ANNOUNCEMENTS

Last Updated on May 8, 2012


Wednesday, April 18, 2012:

1. Get the Japan Times (JT) on the morning of Saturday, April 14, 2012 at a newsstand of a train station near your house. Note that the JT is a morning paper and that you CANNOT buy it in the afternoon. If you should forget to get the JT, go to the JT and buy a copy of the news paper. See here and this map for info about where the JT is. You should call their sales department BEFORE you go there.
2. Use the JT and finish Handout, pp. 3-4 (Homework #1). Note that this handout was made BEFORE the newspaper was published. Therefore, you may NOT be able to find ALL the information. If so, write "The information is not available" in the handout.
3. Read Handouts (pp. 5-6 and 9-10) and prepare for the this class.
4. Look at the Schedule section of our homepage and check your Self-introduction date. Also, start thinking about the topic of your first presentation. Your first presentation comes a lot faster than you think!
Steve Jobs of Apple Computer has long been considered to be one of the best business presentation speakers. In fact, he is so good that a book about his presentation techniques became one of the top selling business books a few years ago (i.e., Carmine Gallo (2009). The presenation secrets of Steve Jobs. McGrow-Hill.). Here is the link to the keynote speech movie he gave about iPad. You can look at his other business presentations in YouTube.

Friday, April 20, 2012:

1. Check to see if you have all class handouts (pp. 1-2, 5-6, 9-12, 22-25) and put them in a (clear) folder or a binder.
Prepare well for your self-introduction speech. If you choose to use PowerPoint, which I strongly recommend, come to class at least 10 minutes before the bell and copy your PowerPoint file to my computer. See the "Self-introduction" handout for details about using PowerPoint.

Wednesday, April 25, 2012:

1. Read Handout (pp. 5-6) and review characteristics newspaper English.
2. Read Steps 1 and 2 of the MOP (the first presentation) on pp. 9-11 and start thinking about your MOP little by little.
3. Look at the Schedule section of our homepage and check your presentation date. If you find an error, report it to Mr. Shimura.
Prepare well for your self-introduction speech. If you choose to use PowerPoint, which I strongly recommend, come to class at least 10 minutes before the bell and copy your PowerPoint file to my computer. See the "Self-introduction" handout for details about using PowerPoint.

Important Note about Topic Selection for Your MOP

The theme of our English seminar is "current topics about Japan." Therefore, you must select a news article about Japan(ese) for your first presentation (MOP).

Friday, April 27, 2012:

1. Finish Homework #2 on pp. 7-8.
2. Read Step 2 of the MOP on pp. 10-11 and study Step 2 in giving long presentations.

Wednesday, May 9, 2012:

1. Use "Checklist for Presentation Skills in English" on pp. 13-14 and relevant handouts on pp. 22-35 and start reviewing presentation skills you learned in Study Skills. We will review these skills in class on Friday, May 11, 20121.