World News B class blog(Naoko)

February 8th, 2008: Final class!

2008-02-08T13:37:00.000+09:00

What did you learn in this class this semester?

It’s been 23 years since I left my school days. In fact, I dropped out my colleges in the middle. And I really regret the fact. So coming to school three times a week let me retrieve my school days in some ways. As for particularly this class, I really enjoyed reading other students’ fresh views on things as well as learning about the U.K. in many ways by following Mr. Sheffner’s instruction. I already had my blogs before attending this class. However, I learned a lot of new things in this class. Thank you very much. I hope everyone keep updating their blogs and writing about lives, fresh thoughts not only because it’s fun to communicate with people, but also because it’s good to record our thoughts at certain times on our lives as our precious memories are faded little by little.

I hope I see everyone again here and there as I live very near from this campus!! Wish for everybody's bright future!

February 1st, 2008

2008-02-03T16:43:00.000+09:00

1. Watch the Powerpoint presentation. Write a summary of the key points (in Japanese or English) on your blog.

It presented how we can maintain our blogs effectively so that any visitors easily understand what is written. We can make our blogs understandable by, for example, using different colored fonts, putting links to the relevant website, and avoiding spelling or grammatical mistakes by using MS word when writing a draft.

2. What is the purpose, objective, of a newspaper company?

Its purpose is to deliver any facts relevant to ordinary people's lives fast and accurately. It delivers daily information about crimes, politics, sports, daily life, and entertainment to ordinary people who subscribe to it, or buy it at a newsstand. We can get general information of not only one's areas of interests but also outside of the one's interests. As reading over it, we might find interesting information by chance.

3. What is the purpose, objective, of a television company?

In terms of delivering news reports, the quickness is the advantage. Television broadcasting can report a crime scene or a political event as soon as the event occurs. Also they can provide moving pictures and the voices of the center players, which printed media can't do.

4. What is the purpose, objective of Yahoo! or Google?

By using so-called "web search engine", such as Yahoo! or Google, we can gather necessary information by typing the relevant word or expression. We could go further and further to follow the linked information. It's like a trip to the Internet world.
Also, both of them provide Internet tools, such as map service, blog service, social net communication service, mail service and so on. As more people use the tools, the company became more popular among people and can get more advertisers.

5. The purpose of all the above is to make money. That is the purpose of all these businesses. How do they make money? By getting as many readers or viewers ("eyeballs") as possible. If their purpose is to get as many readers or viewers or "eyeballs" as possible, then what kind of news will they publish? Give 2 or 3 examples. What kind of news will they not publish? Give 2 or 3 examples.

They might publish sensational news, such as murder scenes, war scenes, which people can't help but see it. Or they might not publish news with which the advertisers wouldn't be pleased, for example, news that turns the tables for the rival of the advertisers. Also news that only a few people are interested in wouldn't be published.

6. Find a news article in English that interests you, and write about it on your blog. Write a summary of the article, then your thoughts about it, and any interesting English words or expressions or grammar you learned from reading this.

Summary:
I found an interesting article on Daily Yomiuri Online, titled "Charismatic teacher shares insights". It tells about an famous and excellent English language teacher, Goro Tajiri, who used to teach in public middle schools and now is a professor at the Institute of Foreign Language Education and Research, Kansai University. It features his seminars where he gives hints on teaching English language at middle schools effectively.

My thoughts:
I've seen him on several TV programs and liked him very much. I liked him not only because of his excellent skills on teaching but also his enthusiasm and full of love towards his students. I myself also teach music. So I know the difficulty of teaching. It'd be very tough to give motivation to learn things even if the teacher tried to do it hard. However, once the students get motivation for anything, they start to learn things passionately! As for me, my motivation to learn English is that I want to communicate people in the world, and my motivation to teach music is that I want to see full of happiness on people's faces when they truly enjoy music! I want to be both a good learner and a good teacher by following his way of teaching!

New words and expressions:
be a prelude to something = If an event is a prelude to a more important event, it happens just before it and often makes people expect it. 何かの前兆/先導となる
eg: Idealists saw the revolution as a prelude to a better world and a richer life.

spur (on) to (do) something = to encourage someone to try harder in order to succeed. 激励する、刺激する
eg: Her difficult childhood spurred her on to succeed.

P.S. Mr. Tajiri has his own website called "田尻悟郎のWebsite Workshop". You can read his ideas in Japanese!

7. Read your classmates' blogs and comment on them on your own blog.

I read several blogs and want to comment on DARK NIGHTMARE's blog!
She chose an article "Democratic pair hold key debate" on BBC.

I'm very interested in this presidential election, too! In fact, I was astonished to know John Edwards' dropping out just before the debate. I'd been predicting he might be going to win in the end because he seemed the securest option for the majority of Democrats, white and male. Now the Democratic nominee race has become much more interesting. We might be witnessing one of the most historical moment in the United States. In other words, we might see the first woman President or the first black President. In either case, how exciting!!

