Pukman @ WinK: the community that time didn't forget

I LIVE IN KUMAMOTO, a medium-sized city in the central area of Kyushu. It is an interesting place to live, because it is in the center of an area of great natural beauty. To the north is Aso and Kikuchi, to the south Amakusa. Aso is a highland area with a famous volcano boasting the biggest caldera in the world. Kikiuchi is famous for its gorge. Amakusa is an archipelago consisting of well over 100 islands, the most famous of which are Shimoshima and Kamishima. Kamishima is the first island we meet as we go to Amakusa from the Kumamoto mainland. Shimoshima is the most heavily populated one. It has the cities of Hondo and Ushibuka although recently they have changed their names. It also has the famous churches of Oe and Sakitsu which have existed for hundreds of years and came to fame in the “kakure Christian” era. And of course it has the sea and a couple of very nice beaches. (163)

Do you know the Step Into Reading series? I may have mentioned it before but it's worth mentioning again, as there's a wide range of books and levels. Many students at PUK don't notice this series, because of their location in the library. Do you have them at KGU? I recommend the Step 3 books at first, because they are very easy to read. Steps 4 and 5 are also interesting.

Check out these interesting podcasts from students. If your podcast is not on the list, please email the URL to me!

• Toshihiro's podcast
  
• Yuki's podcast
• Shuhei H's podcast
  
• Yui I's podcast
  
• Moe's podcast
  
• Chiemi K's podcast
  
• Ayaka O's podcast
  
• Natsuki T's podcast
  
• SawaCast
  
• Patchwork Elephant's podcast
  
• Nanami's podcast
  
• Monoboo's podcast
• Asaya's podcast
  
• Kayasasu's podcast
  
• Takano's podcast
  
• Gaku's podcast
• Tomoe's podcast
  
• Kuroneko's podcast
  
• Night Sirius's podcast
• Mihoko's podcast
  
• Aimi's Podcast
  
• Megu's podcast
  
• Tom's podcast
• Snow Rabbit's podcast
• Tenjin Diary's Podcast
• Lumi-color's podcast
  
• TikaTika's podcast
• Goodswimer's podcast
• Momoka's podcast
• Asami's podcast
• Ekkachan's podcast
• Chihiro's podcast
• Kiwa's podcast
• Satoko's podcast

In my free time, I like doing many different things, such as watching movies, reading books and magazines, listening to music, or just sitting around at home playing with my children. Today, I’ll talk maninly abour movies and music. I don’t really have a special kind of movie that I like. Any movie that comes to Kumamoto is potentially interesting. Recently, I’ve seem the Brave one, and the Bourne Supremacy. Other movies I have seen on DVD include The Devil Wears Prada. I’ve also been watching the 24 and the ER series. 24 is now on its 6th season. Interestingly, I rewatched episode 1 of the first season a few days ago and I was surprised to find that it was rather slow! I guess that each season the action goes faster and faster. I haven’t been keeping up with ER recently, as there are very few copies of the DVDs available and they’re always rented out when I go to the video shop. (164 words)

As you remember, the blogging guideline for Writing IV is 7 posts a week. That includes typing posts, book reviews, and any other posts that you do. Now 11 weeks have passed since the beginning of the semester. That means that you should have written about 77 posts, with a minimum of about 50.

What can you do if your number of posts is much less than this? A few ideas:

1. Make sure you always paste your typing into your blog.
2. Do a "reading marathon": read 3-5 easy books in a week and write a simple book review for each one. This will help you to read faster and also to write book reviews faster. Remember that you need at least 12 book reviews in your total posts over the semester, but you can increase the number of book reviews if you wish.
   
3. Get used to writing short posts often. You shouldn't need more than 5 minutes to write a short post about something you did recently or some other interesting topic.
4. There are only 2 more classes left after today's. If you have a problem you need to do something very soon. Plan when you are going to write more posts. We calculate 12 weeks in a semester, so the quota for the whole semester is 12 multiplied by 7 = 84 posts
   
5. If you haven't already, write an essay based on the content of your presentation. 5 paragraphs is a good length.
6. If possible, make a podcast. This shows that you are willing to make an effort, and it brings together speaking, writing, and multimedia in one post. Both your essay and podcast can be based on the same material.
7. Don't waste class time. Come on time. Ask questions during the class (not after) if you don't understand something. If you have problems using the computer, don't waste time chatting in Japanese. At the least, you can just write an ordinary post about what you did. For example, for the podcast, just writing your script is a valuable step forward. For the essay, one well-written paragraph is a good post and leaves you less work to do in the next stage.
   

The first three slides in this show summarize how to use Slideshare. The other slides show how to make a podcast using podOmatic. I'll leave a small version of this presentation in my sidebar, to remind you when this post becomes old.

Slideshare/Podcasting Help

Many countries have their own versions of the cinderella story. Check out the Korean, Persian, Egyptian, Caribbean, and Irish versions with these picture books.

Do you know Woofy? Please check him out here!

IN MY FREE TIME, I LIKE reading, watching movies, and listening to music. My favorite kinds of music are rock and modern Japanese music. By that I mean modern koto music. I like reading all kinds of novels, especially fantasy and science fiction. Recently I have been rereading books by Ursula Le Guin, for example the Earthsea series (Ged Senki in Japanese) . About movies, I like all kinds of movies, and whenever possible I go to the theater to see them. However,m these days I am very busy so I often don't have time ti go to the theater. When I go to the theater I like to go to the nearby Starbucks for a café latte made with soy milk. Recent movies I have seen include The Brave One and The Bourne Ultimatum. The Brave One stars Jodie Foster and is about a woman whose fiancé is murdered in front of her and how it changes her life. The Bourne Ultimatum is the third movie in the Bourne series starring Matt Damon, It’s very exciting but I didn't enjoy it as much as the 1st and 2nd ones. (190 words)

In my free time, I like reading, watching movies, and listening to music. My favorite kinds of music are rock and modern Japanese music, i.e. koto. I don't really have a favorite kind of movie but I do prefer to go to the movie theatre whenever possible. I also watch DVDs sometimes, but I guess I try to get to see big action movies and spectacle movies at the theater. (70)

Click here to get your own player.



