#014 Preparation for Discussion

Hi.

On this entry, I am going to write about my club activity. Actually, I am a member of the ESS, and I am going to participate in the discussion contest on December. In the contest, we are going to discuss educational issue in Japan. Needless to say, it is very hard for me to discuss even in Japanese, but we will discuss this topic in English, and the discussion will take about six hours. An older member of my club said to me,” educational issue is one of the most challenging topics to discuss, so I would research the topic very hard if I were you.” Actually, I have more knowledge of educational issues in Japan than the other students because I have took the teacher training course, but it is hard for the students who take a teacher training course. In fact, discussants have to make very clear solvency which we let Japanese government carry out. For example, if I choice declining academic abilities as an educational issue in Japan, I have to research it, and I have to make a really specific plan. I mean the problem has to be planned if Japanese government practices my plan.

The discussion contest gives us very hard works. We need not only our good English speaking skills, but also our critical and logical thinking skills.

That's all for today. Thank you very much. 

[233 words]

#013 TOEIC Practice by Nintendo DS

     Last week, I forgot to post a blog. I’m very sorry, sir. I will never forget that again.

     Anyway, what I would like to write about is my tool for TOEIC. Actually, I recently use a game software. The title is “Nanami no Oshiete English DS: Mezase TOEIC Master”. It is really good for me to learn English and expand my English vocabulary continuously. As you may know, a lot of game makers such as Nintendo and Sega have produced some game softs for English learners. Actually, I bought one of them last year, but I have already stopped playing it because it is very boring for me. When I use it, I cannot see cute characters and cool monsters, and I cannot enjoy fiction such as Pokémon and Final Fantasy. I would like to have fun learning English. That’s why I had searched various game softs for English learners for about six months. Finally, I found an attractive one. That’s “Nanami no Oshiete English DS: Mezase TOEIC Master”. When I use it, I can learn English and enjoy the interesting story. In the story, the main character fosters a heroine’s ability of English by practicing TOEIC test. By the way, a heroine’s name is Nanami. After I foster a certain level of her ability, the plot develops. Thus, I have to practice many problems in order to be fascinated by the story. That’s why I practice TOEIC test every day.

[241 words]

#012 School Festival

In this entry, I wrote about the school festival.

It was a memorable event for me. As you know, Almost all of clubs sell many kinds of foods or something on the festival. I belong to ESS(English Speaking Society), and my club sold fried potatoes and fried ice. You must know fried potatoes, but you don’t know fried ice, do you? It’s one of the most mysterious sweets. Now, I am going to explain how to make fried ice. We used ice cream puffs to fry. The size was suitable. Before we fried it, we topped with cereals for a variety of textures. After that, we fried it. It tastes very good, and many people bought them. So, I enjoyed a party with my club members after the festival. Of course, we didn’t have to pay for the party because my club made enough money for our party. Now, I’ll introduce a branch house which I will never forget. It is a shop by Ms. Masami Iwasaki’s seminar. They sold some kinds of meals. Actually, I had a cup of minestrone soup. That was very tasty. That’s why I will never forget this fantastic school festival. 

That’s all for today. Thank you very much.

[205 w]

#011 Oversleeping

Actually, I overslept this morning. I woke up at eight twenty. But you know, I had to attend first period class, Writing4. Of course, it was very challenging for me to attend the class in time. Anyway, I washed my face, first of all. And then, I had breakfast quickly. I planned to eat a cup of cereal. However, my mother had already cooked usual meals for me. That's why I had to eat rice, miso soup, and some vegetables very quickly. It was my duty. It was very hard task for me, but I succeeded. And then, I changed my clothes, and I noticed! 
"I have not written my blog yet!"
But anyway, I had no other choice to go to school in order to attend the Writing class.
Usually, I go to school by bicycle. It usually takes about thirty minutes. But the time was already eight forty. The class would start at nine o'clock. So, my task was to go to school in twenty minutes.

After all, I achieved this hard task. I mean, I attended the Writing class in time! But It was really hard work for me. So, I will never oversleep. Oversleep does me absolutely no good.

[203 w]

#010 13hours

Hi,

This is the first time for me to post an entry in this blog this semester. Actually, I was excused from this class last week because I visited St. Catharines, Ontario and I learned English on the Brock University. It was a very good opportunity for me to improve my English skill. The most memorable event was the flight for 13 hours. In fact, it takes approximately 13 hours to go to Toronto from Tokyo. Of course, it was the first time for me to take a long plane trip, so I felt a bit of confusion about what I would do during the flight. But, I fell asleep soon because I had been already tired. Anyway, I will never forget the long plane trip.

I had been in Canada for just three weeks. I thought it was very short trip for me to learn English. However, I wanted to return to Japan when I arrived at St. Catharines. I was worried about communicating with my host family in English. But my host mother was very kind of me, and she spoke to me slowly, so it was easy for me to communicate with her. That’s my summer vacation.

[200 w]

#009 Piano

     Playing the piano is one of my hobbies, so I often play the piano in my free time. Actually, I was beginning to be concerned about playing the piano when I was in kindergarten. Then, I started to learn playing the piano and my parents bought an electronic piano for me when I was first grade. At first, I practice it very hard, but I was so tired of practicing the piano as time passed. So, when I was third grade, my piano teacher was very angry, and said to me, “Do it right, or don’t do it at all”. The next day, I apologized her with my mother. After that, I practice it hard, and I provided piano accompaniment in a school play and a chorus festival. After all, I quit the piano lesson when I graduated from the elementary school. But, I continue to play the piano and practice it hard by myself. So, I could play the piano better and better. As you know, almost all of students who can play the piano are women. So, many friends and teachers were surprised that I could play the piano. In the end, I was in charge of an accompanist on the piano at the graduation. Piano enriched my life. So, I’ll keep playing the piano.

That’s all for today. Thank you very much.

[225 words]

#008 The 48th All Hokkaido Open Discussion Contest

Hi,

On Sunday, I took part in the discussion contest. Actually, I am a member of the ESS, which stands for English Speaking Society. Of course, we have to speak English during the discussion, so we had discussed the difficult topic for about 5 hours. By the way, the topic is Labor Problem in Japan. It is a very difficult topic, isn’t it? In my table, we discussed "Suicide caused by loss of job", which was the topic of my resume. In short, I was charged of an opinion maker in my discussion. But, actually there was one problem. The problem is “lack of evidence”. Of course, an opinion maker have to bring all data and information which is related to the topic. For example, opinion makers have to show detail numbers and definition of words. So, opinion makers have to work very hard even before the contest is held. In addition, some of the members in my table are Hokkaido University students. Of course, they are good at logical thinking and English speaking. So, they asked me many barbed questions, and sometimes found conflicting definitions and evidences. Anyway, I enjoyed discussing! I want to participate in the contest again.

That’s all for today.

Thank you very much.

[208 words]