8. Make sure your blog posts are all up to date. February 8th is the last class! I will use your blog posts to decide your final grade, so make sure your blog posts look great! Impress me!!

January 25th 2008

2008-01-25T14:12:00.000+09:00

Today’s lesson plan.
(1) Look at this photo and answer the questions
1. Where was this photo taken?
It was taken at Firdos Square in central Baghdad.

2. When was it taken?
It was taken in the evening on Wednesday, April 9, 2003.

3. What does the caption say under the photo?
It says Iraqi people shouted happily as they were watching the Saddam’s statue was torn down.

4. Translate the caption into Japanese.
サダム・フセインの像が倒されるのを見て歓声をあげる人々

5. “Crowds cheer” = how many people, do you think?
I think thousands of people gathered there, possibly tens of thousands of people.

(2) Now look at this photo taken at the same place and same time, and answer the questions.
1. How many people were in the square, do you think?
It’s surprising!! It seems only a few dozens of people were there.

2. Do you think “crowds cheer” is accurate?
I don’t think so now. When I hear an expression, “crowds”, I would imagine at least hundreds of people. I can see much smaller number of people in this photo.

3. What do you think of the first picture now?
It’s an exaggeration. It seems the first picture was taken on purpose.

4. Why did CNN use the first picture, do you think?
I suppose CNN intended to justify the U.S. military invention into Iraq by exaggerating Iraqi people’s cheering with the statue’s falling.

5. What do you think after seeing these two photos?
We tend to think any major news source is true. Also we sometimes don’t believe ordinary individuals’ information. I think it’s dangerous. We need to be critical of things, in other words we have foster media literacy in ourselves.

(3) Is it important to know the truth, or is it ok for newspaper to lie sometimes?
Give reasons for your answer. In the editorial or column sections, there can write any opinions. However, they need to be balanced when they report a certain fact.

(4) How can you check if some item of news is true or not? (Give at least two different ways).
We can check out if some item of news if true or not by reading several different newspapers and compare them, or by searching the item on the net and see the information by various sources.

(5) Read your classmates’ answers to these questions (read at least 3 other blogs)

yasu writes "the first photo is accurate, too.", also "depend on photo's enlargement or reduction, we have a variety of opinions." Yes, the first photo is true, too. It's just a part of the whole frame. Thank you for noticing me about it!

While NANCY writes "crowds cheer is not accurate." Yes, I think "crowds cheer" is not accurate, too. Because we can see how small the crowds was by looking at the second photo!

And Kanna writes "“crowds cheer” is exaggerated." It's the same perspective of mine!

(6) What do you think now, after reading your classmates’ blogs? Write your thoughts on your blog.

I knew we could have various opinions by looking at the same material. Some people think the same as mine and other people don't. It's natural but very interesting. I can learn many things by reading different perspectives from mine.

(7) Go to Masa’s blog and read his latest news. Next class is Tuesday, January 29th. We will be in room 516, not in this multi-media room.

I've been following his entries, especially his trip to New York City. Because it's the city of my unforgettable memories, too! I restarted to learn English after my school days when I was 39 years old in 2001. When I started, I was at a completely beginner level. It was really tough for me to communicate with English native speakers at that time. But I've never thought of stopping to communicate them. Through various experiences, I believe I've been able to improve my English. New York is one of the memorable places that influenced me a lot. As I see wonderful students in our class as well as Masa, I can't help but cheer everyone! Everybody has a bright future for the rest of their lives!!

January 18th, 2008

2008-01-18T14:19:00.000+09:00

1. How many Muslims live in Britain? (Go here for the answer).
According to this link (Wikipedia), 1,591,000 Muslims live in Britain.

2. How many Hindus live in Britain? (Go here for the answer).
According to this link (Wiki answers), 500, 000 Hindus live in Britain (estimated in 2000).

3. Check my answers! Find the answers on some other website (tell us the website and link).

As for the Muslims, I found here:
Demographocs / Charts Census 2001 Data (Sala@m)
This says the total population of Muslims is 1.6 million (Census 2001 Data).
Also on the following Census 2001 website:
Religious Populations Christianity is main religion in Britain
1,588,890 Muslims live in Britain.

As for the Hindus, in this BBC article:
UK Hindus appeal for recognition
500,000 Hindus are the country’s third largest religious group, after Christians and Muslims.

On the entry here:
Hinduism in the United Kingdom(Wiki)
It tells the total population of Hindus in Britain is 558,342 (in the 2001 UK Census), also, The Hindu Forum of Britain has extrapolated this in 2006 to a figure of 750,000 Hindus based on the levels of immigration since 2001.

