ヒューマン国際大学機構　　海外大学留学・進学ブログ

ピーター　ヴァンデェヴィアー
HIUC講師
カナダ出身

Hello. We are just finishing the third week of the spring term at HIUC Osaka. All the classes are going well， and the students seem to be doing fine.In my reading and writing class， we are making good progress. We spent some time looking at topic sentences. A good paragraph needs a good topic sentence. The students had to write some topic sentences for homework. No one got perfect， but everybody got 80 to 90% correct. I thought that was pretty good. We have just started to look at supporting details. A good paragraph also needs good supporting details. That means there should be specific details and examples. When you write a paragraph， you have to ask yourself questions. Often， the answers to those questions need to be part of your paragraph.

           

We have also been working on our grammar. We covered subjects and verbs. All the students did well in this area. Then we looked at simple sentences and compound sentences. We did some practice worksheets and some writing homework. Next， we are going to look at complex sentences.

            

The other classes have been busy too. The students in the essay writing classes are all working on essays this week. They need to write five-part essays. That mean the essay needs an introduction paragraph， three body paragraphs and a conclusion paragraph. They have also been reading Oliver Twist. They need to do vocabulary building activities and comprehension questions based on the book. Later， they will need to write some paragraphs based on the characters in the book. Towards the end of the term， they will need to write an essay on the book.

                                                

The students in the American culture class and the level four listening and speaking class gave short presentations this week. Most people did pretty well. They are all using the skills they have learnt so far. For example， they had cue cards with the main points of the speech on them. They also had good eye contact with the audience and spoke with some intonation.  It is nice to see everyone using what they have learnt. I look forward to their continued success.


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Happy New Year!

I hope you had a good New Year’s. The students at HIUC have just a few more days off before school starts again. I hope they had a good break，and that they did the homework that they had to do.



I had a nice break and ate some delicious food over the New Year’s Break. I also had some relaxing days of spending time with my family. I did some work and spent some time marking student essays. Some of the students are making good progress. They are making less small errors and adding more details to their essays. I also got some lesson materials ready for the upcoming classes. When school starts it is going to be busy for the students. They will have four weeks of classes but many big assignments to finish. I hope they come back from break with lots of energy.

I hope you have a great 2012. Talk to you later.

ジェリー　マーティン
HIUC講師
アメリカ出身

Thanks to everyone for finishing strong!!
Had Powerful PowerPoint Presentations ALL week!
Learn from the FEEDBACK!!!!

All your instructors know you can use PowerPoint very effectively and efficiently.....now we want the DELIVERY to complete the PACKAGE!!! Make it happen!!



GE Business students gave some very persuasive pitches for a start-up business.
Push yourselves really hard!

Please review all your notes and textbooks that you have used so far! Nick reminded everyone today that you cannot forget the basics!



Be aggressive and hungry for new vocabulary and speaking opportunities at ALL times!
Do not wait for your instructors to tell you!!

Christmas is coming....Santa's making a list....He's checking it twice....
He's gonna find out WHO IS STUDYING OR NOT!!!!



Soooooooo you better hit the books......you better not be lazy....
because without an education....you will surely go crazy!!!

Your instructors and staff are ALL here to support you toward your educational goals!!



Just remember....YOU!!! YOU!!!....and only YOU!!....have to make the effort!!
Have a super beautiful winterbreak!!

ピーター　ヴァンデェヴィアー
HIUC講師
カナダ出身

Hello. Today， I will tell you about the level 3 integrated skills class. Wes is teaching both classes. The students are working hard and doing a variety of tasks. Last week， they were working on a unit about gender and language. The unit focused on how men and women use language differently.

  

The unit introduced some general differences in how men and women use language. For example， men use more command sentences than women. Women tend to use more adjectives than men. When men speak， they tell the listener the basic details， but women will tell the whole story. According to one news article， men use about 7，000 words a day， but women use about 20，000 words a day.

The students had to read two articles about gender and language. They had to take details from both articles and combine them into one chart. Then they used the chart to talk about the topic. They also did some work on vocabulary and grammar. After working on the unit for a few days， they did some role plays based on what they had learned.

  

The class was dived by gender for the role plays. Females were put into women only groups， and males were put into men only groups. Each group had three to four people. The women had to act like men， and the men had to act like women. Each group had to choose a location for their role play. For example， the women pretended to be at sports events， and the men pretended to be at a nail salon， shopping， or bumping into a friend on the street. They had to use gestures and language to match the gender they were pretending to be.

The role plays were all very well done! The students used lots of gestures and even tried to change their voices to sound more like men or women. The role plays were humorous， and the students did a good job of using the ideas they got from the unit in their role plays.

