Trapped by son's DNA

Today we looked at a article from Metro which was related to Surveillance society as well as the study for modal verbs. Steve asked us to be one of the characters who appeared on the article and to write a paragraph about 'what happened and how you feel now.' So I have decided to pretend to be a murderer.

What happened when you murdered Vicky and how do you feel now?
The murder was completely carried out as planned. After I raped her only to satisfy my sexual desire, I killed her because she should not have been alive any more to keep it secret. I decided that it had to seem ilke a perfect crime, but there was the biggest mistake in my life that I left her purse by the front door which was close to my son's bed. It was when I was hiding her dead body in my garden. The purse on which my toddler's saliva was put might never have been forgotten. It could be said that I should have cared about his behaviour, though I could not imagine that the technology of DNA study would advance to this extent which we can use for solving criminals now.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6108496.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7690005.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4087380.stm
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/25/technology/techspecial2/25essay.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=surveillance%20society&st=cse

1/Dec/08

Today for my self-study, I searched what I am going to study next semester, which is internship. I am planning to do internship for one of enterprise companies. As a preparation for this, I had a look at their web-page.

In the web-page, they offer a piece of information for their clients. According to this page, the company is a specialist business incubator and supports especially some kinds of business which are like information and communication technology, interactive media, e-learning and design.

The most important thing is that there is anything to do by myself for my internship. So I need to ask someone who is in charge of this programme something to do for this.


Thank you for your reading.

24/Nov/08 TED.com

Today for my self study I watched lecture on TED.com which is relevant to my subject 'business'. The lecturer was from Bangladesh and an advocate of humanitarian tool business. You can see the meaning of humanitarian tool business from my notes about the lecture below.

As you probably know, Bangladesh is one of the poorest countries. In the countries one five-hundredth has a mobile phone. One day when the lecturer was a child, he needed to get a medicine from a doctor for his mother without calling the doctor beforehand. Arriving at the hospital, there was not anyone and he waited for the doctor all the afternoon but the doctor did not appear. With this example, the lecturer wanted to explain about productivity. The more they have mobile phones, the less they tend to waste of time like that case above.

Well, why do not they have enough mobile phones?
That is because lack of the power to buy them in poor countries. The reason why they lack of the power is that they do not have infrastructures for mobile phones; no credit checks, a few bank branches to collect bills, a few contact points for customer services.

On the other hand, however, the impact of installing mobile phone system in less GNP countries is huger than in more GNP countries. Therefore it is seen by the lecturer as a valuable investment to spread mobile phone over the countries.

Self-study for the seminar about media

In order to prepare for the seminar about media, I have read following articles. And they also had a good to increase vocabulary and collocations for academic writings.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/feb/04/comment.pressandpublishing

to filter out falsehood
One of main purposes of media is to filter out falsehood.

a conduit for propaganda
Media have become a conduit for propaganda of the political party.

Fleet Street
Current Fleet Street are filling with three times as much editorial space as they were in 1985.

feral child bully
There is usually a feral child bully in a class of a primary school.

feel heresy
It feels heresy for strict Christians not to go to the church on Sundays

http://www.ppu.org.uk/education/media_violence_survey-c.html

be reinforced by media content
The trend of violent behavior among children is reinforced by media content.


be on the rise(increasing now)
People who want to live in urban areas are on the rise in Japan.


with the advent of something

Communication has become easier over the last ten years with the advent of mobile phones.

Homework and sel-study 20/Nov/08

''diligent janitor''

For today's homework, I read the article about habits of TV programmes from the textbook. That is also useful to study collocation. I found four unfamiliar collocations below.

take it for granted that...
I take it for granted that they will get married.
I do not take it for granted that you listen to me.


be conscious of/that
I am conscious that there are some necessities to work on my pronunciation.


lazy janitor
The lazy janitor of that huge building has really gorgeous office which is not reflected his actual work.



For 2nd homework today

In almost all something to read, there must be unfamiliar words. Then we do not need to be panicked because we can guess what the word mean from the rest of the sentence. In order to get this skill, we need some training for that. And I did it in the article which Steve gave us in the class and the title was 'Political Campaigns and the media.'

a specific protocol; a unique procedure

definition of protocol: rule

Fiber-optic cable; something new and advanced cable

definition of fiber-optic:the science of technology of light transmission

digital compression; saving something by digital technique

definition of compression:to make something smalle, especially by pressing it

to be a rarity;to become reality
definition:to be unusual

a presumption;a thing which should be done

definition:when you belive something is true without and proof

disparities;gaps/differences

definition:inequalities

extract rationalizations

definition:to improve the way a business is organized, usually by getting rid of people

discretion of the publisher;opinion of the publisher

definition:when someone is careful not to cause embarrassment or attract too much attention,

especially by keeping something secret.

To obtain information for my essay about media, I read some articles below.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/2836157.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/4403224.stm

My homework and self study

Today we also looked at how we can recognize better collocations in the new articles and how to increase my lists of new vocabulary with Steve. Here are four procedures to put new collocations in my brain: read through the article, use the dictionary to get the meaning, re-read the article twice or three times, have a chance to use them. These take long time to do but in total it is more meaningful to do four rules than just to read as many articles as I can.

Homework today is to do the exercise,which is 'In a paragraph of 50-100 words explain why television is seen as a medium of no importance', using collocations which we have studied in the morning class.

Here is my thought below.
Sheer quantity of people watch television for three or four hours a night. Watching television for those who spend their meaningful time sitting in front of their TVs is just two states; it turns on or off. Therefore TV programmes such as documentaries which seem better than other entertainment programmes also do not make any sense for them, even if gifted prople or diligent professionals make the programmes. They do not retain any information from what they watch on their televisions. This might be the reason why the media does not have any importance.


For my self study I watched some videos below which is connected to how to listen to lecture.
ABC news from podcasts.
Also I read articles on Daniel Trump watched the video about his success.

My self study

Today we focused on how we can increase vocabularies around our subjects. Steve told us that it is good way to read the same article closely twice or three times, paying attention to colloquial languages. Then for my self study I read two articles on media below and made vocabulary list.

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23581255-details/Teenagers+who+watch+racy+TV+%27more+likely+to+get+pregnant%27/article.do

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23391233-details/Are+TV+comedians+creating+a+generation+of+school+louts/article.do

After finishing above, I watched this video

http://www.wired.com/video/latest-videos/latest/1815816633/nintendo-dsi/2461960001

and listend to this radio programme. This radio proggrame had been about the recession which England is facing. Chair of local government association had been invited to this programme and explained that northern cities are better to address this crisis than London is.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_7732000/7732759.stm

As my self study

I found a really remarkable and interesting video on Internet. So I want to tell it to you.

The title is ''Paralyzed people control computers with their minds.''

In this video, the most advanced computers, which help paralyzed people communicate with others, is introduced. If you are interested in that, let's have a look at the link below.

http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/11/video-paralyzed.html

About Professor Zizek, I watched this.

http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=EzM8tqjmCU8

For my self-study I read them and watched them.

http://www.wired.com/video/science

http://www.wired.com/video/virgin-galactic-2/1813573892

http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/11/intel-launches.html

New class started

Today we had a look at the general habits of British people which are based on the survey in Simon's class. Here are top 3 habits; talking about the weather, watching soap operas(TV programmes which never finish), getting drunk. After taking this class, I found it interesting to think about the Habits of Japanese people. So there are some tips of them which I can suppose.

