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Colette, and other matters…

Kiera Knightley

Today we watched the trailer for Colette, a new movie about the French writer Colette. It's scheduled to begin at Denkikan on June 7th. It stars Keira Knightley, who is famous for many movies, including Bend It Like Beckham, Pride and Prejudice, The Imitation Game, Anna Karenina, A Dangerous Method, Never Let Me Go, Atonement, Pirates of the Caribbean, Star Wars: Episode 1—The Phantom Menace, and so on.

(68 words)

Where'd You Go, Bernadette?

Richard Linklater (Director)
Cate Blanchett

Today we watched the trailer for Where'd You Go, Bernadette?, Richard Linklater's latest movie. You may know Richard Linklater for movies like Boyhood and the Before… series (Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, and Before Midnight). The star of the movie is Cate Blanchett, who is best known for her performances of Elizabeth I and Galadriel (in Lord of the Rings). She plays a woman who used to be a famous architect but hasn't worked recently. Her friend persuades her that she needs to work, so she goes to Antarctica to work on the design of some kind of building.

Have you watched any football recently? Derby got to the play-off final, beating Leeds United.

(112 words)

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All is True, and other matters…

Kenneth Branagh
Judi Dench
Ian McKellen

Today we watched the trailer for All is True, a movie about William Shakespeare after he has retired from writing plays and moved back to Stratford. His life feels rather empty, but his friend, played by Ian McKellen, suggests that he write about his own life and that gives him renewed purpose.

Has anyone been following European football news? It has been the best week ever for English teams, and one of the most exciting weeks for comebacks. On Tuesday night, Liverpool came back against Barcelona from 0-3 down to win 4-3. Then on Wednesday night, Tottenham Hotspur (Spurs) came back from 0-3 down to win 3-3 (because away goals are considered more important) against Ajax Amsterdam. Finally, last night, both Arsenal and Chelsea (two London teams) beat Valencia and Frankfurt, respectively, to go into the final of the Europa League.

[140 words]

All is True, and other matters…

William Shakespeare
Kenneth Branagh
Judi Dench
Ian McKellen

Today we watched the trailer for All is True, a movie about William Shakespeare starring Kenneth Branagh as Shakespeare, Judi Dench as his wife, and Ian McKellen as his friend. The story is about Shakespeare going back to his hometown of Stratford after he has retired. His wife is not happy to see him after so many years, and he doesn't know what to do with his life. But then he starts writing about his own life and his energy comes back.

How was your Golden Week? I worked for most of the week, but in the middle I went camping with my family in Oguni, just for one night. It was a lot of fun.

Have you watched any soccer this week? It was a great week for English clubs. Both Liverpool and Tottenham achieved great comebacks in the Champions League and will meet in the final. In the Europa League, both Arsenal and Chelsea won their semifinals and will meet in the final.

[163 words]

The Little Red Hen

Before long, all the wheat was cut.
“Who will help me grind this?” asked the little red hen.
“Not me!” said the dog.
“Not me!” said the cat.
“Not me!” said the duck.

The little red hen has some very lazy friends. Every time he asks them to help, they refuse. What do you think happens when she finishes baking some bread?

As with many folk and fairy tales, this story has an important lesson for us.

VOCABULARY

grind: すりつぶす・粉にする・砕く

The Little Red Hen (Folk & Fairy Tale Easy Readers) 著者 : Violet Findley Scholastic 発売日 : 2006-01-01 ブクログでレビューを見る»

The Gemini Man

Will Smith
Clive Owen
Ang Lee

Today we watched the trailer for The Gemini Man. It stars Will Smith and Clive Owen. Will Smith has been sent to kill a man. But every time he thinks he has him, the man disappears like a ghost. Will Smith starts to wonder who the man is and he asks his handler, Clive Owen.

The movie is directed by Ang Lee, who directed Sense & Sensibility, Life of Pi, and Ice Storm. It's due to start playing in the US in November. Hopefully, it will come to Japan around the same time.