Listen to and watch this podcast at rickla.podomatic.com. Make your own free podcast by signing up at podOmatic.

In my free time I like doing many different things. I like reading and listening to music, and watching movies. Today I’m going to talk about movies.
Whenever possible I like to go to the ciname to watch movies. Recently I saw the Bourne Ultimatum and The Brave One. The Brave One starred Jodie Foster and it was about a woman who saw her fiancé murdered, and how she reacted to this tragic event. The Bourne Ultimatum is the third movie in the Bourne series. It follows on from The Bourne Iderntity and the Bourne Supremacy. It stars Matt Damon, and is very very exciting. (105)

Skyrider books are a new series available from Thomson/Cengage. In addition to a few nice stories, the series includes some good non-fiction books.

Have you seen the Bourne Ultimatum? I recommend it!

This is a presentation by George Siemens from Slideshare. I was trying to embed slide 8 (Snowden's 4 Ontologies) and slide 14 (learning ecology) only, but it seems individual slides don't have URLs any more.

Over the last week or so, we have been watching Romeo & Juliet in class. The one I chose for watching all the way through was the Olivia Hussey/Leonard Whiting version directed by Roman Polanski. This is a very famous version, but less well-known by young people in Japan than the newer Leonardo diCaprio/Clare Danes version. Finally, we watched a few scenes from that newer version for comparison.

By watching two versions, I hope that everyone realised that the words have meaning and that there are various different ways to express them. The common point is that each actor is trying to express something. And I hope many students learned some of the very famous phrases from Romeo & Juliet, such as "What's in a name?" and "Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?"

I'm looking forward to seeing the performances in class!

After juppun ha juubun, let's start work on one of our major assignments for this semester, Presentations about Kumamoto. In a group of 2-4 people, I'd like you to make a PowerPoint presentation of at least 10 slides about Kumamoto, and post the presentation to each group member's blog, using slideshare.

It is a good idea to choose a narrow topic: if every group does a general presentation about Kumamoto, with Kumamoto Castle, Suizenji Park, and karashi-renkon (or Aso, Kikuchi, and Kumamoto City), that won't be very interesting!

It's also very interesting if you can include some of your own photos, as well as things you can find on the Internet.

Remember that requirements for regular book reviews and other blog posts are the same as usual!

If necessary, I'll show you how to use Slideshare next week. But you might want to try it out this week, by joining (=Sign Up), making a very short presentation, and uploading it to Slideshare. You can delete this presentation later, when you have uploaded a newer one.

Today, you need to decide your groups and then decide your topic together. You should each write a short post announcing your partners and title of the presentation. Please use the short names of your group members, linked to their blog. (For example, if Hidetoshi Nakata was one of my group members, I would write Hidetoshi N.) Later, if necessary, you can change your title, and update your post. If possible, you should also decide today how to work together: for example, if you need original photos, will you go and take them together, and when?

If possible, I'd like you to upload your finished presentations on November 30th. Remember that these presentations will be very public, so you should try to help each other correct the sentences in the presentation.

I DON’T HAVE A GREAT DEAL OF FREE TIME these days, because I am so busy at work. But when I do have free time I like reading, listening to music, watching movies, playing the koto, hiking, cooking, and so on. My favorite kinds of music are Japanese modern, and progressive rock. I read all kinds of novels, but I guess I like science fiction and fantasy best. Recently, I bought the first book in L.E. Modesitt’s Corean chronicles, a series that has been praised widely. Cooking is something that I used to do all the itme but now do very rarely. It’s lots of fun and quite relaxing, but does take some time. I would like to travel a bit more if possible. (124 words)

I’m so busy at my job these days that I don’t have so much free time. But there are many things I like to do in my free time. I like playing the koto, listening to music, reading, hiking, and playing tennis. I also like watching movies. I always read at night before going to sleep, nearly always a novel. Now, I am reading Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand. Often, I read science fiction or fantasy, but I haven’t read the 7th Harry Potter book yet. Have you? These days, I almost never play the koto. But I do see movies sometimes. Recently, I saw the Brave One, with Jodie Foster, which was a great movie. All her movies are good, I feel, though I wish she appareaed a little more often. Another one I want to see is the (140 words)

Today's typing topic is Free Time. This will also be the topic next week and the week after.

The rest of this lesson is a catch-up session. It's a good chance for you to ask for help with LibraryThing, labels, links, photos, uploading your slides to Slideshare and embedding them in your blog, etc., if you didn't understand when we did them in class before.

If you're up to date with all these things, just write anything you like on your blog, add the books you have read to your LibraryThing account, comment on other blogs, etc.

Remember: If you still need help, try to go to Mr Tomei's Computer Office Hour (Tuesday 12:10-1:00 Room 1448).

Location of Kankyou Kyousei Gakubu:
32.80596115788772
130.7663905620575
data from: http://jtomei.net/lat-lon.html

Kumamoto has lots of nice places to visit. In the south, facing Nagasaki, is the archipelago of Amakusa, a collection of about 100 islands, which are very beautiful. The biggest 2 islands are Shimoshima and Kamishima. Kamishima is made of paper. No, not really. Kami means upper, and this island is near mainland Kumamoto. Shimoshima is the place with the biggest cities, Hondo and Ushibuka. and also the most famous places such as Ooe and Sakitsu churches. (77 words)

WAI 2-01: The First Month

Months	Aug	Sept	Oct	Nov	Dec	Jan	Feb	Totals	Mult.	Adj.
Book reviews	0	1
Blog posts	1	19
Words	14	1762
Posts w. pics	0	3
Posts w. links	1	10

This movie looks very interesting! It is the Ten Commandments, with Ben Kingsley.

Last week, I enjoyed two music events, both on the same day. In the morning I went to my daughters' primary school music festival. I was very proud of my daughters because they performed well, even though they don't like music so much. All the perrformances at the festival were very good.

