Get your elbows off the dinner table! Please.

Hello everybody,

On pages 30 and 31 of Headway 3, we looked at good manners, and bad manners, at the dinner table.

In England:

It is good manners to ask people to pass you things. e.g. "Please pass me the salt".

You shouldn't reach for things.

Also, it is bad manners to put elbows on the dinner table, or pick up your knife and fork, before the food arrives.

How about in Japan? Please give me some advice, because people in restaurants keep looking at me, in a surprised way!

Thankyou, and best wishes,

Johnny

You should/You must....

Hi everyone,

On page 28 and 29 of Headway 3, we looked at things we "should", and "must" do.

Imagine I am going backpacking, for a month, around Japan.

What should I do, or not do? What must I do, or not do?

E.g. "You should buy a backpack"

"You mustn't take a suitcase"

"You should go to Nara"

"You shouldn't climb a mountain alone"

Do you have any more advice for me?

Thanks!

Happy travels!

Johnny

You have to....

Hi everyone,

On pages 26 and 27 of Headway 3, We practiced the following language:

"You have to/You've got to..."

"You don't have to/You haven't got to..."

Can you remember which one is formal, and which is casual?

Also, take a look at this train map, of Yokohama:

http://www.welcome.city.yokohama.jp/eng/tourism/walking/1090_1.html

What do I have to do, to:

a) get from Kannai to Tsurugamine?

Answer: You have to take a JR train, or Subway, to Yokohama. Then you have to change to the Sotetsu line, and go eight stations, to Tsurugamine.

b) get from Kannai to Kanazawa Hakkei?

c) get from Kannai to Kikuna?

d) get from Kannai to Aobadai?

e) get from Kannai to Tsurumi Ono?

Good luck! And best wishes,

Johnny

Favorite Books and Movies

Hi everyone,

on pages 24 and 25 of Headway book 3, we looked at some of the best movies, and best books.

Here is the list of the ten best movies ever, from:

http://www.imdb.com/chart/top

Now, what Genre is each movie? Western? Historical? Comedy? Gangster? Romance? Musical? Science Fiction? Suspense? Horror?

I will start by helping you. Can you finish the list?

1) The Godfather. GANGSTER MOVIE

2) The Shawshank Redemption. PRISON DRAMA

3) The Godfather, Part II. ?

4) The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. ?

5) Pulp Fiction. ?

6) Schindler's List. ?

7) One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest. ?

8) Star Wars 5 - The Empire Strikes Back. ?

9) Casablanca. ?

10) Shichinin No Samurai. ?

Good Luck! Talk to you soon.

Johnny

Hemingway and Picasso

Hi, everybody,

On pages 22-23 of Headway 3, we looked at biographies of Ernest Hemingway (the American writer), and Pablo Picasso (the Spanish painter).

The biographies were quite long - so it might be a good idea just to choose four or five main points.

Here are five main points about Hemingway's life:

i) He was born in 1899, in Illinois, USA.

ii) He was injured, in Italy, during the First World War.

iii) After moving to Paris, he started to write novels.

iv) He won the Nobel literature prize.

v) In poor health, he killed himself in 1961.

How sad...

Can you write four or five points about Picasso?

Good luck. Enjoy Golden Week.

Johnny

Wednesday April 2, 2008

Hi everybody,

On page 20-21 of Headway 3, we look at things people do, every day.

What do you do, every day? What time do you get up?

Make a list, of about 8 or 10 things, you do, each day, and say if you enjoy doing them.

The picture above is Reginald Perrin, a British TV character. What do you think his job is? Do you think he enjoys it?

Enjoy your week.

Johnny

Unit 3 - Folk tales

Hi everybody,

This week, we have begun Unit 3, and have looked at the Tale of Gluskap, and the Baby. It is a North American Native story.

I asked you to write a Japanese story at home. Maybe Kaguya Hime,, or Momotaro, or another story, but in no more than ten sentences. Could you do it?

The picture above is from a famous story from England. Do you know the name of this story, and do you know how the story ends?

Let me know, if you do.

Best wishes,

Johnny

Unusual jobs

Hello,

On page 14-55, of Headway 3, we looked at the story of someone who is a "Clown Doctor". Do you remember what this actually means? What does a clown doctor do, and why is their job important?

Can you think of any other unusual jobs? Here are some, that I got from the internet, for example from:

http://www.careerbuilder.ca/CA/JobSeeker/CareerAdvice/ViewArticle.aspx?articleid=137&cbRecursionCnt=1&cbsid=33b8dbe4531348c596c15ed763f50286-259899915-JT-5&ns_siteid=ns_us_g_unusual_jobs

Here are examples of unusual jobs:

Bingo announcer

Clown for rodeos

Fingerprint analyzer

Do you know any really unusual jobs? Ainu language teacher? Insect doctor?

Let me know!

Johnny

PS In the picture, you can see FRED the RED. A very unusual job.... does anyone know who he is?

What about you?

Hiya,

Last week we looked at happiness. We compared the lives of Sidney, who is a lawyer, with Jeff, who delivers newspapers (Headway 3, pages 11-12).

We asked questions, comparing their lives, to see who was the happiest. Who do you think has the happier life?

Also, students asked each other about their jobs, what they do in their jobs, and if they are happy.

If you would like to to some extra work, at home, please write a conversation, between the sailor, and the bartender, in the picture.

E.G.

Sailor: What do you do?