(92 words)

Martina the Cockroach

A rooster came by and said, "Marry me!"
"What sound do you make?" asked Martina.
"Cock-a-doodle-doo!" he said.
"No, thank you," she said.

Today, I read Martina the Cockroach, one of the 15 books in the Folk & Fairy Tale Easy Readers from Scholastic. Martina finds a gold coin and goes shopping for clothes and perfume. Then she looks for a husband. But she doesn't like the sounds that most of her prospective husbands make.

VOCABULARY

whistle: 口笛を吹く

Folk & Fairy Tale Easy Readers: Martina The Cockroach (English Edition) 著者 : Scholastic Teaching Resources 発売日 : 2006-03-01 ブクログでレビューを見る»

264 words

The Little Red Hen

Before long, all the wheat was cut.
“Who will help me grind this?” asked the little red hen.
“Not me!” said the dog.
“Not me!” said the cat.
“Not me!” said the duck.

The little red hen has some very lazy friends. Every time he asks them to help, they refuse. What do you think happens when she finishes baking some bread?

As with many folk and fairy tales, this story has an important lesson for us.

VOCABULARY

grind: すりつぶす・粉にする・砕く

The Little Red Hen (Folk & Fairy Tale Easy Readers) 著者 : Violet Findley Scholastic 発売日 : 2006-01-01 ブクログでレビューを見る»

The Gemini Man

Will Smith

Ang Lee

Today we watched the trailer for The Gemini Man, a new movie starring Will Smith. At first, I expected it to be a routine action thriller, but then I saw the director is Ang Lee. He hasn't directed so many movies, but the ones he does direct are very interesting. They include Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Life of Pi, Lust, Caution, Brokeback Mountain, and The Ice Storm.

Football has been very interesting recently. In the Premier League, Liverpool and Manchester City are continuing to win their matches, so it's very tight at the top. The other big teams have been losing many matches, so no-one knows who will be in the top 4.

(112 words)

Dark Phoenix

X-Men series
James McAvoy
Michael Fassbender
Jennifer Lawrence
Sophie Turner
Tye Sheridan
Jessica Chastain

June 2019
20th Century Fox

Today we watched a movie trailer. The movie was Dark Phoenix. It is in the X-Men series. Some of the main actors are James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Sophie Turner, Tye Sheridan, and Jessica Chastain. I like the X-Men series very much. The movies stated in 2000, so they have been going on for nearly twenty years now. Dark Phoenix will be released in June in the US, and probably it will come to Japan soon after.

Have you been watching football recently? This week has been very exciting. In the Champions League, the quarter-finals were played. Two of them ended in upsets. In one quarter-final, Ajax Amsterdam defeated Juventus. Ajax has a much smaller budget than British, German, Spanish, or Italian teams, but they played in a very attacking way. In another quarter-final, Tottenham Hotspur beat Manchester City. In a way, it was a pity to see two English teams play each other; but on the other hand…
(159 words)

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Dark Phoenix

Today we watched the trailer for Dark Phoenix, a movie in the X-Men series. It has been a while since I saw an X-Men movie, and this one looks really exciting. The actors I remember seeing in the trailer are James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jessica Chastain, Halle Berry, and the actress who plays Jean. I didn't check who the director is. The issue seems to be that Jean is much more powerful than anyone else, and when she is scared her power comes out without her being able to control it. Jessica Chastain's character manipulates Jean into using her power without restraint, while James McAvoy tries to help her get it under control.
(113 words)

2nd session: April 20th

Hello everyone,
Most of you sent me your rewritten essays (homestay letters) during last week's lesson or soon after. Most of them had quite a lot of information, so they are a good base for talking and writing about yourself in several different ways.
Because that was your first assignment of the semester, I wrote fairly detailed feedback. Also, because the essay is a base for more work writing about yourself, I wanted to make sure that you understood the feedback.
With most assignments, though, the most important consideration will be helping you improve your writing over time. So, rather than give specific advice on individual errors, the focus will be on helping you to recognize TYPES of errors that you often make.
I don’t know if we’ll have time to talk about that today, but we will soon. So when you read through the comments, look out for errors that you made twice or more in the same essay.
KEY POINTS FOR GETTING A CREDIT

• Come to class.
• Make sure you have written 4 posts on your blog over the course of a week. (Three is OK if you have submitted an assignment by email, etc., that week.) Currently, there is no specific length requirement for each post. 
• Hand in assignments on time.

