Introduction

New Hampshire is a very famous state overseas. It features in many movies and is named after a county on England. In this essay, I will tell you thee important things about New Hampshire.

New Hampshire Outline

1. Introduction: Located in New England area of northeastern region of US. Named after English county of Hampshire. Size: 5th smallest state in USA, 9th least populous state.
2. Geography: lakes, mountains, forests, leaves in autumn. White Mountains: includes Mount Washington. Lakes: most famous one is Lake Winnipesaukee.
3. Colleges and universities: (a) Dartmouth College: Ivy League research university; (b) Saint Anselm College: a Benedictine liberal arts college influential in national politics
4. New Hampshire in film and literature: Hotel New Hampshire, The World According to Garp, Jumanji, On Golden Pond.
5. Conclusion

Pan…Shaun the Sheep: The Movie…and other matters

Today we watched two movie trailers. The first one was for anyone who was hungry. It was called Pan but it had nothing to do with bread. The second was Shaun the Sheep: The Movie. Pan stars Hugh Jackman and Rooney Mara, and it looks like quite an exciting special-effects extravaganza. It's directed by Joe Wright, who I believe is Keira Knightley's husband and who has previously directed Pride & Prejudice, Atonement, Anna Karenina, Hanna, and Locke. The first three of those star Keira Knightley. Shaun the Sheep looks really funny, and I'm looking forward to seeing it. The Japanese title is 映画ひつじのショーン ～バック・トゥ・ザ・ホーム～ and apparently it's due to come to Japan in June.

Vermont: Outline

1. Introduction: state in 乳 England; second-least populous state in the US (after Wyoming); sixth-smallest state in US. Famous overseas for dairy farming and maple syrup (second only to Canada) and beautiful scenery.
2. History: originally inhabited by two Native American tribes, the Iroquois and Abenaki. From 1609, it was a French colony. Then, in 1763 it was taken over by Britain. Became independent in 1777 in the American Revolutionary War.
3. Geography: mountains and National Parks, agriculture
4. Higher education: list the main colleges and their fields of study, with info about foreign students
5. Conclusion

Shaun the Sheep: The Movie…and other matters

Today we watched a trailer for Shaun the Sheep: The Movie. I haven't watched the TV programme so many times but it's always been fun. The movie looks hilarious! It's coming out in the US in August, which means it will probably come out in winter in Japan, maybe as a New Year movie?

Oh, actually, I've just checked on all cinema.net, and they say it's coming out in Japan in July! So I guess it will be a summer movie here. It's nice to watch a trailer and to find that the actual movie will come before we forget the trailer!

The Premier League finished yesterday. As expected, Hull were unable to beat Manchester United, so they are relegated. Newcastle played surprisingly well and finished the season with a win, as did Arsenal and Manchester City. The biggest surprise was Liverpool, who lost 6–1! That was a sad result for Steven Gerrard, whose last game it was. Some people are speculating that such a poor result at the end of the season may lead to a change of manager, too.

Folk & Fairy Tale Easy Readers

This series has lots of interesting stories, written quite simply. It's possible to buy a large set. The set has 15 different stories, with maybe 5 copies of each one.

[30/2099]

My word total

TOTAL WORDS: 1899

The Nightingale

The Nightingale

By and by, the king seemed to forget all about the real nightingale. Feeling unwanted, he flew back to the forest.
"No matter. The toy bird is better," said the servant.

A king in China likes hearing a nightingale sing, but when he receives a toy nightingale from the King of Japan he forgets about the real nightingale. But then the toy nightingale breaks!

This story is a searing indictment of the modern tendency to revere human invention over nature.

When the king falls ill, is there anything that can help him come recover?

Findlay, Violet. (2006). The nightingale (Folk & Fairy Tale Easy Readers). New York, NY: Scholastic.

Vocabulary

nightingale ナイチンゲール、ソウシチョウ、ナンヨウヨシキリ

[104 words]

American Heist, the Premier League, and other matters

Today we watched a trailer for American Heist. It looks rather interesting. It stars Adrien Brody and Hayden Christensen. I don't know when it's coming to Japan, though.

This weekend, I went to see my daughter at her junior high sports day. Her class did well, but not her house. The rest of the time, I was working hard, as usual these days!

