Sarah's Surprise

Sarah has just started work at Mrs. Hayes's café.

The man takes some sandwiches. He puts them in his bag. He takes an apple, too. Sarah watches him. She is surprised.
"What's the man doing?" she thinks. "Oh! He's taking the sandwiches."…
The man does not give the money to Sarah. He says nothing. He walks out of the café with the food.
Sarah looks at the man. She s very surprised but she says nothing. "What do I do?" she thinks.…
Sarah calls the police…

It was a very eventful first day for Sarah at her part-time job. The police nearly arrest the man who took the sandwiches, but finally they discover the truth: the man is Mrs. Hayes's husband, the co-owner of the café!

Waring, R., & Jamall, M. (2006). Sarah's surprise. Boston, MA: Thomson ELT.

Sarah's Surprise (Foundations Reading Library, Level 1) 著者 : Rob Waring Heinle & Heinle Pub 発売日 : 2006-02-09 ブクログでレビューを見る»

Please Stand By, Galveston, and other matters…

Dakota Fanning


Ben Foster
Elle Fanning


Today, we watched two movie trailers for the price of one! We had the chance to see the two sisters, Elle and Dakota Fanning. Dakota's movie was Please Stand By, and Elle's was Galveston. Please Stand By is a moving story about a girl who cannot communicate well in daily life but writes a movie script. Galveston is about a man and a woman who spend most of the movie running from people who want to kill them.
There's another movie with Elle Fanning that I want to see, but it's still very expensive on iTunes and other online sources: The Neon Demon. She plays a model. I heard that the movie is a kind of horror movie.

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Sk8 for Jake

John, Eric, and Yoko were skating in the park, when suddenly…

"Stop that!" [says Mr. Walker]. "Do not play on the benches!"
Yoko says, "But we like skating here, Mr. Walker."
Mr. Walker says, "The benches are for people, not for skateboards. No skating here. Go away."

The children are very disappointed, but they are excited when they see that Jake Montoya, a famous skateboarder, is coming to Bayview. On the day of the event, however, Jake is late, and the children are asked to perform while they wait for Jake to come. Later, after Jake arrives, they also perform with him. As a thank you to the children, Mr. Walker sets up a skate park in Bayview Park for them to use whenever they want.

Waring, R., & Jamall, M. (2006). Sk8 for Jake. Boston, MA: Thomson ELT.

Sk8 for Jake (Foundations Reading Library Level 2) 著者 : Rob Waring Heinle & Heinle Pub 発売日 : 2006-01-05 ブクログでレビューを見る»

Please Stand By, Galveston, and other matters…

Dakota Fanning


Ben Foster
Elle Fanning


Today we watched two movie trailers, one featuring Dakota Fanning and the other featuring her younger sister, Elle. The first one was Please Stand By, with Dakota Fanning, about a very quiet girl who cannot communicate with others but is a talented writer. She loves Star Trek, and writes a script based on it. She leaves for Hollywood to sell her script but doesn't tell her parents. She drops her script on the way.

The other was Galveston, a thriller with Ben Foster and Elle Fanning. Somebody is trying to kill them, so they go on a long road trip, with Elle's daughter (?). It looks a bit frightening but rather exciting.


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Anne of Green Gables: Parts 1 and 2

Lucy Maud Montgomery

Today we watched the trailer for two Anne of Green Gables films. The first one shows Anne when she is a little girl, and the second one when she is 16. The trailers were very short, so it was difficult to get a real feel for the movies. But I'd like to try to catch them. The first one is playing at Denkikan now, and the second one will start in November.
There are actually nine novels in the Anne series. It would be interesting to read all of them. Montgomery also published many other novels and other works.

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Jane and Emma, and other matters…

slave
slavery

Today we watched the trailer for Jane and Emma, a movie set in the U.S. in the time of slavery. Joseph is a white churchman who becomes famous as a prophet. He says that owning slaves is bad, and white men who do own slaves get angry and try to kill him.

Last week, I went to watch a Korean movie. Do you know this one? It was very interesting, and based on real Korean history. Another movie playing now at Denkikan is Anne of Green Gables: The Good Stars. It will be followed in a few weeks by Anne of Green Gables: Fire & Dew. I recommend you check them out!

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At least 10 posts a month

You probably remember the Writing IV intro from the beginning of the month. Here's a quick reminder as we move into the last 10 days of October.

