English Workshop 101

     We watched “ハートで感じる英文法” in the last lesson. Watching the program, we learnt the difference “will” and “be going to.” Many of you may think there is little or no difference between these two words. Though “will” and “be going to” mean almost the same thing and are interchangeable sometimes, there are some situations when one is used more than the other. Like this example, you can find out different nuances between “must” and “have to“, ”should” and “had better“, and “could” and “was/were able to.” If you are interested in proper use of English auxiliary verbs, visit this web site, “英文法FAQ.”

     I’d like you to create a poem using an auxiliary verb “will.” Being each line with the phrase “Someday, I will …” and complete it with a wish you have. If you like, you can make the first two or three lines say something about your everyday wishes and slowly move away from yourself to the world general. You may also end the poem with the word “Someday … ” Here is an example.

          Someday

          Someday, I will get a piano

          Someday, I will learn how to play the piano

          Someday, I will play the piano for you

          Someday, I will get some flower seeds

          Someday, I will learn how to grow flowers

          Someday, I will give you the flowers

          Someday …   

     Today we read an article about stress. As you know, nowadays many people feel stress in their daily lives. According to the article, stress often prevents people from working effectively and can lead to health problems. I think this is true. For example, I sometimes have a stomachache when I feel depressed or uneasy about my job, my family, and relationship with other people. It’s important to know how to recognize both the physical and the emotional signs of anxiety and how to control and relieve your stress. In my case, I go fishing, go to karaoke, and walk around in a park in order to get rid of stress.

     It is also said that volunteer activities can be another way to manage stress. Through helping other people or children, you will feel you can contribute  to society. I found an interesting speech made by a female college student in Japan. She told us about how to control stress. I want you to visit this website and listen to her speech. I’m sure you will be able to learn a lot.

     By the way,  when do you feel stress and why? How do you control and relieve it? I’d like you to write a short essay about this topic and post it on your blog by next Thursday. I hope this assignment won’t a cause of your stress. However, if you feel stress, I recommend you to visit a park named “Santonodai Park” near this college. Go there and lie on the grass looking up to the sky!

     Your HW  is below.

• Read the text (lesson 10 “Diving with sharks”) and check the meaning of new words.
• Write a short essay about stress on your blog. (By next Thursday)
• Do “shadowing practice” with the softrecorder (page 15, line 6-12) and save it as the sound file.
• Try the vocabulary quize (lesson 7&8) at Quizlet. (You need to log in.)
• Watch the music video below and answer the questions.

 

     On the other day, I went to Kamakura and visited Tsurugaoka-Hachimangu shrine with my family. I saw some Japanese students trying to guide foreign visitors around the shrine. They might be members of ESS and seemed to enjoy themselves very much. Do you know there is the ESS club in this college? If you are interested in guiding foreign visitors in English, I recommend you to join the club.

     In the last lesson, we watched “Soup Nazi”, one of episodes of an American sitcom ”Seinfeld.” I think watching comedies, dramas, and movies in English can be a good way for improving your listening skills. Nowadays, we can download most scripts of such dramas and movies from the Internet, so it can be a good training for ESL/EFL learners to watch videos and read those scripts by turns. Here is a website, “Simply Script,” which links to downloadable scripts of TV dramas and movies. 

     Your assignment for the next class is below.  

• Read the text (lesson 7 “Muhammad Ali”) and check the meaning of new words.
• Post a write on your blogs about your embarrassing experience.
• Try the vocabulary quiz (lesson 5 & 6) at Quizlet.
• Watch the music video clip below and answer the questions.

 

     The last week, we read ”Round Ireland with a fridge” in the class. According to the article, when Londoner Tony Hawks, a British comedian, drank too much, he accepted a bet for 100 pounds to hitchhike around the Ireland with a mini-bar fridge on a cart. Although he didn’t have to do it, he decided he would do it just for the fun of it, not the money. Like this, people sometimes do silly things and silly things sometimes appeal us. Here is a story about my silly experience.