Do you like listening to podcasts? These few years, I have been listening to quite a lot of podcasts. Here are some of my favorites:

• The Slate Political Gabfest: a weekly look at three political topics; usually about 50 minutes
• The Slate Culture Gabfest: a weekly look at three cultural topics; usually about 50 minutes
• Football Weekly (The Guardian): a bi-weekly look at Premier League and other European football; usually about 45 minutes
• The Game (The Times): a weekly look at the Premier League and other football; usually about 40 minutes
• The 5 Live Football Daily (BBC): notwithstanding the name, a show about football that is on air about 4 or 5 times a week. Sometimes it's very long, perhaps 90 minutes, other times just 5 or 10 minutes
• What the Papers Say (BBC): a short, weekly programme about the news stories of the week
• Accidental Tech Podcast:
• Core Intuition:

[203 words]

Goldilocks and the Three Bears

Goldilocks found three beds. She found the big one. It was too hard. She tried the middle one. It was too soft.

Goldilocks and the Three Bears

Finally, she tried the little bed. It was just right, so she lay down and went to sleep. Zzzzzz! (pp. 8–9)

What will happen when Goldilocks wakes up? Will she wake up before the bears come back? If not, what will they do when they find her? Will they be angry about the chair she broke and the porridge she ate? Will she escape with her life? 

The Goldilocks and the Three Bears story is well-known and beloved in many countries. If you haven't read it yet, give it a try!

Findley, Violet. (2006). Goldilocks and the three bears (Folk & Fairy Tale Easy Readers). New York, NY: Scholastic.

Vocabulary

porridge: 水または牛乳でオートミール（oatmeal）などを煮た粥状のもの

[117 words]

Time Lapse…and other matters

Today we watched a movie trailer. It was called Time Lapse. It's about a group of friends who find a way to see into the future. They use this power to bet on dog races and make lots of money. But someone gets suspicious when they win all their bets. It looks interesting, but it's also very similar to a movie I saw last year. I think it was called Project Chronicle.

I enjoyed my daughter's sports day this weekend. But the rest of the weekend was spent working. I made some good progress, but I would like to have some more free time.

In the Premier League, most teams only have one match to go. For Burnley and QPR, relegation is already decided. Hull lost their match, and it looks unlikely that they will escape relegation now, although it is still possible. The other two teams still in danger are Newcastle and Sunderland. I think Hull will be relegated, but Newcastle and Sunderland are probably going to have some problems next year.

I haven't been following the Championship news so closely, but I think Middlesborough will be promoted to the Premier League. Overseas, Barcelona have won the Spanish Liga. I hope they also win the Champions League.

[205 words]

5th session (May 18th)

Hi, everyone, we’re now entering the last week of the first section of Writing III. As you remember, the focus of this first section is writing quantity and fluency. Have you written lots of book reviews and other posts, such as Diary or Kaigai Kenshuu posts?
Next week (May 25th), we will have a kind of “test” to check your progress. Things to do before the test:

1. Make sure you’ve written at least 15 book reviews. Make sure that the book reviews are all marked with Books or Book reviews or a similar tag.
2. Make sure that any Juppun ha Juubun posts that you wrote at the beginning of class are correctly tagged.
3. Make sure that you’ve written some other posts, tagged if appropriate with tags such as Diary, Kaigai Kenshuu, etc.
4. Make sure that your blog has a Word Count widget at the bottom of the blog.
5. Make sure your blog has a Tags widget in the sidebar. The number of posts with each tag should be listed.
6. Make sure you’ve mastered the APA reference format and put a reference at the bottom of your book reviews.
7. Post your total word count as of May 24th.

APA Reference Format: Revision

Remember that an APA reference has four main elements:

Author. (Date). Book title. Publication Information.

Notice that the parts are separated by a period and one space. The date is usually written as just the year, inside (  ).
When there are several references, they are arranged in alphabetical order of the family name. To make this order clear, it is necessary to put the author’s family name first.
For example, if the author of a book is John Carter, you should write:

Carter, John.

[272 words]

BR 1-10: Who wants to be a star?

"Look at the lambs!" Mrs White says.
"Yes, I love them. I want to be a lamb. They can jump and run and be happy."
"You can jump and run and be happy too, Tina."
"No, I can't…"

What is wrong with Tina? Could she be the famous star Curls? And does she perhaps dislike being a star? What will happen when kind Mrs White finds out the secret identity of the innocent-seeming girl staying in her house? And what wicked scheme is the postman hatching?

This book is a Penguin Readers Easystart. It is only about 900 words long, and most of each page is a picture. But the stories are all quite interesting. Try reading them all!

Iggulden, Margaret, and Allen, Julia. (1989). Who wants to be a star? (Penguin Readers Easystarts). Harlow, UK: Pearson Education.

Vocabulary

curly hair: 縮毛、縮れっ毛

[134 words]

Exciting Font Story!

They walked slowly down the avenue.

“Hello,” she said. “What font are you using?”