4. Check out Masa’s blog. Leave a comment (it will make him happy!) or ask a question (he will surely answer you in his next blog entry).

I left my comment on his newest entry.

*********
Today, we will be using Student Times and Catch A Wave magazines for reading about news in English.

Summary:
I chose an article “Asada Mao Wins Second Straight Title at National Championships” from Catch a Wave. It is about the Women’s event of the Japan Figure Skating Championships, Dec.26 to 28 at Namihaya Dome in Osaka, where 17-year-old Asaka Mao won the title for the second time. Ando Miki finished in second place and Nakano Yukari came in third place. The three will compete in the World Figure Skating Championships which will be held in Gothenburg, Sweden, in March.

My impression:
I watched this event from start to finish and was so impressed that all competitors performed brilliantly. As for the women's part, my favorite skator is Nakano Yukari. So I was delighted she could finish in third place and got the ticket to the World Competition!! She is a great athlete who spares no effort to improve her skating technique. I'm very glad that her efforts was rewarded. As for my husband, his favorite is Takeda Nana. He likes Nana's smile very much. I love her smile, too! There is one thing I feel really sorry that a male skater, Oda Nobunari couldn't make his appearance in this event. I hope he will come back soon and show us his great performance!!

January 11th, 2008

2008-01-11T14:23:00.000+09:00

(I took these photos at Awaji service area on New Year Day!!)

1. Tell us about your New Year. Add a picture.

I saw the New Year sunrise at Awaji Service-area in Awaji Island. I went there with my husband, Takao, my friend, and his girlfriend. It was very special because the couple is going to get married this fall. He is our longtime friend and the same age as mine, 45 years old. He’d been waiting for a long time to meet the right partner and found her last year on the net! When they asked us to see the first sunrise with them, we felt very honored and grateful. The sun rose so beautifully among the mysterious clouds in a cold air. It became the most memorable New Year in our lives!

2. Now go to the Project Britain website and answer these questions about New Year in Britain:
1. Hogmanay is the name for New Year in which country?
Scotland.

2. In which city is the New Year’s Day parade held? Can you find a photo of this year’s parade?
London.

3. Whose birthday is on January 3rd, and what famous book did he write?
JRR Tolkien, author of Lord of the Rings.

4. Whose birthday is on January 5th? Why is this person’s birthday in a British calendar?
It’s the birthday of the tenth and final Sikh prophet-teacher in 1666 C.E. Guru Gobind Singh.
introduced many of the customs that Sikhs practice today including the 5 K’s.
The British calendar needs to be balanced religiously because a lot of immigrants live in the U.K.
So there must be a lot of Sikhs in the UK.

5. Whose birthday is today (January 8th)? What is he famous for?
Elvis Presley’s birthday. He became famous for singing with both black and white spirits.

6. What is Al Hijra and why is it on a British calendar?
Al Hijra is the Islamic New Year begins on the day Prophet Muhammad left Mecca to travel to Medina in 622 CE. It is the first day of the month of Muharram.
A lot of Muslims live in the UK, so Al Hijra needs to be on a British calendar.

7. Who reached the South Pole in 1912 on January 17th?
Robert Scott and his party.

8. Whose birthday is on January 18th? What famous book did he write?
AA Milne, author of “Winnie-the-Pooh”.

9. Who died on January 24th, 1965? What is he famous for (write ONE thing).
Sir Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of the UK 1940-1945 and 1951-1955, died on this day. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1953 for his own historical writings.

10. What do you think about this calendar?
It provides us a wide variety of information.

3. Find an interesting news article and blog it. (Here are some news articles I found recently.)
"They're Palying My Song. Time to Work Out."
It tells about music that motivates you during exercise.
I think music is not only for listening to, but also for living with. Do you have any favorite music that suites every scene in your daily life? Music for waking up, breakfast, walking to the school, lunchtime, chatting with friends, dinner, or studying.....

When I stayed in NZ for 3 months in 2002, I listened to Hillsong's music on the way to school. Their gospel songs motivated and encouraged me a lot!!

4. Visit some of your classmates’ blogs and either leave a comment, or write a comment on your blog.

I left my comment on JessiCao's blog about her hometown!

December 21 2007

2007-12-25T15:15:00.000+09:00

Merry Christmas!
First, I want to mention the photo of my previous entry. I took it at a shopping mall, the Big Step, in America-mura, Shinsaibashi. Actually, there used to be a school building at the site. It was my junior high school until decades ago. When I was a school girl, our school was divided into to buildings. The first year and the third year students went to the main building and the second year students went to the sub-building. The main building was at the Big Step site at that time. After a few years of my graduation, the two buildings were united and the main building site was sold. Whenever I visit the Big Step, I remember my colorful school days, not only bright things but also sad or hard things! Especially I love going there at Christmas time because the light tree is so beautiful!!

