Hi everybody! How was your summer holiday? I hope you had a great time, got some rest, and earned some money. I also hope you studied English a little in your spare time. Did you read a book or watch some DVDs in English? Great!
You may notice that I used this blog site for my Summer Intensive English Course. There are some comments from my 9 summer students about things we talked about in class. You can read the comments if you like. I hope you don't mind that we borrowed this site for the purpose of blogging.
Well, now it's time to get started again and do more writing in the 2nd semester. Today's topic is "A Change in Me." We will think about one way in which we have changed in our lives. For example, when I was younger, I thought having my own business would be great. For a while, I had my own real estate office, and I was part owner of a small restaurant, too. Now I really appreciate having a steady job as a teacher, and I don't think I would open a business of my own again. I think I am less motivated by the dream of getting rich, and I am more leery of the risks involved in having a business.
How have you changed over the years? Is there something you believed when you were young that you don't believe anymore? Has your opinion of people or life changed over the years? Have you become more optimistic or pessimistic? This is a sophisticated topic, but if you think deeply and do your best, you can turn it into an interesting blog comment! Gambatte!
The following student essay is a reflective piece where the writer talks about how she has changed over time. Topics and structure were flexible. We called this a Change essay.
ReplyDeleteHow I Changed my Way of Thinking about Our Neighbor, Korea by Swwie
Although I live in a country which is part of Asia, I used to believe I would not have opportunities to talk with Korean people. When I was young, I thought I might be able to talk to English speakers in the future because I had learned English in school. On the other hand, I had never learned any other languages besides Japanese and English. However, learning English gave me a lot of opportunities to talk with Korean people and changed my way of thinking about them. Now I know more about Korea, even though I live in Japan.
In 2009, I went to Canada to study English and had a lot of opportunities to meet students from all over the world. Of course, there were many people from Japan's neighboring country, South Korea. Before living in Canada, I had actually never talked to Korean people or been friends with them. But when school started, I soon made friends with some of the Korean students. We often chatted in English about the cultures of our countries, and we taught each other some words in our native language. Those times made me interested in Korea.
In 2010, I accidentally found a Korean TV drama, "Kun; Love in Palace," on a Japanese channel and it was really interesting to me. This is not a historical drama but a love comedy, so it is easy for me to understand Korean culture. Soon I began to like it. I gradually became interested in Korean TV dramas. They teach me about pop culture in Korea.
Now I am a person who likes Korea. This semester, I am taking a class about Korea and the culture of Korea. I hope I will be able to speak and write Korean a little through this class. I would also like to visit Korea in the near future.
People tend to dislike things they don't understand well. However, if we take a step to know other people's culture, we will hopefully like them and become interested in them as I am interested in Korea. Knowing about other cultures helps us keep a good relationship with foreigners.
The next student essay is an Opinion essay. I encouraged students to not take the most obvious viewpoint in their writing, because the standard politically correct opinion is generally predictable, while playing the Devil's advocate is sometimes more interesting.
ReplyDeleteTV is Good for Children by Junna
Do you like to watch TV? There might be a lot of people who answer “Yes.” I also think so and I think that TV is very good for everyone. Of course, TV has a good influence on children. You might think that it is best that children play outside, but it is more important that children watch TV. I'll explain the reasons.
First, children can relax by watching TV. Everyone might have a favorite television program. Some children like cartoons, baseball games or music programs. When you watch your favorite program, you will be happy. Specifically, when you watch a comedy show, you can laugh very much and it cheers you up.
Next, children can know many things by watching TV. Children know only a few words and there aren't so many children who watch news. But it is possible to learn by watching news, so parents should show children news. Then children will remember many words and will be able to gain knowledge.
Finally, children can enjoy watching TV with their family. For example, children watch a quiz show with their parents. It is also good to watch sports games and support the team together. Then the family's atmosphere will improve. If you don't have a good relationship with your child, you should watch TV together. The family's relations will be good if you do so.
TV has various good effects on children. Children can relax and know many things by watching TV, and parents and children can be amused by TV. If you agree, you should try this right now. But don't show your children the late programs. It is good when the time to watch TV is firmly decided, because children should go to sleep early. If you keep to the schedule, your child will be a good child.