Public transportation

Someplace I'd like to go with my friends

Someplace I've worked

Photos of KGU

Markets and grocery stores

Cafeterias at KGU and typical lunch

Shopping conversation

If you don’t have anything you want　or you wouldn’t like clerks to talk to you…

Clerk: May I help you?

Me: just looking, thank you.　

If you have any questions or say something to clerks…

*Where can I buy ～?

*I’d like to buy ～.

*Do you have ～?

*How much is this?

*Can I try this on?

*Do you have a larger [smaller] one?

*I’d like this. / I’ll take this.

*Can I pay by credit card? What credit card do you have?

*Could you gift-wrap this please?

*(Can I have) check, please?

A typical shopping trouble for Japanese

Clerk: Hello!

Me: … Hello.

Clerk: May I help you?

Me: Thank you.

Clerk: These pants go well with your shirt. What do you think?

Me: OK.

[138 words]

A survey on part-time job

We researched on part-time jobs for KGU students in Speaking Ⅲ.

At first, we asked if they have any part-time job and about 65% of them did. In addition, 80 % of the students who have a part-time job lived with their parents. The ratio of men to women was 4 to 11. Then, we found the occupation ranking and most of them had jobs related to services. Restaurants, teaching and apparel followed it. We also heard some unique jobs such as an instructor, a web designer and an engineer.

On the other hand, about 35 % of KGU students didn't have any part-time jobs and 81 % of them lived with their parents. The ratio of men to women was 9 to 7. Then we asked 3 questions to them, why they didn't have any jobs, what job they wanted to get and if they got regular allowance from their parents. Reasons of not having a part-time job are mainly "studying is priority" and "still looking for a job". Then, 31% of the students who didn't have any jobs wanted to get ones related to teaching, 19% answered apparel, and 12% answered restaurants. Surprisingly, 3 over 4 of them got regular allowance from their parents. I wonder how the students who don't get allowance can live without any part-time jobs!

Next, we asked the purposes of doing part-time job, and many students said "to get extra money". Some students also answered "to experience workplaces", "to prepare themselves to work in the future" or "to help their families". By the way, there are a variety of complainers at any shops and stores. As many as 73% of the students have encountered them! I think that there might have been some faults they did, however, there should have been some strange complainers who were lack in common sense.

Then, we show how long the students have worked at the workplaces. I wonder if that was because two of us are 2nd-year students and we asked many students in the same year, 44% of the students have worked for over a year to less than 2 years. 23% have worked for over a month to less than 6 months. They might have changed their jobs more than once. 13% have worked for over half a year to less than a year. 17% have worked for over 2 years and only 3% have worked for less than a month. However, since we can't continue working unless we don't like our jobs, we asked if the students liked their jobs and most of them said "Yes!" The major reason was that simply it was fun. The other reasons were that they had good co-workers and good atmosphere, got good experience, good salary, and tasty extra meal. To the contrary, there were a few students who didn't like their jobs because they couldn't get enough salary.

 Also, we indicate the scale of their workplaces and the average of their shift frequency in a week of each grade. 40% of them had 1 to 10 co-workers, 33% had 11 to 20, and 23% had 21 to 50. There were only 4% that had over 50 co-workers. Besides, the hardest workers were 3rd-year students. They worked 3.8 times a week. The 2nd hardest workers, 2nd-year students worked 3 times a week. 4th-year students worked 2.2 times and 1st-year students worked twice a week.

Now or in the future, we have to get a real job, so we asked what is the most important for finding jobs and most of the KGU students chose "high salary", "Challenging of the workplace" and "Atmosphere of the workplace". About 15% answered "significance in the society" and there were about 9% that thought "environment of the workplace" was important.

Finally, though there are less and less housekeepers in Japan, would you like to be ones if you could be? About 40% of the students said "yes" and there were more students who didn't have any part-time jobs and wanted to be a housekeeper, than we had expected! They account for more than 60% of students who wanted to be it.

In conclusion, there are some points that we found through the research. First, the fact that there were a lot of students who answered the purpose of job was to get extra money, shows to enjoy their university life needs much money. At first sight, it was stressful for them to work because many of them have seen complainers, though, thanks for their nice workplaces, they seems to enjoy working. Second, sophomores and juniors are accustomed to university life, so I think they work hard. Conversely, freshmen have just entered the school and seniors have to find their real job, so they don't work so hard. At the end, the students who don't have part-time jobs want to be a housekeeper.

[810 words]

BR 1-11: The Little Red Hen (Arengo, 2004)

"Go away and play!"

This is a story that a little red hen does all the work and gets the reward by itself. Though it found wheat seeds at first, none of the friends helped it plant them. Then it obliged to do all the work by itself. No one sought to help it. Finally, the hen made a lot of bread and it looked good. Although its friends never intended to help it before that, they tried to eat it. The hen said, 'You can't! Off you go! Go away and play!' and ate all the bread.

