Blog Homework 5: Fallen Stars

Hi everyone,

In yesterday’s class we started talking about “role models” – people who we look up to, respect and who we wish to emulate (imitate, copy, try to be like, follow their example/lead). When we talked about who your role models are, you mentioned past teachers, family members, and also “public figures” such as sports stars. Indeed, public figures and celebrities are often held up as role models. But, what happens when these so called role models are "rocked by scandal" and "fall from grace" – just like Tiger Woods (with the acquisitions extra-martial affairs), “Noripii” (with her recent drug scandals) and Kusanagi (with his drunken naked romp in the park). I want to hear your opinions about “fallen stars”. Should we stop admiring stars who have fallen from grace, or should we not even look up to them in the first place? And what about companies – should they stop commercials and advertisements which feature these fallen stars? What do YOU think?

If you have time, check out this article and video news story:
http://www.theage.com.au/national/tag-heuer-pulls-tigers-ads-20091210-kl60.html.

Blog Homework 4: Chalk and cheese... relationship breaker or interest maker?

Hi everyone,

In today’s class we listened to some conversations featuring people talking about relationship problems – problems with their friends or partners. The title of this unit is “like chalk and cheese” which means “to be completely different”. In the case of the characters in today’s conversations, it seems that “being like chalk and cheese” can be the cause of many relationship problems.

What do you think? Is it better for friends (or boyfriends and girlfriends) to be similar, in other words to have similar personalities, hobbies and values? Or is it okay for friends “to be like chalk and cheese” – to have different personalities, hobbies and values?

Please share your opinion. Give reasons, examples and detail to support your ideas. Please make your blog comment by Tuesday (24th November) midnight.

Also, before you write your comment, please read the comment of the person who wrote before you, and comment on their ideas.

Don’t forget to do your language awareness homework too!!

Have a good week,
Kris

Blog Homework 3: High school reunions

Hi guys,

Thanks for your comments last week (or was it last last week)? It was interesting to read about the different ways people would respond to this situation of young kinds throwing stones at pigeons. As many of you mentioned, the context and our feelings at the time can often influence how we respond to such situations. Daiki, Satoru, Yuu, Miya and Toru said they would say something to stop the kids. Daiki would ask some nearby adults to stop them or perhaps report them to their school so their school teacher can discipline them. Tohma also noted that it might be difficult to tell them to stop alone. Terumi, Yoko, Haruki and Masayoshi said they would probably keep quiet, thinking in their minds (please stop please stop). Yoko and Mayumi said they would perhaps stare at them or “give them the evil eye”. Masayoshi said that he would probably complain about the situation that night with his family and friends. And Tomohiro by far had the most original solution: screaming like a mad-man to try and scare the pigeons away. Very creative!

Actually, this really happened to me. One day when I was walking past the little park nearby SATY I saw a group of boys throwing stones at some pigeons. So many people, adults included, just walked past them and said nothing. I couldn’t believe it! Not only is it wrong to hurt animals, it’s also dangerous to throw stones – they could hit someone, or even break a window of a nearby house. So, I walked over to these boys and “gave them a lecture”. I told them that they should stop immediately, and that they should think about the consequences of their actions! They were so surprised, that they apologized immediately and ran off!! I’ll never forget this day!

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Anyway, on to this week’s blog topic. In the listening exercise today, we heard about people talking about their experiences at high school, and a few characters talked about going to high school reunions. Some characters implied that they would love to go to their high school reunion, while others said that it would be hell. (By the way, when we say a “high school reunion” we mean a formal reunion where all people from the high school are invited. These are normally held every 5 or 10 or so years after graduation).

So I want to know… how would you feel if you got an invitation to your high school reunion? Would you be very happy to go, or would you rather not go. Why? Please write your blog entry by next Tuesday (27th) midnight. Also, please give a brief comment to the person who wrote before you. Finally, please try to write about 150 words (some of your comments last time were a bit too short).

Best Wishes,
Kris

Blog Homework 2: Annoying things

Hi guys,

Thanks for your blog comments. It was – as always – a pleasure to read them. A few quick comments from me. Tomohiro: I recommend books by 誉田哲也 in particular Strawberry Night. Tohma: When is the Shimonoseki Kaikyo marathon? Was that what you were talking with Mr. Ouchi about the other day? Best of luck! Daiki: Sounds like you’re a big Michael Owens fan! Terumi: Your Aikido club is crazy!! I’m glad you survived! Mayumi: I hope you managed to save lots of money! Toru: 100 fish is too much! Throw some back next time! Yuu: You are an avid traveler, aren’t you! I would love to hear more about your trip to China. Satoru & Yoko: I’m glad you had fun in OZ! Satoru, do you really want to spend more time there?! Anyway, I hope there’s a chance for you both to return there soon, and hopefully visit Uluru. In the meantime, Yoko – good luck with your TOEFL study!!