This week they are starting the unit on capital punishment. They will read a few articles about the issue and do some vocabulary and grammar activities. They will also have to do a little research. At the end of the unit they will have small debates. They will also need to take what they learn and write about their opinion on the topic.

  

Have a good week.

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ピーター　ヴァンデェヴィアー
HIUC講師
カナダ出身

Hello. I hope you are enjoying the cooler weather. We are now a few weeks into the Winter Term at HIUC Osaka. This semester， I am teaching the college level public speaking class. It is a nice change. I have been teaching reading and writing classes for the last few terms， so it is fun to teach a speaking class again. It is a pretty tough but enjoyable class for the students. The text we use is the same one that is used in a number of American colleges. So far， the students are doing fine.

In the first week， we looked at some skills to use when reading college level texts. This is important because some nights they need to read twenty pages or more of the textbook. We have also done some work on note taking and working together to share and correct answers. In college it is important to prepare properly for class. If you prepare properly， you can participate actively in the class. That means you can talk to the teacher and share ideas with your classmates.
This is a very important part of many college and university level classes in North America.


                                      

We have also done some mini-speeches in class. In the second week， each student had to give a speech about the day they were born. They had to talk about what happened in the year， month， and / or day they were born. They had to show how that information was linked to them as a person now. They were all very interesting.


                                     

In the third week， each student gave another short speech. They had to briefly teach the class about a topic. For example， one student talked about how to get rid of lip lines， another student talked about how to be successful in a job interview， and the other students talked about other topics. The goal was to give them a chance to practice organizing information in a clear format.




We have also done some work on speaking smoothly， clearly and with vocal variety. Vocal variety means using your voice to show different feelings and to keep the audience interested – your voice goes up and down， and faster and slower. In this activity， they had to read newspaper stories and try to sound like real announcers. Then they switched news articles and had to record their voices on the computer.

                                      

This week they are going to read children’s stories in class. It is much more difficult than it sounds. Some stories follow a rhythm， and all stories require lots of vocal variety and properly used pauses. They will also start preparing for their first major speech.

The next few weeks will be busy， but they should learn some pretty important speaking skills.

Hello. At the end of October， we had our annual Halloween party. It was organized and run by some of the students in the G Class. Many of our regular students and some of our distance learning students came to the party. Also， most of the teachers were free that day and came to the party as well. It was nice because most people dressed up. A couple of people did not have time to make costumes， but most people had some kind of costume.



At the party we played some games， ate some food， did some short skits， gave out school awards and had a small costume contest. For the games， the students and teachers were divided into different teams. We played a charades game. One person from the team had to come to the front of the room and act out a famous person. They could not talk. They could only use gestures. Then the other teams had to guess who the famous person was. We also played a game called ‘Chinese Whispers’ or ‘Broken Telephone’. Each team gets in a line. The first person has a card with a message. They whisper the message to the next person in line. They cannot show them the card; they can only tell them what it says. Then that person tells the next person and so on. At the end of the game the last person in the line has to say what the message was. Usually， you get some stranger answers. The team that is closest to the original message wins. We also played a game where each team had to make a ‘Mummy’. The students had to wrap a teacher from toe to neck in toilet paper. The idea was to be the first team to make your teacher look like a mummy. All the games were very fun.



For lunch we had some pizza， snacks and drinks. It was fun to just eat and talk. The skits were fun to watch and do. The E Class did some short stories using different monsters. Their ideas were pretty original. They had the monsters， angels and devils acting our regular day events. We all laughed. The F Class did some improvisation skits. They did a good job or keeping the action going. The G Class did a skit， and they did some dancing. They danced to a few songs including Michael Jackson’s Thriller. It was fun and a nice to surprise to watch them dance. Finally， the teachers did a short skit too. We took the story of the ‘Three Little Pigs’ and changed it to the story of ‘Three HIUC Students’.

At the end of the party we gave out some school awards. There were awards for perfect attendance， best grade point average and high TOEFL scores. We also gave certificates to the students who graduated from the course. After that， we also gave out some awards for the costumes. It was very difficult to decide who should get an award because there were many cute， interesting and scary costumes.



I think all the students and teachers had fun. I know I had a good time.


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ピーター　ヴァンデェヴィアー
HIUC講師
カナダ出身

Hello. Today I thought I would focus on one room in the school. By looking at one room， you can see a little of what our students do every day. I am going to focus on the computer room. It is not the biggest room in the school， but it is one of the busiest at times. It is kind of like a train station – sometimes it is quiet and peaceful， and sometimes it is busy and noisy. Students come early and stay late to work in the computer room， and some even come in on Sundays to do extra work. I hope you enjoy looking at a small glimpse of our school through our computer room.



