if you have a chance please come.

Tonight we did the warm up activity a little differently and this time you had to report what you heard from your first partner to your second partner and the double check the information with person you first partner talked to. People did a really good job.

Sorry about getting the homework confused with the Monday morning class. We talked about family reunions and I gave some information about the one my family holds every 4 years. We practiced the conversation and did the grammar focus. The homework for next week is write about your family. Use 3C as an example. Also do #5 on page 30.

Junko joined us from the Thursday morning Step 1 class. She is going to be absent this Thursday, so she decided to do a make up class. We went over the homework and people did a pretty good job, but there were still a few problems with simple present. If you want more practice try this quiz. We also practiced yes/no

The homework for next week is to look over the tapescript on page 132.

We went over the homework and talked about the different adjectives you can use to describe someone's personality. Yoshie used the word >doggedly which is an adverb, so I suggested another word, but I think tenacious would be better than the word I gave in class. After that we practiced introducing people one more tim. Finally we talked about Golden Week and the different things you can do in Tokachi. There were several good ideas.

Have a good Golden Week and I will see you on the 10th.

Good news for Yoshie. Last Friday her first granddaughter was born! I am sure she is very excited to see her. Rika got her haircut last week, but was upset that they cut it too short. I thought it looked nice. Hiromi watched two movies Ben-Hur and Dances with Wolves. She watched them in English with Japanese subtitles. Osamu was in Kushiro for square dancing and he had a a chance to visit his daughter in Akeshi.

We checked the homework and then did the information gap exercise. Everyone did an excellent job not speaking Japanese. It is important for this type of activity to follow the three rules I mentioned. We will do this type of activity very often in this class.

Next week the homework is make a list of ten words you can use to describe someone's personality. For Osamu he should send a postcard from New Zealand.

Today Yoshie's daughter observed the class and next week she will join the Step 3 class. She will only study for a month or so before she leaves for Canada.

We went over the homework and practiced introducing people. We also did the listening exercise. We will listen to it again next week. The homework is to write 5 sentences comparing yourself to someone else you know. For example, "I am punctual, but my wife is always late." You can write about the same person or different people. Also remember don't look at the activity on page 13.

All four of the students were here today. Osamu and Hiromi are new to JOY, but Hiromi was my student at Tokachi PLaza a year ago. Yoshie was a student at JOY several years ago. We started the book and practiced the warm up we will be using. I hope that you will get used to visiting the site and will post comments. If you have any questions about the site you can ask me next week.

Don't forget to do the homework on page 11. Pick a person for the words in the exercise and then write one word about each person.

Today was the last class and everyone was here. At the end of class Mikkiko told us that her husband has been transfered back to Sapporo. She will be moving at the end of the month. I hope she will keep studying in Sapporo and will come back to Obihiro for English Expo.

This has been a fun class and everyone studied hard. If you keep studying like this you will keep improving. I hope to see you at the events next week.

Takako joined us for the last class. We continued talking about giving location and then directions. People discovered giving the location of a place if the person doesn't know the names of streets or buildings isn't very useful. For example, Kyoko doesn't know Obihiro downtown very well, so she couldn't guess the place that Juniichi gave. In those situations you need to give a starting point and tell the person how to get there. For example, you could say start at the station and .... That should be much more helpful.

Thank you for lunch after class today.

We had a huge class tonight. There were three people doing make up classes and all the other members of the class showed up for the last class. When Yumiko first opened the door she thought she was in the wrong class!

People did a good job with homework and I think have a good idea about how to tell where something is and how to get there. After the reading people had to think of places where you can get a good view of Obihiro and people mentioned several places, but I was surprised no one said Midori-Kan in Satsunai. From the hot spring you can get a really nice view of the city. Finding a quiet place indoors was difficult. Most people said a library and that is about the only place I can think of except for possibly a temple.

At the end of class Ayuka gave me a postcard from her trip to China. It sounds like she had a good time and the cookies she brought back were delicious.

This class really studied hard and improved a lot this year. I hope you will keep studying and improving.

Sorry, I had to miss class again this week, but Hans, Alison and Nicolas had to go to Kushiro for visa issues. I would be nice if they could do these by mail, but immigration requires that they go there in person if it just to get their passports stamped. Sometimes this is only a 5-minute process, but 2 hour drive or 10,000 yen train trip.

I hope you had fun with Chris and learned a little bit about him.

Kyoko was back from her trip and the chocolates are great! People got to talk with Chris and learn a little bit about him. If you come to the different events at the end of the semester you can learn even more.