     About 20 years ago, when I was a freshman like you all, I met a girl who drove me crazy. We were in the same club at university and I fell in love with her at first sight. She lived alone in an apartment in Yamato City because she came from Nagano prefecture. I was so shy at that time that I couldn’t approach her at all. But one day I had a chance to know her birthday. I still remember her birthday. It was August 29th. One of my close friends advised me that I should give her a special present on her birthday. I thought it was a good idea. But I didn’t have enough money to buy a special gift for her and I decided to find a part time job during the summer vacation. Checking job information, my friend found a good one at last. It was a job as a helper at a farm in Nagano prefecture which grows vegetables such as lettuces, cabbages, and so on. He said, “Why don’t you apply for this job? You will be able to get not only money but also the special gift for her. The lettuce you will grow can be a special present for her birthday! She will be pleased and moved by your handmade present.” Maybe I was blind at that time; I thought it seemed a perfect plan for me to declare my love to her. So I worked at the farm whose name was “Yui Noen” for about 40 days. I didn’t know that working in a farm was very hard. I had to wake up around 4 o’clock in the morning to pick up vegetables and carry them to the market. In the afternoon, I was asked to plant young plants of lettuce in the fields. Each field of lettuce was so wide and so big that I came near to tears. But I didn’t give up this job and somehow I could continue to work picking up and planting vegetables.

     On the final day at the farm, “Yui Noen”, I asked the owner if I could bring some lettuces. “Take as many as you want.” the owner said. So I picked up some of the most beautiful lettuces and packed them in a cardboard box and went back to Kanagawa by my car. On my way home, I dropped in at Tokyu Hands to buy a sheet of wrapping paper and a ribbon to wrap the box. I thought this was a perfect gift and headed for her apartment with it. I should have called her beforehand but unfortunately I didn’t know the telephone number. At last I stood in front of the door of her apartment holding the present. My heart was beating so fast when I tried to push a doorbell of her room. And I pushed it. I waited for her to open the door but there was no response. I waited and waited for her to come back home but she didn’t appear.

     Finally, I gave up and put the present in front of the door with a birthday card. I thought if she noticed the message, she would give me a phone call. But she didn’t call me on that night. The next day, I went to her apartment to check if she came back home or not, wondering why she didn’t call me. When I arrived at the apartment, I saw the present was still in front of the door. I realized she didn’t come back to this apartment. I thought she might spend her birthday with her boyfriend. I was so disappointed and depressed but I couldn’t bring the present. So, I bought some ice bags and put them on the box to keep the lettuces cool. Then I checked there three or four times after that if she noticed my present or not, but the present was still on the same place. And what was worse, I saw some flies flying around the box. After all, I gave up and decide to bring it to my house.

     Actually, the fact was that she went back her home town, Nagano prefecture, during the summer vacation. At that time I was very disappointed, but now I think it was good for me not to be able to give the present to her because she might consider me to be a stalker or someone else if she noticed what I had done. 

     This is the silliest thing I have ever done. Next, your turn! Please tell us your silly experience!

• Read the text (lesson 5 “Lightning”) and check the meaning of new words.
• Write a short essay titled “The silliest thing I have ever done.” 
• Watch the music video clip below and answer the questions.  

 

     How did you spend the Golden Week holidays? Did you go anywhere special? I went to Futtsu Beach in Chiba prefecture for shellfish gathering with my family. Because of the GW, there were so many people visiting there. My sons seemed to enjoy themselves, while I got exhausted after long drive and taking care of them.

     We visited Chiba on the school trip last week. Did you have a good time? Did you make new friends through this excursion? Did you learn anything about Shakespeare? When and where was Shakespeare born? Do you remember?

     Well, fun time is over and we have to go back to reality. Here is your homework:

• Read the text (lesson 4 “Round Ireland with a fridge!”) and check the meaning of new words.
• Post a write on your blogs about the GW or the school trip.
• Try the vocabulary quiz (lesson 3 & 4) at Quizlet.
• Watch the music video clip below and answer the questions.

     Today, we visited the “Quizlet” and tried the learning quiz set by Marcel. I’m sure you learned a lot about transition signals through this quiz. I think this website is useful for you to build up vocabulary and I’ve just set a vocabulary quiz on the textbook we use (Effective Reading 2). Just try this quiz (click here). Or type “english workshop” into the search box on the front page of the Quizlet. If you are interested in creating a vocabulary quiz, you can also use this website. How about sharing vocabulary quizzes among this class?