1) What is a nativity play?
The Nativity Play is the recreation of the scene of Jesus’ birth in the stable and the story of how Mary and Joseph were visited by the Shepherds and Wise Men. The parts of Mary, Joseph, the Shepherds and the Wise Men are played by the children.

2) What is a Christmas carol?

Christmas carols are the songs which are sung during the Christmas season and also about Jesus and the time when he was born. Originally, they were written for a special purpose, often to accompany performances of religious dramas dating from medieval times. Over the years, the word 'carol' changed its meaning, referring only to certain kinds of songs, the word carol became known as Christmas songs.

3) What is a pantomime?

A pantomime is a traditional British Christmas play. They are an important part of the Christmas festivities in Britain. They are performed in theaters, villages halls and community centers. A pantomime is contained of cross dressing and audience participation.

4) What are mince pies? Find a photo of one.

see here.

5) Find a photo of a Christmas pudding.

see here.

6) Find a photo of a Christmas cake.

how about this?

I found a yummy blog called "CakeJournal.com"!! Visit here.

7) What are Brussels sprouts? Find a photo of some.

The Brussels sprout is a cultivar group of Wild Cabbage cultivated for its small (typically 2.5 - 4cm, 1 - 1.5 inches diameter) leafy green heads, which resemble miniature cabbages.

In the UK, Brussels sprouts are a traditional winter vegetable, and are often eaten boiled with a roast dinner, particularly at Christmas. They can also be stir-fried, roasted, or made into soup.
(excerpts from the wikipedia)

See the photo of it here.

Find a Christmas photo and put it on your blog.
I put a photo of dancing snowmen. I took it at the USJ the other day.

I wish all of you a Happy New Year!!

World News B #9 December 14th, 2007

2007-12-14T14:16:00.000+09:00

1. Visit your classmates’ blogs and read what they wrote for last week’s assignment (December 7th). Leave some comments.

I left my comment on Nancy’s blog!

2. Read Mr Sheffner’s answers to last week’s questions.

3. What is Amnesty International? What does it do?

Amnesty International is an international organization for human rights which work to improve people’s lives through campaigning for internationally recognized human rights to be respected and protected for everyone.

4. Here is a recent report from Amnesty International: Torture/health concern/possible prisoner of conscience UZBEKISTAN Ikhtior Khamroev (m), aged 22. Student Ikhtior Khamroev, who has been in jail since September 2006, was reportedly severely beaten on 29 November. Sources inside the prison have told his father that Ikhtior had also received stab wounds to the abdomen, but was locked in a punishment cell rather than taken to hospital. He is believed to have been detained because of the activities of his father, a prominent human rights defender, and may have been beaten to punish his father for his recent anti-government statements.
1. Find one or two news articles about Ikhtio Khamroev (in English or Japanese) and link to them. How many can you find?
I found three.
http://www.amnesty.or.jp/modules/wfsection/article.php?articleid=1604&sel_lang=english
http://blhrri.org/kokusai/sos/sos_3903.html (in Japanese)
http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2007/12/ikhtiyor_hamroe.html

2. Where is Uzbekistan? Find a map and link to it.
Usbekistan on GoogleMap

3. Is the sad story of Ikhtior Khamroev “news” or not?
I think it’s newsworthy.

1. If you think it is news, why is not on TV and in the newspapers?

I have no idea. It is not on TV only in Japan or any other countries? If it’s not on the Japanese media only, maybe it’s far away from here? Or some giant powers prevent it from covering overseas? I don’t know. I want to look into it further.

2. If you think it is not news, why not?

4. How many Japanese versions of this British news story can you find? What are the key points of this story (in Japanese)?
I could only find one article. http://blhrri.org/kokusai/sos/sos_3903.html
イクティオル・カムロブさんに対する、正当な理由のない拘束と暴力行為。また、これが人権活動家である彼の父親に対する制裁行為である疑いがあること。

5. Read Masa’s blog and leave a message. (Do you know the blog of another Japanese person in the US? Tell us about it on your blog).

One of my blog friends, Hanna, has been studying in San Francisco, too! She is now working on her doctoral dissertation. Her blog is mostly written in Japanese. Her eyes are focused on ethnic issues, cultural differences between countries, and often Japanese education issues. She writes about things as a Japanese woman who lives in the US. I enjoy reading all of her entries very much! Please visit her blog “multicultural SF”

World News B #8 December 7th, 2007

2007-12-07T15:35:00.001+09:00

Beowulf First Page

Uploaded by litmuse on 13 Dec 05, 12.14AM JST.

1. Write about these two movies:
1. Beowulf
2. The Golden Compass

2. Write in MS Word, spell check, then upload to your blog. On your blog, add links to people or places. You can also add photos, but ALWAYS give credit (say where you got the photo from, who took the photo, and add a link back to the original).

3. Answer all these questions:
1. What or who is Beowulf?

The mightiest warrior in the age of heroes.