We continued practicing giving the location of places. We used the map in the book and people did a good job. The on the corner gave people a little trouble, but remember you only have four possible places. If you get near the area you will probably be able to find the place. To make it a little clear which corner you are talking about you can use kitty corner. There are some people even in North America who don't use this, so don't worry if someone asks you what it means.

There is a lot of homework for next week. First pick four places in downtown Obihiro and describe the location using the propositions we used in exercise 5. Next think of three places that Amy and Chris should visit while they are in Japan, but be specific. Don't just give city names. Finally, do the reading, but make sure you set your timer for three minutes.

We did the warm up exercise a little differently today. Instead of just talking about your weekend you also had to remember and talk about your partner's weekend. People did a pretty good job, but needed help from their partner a couple of times.

In going over the homework I discovered the students in the class do a lot to stay healthy. You are probably the healthiest of my Step 1 classes. I wish I did as many things to stay healthy as you do.

We did the listening exercises in the review unit, but I was surprised how unwilling you were to take a guess when you weren't exactly sure of what you heard. Guessing is important skill for listening. You have to take what you hear and make a guess. Sometimes you will be right and sometimes you will be wrong, but you need to try.

The homework is to make 10 Did you.... questions from the information that your partners gave you.

I hope that Kyoko is enjoying her trip to Hong Kong and I am sure I will be getting a post card sometime next week. Takako joined us today for a make up class. She said on the weekend she watched the movie Shawshank Redemtion and Finding Nemo. She liked them both. I have seen Shawshank several times (I like it a lot.), but haven't seen Finding Nemo yet.

The homework for next week is to do the Grammar Focus (part A) on page 82.

Congratulations to Tomomi and Takashi on passing the Eiken test. I hope they will challenge the next level soon. Speaking of Takashi he was sick tonight. Tomomi said he has a cold. This was the first time for him to be absent this term. I am sure he will try to do a make up class. Keitaro was also sick on the weekend. He said he spent all weekend in bed. Toru said he made an igloo with his daughter on he weekend, but the roof collapsed towards the end. Miyuri was bird watching as usual. Yumiko went to see the lighting display in Otufuke. She said it was very beautiful, but very cold.

We started Unit 13 and talked about what you can buy at different places and practiced asking directions a little. In the conversation the man was looking for a restroom for his son. Miyuri asked about the usage of the word powder room, but if you want to know more you can go here to learn about restrooms and other words used for them. Be careful with some of them because they can't be used in all cases.

We will do more with this next week. The homework for next week is to do the Grammar Focus (part A) on page 82.

Fumiko was back today and it was the first time to see here in about 3 weeks. When she was in Sapporo she saw the Phantom of the Opera. She said it was good. A couple of students have seen it also and liked it. Yoko went to a coffee shop in Shintoku with her husband and daughter. Kazue was down with a cold and Takako had to work. Rika had her usual weekend.

We finished up Unit 12. At the end we looked at the 10 tips for staying healthy. The homework for next week is to list the ones you do regularly and think about other things you can do to stay healthy. Everyone did a good job with the home remedies. This link will take to the page I told you about.

Only 3 people today and if Kazue's plans hadn't changed it would have only been two. With the holiday on the 11th and my subbing for Alison last week our routine has really been upset. We will be behind the Wednesday class by a couple of weeks now, but we only have a few weeks left, so it shouldn't cause people too much trouble when they want to do a make up class.

The homework for next week is to find some home remedies for the aches and pains listed in the book. Here is the word I couldn't remember in class. You use it just like ouch.

Well, people weren't too sore from shoveling snow on the weekend. Juniichi was going to wait for the snow to stop before he shoveled, but a friend wanted to borrow his truck. This meant he had to go out and dig it out. He ended up shoveling twice.

We practiced giving advice and asked what people thought was different about the picture of the doctor and the patient. Mika noticed that the doctor came to the patient in the examination room and the room had a door not just a curtain. Kyoko noticed in the conversation that the doctor explained about how to use the medicine, but in Japan it is the pharmacist who does that.

We did the reading on 10 tips for a healthy life and no one did all ten, but most people did at least four or five of them.

Update: I forgot to give you this information.
If March comes in like a lion, it will go out like a lamb. If March comes in like a lamb it will go out like a lion.
What does it mean?

