Topic: English Pronunciation
My Aim: To inform and to entertain
Thesis: English pronunciations are difficult for Japanese people because there a lot of sound which Japanese language doesn’t have. However, we can do something to improve our pronunciation.
Out Line:
*Why is Japanese people’s English pronunciation bad? What is the biggest cause?
*Examples of difficult sounds. “L&R”, “TH&S&SH”
*What can we do to improve our pronunciation? Some suggestions.
Script:
Today I’d like to talk about “English Pronunciation.” How many of you aren’t satisfied with your English pronunciation? Can you raise your hands? I’m not satisfied with my English pronunciation.
Today, there are 3 main points in my presentation. First, I’d like to talk about why Japanese people’s English pronunciation is so bad and what the biggest cause is. Second, I will give you some examples of difficult English sounds for Japanese people. Third, I will give 3 suggestions or strategies to improve your pronunciation. So, these three points are important.
First, let me talk about problems of Japanese people’s English pronunciation. It is said that Japanese people’s English pronunciations are not good generally speaking. In the world there are many kinds of pronunciations so, I can’t tell what the proper English pronunciations are. However, when we communicate with people from all over the world, we should at least make ourselves understood.
Have you ever been asked by international students “what did you say?” or “Can you say that again?” Why do you think Japanese people’s pronunciations are so bad? The biggest cause is “Katakana” pronunciation. Even when speaking English, many Japanese people try to pronounce English words in a Japanese way. English pronunciations are difficult for Japanese people because there a lot of sound which Japanese language doesn’t have.
Second, I’ll give some examples. L&R and TH&S&SH are famous examples of difficult pronunciations which Japanese people can’t distinguish. L and R are difficult for Japanese people because Japanese language doesn’t have both sounds. Our らりるれろsounds are close to them but not exactly the same. Try to say these words, “Load” and “Road”, “Rice” and “Lice”, “Flesh” and “Fresh”, “Play” and “Pray”. Is it easy for you? Well, look at this picture. They are “Rice” and “Lice”. They sound similar but so different isn’t it? If you couldn’t make clear differences, listeners can misunderstand what you said. Like, when you say “I eat rice/ lice everyday.” Rice is ok, but lice are disgusting, right? And this one also, “Play” and “Pray”
What is more, as for TH&S&SH, all of them are シ in Katakana. I have heard a story from a Native English speaker, that when he came to Japan for the first time, he was really confused because many Japanese people used “I sink” so often, not “I think.” Look at the handout that I gave you. There are tongue twister phrases on it. Those S and SH sounds are different. Try to say that phrases. Maybe it is still difficult to distinguish S and SH sounds even if you said them very slowly.
There are many these kinds of funny examples on line. Try to look at the “Engrish.com.”
Finally, I will introduce you 3 good strategies to improve your pronunciation. I researched on the Internet and also asked some Japanese people whose English pronunciations are very wonderful and I got some good strategies from them.
*1st, Listen to Native Speaker’s English many times.
It doesn’t matter whether you talk with international students or listen to CNN or BBC radio. Listen to fluent English again and again.
*2nd, Move your mouth.
Japanese people don’t move our mouth so much. I observed many Japanese people’s mouth when they were talking in Japanese. I found that almost all people don’t open up their mouth while they talk. However, Native English speakers use their mouth, tongues and lips very much. So, try to imitate native English speaker’s mouth movements.
*3rd, Record your voice and listen to it.
Try to record your voice while you are speaking English and then listen to it. You would be able to find many Japanese English pronunciations on it. It will help you to find which sounds are difficult for you.
Today I talked about English pronunciation. There were 3 points in my presentation. First I talked about why Japanese people’s English pronunciation is so bad and then, I gave some examples. Finally, I gave 3 suggestions to improve your pronunciations. First, Listen to Native Speaker’s English many times. Second, Move your mouth. Then third, Record your voice and listen to it. So, remember that information and try to use some of my strategies if you are interested in.
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Speech Communication 1st Presentation
Sign Language
Out Line
*What is Sign Language?
*How are ASL and JSL different?
-Compare ASL and JSL.
*My Conclusion
What is Sign Language?
*A sign Language
-uses manual communication, body language and lip patterns in stead of sound or voice.
-has developed in deaf communities.
-So many sign languages exist.
*Fingerspelling
-represent alphabetic letters by using one hand or hands.
-ASL has 26 fingerspellings.
-JSL has 50 fingerspellings. (this was created based on ASL fingerspellings in 1931. )
How are ASL and JSL different?
*e.g.1) Thank you.
-Based on American culture.
*ne.g.1) Arigatou.
-Based on Japanese culture.
*ne.g.2)I understand/ I don’t understand.
-Use clear facial expression.
*ne.g.2) Wakarimasu/ Wakarimasenn.
-Use clear mouthing (saying words with or without making sounds.)
Conclusion
*A Sign Language is also a type of communication methods.
*Sign Languages are unique to each region in the world.
*Understanding culture is also greatly beneficial in deaf world as well as hearing world.
Reference
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sign_language#Linguistics_of_sign
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_Sign_Language/
http://commtechlab.msu.edu/sites/aslweb/browser.htm
Out Line
*What is Sign Language?
*How are ASL and JSL different?
-Compare ASL and JSL.
*My Conclusion
What is Sign Language?
*A sign Language
-uses manual communication, body language and lip patterns in stead of sound or voice.
-has developed in deaf communities.
-So many sign languages exist.
*Fingerspelling
-represent alphabetic letters by using one hand or hands.
-ASL has 26 fingerspellings.
-JSL has 50 fingerspellings. (this was created based on ASL fingerspellings in 1931. )
How are ASL and JSL different?
*e.g.1) Thank you.
-Based on American culture.
*ne.g.1) Arigatou.
-Based on Japanese culture.
*ne.g.2)I understand/ I don’t understand.
-Use clear facial expression.
*ne.g.2) Wakarimasu/ Wakarimasenn.
-Use clear mouthing (saying words with or without making sounds.)
Conclusion
*A Sign Language is also a type of communication methods.
*Sign Languages are unique to each region in the world.
*Understanding culture is also greatly beneficial in deaf world as well as hearing world.
Reference
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sign_language#Linguistics_of_sign
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_Sign_Language/
http://commtechlab.msu.edu/sites/aslweb/browser.htm
EAP Academic Reading
In the Shadow of War Ben Okri
●Summery
There is a war around Omovo’s town. His father doesn’t want to let him know about the war. The three soldiers asked him about a woman with black veil. However, he says nothing about her and refused money. After that, he sees the woman and the three soldiers go to the forest. He followed the woman into the forest. He sees the violent events among the woman and the three soldiers. He sees that one of the soldiers is trying to shoot the woman. He is scared and runs through the forest screaming. He trips over the roots of a tree and faints away. When he wakes up, he is in his bed. He came back into his fathers’ protection.
●Response
I think that the narrator’s father always protected his son. So, Ovomo knew that there was a war but he didn’t sure the real darkness of the war. However, he realized the dark aspects of his reality through the events he saw in the forest. I think that those events were so shocking for him.
●Summery
There is a war around Omovo’s town. His father doesn’t want to let him know about the war. The three soldiers asked him about a woman with black veil. However, he says nothing about her and refused money. After that, he sees the woman and the three soldiers go to the forest. He followed the woman into the forest. He sees the violent events among the woman and the three soldiers. He sees that one of the soldiers is trying to shoot the woman. He is scared and runs through the forest screaming. He trips over the roots of a tree and faints away. When he wakes up, he is in his bed. He came back into his fathers’ protection.
●Response
I think that the narrator’s father always protected his son. So, Ovomo knew that there was a war but he didn’t sure the real darkness of the war. However, he realized the dark aspects of his reality through the events he saw in the forest. I think that those events were so shocking for him.
EAP Academic Reading
SAINTS
*Summary
The Writer whose name is Shawn has a problem in his family. His father doesn’t live with him and him mother together because they couldn’t get along well. His father sends big checks twice a year. Whenever she talks about her ex-husband, she talks down him. His mother has a boyfriend; Wayne, who also has a relationship with another woman who is Yugoslav. Shawn has a good friend; Tran, who does chess club together. His family is also complicated and he wants to go to Houston to see his older brother. Yet, his mother doesn’t give money for the bus to go there. Shawn wants to console him. At one night, he was woken up by Tran’s moan and he went outside with his mother’s cloths for disguise in a trance. After looking at a studious kid and, mother and Wayne’s fight, he felt so strong and he thought momentary he can touch god.
*Response
I think parents’ problems influence children very much. The writer was in a dilemma about his parents. He liked his father but he couldn’t say it because his mother hated her ex-husband. And I could hardly believe Wayne because he had a relationship with another woman who was not Shawn’s mother. Even though I thought Shawn’s mother was selfish, I was sorry to her. And I also felt sorry to Tran and also Shawn. I thought they tolerate their situation a lot and they had to worry about their life. It was tough for their age. By the way, because it was a little difficult reading for me to understand all of it, I couldn’t get why Shawn felt god.
*Summary
The Writer whose name is Shawn has a problem in his family. His father doesn’t live with him and him mother together because they couldn’t get along well. His father sends big checks twice a year. Whenever she talks about her ex-husband, she talks down him. His mother has a boyfriend; Wayne, who also has a relationship with another woman who is Yugoslav. Shawn has a good friend; Tran, who does chess club together. His family is also complicated and he wants to go to Houston to see his older brother. Yet, his mother doesn’t give money for the bus to go there. Shawn wants to console him. At one night, he was woken up by Tran’s moan and he went outside with his mother’s cloths for disguise in a trance. After looking at a studious kid and, mother and Wayne’s fight, he felt so strong and he thought momentary he can touch god.
*Response
I think parents’ problems influence children very much. The writer was in a dilemma about his parents. He liked his father but he couldn’t say it because his mother hated her ex-husband. And I could hardly believe Wayne because he had a relationship with another woman who was not Shawn’s mother. Even though I thought Shawn’s mother was selfish, I was sorry to her. And I also felt sorry to Tran and also Shawn. I thought they tolerate their situation a lot and they had to worry about their life. It was tough for their age. By the way, because it was a little difficult reading for me to understand all of it, I couldn’t get why Shawn felt god.
Ritual
The God of Fox: Oinari-sama
Animals and plants have spirits. This way of thinking is called animism. In my hometown, there are many people who believe in it. Thus, there are a lot of stone monuments called “Soumokutou” in many places. These are the symbols of animism. Especially my neighbors believe that many animal gods such as the fox god Oinari-sama, the god of rich harvest, the snake god Obenten-sama, the god of health, the deer god, which rules over the forests and mountains, and the raccoon god, which rules over rivers. It is said that the fox god is one of the strongest gods in nature. In my neighborhood, there are big ritual festivals for the fox god twice a year, in the spring and fall. There are things that my neighbors do every festival, and there is an unwritten rule from long ago that people have to keep.
People believe in and pray to the fox god because there are many fields of crops in my hometown. On the festival day, people make a lot of dangos (dumplings) which are made of rice to give to the fox god. Also, they set up special flags and lanterns along the street as people parade down it with the Shinto priests before they go to the shrine to pray to the fox god. Then, people gather at the square in front of the shrine and pray to the fox god to give them a lot of crops and stable life. After that, they enjoy chatting and eating dangos.
Almost all the families in my neighborhood have at least one small shrine for the fox god in their home. My family for instance has two small shrines in our garden. One is, of course, for the fox god and the other for the snake god. My family believes that these gods protect our home and our health. So on the festival day, my family offers many dangos to the gods. Then they put candles in front of the dangos and pray to the gods. Likewise, my grandmother puts a little amount of rice every morning on both of the shines. That is, my family prays to the god not only on the festival day but also in daily life.
It is said that the fox hates dogs. Thus people believe if they have a dog, they would become cursed. I also believe in this curse and in the existence of the fox god. That's because I’ve heard a story of a family who had lived in my neighborhood for a long time that had a pet dog. I clearly remember that their family name was Adachi. Because my home town is very small, every one knows the story about them. It was very strange that soon after they got a dog, the family had a lot of misfortune. For example, both grandparents died from cancer even though they looked very healthy before having the pet dog. The husband was killed in a traffic accident, and nobody knows about the wife. She suddenly disappeared. Actually, even her parents weren’t sure where she was. The dog also died under the house. Their dilapidated house is still in my neighborhood. That story makes me scared. So, I don’t want to have a pet dog in my hometown.