Bartender: I mix drinks all day, and take cash from the customers. Also, if anyone is drunk, and noisy, I throw them out of the bar. How about you? What do you do?

Sailor: Well, I get to wear a nice uniform, so I cam impress girls! It's great!

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Have a good week, talk to you soon.

Johnny

Happiness

Hi,

In Unit 2, of Headway 3, the subject is happiness. We look at which time of life we are happiest. Are we happiest when we are young, middle aged, or older?

Personally, I think the happiest time is lunch time!

We are going to compare two people's lives, to see who is the happiest. On page 11, of Headway 3, we look at the life of Sidney, a lawyer, from Texas. And on page 12, we read about Jeff, from Iowa, who delivers newspapers.

Who do you think is the happiest, and why?

Also, what makes YOU happy? If you know the answers to these questions, please let me know.

Have a HAPPY day.

Best wishes,

Johnny

Listening to the wonders of the world

Hello everybody,

Pages 8-9 of Headway 3 contain alot of activities for listening. These listening activities follow on from the grammar on pages 2-6 (using do/be/have verbs).

Using your CD you can continue listening practice at home. If you challenge yourself, you can check your listening accuracy, at the back of the book (pages 122-3), where the transcripts are printed.

If you feel like a listening challenge, can you answer these three questions, from T19 (page 8):

1) what is the girl's favorite modern wonder?

2) What are its good points?

3) What are its bad points?

You can check your answers on page 122.

Have a WONDERful day!

Best wishes,

Johnny

Seven wonders of the world

Hello,

In class today, we first looked at seven wonders of the ancient world:

http://www.crystalinks.com/sevenwonders.html

They are:

The Pyramids, in Egypt
http://www.crystalinks.com/giza.html

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, in Iraq
http://www.crystalinks.com/hangingardensbabylon.html

The Temple of Artemis, in Turkey
http://www.crystalinks.com/templeofartemis.html

The statue of Zeus, at Olympia, in Greece
http://www.crystalinks.com/statuezeusolympia.html

Halicarnassus, in Turkey
www.crystalinks.com/mausoleumhal.html

The Colossus of Rhodes, in Greece
http://www.crystalinks.com/colossusrhodes.html

The Lighthouse of Alexandria, in Egypt
http://www.crystalinks.com/lighthousealexandria.html

Of course, the ancient Greeks didn't know about the Great Wall of China, or Stonehenge, or Kiyomizu Dera, so they have created a new list of Seven Wonders:

http://www.new7wonders.com/classic/en/n7w/results/

In class, the students made their own lists of seven wonders, which included Cheju Island, in Korea, Kyoto City, The Eiffel Tower, and Saint Mark's Cathedral, in Venice. What DO YOU think are the wonders of the world?

Let me know.

Enjoy the weather!

Johnny

Modern Wonders of the World

Hello everyone.

I was just reading this website:

htp://www.stippy.com/japan-news-and-media/is-time-doing-another-newsweek/

It said that in 2000, Japanese people voted that chicken ramen was the best modern invention.

Personally, I don't think so. I like Gohan Desu Yo.

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In class today, on pages 6-7 of Headway 3, we looked at other great modern wonders, like the internet, space travel, medicine, air travel, sport, farming ang the survival of the human race.

Which do you think is the biggest wonder? I think I'd choose air travel......

and Sky TV - I can watch Manchester United soccer games, right here, in Yokohama.

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By the way, if you want to study at home, write a few sentences, and say which modern wonder you think is the best.

Talk to you soon,

Johnny

More Practice with Do/Be/Have questions

Hello,

I can't believe it - it's snowing! I thought I was supposed to be in Yokohama, not SAPPORO!

It's frrreeeezzinng!!!

Did you all see the snow?

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In this week's level three lessons, we have been looking at pages 4-5, of Headway 3, and practicing Do/Be/Have questions. For example:

"Did you have breakfast?"

"Are you taking a vacation this year?"

"Have you had a cold, recently?"

We also practiced emotions, e,g. happy, unhappy, angry, embarrassed. We did questions and answers, acting with these emotions, and the other students tried to guess which emotions we were displaying. It was really funny.

If you want to do HOMEWORK, you can do the CLASS SURVEY, on page 5 of Headway3.

OR you can ask me five questions, using do/be/have.

You can bring homework with you, to the school, OR you can email it, to me, at jbucklejp@yahoo.com. I will then check it for you.

Best wishes, and KEEP WARM!

Johnny

Unit 1, January/February 2008

Hello everybody.

In our first unit, we are practicing questions and answers, with 'auxiliary' verbs (do/be/have).

Here are some examples:

Do you like natto?

No I don't. It's smells too strong.

Are you Japanese?

Actually, no I'm not. My father is Japanese, but I was born in Canada.

What did you have for breakfast?

Nothing. I'm on a diet.

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For the first homework, we did 'general knowledge questions and answers, from pages 2-3, of the 'Headway' 3 Text book. Some of the questions are quite difficult, so one student did research on the internet, for example, to find information about Nelson Mandela, of South Africa. I thought this was a very good idea.

http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/ネルソン・マンデラ

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelson_Mandela

The second homework was from page 5 of Headway 3. Please answer the 6 questions, in the class survey, and then make two more questions.

Good luck with your studies, and see you soon.

Best wishes,

Johnny

Welcome to Yokohama Best Student3

Hello, this blog is for my level three students - every week you can check which classroom activities we have done, and look at examples of the language and grammar. You can also find extra activities and homework, Good luck with your studies!

Best wishes,

Johnny