英語表現演習4 (土): Ainu greetings・アイヌ語の挨拶

Hello!

How are you? Here is a post about Ainu greetings (アイヌ語挨拶).  

Activity
Let's look at these greetings! What do you think they mean? 

Iramkarapte. (イランカラプテ)     He. (ヘー)

E-iwanke ya? (エイワンケ  ヤ？)

Ku-iwanke wa. (クイワンケ  ワ)

E-re hemanta ya? (エレ  ヘマンタ  ヤ？)

K-ani anakne ____ ku-ne. (カニ アナㇰネ ____ クネ)

Check your guesses - were any of them correct, or close? 

Video 
Now here is a short animated video about the Ainu language. It's a chant that in a way tells the story of the Ainu. Here is only one question about it:

How similar do you think the Ainu language is to Japanese, or other Asian languages you know or have heard? What's your feeling about it? (If you watch and listen to this video directly on YouTube, you can turn on Japanese subtitles (字幕). Try it!) 

Write down what you think. Bring it to class next week!

I hope you find this video interesting.

See you next time!

(Answers to Ainu greetings at top of post)

Image: Top - by Unknown - Japanese book "Series of Japanese geography and folk culture: Vol.14" published by Shinkosha, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7622792/courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Content: Ainu greetings courtesy of Wikitravel.
Video upload from YouTube. I do not own the rights to the content or animation. All rights reserved to the copyright holder(s). Uploaded for classroom use only. 

英語表現演習2 (金): More on greenbelts・グリーンベルトのこと続いて

Hello!

How are you? Today let's look more at greenbelts. 

Look at the picture above. It shows the greenbelt system of Ottawa, which is the capital (首都) of Canada. Here's a map of where Ottawa is in Canada: 

These questions go with our discussion circle about the CD listening on casting doubt. Are you ready?

Leader questions

For the summarizer:

Are you ready to summarize the reading/CD talk? (Can you give us your summary of the reading/CD talk?)

For the detail master:

1. What is the purpose of greenbelts?

2. Where are they set up?

3. What impact on the air does the reading say they have?

    * How about what the lecturer on the CD said?

4. What impact on growth does it say they have?

    * How about what the lecturer on the CD said?
(Leaders: Think of 1-2 more questions of your own to ask the details master!)

For the vocabulary master:   

       What does grassy mean?

       What does provide mean?

       What is a state government?

       What is a suburb?

       (Leaders: Think of 1-2 more words of your own to ask the vocabulary master!)

Work together on this. Have fun!

Images: Top - by Earl Andrew - Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons., Public Domain, 

https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1449071/Map of Canada - By Nzeemin - ETOPO1 for relief and bathymetryGSHHS 
dataset for coastline and riversFile:Canada location map.svg for borders; by Yug and STyxOwn workThis map was created with GMT.
This PNG graphic was created with Inkscape., CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21720783

英語表現演習4 (金): About outlining・あらすじについて

Hello!

How are you? Here are some special notes for all of you about writing outlines. 

About outlines
First, what is an outline? An outline is like a guide or set of steps to what will be in your written composition (作文). 

Because of this, the language in an outline should be cut down to the minimum - no complete sentences and only keywords and key phrases. It should be as concise (簡明) as possible.

Outlines are divided into an introduction, with main ideas, supporting points, and details. 

Let's look at an example of an outline for a paper comparing Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla and their research with electricity. 

Parts to an outline
Introduction
The introduction shows the key to what the paper is about. It has a Roman numeral (ローマ数字) - always, Roman numeral I. 

例えば：
I. The research of Edison and Tesla with electricity

Note: Write this in regular type - do not put in italics or in bold. Also, do not put a period (.) after - this is a guide point, not a full sentence. 

Main ideas - first main idea
The first main idea should show the first thing you will treat in your topic. It will have a Roman numeral II.

例えば：
II. Edison 

Note: It should be as short as possible - even a key word. Do not put in italics or in bold. Also here, do not put a period (.) after. 

Main ideas - second main idea
The second main idea should show the next thing you will treat in your topic. It will have a Roman numeral III.

例えば：
III. Tesla 

Note: It should be as short as possible - even a key word. Do not put in italics or in bold. Also here, do not put a period (.) after. 

Supporting points
Your supporting points go with the main ideas, and they break down the main points. They will have capital letters with periods after (A., B., C., etc), and be indented around five (5) spaces. 

Let's look at an example of subheadings with the first main point about Edison:

例えば：
II. Edison
     A. Experiments with electricity
     B. Direct current (DC) research

Note: The supporting points should also be as short as possible - even key words are okay. Do not put in italics or in bold. Also here, do not put a period (.) after. 

Details
Details show, in a short way, some important pieces of information about the main points. 

They have Arabic numerals (算用数字、アラビア数字), and are also indented five (5) spaces from the supporting points.

例えば：
II. Edison
     A. Experiments with electricity
     B. Direct current (DC) research
          1. Carbon filament
          2. Electric lamp

Note: The details should also be as short as possible - key words are okay. Do not put in italics or in bold. Also here, do not put a period (.) after. 

Not every supporting point needs to have details, but if they are important enough to be further broken down, then you should put in some details.  

Conclusion
The conclusion is a summarized sentence, or even phrase, that shows the final point of your topic. It will have whatever the last Roman numeral is in your outline. 

In the example of the Edison and Tesla paper topic, this one has the Roman numeral V. 