2. What is this movie based on?

It is based on the Old English epic poem of the Beowulf.

3. When and where was Old English spoken? (from when until when?)

Old English was spoken in parts of what are now England and southern Scotland between the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century.

4. What does Old English look like? Find a photo on the Internet.

See here: http://english3.fsu.edu/~wulfstan/110v.jpg

5. What does Old English sound like? Find a sound file on the Internet

I found the sound clips of “Readings from Beowulf”. See the link below:
http://faculty.virginia.edu/OldEnglish/Beowulf.Readings/Beowulf.Readings.html
(From the University of Virginia website: http://faculty.virginia.edu/OldEnglish/index.html)

See also: http://www.beowulftranslations.net/benslade.shtml

6. What is the story of Beowulf? (Who are the main characters? Where and when does it take place? What are the key events?)

In the age of heroes comes the mightiest warrior of them all, Beowulf. After destroying the overpowering demon Grendel, he incurs the undying wrath of the beast's ruthlessly seductive mother, who will use any means possible to ensure revenge. The ensuing epic battle resonates throughout the ages, immortalizing the name of Beowulf. (from Wikipedia)

Main characters:
Beowulf (a hero) portrayed by Ray Winstone
King Hrothgar (the king of Heorot) by Anthony Hopkins
Grendel (monster) by Crispin Glover
Queen Wealthew (Hrothgar’s wife) (the mother of Grendel) by Angelina Jolie
Unferth by John Malkovich

7. What happens to Beowulf at the end of the poem (not the movie)?

The battle sequence between Grendel's mother and Beowulf which leads to end with her death.

8. Who is the director? What other movie has (s)he directed? Have you seen any of them? If so, which one? Did you like it?
The director is Robert Zemeckis.

He has directed the following movies:
I Wanna Hold Your Hand (1978), Used Cars (1980), Romancing the Stone (1984), Back to the Future (1985), Amazing Stories (1986), Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), Back to the Future Part II (1989), Back to the Future Part III(1990), Tales from the Crypt (1991), Death Becomes Her (1992), Forrest Gump (1994), Contact (1997), Cast Away (2000), What Lies Beneath (2000), The Polar Express (2004) and Beowulf(2007).

I've seen the Back to the Future and the Contact. I liked the Back to the Future because it's full of thrills!

9. Who are the main actors in this movie?

Ray Winstone, Anthony Hopkins, Robin Wright Penn, Alison Lohman, John Malkovich, Crispin Glover, Brendan Gleeson, and Angelina Jolie.

1. Choose one of the actors or actresses. What other movies has this person been in? Did you see any of those movies? If so, which one? Did you like it?

I chose Anthony Hopkins who appeared in the movies shown here: Anthony Hopkins
I liked him being in the movie, "Remains of the Day". He was kind of very quiet throughout this movie but showed his strong presence.

10. What is “The Golden Compass” based on?
“The Golden Compass” is based on a book titled “Northern Lights”.

11 Who wrote the original story? When?
Philip Pullman wrote the original story in 1995.

12 What is the story? (Who are the main characters? Where and when does it take place? What are the key events?)
The story is about a orphan girl, Lyra, who lives in a fantastical world where the dictator, Magisterium, threatens to dominate it. One day, Lyra’s friend kidnapped, so she starts her journey to save her friend.

13 Where is Oxford (UK)? Find a map.

multimap

world atlas

大きな地図で見る

14. How many colleges are there?
There are two universities in Oxford; University of Oxford and Oxford Brookes University.

15 Who is the director? What other movie has (s)he directed? Have you seen any of them? If so, which one? Did you like it?
The director is Chris Weitz. He’s directed American Pie, Down to Earth and About a Boy. Unfortunately, I have never seen any of his movies. I’ve heard a good reputation of “About a Boy” from my friends. I think I should see it!

16 Who are the main actors in this movie?
The main actors are Daniel Craig, Ian McKellen, Ian McShane and Sam Elliott.

1 Choose one of the actors or actresses. What other movies has this person been in? Did you see any of those movies? If so, which one? Did you like it?
I liked Nicole Kidman in “The Hours”. I loved it so I bought the DVD and even the bilingual script book after seeing it!

17 There is some controversy about this movie? What is it?

There is some controversy about religious aspects in this movie. In the Original book, the dictator Magisterium is depicted as a symbol of the Catholic Church. But in this movie, Magisterium represents all dogmatic giant organizations.

World News B #6 November 16th, 2007

2007-11-16T14:12:00.000+09:00

2. Watch this video and write about it on your blog:
How much television do you watch every week?
What are the messages of this video? (Write two messages).
Do you agree with these messages?
What do you think of television?

Unfortunately, we couldn't watch the video.