In the morning， before classes begin， the computer lab is often empty. Usually， the first people in the lab are teachers. Sometimes they are preparing for their lessons， and sometimes they are sharing information with each other about their classes. Then as the start time for the first class gets closer more students start to use the lab. Some of them print up assignments they need to give to their teachers， and others work on their homework.



In the middle of the day and after the last class finishes， the computer lab is often very busy. Students might be doing homework activities such as listening to audio files and answering questions， or making recordings of speeches， pronunciation activities or short conversation with a partner. Students also often ask teachers for help. They might ask English questions， computer questions or questions about the assignments they are working on.



Often the computer lab is quiet because everyone is working， but there are also times when people are talking. Of course students are talking when they are making recordings. But， they also talk with teachers just for fun. It is also common to see students talking with each other. They talk about their homework and help each other， and they plan their group presentations. They also just talk for fun.

As you can see the computer room is only room in our school， but a lot of different activities go on in it.

Have a good week and talk to you later.

ピーター　ヴァンデェヴィアー
HIUC講師
カナダ出身

Hello. We are on summer vacation at HIUC Osaka. Some of the students went back to their hometowns and some of them stayed in Osaka. I have seen some of the students visiting the school to study English and work on their summer homework. I hope all the students are working as hard as the students I have seen in the library this week.



Last week， Wes and I taught a special English class at Toyonaka High School. We went there for three days in the afternoon. We taught a group of students who singed up for extra English practice. I had a class of eight students and Wes had nine. They wanted to learn about making speeches in English. We gave them some homework to do before the class began. I was very happy because most of the students had finished all their homework and were ready to learn. The staff and students were very friendly. The students were also very eager to learn， so the three days went by very quickly.



On the first day， we did some mini-speeches and ice breaker activities. The students interviewed each other about their daily activities. Then they made short speeches and told the class about their partner’s daily routine. Each student also did a speech about their name. They told the class what their kanji characters mean and why their parents choose that name. It was very interesting. One of the teacher’s from the school also went to the front and made a short speech – it was a nice surprise. In a third activity， they used pictures to tell the class about their partner’s family， an activity they like to do， a place the have visited and something they are interested in. It was nice to learn so much about the students in a short time.



On the second day， we talked about the good and bad points of living in a city or living in the country. The students had to choose which place was better to raise children. Then they worked in pairs and made speeches telling the class what they chose and why. We also did more practice with the structure of a speech and making short introductions. We also worked on using comparisons when giving a speech. Students worked in pairs and made speeches comparing two Japanese cities. They had to recommend which one was better to visit. They did a good job with the grammar and the structure of their speeches was good.



On the last day， they worked with new partners to plan a five to seven day trip. The trip could be in Japan or out of Japan. Then they presented their travel plan to the class. As a class， we voted on which place we wanted to go to. The trip presentations were very good. The students used interesting introductions. They also presented their information in a clear， well organized way and used transition signals. I was really impressed at how well they did.

Wes and I really enjoyed teaching the students at Toyonaka. I hope some of them will come to HIUC when they graduate. I would love to teach them again.

ピーター　ヴァンデェヴィアー
HIUC講師
カナダ出身

Hello. I hope you are having a good summer break and keeping cool. We have finished our first term in HIUC Osaka. The students finished their first 10 weeks and now they are on summer break. We gave them some summer homework to do to make sure that they keep on working on their English. I hope our students are having a nice break， relaxing， getting refreshed and doing some English practice to get ready for the next term.

 

On the last day of school we had a small end of term party. Most of the students were able to come to the party so it was nice. We began with some snacks and drinks. Students could eat and talk with their friends. Some of the teachers were at the party too， so they were walking around and talking with the students. It was nice to see so many people smiling and laughing. After 10 weeks of hard work， it was nice to see them relax.

 

After eating and talking for a while we moved to the library. We gave out some awards. We gave awards for perfect attendance. I was very happy because we had many students with perfect attendance， so we gave out many certificates and small gifts. We also had an award for the most improved TOEFL score. One student improved her score by 53 points in 3 months. We also gave out awards for breaking 500 points on the TOEFL. We had two students with 510 and one with 550. It was nice to see students doing so well so early in the school year. We also had two students graduate so we said goodbye to them. I am sure they will do fine overseas and I wish them both all the best.

 

Finally， we did some skits at the end of the day. We had some volunteers from each class come to the front of the room and perform for the rest of the school. The E and E1 classes did skits that were based on being in restaurants. They were very fun to watch. One group did a story about their bad day. They were trying to find boys， but had no luck. The other group went to a restaurant with a new waiter and they had many problems with their order. Both were funny to watch. The students had good gestures and spoke well. The F class did a role play to show off what they learnt over the term. They were sightseeing in New York， went to a restaurant and at the end one of them was robbed. It was a very exciting skit. It was funny because they kept using comparatives and often changed what was happening in their skit. The G class volunteers did a skit where a girl came home to find Jack Sparrow (Pirates of the Caribbean) and Jack Bauer (24 hours) in her room. She was confused why they were there and the two Jacks were arguing. At the end the Jacks left together as friends and she was all alone. It was funny to watch.