The story says that nobody knows what trials and tribulations the little red hen has seen and only a men has had a hard time himself can get the reward.

Reference

Arengo, Sue. (2004). The Little Red Hen. Oxford, England. Oxford University Press.

[141 words]

BR 1-10: Who Is It? (Hunt, Brychta, 1998)

No, it's Dad.

This is a story that exciting children are playing a shadow puppet show by using a lamp and his or her dad joined in. They make a guess who it is. At last, a big stuff seems a spaceman, but actually it's someone's dad. He is wearing some sleeping bags, a float, a bucket and wrap some scarves around his chest. They all are laughing.

However, when you get a better look at the picture of page 5, a male is holding a sleeping bag quietly and seeking to pop out while 2 people are playing in the tent. That's why you can guess that he is a dad.

Reference

Hunt, Roderick, Brychta, Alex. (1998). Who Is It? Oxford, England. Oxford University Press.

[126 words]

Letter to my real host family, "Nice to meet you!"

Dear Kristen,

Hi there! I’m going to take part in the homestay program in Minnesota and spend this summer with you, so I’m looking forward to seeing you. I’d like to know who my host family is early.

Let me introduce myself. My name is Ruka. I'm a 2^nd-year student at KGU and majoring in English. I’m 19 years old and I’m from Kumamoto, Japan. I can speak Japanese and simple English but I started to learn basic French when I came to university. I like to play basketball, play the Japanese traditional drums, go shopping and go to some fashionable cafes or restaurants. I also love listening to foreign songs and singing them at karaoke. I don’t know, whether there is any karaoke in the U.S., but it’s where we sing a popular song while a karaoke machine plays the music to the song without the words. I often sing Mariah Carey, Ke$sha, Rihanna and Maroon5’s songs. I work part-time as a waitress at a steak restaurant and as a cook at a dining restaurant. Although the cuisine is expensive, it’s so yummy. I really enjoy working! I live with my mother and I have my grandparents and my great grandmother. All of them always help me as much as they can.

I'd like you to ask some questions. How many members of your family? Are you interested in Japan or Japanese? What do you like to do in your free time? Where do you often go to? What's your favorite dishes? 

When I was a high school student, there was an exchange student from Canada. At first, she didn't know anything about Japan and she went through many hardships to get along with Japanese students. However, she told us about a variety of Canadian cultural information and she also studied Japanese hard to fit in with us. I was really impressed by her modest attitude and thus I wondered if I go to Canada. Then, about a half year later, I found a scholarship to go to Prince Edward Island in Canada to study English. I wrote an essay in English to get it.  It was a nice place and people were very kind. Have you ever been there? After coming back to Japan, I felt like studying abroad again. Now I found the opportunity to study. I can’t wait to go and meet you.

Sincerely,

Ruka

[399 words]

Essay 1-03a: My Language Learning Story and Plans

When I was born in Japan, it's no wonder that I couldn't speak, read and write anything. I was only crying. Several years later, I could learn some easy words like "mom". Then I learned how to count numbers. My nursery school teachers taught us how to write Hiragana, basic characters of Japanese. After I entered elementary school, I completely acquired Hiragana and started to study simple Kanji, one of the ideograms from China. I also started to go to one of the famous cram schools, one mainly for elementary school students, and I took math and English there. I started to study basic English when I was 7.　However, I temporarily stopped studying it because of moving.

10 years ago, I could speak spoken Japanese fluently, of course, but I felt like studying English because my mother used to sing and listen to foreign songs often and I was happy to take the cram school's English lessons. That's why my mother and my grandmother cooperated for me and I started to go to an English conversation school when I was 10. Then, I could speak elementary English such as "How are you?" or "Do you like dogs?" On the other hand, by graduating elementary school, I acquired most Kanji that we use on a daily basis.

As soon as I started to go to junior high school, English education had started there and I learned from Alphabet again. It was so easy for me and I was going a step beyond the school level. Though I didn't know a lot of vocabulary, I could greet someone and introduce myself. I took part in the English recitation contests for the third year in a row and I took a second place in Kumamoto Prefecture. Though I acquired an ability to pronounce English almost accurately, I couldn't speak it fluently. In addition, I took Eiken, an English proficiency test for Japanese and I passed the pre-level 2 5 years ago.

My favorite subject was English, so I decided to go a high school which students can intensively learn it. I passed the entrance exam and started to go to a highly competitive academic senior high school in Kumamoto City. I could study English so hard there because there were multiple subjects related to English. There were a lot of hard tasks, for example, English debates, speeches, and reading materials. Although they sometimes made me boring, now I think that they all did me good. This time, I participated in English speech contests and won third place when I was 16. At the same time, I tried to write an English essay for getting a scholarship to go to Canada and I won it! Then I went to a small island in Canada to study English for almost free for a month. There I learned daily English through I talked to many foreigners including immigrants. I also took Eiken and passed the level 2, but I failed the pre-level 1. Though I've been in the English conversation school since I was 10, I quit it to prepare for entrance exams for universities.