In the evening, I went to my teacher's koto recital. One of my PUK students also performed, and Kazue Sawai came down from Tokyo as a special guest. It was very exciting.

Hi (1 word)

I like Amakusa. This is the church where I got married.

As we learned in class, it's good to have Comments and a LibraryThing widget in the sidebar. You should also be using labels in your posts.

Next, let's add a Labels item.

Here's a good example.

In Basic English IV, your aim should be:

1. 5 posts a week, including at least 1 book review
2. 3 comments a week on other blogs

You also need to gradually start:

1. adding photos to your posts
   
2. putting links in your posts

I will show you how to do these things in the next week or two. And soon also, I will teach you how to add a LibraryThing widget to your blog.

Remember that you should send me an attendance email each class.

Please check out the Blog Feeds section at WinK Home!

Mr B. has explained how to add a comment feed to your blog. Please check out his post, and try it on your blog. The basic formula you need to add to your feed widget is:

• [YourBlogURL]/feeds/comments/default/?alt=rss

Add a page element at the top of your sidebar, being sure to choose the Feed element.

WAI 2-01: The First Month

Months	Aug	Sept	Oct	Nov	Dec	Jan	Feb	Totals	Multiplier	Adj. Value
Blog posts	1	19	25	17	11	3		76
Book reviews	0	1
Posts w. pics	1	3
Posts w. links	1	9
Words	14	1787	2925

I like Kumamoto because it is a nice city of medium size, not too big like Tokyo, but not too small like Yatsushiro. In Kummaoto there are lots of nice shops including lots of good bakeries. One of my favorite bakeries is Bon Gout which is in Obiyama Joshidai-doori, and also has a shop in Aso, in Uchinomaki. Another good bakery in Aso is Merukoro, which is in the Chouyou area. Their best breads are cranberry bread and rye bread. Rye bread is also good in the German bakery whose name I’ve forgot in (94 words)

WAI 2-01: The First Month

Months	Aug	Sept	Oct	Nov	Dec	Jan	Feb	Totals	Mult.	Adj.
Book reviews	0	1
Blog posts	1	19
Words	14	1762
Posts w. pics	0	3
Posts w. links	1	10

Last weekend I went to Amakusa for the first time since the obon festival in August. This time, I went to take part in the autumn festival in Jougawara. This festival is rather interesting. On the Saturday, the men living in the area parade from the Joukiba shrine to the Uchigoshi Shrine, carrying lots of mikoshi and other sacred items, and chanting. The trip is about 2 kilometers and is very tiring for them. After an hour or so, they arrive at Uchigoshi Shrine, and many people greet them. They bring the sacred items to stay overnight at Uchigoshi. They are greeted with a lion dance, with 2 young boys doing "tama-furi". The following day they do a parade in the opposite direction taking the items back to their permanent home in Joukiba.
In the evening, the men taking part in the festival visit as many houses as possible in the area for eating and drinking. One of the main stops is my wife's ancestral home, and this year I was the main host. I had to stay up very late and drink a lot so I was very tired the next day, and the drive back to Kumamoto was very hard.

I like Kumamoto very much. I think it's a nice size for a xcity. Not so big like Tokyo but not too small like Yatsushiro! Because the city is fairly big, there is a wide variety of food shops. I'd like to talk about bakeries. Here are some of my favorites. Bon Gout on Obiyama Joshidaidoori (and recently also in Uchinomaki in Aso) has a wide range of “kashi pan”, which I don't like so much but also 2 masterpieces: a heavy rye fruit bread loaf and a wholewheat loaf. The latter is only baked once a week. In Aso, there is a very famous bakery called Merukoro. This has been in business for 10 years or so. When it started it was just one shop on the side oif the road in a fairly deserted area. Now, it is the centre of a big cluster of shops and restaurants. Another favorite is (153 words)

We've been blogging for a month this semester, and even students who didn't take Writing III this year will by now have understood how to blog and the basic aims and requirements of the course. Here is some very important information that may affect your success in this course. I'll be reviewing all your blogs before the class on November 7th.

1. Number of posts. As you remember the target is 7 posts a week. Allowing for 1 post in the first week, that means that you will need to have posted 1 + 7 + 7 + 7 + 7 + 7 = 36 posts. Remember that figure INCLUDES typing, book reviews, juppun ha juubun, and every other post on your blog starting in August 2007. It does not include comments.

2. Number of book reviews: at least 6. Remember that this figure is included in the figure for number of posts.

3. You need to have posted your first WAI table. Make sure that it is up-to-date before the class on November 7th.

4. Check the blog list at http://winkhome.org/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=lists:writing3b1 or http://winkhome.org/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=lists:writing3b2 ; if there's an annotation next to your name, do something about it! Email me if there's a mistake; work harder if there isn't. One thing to be careful of is blogging on only 1 day a week: I expect to see posts between classes, too!

And, if at all possible,

5. You need to have finished your first Keynote/PowerPoint presentation, and emailed it to me at my Gmail address. Remember that you can work on the computers near the Help Desk in the Computing Center. Remember also that a flash memory drive is very convenient for keeping files safe.

Let's work hard for the next couple of weeks so that we can enjoy a range of activities in the second half of the semester! Remember that a major theme of the course is fluency; we don't worry too much about grammar, but instead we spend our energy on writing often!

You can download the code for this table from the WinK Home site. Go to the WAI section. Copy the code, then paste it into a Blogger post, with HTML の編集 selected.

Months	Aug	Sept	Oct	Nov	Dec	Jan	Feb	Totals	Multiplier	Adj. Value
Book reviews
Blog posts
Words
Posts w. pics
Posts w. links

Before you save your post, please add the label WAI to it.