1. not saying 'NO': When Japanese are asked to do something by others, they usually don't say 'no.' They try to avoid the direct way in which they say NO. When they can't do a favour from someone, they use the different way; Sorry, I really want to give you my favour but I'm busy. I am so sorry.


2. passive: This habit is caused by mainly Japanese educational system. A teacher gets the students quiet so as it is easier to teach in a class. Recently over 50% of Japanese have been educated from primary school to university. It is calculated that they have taken education under this system for 16 years. From this point,when they start to work, the same thing happens. It seems to be better that if there are any bosses of them, Japanese keep to be quiet until the bosses finish saying something.

Two habits above are often seen as negative ones, but I can't strongly agree with this. They are also good aspects which Japanese culture has in my opinion. The key about this is if they can see the habits as Japanese habits, not as the universal ones. In other words, to accept that there are other different cultures and human behaviour is important.

Just for my memory

Unemployment hits seven-year high

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23374618-details/Unemployment+hits+seven-year+high/article.do

141,000 people were made redundant(fired)

a seven-year high=the highest in the last seven years
a 165-year low

What I have done for my self-study in the third week

This week I have kept focusing on exercises of my listening. So I have done some exercises below this week.

1. watched 24 season 6



2. watched i player; Credit Crunch which was recommended by my teacher



3. studied collocations by reading Guaurdian newspaper online; especially this week, the US election was hot issue, so I have read several articles about it.

details are on my other posts if you are interested in it, have a look at them.

Thank you for reading.

Japanese teenager's behavior

In Japan boys and girls are pretty much the same in what they do. Both of them go to club, karaoke and cinema, drink. Although it is thought that boys and girls are treated in some areas, smoking for women is seen more badly than it for men. One explanation for this might be that women will be pregnant and smoking is thought to be bad for their body.


As regards time, there are some differences between them especially from views of their parents. It would be apparent that parents are stricter with their daughters than their sons. When boys become university students, most of them are allowed to go out all the night under a condition that they tell their parents where they go and what they do there. Girls, however, are usually not allowed to meet their friends after 12:00 a.m. even if they do explain it to their parents. For this reason, girls go back to their house before public transports are closed, whereas boys stay with their friends at their friend’s house, karaoke or internet café after they are closed.

These differences are obviously derived from the aspect of safeness but recently more and more girls have been out during the night. This trend is sometimes connected to some crimes.

My country Japan

It is mentioned that Japan is a great deal safer than other European countries and US. Since I came to London, actually I have found it safe. Nowadays, however, unfortunately it is not as safe as it was 20 years ago. You can read articles about car accidents almost every day on Newspaper. In addition, atrocious crimes which are beyond people's imagines have been increasing over the last 10 years. Allegedly, stresses of people who suffer from problems of their lives cause this kind of crimes.

In terms of cleanliness in Japan, it is far cleaner than other countries. Compared to how it was two decades ago, there is no change or it is cleaner than it was in places in which they are visible, but there must be changes in places in which they are invisible, for example in the air, according to some surveys. It is thought that it is because more and more cars are running on streets night and day.

Obama McCain

Today in my class we talked about the election of the United States. Then I realised I do not know about it well. So for today's self-study, I watched some videos and read some articles which were connected to it.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/oliverburkemanblog/2008/nov/04/uselections2008-barackobama

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/nov/04/advertising-uselections2008

collocations from this article

verb + preposition

to run with the strapline ''Let the issues be the issue''

to bid to become the first black president

noun + noun

party's tenure(duration which one political party works in White House)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/04/barack-obama-grandmother-madelyn-dunham

cornerstone(base) of my family

to offer his condolence to Obama's family

profound(deep) impact

ovarian cancer

to pour something into someone

clerical job(a job which is relating to work done in an office)

studying collocation

For self study I got some useful collocations from one article whose link is following.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/oct/31/globaleconomy-japan

verb + noun


to prop up(support, maintain) the ailing stockmarket





to drag the global economy out of the quagmire





to be split straight(right) down the middle





others


a 25 basis-point=0.025=2.5%
capital eroded by the record falls







meaning of special word which are connected to my subject area


central bank=bank of government

Self-study

What I’ve done this week for my self-study
As I said on my first tutorial, I want really to focus on my listening because this area is the most difficult for me. So I need to get used to it.

1. Watched 24 season 5
2. Listened CD from Longman textbook for TOEFL
3. Done about half of the all exercises from textbook for TOEIC
4. Visited Guardian online and read some article which were related to my subject Business


In fact 2 and 3 are helpful for the test but hopefully they are also going to be practical for my overall English.


My plan of self study next week
1. Keep Watching 24 season 6 because luckily I could borrow it from my friend
2. Visit BBC and see I-player about mu subject
3. Keep doing my exercises from textbook for TOEIC

Studying Collocations

the company SONY which is suffering from global financial crisis

Today we focused on collocations which were connected to our own subject. At the same time we need to be sensitive to academic writing which means they have academic vocabulary and collocations.

For Steve homework, I have read the following article from Guardian and used Gapmaker.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/oct/29/economy-japan-sony-toshiba-electrical

Verb + noun collocations
to batter(break) sales of something
to reveal(announce) profits
to slash(cut, plow) profit forecasts
to make similar moves
to be factored in something = They should be factored into the supplementary budget, if there are measures that must be taken quickly to help the economy.

Adjective + noun collocations
the chronic(long-term) slump
mounting concern
global financial crisis
major exporters

Other type of collocations
the victim of the plunge(rapid recession)
in demand for something = many people demand something

mainstay of the recovery

benchmark index

Self-study

This month, in my self-study section, I want to really focus on listening because it is my weakness. So in order to improve my listening ability, I need to watch TV programmes, DVD or films stuff like that.

At the same time I need to study for TOEIC which is a kind of TEST to measure my English ability and similar to ILETS.

So I watched 24 season 5, one of famous American TV series. In the series, they often use some phrases in the followings.

1. Everything is going to be ok.


2. Copy that.


3. I'll be right back.

Sigh

This blog is one of my important space to grumble.

Yesterday one of my host family has come to my house to stay. She is my host mother's sister's granddaughter. She lives in Liverpool but she loves London, so when she has holiday she usually comes to my house.

I can explain her personality with only one word; restless. She is 17 or so. First of all, I need to mention that I like her. But sometimes I can't stand her behaviors.

She always watches TV. I can understand that she wants to watch TV because it is boring when she is at home. But I cannot understand why she watches it with maximum volume in front of me in living room, for I need to be there to use Internet. It is really noisy.

She is always moving around in my house. I do not really know why she moves around so much.

She is always speaking about something.

Last night, when I was using Internet in living room, she told me that she wanted to sleep now because she needed to wake up early this morning. So I said to her 'yes of course, have a good night.' After that I went to my bed for her and tried to sleep, although I was hearing noise from downstairs. It was sound receiving message of her mobile phone... There was no need to say that I could not sleep until she stopped sending text.

Besides, I have heard one thing which makes me so depressed. That is she will stay here for 8 other days.

I must be crazy.......

My secret life

My secret life

From yesterday we looked on one article which is called ‘My secret life.’ My article is about one of famous comedians, Ed Byrne.