3. What is November 11th called in Britain? Go to the Woodlands Junior School homepage to find the answer.
November 11th is called “Remembrance Day(Poppy Day)” in Britain.

1. Who lays a wreath?
Wreaths are layed beside war memorials by companies, clubs and societies, following the first wreath layed by the Queen.

2. Where?
It takes place at the Cenotaph in Whitehall, London.

3. Why?
To remember all those men and women who were killed during the two World Wars and other conflicts.

4. How many years is it since the end of World War One?
It’s been 89 years since the War.

5. What is the red flower?
A poppy.

6. (Bonus question) Why is this red flower used on November 11th?
In Flanders, the whole western part of Belgium, some of the most concentrated and bloodiest fighting of the First World War took place. After the fighting, everything was completely devastated, no exception for natural life. However, in such a desperate place, only one living thing survived, which was a poppy.

John McCrae, a doctor serving with the Canadian Armed Forces, was so deeply moved by the flowers, and wrote a poem about them. The poem was published later and the poppy became a popular symbol for soldiers who died in battle.

7. (Watch a video of this year’s event here).

4. What happened on November 6th in London?
It’s the day of the State Opening of Parliament (the first day of the new parliamentary session).

5. What happened on November 10th in London?
It is the day of the Lord Mayor’s Show.

6. What is the Mayor’s name?
David Lewis.

World News B #5 November 2nd, 2007

2007-11-03T01:22:00.001+09:00

Stars & Stripes
Originally uploaded by MarkyBon

1.Go to http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7017636.stm
1.On your blog, answer these questions:
1.Who was killed, where, when, and how?
A Japanese journalist, Kenji Nagai was shot to death by a government soldier near the Sule pagoda in Burma on Thursday, while he was covering the anti-government protests.

2.Why is this news important for many people around the world?
According to TV footage which has emerged after the event, there is a possibility that Mr. Nagai may have been killed intentionally, not by accident. If so, Japanese government may take a tougher line against Burma's military regime. Japan has been a leading aid donor to Burma and has been criticesed for failing to take a tougher line against the regime. So the world is watching the solving process between two countries.

2.Now read this news item and answer the questions: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7070551.stm
1.How many people marched in central Burma?
More than 100.

2.What kind of people marched?
Monks.

3.When and where did they march?
In central Burma on Wednesday.

4.What happened in that same city on September 6th, 2007?
Soldiers had beaten up monks there on that day.

5.How do we know this march took place? The article gives two sources of information. What are they?
The BBC's Asia correspondent, Andrew Harding, reported what happened and the Democratic Voice of Burma, a Norway-based radio station run by dissident journalists, introduced one monk's words.

6.Does this news item on the BBC website make the marchers more safe or less safe?
I think this news item may make the marchers less safe.

7.What does “bloody crackdown” mean?
Strict and violent action with a lot of killing and injuries (by the military government) to stop the demonstrators.

8.What does “nationwide pro-democracy protests” mean?
Burmese people's demands for the change of their government from the current ruling junta to the democratic one.

9.What does “forcibly recruiting children” mean?
The Burmese army's action to force children into joining them.

10.Who told the BBC that the Burma military are forcibly recruiting children? Do you believe it?
The Human Rights Watch organization says that. I can believe it.

11.The BBC also asked the Burma government about this. What did the Burma government say? Do you believe them?
The government insists it is opposed to the use of child soldiers. I don't believe them.

12.Why did the BBC ask Human Rights Watch AND the Burma government? Was this a good idea?
In media coverage, we expect a balanced approach. So we need opposing points of view.

3.What happened on Friday September 28th? (Use your own words, don’t copy and paste the text). http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/09/28/myanmar.dissidents/

The Burmese military junta cut off the Internet connection so the information about the bloody violent crackdown became suddenly invisible from outside the country.

1.Why did the Burma government do this, do you think?
Because they didn't want the world know the situation. They want to make up the situation as they want it to be.

4.Go to the Woodlands Junior School’s homepage to find the answers to these questions.
1.What is November 5th called in Britain?
It's called "Bonfire Night".

2.What do people do on this day?
People celebrate this day by lighting huge bonfires, letting off magnificent fireworks, and burning an effigy (a reminder of Guy Fawkes).

3.Why? (What is the historical reason?)
In the gunpowder plot, Guy Fawkes and his group attempted to blow up the Parliament. They were found before doing it and were executed by burning. So people celebrate the day by gunpowers and burning an effigy which representing Guy Fawkes.

4.Go to Flickr, type the answer to 5.1 in the search box, and find an interesting photo to put on your blog.

World News B #4 October 26th, 2007

2007-10-26T23:30:00.000+09:00

(I took this photo in my neighborhood the other day)

1. Visit your classmates' blogs from last week.
2. Look at question #11. Choose your 3 favourites.
I chose the following three. All are cool!!!