 

At the very end of the party the students challenged the teachers do some improve skits. We agreed and we told them to shout out situations and we would act them out. The told us to pretend we were in the office upstairs， at a restaurant， a bar and the beach. There were five of us and it was our first time to do skits together. We had fun and I hope the students had fun watching us.

 

Have a good break and talk to you later.

ピーター　ヴァンデェヴィアー
HIUC講師
カナダ出身

Hello. Today， I thought I would tell you about some of the speeches and presentations that students have been doing recently.

Chris’s level 1 class did two-minute presentations on famous US monuments. They had to have a picture of the monument， so everyone could see what it was. Then they had to give details about it to the class. For example， one student talked about Mt. Rushmore and another student talked about the Library of Congress. The Library of Congress speech was difficult because it included lots of big numbers. However， the student did a good job of getting all the numbers right.

 

Wes’s level 2 class did speeches about sports. They did some research on a sport and then talked about its benefits or risks. They had to use Power Point and they had to speak loudly while looking at the audience.  Here are some examples of their speeches. One student talked about the mental， physical and social benefits of baseball. Another talked about relay races. They said relay races teach people about teamwork and give people a sense of accomplishment. For risks， one student talked about the risks of playing tennis and another spoke about the risks of skateboarding. In their speeches， the students also used some good phrases to show that they got information from official sources. For example， they said， “according to … (newspaper name， website name， or doctors name) then they said the fact”. This is a good phrase to use when you are using information that you got from some place such as book or the internet.

                         

Lance’s level 3 class had been talking about pre-nuptial agreements. These are contracts that people make before they get married. It says what each person has to do after they get married. For example， the husband will always wash the dishes and the wife will dry them. Or both people have to wake up before 8:00 in the morning. In his class， one student had to be the husband and the other student had to be the wife. Then they had to negotiate a pre-nuptial agreement. Lance said some of the students did a really good job of taking on the role of husband and wife. The next day， the groups had to present their finished contracts to the class. They needed to tell their classmates what they decided to put into their contracts.

                         

                         

When not preparing and making speeches， the students do a wide variety of activities to improve their grammar， vocabulary and other speaking skills. In this example， they are working on countable and uncountable nouns using a card game. They then had to use these ideas in a role-play activity.

                           

Have a good week.

ピーター　ヴァンデェヴィアー
HIUC講師
カナダ出身

Hello. This time my blog will be a little different than last time.

Today， I am going to take a look at one day at HIUC Osaka. Josh and I get to school before the students， and we are often the first teachers to arrive at school， so we usually have the computer lab to ourselves in the early morning. The computer room gets busier as the day goes on.



In the morning， HIUC Osaka has level 1， 2 and 3 speaking classes. We also have level 1 and 2 reading and writing classes. During the first period， the level 3 students have a break， so a few of them come to school early and get some extra work done in the library or in the computer room. 
 


During second period， half of the level 1 class gets a break. Some of them spend it having lunch in the break room， some study in the library， and there are always a couple of people in the computer room.  

All the lessons stop for lunch. Some students go out to eat， but many eat with their friends in the classrooms. Some students take the whole lunch break to eat， relax and joke with their friends. Some students will eat for half the break and do some homework for the other half.

In the afternoon， HIUC Osaka has level 1 and level 3 reading and writing. We also have level 1， 2 and 3 integrated skills. After lunch， the level 2 class has a free period. Sometimes I find some of the level 2 students in the computer room or in an empty classroom taking a short nap.

After two difficult morning classes and a big lunch， I guess some of them are pretty tired. The rest must help them because they usually have lots of energy in their last class. During， the last period half of the level 1 class has a break. Some students go home， but many stay and study or talk with their friends. Sometimes the students will also talk to the Japanese staff. It is nice to see them using English outside of class.

After school， some students leave quickly. However， many students stay and continue to study. They work in the library， the computer room and the empty classrooms. Usually， there are many people， but if it is a Friday， like today， it is not as busy.

ジェリー　マーティン
HIUC講師
アメリカ出身

Last month， colleges and universities all across America held graduation ceremonies. 
May is the traditional graduation month for college and university students. 
After years of studying hard， writing a zillion papers， and taking a gazillion tests， students are rewarded with a graduation ceremony that recognizes their hard work and effort! 
Students receive a diploma， which becomes a special keepsake for many students. 