Even though the above rituals and beliefs are very old, people still believe in the existence of and honor the animal gods with festivals. The festival is now a symbol of tradition in my neighborhood. In addition, the festivals give my neighbors and me good opportunities to communicate each other. Because my hometown is very small and surrounded by huge mountain rages, people have had to cooperate each other. Therefore, it has been important to live together in harmony since long time ago. I hope these festivals should be continued not only as a symbol of tradition but also in the role of bridge of friendship in my neighborhood.
Animals and plants have spirits. This way of thinking is called animism. In my hometown, there are many people who believe in it. Thus, there are a lot of stone monuments called “Soumokutou” in many places. These are the symbols of animism. Especially my neighbors believe that many animal gods such as the fox god Oinari-sama, the god of rich harvest, the snake god Obenten-sama, the god of health, the deer god, which rules over the forests and mountains, and the raccoon god, which rules over rivers. It is said that the fox god is one of the strongest gods in nature. In my neighborhood, there are big ritual festivals for the fox god twice a year, in the spring and fall. There are things that my neighbors do every festival, and there is an unwritten rule from long ago that people have to keep.
People believe in and pray to the fox god because there are many fields of crops in my hometown. On the festival day, people make a lot of dangos (dumplings) which are made of rice to give to the fox god. Also, they set up special flags and lanterns along the street as people parade down it with the Shinto priests before they go to the shrine to pray to the fox god. Then, people gather at the square in front of the shrine and pray to the fox god to give them a lot of crops and stable life. After that, they enjoy chatting and eating dangos.
Almost all the families in my neighborhood have at least one small shrine for the fox god in their home. My family for instance has two small shrines in our garden. One is, of course, for the fox god and the other for the snake god. My family believes that these gods protect our home and our health. So on the festival day, my family offers many dangos to the gods. Then they put candles in front of the dangos and pray to the gods. Likewise, my grandmother puts a little amount of rice every morning on both of the shines. That is, my family prays to the god not only on the festival day but also in daily life.
It is said that the fox hates dogs. Thus people believe if they have a dog, they would become cursed. I also believe in this curse and in the existence of the fox god. That's because I’ve heard a story of a family who had lived in my neighborhood for a long time that had a pet dog. I clearly remember that their family name was Adachi. Because my home town is very small, every one knows the story about them. It was very strange that soon after they got a dog, the family had a lot of misfortune. For example, both grandparents died from cancer even though they looked very healthy before having the pet dog. The husband was killed in a traffic accident, and nobody knows about the wife. She suddenly disappeared. Actually, even her parents weren’t sure where she was. The dog also died under the house. Their dilapidated house is still in my neighborhood. That story makes me scared. So, I don’t want to have a pet dog in my hometown.
Even though the above rituals and beliefs are very old, people still believe in the existence of and honor the animal gods with festivals. The festival is now a symbol of tradition in my neighborhood. In addition, the festivals give my neighbors and me good opportunities to communicate each other. Because my hometown is very small and surrounded by huge mountain rages, people have had to cooperate each other. Therefore, it has been important to live together in harmony since long time ago. I hope these festivals should be continued not only as a symbol of tradition but also in the role of bridge of friendship in my neighborhood.
EAP Academic Writing
Reparation Candy
When I read this story for the first time, I thought the writer’s mother was crazy. That is because she believed Chinese traditions a lot such as “frog-swallowing-the-moon”. I thought it is abnormal. In contrast, the writer adjusted the culture of the place where she lived at that time. So, she didn’t feel comfortable her mother’s way of thinking. However, I considered about myself and I found that I have same kind of way of thinking with her mother.
For example, I don’t stick rice with chopsticks. Not only me but also many other Japanese people don’t do that. It is kind of a common sense in Japan. Maybe other country people don’t care to do this but many Japanese people hesitate to do this because it looks like incenses stick for their dead ancestors. So, I could understand her mother’s feeling. Even though she wasn’t in China, she still believed the old Chinese habit. Yet, as the proverb goes, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.” I thought that she should be more generous and adjust herself to the new environment like her doughter.
When I read this story for the first time, I thought the writer’s mother was crazy. That is because she believed Chinese traditions a lot such as “frog-swallowing-the-moon”. I thought it is abnormal. In contrast, the writer adjusted the culture of the place where she lived at that time. So, she didn’t feel comfortable her mother’s way of thinking. However, I considered about myself and I found that I have same kind of way of thinking with her mother.
For example, I don’t stick rice with chopsticks. Not only me but also many other Japanese people don’t do that. It is kind of a common sense in Japan. Maybe other country people don’t care to do this but many Japanese people hesitate to do this because it looks like incenses stick for their dead ancestors. So, I could understand her mother’s feeling. Even though she wasn’t in China, she still believed the old Chinese habit. Yet, as the proverb goes, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.” I thought that she should be more generous and adjust herself to the new environment like her doughter.
Reflection on My Writing in EAP
I will write about how did I learned in the EAP Academic Writing class with EAP 3E classmates and Geoff during the spring semester in 2007. I am sure that I improved my writing skill. Through my writing class in this semester, I could learn mainly three important things.
First, I could learn many writing styles such as “narration”, “describing”, “cause and effect”, “compare and contrast”, and “argument”. Especially, the style of “cause and effect” essay and “argument essay” was effective to improve my writing. In the “cause and effect” section, I learned that how to organize the essay clearly. I could get ideas that I should do my best to communicate my thesis statement to the readers when I write an essay. I also learned that I need fully developed paragraphs to support my thesis statement.
Second, I learned the importance of the peer review. I like to see my classmates’ writings because they have many interesting opinion which is different from mine. Also, I could learn some new words or expressions from their writing.
Third, I noticed that the prewriting is important. I learned “clustering”, “free writing”, “listing” and “cubing”. It helped me a lot to clear up my ideas about a topic.
I can see the big difference when I look back my writings which I wrote in this semester. I think I improved a lot. I always reviewed and revised my writings after the teacher give them back to me. I corrected them and uploaded them on my English blog. I think it is also important to review my own writing.
First, I could learn many writing styles such as “narration”, “describing”, “cause and effect”, “compare and contrast”, and “argument”. Especially, the style of “cause and effect” essay and “argument essay” was effective to improve my writing. In the “cause and effect” section, I learned that how to organize the essay clearly. I could get ideas that I should do my best to communicate my thesis statement to the readers when I write an essay. I also learned that I need fully developed paragraphs to support my thesis statement.
Second, I learned the importance of the peer review. I like to see my classmates’ writings because they have many interesting opinion which is different from mine. Also, I could learn some new words or expressions from their writing.
Third, I noticed that the prewriting is important. I learned “clustering”, “free writing”, “listing” and “cubing”. It helped me a lot to clear up my ideas about a topic.
I can see the big difference when I look back my writings which I wrote in this semester. I think I improved a lot. I always reviewed and revised my writings after the teacher give them back to me. I corrected them and uploaded them on my English blog. I think it is also important to review my own writing.
Extensive Reading Presentation
EAP Reading Presentation
A brief history of my free time reading in Japanese
A. What kind of things do I read?
I am reading “Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince” by Joanne K. Rowling, and “Na Margem Do Rio Piedra Eu Sentei E Chorei (I cried beside the Piedra river.)” by Paulo Coelho. It is a philosophical book.
B. How much do you read?
It depends on my situation, such as how much I have home work or how my body condition is. However, I am trying to read almost every day. I don’t read many pages in one time. Every night, before I go to bed, I read about 10 pages. So it takes about 3 to 5 minutes.
C. What do you like or dislike about reading? Why?
I really like both of them. As for “Harry Potter”, it is very fun to read. I like fictions. I like fantasies. So, I can enjoy those books even though those are very thick and 2 volumes. As for Paulo Coelho’s book, it is very interesting. There is a lot of knowledge about the world based on a philosophical way of thinking. By the way, I have read his another book “Alchemist” before, It was also very interesting but deep. His books are really difficult so I have to read at least 3 times to understand what he really wants to say. However, I enjoy reading them.
A brief history of my free time reading in English.
A. What kind of things do I read?
I have read very easy short stories for high school students, such as “Christmas Carols” , ”Hamlet ( in easy English)”, “King Lear ( in easy English)”.
B. How much do you read?
Actually, I don’t often read English book just for fun these days except my extensive reading. However, I am going to read “Howl’s Moving Castle” by Diana Wynne Jones because I like its movie.
C. What do you like or dislike about reading? Why?
I liked those short stories. Because it was written in really easy English, I didn’t have to stop and looked up so many words in the dictionary so often. And I could concentrate on my readings and finish them without giving up in half of the book because they were short.
Title of my Extensive Reading * The girls
Author * Amy Goldman Koss
Summary of key aspects of reading
Maya, Renee, Brianna, Darcy, and Candace are classmates in their school. They usually hang around together. However, one day, only Maya is excluded from the girls group. One Saturday night, the girls except Maya gather at Darcy’s house and have a pajama party. At that night, Darcy makes a very mean phone call to Maya in front of other girls. Renee and Brianna aren’t sure the reason why only Maya is excluded suddenly. Darcy is also not sure the reason but she just did the call for Candace. Yet, Candace is satisfied with Darcy’s behavior against Maya.
Candace is the most popular girl in school so she had a big power in the group. Nobody can disagree with her. Because Candace decided to except Maya’s name from her girls group, other girls have to obey her decision even though they don’t know the reason and they don’t hate Maya. Renee likes Maya but she can’t say anything because she is scared. On Sunday, Brianna goes to Candace’s home and asks her how she should act in front of Maya, and finally she told her true feeling. That is, she doesn’t hate Maya. Then Candace suddenly acts coldly. From then on, it is Brianna’s turn to be excluded.
Maya feels so bad, but her mother makes her go to school o Monday. She doesn’t hide anywhere and attend every class. But, Brianna isn’t put up with her situation and goes to nurse’s room, and stay there for a long time. She feels very sorry for Maya. She understands that is the way Maya felt. Renee also felt guilty so when she meets Maya, she talks with her friendly as usual. Brianna and Renee stand Maya’s side.
Candace gets board her friends and decided to welcome another member into her group, Nichol. And she said how Darcy is weird to Nichol. Darcy doesn’t notice that Candace gets board her too. Nichol is not like other girls. She thinks their relationships and Darcy’s attitude toward Candace and also Candace’s attitude toward Darcy are crazy. She decided to teach them especially Candace and Darcy what the real friendship is like.
Response
I think that it is a common problem for teenager girls. I have ever experienced same kind of situation before so many times. I have been like Maya and also like Renee. So, I can understand their feeling well.
For teenagers, friends are the most important thing in their lives. They spend time together not only at school but also in private. Friends are important than parents for them. So, if a girl had a trouble with her friends and she was excluded from her group, she would feel that it’s the end of the world.
The story finished Nichol’s participation and there are no descriptions what happened after that. The reason why the author finished the story at that point that she wanted readers to think about what the real friendship is like, and find readers’ own answer through the story.
I think all of the 5 girls went a wrong way. Their friendship wasn’t real. They were always trying to make themselves nice to Candace. They never said disagreements to her. I think friends should talk their true feeling more and consider about their relationship to make it better.
Evaluate the Difficulty
It was appropriate for me. It was not so difficult but not so easy. That is because there were some slang and metaphors which I couldn’t understand in this reading.
Key Passage
“Well, I told myself, I was going to change all that. I’d help Candace flick that Darcy off her shoe and show her what real friendship is like. Candace, of al people, deserved it.”
This is a Nichole’s phrase. She criticizes the 5 girls’ relationship. I think that this phrase imply that she is going to make some good change from then on.
Most interesting thing
The most interesting thing of this story is that the girls often use simile or metaphor. For example, at the end of the story Brianna said to Maya and Renee,
“We’re frogs kissed by a princess.”
And also,
“We’re sleeping beauties kissed by the prince! Ding-dong, the witch is dead! We’re free!”
That is, they meant that they don’t have to always worry about Candace’s feeling anymore. These phrases are based on very famous fairly tale stories. So, it was easy to understand their feelings.
