ANNOUNCEMENTS

Last Updated on June 7, 2016

Tuesday, April 19, 2016:

• Homework:

1. Get the Japan Times (JT) on the morning of Saturday, April 16, 2016 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. Prepare for your self-introduction. Since the skill focus of this presentation is physical message (body language), rehearse as many times as possible, untill you feel 150% ready.. Also, start thinking about the topic of your first presentation. Your first presentation comes a lot faster than you think!
4. Before you rehearse for your self-introduction, watch the following two presentations:
(1) Dr. Kelly McGonigal of Stanford University: How to make stress your friend (with English subtitles or Japanese subtitles)
(2) Dr. Amy Cuddy of Harvard Busines School: Your body language shapes who you are (with English subtitles or Japanese subtitles)

Friday, April 22, 2016:

• Homework

1. Finish Homework for April 19 (HO, pp. 3-4). [Sorry about the error which caused confusion in Section 5, p. 4. "today" should be Saturday and "tomorrow" should be "Sunday."]
2. Check to see if you have all class handouts (pp. 1-6, 9-12, 15-16, 22-25) and put them in a (clear) folder or a binder.
3. Read Handouts (pp. 5-6 and 9-10) and prepare for the this class.

• If your self-introduction is scheduled for this date:

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.

• Mr. Yoneyama:

Let me take your picture for our class homepage.

Tuesday, April 26, 2016:

• Homework

1. Read Handout (pp. 5-6) and review characteristics of 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.
4. Sort all the handouts you received according to their page numbers and check to see if you have the following handouts with you: pp. 1-6, 9-18, 22-25.

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 or Japanese persons for your first presentation (MOP).

Note about the Japan Times you bought on Saturday, April 16, 2016

Do not throw it away, as we will use it again next week.

Tuesday, June 7, 2016:

• This class has been canceled due to the instructor's illness. This means that the FOP schedule willl be changed. All second presentations will be put off by one class. Look at the schedule section of our homepage and check the new presentation dates of your FOPs. If it is inconvenient for you to give your FOP on the new date, let us know in the next class on Friday. Let us find someone who can switch her/his presentation date with yours.
• Use today's class time and prepare for FOPs by Ricky and Naoki, so that you will be able to participate in their presentations actively.