Now I've come to the university to study languages since last year. I took French classes, but it was a little difficult for me. I have a variety of assignments and get an opportunity to utilize English like this blog, so I can speak simple English pretty fluently and also write and listen to it. However, I have a lot of challenges, for instance, TOEIC. I can't speak, write, read and listen to English contents of specific fields even now, so I'm taking a TOEIC class and study business English about three times a week.

I'd like to be a tour conductor after I graduate from this university, so I should study English related to Japan and many foreign countries harder. From this year, to take a national test that manages travel agency, I bought the textbook and started to study it for an hour everyday. Then my dream will come true and I can explain anything of travels briefly in English.

[682 words]

BR 1-09: Cinderella (Hobart, 2006)

'But the shoe is mine.'

As you know, "Cinderella" is one of the most famous stories all of the world. A pretty but poor girl Cinderella meets a nice princess at the ball and she gets married with him. 

At first, she was bullied by her ugly sisters. One day, they got an invitation to the ball at the Palace from the king. They were so happy but Cinderella's ugly sisters made her leave her at home and do everything for their party. However, she really wanted to go to the ball. Then, the Fairly Godmother suddenly turned up there and she fulfilled the Cinderella's wish but she made a resolution, 'But, you must be home before midnight.' The prince became quite fond of Cinderella and danced with her all evening, but she realized that it's become midnight. Though she ran home, she forgot her glass shoe. After that, the Princess went and asked every girl in the town to put on the shoe. Cinderella's sisters couldn't fit the shoe but she fitted it. She honestly said she wasn't a princess but she asserted the shoe was hers. Finally, she and the prince had a nice wedding and everyone lived happily.

When I was a small child, I read this story and felt happy. However, I felt unusual to read it after becoming older. At first, Cinderella was severely bullied by her sisters like that but she could easily get along with them after she got married to the prince. It sounded a little strange to me because we, especially women can't readily be friends to whom they are hostile.

Reference

Hobart, Ruth. (2006). Cinderella. Genoa, Italy, Canterbury, England. Black Cat.

[281 words]

A photo of my eating a typical breakfast

cooking a meal at home

Vacation plan

Summer vacation will come after 2 months! However, I have fewer holidays because I'm going to Minnesota from July 21st and stay there for a month! I take a foreign study and training class called kaigaikenshu. I have 20 classmates to go there and during our stay, we are going to stay with our each host family. This is the 2nd opportunity for me to study abroad and stay with host families. Though I've been to go abroad by myself, I'm a little nervous because I've never been to the U.S. and there are few original classmates in that class. That's why, I'd like to learn a lot in Minnesota and positively speak English.

[114 words]

About blogging

As every 2nd-year student says that, it is really hard to upload English blog, blogger. We have to type at least 8,000 words in this semester. At first, I tried to type so often as I can, but if I have something to do and don't use blogger for several days, I get unwilling to do it. In other words, when I do my assignments on the Internet such as blogger, English Central and Weekly Typing Homework every day, I can recall many daily sentences and write without any trouble. When I was in the situation, I could even speak daily English more fluently. Now, I'm not in the situation, so I should type, type and type!

[117 words]

Let's go for a drive!

Last week, I got a driver’s license at last! I started to go to the driving school in April and graduated from there at the end of May. This is really fast for university students while going to school and having a part-time job. I went to the driving school almost every　day and never failed some exams. In addition, I bought a car license today, so I can drive my mother's car. I can't wait! However, I am a little afraid of take my friends to somewhere by the car because I have a fear to claim the lives of them or the other.

[105 words]

]

Looking for another job

Since April, I have had a part-time job few times a week because I had to go to the driving school. I had only a co-worker of part-time so I invited a friend of mine to work at my work place. I enjoy working with her so much. However, I got a driver’s license and I have free time in spite of having little money. In addition to that, I want to live by myself in a year. That's why I took a recruit magazine called 'Town Work'. I had worked at 3 restaurants in a year so I'd like to work as the other kind of job such as a tutor.

[112 words]

BR 1-08: The Bully (Roderick, Alex, 1994)

"Nobody likes bullies,"

This is the story of a bully girl learns not to bully others through a magic key. At first, she bullied many friends around her and called them by strange nicknames. Then she got to know a magic key, but it didn't work as she hoped to. She was laughed by her friends and after that, she was also bullied by older children. She was really sad but two of her friends found her bullied and they helped her. She really thanked them and swore not to bully anyone.

Especially in childhood, I think there are a lot of bullies, but the older they grow, the kinder they become. The reason is that most of them have also been bullied and then they learn that "Nobody likes bullies." It is really important to learn it to mature.

Reference

 Hunt, Roderick, Brychta, Alex. (1994). The Bully. Oxford, England. Oxford University Press.

[153 words]