Creed II

Michael B. Jordan
Sylvester Stallone
Tessa Thompson

Today we watched the second trailer for Creed II. Before watching the trailer, we checked out the Rotten Tomatoes page for the Rocky series. The series began with Rocky in 1976, continued with Rocky II, III, IV, and V, the last of these being released in 1990. Then there was a long gap of 16 years before Rocky Balboa, when Rocky made a surprise comeback. Then another gap of nine years followed, with Sylvester Stallone reaching the age of 70, and Creed came out, with Rocky this time acting as the trainer to the son of Apollo Creed, Adonis. And now the sequel to Creed is coming out.
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Creed II

Michael B. Jordan
Sylvester Stallone
Tessa Thompson

Today we watched the trailer for Creed II, the follow-up to Creed, which itself was a follow-up to the Rocky movies, which started with Rocky in 1976. With Creed, Rocky finally gave up fighting himself, as Sylvester Stallone, already over 70 years old, decided that being a trainer would be better. His trainee was Adonis Johnson, son of Apollo Creed, Rocky's friend and rival who died boxing in Rocky IV. Creed is played by Michael B. Jordan, famous for his role in Black Panther.
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Churchill, and other matters…

Brian Cox
Miranda Richardson

(Darkest Hour: Gary Oldman)

Today we watched the trailer for Churchill, the latest movie about Winston Churchill. This one is specifically about the Normandy invasion. It's interesting to see pictures of Gary Oldman and Brian Cox alongside the real Winston Churchill. (37 words)

Churchill, and other matters…

Brian Cox
Miranda Richardson

Today we watched the trailer for Churchill, a movie starring Brian Cox in the Winston Churchill role. With Darkest Hour having finished only a few months ago, of course there will be comparisons between the two movies. In particular, people are interested in comparing the performances of Gary Oldman (Darkest Hour) with Brian Cox (Churchill). I enjoyed the Gary Oldman movie very much, so I am looking forward to seeing Churchill. It is playing at Denkikan now, so please check it out if you get the chance.

By the way, do you know what other movies the two main actors have appeared?

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A Quiet Place, and other matters…

Emily Blunt
John Krasinski

Today we watched the trailer for A Quiet Place, a movie starring Emily Blunt and John Krasinski, who also directs. I like Emily Blunt, so I am interested in this movie. She has appeared in The Devil Wears Prada, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, Edge of Tomorrow, Sicario, and Looper. She and Krasinski are married in real life. Krasinski is also very good. He appeared in the American TV series The Office and now stars in Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan, a TV series.

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Writing IV 2018–19

In this class we will focus on writing fluency, as in Writing III. Since you already have a semester of experience, the amount of writing expected will be larger. We are also going to put more emphasis on improving your writing quality. You will need to use the feedback on your writing to judge your own weak points and systematically try to improve.

This semester, in general we will do two assignments a week on Manaba. One is a book review, and one is an exercise from the Trio Writing 2 textbook. After doing them and getting feedback, you should do the assignment again on your blog, using the feedback to improve it.

Please see the handout and future posts on this blog for the details.

A Quiet Place, and other matters…

Emily Blunt
John Krasinski

Today we watched a trailer for A Quiet Place, a new movie starring Emily Blunt and John Krasinski, who is also the director. It started in Japan last Friday, and will probably play for a few more weeks. It's very exciting, and the basic idea—aliens who attack anything that is noisy—is very interesting.
Another movie playing now that looks rather interesting is On Wings of Eagles. It's playing at Denkikan, and will finish this Friday. More than the story, what interests me is the star, Joseph Fiennes. He was great in the movie Shakespeare in Love, but decide that he didn't want to become a Hollywood star, so he avoided appearing in any big movies.

Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, and other matters…

ABBA

Today we watched the trailer for Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, which is the sequel to the 2008 movie Mamma Mia!

Actually, I'm not so interested in this movie, so I'll talk about some other movies that are playing now or coming soon. Denkikan still has Phantom Thread and Lady Bird showing. Phantom Thread ends this week, while Lady Bird will continue until August 3rd. From August 4th, Last Flag Flying, with Steve Carrell, will begin, as well as a new Roman Polanski film starring Eva Green. I'm not sure what the original name of this movie is, but it's called 告白小説、その結末 in Japanese.

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Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, and other matters…

Today we watched the trailer for Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, a sequel to Mamma Mia!, the very popular movie featuring lots of Abba songs, sung karaoke style.

Before watching the trailer, I checked out Mama Mia! on Rotten Tomatoes. I was very surprised to see that it was made in 2008, ten years ago. Given that, it is unsurprising that the cast has many new members.

As you may know, ABBA were a Swedish group that were very popular in the 1970s. Their first hit song was Waterloo, and other popular ones were Dancing Queen, Mamma Mia!, Money Money, Money, Fernando, Chiquitita, and so on.