I like his answer towards this question; My greatest regret… is that I have no regrets. Wait – that is one regret. Fantastic! But hang on – I think that has cancelled itself out now. So now I have no regrets now.And then now it is my turn.


The home I grew up in… has been detached house, which is in Chofu-city, Tokyo. All names of Japanese towns have meanings. In regard to my town, it means the department of tax. In other words, in the past, 400 years ago, people living around my town needed to come to my town to pay their tax which was imposed on their rice harvest.

When I was a child I wanted to be… a kind of insect because, at that time, I really did not like insects, especially ants. Therefore the clever boy thought that it was the best way I myself became it. Actually I do not remember this story but my mother often tells me it and makes me laugh a lot.

The moment that changed me for ever… was the period when I was the captain of my baseball team. I needed to manage my team so that the team worked well. In order to do so, I had especially cared about the relationship to my team mates. After that I think I began to think more about others.

My greatest inspiration… is the last match of every season in my sport lacrosse. However it brought to my attention to my lack of my ability for getting the championship which is the title of the number 1.
If I could change one thing about myself… I would like to care less about everything. Perhaps this is because I am Japanese, who care about many things more than other nationalities, anyway I am always worried about something, such as relationship with my friends, my future, my favorite woman. I understand well that if I care about them, there will be no changes about them, but I am worried about it.

What I see when I look in the mirror… is my hair style because I have natural curly hair. If I do nothing for my hair after I wake up and before I go out, you must see me as someone strange and never want to walk with me.

My style icon… I do not have it. If I had to say, I would say my style icon is Hideki Matsui who is major league baseball player. He has quite nice personality as well as good playing.

The person who really makes me laugh… is my team mates. We are usually laughing at the stories about women, which must be dirty.

A book that changed me… is ’Leverage Reading’ which is written by one of Japanese CEOs. This book recommends the readers to read as many books as they can because books, especially Business books, include know-how to be successful which is tried by the writers. So this book concludes that reading a lot of books is going to makes it easy to be successful in the future.

My favorite work of art… I am really not interested in art yet.

My favorite item of clothing… is absolutely DENIM and cool t-shirt. When I go to party, they are necessary for me to be confident.

It is not fashionable but I like... the knitted caps. When I put them on, I seem to be younger like kids, but in winter it makes me warm.

You would not know it but I am good at… playing lacrosse and baseball. I have played baseball for about 10 years and lacrosse for 2 and half years.

You may not know it but I am no good at… controlling my mind. I always care about other people such as my friends, family and team mates. So my mind never relaxes.

All my money goes on… food. I love eating because I want to be bigger for my sport.

If I have time to myself… I want to go back to Japan to see my friends, family.

My house is… semidetached and Victorian taste house. I am living with host family and the house has many kinds of antiques.

My most valuable possession is … my dog which is called Willy but he loves my mother the most, not me. He is Dachshund.

My favorite building is… a kind of modern building. In Tokyo there are a lot of skyscrapers. In my opinion they are symbol of high technology of architecture.

Movie heaven… is ‘American gangster.’ This movie is really cool and throws me into life of American gang. I saw this movie the day when it was just released in Japan and then I am huge fan of it.

In 10 years’ time, I hope to… get married but I cannot get married by myself. In order to get married, I need my best partner. So it is necessary to seek her.

My greatest regret… so far I do not have such a big regret.

My life in seven words… I am always succeeding at the end.


I really want any kinds of feedback to this writing because this is about for me so there are many times to speak it.

13/Oct/08 self-study

From ‘guardian’, I have read some articles.
I put the links below.

One is about Obama’s new proposal.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/oct/13/uselections2008-barackobama-economy-speech

To lay sth out=to explain sth clearly, usually in writing
To embark on sth=to start sth new or important
To dip into sth=to spend part of a supply of money that you have been keeping
A battery of=a member of

One is about UK’s bail-out for banking sectors.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/oct/13/marketturmoil-creditcrunch

to pump sth up=to fill sth with air using a pump
to step down=to leave an important job
contractual entitlement=a right written in a contract

12/Oct/08 Weekend self-study

Yesterday I went to Swansea, which is in Wales, to have a lacrosse match. It was a bloody long journey. It took three hours by train from London Paddington. Anyway I am happy that we won the match by a score of 27 goals to 2.


For weekend self-study I have read a book about Japan, of course which is written in English. The title is ‘Japan FAQ.’ There were two reasons I have read it.

First, my father recommended it to me before I came here. He told me that you have to know about Japan and you would be heard about Japan by your friends and Japan. Actually, in class or when I talked to my friends who are not Japanese, they often asked me about Japan. In my opinion, foreigners, who mean that they are not Japanese, are more interested in foreign countries than Japanese.


Second, I have written description about Oxford, using the form FAQ so it could be useful to review my writing, I think. While I was reading it, I realized one thing, which is that the most important thing is to answer the questions properly. As Steve said to us in our class about topic sentences, the answers are quite economical; they do not have more words than they are necessary. In addition, the sentences which have other information are completely connected to the main answers. They support the answers.

I put the link of AMAZON below, although if you are interested in this book and Japan please let me know. I will lend it to you. Even for me who am Japanese, this book is interesting so I recommend it to you.

http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E3%82%B8%E3%83%A3%E3%83%91%E3%83%B3FAQ-%E6%B4%8B%E8%B2%A9%E3%83%A9%E3%83%80%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B7%E3%83%AA%E3%83%BC%E3%82%BALEVEL4-%E3%83%87%E3%82%A3%E3%83%93%E3%83%83%E3%83%89-%E3%82%BB%E3%82%A4%E3%83%B3/dp/4896840348/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1223842508&sr=8-2

And this book has some useful collocations.

To slow someone down=to become slower or to make someone become slower

To stick out=to be very easy to notice
She was embarrassed because her flower stuck out in the grave.

To be topped with sth=to be covered with sth
Japanese sushi is topped with a small raw fish.

To specialize in sth=to spend most of your time studying one particular subject or doing one type of business

All-you-can-drink option=it is a kind of buffet for drink. If you pay some money for this, you can drink all kinds of drinks which the restaurant serves repeatedly how many times you want.

Good sentence because I can use in other situation.
-Tofu is low in fat and high in protein.
- (about National Holiday) It falls on February on 3 or 4.


To pass down from one generation to the next

10/Oct/08 for self-study

This news is ranked as 1st in Japan today and I thought I was interested in this article. The reason I was interested in this article was that I could find sexual problem universal.

Have a look if you are men.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7657092.stm

9/Oct/08 self-study

For today’s homework and self-study I visited to TED.COM which has many range of presentation VIDEO and thought about what the good presentations are. I liked this presentation (http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/allison_hunt_gets_a_new_hip.html) which is made by Allison Hunt on the site. And I made notes about that.

a) What makes this talk funny?
The impressive thing is that she appeared on crutches. I am not sure it was really necessary for her to walk but it was absolutely successful to catch attentions of audiences.

b) Focus on their body language: what do they do with their eyes, hands, do they move around or stay still, facial expressions.
She used eye-contacts many times and they are turned to everyone, not to particular someone.
c) What kind of rapport do they have with the audience (if it's good, how do they create that rapport).
It was like that they are friends. She spoke alone but she confirmed if the audiences understood what she said.
d) Choose one thing they do that you like and would like to emulate (copy), and one thing that you don't think is that good.
I chose her repetition. She used it to make new information in her talk clear. It is similar to the phrase ‘in other words’.
e) How do they start the presentation; how do they get the audience's attention?

