英語表現演習2・4・e (金1・2・3・5・土 2限): 10/25 & 26 board notes (all classes)・10月25・26日のボードノート (全従業)

Hello! 

How are you? This is a post for all my students on Friday and Saturday - the board notes for the week's classes on both Friday and Saturday. 

The post at the top is for my Friday 1st period EE4 class.  

Now here are the other board notes for my other classes.

English Expression 2 (Friday 2nd & 3rd periods) and e-class (Friday 5th period)
Special note: Because the EE2 and e-classes are doing similar things with mid-term presentations, I decided to make one set of notes for all three classes - the Friday 2nd and 3rd period EE2 and the Friday 5th period e-class.

English Expression 4 (Saturday 2nd period) 

So have a great time at the festival and see you in two weeks!

Images: Personal photographs. All rights reserved.

英語表現演習4 (土 2限): Mid-term writing assignment・中間作文

Hello!

How are you? I hope you all got through the typhoon of last week with no problems!

In this post are the themes & topics, deadline, & guidelines for our mid-term writing assignment (中間作文). 

Before we start, here are the board notes for our class on 10/19: 

Special note: 
If you need some review or help about writing for this assignment, here are some links for all of you: 

For some basics on writing sentences, paragraphs (段落), and style rules for names  in English - go to this link
For writing about processes (手順) - go to this link. 
For writing about cause & effect (原因結果) - go to this link. 
For writing conclusions (終わり) - go to this link. 

Now let's look at the mid-term writing assignment! 

Themes & topics

Here are your choice of topics. They're based on the themes what we've done so far in class - about DNA, genetics, and language, plus one we have not yet done but you can do on your own if it is more interesting for you - about twins (双子).

You can choose one (1) of these topics: 

• Genetic origins of the Japanese people
• How children learn/acquire language
• Facts and/or applications about DNA
• Genetic facts and other characteristics of twins

Now - if you have a different topic not on this list above, but that you want to do, and if it is related to our textbook themes so far - go for it! Let me look at it and I can give you advice and suggestions on it.  

Guidelines

There is no set length, but I would like you to write as much as you can, perhaps around 3-4 paragraphs' worth of writing, more if possible. But if you believe you can write more than that, go for it! I will recognize and reward writing that has effort put into it for length. You may find that you will have to go longer because of your topic anyway.

Special note: Here is where the vocabulary you have seen in the textbook units becomes important and valuable for you. 

Look at the vocabulary from the textbook units we've done so far in this class, plus any other words you may have found that were not on the vocabulary notes lists in the textbook. These would be the words that you could gather up and wrote on your worksheets. 

Whichever unit has the most meaningful vocabulary for you - review that vocabulary on your worksheets and use it in your writing!

Important note: Please check this link about sentence and paragraph (段落) formatting and rules for writing names in English. It will help you with your writing!

Please type the final version of your paper up on Word. In our next class on  10/26, I will show you a format to follow about how to write your name, class, assignment, and date, plus title, on your assignment. 

Deadline (締め切り)

It will be November 9th (11/9), so you have three (3) weeks to research and write. Please hand in at the deadline, at the beginning of the class.

I want you to bring in your topic selections next week (10/26). If you can even start writing a rough draft (下書き) of your topic, that will help you greatly. I'll give everyone time in class on 10/26 to do research and work on the rough drafts of the composition (作文). I will give some more details, and where I can, review your work. 

Then you can work on the draft as you need to, then write to the finish and turn in your work on 11/9. 

Good luck! I’ll look forward to reading your great writing on these topics!

Images: Top - by Cpl. Rebecca Elmy - https://www.dvidshub.net/image/1824619, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=39349026/Board notes - personal photographs. All right reserved on personal photographs.

英語表現演習e (金 5限): Mid-term presentations & summary writing・中間発表・要約を書いて

Hello!

Here are the topics, deadline, & guidelines for our mid-term presentations, plus notes about writing summaries (要約). 

Before we start, here are the board notes for our class on 10/18: 

Now let's look at the themes and topics you can do for your presentations!
 

Themes & topics

Here are your choice of themes & topics. They're based on what we've done so far, plus one unit on what we will do, in class. You can choose one (1) of these: 

• A transportation system in a part of another country (such as the New York subway)
• A unique sport in another country 
• A natural or man-made disaster and its impact on the people or the place involved 

Deadlines (締め切り)

Your presentation day will be on November 8th (11/8), so you have three (3) weeks to prepare them. Please be ready on the day to present.

About summaries
Now let's look at summary writing. 

What is a summary? It's a short statement of purpose (SOP) about your presentation topic. 

It should begin with a short introduction showing a general background about the topic and any interesting points, issues, problems, or a situation, and what is unique or noteworthy about it. Then you should show directly what you will present about in these points, issues, problems, or situations. 

Here is an example of what a summary should look like, with the steps you should take when writing it. It's an example from a presenter who is going to speak about famous figures in science and technology - in this case, the rivalry between Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla. 

First, the presenter shows some general background to the topic: 

例えば：There have been many great partnerships, as well as rivalries, in the history of science and technology. Perhaps no rivalry was greater than that between Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla.