Kumamoto is a very nice prefecture, and Kumamoto City is a nice city, too. Kumamoto is blessed with many good bakeries. The most famous one is Merukoro, in Nishihara village in Aso. It is so famous that some people travel there at weekends from Fukuoka and other places in Kyushu to buy bread. One of their famous breads is Aso Takahara Milk Bread, because the owner is a soccer fan. Sorry, that ws a joke. Actually the bread is called Aso Kougen Milk Bread. Although that one is very famous there are several others that I much prefer. One is their rye bread, which is very chewy. Another is their cranberry bread. And yet another is their fig bread. Good bakeries in the city include Bon Gout on Joshidai-dori. (130)

Last Sunday, I went to the self-defense forces parade in Kengun, which is the biggest base in Kyushu, I hear. Lots of people lined the street called Jieitai-doori in Kengun. Many soldiers paraded by, and they brought tanks and other armored vehicles. The tanks were very big and heavy and I thought perhaps they damage the road. They also brought missile launchers of various kinds. The finale was about 20 jets flying over in formation.

After the parade everyone went into the SDF base, which was open for the day. There were lots of food stalls, and there was a concert, too. The band was very good. I talked to a soldier and he said that he had come from Fukuoka that morning and would be going back that same evening. Other soldiers had come from other places in Kyushu, he said.

I felt rather ill later that day. I was sneezing very heavily and I felt terribly tired, but the next day I was fine. A few students also told me they felt ill on Sunday. I wonder if it was fumes from the jets and tanks and other vehicles all brought together in Kumamoto.

I'll add some photos later.

On today's menu:

1. Typing (Today's topic: Kumamoto)


2. 十分は十分


3. Announcements: Mr Tomei's Computer Office Hour


4. Work on Keynote presentation

Some links:
WinK Home; LibraryThing; Class Blog Lists; WinK book guide

BubbleShare: Share photos - Share your baby pictures


Check out the full library tour.

Reading a book and writing a few paragraphs in English each week is not difficult. But if you are a slow typist, or you are not good at using computers, you may find Writing IV hard at first. If you are having problems, you should try to solve them as quickly as possible. Please consider going to Mr Tomei's computing office hour. He will:

• answer your questions


• teach you how to type faster


• explain how to find information at the WinK Home and other sites


• tell you about the English Reading Garden


• give you other tips for how to study English

Hello, and welcome to the first session of Basic English IV. Sorry that our start was delayed. This class is focused on blogging. You're expected to post an average of 5 posts a week to your blog, and a minimum of 3. These posts should always include 1 book review.
Today we'll start by making a Google account!

Food & drink are at the heart of human culture. I like eating and drinking very much. My favorite kinds of food are French and Chinese. When I cook myself, I usually cook Italian or Chinese. But of course I like British food very much, too. One of my favorites is fish & chips. Fish & chips are battered cod and fried potatoes. They are deep fried in corn oil, and served with salt and vinegar. Many British people have this for Saturday lunch. It tastes great. You can have it at Little Kitchen, near the Prefectural University of Kumamoto. (100 words)

Last Friday, I went to Makuhari in Chiba to attend a conference. The conference site was Kanda University of International Studies. I arrived in the late afternoon on Friday, registered for the conference, and attended the welcome party. The next day, I gave a presentation at the conference with Mr Beaufait (and Mr Tomei). I think it was quite successful, so I was very happy. On Sunday and Monday I attended more presentations. I flew back to Kumamoto on Monday. It was very rainy in Kumamoto when I got back. Yesterday, I was very tired but today I have recovered.

Kanda University of International Studies has a very nice campus. I was especially impressed with the self-access center. The facilities are very good and they have professional student advisers to help students make study plans and choose good materials. If you have a chance to go to Chiba, I recommend that you visit the campus.

I like food and drink very much. Eating and drinking are at the heart of human culture. I come from the UK, and I have lived in China and France and japan, so I have experienced many kinds of food. My favorites are French and Chinese cuisine. (47 words)

On today's schedule:
1. Typing
2. 十分は十分
3. Starting presentations

Important points:
1. You need to practice typing. Look at the list of topics and decide what you want to write!
2. There is no special requirement for 十分は十分. Just write about something that you did recently or that you are planning to do. By writing for exactly 10 minutes each time, you can see your progress over a semester or year.

These last few weeks I haven't had much free time, because I had 2 presentations to prepare for conferences. The first one was 3 weeks ago in Nagoya, and the next one is this coming weekend in Makuhari, in Chiba. Because I've also been preparing for the new semester, I've been working every weekend and also late most evenings. One thing I'm looking forward to is tonight's party! I'm going with my colleagues from the Division of Ecology and Environmental Resources, Faculty of Environmental & Symbiotic Sciences, at PUK. We're going to Little Kitchen, which is a small restaurant with only 3 tables, opposite the west entrance of PUK. They have many different kinds of food, and also about 15 different kinds of foreign drink.

I also watched an interesting DVD last weekend. It was called Human Trafficking. It was about a policewoman, played by Mira Sorvino, fighting a gang, led by Robert Carlyle, who kidnapped girls and sold them as slaves. Donald Sutherland was Mira Sorvino's boss. The story was very moving and the 3 leads were very good.

My name is not Yoko. But maybe she likes food and drink, too. I like food and drink. Tonight, I'm going to Little Kitchen, just opposite the west entrance to PUK (the Prefectural University of Kumamoto), with my colleagues in the Division of Ecology and Environmental Resources, Faculty of Environmental & Symbiotic Sciences. We’re going to have a range of dishes and some English beer. (65 words)

Hi! Today, we'll start in the usual way, with typing. Then we'll do some free writing on the blog, followed by commenting on as many blogs as possible. Then we'll start work on the first assignment. Finally, we'll do a juppun ha juubun post. A few things to check:

Did you write a book review? Don't forget that you need to read an easy English book and write about it on your blog each week.

From this week, you need to write 7 posts a week, including typing, juppun ha juubun, assignment-related posts, book reviews, etc.

You need to come on time each week. Your attendance/typing email (Gmail) needs to reach me by 9:25, or you will be marked late (2 lates=1 absent). After 9:45, you will be counted absent.

Here is a basic WAI.