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Saoirse Ronan: Lady Bird, Brooklyn, Mary Queen of Scots, and other matters…

Today we watched three movie trailers, all starring Saoirse Ronan. First, we rewatched just a little bit of Lady Bird, which we watched a few weeks ago. As you know, that movie is now playing at Denkikan. Then, we watched Brooklyn, a 2015 movie about an Irish girl who moves to New York to escape a life of poverty. Finally, we watched Mary Queen of Scots, a new movie starring Saoirse as Mary and Margot Robbie as Elizabeth. The Japan release date is undecided, so in the meantime I think I will rewatch the 1971 movie starring Vanessa Redgrave.

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Saoirse Ronan: Lady Bird, Brooklyn, Mary Queen of Scots…and other matters

Today we watched some trailers of movies starring Saoirse Ronan. First, we rewatched a little bit of the Lady Bird trailer, then watched the trailer for Brooklyn. That is a 2015 movie that got very favorable reviews. The other one was Mary Queen of Scots, in which Saoirse plays Mary, and Margot Robbie plays Elizabeth I. Probably some of you know this history a little. That movie is not yet scheduled for playing in Japan, but when I went to look for it I came across a much older movie called Mary Queen of Scots. That one is from 1971 and stars Glenda Jackson and Vanessa Redgrave, two very famous British stars. I think I'll watch that one again before the new one comes to Japan. I don't have any certain information, but I am pretty sure the new movie will play at Denkikan.

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Molly's Game, Miss Sloane, and other matters…

Jessica Chastain


Today we watched the trailer for Miss Sloane. It's about a lobbyist. Then we watched the trailer for Molly's Game. It's about a woman who was an Olympic athlete. When she retired she started an expensive poker salon in Washington, DC. The FBI raided it, because they thought her profits were illegal.

Both movies star Jessica Chastain, who has been in many good movies, including Interstellar. The second is a true story. It's playing at Denkikan now. Check it out if you have time!

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Molly's Game, Miss Sloane, and other matters…

Jessica Chastain

Today we watched the trailer for Molly's Game, a movie starring Jessica Chastain that is playing at Denkikan now. It's the true story of a retired Olympic athlete who starts a big poker game in Washington, DC. The FBI get involved and arrest her.
We also saw the trailer for another movie starring Jessica Chastain, Miss Sloane. That played at Denkikan a few months ago. I saw it there. I thought it was a great movie. It was about a lobbyist who leaves a large company when she is instructed to lobby on behalf of a tobacco company. She joins a small company to fight against tobacco.
The World Cup semifinals are coming soon. England (!), Croatia, Belgium, and France will fight it out for places in the final. I think France is the favorite to win.

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Gofun ha Juubun

The Young Karl Marx, Dreams, Daffodil Lament, and other matters…

The Cranberries (Ireland)

Today we watched the trailer for the new movie The Young Karl Marx. As the title suggests, it follows the lives of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in their twenties, around the time that they wrote The Communist Manifesto.

The Communist Manifesto was written for people of the time. Marx's work Capital is more valuable for people of our time. Thomas Piketty's Capital in the 21st Century may be a good book to follow it up with.

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My Gofun ha Juubun Progress

Here are my Gofun ha Juubun stats so far.

The Young Karl Marx, and other matters…

Today we watched the trailer for The Young Karl Marx. It's about Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, the young philosophers, economists, and political theorists who wrote The Communist Manifesto in the 19th century. Their work was to become the inspiration for the Soviet Union and The People's Republic of China, as well as many other socialist republics such as Cuba. The movie is playing at Denkikan, but will end this Friday. It's probably another one that I will have to miss. Hopefully, it will me out soon on iTunes or DVD.
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LADY BIRD, and other matters…

Saoirse Ronan
Greta Gerwig

Today we watched the trailer for Lady Bird, a new movie starring Saoirse Ronan. It is directed by Greta Gerwig, who has become very popular over the last few years as an actress and more recently as a writer and director.

Have you been watching the World Cup? Both England and Japan will play their first matches tomorrow (Japan Time). Please get up at 3 tomorrow morning to watch England!! Japan is playing at 9 in the evening, I think. Go, Okazaki!

I think Spain will win the World Cup. Their first match against Portugal was very exciting.

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Notes on the rest of the semester

1. Remember that there is no class next week.
2. To get a credit, you need at least 10 posts in June and 10 posts in July on your blog (NOT including Speaking posts).
3. Make sure that you have the tags (labels) Book Reviews, Gofun ha Juubun, My Diary, and Trio Writing on your blog.
4. Please finish your list of errors. (Later, we will talk about how to classify and prioritize them.)