Her smiling face caught the audience. The first impression is quite important.

my final draft

FAQ; of the beginners, by the beginners, for the beginners


1.　How to get there? What you need to do is quite simple. First, you should go to Paddington underground station which is on four tube lines; Hammersmith&City, Bakerloo, Circle, District. Next, after you buy the tickets, you should search the train which is going there. Do not forget to bring your student identification card so that you can make a discount. There are five trains every hour from 5:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m.


2. Where to meet my friends at Paddington? The ticket counter in the Paddington overground station is one of the good places to meet. Avoid choosing the Paddington underground station because you cannot get contact with your friends with phones there.


3. How long does it take to get there? It depends on the train which you get on, although it takes about between one hour and a half and two hours. This enables you to have a trip to Oxford, even if you are given a lot of weekend-homework by your teacher. One of my suggestions is that you should bring something interesting such as a book and music.


4. What is the trip of Oxford like?It will be a long journey, which means walking a lot. It is better to put trainers on than to do boots on.


5. Is there any recommendations?
There are two recommendations for your trip. First, it should be evitable to go there on rainy days and in winter. If you do not follow that, your trip should be though. Next, you decide clearly what you want to do there in advance. It is expected that many university students do not decide it but if you want to make your trip more fun, you should do it.

I hope your trip will be brilliant, following my suggestions. (309 words)

self-study; what I have done

From an article of the Observer I could find some collocations.
They put my cash in an A-rated firm. Turns out it was Lehman. http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2008/oct/05/1


To go into=if an amount of time, money, or effort goes into a product or activity, it is used or spent creating that product or doing that activity.

Medium-term=medium-term outlook remains favorable.

To downgrade sth from A to B=to move someone or something from a more important position to a less important position.

From another article on the Observer there are also some useful collocations.
It’s not just the banks: Britain itself is looking sub-prime.
I could not find the link to see the article.

To be combined with sth=to become mixed or joined, or to mix or join things together.

To kick in=to start to be effective or to happen

From another article on Guardian ’Nearly one quarter of world's mammals face extinction, annual 'red list' reports’; the link is below. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/oct/06/conservation.wildlife
I like this phrase; "As human beings, we should be ensuring that we don't cause other species to go extinct."
Vast numbers of sth

6/Oct/08

Today is my birthday but unfortunately I have completely got a cold. I do not know why because I wash my hands and gagle after I come back to my home. In my opinion I pay attention to my health more than others do. Anyway I heard the winter in England is quite cold so you should tale care your health because most of us have never experienced it.



From my homework which was given by Alex there were some useful phrases and sentences.

To make indirect questions you should use some kinds of rules.
May I ask you what causes volcano to erupt?
Can I ask you what the biggest volcano is?
May I ask you whether a lot of people live near Vesuvius?

Some good phrases
Topographical constraints

From the web page about topic sentences there are some collocations.

To get rid of sth=to throw sth away or give sth to someone because you do not want it now

Followings are from the web page, which are biography about Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Topic sentences are in Italic and the sentences which were added on purpose for exercise are in bold.


Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Probably the best loved of American poets the world over is Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Many of his lines are as familiar to us as rhymes from Mother Goose or the words of nursery songs learned in early childhood. Thumbelina was written by Hans Christian Anderson. Like these rhymes and melodies, they remain in the memory and accompany us through life.

There are two reasons for the popularity and significance of Longfellow's poetry. First, he had the gift of easy rhyme. He wrote poetry as a bird sings, with natural grace and melody. Many song birds are found in Massachusetts. Read or heard once or twice, his rhyme and meters cling to the mind long after the sense may be forgotten. Second, Longfellow wrote on obvious themes which appeal to all kinds of people. His poems are easily understood; they sing their way into the consciousness of those who read them.

Americans owe a great debt to Longfellow because he was among the first of American writers to use native themes. Columbus called the Native Americans "Indians" because he thought he had landed in the Indies. He wrote about the American scene and landscape, the American Indian ('Song of Hiawatha'), and American history and tradition ('The Courtship of Miles Standish', 'Paul Revere's Ride', 'Evangeline').

At the beginning of the 19th century, America was a stumbling babe as far as a culture of its own was concerned. The people of America had spent their years and their energies in carving a habitation out of the wilderness and in fighting for independence. Wood carving was a common American pastime. Literature, art, and music came mainly from Europe and especially from England. Nothing was considered worthy of attention unless it came from Europe. But "the flowering of New England," as Van Wyck Brooks terms the period from 1815 to 1865, took place in Longfellow's day, and he made a great contribution to it.

I checked my writing which I have written so far and found two facts out. First, I have a topic sentence at the beginning of each paragraph, which means to give a general idea about what I want to tell to the readers. In my opinion, the readers can guess what are going to be in the paragraph from my topic sentence. It looks good. Secondly, however, the impression which is given to the readers by reading it is quite weak. So I need to get attentions of the readers but I do not know how to do it. It is my task from now on.

4/Oct/08 record of my self-study

For my self-study I read some articles from news papers.

From Evening Standard, ‘At 34 million pounds, it’s the most valuable Russian import.’ The link is below.
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23563231-details/At+%C2%A334m%2C+it%27s+the+most+valuable+Russian+import/article.do

In excess of sth=more than a particular amount level or amount.
He earns in excess of 60000 pounds a year.

Masterpiece=’Mona Lisa’ is widely regarded as Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece.

To be on a par with sth=to be the same as or equal to someone or something

Instantly recognizable=immediately able to be known

‘Can I still get a mortgage?’ I put the link of the article below.
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23563234-details/Can+I+still+get+a+mortgage/article.do

Amid=while sth else is happening
Amid the global financial turmoil

In the space of a week=during a period of a week

Shun=He was shunned by colleagues.

To be obliged to do sth=to be forced to do sth

I need to show all of what I did this week but today I have a match of my sport 'lacrosse' so I need to go to now. After I will come back home from the match I will write again.

From today England lacrosse season is going to start until next June. It must be exciting and hot!! My team which is named 'Spencer' was the 3rd place the last season. Thus this season we want to get the championship and go to the Madrid tournament which only 1st team are able to join in the next June.

Rewriting;Adi people for self-study section

I would like to talk about the similarities and differences about having a fun between the Adi tribe and my tribe, the Japanese.
First of all I intend to tell you about the Adi tribe. According to Wikipedia, the Adi people have lived in 'the Himalayan hills of Arunachal Pradesh'. The weather is the sub-tropical weather. It basically means where are in latitude from twenty to thirty degrees north and south. It is completely different from Japanese weather.

The most different thing between the Adi and the Japanese is the attitude towards foods and having meals. Much of their life revolves around eating and drinking. They have to go to forest to hunt to survive with members of the tribe. Sometimes the hunting is successful, other times not. In other words they are always next to the risk of starvation. Thus when they eat a dinner, their faces look quite happy. It is really impressive to my eyes. In their life eating is the happiest thing.

Conversely, in Japan it is easy to get foods even if you do not have enough money to buy them. There is no need to hunt animals and collect berries to eat. This is the evidence of the development but that is why I am usually not grateful to every time I have a meal at heart. Of course having a meal makes me happy, but in addition to this, there are a lot of things to do in Japan. For example, going to theater to watch movies, going shopping to buy something and going karaoke to sing songs.