If for any reason it's difficult for you to use Blogger, it is possible to use email to post to your blog. You just create an address as shown in the picture, then remember the address, and use it to send new posts to your blog.

N.B. The address shown is not a real one.

Remember that you need to write at least one book review each week. Book reviews count towards your 7 weekly posts.

When you write a book review, sometimes you want to copy a small part of the text. This is very interesting for readers, because they get a "taste" of the story or the style of the book.

But you need to avoid copying too much. The copied part should never be more than a half of the book review. If you do copy, you must mark the copied part clearly, like this:

Let's go see the West," said Pa. "The land is flat and the grass grows thick and high.

If you don't mark the copied part like this, it looks like you are pretending that the writing is your own. This is an ethical and legal problem. It is also very important to avoid even a single mistake.

If you have time, please read also Mr Tomei's guidelines on book reviews.

Please check out some of the example book reviews that he points to. These are good examples of reviews written without any quotes. Note that the best book reviews also have pictures and at least one link.

You can improve your blog by remembering to add the books you read to your LibraryThing collection.

Here are some examples of posts using Pin-in-the-Map:

• Rick's Diary: See where I'm from!


• Shiorin


• Safu on Kumamoto


• Stististich on Kumamoto


• Kazu on Kumamoto


• Candie on Kumamoto


• Yoshiko on Kumamoto

• Hiroko Tabata Today: slideshare is difficult...


• Aso, by Shiorin


• Yuri: Kumamoto spots


• Safu: Favorite places in Kumamoto


• Stististitch on Kumamoto

Here is an interesting post about a student's thoughts on careers:

Yuka's Wacky life..: I was down once, but not out!

If you are interested in boosting your vocabulary, please check out this post on another of my blogs.

Nobunaga Oda has a great technique for helping readers. He adds links to an English-Japanese dictionary when he uses difficult words. He learns English words by using them, then helps readers learn them by reading them and checking them in a dictionary. Here is an example.

Commenting is good, but you cannot edit your comments, and usually people forget where they commented.

Another good way to respond to another blogger's post is to use the BlogThis! bookmarklet. To get this bookmarklet, you need to go to this page, and drag the BlogThis! button to the bookmarks section near the top of your browser window.

On your computer at home, or on a school computer where you are using your own account, you only need to do this once. Unfortunately, when you log in as "student", your information is lost each time, so you need to do this every week!

So that's our weekly routine. Come to class on time, open up Firefox with 3 tabs: gmail.com, blogger.com, and winkhome.org, and also open your Typing document in Word. Then COMMAND (APPLE)-click on the BlogThis! link in my Hot Links section to find the BlogThis! bookmarklet and add it to Firefox. Then you're ready for the typing test.

If you come in giri-giri, do the typing test first, then get Firefox ready.

I'll show you how to use the BlogThis! bookmarklet in the 2nd and 3rd weeks.

I like eating and drinking! First I will talk about food. When I cook at home, I tend to make Italian, Indian, or Chinese food. Perhaps Indian is my main kind of cooking. Typically, I use about 10 or so kinds of powdered spices. First, I fry some onions on a medium flame, until they are clear. Then I add the spices and fry some more. Then I add the main ingredients, usually some meat and a few kinds of vegetables. Indian people say that frying the spices into the onions is key to a good curry, so I don’t like the Japanese style of adding “roo” to a curry after it is almost made. Next time, I’ll talk about drinks. One of my favorite kinds is beer. Another is ginger ale. (132)

I didn't have much of a holiday in the summer vacation. But I went to Nagoya for a few days to present at a conference. Here is an exciting scene from my trip!

hello

Schedule for today:

1. Typing and attendance
2. Explanation
3. Writing about the summer vacation & commenting on other blogs
4. 十分は十分

WEEKS 1, 2, 3: FOOD & DRINK
WEEKS 4, 5, 6: KUMAMOTO
WEEKS 7, 8, 9: FREE TIME
WEEKS 10, 11, 12: BOOKS & READING

Remember that you can interpret the topics as you like. You should aim to get a little faster each week, especially when the topic is the same as the week before.

We will do various things in our writing classes, and each week will be different. But the basic framework for each class will be similar.

(1) 9:10 OR 10:50 : Typing & attendance (send me a Gmail message with your typing result)

(2) EXPLANATION AND MAIN ACTIVITIES

(3) 10:10 OR 11:50 : 十分は十分

(4) SAVE FILES, ASK FINAL QUESTIONS, SHUTDOWN. Bye!

Remember that you need to come on time, in order to start up your computer, launch Word, and take the typing test. Delays with the typing test mean less time for the main activities in the class, and that will mean more homework!

Remember that the target for typing this semester is 150 words in 5 minutes. Think about what to write before the class!

If you come early, you can draft a post on some other topic. But make sure that you have Word ready for the typing test!

Last semester, we did some essays. This semester will be the same, but not all of them are real essays. Some of them will be cooperative, i.e. you will do them with your friends. Some will be multimedia assignments. However, let us continue to use the label "essay" or "essays".

You should start the first assignment in the first class, if you have time, and finish it by Tuesday, October 9th. This first assignment is to make a presentation based on your Kumamoto essay from the first semester!

Hello, everyone, and welcome to Writing IV. I hope you had a nice summer holiday, and thank you for answering the poll questions. (Please take a look at Mr Beaufait's post.) I hope those of you who went abroad had an enjoyable time and benefited from your stay.

Writing IV is similar to Writing III, in these ways:

1. The course is based on blogging.
2. You need to read an easy English book and write a book review on your blog each week.
3. You should continue to use the 読書記録手帳 to record all your reading.

There are also a few differences:

1. You need to write 7 posts a week, at least 90 during the semester! This includes all posts, such as the general posts you write on your interests when you have time, book reviews, assignments, typing posts, and 十分は十分.
2. The typing speed requirement is 150 words in 5 minutes, (using the 5-minute timer). These typing posts count towards the total in (1) above.
3. We will do a regular 十分は十分 post, using the 10-minute timer. There are no requirements for length, and you can write about anything you like, but you do need to stick carefully to the 10-minute time limit. The posts will not be assessed for length or content; instead they are a way for you to see your progress in writing over the semester. Remember that these posts count towards the total in (1) above.