I wonder if Yumiko is having a good time in Seoul? Tomomi and Takashi had their Eiken interviews on Sunday, but they don't think that they did a very good job. Afterwards they drowned their sorrows with an ice cream cone. Tomomi said the cherry blossom flavor was very good. Ayuka has started packing for her move to Sapporo, so she was busy putting things into cardboard boxes.

We finished up the unit on health and practiced giving people advice for different types of problems. We went over the 10 tips for a health life and people did some of them, but no one did them all. The homework for next week is to #1 p. 78 and #3 page 79. We will also practice giving advice again.

Sorry I couldn't teach the class today. I am sure you were surprised when Urashima-san showed up in my place. We will talk about the homework you did next week.

Both Kyoko and Mika did something special for Valentine's Day for their husbands on the weekend. Kyoko bought her husband new ski wear and Mika made a special dinner.

We went over the different aches and illnesses again and talked about home remedies. Here a link to the site I told you about in class.

No homework for next week.

Today was a very unusual class because we only started out with two people, but finally ended up with 5. That is still way smaller than we usually have. Keitaro was probably absent because he had a stomachache from eating too much chocolate on Valentine's Day.

People thought that coming up with the home remedies was difficult, but everyone did a very good job. This site looks interesting. The information is from ESL students from around the world.

No homework for next week, but I hope that Yumiko will send a postcard from Seoul. She is gong there on a business trip next Tuesday.

We had a big class today! Three people from the Friday 1M class were here doing make up classes. It always more fun to have a larger class I think. The dream vacations that peopled planned sounded nice. Junichi's sounded so real that Takako really thought he was going to Okinawa this weekend.

We started Unit 12 and talked about different times of sicknesses and body parts. Everyone was able to go through the body parts quickly, but there were some pronunciation problems with the th words. The homework for next week is to think of some home remedies for some of the problems on the bottom of page 73.

Some very interesting dream 3-day weekends. Tomomi was going to go to space, Takashi to Italy, Miyuri to LA, Toru to Okinawa and Yumiko was going to Bali. Everyone did a good job with the homework and used the pattern correctly.

We moved on to Unit 12 which is about body parts, being sick and giving advice. I mentioned to be careful about using the Japanese word 痛い.

The homework for next week is to think of home remedies for four or five of the problems on page 73.

Kazue was absent today because she is on a trip to Tokyo. I wonder if she will send a postcard.

We continued talking about holidays and we talked about what people did yesterday on Setsubun. I have asked several classes why the jumbo maki-zushi has become popular outside of the Osaka area in the last few years, but nobody knows. One person in another class said it was the nori producers push to sell more nori, but I am not sure if that is true. I told one class I think we should change the custom for Hokkaido and chug a Sapporo beer instead.

We also talked about Girls' Day and the students with single daughters said their daughters blamed them for being single because they had always put the dolls away quickly after the 3rd.

Next week is a national holiday, so you will need to send your homework by e-mail or post it as a comment. You need to tell me what you plan to do on the three-day weekend, but use your imagination. You have three days and money is no problem. Be as detailed as you can and remember to use going to.

I am sorry that I was unable to teach today, but I needed to attend a funeral this morning. Erin said you looked a little surprised when she showed up.

Erin said you continued working on using going to and talked about the things you do on holidays. I am looking forward to hearing about your plans for the long weekend coming up. Remember to use your imaginations when making your plans.

Several people went to the Ice Festival, but thought it was too cold and went home after a short time. There was no homework to check this week, so we reviewed the dialogues again. We talked about the different things you might do on different holidays and what people who have birthdays this spring plan to do. Takashi is lucky because it sounds like Tomomi is going to do a lot special things for his birthday :)

At the end of class I mentioned Groundhog's Day. It isn't really all that special, but the news networks always have short story about it every year.

Remember next week's homework is to write about what you are going to do for the holiday on the 11th, 12th and 13th. Use your imagination. You only have three days, but money is no problem.

Kyoko had heater problems on the weekend and I had my boiler repaired (very expensive). It is always troublesome to have these kinds of problems in the winter. Junichi has gotten his wood stove cleaned so now it is burning much better. Mika went to a friend's wedding and had a delicious meal.

We went over the conversation that talked about American Thanksgiving and the foods that are eaten that day.

There is no homework for next week, but try using the CD to practice the dialogue and read the articles about Thanksgiving that I linked to. Some of them are difficult, so don't worry if you don't understand everything.