2/October/08

For my homework I read some article from Oxfordshire which is one of local newspapers there and made some notes. I will put it below.

World-famous circus returns
http://www.thisisoxfordshire.co.uk/news/3720345.World_famous_circus_returns/

One of the Russian biggest circuses will be opened in Oxford over this weekend. This circus group will return to Oxford for the first time in seven years. The group is known well in the world. This show has not only traditional and but also unique and novel performances so that it definitely excite everyone coming there to watch.

In my opinion, this show will stimulate the town because a lot of people will come to Oxford to see it. Actually Oxford has been already popular for one of the oldest universities for a long time, although if you are younger generation like university students and go there to just watch the university the trip will be something boring. That is why I think it will be a good opportunity to make travelers more delightful.

The reason I was interested in this article is circuses are completely not connected to my image of Oxford in my mind. This fact taught me that if I would like to write something to attract people, it is necessary to put new or original information in my writing.

summary about oxford cafes

For today's homework I wrote description about where to eat in Oxford.



I intend to explain about where to eat in Oxford in this section. There are plenty of places which we can eat in Oxford but if you want to eat meal with your family or friends without waiting, it is the wise way to make an appointment in advance. The reason for this is not only tourists but also people living in London go to Oxford, using their weekend so it is quite crowded all the year around especially during holidays such as summer and winter.


Anyway I would like to focus on places which serve good lunch because this guide for mainly day-trippers and university students, although I said at the beginning, there are many kinds of restaurants, cafes and pubs to have a meal. Where I would like to introduce you are two cafes. One is named ‘The Big Bang’ and another is named ‘Harvey’s Sandwich Bar’.


First, the former, which is The Big Bang, serves you many ranges of sausages so that you can have a lot of choices of hamburgers and sandwiches for your lunch. Savory smell of the absolutely makes you hungry when you are in front of it. In addition, this cafe is not so expensive. That is why students like me choose this cafe.


Next, the latter also supplies you many kinds of sandwiches. This bar has some kinds of bread such as sandwiches, pitas and baguettes. This bar starts to make a meal for you after you ordered so that you can eat something fresh to eat such as vegetables, meats and cheeses. Similar to the former, this cafe is also cheap. Thus it is popular among younger generation. (275 words)

29/Sep/08

As the record of my self-study, I write down what I did today below. I read One article from 'The Observer'
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/sep/28/bradfordbingley.marketturmoil

• to be tied up with;to connect something to something
• a last-minute rescue deal;done at the possible time
• to sort sth out;to successfully deal with sth, such as a problem
• to be loath to do;to not want to do sth because it will cause problems
• to curve sth up;to divide sth into smaller parts, in a way that people do not approve of
• to get their money out straight away;immediately
• to center around;to have someone or sth as the main part of a discussion or activity
• to seize up;if part of your body or a machine seizes up, it stops mopving or working in the normal way.
• to be teetering on the edge of sth;to be in a situation where something bad might happen very soon
• to put sth up;to increase the price or value of sth
• to swamp the market;to give market more of sth than it can deal with
• to usher in sth;to be at the start of a period when important changes happen, or to cause important changes to start happening

29/Sep/08

Today in my class we focused on the grammer of adjective order. I will write it down below to remember for myself.



Adjective order;

opinion/size/age/shape/colour/origin/material/purpose



opinion;handsome,beautiful

age;new, young,old





for example;
a small thin Canadian lady
a new steel carving knife
a beautiful blue sailing boat
an old square wooden table
an exciting new French band
a big red plastic hat
a small Japanese serving bowl
a dirty old cotton tie
a small round reading lamp
an old yellow German car
a huge wooden sailing ship
an old Physics boring teacher
a handsome slim Canadian snowborder
a round blue suger bowl


And then I found some usefle collocations out for our travel page.

1. Luckily, historic, luxury hotel
2. stressful time
3. copiously filled wallet
4. impressive architectural character
5. a vibrant shopping
6. a somewhat reserved nightlife scene
7. spread out over three elaborate sections
8. the gray-and-honey colored stone mayor house
9. many famous visitors
10. very pricey room
11. luxurious beds
12. the most interesting off-beat spot(Pitt Rivers Museum)
13. lovely dried fruits(Covered Market)
14. an historic medieval coaching inn
15. an elegant country house hotel
16. a delightful city
17. a popular legend
18. rocky history
19. the most infamous outbreaks
20. an academic centre

27/Sep/08

And also I need to show what I've done during this week. The followings are those.

Grammer Excercise from Academic vocabulary in use-unit 34 and 35

• deliberate=intentional


• achieve your goal


• with the intention of -ing


• intense to do


• motivate for -ing


• objective=what you plan to do or achieve


• top priority/ take priority over; fire engines have priority over other vehicles.


• on purpose= deliberately


• Their strategy(=detailed plan for success) was to proceed slowly


• reach/attain/achieve target


• Mission Statement=short written statement of the aims of an organization.


• to further= move forward/advance


• to investigate=to initiate


• glossary=list of words with explanation of their meanings


• terminology=special words or expressions used in relation to a specific subject


• subtle distinctions=small differences


• defining=explaining the meaning of; in your essay, it is often appropriate to begin by defining the key words relating to the topic.


• ambiguous=having more than one meanings.


• coherent=carefully organized and making sense


• convey a messege


• evoke=make someone feel something
  
• discourse=written or spoken text


• connotation=association


• to infer=to guess that something is true because of the information you have


• form an opinion on the basis of indirect evidence


• nuances of meaning=small differences in meaning


• perspective=point of view

the article from gurdian which you can see here http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/sep/19/cosmeticsurgery.advertising

• surgeon= a doctor who does medical operations
• irresponsible=not thinking about the possible bad results of what you are doing
• anatomically-anatomy=the scientific study of the body and how its parts are arranged
• aesthetic=the study of beauty
• torso=the main part of a human body without arms, legs, or head
• to superimpose=to put an image, text over something so that the thing under it can still be seen
• to expose=to make public something bad or something that is not honest
• facelift=medical treatment which makes the skin of your face tighter so that you look yonger
• corrective=intended to improve or correct something
• to undergo=to experience something, especially a change or medical treatment
• to boast=to talk with too much pride about what you have done or what you own
• client=someone who pays someone else for services or advice
• scalpel=a small, sharp knife that doctors use to cut through skin during an operation
• to seduce=to persuade to do something they would not normally do
• vulnerable=easy to hurt or attack
• prospective;prospective buyers=be expected to be in the future
• to fund=to provide money for an event, activity, or organization
• anecdotal=consisting of things that people have said, and not facts
• turnover=how much money a business earns in a period of time
• to flout=to intentionally not obey or accept something

the article from Evening Standard:Stop neo-socialist whingeing about city

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard-mayor/article-23558942-details/Boris%3A+Stop+neo-socialist+whingeing+about+City+bankers+and+house+prices/article.do