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Okay, let’s turn to this week’s blog homework. This week and last week in class we talked about annoying things. And, in this week’s homework I’m interested in hearing about what you typically do when someone is annoying you. Are you the type of person who complains? Or are you more likely to keep quiet and perhaps whinge (http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=90226&dict=CALD) to yourself? Also, I’d like to know what you would do in this situation. Say you were walking past a park, and you saw a group of young boys (about 10 years old) throwing stones at pigeons. What would you do??!! I’m interested in hearing your opinions and comments. Next week, I’ll share mine. Don’t forget to give the person before you a brief comment, and to try and read as many of your classmate’s comments as possible. Please leave your comment by next Tuesday (13th) midnight.

Best Wishes,
Kris

Welcome Back!!

Hi everyone and welcome back!! I hope you all had an enjoyable summer break. In this semester we will continue studying using "Impact Conversation 2", and will be studying units from the second half of the book (hopefully we can cover units 9, 10, 12, 14 and 16). If there are any units that you would particularly like to study, please let me know - either to this blog, or by email, or in class.

For homework this week, in addition to your "Language Awareness" homework, I'd like you to share with us what you did during your summer holiday. What did you get up to? What was the most enjoyable part of your holiday? What was the worst part of your holiday? I'd like to hear all about it, so please write about 150 words about your summer vacation.

Oh, by the way... please leave a comment to the person who wrote before you. And of course, try to read everyone's blog comments.

I guess I'd better tell you about my summer too. Well, as you all know, this August/September I took 32 students to study in Brisbane, Australia for 1 month. This was a very interesting and enjoyable experience for me, because I got to know many Shidai students. They were all very good and interesting students, so this was actually a very nice experience for me. Also, it was good because I got to spend 1 month in Australia, my home country. I could meet my family, friends, old teachers, and also spend time in the university which I graduated from. The only bad thing about my summer was that it was too short!!!

Anyway, that's enough from me. Let's hear from you!!

Cheers,
Kris

Class Video Project: Japan - A Travel Guide

Hi everyone,

Our class - the 2009 special 2nd year practical English class - recently embarked on a short video project. In only two classes they created a video introducing Japan to potential visitors. If you have the time, please check out their movie and provide some comments. We'd also like to know, after watching the movie, which city are you most interested in visiting: Tokyo, Kyoto, Hiroshima or Shimonoseki.

We're looking forward to reading your comments. If you want to see this movie on a bigger screen, please go to www.shimonoseki-cu.ac.jp/~sullivan

Kris & the special 2nd year practical English class

Homework 4: What do YOU think?

Hi everyone,

I hope you enjoyed today's class and group discussion activity. And thank you once again for sharing your truths and lies. I really enjoyed reading them!

Okay, in this week's blog homework I'd like you to think a bit more about the types of living situations you don't mind, and those that you can't stand. In particular, I'd like you to practice the "agreeing" and "disagreeing" phrases introduced in the textbook (and of course any other phrases that you know). So, below are some of my ideas. Please respond (agree or disagree) with one of these, and share your reasons and thoughts. Or, you can respond to one of your classmates' ideas. I'm looking forward to reading your comments.

2. I definitely don't want to live in a neighbourhood with a lot of crime. I don't want to live in a neighbourhood where I feel scared to walk alone at night.

3. Personally, I couldn't care less if my house has bad Feng Shui. I don't believe in that rubbish.

4. I think it would be awkward to live in the same building - let alone the same floor - as my ex.

5. I think it's more important to live in a house that is safe, than to save a few bucks.

6. There is NO WAY I would live in an area with poisonous spiders. In Australia, where I'm from, there are SO many poisonous spiders. I hate them and they freak me out. I wouldn't be able to relax if I knew that spiders were around.

(these are all from page 16 of the class textbook)

Please share your ideas before next week's class (preferably by Tuesday so I can read them before the next class). Have a great week!

Kris

Homework 3: Lier lier pants on fire!!

Hi everyone,

I hope you are enjoying your Golden Week holiday. Personally, I haven't been doing much at all. Just staying at home, doing some reading and watching a few DVDs. Have you seen the American Drama series "Dr House"? I watched the first few episodes yesterday... I didn't think it was so interesting, but my friend did. Anyway, I hope you are enjoying your break.

So, down to the matter at hand. I have really enjoyed reading everyone's truths and lies, and everyone's lie guesses. So, now for the last stage in this homework activity. Please let us know what your lie was!!