Next, the presenter shows a connection between the background and what he/she will present or write about:

There have been many great partnerships, as well as rivalries, in the history of science and technology. Perhaps no rivalry was greater than that between Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla. While both figures are crucial in the development of the practical application of electricity to everyday life…

Then, the presenter comes in with what he/she will directly present or write about:

There have been many great partnerships, as well as rivalries, in the history of science and technology. Perhaps no rivalry was greater than that between Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla. While both figures are crucial in the development of the practical application of electricity to everyday life, this presentation/report will show that Edison may have been the greater figure given the numerous applications of electricity he made possible through his inventions. (71 words)

This summary runs to only 71 words in total. But it shows completely the background to the topic, and the presenter's purpose with the topic.

Guidelines

1. Prepare a summary about the topic you want to present on. The summary will be due next week (来週).

2. Be ready for me to review your progress next week. I will require that you also practice your presentation in-class. You can practice with me and/or other groups of students.

3. Finalize your presentation outside of class and be ready to present on the day of your class!

Good luck with these! I’ll look forward to seeing your great presentations!

See you next time!

Images: Top - by Isiwal/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 4.0, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=70084767/Board notes - personal photograph. All rights reserved.

英語表現演習3・4 (金 1限・土 2限): Sentence & paragraph formatting & rules for names・文書、段落のフォーマット、名前のルール

Hello!

How are you? Here are some basic notes about formatting sentences and paragraphs (文書、段落をフォーマットして), plus some rules about writing names of people, places, companies and other organizations (such as universities or research institutes), books, and research articles in English.


First, for my English Expression 4 Friday 1st period students - if you need a review about the mid-term writing assignment, go to this link here. Here below are the board notes for the EE4 Friday 1st period class on 10/18: 

English Expression 4 Friday 1st period 10/18:

Special note: 
For both my Friday 1st period and English Expression 4 Saturday 2nd period students - here are some links for all of you that you can look at to help you with your writing if you need it. 

For writing about processes (手順) - go to this link. 
For writing about cause & effect (原因結果) - go to this link. 
For writing conclusions (終わり) - go to this link. 
These notes are things to do in your writing. 

1. Sentences & paragraph formatting

Remember that you are not writing disconnected sentences. You are writing paragraphs (段落). For example:

My life at university is good.

I have made many friends here. 

The classes are hard.

So far I enjoy this school. 

                                                   

Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak founded Apple Computers.

They founded it in 1976. 

Their first product was the Apple I computer. 

Please format and connect your sentences within paragraphs to make longer statements. For example: 

My life at university is good. I have made many friends here. The classes are hard. So far I enjoy this school. —> My life at university is good and I have made many friends here. The classes are hard, but so far I enjoy this school. 

Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak founded Apple Computers. They founded it in 1976. Their first product was the Apple I computer. —> Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak founded Apple Computers in 1976, and their first product was the Apple I computer. 

2. Names of people, places, companies & organizations

Names of people are written naturally, with only the first letters of their personal, and family, names in CAPITAL LETTERS. For example:

albert einstein   Albert Einstein

steve JOBS   Steve Jobs

Son masayoshi   Son Masayoshi

Names of places are not in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS, or with "quotes" around the names. For example: 

I went to "Kurihama beach" in August. 

I went to Kurihama beach in August.

The Apple headquarters are located in CUPERTINO, California.  

The Apple headquarters are located in Cupertino, California. 

Full names of companies and organizations are natural, not in CAPITAL LETTERS or in "quotes," and if there is more than one part to their names, the most important parts of the names each have capitalized first letters. 

But famous companies, organizations, and institutions can be known by their initials. For example: 

NINTENDO was originally known for making playing cards. 

Nintendo was originally known for making playing cards. 

Some people think of the "Tokyo Institute of technology" as the Massachusetts institute of Technology of Japan.  

Some think of the Tokyo Institute of Technology as the MIT of Japan.

california Institute of technology has done some important work in the field of astrophysics.  

Cal Tech has done some important work in the field of astrophysics.

3. Titles of books & articles

Titles of books are in italics, with the most important words in a multi-word title with capitalized first letters. Titles of research papers are in "quotes," but also with the most important words in a multi-word title with capitalized first letters. For example: 

Thomas Kuhn's "The Structure of scientific revolutions" was influential in thinking differently about scientific progress in many countries.   

Thomas Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions was influential in thinking differently about scientific progress in many countries.  

Einstein's paper The field equations of Gravitation was one of the works that led to his general theory of relativity.

Einstein's paper "The Field Equations of Gravitation" was one of the works that led to his general theory of relativity.

4. Dates

Finally, put capital letters for days of the week and months, with a comma (,) between a date and year. For example:

wednesday Wednesday      

october 10th   October 10th 

September 15 1967  September 15, 1967   

I hope these notes can help you with your writing. See you next week!

Image: Top - "Hand Holding Pen (courtesy of iprostocks)/FreeDigitalPhotos.net/Board notes - personal photographs. All rights reserved.