Many American students have their diploma framed and hang it on the wall in their homes or offices.
 
Less than half of students who start college or university finish， so receiving a diploma is a very special and happy event.


Although graduation day is a very special and happy day， the day also is a reminder that school days are over and the work-life begins.

For students who have marketable skills and speak two or three languages， it is a very exciting time because they have many job opportunities waiting for them; however， for those students who did not study so hard， did not get marketable skills， or did not improve their language skills， the happiness of graduation day quickly disappears and becomes quite stressful. 

Good advice before you go to school abroad is to seriously think about your job opportunities when you graduate. 
Choose your major wisely. 
Four years passes by very quickly! 


If you have already finished 2 or 3 years in school， it is never too late to change your major. 
Get skills that will allow you to find a job after you graduate. 
Accounting， finance， math， science， and computer programming combined with the ability to speak two or three languages pretty much guarantees you a job!

Whatever your major， graduation day should be a great memory! 
If you are having troubles finding a job after graduating， there in only one thing you can do…go back to school and get MARKETABLE SKILLS! 
Good luck! Your graduation day is not too far off!

They are also doing a lot of reading. First， we read 10 short stories about Maria Montessori， and now we are starting to read 10 short stories about Africa. Each student is also reading a graded reader as part of their pleasure reading. They need to read a short story (40 – 70 pages) every seven days or so. On top of that， I give them a surprise reading activity once or twice a week. The reading activity is about one page long and has some comprehension and vocabulary questions on the back. Reading is an important part of building vocabulary， grammar and English knowledge.
 
The more you read the easier and faster it gets.
They are working hard and making good progress.

Have a good week and talk to you later.


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A great former HIUC student who came back and gave the current HIUC students a great talk about making the most of their experience abroad!!!


He was the talk of the school for the following week!!!!


Just SUPER information!!!


Thanks for taking the time out of your busy schedule， Makoto!!!


The students and I appreciate it very much!!!


Looking forward to the next time!!!


L & P!! Thanks for the glasses!!!

ジェリー　マーティン
HIUC講師
アメリカ出身

HIUC Tokyo now has a Twitter feed!


Stay positive and learn new vocabulary，
idioms， and study techniques by following us!

HIUC teachers will be sending out tweets everyday!

Follow us @HIUCJapan If you don't have a Twitter account，
think about signing up for one.

Nick and I have created new TWITTER accounts for 2011!
Depending on what you are studying: TOEIC， TOEFL， TOEFL iBT，
and English for International Business.



Follow one or follow them all!

We are committed to improving the English language skills of Japanese
and other non-native speakers of English.

Tell your friends!! ...Let's get Japan GOING IN 2011!

Twitter:
 @TOEFLJapan
 @TOEFLiBTJapan
 @TOEICJapan
 @EIBJapan

ピーター　ヴァンデェヴィアー
HIUC講師
カナダ出身

Hello. On October 31st， we had a small Halloween party here in Osaka.  It was organized and run by a group of students. They did a great job. We ate pizza and some snacks. We played some games – guess who ate the wassabi cream puff， what is the answer to various quiz questions， and rock-paper-scissors with squeaky hammers and bowls. There were prizes for the winners. Lot’s of students wore costumes – that was great to see. People were talking in Japanese， but people were also talking in English. The organizers did everything in English. It was fantastic to see them using what they had learnt to have fun and to run the party. I had fun and it looked like all the students had fun too.



The day after the party， the Winter Quarter started. This term I am teaching level 3 reading and writing. We are going to start by writing paragraphs， but by the end of the course we will be writing five part essays. It is a tough course， but I am confident that most of the students will do fine.



So far we have done a couple of vocabulary quizzes. I want to get the students used to using vocabulary cards or vocabulary notebooks to build their vocabulary. As the level of the textbooks get higher， the vocabulary gets more difficult. Therefore， it is important for students to work on building their vocabulary. It looks like most people are using cards or notebooks to work on their vocabulary. We will continue to have the tests to push the students to continue to work on building their vocabulary.



The students are also writing a daily journal. I give them a topic and they write a page to a page and a half of information based on the topic. Some journals are more “free”. This means they can just write what they think and not worry too much about organization. However， most of the journals will need to be organized into proper paragraphs. These journals will match the type of paragraph we are studying at that time. Last week， they wrote a monster story， a paragraph introducing one of their classmates， and two other journals.



This week， they have two big tasks. They have to read a book and write a summary about the story. Most books are 50 to 70 pages long. We have a collection of stories that the students can choose from. Most of them are shortened versions of famous stories. The students have 10 days to read the book and write the summary. The other task is to write a paragraph about a ‘memorable event’ in their life. They will need to submit， correct and resubmit their paragraph two or three times. By working on the same paragraph for two or three drafts， they can see where they have made mistakes and get a chance to correct them. This means they can learn from their mistakes and see what they need to focus on in the future.