Suggestion for improving reading to the students
I think that reading a lot of English books which you are interested in is good way to improve your reading. I am very bad at reading but my extensive reading was great and interesting, so I could enjoy reading it very much this time. Once I got used to read in English, I could focus on my reading.
Besides, I know that vocabulary is important but I try to guess some new words first, and then use the dictionary. I think it is also good way to improve your reading skill.
A brief history of my free time reading in Japanese
A. What kind of things do I read?
I am reading “Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince” by Joanne K. Rowling, and “Na Margem Do Rio Piedra Eu Sentei E Chorei (I cried beside the Piedra river.)” by Paulo Coelho. It is a philosophical book.
B. How much do you read?
It depends on my situation, such as how much I have home work or how my body condition is. However, I am trying to read almost every day. I don’t read many pages in one time. Every night, before I go to bed, I read about 10 pages. So it takes about 3 to 5 minutes.
C. What do you like or dislike about reading? Why?
I really like both of them. As for “Harry Potter”, it is very fun to read. I like fictions. I like fantasies. So, I can enjoy those books even though those are very thick and 2 volumes. As for Paulo Coelho’s book, it is very interesting. There is a lot of knowledge about the world based on a philosophical way of thinking. By the way, I have read his another book “Alchemist” before, It was also very interesting but deep. His books are really difficult so I have to read at least 3 times to understand what he really wants to say. However, I enjoy reading them.
A brief history of my free time reading in English.
A. What kind of things do I read?
I have read very easy short stories for high school students, such as “Christmas Carols” , ”Hamlet ( in easy English)”, “King Lear ( in easy English)”.
B. How much do you read?
Actually, I don’t often read English book just for fun these days except my extensive reading. However, I am going to read “Howl’s Moving Castle” by Diana Wynne Jones because I like its movie.
C. What do you like or dislike about reading? Why?
I liked those short stories. Because it was written in really easy English, I didn’t have to stop and looked up so many words in the dictionary so often. And I could concentrate on my readings and finish them without giving up in half of the book because they were short.
Title of my Extensive Reading * The girls
Author * Amy Goldman Koss
Summary of key aspects of reading
Maya, Renee, Brianna, Darcy, and Candace are classmates in their school. They usually hang around together. However, one day, only Maya is excluded from the girls group. One Saturday night, the girls except Maya gather at Darcy’s house and have a pajama party. At that night, Darcy makes a very mean phone call to Maya in front of other girls. Renee and Brianna aren’t sure the reason why only Maya is excluded suddenly. Darcy is also not sure the reason but she just did the call for Candace. Yet, Candace is satisfied with Darcy’s behavior against Maya.
Candace is the most popular girl in school so she had a big power in the group. Nobody can disagree with her. Because Candace decided to except Maya’s name from her girls group, other girls have to obey her decision even though they don’t know the reason and they don’t hate Maya. Renee likes Maya but she can’t say anything because she is scared. On Sunday, Brianna goes to Candace’s home and asks her how she should act in front of Maya, and finally she told her true feeling. That is, she doesn’t hate Maya. Then Candace suddenly acts coldly. From then on, it is Brianna’s turn to be excluded.
Maya feels so bad, but her mother makes her go to school o Monday. She doesn’t hide anywhere and attend every class. But, Brianna isn’t put up with her situation and goes to nurse’s room, and stay there for a long time. She feels very sorry for Maya. She understands that is the way Maya felt. Renee also felt guilty so when she meets Maya, she talks with her friendly as usual. Brianna and Renee stand Maya’s side.
Candace gets board her friends and decided to welcome another member into her group, Nichol. And she said how Darcy is weird to Nichol. Darcy doesn’t notice that Candace gets board her too. Nichol is not like other girls. She thinks their relationships and Darcy’s attitude toward Candace and also Candace’s attitude toward Darcy are crazy. She decided to teach them especially Candace and Darcy what the real friendship is like.
Response
I think that it is a common problem for teenager girls. I have ever experienced same kind of situation before so many times. I have been like Maya and also like Renee. So, I can understand their feeling well.
For teenagers, friends are the most important thing in their lives. They spend time together not only at school but also in private. Friends are important than parents for them. So, if a girl had a trouble with her friends and she was excluded from her group, she would feel that it’s the end of the world.
The story finished Nichol’s participation and there are no descriptions what happened after that. The reason why the author finished the story at that point that she wanted readers to think about what the real friendship is like, and find readers’ own answer through the story.
I think all of the 5 girls went a wrong way. Their friendship wasn’t real. They were always trying to make themselves nice to Candace. They never said disagreements to her. I think friends should talk their true feeling more and consider about their relationship to make it better.
Evaluate the Difficulty
It was appropriate for me. It was not so difficult but not so easy. That is because there were some slang and metaphors which I couldn’t understand in this reading.
Key Passage
“Well, I told myself, I was going to change all that. I’d help Candace flick that Darcy off her shoe and show her what real friendship is like. Candace, of al people, deserved it.”
This is a Nichole’s phrase. She criticizes the 5 girls’ relationship. I think that this phrase imply that she is going to make some good change from then on.
Most interesting thing
The most interesting thing of this story is that the girls often use simile or metaphor. For example, at the end of the story Brianna said to Maya and Renee,
“We’re frogs kissed by a princess.”
And also,
“We’re sleeping beauties kissed by the prince! Ding-dong, the witch is dead! We’re free!”
That is, they meant that they don’t have to always worry about Candace’s feeling anymore. These phrases are based on very famous fairly tale stories. So, it was easy to understand their feelings.
Suggestion for improving reading to the students
I think that reading a lot of English books which you are interested in is good way to improve your reading. I am very bad at reading but my extensive reading was great and interesting, so I could enjoy reading it very much this time. Once I got used to read in English, I could focus on my reading.
Besides, I know that vocabulary is important but I try to guess some new words first, and then use the dictionary. I think it is also good way to improve your reading skill.
Computer Literacy Final Project
Computer Security
CSC100-2 Kouhei Iwabuchi, Ann Brox, Tomomi Tsuchiya
Computer Viruses are very serious problem in these days. In AIU, almost all people use the Internet everyday not only in school but also in their own rooms. It is very important to know how to protect computers from computer viruses.
First, Trojan horse(1) is one of the examples of computer viruses. In the context of computing and software, a Trojan horse or simply trojan, is a piece of software which appears to perform a certain action, but in fact, performs another. Contrary to popular belief, this action, usually encoded in a hidden payload, may or may not be acutely malicious, but Trojan horses are notorious today for their use in the installation of backdoor programs. Simply put, a Trojan horse is not a computer virus. Unlike such badware, it does not propagate by self-replication but relies heavily on the exploitation of an end-user. It is instead a categorical attribute which can encompass many different forms of codes. Therefore, a computer worm or virus may be a Trojan horse. The term is derived from the classical myth of the Trojan Horse because it pretend to be a normal file like the Trojan Horse of class.
In the field of computer architecture, 'Trojan Horse' can also refer to security loopholes that allow kernel code to access anything for which it is not authorized. A simple example of a Trojan horse would be a program named "waterfalls.scr" where it's author claims it is a free waterfall screensaver. When run, it instead unloads hidden programs, commands, scripts, or any number of commands with or without the user's knowledge or consent. Malicious Trojan Horse programs are often used to circumvent protection systems in effect creating a vulnerable system to allow unauthorized access to the user's computer. Non-malicious Trojan Horse programs are used for managing systems, deploying software, surveillance, and forensics.
When I download music files from the Free MP3 websites, I sometimes get affected by these kind of Trojan, but my anti-virus software always protect me. One of my friend got seriosly affected by the Trojan and his PC became impotent to start up.
Second, “Logic bomb” is a type of computer virus made by crackers. “Logic Bomb” has a very big power to destroy large area. The amount of damage would be very big. “Logic Bomb” is booted by very small event, and destroys not only computer systems but also networks. If it infected a company computer, would give very serious damage on economy. The trigger of its boot is such as a coming of certain time, or a login of a certain user.
The most famous example of “Logic Bomb” is “Chernobyl (2)", This was found in Taiwan in June 1998. This was programmed to boot on April 26, which is the day that Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded. This was very strong virus. Chernobyl infected the files of PE (Portable Executable) in the Microsoft Windows first. Then, by using the file, it infected memory and destroyed the information in the hard disc and Bios (Basic Input/ Output System) Rom. It was hard to find this virus because it did not leave its trace. Chernobyl virus brought chaos and infinite damage in Turkey and Korea and so on. Especially in Korea, it is said that about 1,000,000 computers got this virus and the amount of damage was 250,000,000 dollars.
As another example, one of my friends got a type of logic bomb, which restarts her computer at 11:53 every night. It is not such a serious one as Chernobyl but it makes people irritated.
Third, a computer worm resembles the computer virus, but has a few more abilities. It can spread on its own and unlike the computer virus; it does not need to be manually started by a person. If a computer program, like an e-mail program or an operating system, has a weakness, the computer worm can in some cases exploit the weakness.
The computer worm infects a computer with weak or no protection, starts its self and then look for other computers it can infect. It can find new computers to infect by directly searching the internet, or it can send a copy of it self to everyone in the address book on the infected computer or to every one on the friends list of an instant messaging program.
Consequences: In the past computer viruses, computer worms and Trojan horses often did not have any other purpose than showing of the programmers skills. Nevertheless, some of them could also destroy the computer and delete information.
After the use of the internet spread, the possibility to make easy money of non-suspecting users has become greater and greater. Most malicious programs have been equipped with the possibility to make money for the creator of the program, in one way or another.
Here is a few ways an infected computer can make someone money:
Ÿ By being a mail provider for people sending spam. Your computer receives a spam-mail and then sends it to millions of recipient without you even realizing it.
Ÿ By being part of a DDoS-attack (distributed denial of service attack). A person can extort money from high profile web sites by threatening to do a DDoS-attack. A DDoS-attack is basically done by bombarding the web site with requests until the site cannot handle all the requests and shuts down.
Ÿ By spying on the owner of the computer and give information to an analyzing agency, witch in return delivers commercial.
Ÿ But worst of all: by lurking on your computer to collect secret information, like passwords, account numbers and much more, and either sell it to someone who can miss use it or they can miss use it them selves.
To avoid the damage from these kinds of computer viruses, it is very important to do some precautions. First, take backup data regularly. Second, install the programs, which protect computer system from viruses or use The Mozilla Firefox (Picture 1) instead of Internet Explorer(Picture2) because it is safer. But many people are still using IE rather than Firefox. This is shown in Chart 1. Third, there are some free computer anti-virus soft wares on the internet. So, Download it and use it. It is important to be updated. Fourth, Use Microsoft outlook function to not send emails automatically so you won’t send an email which contains viruses to many people. And also, windows has firewall function which block viruses such as Trojan hourse or worm from the Internet. Therefore it is essential to make sure the function is working. The easiest way to peotect computers is not to open the attached file that you don’t know. Computer viruses are not special thing. So, having knowledge of them and be cautious with them are necessary.
←Picture1
Picture2→
CSC100-2 Kouhei Iwabuchi, Ann Brox, Tomomi Tsuchiya
Computer Viruses are very serious problem in these days. In AIU, almost all people use the Internet everyday not only in school but also in their own rooms. It is very important to know how to protect computers from computer viruses.
First, Trojan horse(1) is one of the examples of computer viruses. In the context of computing and software, a Trojan horse or simply trojan, is a piece of software which appears to perform a certain action, but in fact, performs another. Contrary to popular belief, this action, usually encoded in a hidden payload, may or may not be acutely malicious, but Trojan horses are notorious today for their use in the installation of backdoor programs. Simply put, a Trojan horse is not a computer virus. Unlike such badware, it does not propagate by self-replication but relies heavily on the exploitation of an end-user. It is instead a categorical attribute which can encompass many different forms of codes. Therefore, a computer worm or virus may be a Trojan horse. The term is derived from the classical myth of the Trojan Horse because it pretend to be a normal file like the Trojan Horse of class.
In the field of computer architecture, 'Trojan Horse' can also refer to security loopholes that allow kernel code to access anything for which it is not authorized. A simple example of a Trojan horse would be a program named "waterfalls.scr" where it's author claims it is a free waterfall screensaver. When run, it instead unloads hidden programs, commands, scripts, or any number of commands with or without the user's knowledge or consent. Malicious Trojan Horse programs are often used to circumvent protection systems in effect creating a vulnerable system to allow unauthorized access to the user's computer. Non-malicious Trojan Horse programs are used for managing systems, deploying software, surveillance, and forensics.