To get information on your blog and who's reading it, you can use StatCounter!

Hey everyone,

I've added some polls to my sidebar. Please answer the questions! (This is for Mr Tomei's, Mr Beaufait's, and Mr Lavin's classes.)

And please feel free to add some comments about the course to this post, too. Thank you!

SIDEBAR

1. Archives: Yes
2. Links: Yes
3. Links (Kumamoto): Yes
   
4. Links (Friends' blogs): Yes
   
5. Links (other): Yes
6. Feed: Yes
7. LibraryThing: Yes
   

1. Attendance email
2. Free posting and commenting
3. WEI
4. Questionnaires
   

SIDEBAR

LABELS: Yes
ARCHIVES: Yes
LINKS (friends' blogs): Yes
LINKS (Kumamoto): Yes
LINKS (other): Yes
LIBRARYTHING: Yes
FEED: Yes

Clock: Yes
Audio: Yes

SIDEBAR

Labels: YES
Friends' blogs: YES
Kumamoto links: YES
Other links: YES
LibraryThing: YES
Feed: YES

Clock: YES
Audio: YES
Photoshow: YES

There are many universities in Kumamoto. The biggest ones are Sojo University, Kumamoto Gakuen University, and Kumamoto University. Kumamoto Gakuen University has about 7000 students, and Kumamoto University has even more.
Most of the universities are in a fairly central location. KGU is near the Prefectural Theatre, and Kumamoto University is across the river from there. From there it is a short trip to Kyushu Tokai University. (67 words)

1. Typing
2. WEI
3. OPML
   
4. About the exam
   1. Paper mini-WEI
   2. WEI on blog
   3. Short piece of writing

The test is a test of your work through the semester, your preparation, and your speed at using the Blogger software, more than a pure writing test.

If you have time, please try this punctuation quiz.

NUMBER OF POSTS
April: 6
May: 22
June: 17
July: 7
August:

NUMBER OF WORDS: 5176
April: 566
May: 2421
June: 1538
July: 651
August:

TYPES OF POST
Books: 14
Links:
Photos: 31
Vocabulary:

WEEKLY POSTS

1. APRIL 1: 2
2. APRIL 2: 0
3. APRIL 3: 2
4. MAY 1: 5
5. MAY 2: 7
6. MAY 3: 3
7. MAY 4: 7
8. MAY 5: 0
9. JUNE 1: 6
10. JUNE 2: 5
11. JUNE 3: 3
12. JUNE 4: 3
13. JULY 1: 6
14. 
    

The end of the semester is approaching. As you are preparing, keep these targets in mind:

1. at least 42 posts
2. a sidebar, with LibraryThing, Labels, Archives, and Links
3. some links and some photos in your posts (remember to add labels "links" and "photos")

The final test will be on August 3rd. In the test you will need to create a WEI post. I will show you how to do this next week, but linking is the basic skill, so you should practice doing this before next week's class.

2007 is more than half over. What movies have you seen this year, and what ones do you think were good? I enjoyed several movies this year, but perhaps my favorite one was Marie Antoinette. You can see my movie posts collected here.

I also enjoyed Spiderman 3. But that movie starred Kirsten Dunst, just like Marie Antoinette, so I'd better not mention it.

Chuntaro is worried about the test. In the test, you will write a WEI post. I will show you how to do it next week. An important skill is linking, which we are learning this week.

The other day, my family took me to BaskinRobbins Ice Cream on East Bypass. It was a little late but it was to celebrate Father's Day. Pekyo likes Cookies & Cream, but I tried Lemon Cranberry Cheesecake. It was delicious!

1. Typing Practice (University)
2. Add labels to posts
3. Make sure you have at least 60 posts including 12 book reviews
4. Look through your old posts looking for simple grammatical problems
   

TYPING
Highest score: 99 words
See my typing posts.

COMMENTS: 5

POSTS WITH LINKS: 24
POSTS WITH PHOTOS, etc.: 30

REFLECTIONS

My best essay: Kumamoto
My best book review:
My best post (excluding the above):

POSTS
Total: 44

Monthly Totals
April: 6
May: 22
June: 16

WORDS
Total: 4630

Monthly Totals
April: 566
May: 2419
June: 1645

ESSAYS

Number of completed essays: 2

1. Kumamoto
2. University

BOOK REVIEWS

Number of book reviews:
See all book reviews.

I LIKE UNIVERSITIES. (3 words)

There are many universities in Kumamoto. The ones I know well are KGU, PUK, and KU. They mean Kumamoto Gakuen University, Prefectural University of Kumamoto, and Kumamoto University. (28)

1. Write a book review
2. Write a list of words from your translation homeworks, or from a book you have read recently.
3. Visit an interesting site and write a few sentences about the site.
4. Write about a TV programme you watched recently.
5. Write about what you did at the weekend or what you plan next weekend or in the vacation.
6. Write in Japanese about one of your classes (remember you need at least 3 posts in English as well). Give advice to next year's first-year students.
   

I like PUK and KGU! (5 words)

Today's typing test: University
Next week's typing test: University

Post target before next week's class: 55

Last week, I made a mistake looking at the calendar and gave you an incorrect target number of posts. Sorry! But hopefully, you will now have a little "yoyuu". That's good because I want you to have lots of time to improve your typing.

The target is 100 words in 5 minutes. This gives you enough speed to enjoy blogging. If possible, I would like everyone to reach this target. For those who cannot reach this target, I'm giving you a new minimum target of 75 words. It is not possible to pass the course without reaching this target. Without reaching 85 words, it will not be possible to get a higher grade. Remember that next semester you will be expected to type at a rate of 100 words, so it is best to reach this target as soon as possible.

Important points for the weekly typing test:

1. Remember the topic and prepare for it. If you don't prepare, the typing test becomes a combined composition/typing test. If you prepare you can just concentrate on typing.
2. Get to class on time, start up the computer, log in, start up Word, and type the title. Then start typing as soon as the timer starts.
   