I want to equal world.
Doraemon appeared.
A day becomes more than 24 hours.

3. 20 minutes language practice (listening, vocabulary, grammar, etc)
I did the "Criminal terms" (http://a4esl.org/q/f/z/zz34mmn.htm)
I learned the following terms.
accessory 共犯
leprosy　腐敗
larceny　窃盗罪
perjury　偽証罪

4. Find a news item in English. Blog it. 45 minutes.

Title: Living Beneath the Surface, Undocumented and Unsure
URL: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/24/nyregion/24about.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin

Summary: This article is about the new proposal of the New York State's Governor, Eliot Spitzer, in which he said he would permit people who could meet rigorous standards of proof for their identity to get driver's license, regardless of their immigration status. The governor argues that it would reduce unlicensed or uninsured drivers on the streets and also hit-and-run accidents.

My thoughts: I know breaking the law of where you live is a bad thing. So staying in a country where you don't have any legal status would be also a bad thing. Apparently giving undocumented immigrants driver's licenses wouldn't be a good thing. But it's not that simple in America.

I met many people in ESL school in NY when I studied there for 3 months in 2005. They all were immigrants from all over the world. Most of them worked for a very long hours every day and night illegally. But I couldn't blame them because they needed money for their family and they were needed by somebody. In the U.S., a lot of undocumented immigrants are working in a harsh environment. And the government knows it and rather overlooks the problem. Now America can't exist without illegal immigrant labor force. They need their credit cards to live in an apartment on their own or some of them need their driver's licenses to work. But they can't have both of the needed ones. It's very complicated situation. We might have similar problems in our country in the future since we will have less labor force year by year. So I'm interested in how America deals with the problem.

The phrases that struck me in this article are words by Bishop DiMarzio:
"There is a demand for the labor provided by immigrants, but no coherent system for recognizing their presence in society."
"We have allowed persons to enter and have integrated them into the labor market, but now through sporadic enforcement of immigration laws we hope that they will leave and no others will come."

Ummmm.....it's a difficult situation!!!!

5. Read your classmates blogs. Blog about some of them. 15 minutes.

I read the first posting of RAGAMI san's blog and liked the title's meaning!
The title is "あいり～らいふ". And she says that:
「あいり～（irie）」はジャマイカの言葉で
「楽しい」とか「最高」、「平和」という意味♪
だから日常が楽しかったり最高な日に
なるようにってことでこれにしました(*･∀･*)

Now, I'll try to translate her idea into English. I'm sorry if I'm wrong. Maybe she wants to say:

"My blog's title 'irie' is a Jamican term, meaning 'exciting!', 'fabulous!' or 'peaceful!' I wish everybody's life would be fun and great so that's why I chose it!"

I love your idea, RAGAMI!

Naoko

World News B 2007 October 19th

2007-10-19T23:53:00.000+09:00

(I took this photo just near the Shoin university when I was enjoy walking along the river with my husband the other day)

1-4. [Vocabulary quiz by my favorite order]

1. independent 独立した
2. integrity　誠実、正直、高潔、品位
3. creative　創造的
4. unique　唯一、独特
5. individual　個人、個々
6. compromise　妥協、和解
7. freedom　自由（特に、束縛からの自由）
8. group グループ、集団
9. beauty　美、美しいこと
10. power　力、権力

8. Go to your blog and read any comments you may have. If you have comments, answer them.
No comment so far.

9. On your blog write your answer to this question: "Our World News Blogs are all completely public. What do you think about this? Do you prefer some privacy, or is it ok to be completely public?"

I think our blogs' being public has both positive and negative points.
Positive points are:
1. We can communicate not only with the class members but also with people in the world! There are millions of people who speak and write English!
2. We maybe try to write meaningful things if we know anybody in the world might look at it.
3. The number of people you know off the net is limited, at school, in your neighborhood, or your relatives. You can know new people, possibly who live in a country which is far away from your country through the Internet.

Negative points are:
1. You might find stranger's harmful comments on your blog. So you have to maintain your blog in good condition.
2. You have to decide to what extent you can reveal your privacy. Anybody can get your information by reading your blog.

So as for our World News class blogs, I'm in favor of being public because I think it's good for us to be able to communicate with people in the world!

10. Practice English vocabulary online for 15 minutes
I went to this website: http://a4esl.org/a/v5.html
I tried "Top 20 World Languages" and got 15/20.

11. What news would make you happy to read today? Write 3 imaginary headlines.
"Free ride on any transportation system this weekend!"
"Free admission fee for USJ until Christmas!"
"Perfect telepathy system invented!"

12. Find a news article about your theme and write about it on your blog:

a. news article title,
"Navigation Help for Surfacing Subway Riders"

b. URL,
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/17/nyregion/17direction.html?ref=nyregion

c. summary of content: who is it about? What is is about? Where is it about? When is it about?