When I download music files from the Free MP3 websites, I sometimes get affected by these kind of Trojan, but my anti-virus software always protect me. One of my friend got seriosly affected by the Trojan and his PC became impotent to start up.
Second, “Logic bomb” is a type of computer virus made by crackers. “Logic Bomb” has a very big power to destroy large area. The amount of damage would be very big. “Logic Bomb” is booted by very small event, and destroys not only computer systems but also networks. If it infected a company computer, would give very serious damage on economy. The trigger of its boot is such as a coming of certain time, or a login of a certain user.
The most famous example of “Logic Bomb” is “Chernobyl (2)", This was found in Taiwan in June 1998. This was programmed to boot on April 26, which is the day that Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded. This was very strong virus. Chernobyl infected the files of PE (Portable Executable) in the Microsoft Windows first. Then, by using the file, it infected memory and destroyed the information in the hard disc and Bios (Basic Input/ Output System) Rom. It was hard to find this virus because it did not leave its trace. Chernobyl virus brought chaos and infinite damage in Turkey and Korea and so on. Especially in Korea, it is said that about 1,000,000 computers got this virus and the amount of damage was 250,000,000 dollars.
As another example, one of my friends got a type of logic bomb, which restarts her computer at 11:53 every night. It is not such a serious one as Chernobyl but it makes people irritated.
Third, a computer worm resembles the computer virus, but has a few more abilities. It can spread on its own and unlike the computer virus; it does not need to be manually started by a person. If a computer program, like an e-mail program or an operating system, has a weakness, the computer worm can in some cases exploit the weakness.
The computer worm infects a computer with weak or no protection, starts its self and then look for other computers it can infect. It can find new computers to infect by directly searching the internet, or it can send a copy of it self to everyone in the address book on the infected computer or to every one on the friends list of an instant messaging program.
Consequences: In the past computer viruses, computer worms and Trojan horses often did not have any other purpose than showing of the programmers skills. Nevertheless, some of them could also destroy the computer and delete information.
After the use of the internet spread, the possibility to make easy money of non-suspecting users has become greater and greater. Most malicious programs have been equipped with the possibility to make money for the creator of the program, in one way or another.
Here is a few ways an infected computer can make someone money:
Ÿ By being a mail provider for people sending spam. Your computer receives a spam-mail and then sends it to millions of recipient without you even realizing it.
Ÿ By being part of a DDoS-attack (distributed denial of service attack). A person can extort money from high profile web sites by threatening to do a DDoS-attack. A DDoS-attack is basically done by bombarding the web site with requests until the site cannot handle all the requests and shuts down.
Ÿ By spying on the owner of the computer and give information to an analyzing agency, witch in return delivers commercial.
Ÿ But worst of all: by lurking on your computer to collect secret information, like passwords, account numbers and much more, and either sell it to someone who can miss use it or they can miss use it them selves.
To avoid the damage from these kinds of computer viruses, it is very important to do some precautions. First, take backup data regularly. Second, install the programs, which protect computer system from viruses or use The Mozilla Firefox (Picture 1) instead of Internet Explorer(Picture2) because it is safer. But many people are still using IE rather than Firefox. This is shown in Chart 1. Third, there are some free computer anti-virus soft wares on the internet. So, Download it and use it. It is important to be updated. Fourth, Use Microsoft outlook function to not send emails automatically so you won’t send an email which contains viruses to many people. And also, windows has firewall function which block viruses such as Trojan hourse or worm from the Internet. Therefore it is essential to make sure the function is working. The easiest way to peotect computers is not to open the attached file that you don’t know. Computer viruses are not special thing. So, having knowledge of them and be cautious with them are necessary.
←Picture1
Picture2→
↑Chart 1
Resources:
Definition Essay * Concept Paper
What Friendship Is
“Our friendship is forever.” said a girl when we were elementary school students. Although more than 10 years have passed since then, we have been best friends even until now. On the other hand, when I was a junior high school student, I had a friend whom I hung around with almost everyday for 3 years. I thought that we were good friends. However, at the end of the junior high school days, she bullied me. “I have never thought that you and I are good friends.” She said to me. I spent much time with both of them and I thought both of them were friends. It is difficult to define the concept of friendship because it depends on each person. Yet, all friends have friendship with each other. Friendship is a strong mutual desire to have interaction between two people and it can be stronger or weaker.
It is different between acquaintances, just people I know, and friends. Friends greet each other and so do acquaintances. However, I don’t share my private time with acquaintances. I talk with them only when I come across them. I have contact with them if it is necessary. However, I don’t feel that I want to talk with them especially. They and I share our social relationships but not individual relationships. So, there are no necessities to have contact with them in my private life. Besides, there are rules that all people have to keep in social relationships. That is, to have communication in social relationships is based on obligation and responsibility. These relationships may not include friendship at all. There may be people who are friendly in society, such as shop clerks or doctors. They have some particular purposes or roles to be friendly in each social relationship. Yet, to be friends and to be friendly is whole different story. In ordinary social relationships, outside of my private time, one person can be replaced by other people. Roles or rules are more important than the person’s individual identity.
On the other hand, friends share their private time. They have a feeling: friendship connects a person and a person as friends. As I mentioned above, friendship is a strong mutual desire to have interaction. To be friends, it is necessary to have this feeling with each other. They may share their time in society, such as school, committees, and club activities. Moreover, friends want to keep in touch during their private time too. For example, one of my best friends was a transfer student when I was an elementary student. We didn’t talk much at first. We talked when we had to do some activities in classes. However, we started to play and go shopping together soon. She often came to my home and I went to her home too. We told our secrets with each other. Sometimes we had big arguments. There was a strong desire to talk, hang out, and play together in friendship. It is important that friendship is not a one-way feeling. It should be an interactive one. Nobody would be forced to have such a desire, but naturally, friends have this feeling. Friends help each other and share not only pleasure but also pain.
Friendship has a wide range and it is deep. There is a process of being “best friends” from “just friends” through “good friends” in friendship. That is, friendship is not just a feeling that friends share but also it can be stronger or weaker. It changes in its depth and degree of intensity. I think friends evaluate some specific personalities which show up remarkably at first. By doing this, they try to get to know each other.
First, actually, they have roles even in their private lives like acquaintances do, but this is a natural thing, not a duty. I call this level of friendship as “just friends.” For example, at first, I often talked about romantic topics to one of my best friend, yet I didn’t talk about my philosophy to her because I knew she had a lot of interest in romantic relationships but she didn’t have any interest in philosophical or psychological stuff. In those days, we didn’t have an argument at all, because we were not sure how to manage our conflicts yet. This level can be a hollow friendship. Thus, I dealt different stories to different friends. Moreover, at this level, I had other friends to whom I could discuss the same kinds of topics. In other words, relationships between “just friends” change at different times and situations. So, sometimes “just friends” can be replaceable.
Gradually, friends get to know each other and they are likely to spend more time together. I call this level of friendship as “good friends.” She and I were always together. We started to talk about our personal things more than before. I felt that I want to know her more and to want her to know me more. Then, our friendship became deeper little by little.
Finally, “good friends” would develop into a steady friendship. I call this level of friendship as “best friends.” Best friends evaluate each other relatively and look at the person himself or herself as a whole. For example, my best friend doesn’t like studying and she prefers staying in her hometown her whole life, while I left my hometown to study at the university. In other words, her personality is almost opposite from mine. However, we don’t care about those differences. I can talk about anything, even if it is about my homework, and she can listen to it. In addition, she can talk about her fickle boyfriend and I can listen to it even though I don’t know who he is. I consider his existence as a part of her. I have a confidence that she is trustworthy even if there is no physical evidence. Although we have lived in different prefectures for a long time, it doesn’t matter at all. Our life styles are completely different whereas we share our pleasure and pain quite often. Her existence is irreplaceable. It doesn’t change all the time.
Friendship between best friends may seem to be same as the feeling, which people have in a romantic relationship. However, it is not the same at all. Then, what are the differences between best friends and romantic partners? Romantic relationships include sexual contact and it sometimes breaks up easily. Besides, the biggest difference between them is that it’s not always necessary for romantic partners to spend much time together to get to know each other before they go out. For example, when two people fall in love with each other at first sight, then they can be boy friend and girl friend right away. However, it doesn’t happen in the case of becoming best friends. It is absolutely important and essential to spend much time together to be best friends. Otherwise, they can’t evaluate each other relatively and totally. It is difficult to be best friends but once they have such a relationship, it doesn’t break up easily.
Only friends have friendship. Friendship is a strong mutual desire to interact between two people and it can be stronger or can be also weaker. It is not an obligatory and responsible feeling. Friends willingly have friendship with each other. They can make it stronger or weaker. In addition, deep friendship is not same as love relationships. The concept of friendship is different in different people. However, as long as they have friends, friendship exists there. Many people may think that their spouses will be their whole life partner. However, friends who are connected by strong friendship could be the most important partners in life.
“Our friendship is forever.” said a girl when we were elementary school students. Although more than 10 years have passed since then, we have been best friends even until now. On the other hand, when I was a junior high school student, I had a friend whom I hung around with almost everyday for 3 years. I thought that we were good friends. However, at the end of the junior high school days, she bullied me. “I have never thought that you and I are good friends.” She said to me. I spent much time with both of them and I thought both of them were friends. It is difficult to define the concept of friendship because it depends on each person. Yet, all friends have friendship with each other. Friendship is a strong mutual desire to have interaction between two people and it can be stronger or weaker.
It is different between acquaintances, just people I know, and friends. Friends greet each other and so do acquaintances. However, I don’t share my private time with acquaintances. I talk with them only when I come across them. I have contact with them if it is necessary. However, I don’t feel that I want to talk with them especially. They and I share our social relationships but not individual relationships. So, there are no necessities to have contact with them in my private life. Besides, there are rules that all people have to keep in social relationships. That is, to have communication in social relationships is based on obligation and responsibility. These relationships may not include friendship at all. There may be people who are friendly in society, such as shop clerks or doctors. They have some particular purposes or roles to be friendly in each social relationship. Yet, to be friends and to be friendly is whole different story. In ordinary social relationships, outside of my private time, one person can be replaced by other people. Roles or rules are more important than the person’s individual identity.
On the other hand, friends share their private time. They have a feeling: friendship connects a person and a person as friends. As I mentioned above, friendship is a strong mutual desire to have interaction. To be friends, it is necessary to have this feeling with each other. They may share their time in society, such as school, committees, and club activities. Moreover, friends want to keep in touch during their private time too. For example, one of my best friends was a transfer student when I was an elementary student. We didn’t talk much at first. We talked when we had to do some activities in classes. However, we started to play and go shopping together soon. She often came to my home and I went to her home too. We told our secrets with each other. Sometimes we had big arguments. There was a strong desire to talk, hang out, and play together in friendship. It is important that friendship is not a one-way feeling. It should be an interactive one. Nobody would be forced to have such a desire, but naturally, friends have this feeling. Friends help each other and share not only pleasure but also pain.
Friendship has a wide range and it is deep. There is a process of being “best friends” from “just friends” through “good friends” in friendship. That is, friendship is not just a feeling that friends share but also it can be stronger or weaker. It changes in its depth and degree of intensity. I think friends evaluate some specific personalities which show up remarkably at first. By doing this, they try to get to know each other.
First, actually, they have roles even in their private lives like acquaintances do, but this is a natural thing, not a duty. I call this level of friendship as “just friends.” For example, at first, I often talked about romantic topics to one of my best friend, yet I didn’t talk about my philosophy to her because I knew she had a lot of interest in romantic relationships but she didn’t have any interest in philosophical or psychological stuff. In those days, we didn’t have an argument at all, because we were not sure how to manage our conflicts yet. This level can be a hollow friendship. Thus, I dealt different stories to different friends. Moreover, at this level, I had other friends to whom I could discuss the same kinds of topics. In other words, relationships between “just friends” change at different times and situations. So, sometimes “just friends” can be replaceable.