Well, my lie was number 2 - that I have seen Arnold Schwarzenegger!! I did go to San Francisco in 2007, and I saw many things like the Golden Gate Bridge and Fisherman's Wharf. But, unfortunately, I didn't see Arnold Schwarzenegger! Number 1 - that I held a live crocodile when I was little - is true! When I was about 7 years old I went to a reptile zoo during the summer holiday and held a BABY crocodile, which had it's mouth tied shut with some rope!! I actually have a photo of this somewhere. If I can find it I will show you during class. And number 3 - that I had 8 pet guinea pigs - is also true. When I was in primary school my brother and I had 2 pet guinea pigs. We thought they were both females, but actually 1 was female and 1 was male, and well, they had 6 babies!! We didn't keep all 8 guinea pigs - we gave some away to friends - but at one stage we did have 8 pet guinea pigs!!

Okay, so that was my lie and 2 truths. I'm looking forward to hearing your answers!!

See you in class next week,
Kris

p.s. Sorry for the delay in writing this article.

Blog Homework 2: Was this your lie??

Hey guys,

Thanks for sharing your “2 truths and 1 lie”. But, they were so good, that I’m having a lot of trouble deciding what your lies are!! But, I’ll try anyway. So, for this week’s homework, I want you to read everyone’s truths and lies, and decide which is their lie. If you can, please also include a brief explanation as to why you think it is a lie. Even though next Wednesday is a holiday (29th April), I want you to complete this homework by then. Finally, I want you to post your answer (i.e. which one was your lie) by 6th May. I know this is a holiday, but I think this homework is easy, fun and won’t take too much time. So, please do it by then. Okay, so here are my guesses!! Sorry if they are wrong!!

Tohma: Hmmm… this is very difficult. I’m going to guess number 1 (that you are Brazilian Japanese). This is because you kind of look like you can juggle, and you like English, so maybe you were influenced by your grandfather? But, if number 1 is true, I think that’s pretty cool.

Mayumi: Hmm… again difficult, but I will guess number 2. This is because I HATE jellyfish, and I think that no one would enjoy scooping up jellyfish!!

Satoru: Hmmm… I’m going to go for number 1. This is because I think you are too busy with your part-time job to walk around Shikoku!! But if you are, again, that’s pretty cool.

Tomohiro: I’m confident with this one. I think number 1 is your lie. Because I don’t think you have been learning karate since you were so young!!

Daiki: Hmmm… this one is difficult, but I’m going to say number 3. I think you might be able to juggle a soccer ball, but “3000 or more times” sounds impossible to me!

Masayoshi: Hmmm… I’m not quite sure about this one. But, I’m going to say number 2. You seem like a confident guy, so I’m going to guess that you wouldn’t be afraid of going to Kokura.

Yuu: This one is very difficult!!! I’m going to say number 2 – that you can’t eat sushi. Maybe you have an allergy, or maybe you don’t like raw fish???

Miya: Hmmm… I hope number 3 is your lie. Three part-time jobs is TOO MUCH!!

Terumi: Hmmm… this one is tricky. But I’m going to say number 3. I’m not sure exactly what a “killifish” is, but 50 sounds impossible!

Yoko: Hmmm… this one is also difficult. But I’m going to go with number 3. Maybe you went to Fukuoka, not Matsuyama, last Sunday??!!

Toru: Hmmm… is your lie number 1?? Changing your mobile phone 3 times sounds like it would cost a lot of money. Maybe you have only had 2 mobile phones???

Haruki: Please share your 2 truths and 1 lie!!!!!!!!


Don’t forget to guess my lie too!!
Have a good week!!
Kris

Blog Homework 1: 2 Truths and 1 Lie

Hi everyone, and welcome to Practical English. I’m looking forward to our classes together, and hope that you find the classes useful and rewarding. While I have had some of you in my classes last year, there are many of you who I have not taught before. So, in order to get to know you all a bit better I thought it would be nice to play a quick game of “2 Truths 1 Lie”. Do you know this game? In this game you must share three *very interesting* things about yourself, but 1 of these things should be a lie. Everybody then must try to guess which 2 things are true and which is the lie. So… your homework for this week is to write “2 truths” and “1 lie” about yourself. Then, I want you to read your classmates “truths and lies” and try to guess which is the lie. You should also give a reason for why you think it is a lie. Next week, please let us know the answer via this blog – and give us a bit of an explanation too. So here are my “2 Truths and 1 Lie”. Try to guess which is the lie!!

1. I held a live crocodile when I was about 7 years old.

2. I saw the famous actor and governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, when I went to San Francisco in 2007.

3. When I was little I had 8 pet guinea pigs.

Looking forward to reading your entries,
Kris