“I’m not sure,” he replied. “I don’t know much about fonts: they’re against my parents’ religion.”

“Really? That’s unusual,” she said. “But I think I know what it is: ‘Zapfino’!”
[41 words]

BR 1-10: Newspaper Chase

Harry chases after the truck. "Wait! Wait" he says.
Janey watches him. "What is he doing?" she thinks.
Harry jumps into the back of the truck.
"I want my newspaper!" he says. "Where's my newspaper?"

Harry lives in an apartment upstairs in Janey's house. One day, he gets strangely excited about a recycled newspaper. Janey gets suspicious. What has Harry been doing? And why is there blue glass in his shoe?

Newspaper Chase is a Penguin Readers Easystart. It's only about 900 words long, but it's quite exciting! Give it a try!

Escott, John. (2002). Newspaper chase (Penguin Readers Easystarts). Harlow, UK: Pearson Education.

Vocabulary

報奨金  reward


[89 words]

My Golden Week…and other matters

The Golden Week holiday lasted for five days, including the weekend. I had a lot of work to do, so I worked most days. But I had a nice trip to Aso on Sunday with my family. We went to a "dengaku" restaurant in Takamori. I had eaten dengaku only once before, many years ago, so I was very happy to have the chance to eat it again. We ate many different kinds of dengaku, and my favorite was Aso beef.

Those of you who follow Premier League football in the UK will know that Chelsea have now won the league, and Burnley's relegation is also decided. Queens Park Rangers will also almost certainly be relegated. The third team to be relegated will be Hull, Newcastle, Sunderland, or Leicester, so the last two or three matches will be very nervous.

The final Hunger Games film and the second Maze Runner film are coming soon! Let's check them out!

156 words

BR1-07

Mudge hated it. Mudge knew when he was going to get a bath. (p. 24)

Today, I read Henry and Mudge in the Green Time. It is the third book in the Henry & Mudge series. There are more than 30 books in the Henry & Mudge and Annie & Snowball series. I know 13 books in H & M. I think this one, about summer days, and Henry and Mudge in the Sparkle Days, about winter, are the best. This book actually consists of three short stories. The quotation above is from the second one, The Bath. Henry likes baths but Mudge doesn't. I think Suçie Stevenson's illustrations are charming.



Rylant, Cynthia. (1998). Henry and Mudge in the green time (Ready-to-Read Level 2). New York, NY: Simon Spotlight.

Vocabulary

droop: 垂れる、うなだれる

[127 words]

My weekend…and other matters

This weekend was similar to most other recent weekends, in that I had lots of work to do, but I also had to attend the annual general meeting of my neighborhood association. The meeting was 10 minutes long but, fortunately, even though I'm an officer, I didn't have to speak. It lasted just over two hours. I went to work before the meeting and afterwards. Then, on Sunday, I went to work again but went home early to do some gardening. It was tiring but fun.
You may have heard that a general election is coming soon in the UK. It looks like there won't be much difference between the main parties in terms of support, so whichever party can make an alliance with other parties is likely to form a government. As you probably know, the
two main parties are the Labour Party and the Conservative Party. [146 words]

My weekend, and other matters…

My weekend was nothing a special, a bit like all my recent weekends. I went to work on Saturday. But before that, I had to attend the annual general meeting of our neighborhood association, because I am an officer of the association. The meeting took about two hours, so I was a bit late to start work and had to continue working until quite late.
On Sunday, I had more work to do, so I went to my office quite early. In the afternoon, I did some gardening, cutting trees with a small saw. It was quite tiring. In the evening, I checked the football Premier League news. It seems that Chelsea are certain to become champions this year. Arsenal were unable to beat them, but didn't lose, and third-placed Manchester United lost, so Arsenal look likely to come second. Better than usual!
Does anyone know when the new Avengers movie is coming to Japan? Oh, look, it's not coming until July!

160 words

Improving book reviews

Today, let's take a look at some ways to improve book reviews.

First of all, remember a few formatting basics:

1. When you quote directly, be sure to quote accurately. Make sure the quotation is formatted differently, so that readers can see what is a quotation and what is your own writing. Add the page number (but not the other reference information) after the quotation.
2. Don't forget to add an APA-style reference at the end of your book review. Remember that there are basically 4 parts to a reference: Author, Year, Title, Publication information. The author's name should start with the family name. 

Now, a couple of grammar points:

1. Think whether a noun should be singular (1) or plural (2 or more). Try to make sure any verb agrees with the noun.
2. If a noun is singular, usually it needs an article (a/an, the). Think about the rules for using articles.

[145 words]