Gradually, friends get to know each other and they are likely to spend more time together. I call this level of friendship as “good friends.” She and I were always together. We started to talk about our personal things more than before. I felt that I want to know her more and to want her to know me more. Then, our friendship became deeper little by little.
Finally, “good friends” would develop into a steady friendship. I call this level of friendship as “best friends.” Best friends evaluate each other relatively and look at the person himself or herself as a whole. For example, my best friend doesn’t like studying and she prefers staying in her hometown her whole life, while I left my hometown to study at the university. In other words, her personality is almost opposite from mine. However, we don’t care about those differences. I can talk about anything, even if it is about my homework, and she can listen to it. In addition, she can talk about her fickle boyfriend and I can listen to it even though I don’t know who he is. I consider his existence as a part of her. I have a confidence that she is trustworthy even if there is no physical evidence. Although we have lived in different prefectures for a long time, it doesn’t matter at all. Our life styles are completely different whereas we share our pleasure and pain quite often. Her existence is irreplaceable. It doesn’t change all the time.
Friendship between best friends may seem to be same as the feeling, which people have in a romantic relationship. However, it is not the same at all. Then, what are the differences between best friends and romantic partners? Romantic relationships include sexual contact and it sometimes breaks up easily. Besides, the biggest difference between them is that it’s not always necessary for romantic partners to spend much time together to get to know each other before they go out. For example, when two people fall in love with each other at first sight, then they can be boy friend and girl friend right away. However, it doesn’t happen in the case of becoming best friends. It is absolutely important and essential to spend much time together to be best friends. Otherwise, they can’t evaluate each other relatively and totally. It is difficult to be best friends but once they have such a relationship, it doesn’t break up easily.
Only friends have friendship. Friendship is a strong mutual desire to interact between two people and it can be stronger or can be also weaker. It is not an obligatory and responsible feeling. Friends willingly have friendship with each other. They can make it stronger or weaker. In addition, deep friendship is not same as love relationships. The concept of friendship is different in different people. However, as long as they have friends, friendship exists there. Many people may think that their spouses will be their whole life partner. However, friends who are connected by strong friendship could be the most important partners in life.
Friday, November 16, 2007
Narrative Essay
Passing Through Adversity
White bright light flashed in my eye. I wondered what it was. However, I soon concluded that it was because of my headache. I often had spells of awful headaches so I had been taken to the Red Cross hospital just few days previously. I was irritated because I had headaches almost everyday those days and I saw white light even when I closed my eyes. It was at the end of November, 2006 that the sky was clear and blue before cold dark winter. When I looked up in the sky, I noticed that there were strange black things which looked like small mosquitoes in my view. I had never seen such things before but I thought them a strange thing that was caused by my headaches. So, I didn’t go to hospital.
In January, 2007 I went to see oculist because I wanted to have contact lenses. In the waiting room, I saw a poster. It recommended people to take eye checks to prevent some serious eye diseases. I glimpsed it and a little bit worried about my eyes. So, I asked the doctor to check up my eyes. The doctor checked into my pupils and said “hmm.” He crossed his arms in front of his chest. I had a foreboding that something bad was going to happen. “You have detachment of the retina in your right eye.” He said quietly and slowly. I could hardly believe it. I thought he was an incompetent doctor. I had heard that people who had detachment of the retina were only old people or boxers. I was 20 years old and still young. I didn’t do any fighting. I didn’t hit my right eye anywhere at all. I didn’t do anything abnormal. “How could I get such a disease?” I asked myself whether I did something bad for my eye. I tried hard to recall my memories. He continued, “The retina of your right eye has two very big holes. It is very dangerous. You shouldn’t even walk because each movement of my body would cause more serious separation of retina.” I asked to the doctor why I had detachment of the retina. He said bitterly, “That is because you have an eye disease. It has a name but it is unknown yet. You should have emergency surgery. Otherwise, you will lose your eyesight. ” My mind went blank. I didn’t want to be blind. I was scared and I didn’t know what I should do. It was unusually sunny for winter on that day. After I went out from the hospital, I looked up in the sky. There was maybe beautiful clear blue sky, but I couldn’t see it because of tears and floaters.
I cried a lot but nobody could change my situation. Soon after I came back to the dormitory, I packed my stuff to go back to my hometown. It was Friday. My friends had a party at that night. Everyone looked happy. I felt very miserable. I wasn't able to attend to any classes during the winter program. Because I started from EAP level 1 last year, I hadn’t finished EAP level 3 yet. I wanted to move on to the Basic Education course with my classmates because we knew each other very well and we cooperated to overcome any of our difficulties such as assignments. We knew everyone’s efforts very well. I was thinking that I would be able to get over any difficulties if there were my classmates with me in the Basic Education course. However, there was no exception. It was definite I would have to take the EAP level 3 with new students in the spring semester. I was so shocked at this fact and felt very sad. I was sure that it would be really tough for me to start everything over again. “My friends might forget me.” I was moved to tears just by thinking about it. I felt abandoned. Next day, it was rainy outside as if it represented my feeling. There is a long tunnel from Akita prefecture to Yamagata prefecture. On the bus, I felt that there was no end of the tunnel.
For the first 3 days in the hospital, I was in a private room. Because there were too many patients, I had to wait for somebody’s release from the hospital. I was really alone especially at night. There was no hope at that time. I was down and I didn’t think I would be able to smile again. Whenever I thought about my college life and my health, I felt like someone was squeezing my heart. I felt that I was the most unhappy person in the world. I was alone. I couldn’t watch TV and use the computer of course. Listening to music and radio were the only thing that I could do in the long nights. My room was on 9th floor of the hospital. I could see a very beautiful night view from there. However, even the view depressed me. “Why am I the only one that has to endure such a situation?” I asked myself repeatedly, knowing there were no answers. “Life is unfair!” I didn’t want to accept the reality. I cried and cried, lamenting over my misfortunes.
After those 3 days, I moved to a big room. There were 5 people in addition to me in the room. All of them were much older than I and I met two 90 years old women there. 3 of the patients in the room were hospitalized because of old-age cataracts. Those old women often talked about life and death. Their topics were always like this. It was completely different from the topic that I usually talked with my friends on campus. Sometimes they talked about how to make delicious pickles and about their family, but their talking went into more profound thing: life and death. They told me about their past. They had experienced war, want of food, child rearing, and husbands’ deaths. Most of their stories were the things that I have never experienced. 90 years sounds very long for me. I have lived only 20 years. One old woman said, “Today is a good day to die.” When I heard this for the first time, I thought she was a negative person. However, actually she meant that she wouldn’t regret her life if she died at that time. I thought how her wonderful way of thinking she was. Their story moved me a lot.
Two other women were hospitalized because of the detachment of retina as well as me. One of them was diabetic and she was almost blind. She already took the surgery for both her eyes. She said that even though she took the surgery, she wouldn’t be able to recognize things. I didn’t know what I should say to her. Then, she smiled and said, “But I’m happy because I can see light at least.” I was so surprised because I have never thought about my bad luck in such a way. She couldn’t walk and even eat meals by herself. However, I never heard her whine about it. Rather, she encouraged me to be brave about the surgery. The other woman is my good friend now. We are still keeping in touch with each other. Her detachment of retina was worse than mine. She was around 70, but she said she was still working at a department store. She was always cheerful and gave energy to me. I felt warm in my heart. Thanks to them, my pessimistic thoughts went away.
One day, my parents brought a letter. The cute envelope made my heart leap up. I turned it over and found one of my classmates’ names on it. My heart filled with joy. She wrote letters to me every third day. She wrote them in a big letters because I couldn’t see clearly if she used small letters. She sometimes recorded her voice; other classmates’ voices, and teachers’ voices on cassette tapes. She put one or two MDs into every letter so that I could listen to a lot of music thanks to her. One day, she recommended a song in a letter. That title was “You are not alone.” I listened to the music again and again.
On January 24, I had an eye surgery in the Yamagata University hospital. Before I took it, fear constricted my chest. However, I remembered people who supported me and encouraged myself.
“I can see.” I said to my doctor. He checked my right eye precisely and said “You can leave the hospital soon.” The surgery was a success. The doctor said “There are no ways to cure the diseases completely at this point. So, although you took the surgery and have a silicon chip in my right eye, you still have to go to a hospital to check your both eyes at least once a month. If you promise it, you can go back to your university.” In the morning of the day that I left the hospital, it was rainy but soon it stopped. I looked up in the blue sky and smiled.
I can't change the fact that I have diseases. Yet, I can change my mind if I really want to. Passing through this adversity, I could be stronger than before.
White bright light flashed in my eye. I wondered what it was. However, I soon concluded that it was because of my headache. I often had spells of awful headaches so I had been taken to the Red Cross hospital just few days previously. I was irritated because I had headaches almost everyday those days and I saw white light even when I closed my eyes. It was at the end of November, 2006 that the sky was clear and blue before cold dark winter. When I looked up in the sky, I noticed that there were strange black things which looked like small mosquitoes in my view. I had never seen such things before but I thought them a strange thing that was caused by my headaches. So, I didn’t go to hospital.
In January, 2007 I went to see oculist because I wanted to have contact lenses. In the waiting room, I saw a poster. It recommended people to take eye checks to prevent some serious eye diseases. I glimpsed it and a little bit worried about my eyes. So, I asked the doctor to check up my eyes. The doctor checked into my pupils and said “hmm.” He crossed his arms in front of his chest. I had a foreboding that something bad was going to happen. “You have detachment of the retina in your right eye.” He said quietly and slowly. I could hardly believe it. I thought he was an incompetent doctor. I had heard that people who had detachment of the retina were only old people or boxers. I was 20 years old and still young. I didn’t do any fighting. I didn’t hit my right eye anywhere at all. I didn’t do anything abnormal. “How could I get such a disease?” I asked myself whether I did something bad for my eye. I tried hard to recall my memories. He continued, “The retina of your right eye has two very big holes. It is very dangerous. You shouldn’t even walk because each movement of my body would cause more serious separation of retina.” I asked to the doctor why I had detachment of the retina. He said bitterly, “That is because you have an eye disease. It has a name but it is unknown yet. You should have emergency surgery. Otherwise, you will lose your eyesight. ” My mind went blank. I didn’t want to be blind. I was scared and I didn’t know what I should do. It was unusually sunny for winter on that day. After I went out from the hospital, I looked up in the sky. There was maybe beautiful clear blue sky, but I couldn’t see it because of tears and floaters.
I cried a lot but nobody could change my situation. Soon after I came back to the dormitory, I packed my stuff to go back to my hometown. It was Friday. My friends had a party at that night. Everyone looked happy. I felt very miserable. I wasn't able to attend to any classes during the winter program. Because I started from EAP level 1 last year, I hadn’t finished EAP level 3 yet. I wanted to move on to the Basic Education course with my classmates because we knew each other very well and we cooperated to overcome any of our difficulties such as assignments. We knew everyone’s efforts very well. I was thinking that I would be able to get over any difficulties if there were my classmates with me in the Basic Education course. However, there was no exception. It was definite I would have to take the EAP level 3 with new students in the spring semester. I was so shocked at this fact and felt very sad. I was sure that it would be really tough for me to start everything over again. “My friends might forget me.” I was moved to tears just by thinking about it. I felt abandoned. Next day, it was rainy outside as if it represented my feeling. There is a long tunnel from Akita prefecture to Yamagata prefecture. On the bus, I felt that there was no end of the tunnel.
For the first 3 days in the hospital, I was in a private room. Because there were too many patients, I had to wait for somebody’s release from the hospital. I was really alone especially at night. There was no hope at that time. I was down and I didn’t think I would be able to smile again. Whenever I thought about my college life and my health, I felt like someone was squeezing my heart. I felt that I was the most unhappy person in the world. I was alone. I couldn’t watch TV and use the computer of course. Listening to music and radio were the only thing that I could do in the long nights. My room was on 9th floor of the hospital. I could see a very beautiful night view from there. However, even the view depressed me. “Why am I the only one that has to endure such a situation?” I asked myself repeatedly, knowing there were no answers. “Life is unfair!” I didn’t want to accept the reality. I cried and cried, lamenting over my misfortunes.