I like the Harry Potter books. Today, I reserved a copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows at Amazon Japan.

Let's do lots of reading-related activities today.

First, please visit Penguin Dossiers, click on Archive at the top of the page, and look through the list of articles. When you find an interesting one, click on Read Dossier.

When reading the dossier, click on the words in blue to see definitions. If necessary, go to rikai.com to help you with other words. When you have finished reading, write a blog post summarizing the article.

When you have finished summarizing the article, do other reading-related activities freely. Some choices:

1. Write a book review on your blog.
2. Write a blog post listing some of the vocabulary you have learned from reading recently.
3. Work on your LibraryThing collection. Make sure that you are a member of the WinK People group. Remember you can search for books or add from other people's collections.
   
4. Browse the WinK book site. Remember that the first semester is coming to an end. Make sure that you have read a variety of books by the end of the semester and that you are able to read longer books easily (for example Oxford Bookworms Level 1; Cambridge English Readers Level 1).
   

I like Kumamoto Castle very much. It’s exciting and beautiful. It was built several centuries ago. I don’t often go inside the castle because you have to pay to enter. I usually go to Ni no Maru park. I went there with my family on Sunday, and we played volleyball and Frisbee. It was very hot, and we were very tired when we got back. Kumamoto Castle looks great seen from the city centre. When friends visit me in Kumamoto, I always try to take them to Kumamoto Castle. I recommend that you go there if you haven’t already. (99 words)

I like Kumamoto Castle. (4 words)

Today's schedule:

1. Typing: A Sightseeing Spot I Recommend
   
2. Attendance email: In the body of your message your name/number is enough!
3. Announcements
4. Mini-lecture: 5-paragraph essays
5. Free time: Starting to write your essay & Working with librarything.com

If you are not yet a member of the WinK people group in LibraryThing, look for a message in the top left of your collection.

Next week's typing: University

Remember that by next week's class you should have 55 posts on your blog, including 10 book reviews and 1 essay (about Kumamoto). You can finish essay 2 (University) next week.

Try V-Flash at lexxica. (Don't forget to register.) This will tell you your vocabulary size. Then move to V-Flash to learn some words. It's best to use V-Flash regularly; it will remember the words that you know and don't know for you.

Please report your score on your blog!

Please also do a science vocabulary post and a science translation post, as you did before.

Free time? Work on your LibraryThing collection. If you click edit on a book without a cover, you may be able to find a cover.

Here are a couple of interesting lists I found on Amazon Japan today:

1. 英語・英会話 ３年プラン
2. 安かったら買いたい英語の本
   

I like many movies, and don’t really have a favorite one. Two movies that I have watched many times are Midnight Run and Donnie Brasco. The movie that I want to write about today is Man on Fire. This movie stars Denzel Washington, who is well-known for Training Day, Philadelphia, and many other movies. (54 words)

One of my favorite movies is an action comedy called Midnight Run. It stars Robert De Niro and Charles Grodin. Probably everyone knows Robert De Niro. Charles Grodin is less well-known but he was in the Beethoven movies. One wouldn’t think that Robert De Niro and Charles Grodin would make a good team, but they are excellent together. Robert De Niro is a bounty hunter, and Charles Grodin is a criminal. However, Charles Grodin had a good motivations for his crime. The movie is funny, exciting, but also very moving. I recommend that you watch it if you get a chance. The Japanese title is the same as the English one.

1. Typing practice: A Movie I Like (9:05~9:10)
2. Attendance email
3. LibraryThing demonstration
4. LibraryThing practical & individual writing tuition.

Typing practice is a little later than usual, because I want to talk for a short time about the importance of typing, and of following the class schedule.

If you come early, write a short post on your blog before the typing session. Remember that you don't have to finish it. Be ready for the typing practice.

For (4), please have your essay displayed on your screen.

Next week's typing: A Sightseeing Spot I Recommend

LibraryThing provides an easy way to keep track of your books. You can see my collection here. It is very easy to join. Just enter a username and password, and then start using it. Use the same username as you use for Gmail and Blogger, so that you don't forget it.

LibraryThing gives you a graphical representation of your books. Look back through the entries in your Orange Book and start entering them. You can use an ISBN number or the title to find the book, or you can copy books from other people's collections.

After you have joined, I will send you an invitation to the WinK group. It will then be easier for you to find people who have similar books to you.

After you have entered a few books, you should make a widget to add to your blog. You can do this from the Tools section in LibraryThing. Copy the code, then go to Blogger to Add an Element in your sidebar. Choose the Javascript option.

Please check out my catalogue on LibraryThing of Usborne readers. If you are a member of LibraryThing, it's very easy for you to copy books that you have read from my catalogue to your own. Just click on the book once, then choose the "Add..." option.

If you are not yet a member of LibraryThing, I recommend that you join. It is very simple: just type a username and password into the login form, and you can start using LibraryThing immediately. If you use your Gmail/Blogger/Google username and password, it will be very easy to remember.

I am gradually adding books and their cover images to my collection but it takes time. Remember you can add a book to your own collection if you find it anywhere in LibraryThing. If you use the Add to LibraryThing bookmarklet, you can also add books directly from Amazon.

1. Typing 9:03-9:08 (10:43-10:48)
   
2. Attendance email: finish by 9:15 (10:53)
3. Continue writing 5-paragraph essay about Kumamoto.

Other Notes

By the next class (1st class in June), you should have

1. a total of at least 40 posts on your blog (including essays, book reviews, etc.).
2. at least 8 book reviews.
3. a 5-paragraph essay about Kumamoto.

Today's typing topic: A shop I like
Next time's typing topic: A movie I like

The area around the Prefectural University of Kumamoto is quite a nice one for shops and eating places. Here are a few, in order of distance from PUK.

