2008年1月23日水曜日

Education

Please read the opinion in the December 6th International Herald Tribune. http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/12/06/opinion/edkumiko.php 

Do you agree with the writer? Why? Give at least 3 examples to support your answer.


I agree with this opinion. I think that our English proficiency has no advantage over other advanced nation's English proficiency. When Japanese meet foreigners, most Japanese who studied English since they are junior high school students can't tell foreigners their thoughts in English without hindrance. There are three reasons why we can't speak English well. First, Japanese are very shy. When foreigners approach Japanese in English, Japanese will look uncomfortably down at their hands and they might be thrown into confusion. Next, Japanese are afraid of failure. For example, Japanese people has discussions and, they should say their opinion before a large audience in Japanese. But they don't have an active involvement on discussions. They can't say their opinion in Japanese and, even more cannot do in English. Lastly, Japanese are perfectionists. They don't give an inch for everything. If teacher say to introduce theirself, first of all, they writes some papers about saying. Then, they run a check on writing. After that, they rehearse a speech. I think that the Japanese government change them opinion about English education in Japan. So kids of Japan can't have communication in English for a long, long time.

2008年1月22日火曜日

Happy New Year

Do you agree or disagree with the author (who is Japanese). Please explain why in your blog.

I agree with this opinion. There are two reasons that I agree it. First, I think that men gets interested in fondness for women. For example, when I was a high school student, my friend brought a foundation in the school. One of my male classmate got interested in her foundation and, he put on foundation. He said, " Am I pretty?" Then, I can see men that wear a skirt in magazine. They says that it's always in fashion but, I think that they has a weird shape. Also, my male friend often asks me to lend me some comics for girls. So I sometimes borrows him some comics for boys but it's a story about friendship. I don't know he can understand this comic's heroine feelings about love. Next, the notion of women's equality gains ground in Japan society. I think Japanese are getting a blurry between men and women. Because, it becomes less that men gets an upper hand of women on business or daily life. So women are not the weak of society for men and men changes his way of thinking about women. For all these reasons, I think men becomes like women about thinking or feeling.

2008年1月21日月曜日

Class#10 Table Manners

Today we discussed table manners from all over the world. Please answer the following questions in your blog.

Have you ever eaten in a foreign restaurant? Where?

Yes, I have. I went to a French food restaurant.

What did you eat? Did you make any mistakes? Please explain your experience. Did you learn anything?

I went there with my family. It was set some spoons and forks on the table. I know to use their from the end in french food and I didn't make any mistakes. And, the waiter or waitress told us how to use their every putting on a dish. So we could enjoy eating and no need to worry about mistake. Also, I had a presentation about table manner in Germany last time. Table manner is rules of this etiquette that is attention for someone and the adult graces during dinner. So in my opinion, it's good to enjoy dinner, for example, chatting and laughing. But, we should conduct ourself appropriately as we are in public place.