After those 3 days, I moved to a big room. There were 5 people in addition to me in the room. All of them were much older than I and I met two 90 years old women there. 3 of the patients in the room were hospitalized because of old-age cataracts. Those old women often talked about life and death. Their topics were always like this. It was completely different from the topic that I usually talked with my friends on campus. Sometimes they talked about how to make delicious pickles and about their family, but their talking went into more profound thing: life and death. They told me about their past. They had experienced war, want of food, child rearing, and husbands’ deaths. Most of their stories were the things that I have never experienced. 90 years sounds very long for me. I have lived only 20 years. One old woman said, “Today is a good day to die.” When I heard this for the first time, I thought she was a negative person. However, actually she meant that she wouldn’t regret her life if she died at that time. I thought how her wonderful way of thinking she was. Their story moved me a lot.
Two other women were hospitalized because of the detachment of retina as well as me. One of them was diabetic and she was almost blind. She already took the surgery for both her eyes. She said that even though she took the surgery, she wouldn’t be able to recognize things. I didn’t know what I should say to her. Then, she smiled and said, “But I’m happy because I can see light at least.” I was so surprised because I have never thought about my bad luck in such a way. She couldn’t walk and even eat meals by herself. However, I never heard her whine about it. Rather, she encouraged me to be brave about the surgery. The other woman is my good friend now. We are still keeping in touch with each other. Her detachment of retina was worse than mine. She was around 70, but she said she was still working at a department store. She was always cheerful and gave energy to me. I felt warm in my heart. Thanks to them, my pessimistic thoughts went away.
One day, my parents brought a letter. The cute envelope made my heart leap up. I turned it over and found one of my classmates’ names on it. My heart filled with joy. She wrote letters to me every third day. She wrote them in a big letters because I couldn’t see clearly if she used small letters. She sometimes recorded her voice; other classmates’ voices, and teachers’ voices on cassette tapes. She put one or two MDs into every letter so that I could listen to a lot of music thanks to her. One day, she recommended a song in a letter. That title was “You are not alone.” I listened to the music again and again.
On January 24, I had an eye surgery in the Yamagata University hospital. Before I took it, fear constricted my chest. However, I remembered people who supported me and encouraged myself.
“I can see.” I said to my doctor. He checked my right eye precisely and said “You can leave the hospital soon.” The surgery was a success. The doctor said “There are no ways to cure the diseases completely at this point. So, although you took the surgery and have a silicon chip in my right eye, you still have to go to a hospital to check your both eyes at least once a month. If you promise it, you can go back to your university.” In the morning of the day that I left the hospital, it was rainy but soon it stopped. I looked up in the blue sky and smiled.
I can't change the fact that I have diseases. Yet, I can change my mind if I really want to. Passing through this adversity, I could be stronger than before.
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Reflecting Essay Compo1
Passing Through Adversity
There are waves in my life. Sometimes they are rising, sometimes falling. That it is the way life goes. In the darkness, I can clearly see things that I cannot see in the bright light. I passed through adversity many times. At the beginning of this year, I had been hospitalized because of a disease. This experience taught me that every single thing which happens in my life has meaning and significance. I could learn very important things, which I usually cannot obtain in peaceful daily life. Since then, I have been trying to smile in the fore of bad luck.
I am not strong physically by nature compared to other people. So I have often sickness. Now, I have two bombs in my body. I mean that I have irremediable diseases. One is that I often have spells of really awful headaches. The other one is an eye disease. As for the eye disease, I am not sure what it is yet and neither do doctors. It has a name but the reason why I have this disease is still unknown.
On January 24, I had an eye surgery because the disease caused a detachment of retina in my right eye. It was an emergency surgery and required hospitalization. I had been in the Yamagata University hospital. The surgery was really painful. What is worse, I still have a possibility of another surgery and my left eye might have same problem as my right eye.
Besides, I wasn't able to attend to any classes during the winter program. Because I started from EAP level 1 last year, I hadn’t finished EAP level 3 yet. I wanted to move on to the Basic Education course with my classmates because we knew each other very well and we cooperated to overcome any of our difficulties such as assignments. We knew everyone’s efforts very well. However, there was no exception. It was an absolute thing that I would have to take the EAP level 3 with new students in the spring semester. I was so shocked at this fact and I thought it would be really tough for me.
There was no hope at that time. I was down and I didn’t think I would be able to smile again. Whenever I thought about my college life and my health, I felt like someone was squeezing my heart. I felt that I was the most unhappy person in the world. I felt alone. For the first 3 days in the hospital, I was in a private room. Because there were too many patients, I had to wait for somebody’s release from the hospital. I was really alone especially at night. I couldn’t watch TV and use computer of course. Listening to music and radio were the only thing that I could do in the long nights. My room was on 9th floor of the hospital. I could see very beautiful night view from there. However, even the view depressed me. “Why am I the only one that has to endure such a situation?” I asked myself repeatedly knowing there were no answers. “Life is unfair!” I didn’t want to accept the reality. I cried and cried, lamenting over my misfortunes.
After those 3 days, I moved to a big room. There were 5 people in addition to me in the room. All of them were much older than I and I met two 90 years old women there. 3 of the patients in the room were hospitalized because of old-age cataracts. The surgery of this disease is easy so they left hospital about 3 days after they came there. However, we had enough time to talk to each other because after the doctor’s around, we had nothing to do. Those old women often talked about life and death. Their topics were always like this. It was completely different from the topic that I usually talked with my friends on campus. Sometimes they talked about how to make delicious pickles and about their family, but their talking went into more profound thing: life and death. They told me about their past. They experienced the war, want of food, child rearing, and husbands’ death. Most of their stories were the things that I have never experienced. 90 years sounds very long for me. I have lived only 20 years. One old woman said, “Today is a good day to die.” When I heard this for the first time, I thought she was a negative person. However, actually she meant that she wouldn’t regret her life if she died at that time. I thought how her wonderful way of thinking she was. Their story moved me a lot. I thought that even though I had disease and had to take a very painful surgery, my hospitalization was meaningful.
Two other women were hospitalized because of the detachment of retina as well as me. One of them was diabetic and she was almost blind. She already took the surgery for both her eyes. She said that even though she took the surgery, she wouldn’t be able to recognize things. I didn’t know what I should say to her. Then, she smiled and said, “But I’m happy because I can see light at least.” I was so surprised because I have never thought about my bad luck in such a way. She couldn’t walk and even eat meals by herself. However, I never heard her whine about it. Rather, she encouraged me to be brave about the surgery. The other woman is my good friend now. We are still keeping in touch with each other. Her detachment of retina was worse than mine. She is around 70, but she said she was still working at a department store. She was always cheerful and gave energy to me. I felt warm in my heart. Thanks to them, my pessimistic thoughts went away.
What is more, my classmates didn’t forget me. One of my classmates wrote letters to me every third day. She wrote them in a big letters because I couldn’t see clearly if it was small letters. She sometimes recorded her voice; other classmates’ voices, and teachers’ voices on cassette tapes. She put one or two MDs into every letter so that I could listen to a lot of music thanks to her. One day, she recommended a song in a letter. That title was “You are not alone.” I felt I am so happy because I have such a great friends. I finally noticed the importance of friends in a bed far from my university.
There are no ways to cure these two diseases completely at this point. Although I took the surgery and I have a silicon chip in my right eye, I still have to go to a hospital to check my both eyes at least once a month now. Many people might say I am so unhappy or unlucky if I tell them my situation. At first, I thought so. However, I can feel happiness clearly now. I narrowly escaped blindness. The hospitalization saved me from being blind not only physically but also mentally. I learned a lot of things which many healthy people cannot learn through this experience. I would not be able to learn them in my dairy life. It was precious time in my life. I thought that I shouldn’t take my life for granted. I also could notice the importance of having very good friends.
I can't change the fact that I have diseases. Yet, I can change my mind if I really want to. I think there are no accidents in life. Only fatality is there. Everything, which happens in my life, is meaningful and important. Passing through this adversity, I could be stronger than before.
There are waves in my life. Sometimes they are rising, sometimes falling. That it is the way life goes. In the darkness, I can clearly see things that I cannot see in the bright light. I passed through adversity many times. At the beginning of this year, I had been hospitalized because of a disease. This experience taught me that every single thing which happens in my life has meaning and significance. I could learn very important things, which I usually cannot obtain in peaceful daily life. Since then, I have been trying to smile in the fore of bad luck.
I am not strong physically by nature compared to other people. So I have often sickness. Now, I have two bombs in my body. I mean that I have irremediable diseases. One is that I often have spells of really awful headaches. The other one is an eye disease. As for the eye disease, I am not sure what it is yet and neither do doctors. It has a name but the reason why I have this disease is still unknown.
On January 24, I had an eye surgery because the disease caused a detachment of retina in my right eye. It was an emergency surgery and required hospitalization. I had been in the Yamagata University hospital. The surgery was really painful. What is worse, I still have a possibility of another surgery and my left eye might have same problem as my right eye.
Besides, I wasn't able to attend to any classes during the winter program. Because I started from EAP level 1 last year, I hadn’t finished EAP level 3 yet. I wanted to move on to the Basic Education course with my classmates because we knew each other very well and we cooperated to overcome any of our difficulties such as assignments. We knew everyone’s efforts very well. However, there was no exception. It was an absolute thing that I would have to take the EAP level 3 with new students in the spring semester. I was so shocked at this fact and I thought it would be really tough for me.
There was no hope at that time. I was down and I didn’t think I would be able to smile again. Whenever I thought about my college life and my health, I felt like someone was squeezing my heart. I felt that I was the most unhappy person in the world. I felt alone. For the first 3 days in the hospital, I was in a private room. Because there were too many patients, I had to wait for somebody’s release from the hospital. I was really alone especially at night. I couldn’t watch TV and use computer of course. Listening to music and radio were the only thing that I could do in the long nights. My room was on 9th floor of the hospital. I could see very beautiful night view from there. However, even the view depressed me. “Why am I the only one that has to endure such a situation?” I asked myself repeatedly knowing there were no answers. “Life is unfair!” I didn’t want to accept the reality. I cried and cried, lamenting over my misfortunes.
After those 3 days, I moved to a big room. There were 5 people in addition to me in the room. All of them were much older than I and I met two 90 years old women there. 3 of the patients in the room were hospitalized because of old-age cataracts. The surgery of this disease is easy so they left hospital about 3 days after they came there. However, we had enough time to talk to each other because after the doctor’s around, we had nothing to do. Those old women often talked about life and death. Their topics were always like this. It was completely different from the topic that I usually talked with my friends on campus. Sometimes they talked about how to make delicious pickles and about their family, but their talking went into more profound thing: life and death. They told me about their past. They experienced the war, want of food, child rearing, and husbands’ death. Most of their stories were the things that I have never experienced. 90 years sounds very long for me. I have lived only 20 years. One old woman said, “Today is a good day to die.” When I heard this for the first time, I thought she was a negative person. However, actually she meant that she wouldn’t regret her life if she died at that time. I thought how her wonderful way of thinking she was. Their story moved me a lot. I thought that even though I had disease and had to take a very painful surgery, my hospitalization was meaningful.
Two other women were hospitalized because of the detachment of retina as well as me. One of them was diabetic and she was almost blind. She already took the surgery for both her eyes. She said that even though she took the surgery, she wouldn’t be able to recognize things. I didn’t know what I should say to her. Then, she smiled and said, “But I’m happy because I can see light at least.” I was so surprised because I have never thought about my bad luck in such a way. She couldn’t walk and even eat meals by herself. However, I never heard her whine about it. Rather, she encouraged me to be brave about the surgery. The other woman is my good friend now. We are still keeping in touch with each other. Her detachment of retina was worse than mine. She is around 70, but she said she was still working at a department store. She was always cheerful and gave energy to me. I felt warm in my heart. Thanks to them, my pessimistic thoughts went away.
What is more, my classmates didn’t forget me. One of my classmates wrote letters to me every third day. She wrote them in a big letters because I couldn’t see clearly if it was small letters. She sometimes recorded her voice; other classmates’ voices, and teachers’ voices on cassette tapes. She put one or two MDs into every letter so that I could listen to a lot of music thanks to her. One day, she recommended a song in a letter. That title was “You are not alone.” I felt I am so happy because I have such a great friends. I finally noticed the importance of friends in a bed far from my university.