例えば：
V. Overall impact of Edison over Tesla

Note: Like the introduction, main ideas, supporting points and details, the conclusion should also be as short as possible. Also - do not put in italics or in bold, do not put a period (.) after. 

Completed outline
Look at this example of a completed outline, with a title, labeled to show you what each part of the outline means. This is to show you what you should try for in your outline writing. 

While this example is a little small, you can expand it on your screen. Because this is a screenshot, you can also print this out:

Now here is the same outline, without the labels. This is how it should look when you turn it in. As this also is a screenshot, you can also print it out:

So this is what the final versions of your outlines should look like - keywords and key phrases only! 

I hope these notes can help you with your summary and outline writing. Good luck!

Image: Copyright-free photograph from Apple Photo Gallery. 

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

Hello!

How are you? Here is our mid-term writing assignment – writing about a particular material, and devices or inventions that are made from the material.

Look at the picture above. It is of a carbon filament, over a piece of human hair. As you can see it is very thin, but strong and useful. This has become one of the most useful materials of our time, used in so many things from carpets to aircraft. 

Guidelines

You can choose any material, and any innovative or useful device or invention from the present or the past made from that material. It can involve inventions, devices, or technological innovations developed in Japan, or other countries, or invented or developed elsewhere and brought here.

For the part of your writing on inventions, devices, or other technological points, you can write about things that have a mix of different materials – but with things where the material you focus on is the most distinguishing feature, or perhaps was what made the invention or device unique or most useful.

When you write, you can think of these points:

• What the material is
• Very important - what chemical properties (such as types of metals) it is made of
• The characteristics (材質) of the material
• When it was first developed
• What immediate applications (使用) for things the material has
• What other things it may have
• Very important - what you believe to be the most innovative or useful invention or technological innovation made from it
• What impact you believe the material has had in Japan or worldwide (optional point - including what personal impact it has had on you)

Special note: If the material is no longer used  – what impact did it have in its time? Was it replaced by improved material? What made it go out of use (for example, was it made outdated by innovations in material technology)?

How much to write

I would like you to write a composition as long as you can, perhaps about 3-4 paragraphs' worth of writing, and more if possible, with an outline.

If you believe you can write more than that, go for it! I will recognize and reward writing that you put effort into for length.

Your final draft has to be typed up, but your first draft (下書き) can be written by hand. I will show you a format in class next week (10/19) about how to write your name, class, assignment, date, plus title.

Deadline (締め切り)

November 9th (11/9), so you have almost three (3) weeks to do this.

I want you to bring in an outline next week (10/19) in your notebooks in pencil. I will give some more details, and where I can, review your ideas. Then you can write a first draft (下書き), changing things about your ideas as you need to, then write to the finish and turn in your work on 11/9.

Good luck with this! I will post more on this assignment with support about outlining and writing. I look forward to reading your great writing on this topic!

Image: By No machine-readable author provided. Saperaud~commonswiki assumed (based on copyright claims). - No machine-readable source provided. Own work assumed (based on copyright claims)., CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=350295

英語表現演習4 (土): Japan's indigenous people - the Ainu・日本の先住民族「アイヌ」

Hello!

How are you? Today let's look at Japan's own indigenous people (先住民族) - the Ainu.

Let's look at the picture above. It's a group of Ainu, taken in 1904. Do you know who the Ainu are? They are a group of Japan's indigenous people. 

Here's a map of Japan showing the original area, plus the widest locations, of Ainu populations: 

As you can see, at one time they lived from the northeastern part of the Tohoku, all of Hokkaido, and the way up through Sakhalin Island (what many older Japanese call Karafuto「樺太」) and even up through the Kuril Islands (千島列島). 

But now they only live in Hokkaido. Their numbers are small, and they have married regular Japanese people enough so that they do not look so different. But they are proud of their culture and traditions.

Genetic testing shows that most Ainu belong to Y-haplogroup D-M55 (ハプログループD1b 「Y染色体」) , and have a higher frequency of Y-DNA haplogroup D1b than most Japanese. 

Homework

Since genetic testing shows that the Ainu have some characteristics that make them at least somewhat different from most Japanese, here's some small research: 

What do you think are the origins of the Ainu? Are they a completely indigenous (先住民) people, or did they come from somewhere else? If so, where did they come from, and how did they get to Japan? 

Here are two maps showing two ideas about where the Ainu might genetically come from: 

Write out some notes about your ideas - most importantly, give some reasons why you think so in your notes. If you believe they came from elsewhere, draw a rough map - or find another map on the internet - of where you believe they came from. 

Next week, we'll come in and present our ideas to each other with our notes, and any extra maps you might have found.

Take care! See you next time!

Images: Top - by Official Photographic Company - Missouri History MuseumURL: http://images.mohistory.org/image/EC2888F4-26C5-258A-DF5F-9E6EBE7F704E/original.jpg Gallery: http://collections.mohistory.org/resource/143534, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=61717410/Map - by Arnold Platon - This vector image includes elements that have been taken or adapted from this:  Japan on the globe (claimed) (Japan centered).svg (by TUBS). - Own work (Vectorization), based on this map, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=25364093/Upper genetic map - by ABCEditer - Own work by reference to 崎谷満（2009）『DNA・考古・言語の学際研究が示す新・日本列島史 日本人集団・日本語の成立史』勉誠出版, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=62921263/Lower genetic map - by Y-dna data file - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=63590897