This article is about the experiment by New York City and the private business improvement district around Grand Central Terminal, which offer a new way to help people go where they want to go when they emerge from the subway station to the streets. They have installed compass-shaped decals on sidewalks, which carry two kinds of information: directions for north, east, south and west, and the names of the nearest streets.

d. your comments: why did you find it interesting? Is there any useful information? What?

I am the one who have been completely lost when emerging from subway stations lots of times! Even in my familiar city, Osaka, I got lost many times at the top of the steps of the subway stations. I'm sure many of you have been in a similar situation! I've experienced it not only in Japan but also in other foreign big cities like New York, Hong Kong, or London! I think this idea is good for Osaka and Tokyo, too! I hope Japanese subway transportation companies' authorities look at it and consider installing these decals in my country's subway stations!

World News B 2007 October 12th

2007-10-12T17:44:00.000+09:00

(This is one of my three kitties. Her name is Momo!)

Hi everyone! My name is Naoko. I’m new in this class. I was accepted as an auditing student. I’m very glad to be able to learn with all of you! So..... nice to meet you all!

I read the following 4 articles on Japan Times Online as my picks for today.

The questions for the answers are;

1. What is the title and URL of the news item?

2. Is this news item interesting to you?

3. Who (what sort of person) would be most interested in reading this news item?

4. Why?

5. Does this news item give you any useful information?

6. What is the useful information?

7. Could you use this information to improve your life or the life of your family, or your friends or people in the world?

8. How?

My first pick:

1. Title: Singles find community in 'social apartment

2. It is very interesting for me to know the new trend about how to communicate and even live with others who are not friends or relatives.

3. People who are single, or going to be single (maybe thinking of divorcing with their spouse?).

4. Because, I think, they might be looking for somewhere to live where they don’t feel lonely.

5. Yes, it does!

6. People in Japan and the living circumstances among young people have been changed to an active way. It pleased me a lot!

7. Yes, I could.

8. I can tell my single friends when they feel lonely and look for the new place to live. And they might find their new happy family there!

My second pick:

1. Title: Yoko Ono peace tower shines on in Reykjavik

2. I’m always very interested in how to improve peace in the world, so this article was really moving to me!

3. People who wish peace in the world and also who are in the Beatles’ generation would be interested in this article.

4. Because this article would make people aware of peace. I think it’s very important. Also the Beatles’ generation might want to know what Yoko Ono, the widow of John Lennon, is doing.

5. Yes, it does in some ways.

6. It gave me a conversation topic with others.

7. Actually, it might not improve my daily life in Japan, but I can talk about it with my friends who live not only in Japan but also in other countries.

8. As I answered to the prior question, I can talk with others about this, and I believe the conversation will improve the situation in the world.

My third pick:

1. Title: Alleged suicide helper for hire held in slaying

2. Interesting, but I felt very sad and angry.

3. Any people who read this article.

4. Because it’s so cruel criminal that would grip everybody’s attention.

5. Yes, it does.

6. I have to be careful there might be terribly bad websites on the net. Also I thought I have to be careful not to say, “I want to die!!” easily, because somebody might ask such kind of people to help me commit suicide!

7. Yes, I think I could.

8. We have to stop these kinds of criminals. Also we should help each other when someone around you has a trouble which might lead to killing himself or herself.

My forth pick:

1. Title: Videotaping interrogations worth a look?

2. Yes, very interesting.

3. People who are interested in the new lay judge system in Japan.

4. The day when the new lay judge system go into operation in Japan is soon coming, so we are more and more interested in the lay judge system and all the information around the Japanese Judicial system.

5. Yes, it does very much.

6. I’m basically in favor of recording the whole interrogation especially with serious crimes. This article gives me both pros and cons on this issue.

7. Yes, I could.

8. Many of my friends are also very much aware of the new lay judge system, or rather afraid of possibly being chosen as a lay judge in the future. So I can tell this information to my friends and talk over the issue deeply. It’d be useful when we are involved in criminal situations regardless of which kind of position we would be in.

OK, finally, as for my theme for this term, I’ll choose “New York City”!

I chose there because I’ve been listening to a radio talk show every weekday night airing from the city on the net, also I’ve been there two times before so I have several friends living there.

A new item about NYC, I’ll introduce one of the segment on my favorite radio program.

They conducted a project called, “Are you being gouged?” in which listeners go to shops in their neighborhood and report the price of the same three items on the project’s website.

You can see how the prices are vary depends on the areas in New York City.

Go to the following URL and see the segment “Are You Being Gouged? The Results”. Click any of the images you’d like to know the prices. You can listen to the segment if you like by clicking the play button. I hope you enjoy it!

http://www.wnyc.org/shows/bl/episodes/2007/10/11

OK, I’m going to visit your websites and write my comments on some of them.

See you next week!

Naoko