Have a good week.

ピーター　ヴァンデェヴィアー
HIUC講師
カナダ出身


Hello. The Fall Term has ended and the students and teachers are on break for one week. Classes will begin again on November 1st. I hope the students come back rested and ready to work hard. The Winter Term will be tough but interesting. By the end of this term all the students will be writing 5-part essays. A 5-part essay has an introductory paragraph， three body paragraphs and a conclusion paragraph. In this term all the students will also get a chance to do at lest one or two presentations using Power Point. They will have to give speeches in front of their class and use slides. The students in the level 5 classes will be using textbooks that are used in American Colleges to teach first year native English speaking students – this is a good challenge for them. In my blogs during the winter term we will look a little more at some of these classes and their teachers.



                 
During my break I will continue to do some work. I will be marking paragraphs and essays that are submitted by the Distance Learning Students. I will also be doing some work to prepare for the winter classes. However， I also plan to rest and have some fun. In my opinion， the weather at this time of year is perfect. It is not too hot and not too cold. I plan to go to USJ a couple of times. I hope to ride some of the attractions and watch some of the shows. The Halloween parade is very different this year from last year. If I get a chance， I hope to go to Kaiyukan， the aquarium in Osaka， or to Tennoji Zoo. My kids love watching animals. That is the nice thing about working or studying in Osaka， there is always something to do.


                          



Well， not too much to write about this time. I hope you are enjoying the beautiful weather and talk to you next time.


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ピーター　ヴァンデェヴィアー
HIUC講師
カナダ出身


Hello. Well， there is only one week left until the end of the fall term. The students will then have a week off before they start the winter term. This term I am teaching level 2 reading and writing. My students have been working really hard and have made some good progress. They are starting to look a little tired from all the work， but this last week will continue to be as busy as usual. I think it is important for them to learn not only English but also time management skills. I also think that it is important for them to learn that they are capable of working harder and doing more than they think they can. This way when they get to America， they will have the confidence to succeed.



This week the students continued to learn about writing paragraphs that are supported by reasons followed by detailed and specific examples. For example， they wrote a paragraph about Osaka. They wrote that Osaka is a great place to go for vacation. Then they gave reasons， such as Osaka has good restaurants， interesting historical places， fun amusement places and good places to see animals. They supported these reasons with detailed examples. For instance， if you like history you can go to Osaka castle which is based on the castle built by Hideyoshi and then rebuilt by the Tokugawa’s. There is also has a historical museum inside the castle donjon. For people who like animals they can go to Tennoji Zoo and see animals such as monkeys， lions and koala’s， or they can go to Kaiyukan and see sea animals， such as whale sharks and stingrays.



They also had a vocabulary and grammar test. The vocabulary was based on some short stories we read over the last eight weeks. The grammar quiz was a quick review of verb tenses. We usually have some kind of quiz every week. They are not long， only about 10 to 15 minutes long. I have not marked the test yet， but in the past most students did well. They often get A’s or B’s.

In class， students often work in pairs to compare their answers and to share ideas. For example， students have to read three or four sentences. Then from a list of four choices they have to choose the best word to finish the last sentence. Then they compare their answers and talk about ‘why’ they chose that answer. This helps them work on their English speaking and reasoning skills.



The one thing I really like is that most of the students in my class spend a fair amount of their free time studying in the library or the computer room. Many of the students will study for a couple of hours before and after class.

Like I said before， it has been a busy semester for them， but most of the students are showing real progress in their writing ability. Their paragraphs are getting longer and better structured. They are also using more specific and detailed examples and support in their paragraphs.


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ピーター　ヴァンデェヴィアー
HIUC講師
カナダ出身

Hello.
The part of Canada where I grew up is very rural.  The town I live close to， about 10 minutes from my house， has 10，000 people.  However， many of my friends came from towns that were even smaller.  My mom lives in the country and beside our house there are many fields.  This year the farmer planted wheat.  In the past he often planted corn or soy beans.  The corn he used to plant was for animals and not for people， so we could never eat any of it.  



When the farmer harvests the wheat he uses a machine called a combine.  It is a big machine the cuts the wheat and collects the seeds.  He then passes the seeds from his combine to a wagon that is pulled by another tractor.  This other tractor then pulls the wagon to the road near the field.  On the side of the road there is a transport and trailer.  He then dumps the seeds from the wagon into the trailer so the transport can bring it to town. After all the wheat has been harvested the field is full of straw (the cut remains of the old wheat plants).  