• to risk=you caue it to be in a dangerous situation where you might lose it
• to excel=to be very good at something
• to whinge=to complain in annoying way
• indignation;indignant=angry because you have been treated badly or unfairly
• schadenfreude=hapiness by laughing something bad of others
• to cope=to deal quite successfully with a difficult situation
• to concede=to admit something is true, even though you do not want to
• hideously=very ugly
• greedy=wanting a lot more food, money, etc than you need
• to shackle by somthing=to be prevented from doing what you want to do by
• spiv=bad man
• to curb=to limit or control something
• to get carried away=to be so excited about something that you do not control what you say or do
• clapdrop
• assembly=a group of people, such as a goverment, who meet to make decisions, laws

the article from Evening Standard:Mortgages for August at lowest recorded level

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23559204-details/Mortgages+for+August+at+lowest+recorded+level/article.do

• to dominate=to be the largest, most important, or most noticeable part of something
• FTSE100Index=Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index
• testimony= a formal statement about what someone knows or believes is true, especially in a law court
• to avert=to prevent something bad from happening
• unprecedented=never having happened before
• turmoil=a situation in which there is a lot of trouble, confusion, or noise
• to spill over=it begins to have an unpleasant effect on another situation or group of people
• comprehensively=easily to understand
• ground=condition
• bid=an offer to do work for someone for a particular amount of money
• scheme=an official plan or system
• to object to O=to feel or say that you do not like or do not approve of something

the article from Evening Standard:well the center of London at least as he and Chris Hoy take 50000 on a bike ride(sorry I could not find the article on the Internet)

• overwhelming=very strong in effect or large in amount
• to congregate=to come together in a group
• to set off= to depart
• hub=the place that is the center of a particular activity
• the Mall=the street from Trafalger sq to St. Jame's park
• to be awash with=to have a lot of something, often too much
• to brave=to deal with a dangerous or unpleasant situation in a brave way
• to wobble=If something wobbles or you make something wobble it moves from side to side, often because it is not on a flat
• atrocious=extremely bad/violent and shocking/wicked or cruel

the article from Evening Standard:Era ends as Wall Street big two lose their status

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard-business/article-23558561-details/Era+ends+as+Wall+Street+big+two+lose+their+status/article.do

• to cherish=to lobe someone or something very much and take care of them
• to shelve=to decide not to continue with a plan
• acquisition= the process of learning or getting something
• a pillar of something=someone or something who is very important to a place or organization
• takeover=when a company gets control of another company
• watershed=an important event after which a situation completely changes
• entrepreneur=someone who starts their own business, especially when this involves risks
• retail=when products are sold to customers from shops
• crunch=when a situation becomes serious or you have to make an important decision
• brace=something that supports or holds something in the correct position
• resort=something that you do because everything else has falled; a last resort
• demise=when something ends, usually because it has stopped being popular or successful
• bailout=when a company is given money to solve its financial problems
• to prompt=to cause something
• toxic=posisonous

the article from guardian:Britain is the first choice in Europe for foreign direct investment

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/sep/25/globaleconomy.creditcrunch

• Unctad=UN Conference on Trade and Development
• inward=towards the center or inside of something
• threshold=the level at which something starts to happen(閾値)
• the forecast for the next time two years
• to scale back=to reduce scale
• to surpass= to excel
• deterioration;deteriorate=to become worse

I am tired to write them down...

26/Sep/08

I add my essay about travel today.

I would like to talk about my traveling. I have not been to many places but the most impressive trip I have done is to go to the United State. I went to New York this February to see one university which I was interested in. I saw the university as one of my options to study abroad.
The university was in Philadelphia. In order to get there I first had to go to New York because there was no direct flight to Philadelphia from Tokyo. This long journey made me tired but traveling New York was quite exciting for me.
From this trip I have learned that there are a lot of cultures around the world. The further I travel from my country, the more I realise that extremely different world is expanding.
I need to decide which type of traveler I am. In fact it is necessary need to have a lot of money for traveling which needs to stay. Given this condition, I choose the day-tripper.

26/Sep/08

It is necessary to write two things for my class.

First I would like to talk about me. I am from Tokyo, Japan. I have two sisters, one is younger
and one is older. My older sister has her son althogh she is just 3 years alder than I am. Sometime soon I would like to add my family picture on my blog.
By the way I came here only a month ago so I did not have a lot of friends. I need more friends in Endland life.
When I came here, I was not suprisedt at the way of life in England because their cars running on the road were mostly same and music drifting in the shops are same as Japanese ones. This was the first time to feel the globalization with my own skin.


Next, what I need to say is the story about ZEN which I heard from my classmate. The following is the story.
The subject of a student was martial art. One day she wanted to visit her teacher because she was worried about her study. She wanted to ask her that how many years it would take to finish her study. Her teacher told her that you would need 10 years to finish it. By hearing that, she was worried about it more. So she asked her teacher again that if she studied it for 10 hours per day how long it would take. The teacher answered to her quetion and the answer was '20years'

I think this kind of stories are difficult to understand for people from other countries. This story means it is important to study or work hard for a long time. I think it is a representative of the Japanese way of life. In Japan still now there is the culture which quantity is seen as more important thing than quality is.

25/Sep/08

Steve told us to set up our blogs in today's class. I have had already my blog because I used it during previous course here. But I l watched the video which showed how to set blog up again as Steve said. I gave some new information, for example how to add my favorite blogs on my blog, from the video. Steve also asked us to choose our simple templete, which meant that our blogs consists of colors which we can read easily. Some colors are cool but make our eyes tired. Actually my blog had black background and white letters. This was exactly what Steve said. So I chaneged my blog templete followed Steve's advice.

In my opinion posting blog is quite nice way to improve my English. I think it connects to speaking English. I try to continue it so that my English become better as soon as I can.

After the class, some of us joined the social programme. We went to a pub where is one of the nearest ones from my university.

24/Sep/08

Today Steve asked us to see some travel websites to get information for our web pages. I searched them and found some useful sites out.
If you are interested in...
Oxford http://travel.nytimes.com/travel/guides/europe/britain/england/oxford/overview.html
Lake district
http://www.lakesnet.co.uk/


Probably you need to plan your trip before you go somewhere. In a such case, this is a good site to decide your depature time or returning time.
http://www.networkrail.co.uk/aspx/112.aspx

22/Sep/08

We had the first class today. I am happy because we have quite good members in our class !!
In the class Steve told us to set up our own blog for self-study and to think what we focus on in self-study. I have already set up my blog. Because when I took one of English course last month, I used it. So this is the blog which I have used and I will continue to write on this blog about my self-study. By the way I have not decided what I do in my self-study. But there are some options to do. I need to read a lot because I am slow to read the writing in English. So it is a good way to read newspapers. By reading newspapers, in addition to improve my reading skills, I can understand what is happening on in the world.

21/Sep/08

My one-week holiday has finished today.

At first, I tried to go to BBQ with my teammates but I awoke too late to go there. So I changed my plan and decided to go to an exhibition which was held in Liverpool street. One of my friend, who is my father's friend's daughter, put her arts on display at the exhibititon. The arts were made by interviews she did. I could not understand them well because I was not artists but I can say one thing; they are very beautiful !! Sorry for my lack of vocabulary...

The exhibition was held in one building where was on one famous street called Brick Lane. Brick Lane has Market which is similar to Camden Market every Sunday. The feature of Brick Lane is that the street is surrounded buildings which are made in Bricks. So I felt it was old town. But in front of tube station Liverpool street which takes about 5-minute-walk from Brick Lane, there is a financial town. It was quite different from Brick Lane !!