Just across from the west gate of PUK is a small restaurant called Little Kitchen. It serves many kinds of food, though Mediterranean is perhaps the main type. It has a lunch set at 740 yen. It's a little expensive, but it includes soup, salad, a main dish, a dessert, and a drink. Drinks you can choose from include not only tea and coffee but also homemade ginger ale, which is very good. The best thing about Little Kitchen, though, is the drinks menu. It has about 20 kinds of foreign beer, including many English beers. This is very unusual in Japan.

One of my favorite coffee shops is Karan, on the opposite side of PUK from Little Kitchen. It is in Nagamine, near Hello Green and the Yamaha music shop. They sell coffee beans as well as serving coffee in the shop. I like their cappucino best.

Mos Burger is a little expensive for a meal, but I like the cafe latte, which is quite cheap. Also, Mos Burger has a nice, quiet atmosphere outside of meal times. Sometimes, I go there in the late afternoon when I'm doing research but feeling a little sleepy.

One of my favorite shops is called Premier Cru. It is in the Takuma area, a little further from PUK than the other places. Its original name was Moshi Moshi Kameya, then it became Good One. A couple of years ago, it closed for about a year, and then returned as Premier Cru. Premier Cru is famous for imported food and drink.

Mos Burger is a little expensive for a meal, but I like the cafe latte, which is quite cheap. Also, Mos Burger has a nice, quiet atmosphere outside of meal times. Sometimes, I go there in the late afternoon when I'm doing research but feeling a little sleepy.

One of my favorite coffee shops is Karan. It is in Nagamine, near Hello Green and the Yamaha music shop. They sell coffee beans as well as serving coffee in the shop. I like their cappucino best.

Just across from the west gate of PUK is a small restaurant called Little Kitchen. It serves many kinds of food, though Mediterranean is perhaps the main type. It has a lunch set at 740 yen. It's a little expensive, but it includes soup, salad, a main dish, a dessert, and a drink. Drinks you can choose from include not only tea and coffee but also homemade ginger ale, which is very good. The best thing about Little Kitchen, though, is the drinks menu. It has about 20 kinds of foreign beer, including many English beers. This is very unusual in Japan.

One of my favorite shops is called Premier Cru. It is in the Takuma area. Its original name was Moshi Moshi Kameya, then it became Good One. A couple of years ago, it closed for about a year, and then returned as Premier Cru. (44)

Remember that 10 minutes is often enough for one post. So today I'd like you to write 3 posts, finishing each one within 10 minutes:

1. Last weekend or this coming weekend or something you did this week
2. Some vocabulary from your biology or ecosystems translations
3. A difficult sentence from your biology or ecosystems translations: in Japanese and English.

When I was a child, my favorite books were the Middleearth books by JRR Tolkien. The first one I read was the Hobbit, then after that I read the Lord of the Rings. Finally I read the Silmarillion. (38 words)

TODAY'S TYPING TOPIC: My favorite book
NEXT WEEK'S TYPING TOPIC: A shop I like

Today's main activities:

1. Talking about reading
   
2. Starting Essay 1 (Kumamoto)

Look at my dog! It's an Airish terrier!

1. Today, please comment on 3-5 friends' posts in the class.
2. Most of you need to write much more. The minimum number of posts by next week's class (May 18th) is 15; and by May 25th the minimum is 22. Short posts are OK, but you must write them yourself (i.e. don't use computer translation).

Please note 3 useful grammar rules:
1. Be careful of singular nouns. Usually they need "the" or "a/an" or a similar word. So, for example, "Yesterday, I went to see movie" is incorrect.
2. There should always be ONE space (hankaku only) AFTER a period or comma (not before).
3. Don't use RETURN (kaigyou) without a reason, for example a new paragraph. A new sentence is NOT a reason for a RETURN.

Most people who visit the UK go to London, the Cotswolds, the Lake District, Edinburgh, and Loch Ness. These are all nice places, but I suspect one reason is that the first Japanese people to visit the UK and write books about it had visited only those places.

One of the areas that is often forgotten is the south-west of England. The south-western area is a peninsula, so the coast is always near. There are no big mountains but lots of small hills. There is a big national park called Dartmoor, and another called Exmoor. The best-known city is Exeter, which has a big and beautiful cathedral.

You can see the area where I live on this map.

Hey, look at my photo on Chiho's blog.

• books
• movies
• typing
• essays
• kumamoto
• uk
• photos
• other media
• Japanese music
• other
  

HOMEWORK:

1. Make sure your total number of posts is up to at least 25 by next week's class.
2. Make sure that 5 of those are book reviews.
3. Practice adding photos and labels and other basic skills.
4. Remember to come on time for next week's typing practice. The topic will be My favorite book.
   

Today's program (short version):

1. Typing (today's topic: My favorite place; next week's topic: My favorite book)
   
2. Attendance email (as quickly as possible)
3. Introducing labels
4. Class bloglist
5. Revision, Comments, Orange books, Free writing, etc.

NOTE: It is important that you don't just wait when I am helping individual students. Start a new post, or edit an old one. Remember that you can "Save as draft" at any time if you need to stop writing.

Today's program (longer version):

1. Typing. Just as last week, you have 5 minutes to type as much as possible on the prescribed topic. Type in Microsoft Word, and use the word count tool. Type the number of words in ( ) at the end.
   
2. After typing, send me your attendance email in the usual way. Remember that the purposes of this email are to take attendance and to give you regular practice logging in and sending email through Gmail. Please send it as quickly as possible.
3. Labels: Labels are used in Blogger to group together similar posts. Some examples would be "book reviews", "essays", "typing", "movies", etc. After hearing my explanation, please make a new "Labels" post. Then make a Labels section in your sidebar. ( I will show you how to do this.) Then edit your old posts to include labels.
4. Bloglist: Please take a look at the class bloglist. Check that your name is on the list. Click on the link and make sure that it goes to your blog. If your name is not there, or if the link is not correct, you need to email me immediately with your name and the correct blog address (copy and paste it).
5. Revision, comments, free writing, orange books, etc: this is the best time to ask me for help. Please don't waste time!