Lady Bird, and other matters…

Greta Gerwig
Saoirse Ronan


Today we watched the trailer for Lady Bird, a movie directed by Greta Gerwig and starring Saoirse Ronan. It will come to Denkikan in the middle of next month. Greta Gerwig has been very popular for the last few years as an actress and now as a director. The movie is kind of about her life, and Saoirse Ronan is kind of a young version of her. I like Saoirse Ronan. Recently, I saw her in Brooklyn, and I'm looking forward to seeing her in Lady Bird.

Has anyone been following the World Cup. Spain 3 – 3 Portugal seems to have been a great match! I'm looking forward to England's and Japan's first matches.

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Listening errors

I like watching movie.               movies                singular/plural
I have big family.                       a big family        articles

Unlocked, Isle of Dogs, and other matters…

Unlocked
spy thriller
Noomi Rapace
Orlando Bloom

Isle of Dogs
stop-motion animation
Wes Anderson
Bryan Cranston

Today we saw two movie trailers. The first was for Unlocked, a movie playing now at Denkikan. It stars Noomi Rapace, Orlando Bloom, Michael Douglas, and John Malkovich. It's a spy thriller featuring some kind of plot to attack an American military site in the UK. Rapace's character Alice finds out that there's a mole somewhere in the CIA.

Isle of Dogs is a Wes Anderson stop-motion animated film. Most of the characters are dogs who can talk. It reminds me of his movie from a few years ago, Fantastic Mr. Fox. If you haven't yet seen that movie, I recommend that you check it out. Isle of Dogs is playing now at Hamasen.

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The Ugly Duckling

That made the ugly duckling curious. He looked into the shiny water. Wow! He had grown into a beautiful swan, just like them! (pp. 14-15)

Today, I read The Ugly Duckling, in the Folk & Fairy Tale Easy Readers series from Scholastic. The series features 15 titles, with five copies of each title packaged in a nice, colorful box. Check out the whole series!

The Ugly Duckling is a well-known story written by Hans Christian Andersen. I find the message of the story a little confusing. On the one hand, it seems to celebrate superficial beauty: if you look like a swan, you're going to be fine, but if you look like a duckling, you will be the target of ridicule. On the other hand, it does seem to celebrate self-confidence and also kindness:

From that day on, the once ugly duckling lived happily ever after. And he was always kind to all living things, from peacocks to potato bugs. (p. 16)

The set of books comes with a teacher's guide, with some background and activities to use in class.
Although it's good to read stories with which you are familiar, I recommend that you use this series to familiarize yourself with stories that you haven't read before. Another series that's also good for that is Usborne First Reading. Here are links to levels 1, 2, 3, and 4.

Folk & Fairy Tale Easy Readers: The Ugly Duckling 著者 : Scholastic Teaching Resources 発売日 : 2006-03-01 ブクログでレビューを見る»

Unlocked, and other matters…

Unlocked
Noomi Rapace
Orlando Bloom



Today we watched a trailer for Unlocked, a new movie starring Noomi Rapace, Orlando Bloom, John Malkovich, and Michael Douglas. It's a thriller about a terrorist plot against an American military target in the UK. It's playing at Denkikan now (at 11:10 and 18:30!). It looks rather exciting, and I want to go and see it!

Another movie I want to see is Isle of Dogs, still playing (but only once a day) at Hamasen.

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Some good recent movies

Recently, I watched Deadpool 2. After enjoying Deadpool very much, I was looking forward to it. But I got tired of the metacommentary and wanted to leave early. Some better recent movies are The Shape of Water and Darkest Hour. Darkest Hour stars Gary Oldman, who is also famous for Leon, the Harry Potter movies, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, and so on.

Damascus Cover, Red Sparrow, and other matters…

spy thriller

Jonathan Rhys Meyers

Jennifer Lawrence

Today we watched two movie trailers, both of them spy thrillers. The first one was Damascus Cover, starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers. It's coming out in the U.S. in summer, so will probably come to Japan in winter. The second one was Red Sparrow. That was a Jennifer Lawrence movie that played in Japan a month or so ago. I enjoyed it very much. Actually, I like spy movies very much. Another one that's worth watching is Spy Game, starring Brad Pitt and Robert Redford. A more recent one was Atomic Blonde. And a good old one is The Little Drummer Girl.

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Damascus Cover, and other matters…

Jonathan Rhys Meyers
spy thriller

Mossad agent

Today we watched the trailer for Damascus Cover, a new spy thriller starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers. I don't know Jonathan Rhys Meyers so well, but I think he was in the Woody Allen movie Match Point starring Scarlett Johansson.

The World Cup will be here in a week or so. Who do you think will win? I think Spain will win, but Germany and Brazil are also very strong.

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