We started out with a small class tonight which is unusual for this group. Tomomi and Takashi took the Eiken test on the weekend and they think that they probably passed, but aren't 100% sure. Both Toru and Yumiko had a chance to use their English with some foreigners. Toru met an artist from Singapore and spoke English with him. Yumiko met a woman from Hawaii at the 100 yen store in Ito Yokado. She asked Yumiko, What's this? She was holding a sharp pencil which is Japanese English and is what Yumiko told her. In American English we call it a mechanical pencil. After that they then had a short conversation.

We continued practicing the going to pattern, but in using Wh questions. Today's conversation was about the American Thanksgiving holiday and some of the traditional foods.

There is no homework for next week, but try to read some of the articles I have linked to.

Sorry it has taken me so long to post something for this class. It was a busy day on Friday and a busy Monday.

We only had four people for class, but everyone had done their homework. We continued practicing going to and we also talked about Japanese national holidays. There is no homework for, but I hope people will do a little bit of English study.

Only three people today. The last several weeks we have had people doing make up classes on Wednesdays, so we have had at least four people. With only three people I needed to be partners with someone for some of the activities and Junichi was the lucky one several times.

We talked about the pronunciation of going to and how it sounds like gonna when Americans are speaking natural speed. Remember that using going to is fine and you will probably have fewer communication problems. For listening it is important remember that gonna =going to.

Next week the homework is to make or find a list of Japanese national holidays in English.

Ayuka was back tonight and she said that she was absent last week because she was in Sapporo finding an apartment for March. Miyuri went bird watching again this weekend, but this time she checked the English names of the birds. That is a good thing to do. If you have a hobby you should try to speak about it in English.

Toru was dressed more casually tonight because had been working outside. He is helping to make the ice gallery on the north side of Obihiro Station and some things in Midorgaoka Park. You will be able to see them next week at the Ice Festival.

Keitaro took a picture of the website address, so I hope he is reading this today. Welcome Keitaro!

The homework for next week is to write 10 sentences using the information that your partners gave you. We will also use the Japanese holiday information again, so please bring the list to class. Also good luck to Tomomi and Takashi who will be taking the Eiken test this weekend.

Everyone was back today plus we had Takuya from the Basic class. As always the warm up activity got everyone going. There was no homework for this class last week so we jumped right into the textbook.

We continued practicing the ordinal numbers and months of the year. People still forget to add the th to the ordianal numbers sometimes. We worked on the pronunciation of a few words like fabulous, embarrassing, and the difference between walk and work.

There is a lot of homework for next week. First you need to check the meaning of embarrassing following the steps I wrote on the board. Then you need to write 10 sentences using the information that you got from your partner and finally you need to make a list in English (or find one on the web) of Japanese national holidays.

Everyone seems to be handling the cold okay. No one mentioned dead car batteries, forzen pipes, or anything like that. This cold temperatures don't feel, so bad because there is no wind. In Seward, my hometown, we get this temperatures and strong winds. That makes it feel really cold.

We continued talking about ordinal numbers and worked with the future tense. The homework is to write sentences using your partner's answers.

Almost everyone was here tonight. Ayuka and Satoru were both absent and Shinya has stopped for now to study for the entrance exam to university.

Most people had a good break, but some had very short holidays. Many people enjoyed eating and drinking, but Keitaro was unlucky and caught a cold and couldn't eat anything. Tomomi said she enjoyed a little too much and had a headache the next day.

We started Unit 11 and we will be practicing talking about the future and using ordinal numbers. When we going over the ordinal numbers I asked Takashi what day his wedding anniversary was, but when he answered Tomomi said it was wrong! He was very surprised, but Tomomi had thought I had asked about his birthday. He was relieved that he hadn't gotten the date wrong.

The homework for next week is to make or find an English list of Japanese national holidays.

Today's 1M class was the largest number of students I have had this week!. Everyone must be taking long holidays. Mika joined us from the Wednesday class. She missed this week because she was enjoying a stay at a hot spring at Lake Akan.

Most people had relaxing breaks, and enjoyed being with family and friends.

This class had a lot of winter vacation homework, so it took some time to check. We only did the Snapshot section and there is no homework for next week.

Only Junichi and Takako today. Mika is on a trip and Kyoko is doing some volunteer work I believe. We talked about the holidays and checked the homework. Takako mentioned that it was her birthday on the 3rd. Her family took her to her favorite ramen shop and her daughter is treating her to a night at a hot spring hotel next week.

Junichi is working on sculptures for an exhibition he will be having in June, but he said his work shop is too cold.

We started Unit 11, but only did the Snapshot section. There is no homework for next week.