The farmer then uses a machine to collect the straw.  In the past it was common to see square bales of straw， but now many of the farmers where I live make circular bales.  He uses a machine that collects the straw and then packs it into a circle that is wrapped with twine (a small thin rope).  The bales are about 2 meters high.  These sit in the field until the farmer moves to them a new place.  



Sometimes mushrooms farmers will buy the straw and use it to cover their mushrooms.  This year the farmer was very lucky.  He had beautiful weather to harvest the wheat.  However， the day after he finished， we started to have many storms.  The storms come off the lake and are very big.  There is always lots of lightning and thunder.  The wind is very strong and tress sometimes fall down or their branches are knocked off.  The rain is very heavy and the fields get very muddy and sometimes we have flash floods.  We did not have any tornados but we did have tornado warnings.  The storm warnings have been on for two days so far.  Where I live in Osaka I almost never see storms like these.  I also do not see such large fields and tractors. That is a little about my where I grew up.  



Have a good day and enjoy the summer.


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GREAT LAST DAY!
7月16日に夏学期が終了。2009年度の学生数名が、この夏学期まで勉強を続けてきました。いよいよ8月に海外大学へ！

★☆講師からメッセージ　〜海外へ羽ばたく学生へ〜☆★


講師＆スタッフ

Jerry: Great last day!  Said good-bye to a group of great students!!!  New students are FIRING ON ALL CYLINDERS!!!!!

Mike: Thank you everyone for a great semester - I really enjoyed it! To all departing students: best of luck to you and keep in touch!


海外へ羽ばたく学生たち

ピーター　ヴァンデェヴィアー
HIUC講師
カナダ出身

Hello
The summer term has started!  We are just finishing our first week of classes.  This term I am teaching Level 1 Reading and Writing.  It has only been one week， but it has been a good week.  The students seem hard working and motivated. I think we might be able to accomplish more than I had originally planned.  I will write mostly about my class， but first I would like to write a few general things about the first week.

The students seem to be settling into their new classes nicely.  I see the teachers and students talking a little to each other before and after classes in the hallway.  It is good to see that the students are quickly learning to not be shy about using English.  We are going with a strict English only policy in our computer lab.  It takes a while for everyone to get used to the rule and to follow the rule， but so far it is going pretty well.  Already， I see students using English in the computer room during their free time without us telling them to use only English.  We are off to a good start.  If this continues the students can expect to make big improvements this year.



Let’s take a look at my class for a bit.  The reading and writing class is normally one of the more difficult classes and also usually has the most homework.  Students really need to read and write every day if they want to make big gains.  It is hard， but it can also be a lot of fun. In our first week， we have focused on some of the basics of the class.  This is not just English basics but also classroom basics.  A big part of the first week， in all the classes， is getting settled into the routines of the class.  Once students get settled in， they can really start to focus on their English.



On the first day， we quickly looked at the course goals and grading scheme.  We also talked about what each student needs to have for the class.  Students need to have a notebook for their journal， a notebook for new vocabulary， and a notebook for the general notes that they take in class.  To get used to writing， to get fast at writing， and to get comfortable with writing it is important to write a lot.  Therefore， students have to write in their journal every night.  The purpose of journal writing is to improve your writing fluency – how much you can write in a given period of time.  Every day the students are given a general topic such as family， music， friends， and so on.  Then they need to write about that topic.  They should write 50 to 75 words a day. Small mistakes are okay.  They key is to write as much as you can， as clearly as you can， in a short time.

For their vocabulary notebook we have been practicing using a set pattern.  First， they divide the page in half so there is a left side and a right side.  Write the new word on the left side of the page.  Beside the word write the part of speech (noun， verb， adjective， etc…).  Below this they write the sentence where they found the word.  Then they use their English-English dictionary to look up the word.  They write the meaning of the word on the right side of the page.  This makes it easy to review vocabulary and test your memory.  You can cover the right side of the page with your hand and test your memory.  Then you can lift your hand and see if you are right.

We also chose graded readers.  Every student now has a graded reader.  They do a little reading for fun every day.  We took some class time to look over the books and talk about how to choose a good book.  We also talked about the importance of doing a little reading for fun every night.  The more you read the better your reading will become.  Reading also helps you with your vocabulary and grammar.  It also helps with speaking because every day in class the students tell their partner about their book and what they read the night before.



We also did some work with in class reading. We looked at a fable “The Lion and the Mouse” in class.  We went over the steps we will use when we are reading short stories.  First， look at the title， any pictures that are with the story， and look at a few of the sentences in the story.  Then try to predict what the story is about. Next， read the whole story with out stopping or looking up new words.  This will help you get the general idea of what the story is about.  Then read the story a second time.  This time， underline words that you do not know.  After you have read the story， look up some of the words you underlined.  You will need a dictionary to do this.  Finally， read the story a third time.  After the third reading， the students work in pairs to talk about the story.  They talk about: who is the story about， what is the story about， what is the moral of the story， and did they like the story or not and why. This is to get them reading at the paragraph level and not the sentence level.  You do not need to understand every word in order to get the general idea of a story.  This is a skill they will also use when they are reading their graded readers.