20/Sep/08

Why do the London transportation services stop so often? I have already experienced it many times althogh I have lived in London for only a month. I will tell you two stories about it.

First, when I tried to go to gym on this Wednesday by the bus, I was waiting for it about 30 minutes. From the outset buses which take me to the gym is a few. They say that they come about every 12 minutes but they have never come at the time. At last the bus has come and departed for the gym. Suddenly there was an announcenment which meant the change of termination. I could not believe that the driver did not apologize about it. Finally I could not understand why the change happened but lukily for me it took me to the stop where I wanted to go.

Next, today I needed to go to London Waterloo, for I had a practice for my team at Earlsfield where is more south of London than Waterloo. From Waterloo the many trains, not tube, are running to suburban areas. Retuning back to the story I want to tell you, in order to go to Waterloo I just get the Northern line on from Camden town. It is not long journey but today was different because the waterloo station was closed. I think Japanese people can not understand that a station is closed in the daytime. But here is in England. Our common sense is not in use. Returning back to the story again, the tube which I was getting on to go to waterloo passed the station and stopped at the next station. From the next station did not have direct line to the waterloo. So I had no choice for it, I got on other line which was called baker line to make a detour. Oh my god!! Finally I could get there in time because I went out a little early by chance today but if not...

Thank you for your reading and visiting my blog!!

15/Sep/08

It was a troublesome day today. I went to the bank twice to ask the clerk about my new cards. I would like to buy my mobile phone with a contract, not with pay as I go, which is called prepaid. To get contract, it is necessary to have a reliable credit card which is linked with UK bank account. I have had my credit card already but my card has not been accepted. The cards which are mainly made for students are called SOLO card although I do not know what the acronyms stand for. Anyway I can’t buy it.

After that I practiced lacrosse by myself. When I threw the ball against the wall, some kids passing by asked me what the sport is and to play it. This kind of thing is rare in Japan, I think. But I was scared that the kid lost the ball over the wall.

14/Sep/08

I've finished my course but I will continue writing my blog.
Because some friends in Japan see this blog and it is useful to improve my writing.

I had a lacrosse match agaist WACS which is from Manchester yesterday. This team got the chanpionship last year in the north league of England. So some of them are quite good players, which has some England national squad members. Defense man who is marking me up is also a member of it. The DF man was really powerful and speedy.

After the game, the BBQ was held in front of my pitch. Some people were playing Cricket there. I was surprised to hear that usually it takes several days to come to an end. It was awesome!! I remembered the word awesome today from my friend.

On my way home from the pitch, the northen line was stopped. I did not know the factors leading to the stop but it often stops weekend. It is really rare that trains stop in Japan so it is unbelievable!! I am wondering how people living in London can stand it.

6th/Sep/08

I had two main events today

First,The lacrosse tournament was held at Bath where is west of England. It is really beatiful place and has some natural spas. I heard that the Roman found out the spas and founded the shrines of spas there in the 3 or 4 century.

One of my lacrosse friends piked my up at the Lancaster gate station and we drove to there.　It took about an hour and half to get Bath from London.

In the tournament, I have played for Hampstead Lacrosse team all day. Members of the team were almost American and most of them had played for NCAA division 1 colleges. Now they live in London to work for the banks in the City of London.

The team was really strong and has good players but I do not like it so much. Because I felt they were really snobbish and looked down on others. I think this is because the United States has the best national squad team in the world. That is why I decide not to choose this team for this my season and I want to beat them in the other team!!!!

Anyway I enjoyed this Bath-tournament.

Second,when I came back to my home, one of my house mates Phillip invited me to drink. So we went out to the Bar!! In the bar the leaving party was held for the couple of Phillip's friends. They will leave within one week to Greece. At the party there were a lot of nationalities, for example Columbian, English, Spanish, Bulgarian, Greece... This was the first time for me to drink with such a lot of nationalities. And they all were speaking English well. Therefore it really motivated me to study English!!!

5th/Sep/08

I had to go to the bank because I needed to activate my new cash card. It was so busy that it took long time to come my turn. It was easy to acvate it. At the same time, I asked the clerk that I wanted to another card, because I am thinking to get new phone. My card activated just now can not use for paying the bills oh phone. I have to another type of card. Anyway, he was really so kind that everything proceeded quickly!!!! To be honest, I do not know well about the words which are relative to bank so I said 'pardon?' again and again.

After that, when I came back to my house, my host mother's friend was coming. So we had dinner together!! It was so fun!!

We have to prepare our presentation,
but,


Let's have a good weekend!!

4th/Sep/08

I finally finished my essay. It was long way to complete it. After the class, I usually went to library and was fighting with my PC for a long time!!

Today I began to joining the GYM to do workout. Because in my sport Lacrosse, the big body is the most advantage to play well, especially in my position atackman!!

If you are interested in my sport, please see my link below.
http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=VUrELIkZtE0&eurl=http://mixi.jp/view_diary.pl?id=922504405&owner_id=2432762
That's COOL!!

Tomorrow, but today In Japan, my university will send me my transcription of tha last semester. In Japan, academic year usually starts from April. So I am worried about my grades!! My mother will open it before than me.

2&3/Sep/08

2th
I started my face book because one of international officer asked me to set up so that I could communicate with the students off the class. It is cool, fasionable. We have other social networking service in my country. It is named 'MIXI.' I do not know why the name is but it is really popular. Japanese mobile phone is differnet from Britain's. It enables us to look Internet. Thanks to this, we can see MIXI everywhere if you have mobile phone. So some people spend a lot of time using mobile phone. It is slightly different culture.
My facebook name is Hajime Shimakawa. So if you do facebook, please get in touch with me on it. I do not have still enough friend on it!!

3th
Ann and her groundchild left my home today. I miss them. Because they are so good girls.

And this is good site for bibliography
;http://www.usq.edu.au/library/help/ehelp/ref_guides/harvard.htm
this shows me how to cite from print and non-print sources.

31/Aug/08 & 1/Sep/08

31th
My host mother's sister came my house to stay from Liverpool with her grounddaughter.
They will stay here until this Wednesday. Their English is slightly different from my host mother's one. Especially pronounciation is different, so when we ate dinner together, I could not understand what they said. But it was good practice for me like this blog.

1st
Recently I have spent my time studying English than ever to search Information for my essay, or to study by myself. This tires me but I do not hate that.
I wlii attach links which I searched because I forgot. These are good ways to get information for business.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/271308.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/678496.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6478685.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/guides/457000/457022/html/default.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7067503.stmhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3481855.stm

By the way,
at the exit of BurgerKing there is such phrase;
We hate goodbye.
I think it is better than just writing goodbye or thanks.

30/Aug/08

I played lacrosse in Clapham common today, which is on the Northern Line. This was the first time to play lacrosse in England. I had a great time there. One of my main reasons of studying abroad is to play lacrosse in other country.

My teammates are very kind and so it is very nice team. It was difficult to understand their conversations because their English, especially pronounciation and speed is different from university teachers.

After the game, we drunk at a pub in the common. This was also first time to go pub in England.

I realized that sport is good way to communicate with those who do not know well each other because players can play without many conversations.

I was sorry that I forgot to bring my camera.