There are no ways to cure these two diseases completely at this point. Although I took the surgery and I have a silicon chip in my right eye, I still have to go to a hospital to check my both eyes at least once a month now. Many people might say I am so unhappy or unlucky if I tell them my situation. At first, I thought so. However, I can feel happiness clearly now. I narrowly escaped blindness. The hospitalization saved me from being blind not only physically but also mentally. I learned a lot of things which many healthy people cannot learn through this experience. I would not be able to learn them in my dairy life. It was precious time in my life. I thought that I shouldn’t take my life for granted. I also could notice the importance of having very good friends.
I can't change the fact that I have diseases. Yet, I can change my mind if I really want to. I think there are no accidents in life. Only fatality is there. Everything, which happens in my life, is meaningful and important. Passing through this adversity, I could be stronger than before.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Argument Essay
Let’s Be International
Japan would be a more international country, if the Early Childhood English Education System (ECEE) was introduced. The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology mentioned that English should be a compulsory subject in elementary schools. They are planning to introduce the system to 5th and 6th grade elementary school students from 2009. Actually 94% of the public elementary schools already started to teach English to Children. The Early Childhood English Education System should be introduced in elementary schools.
First, English is necessary in the world to communicate with people. It is regarded as the international common language these days. More and more people study and use English all over the world. For example, about one-third of the world people have learned English because of the influences of American TV or the Internet. Actually, English is used in between 80% to 90% of websites worldwide. Also, other Asian countries consider English as an international Language too. For example, people in Singapore use English as their common language even though 80% of them are Chinese. Also, Taiwan government already introduced the ECEE system in 1998. At that time ECEE system was intended for 5th and 6th grade students. Yet, from September in 2004, some of the cities started to introduce the system to the entire grade of students. So, more people will be able to express their thoughts or opinions in English in the world.
Second, young children are able to absorb more knowledge than adults. They are good language learners, especially 9 to 12 years old children can accept the sounds itself very smoothly, so they would master natural English pronunciation. They can also understand English grammar more fluently than junior high school children who hesitate to use English because they are afraid of making mistakes. Furthermore, younger children can enjoy learning and using the new language. So, elementary school students should be taught English in elementary school.
Third, learning English will firmly help Japan be a more international country. Japanese people can’t say their opinions clearly at global meetings. However, if I mastered English, I would be able to make myself understood to non-Japanese people. Then I could let them know what Japanese people’s way of thinking is like and even what Japan is like. Consequently, I would be able to protect Japanese culture and survive in the international world, and Japan can truly be an international country.
I think the ECEE system is very important for Japanese people to catch up with globalization. Not only in western countries but also in Asian countries, English is necessary. Children have potential ability that adults can’t predict. The sooner, the better. So, the Early Childhood English Education System should be introduced in elementary schools. Thanks to the introduction of this system, I am sure that Japan will be a more internationalized country in the future.
Japan would be a more international country, if the Early Childhood English Education System (ECEE) was introduced. The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology mentioned that English should be a compulsory subject in elementary schools. They are planning to introduce the system to 5th and 6th grade elementary school students from 2009. Actually 94% of the public elementary schools already started to teach English to Children. The Early Childhood English Education System should be introduced in elementary schools.
First, English is necessary in the world to communicate with people. It is regarded as the international common language these days. More and more people study and use English all over the world. For example, about one-third of the world people have learned English because of the influences of American TV or the Internet. Actually, English is used in between 80% to 90% of websites worldwide. Also, other Asian countries consider English as an international Language too. For example, people in Singapore use English as their common language even though 80% of them are Chinese. Also, Taiwan government already introduced the ECEE system in 1998. At that time ECEE system was intended for 5th and 6th grade students. Yet, from September in 2004, some of the cities started to introduce the system to the entire grade of students. So, more people will be able to express their thoughts or opinions in English in the world.
Second, young children are able to absorb more knowledge than adults. They are good language learners, especially 9 to 12 years old children can accept the sounds itself very smoothly, so they would master natural English pronunciation. They can also understand English grammar more fluently than junior high school children who hesitate to use English because they are afraid of making mistakes. Furthermore, younger children can enjoy learning and using the new language. So, elementary school students should be taught English in elementary school.
Third, learning English will firmly help Japan be a more international country. Japanese people can’t say their opinions clearly at global meetings. However, if I mastered English, I would be able to make myself understood to non-Japanese people. Then I could let them know what Japanese people’s way of thinking is like and even what Japan is like. Consequently, I would be able to protect Japanese culture and survive in the international world, and Japan can truly be an international country.
I think the ECEE system is very important for Japanese people to catch up with globalization. Not only in western countries but also in Asian countries, English is necessary. Children have potential ability that adults can’t predict. The sooner, the better. So, the Early Childhood English Education System should be introduced in elementary schools. Thanks to the introduction of this system, I am sure that Japan will be a more internationalized country in the future.
Comparison/Contrast Essay
The Best Lifestyle
I had a cultural shock when I saw my American host family’s lifestyle for the first time. I had been to the United Sates of America for only one week when I was a high school student. Almost everything was new for me at that time. There were a lot of differences between my Japanese family and my American family.
My thoughts about the meals were also different. My Japanese family considered meals as one of the most important things in life, especially vegetables and rice. My grand parents were growing many kinds of vegetables, so there were always a lot of fresh vegetables during every meal. It was a very healthy way to eat. Also, we had to eat three meals regularly every day. However, My American family said that enjoying delicious foods was the most important thing. They sometimes ate very sweet lemon cheese cake for breakfast. What’s more, they decided to eat only when they were hungry. So their meal times were irregular. I was used to my Japanese family’s style, so I was a little confused.
The values toward experiences, money and study were also a little different. My Japanese family used to say “Studying is important but I will not force you to study. You can decide what you want to learn.” They had never said “Go to your room and study!!” On the other hand, my American mother and father always checked their children’s grades. If they got bad score on exams, they scolded them very much. When I saw that, I was so surprised and felt very sorry for my host sisters because my parents had never scolded me about the results of tests.
Our family forms and rules were very different. There were grandparents, parents, and three children in my Japanese family. We lived together. I had to respect elders very much and be polite. My grandfather often told me that women should be obedient to men. The highest-ranking person in my Japanese family was my grandfather. I had to obey and couldn’t talk back to him. He made many strict rules for his grandchildren such as “Come back home by 5 o’clock p.m. If you broke the rule, I won’t let you enter the house.” Or “Don’t eat meals before I eat.” and so on. Actually, I hated those rules because 5 o’clock p.m. was too early and the latter one was stupid. Even though I felt so, there was nothing to do except obey the rule. However, my American family didn’t have such strict rules. They had a rule that they had a family time to get together and to talk at least once a week. I thought it was really nice rule. There were only parents and children in their home. Their relationships were fair. If a child and mother had any troubles, they talked and talked and talked until both of them understand completely. I have never seen such a family style before so it was the biggest different point between Japanese family and American family.
My Japanese family and my American family had very different life styles as I mentioned above. I can’t say which one I prefer because both of them have advantages and also disadvantages. I like my Japanese family’s thought about meals and I don’t want to force my children to study hard. But, I prefer American family’s rule. I don’t want to make unreasonable rules and ranks in my home. I want to talk with children if we had any troubles. Also, I want to select good points which fit me and create new family style in the future. It will be the best way for me and my future family.
I had a cultural shock when I saw my American host family’s lifestyle for the first time. I had been to the United Sates of America for only one week when I was a high school student. Almost everything was new for me at that time. There were a lot of differences between my Japanese family and my American family.
My thoughts about the meals were also different. My Japanese family considered meals as one of the most important things in life, especially vegetables and rice. My grand parents were growing many kinds of vegetables, so there were always a lot of fresh vegetables during every meal. It was a very healthy way to eat. Also, we had to eat three meals regularly every day. However, My American family said that enjoying delicious foods was the most important thing. They sometimes ate very sweet lemon cheese cake for breakfast. What’s more, they decided to eat only when they were hungry. So their meal times were irregular. I was used to my Japanese family’s style, so I was a little confused.
The values toward experiences, money and study were also a little different. My Japanese family used to say “Studying is important but I will not force you to study. You can decide what you want to learn.” They had never said “Go to your room and study!!” On the other hand, my American mother and father always checked their children’s grades. If they got bad score on exams, they scolded them very much. When I saw that, I was so surprised and felt very sorry for my host sisters because my parents had never scolded me about the results of tests.
Our family forms and rules were very different. There were grandparents, parents, and three children in my Japanese family. We lived together. I had to respect elders very much and be polite. My grandfather often told me that women should be obedient to men. The highest-ranking person in my Japanese family was my grandfather. I had to obey and couldn’t talk back to him. He made many strict rules for his grandchildren such as “Come back home by 5 o’clock p.m. If you broke the rule, I won’t let you enter the house.” Or “Don’t eat meals before I eat.” and so on. Actually, I hated those rules because 5 o’clock p.m. was too early and the latter one was stupid. Even though I felt so, there was nothing to do except obey the rule. However, my American family didn’t have such strict rules. They had a rule that they had a family time to get together and to talk at least once a week. I thought it was really nice rule. There were only parents and children in their home. Their relationships were fair. If a child and mother had any troubles, they talked and talked and talked until both of them understand completely. I have never seen such a family style before so it was the biggest different point between Japanese family and American family.
My Japanese family and my American family had very different life styles as I mentioned above. I can’t say which one I prefer because both of them have advantages and also disadvantages. I like my Japanese family’s thought about meals and I don’t want to force my children to study hard. But, I prefer American family’s rule. I don’t want to make unreasonable rules and ranks in my home. I want to talk with children if we had any troubles. Also, I want to select good points which fit me and create new family style in the future. It will be the best way for me and my future family.
Cause/ Effect Essay
Finding My Way
I had been looking for my own way in life. Until I graduated from my high school, I believed that everything my older brother said to me was right. He was so logical and smart, I was eager to be like him. However, now I don’t want to be like him anymore even though I still really respect him, because I found my own way in life. I learned that having responsibility for my own choices makes me more confident about my life.
During junior high school and high school, I had compared myself to him. I was always trying to imitate him because I had no confidence for my own choices. I wasn’t able to be like him. The more I tried to be like him, the more I found that it was really tough. I always asked him to give me a clear choice. I tried to follow his path. For example, He was president of student government in junior high school and high school. I am sure that everybody in both schools did know who he was. I joined the student government because he was there. No matter what I wanted to do or not do, I took it for granted that I was able to participate in it. As a result, teachers had called me “Satoshi’s sister” for three years. That was so humiliating but I didn’t know how I should be at all. At that time, my older brother was in charge of my life in every way.
When I was a 3rd year high school student, I made a big decision by myself for the first time in my life. I had an ideal university which I really wanted to enter. Yet, I wasn’t able to pass the university’s entrance examination. There were two choices at that time. One was to take the other universities’ exams, and then to enter the university which I scored the highest for. The other choice was to enter a cram school and to study one more year. Then, I would take the entrance examination of the university I really wanted to enter. I wanted to ask my older brother about this decision as usual, but at that time he wasn’t in Japan. He had left for Russia to study abroad. So, I asked to my parents what I should do. They said they wanted me to choose the path that I wanted to take. I was so confused because I felt that I couldn’t make any excuses because it was my decision. I strongly thought that I couldn’t give up and must carry on. Eventually, I chose to go to cram school to study hard, then, I passed every university examination that I took. My confidence grew.
Through one year that I was in the cram school, I had many chances to decide things by myself. I considered my life and future seriously. At the end of 2005, I decided to take AIU’s entrance examination for myself. I decided to come here even though my older brother objected to me coming to AIU. I could consider his opinion as advice to be objective about my life and to choose my future for myself intelligently. Since I made this decision for myself, and now I don’t regret my choice at all.
Through those experiences I learned that I can have confidence if I have responsibility for my choices. Sometimes it is hard but it is very important to enjoy my life as my own. I was able to be patient and not give up so easily. I finally found that I have to live my own life. I can feel I am not anyone else now.
I had been looking for my own way in life. Until I graduated from my high school, I believed that everything my older brother said to me was right. He was so logical and smart, I was eager to be like him. However, now I don’t want to be like him anymore even though I still really respect him, because I found my own way in life. I learned that having responsibility for my own choices makes me more confident about my life.