These are some of the basics that we focused on in the first week.  These are things that we will continue to do for the rest of the course.  We will also add more skills to these over the following weeks.

We also did some writing practice in the first week.  On the first day， students worked in pairs.  They used the questions in the book to interview their partner.  They took short notes.  Then they changed partners and used their notes to tell their new partner about their old partner.  That night they wrote a paragraph about their partner.  They handed them in， and I wrote corrections on the pages and returned them to the students.  They had to re-write their paragraphs and hand them in again on Friday.  On the second day， we read a few self introductions from the text.  We did some brain storming and sentence writing practice in class.  That night they had to change their ideas into a paragraph.  They handed in their second paragraph， and I checked them and wrote corrections on them.  On Friday， they also had to hand in the corrected version of this paragraph.

We also did some work on some basic grammar rules and looked at the proper format of a paragraph.  For the first couple of weeks we will focus on finding the subject and verb in a sentence.  We will also look at identifying the nouns and verbs in a sentence.  Next， we will work on finding the errors in sentences and fixing them.

The first week has been good.  I hope the next week will be even better.  Have a good week.


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ピーター　ヴァンデェヴィアー
HIUC講師
カナダ出身


Hello.
Class is going well， and recently we have been focusing on ‘thesis statements’.  A good essay needs to have a good clear thesis.  If you clearly know what you want to write about it is easier to write clearly and effectively.  This means that your essay will probably be clear and easy to read.  If you do not clearly know what you want to write about then your essay is probably going to be unclear and difficult to read.

So what is a clear thesis statement?  First， a good thesis does two things.  A good thesis tells the reader what the topic of the essay is.  It also expresses the writer’s opinion， idea or point about the topic.  

Let’s look at a couple of examples.  ‘Our new college library building is ugly， intimidating and inefficient’ – is the first example.  In this thesis statement， what is the topic?  ‘Our new college library building’ is the topic.  The writers point is that the building ‘is ugly， intimidating and inefficient’.  Here is one more example – ‘learning to write takes work， patience and a sense of humor’.  What is the topic?  ‘Learning to write’ is the topic.  ‘Takes work， patience and a sense of humor’ is the writer’s main point.



If you look closely at the main point that the writer wants to write about you will see a list of three items.  These three items are the main points the writer will discuss in the essay.  Since we are doing basic five paragraph essays each point is one body paragraph.  That means that the essay about ‘our new college library’ will have three body paragraphs.  The first body paragraph will discuss the idea that the building is ugly.  The second body paragraph will deal with the idea that the building is intimidating.  The third body paragraph will deal with the fact that the library is inefficient.  It is very important to remember that your body paragraphs have to be in the same order that your thesis lists the points.  This list of points is called a ‘plan of development’.  You tell the reader what points you are going to write about and in what order you are going to talk about those points.



Here are four more tips to remember when writing a thesis statement.  Make sure you write statements， not announcements.  Announcements have phrases like ‘the subject of this paper will be’， ‘I want to talk about’， or ‘…is the concern of this essay’.  You do not want to use phrases like this in your essay.  It is also important to avoid statements that are too broad.  For example， the thesis statement ‘fish are interesting creatures’ is too broad for a five part essay.  You could write a book about this.  You need to have a more focused thesis.  It needs to be something that you can write about in five paragraphs.  Also， make sure to avoid statements that are too narrow.  If your thesis is too narrow it is a fact.  A simple fact does not need support.  Therefore， you cannot expand it into an essay.  For example， the thesis statement ‘an earthquake hit Chile last week’ is too narrow.  This is a fact.  There is nothing else you can say about this.  Finally， make sure that your thesis develops only one idea.  Remember our earlier example ‘Our new college library building is ugly， intimidating and inefficient’ – this is a good example.  It has only one idea.  That idea is that our college library is not very good.  Compare that with the following example， ‘the new architecture on this campus is very unpleasant， although the expansion was desperately needed’.  This thesis has two ideas， can you find them?  ‘The new architecture is unpleasant’ is one idea.  ‘Expansion was desperately needed’ is the second idea.  This means that this thesis in not good.



The thesis statement is only one sentence but it is perhaps one of the most important sentences in the entire essay.  That is why we have been looking at this idea so carefully in class.  We have talked about it and we have done a number of activities around it.  I hope the next time you write an essay that these tips will help you.


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