ON TODAY’S MENU

• Reading and writing blog comments
• Timed writing (七分は十分)
• Second book review (including a quotation and a picture)
• Talking about feedback on the 1st assignment (if time allows)

The Lost Cup

The next morning, you wake up early. You see a paper under your door. It reads: "WE HAVE YOUR PARTNER. GIVE US THE CUP, OR HE WILL DIE."…
Someone kidnapped your partner!

A search for the World Cup turns into a deadly game in this Atama-ii book. Please check it out when you have time!

Vocabulary

kidnap
statue

Welcome to Writing III!

Hello, everyone,

Nice to meet you. I’m Rick, and I’ll be your writing teacher this year. I’m looking forward to teaching you.

Students get confused when I tell them all the details of the course in the first class session, so today we’ll practice some of the activities we’ll be doing through the semester as well as making sure you’re set up to study through the year.

A few key details on the course and what’s expected of you:

• In the first semester, I want you above all to improve your writing fluency. To do that, you need to write at least 3 or 4 posts a week on your blog. Some of those posts will be done in class but you need to do the rest at home. When trying to improve your fluency, missing classes or forgetting to post for a week are the worst things. There is a risk that you will just stay at the same level rather than gradually improving…so when grading students absences and weeks with no posts are the things that will I am most strict about. 
• To improve your writing, you need to link it to your reading. By writing about your reading, you can pick up some expressions to use yourself. Therefore, you should read a book from the English Reading Garden each week and write a review of it.
• The main topic this semester will be writing about yourself. We will start by improving the letter to a homestay family then move on to writing about yourself more broadly. Sometimes we will revisit the homestay letter, looking for ways to incorporate information from your other writing. 
• Although fluency and quantity are the main things 

Also, a couple of remarks about grades and so on:

• If you come to class on time and write some posts on your blog every week—even if the amount of each post is small and the quality is low—you shouldn’t have any problems getting a credit. The key thing in the first semester is continuing engagement with the course through the 15 weeks. Try not to fall into the "Golden Week Trap”!
• Of course, for higher grades, you should try to write more posts or longer posts, or show that you’re trying to improve your writing quality too.

Anyway, let’s enjoy Writing III together!

The Favourite and other matters…

Emma Stone
Rachel Weisz
Olivia Colman (Queen Anne)

Director: Yorgos Lanthimos

Today we watched the trailer for The Favourite, a movie directed by Yorgos Lanthimos and featuring Olivia Colman, Rachel Weisz, and Emma Stone. It's about Queen Anne, who ruled from 1702 to 1714.

Now, Creed 2 is playing. It sounds very interesting, and I would like to see it.

In the Premier League, Liverpool had a scare against Crystal Palace, but won in the end. Manchester City won their match, too, so they are still 4 points behind. Liverpool keep winning even when they don't play so well, and it's difficult to see when they will lose points. Perhaps they will have problems when the Champions League returns.

[106 points]

My Gofun ha Juubun Progress

The Favourite, and other matters…

Olivia Colman
Rachel Weisz
Emma Stone

Today we watched the trailer for The Favourite, a new movie starring Olivia Colman, Rachel Weisz, and Emma Stone. It's directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, who also directed The Lobster and Dogtooth. I haven't seen Dogtooth, but I enjoyed The Lobster very much. (That movie also starred Rachel Weisz.) The movie is about Queen Anne, daughter of James II and queen during the 17th and 18th centuries. It's not a period I know so much about, so I'm interested in seeing the movie.

It's due to be shown in Japanese cinemas from February 15th. One month later, Mary Queen of Scots will be shown.

[102 words]