During junior high school and high school, I had compared myself to him. I was always trying to imitate him because I had no confidence for my own choices. I wasn’t able to be like him. The more I tried to be like him, the more I found that it was really tough. I always asked him to give me a clear choice. I tried to follow his path. For example, He was president of student government in junior high school and high school. I am sure that everybody in both schools did know who he was. I joined the student government because he was there. No matter what I wanted to do or not do, I took it for granted that I was able to participate in it. As a result, teachers had called me “Satoshi’s sister” for three years. That was so humiliating but I didn’t know how I should be at all. At that time, my older brother was in charge of my life in every way.
When I was a 3rd year high school student, I made a big decision by myself for the first time in my life. I had an ideal university which I really wanted to enter. Yet, I wasn’t able to pass the university’s entrance examination. There were two choices at that time. One was to take the other universities’ exams, and then to enter the university which I scored the highest for. The other choice was to enter a cram school and to study one more year. Then, I would take the entrance examination of the university I really wanted to enter. I wanted to ask my older brother about this decision as usual, but at that time he wasn’t in Japan. He had left for Russia to study abroad. So, I asked to my parents what I should do. They said they wanted me to choose the path that I wanted to take. I was so confused because I felt that I couldn’t make any excuses because it was my decision. I strongly thought that I couldn’t give up and must carry on. Eventually, I chose to go to cram school to study hard, then, I passed every university examination that I took. My confidence grew.
Through one year that I was in the cram school, I had many chances to decide things by myself. I considered my life and future seriously. At the end of 2005, I decided to take AIU’s entrance examination for myself. I decided to come here even though my older brother objected to me coming to AIU. I could consider his opinion as advice to be objective about my life and to choose my future for myself intelligently. Since I made this decision for myself, and now I don’t regret my choice at all.
Through those experiences I learned that I can have confidence if I have responsibility for my choices. Sometimes it is hard but it is very important to enjoy my life as my own. I was able to be patient and not give up so easily. I finally found that I have to live my own life. I can feel I am not anyone else now.
Saturday, June 2, 2007
Describing a place
Observation From the Heaven
I have a special place in my heart for Sendai city. About two years ago, I lived there for one year because I was a cram school student. Sendai is the biggest city in the Tohoku district, so there are a lot of impressive high shiny buildings and a lot of people in the city. The weather was very calm and there weren’t many rainy days. It was sunny almost every day there. Actually, it was my first time to live far away from my family, so everything was new for me. I often had lots of problems during the year. For example, I always had to care about the result of my tests in cram school, and I had to keep to the strict rules of my dormitory such as these: “You have to come back to the dormitory by 8 o’clock.”, and “You must not enter anyone else’s room anytime.” I had a lot of stress very often.
Whenever I felt stressed, I went to the 29th floor of one of the big tall shiny buildings in front of the Sendai station. Its name was AER. Since the building was very tall, so I could see everything below me. The Sky’s color was cobalt blue and it had white clouds which seemed much closer. Birds looked like dots in the sky that were swimming in the blue air. In the distance, I could see the Pacific Ocean which was sparkling in the sun light and some white shiny ships on. Because there are wide windows on that floor, I could also see mountains to the right of me. The mountains were deep green and light green, and I could see a clear line of the edge of the mountains. Down at street level, I could see colorful cars such as green, black, red, blue, white and so forth. So many people were wandering on the roads. They were so small from there. They looked like ants. Inside the building was so quiet and cool. There was no wind or sound. However, I could easily imagine the heat of the sunlight, soft warm wind, and sounds such as people’s voices, music, and the noise of cars. I felt I was so small in the world whenever I went there, and I thought I should have a wider view. I could be positive even though I was really sad before I went there. The view from there encouraged me a lot. It was my treasured time to stay there and watch things around me. Because I had to care a lot about the small things in daily life, I was so lucky that I could find such a good place to think about the bigger things in the world. I got over many problems that year and I finally passed the entrance exam of AIU. Every time I go to Sendai, I always go there and remember that.
I have a special place in my heart for Sendai city. About two years ago, I lived there for one year because I was a cram school student. Sendai is the biggest city in the Tohoku district, so there are a lot of impressive high shiny buildings and a lot of people in the city. The weather was very calm and there weren’t many rainy days. It was sunny almost every day there. Actually, it was my first time to live far away from my family, so everything was new for me. I often had lots of problems during the year. For example, I always had to care about the result of my tests in cram school, and I had to keep to the strict rules of my dormitory such as these: “You have to come back to the dormitory by 8 o’clock.”, and “You must not enter anyone else’s room anytime.” I had a lot of stress very often.
Whenever I felt stressed, I went to the 29th floor of one of the big tall shiny buildings in front of the Sendai station. Its name was AER. Since the building was very tall, so I could see everything below me. The Sky’s color was cobalt blue and it had white clouds which seemed much closer. Birds looked like dots in the sky that were swimming in the blue air. In the distance, I could see the Pacific Ocean which was sparkling in the sun light and some white shiny ships on. Because there are wide windows on that floor, I could also see mountains to the right of me. The mountains were deep green and light green, and I could see a clear line of the edge of the mountains. Down at street level, I could see colorful cars such as green, black, red, blue, white and so forth. So many people were wandering on the roads. They were so small from there. They looked like ants. Inside the building was so quiet and cool. There was no wind or sound. However, I could easily imagine the heat of the sunlight, soft warm wind, and sounds such as people’s voices, music, and the noise of cars. I felt I was so small in the world whenever I went there, and I thought I should have a wider view. I could be positive even though I was really sad before I went there. The view from there encouraged me a lot. It was my treasured time to stay there and watch things around me. Because I had to care a lot about the small things in daily life, I was so lucky that I could find such a good place to think about the bigger things in the world. I got over many problems that year and I finally passed the entrance exam of AIU. Every time I go to Sendai, I always go there and remember that.
Describing a person
A Teacher of My Life
My grandma taught me what life is like, and supported me a lot. I lived with my grandparents for 18 years. Because my parents were teachers, my grandparents looked after my brother and me. My grandma, who is my father’s mother, was a small, skinny woman with short black hair and she had a lot of lines on her face. Because of these wrinkles, she always looked like she was smiling. She was tender and kind. Her hands were rough because she loved gardening and worked in the fields harvesting vegetables. I learned how to grow plants from her. Also, she was very good at cooking, so I learned how to cook from her, too.
She was a very thoughtful person and a good listener. She was over 60-years-old but would always try to understand her young grandchildren’s feelings and thoughts. When I was an elementary school student, I had a big argument with my best friend, Sayumi. I don’t remember the reason why we had such a big argument but we both got really angry and I didn’t know how to fix the relationship. I asked my grandma to give me some advice.
She listened to my story carefully without interrupting. Then she said I should be more objective and apologize to my best friend. Even if I wasn’t wrong, I should say “sorry” to her. I, however, said “It is not fair because not only was I wrong but she was also. She has never apologized to me even if she was completely wrong, so far. I have done many things for her. She is ungrateful.” Then, my grandma told me that I should be more thankful to things around me. She said “If you think there was nothing that you can be thankful to Sayumi for, it is your fault. Don’t you remember that she also helped you a lot and you have had a very good time with her? ” She also said that I had taken everything for granted, but I was so lucky that I could have such a good friend in my life. I noticed that my thought was wrong and I took her advice. I said “I am sorry.” to Sayumi the next day.
Thanks to her objective advice, my friend and I have been best friends for 13 years. She was well-experienced and has had a lot of knowledge through her long life. Almost always she accepted reality very calmly. She always gave me a lot of good advice to get along with people around me, I also learned how I should behave in society from her. She is my ideal person in my life.
My grandma taught me what life is like, and supported me a lot. I lived with my grandparents for 18 years. Because my parents were teachers, my grandparents looked after my brother and me. My grandma, who is my father’s mother, was a small, skinny woman with short black hair and she had a lot of lines on her face. Because of these wrinkles, she always looked like she was smiling. She was tender and kind. Her hands were rough because she loved gardening and worked in the fields harvesting vegetables. I learned how to grow plants from her. Also, she was very good at cooking, so I learned how to cook from her, too.
She was a very thoughtful person and a good listener. She was over 60-years-old but would always try to understand her young grandchildren’s feelings and thoughts. When I was an elementary school student, I had a big argument with my best friend, Sayumi. I don’t remember the reason why we had such a big argument but we both got really angry and I didn’t know how to fix the relationship. I asked my grandma to give me some advice.
She listened to my story carefully without interrupting. Then she said I should be more objective and apologize to my best friend. Even if I wasn’t wrong, I should say “sorry” to her. I, however, said “It is not fair because not only was I wrong but she was also. She has never apologized to me even if she was completely wrong, so far. I have done many things for her. She is ungrateful.” Then, my grandma told me that I should be more thankful to things around me. She said “If you think there was nothing that you can be thankful to Sayumi for, it is your fault. Don’t you remember that she also helped you a lot and you have had a very good time with her? ” She also said that I had taken everything for granted, but I was so lucky that I could have such a good friend in my life. I noticed that my thought was wrong and I took her advice. I said “I am sorry.” to Sayumi the next day.
Thanks to her objective advice, my friend and I have been best friends for 13 years. She was well-experienced and has had a lot of knowledge through her long life. Almost always she accepted reality very calmly. She always gave me a lot of good advice to get along with people around me, I also learned how I should behave in society from her. She is my ideal person in my life.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Narrating a Story
Practice Playing the Piano
Playing the piano taught me that practice makes progress. I started taking piano lessons when I was three years old girl. My mother wanted me to be a good piano player. However, I actually hated practicing. What was worse, I had two big slump periods when I couldn’t play at all during my life. One was when I was a six grade elementary student and the other was when I was a first year high school student. I said “I want to give up the piano lessons.” to my mother, but she just said “No” strongly, so I wasn’t able to quit the lessons.
I had piano lessons twice a week. One was a group lesson and the other one was a private. I especially didn’t like the private lessons. That is because I had to show how bad I am at playing the piano to my teacher one on one. My teacher often said “Do practice more!!” Sometimes I had to cry and say “I am sorry” to her because I couldn’t play the piano well. It was really hard time. However, as for group lesson, I liked it. There were four people including me in my group. Two of them were very good players, but one girl and I were not.
One day, while I was in a first big slump period, one thing happened and it changed my mind and attitude toward practicing. Our teacher gave us a music score which was a piano piece made for four hands for a big contest. It was difficult. At first, we almost gave up but that was the last contest for the girl because she was going to quit taking lessons after the contest. We practiced a lot together, and we found that we improved a lot. During the contest we couldn’t get any prizes but we were satisfied with our playing and of course we enjoyed a lot. After that I tried to practice the piano more even though it is so boring, I learned it would improve my piano playing skills. I continued the lessons for 15 more years. Because of this, I don’t give up things as easily and I can try to practice a lot even if it is really hard.
Playing the piano taught me that practice makes progress. I started taking piano lessons when I was three years old girl. My mother wanted me to be a good piano player. However, I actually hated practicing. What was worse, I had two big slump periods when I couldn’t play at all during my life. One was when I was a six grade elementary student and the other was when I was a first year high school student. I said “I want to give up the piano lessons.” to my mother, but she just said “No” strongly, so I wasn’t able to quit the lessons.
I had piano lessons twice a week. One was a group lesson and the other one was a private. I especially didn’t like the private lessons. That is because I had to show how bad I am at playing the piano to my teacher one on one. My teacher often said “Do practice more!!” Sometimes I had to cry and say “I am sorry” to her because I couldn’t play the piano well. It was really hard time. However, as for group lesson, I liked it. There were four people including me in my group. Two of them were very good players, but one girl and I were not.
One day, while I was in a first big slump period, one thing happened and it changed my mind and attitude toward practicing. Our teacher gave us a music score which was a piano piece made for four hands for a big contest. It was difficult. At first, we almost gave up but that was the last contest for the girl because she was going to quit taking lessons after the contest. We practiced a lot together, and we found that we improved a lot. During the contest we couldn’t get any prizes but we were satisfied with our playing and of course we enjoyed a lot. After that I tried to practice the piano more even though it is so boring, I learned it would improve my piano playing skills. I continued the lessons for 15 more years. Because of this, I don’t give up things as easily and I can try to practice a lot even if it is really hard.
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