28th&29th/Aug/08

28th
In order to get my mobile phone, I went to phone shop in Camden. I asked the clerk and then she told me that I did need my bank account card. Actually, I made my bank account yesterday so I have not got my card yet. I will have to go to the shop again after my card will arrive.

29th
Tomorrow my father is going back to Japan so we went to have a dinner to Savoy Hotel. The hotel has a one of historical restaurants in London which serves us delicious Roast beef!!!! I love it. At this restaurant, the cook came to my seats and there he cut for me.

I will do my homework below.
What did you find useful?
In the Internet Detective Online tutorial, there are something new for me.
For example, URL stands for ''Unifrom Resource Locater'' and gives us some hints.
What did you learn from this tutorial?
I need to improve my skill to search internet for my research of university. At the same time, I have to be carefull not to misuse some information from Internet because there are a lot of information which we can not know who made. Futhermore after I found out somethig good I also have to pay attention not to plagiarize it.

The homework2 in pp26 of our textbook; Summarising.
University lecturers begun to use the programme which is named ''TurnItIn'' to find out whether their students '' has copied'' some information or not.(Duncan,2007,p5)

26&27/Aug/08

26th
I ate French meal for lunch with one of International officer of Londonmets. This was the first time for me to eat French but I am loving it.

I made my own bank account at Nat-West. I was nervous because I was afraid that I probably could not understand what a bank clerk was saying. However,when I actually went there, the clerk was really kind. Safely I could do my task that made my bank account.

27th
When I met my host family, it was difficult to understand what they were talking. But now, gradually I have been able to know their conversation and so it is my favorite time to talk with my host family before I sleep. Althogh we talk about something rubbish, it is so funny that I often find out that over an hour pass. Today, we were talking about ghost, for my host father Haci suddenly remembered the ghost which he saw last year!! I do not know why he suddenly remembered that but then we talked about ghost which were belived in own countries.

25/Aug/08

I went to one of the most historical university Cambridge ''http://www.cam.ac.uk/'' with my father today. He is coming to London to work now. I found out that the structure of Cambridge university is different from most of Japanese universities. On the one side, Cambridge university has some colleges. At first some colleges, for example St.trinity college and St. King's college, were made by Roman and then gathered into one. We call it university. On the other hand, in Japan we usually establish university and then set up some departments inside it. Japanese universities do not have hitory of university as old as English ones. Most historical university was founded about 150 years ago.

24/Aug/08

I went to shopping Oxford Circus and Piccadilly Circus. I needed clothes to wear in Fall and Winter. When I came here, I could not bring them because of the regulation of airplan.
Oxford and Piccadilly are really nice place to get something. They have a lot of kinds of shops.
If you get there, absolutely you love them.

For self-study what I did in the followings.
Unit 4 of my vocabulary book.
New words;
conceive abstract dissertation consequence prejudice estimate
discrepancy=disagreement
rigorous=severe, strict, rigid
methodology

Watching the film'' it's a boy and girl thing.'' It is easy story but difficult to listen their conversations for me.
http://www.itsaboygirlthing.co.uk/

23/Aug/08

Today is Saturday and so we do not have class.
After I got up, I saw DVD ''the Holiday'' with subtitle at home to listen English.
The film genre is lovely comedic story and Cameron Diaz is really cute.
English of this movie so speedy that I could not understand without subtitles.
However movies have pictures. These are really helpful for me to understand what happenes in it.
Eventually I wish to understand movies or TV programmes without subtitles.

After that, my visiting to Soho excited me. I went there to eat dinner with my father. He is coming now in London to work.

By the way, the weekend homework is really difficult for me. I spent lots of hours to on my homework. But it taught me globalisation's present situation.

22/Aug/08

Today I could not say what I thoght in my class and the library.
I think it is because I do not know how to explain my opinion in my daily life. It is not fact that I am thinking about anything. Therefore it is practical for me to assume the conversations which are had in the daily situations and translate them from my own language Japanese into English beforehand. I think it is also useful to look back the day I could not speak well.

One illustration of this is today.
When I looked for some books in the library, I could not find out my books. But I could not explain my situation.
→(to library stuff)Excuse me, I can not find books I want to read, do you know where they are?

I did not know how to use the borrowing machine. But I could not express my problem to the library stuff.
→I do not know how to use this machine. Could you tell me how to use it.


In my class, when I have to explain what the text teachs and which note-taking is good for the text to my group.
→This text told me three types of motivation. They are achivement, affiliation, power. Threfore I think the title/key words note-taking is the best way.

Now when I talk to someone, I am too careful about grammer to speak others.

Do you have any good idea for this?

21/Aug/08

I ate dinner with my host family and then we sung a song together. It is really fantastic time.
My host father is originally Turkish and his name is Haci which is similar to my name.
Moreover his Engish is very well. I have to learn English harder so that my English will be better.

What I did for my study today:
Unit 3 of Academic Vocabulary in use.
It was such a difficult unit for me that it took me a lot of time to do that.

The death penaltyshould be used to deal with murders...
Some people consider that death penalty is effective to publish people who killed someone

The police should take a tougher stance on dealing with younth crime...
It is generally agreed that the police need to have a more patient attitude to teenager's guilt.

Fast food should be banned in all school canteens...
A common viewpoint is that fast food is unhealty for all students.

University education should be free for all...
It is widely believed that students in college do not have to pay for their higher education.

Politicians are not doing enough to tackle global warming...
Recent research has suggested that politicians do not have enough effort to work on climate changes.

It is harder for women to succeed in business that it is for men ...
It is oten argued that women have more difficulties to win better positions in their companies than men.

The dangers of the Internet are greater than the benefits it brings...
Many people say that the disadvantages of the Intenet are bigger than advantage of it.

20/08/08

my note:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6346325.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/guides/457000/457029/html/nn2page1.stm

Now I am interested in Car business. So there are helpful to get information how globalization affect my subject area.

I read my self study book, academic vocabulary in use, and do exercises in it.

19/Aug/2008

Today I bought a book that Susannah recommended,Academic Vocabulary in use, for my self-study.


And I read the book for one unit.

When I was eating dinner, one of my host mother friend Ann has come to my house and talked with her.It is really fantastic and good to listen English.

first homework

Hello my name is Hajime Shimakawa. I come from Tokyo, Japan. I am a undergraduate student at Keio university in Japan. In England I am living in Camden town. I love sports, especially baseball and lacrosse. So now the sport I am interested in the most is lacrosse. Do you know lacrosse? It is originally an Indian sport and really speedy and has hard contacts. I have played lacrosse since I entered my university. I am planning to continue playing lacrosse in London. My major subject is Business and Commerce. So also at this university I am going to study business. Especially I want to study enterprise and management companies. My job has been a tutor to teach mathmatics for an elementary student for one year. I always became happy when my student got good marks on his test.

One reason of my studying abroad is to speak, write and read English more fluently. Present circumstances of my English are weak in areas of speaking and listening. Therefore these are my self-study targets. To improve my weak points I have to carry out three tasks in my self-study. First, I have to buy one academic vocavulary book and remember at least one chapter per week and write example sentences using the new words I have learnt in the book. Second, to speak well about my subject business, I will read more books and articles written in English. Third, to speak more fluently I will try to have chances to talk with native speakers. For example joining the lacrosse club practices on weekends , or going to dinner with my friends who speak English. In conclusion I think the best way to speak English well is that I use it as often as I can.