AnswerTips

I have added AnswerTips to this blog. If you find a word in this blog that you do not know, double-click on it. A "bubble" will pop up with information about that word. The explanations in AnswerTips are not as clear and simple as what you will find in the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English Online. For example, AnswerTips defines "advantage" as "a beneficial factor or combination of factors" while Longman says that an "advantage" is "something that helps you to be more successful than others." Still, AnswerTips is very convenient. Another advantage of AnswerTips is that it allows you to hear how a word is pronounced. If you want to here the pronunciation, click on the mark inside the AnswerTips bubble that looks like a speaker:

If you have difficulty understanding an explanation that you find in AnswerTips, please click on the "Tools" link I have placed in the "Links" section on the right side of this page. From there you can go to the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English Online.

If you would like to add AnswerTips to your own blog, click here and then follow the directions. This will produce "code" that you will need to copy and then paste into your blog in order to add the AnswerTips function. To download a PDF file with very clear and simple instructions on how to add AnswerTips to a "Blogger" (the service we are using in this class) blog, click here.  Placing AnswerTips on your blog may help people read what you have written.  Perhaps more importantly, though, it may also help you read comments that are written on your blog by your readers (me, for example).

By the way, I noticed the AnswerTips function while reading the Japan Times online. When you click on a word in a Japan Times article, an AnswerTips bubble pops up.

Comment notification

In my last message, I wrote that I expect each of you to read the comments I write on your blogs and to respond to them. I have just learned that you can receive e-mail notification when someone writes a comment on your blog. Here's how to do it.

First, when you are looking at your blog, click on the "B" in the upper left-hand corner.

Then click on "Settings" ("設定" in Japanese).

Next, click on "Comments."

Then, scroll down until you see "Comment Notification Email" ("コメント通知メール" in Japanese). Type the address or addresses to which you want the notification to be sent. I suspect that many of you will choose to have the notification sent to your mobile phone address.

Have you read my comments?

I have been writing comments on each of your posts. Some of you have responded to my comments (either with comments of your own or in your next post). However, I suspect that many of you have not even read the comments I have written. You are required to read my comments and, from now on, I will also require that you write some kind of response to each of my comments.

I posted about where to find the comments and how to post your own comments in my message called "Comments." By sure to read that.

You are also required to read everything I have written on my blog. I often have to tell students to read about how to post on my blog because it seems they have not yet done so and, therefore, do not understand how I want them to post. To be honest, I'm beginning to get a little tired of this.

If you like, you can write on your own blog about what you have read on my blog. Of course, if you find words on my blog that you do not know, you can look them up and write a little about them on your blog, just as you would do when you read something else. And, I would be very happy if you would write comments directly on my blog by clicking the "comments" button.

Film festival and mailing list

I'd like to recommend a mailing list called "Kumamoto-i". Information about Kumamoto is exchanged in English on this mailing list.

Recently, there was an announcement about a Short English Film Festival:

Kumamoto is having a Short English Film
Festival June 15th 2008 at the Kumamoto International Center

I recommend that you read Kumamoto-i from time to time. As you get more practice in reading in English, you will get information about events in Kumamoto. Some of the events may help you met people from other countries.

How do I know when you've posted?

As there are many students who are taking this course, there are many blogs that I need to check for new posts. Fortunately, I don't need to look at each page each day to see if something new has been added. I use something called "Google Reader" to keep track of all of the blogs I need to read. "Google Reader" is one of many ways to use RSS (Really Simple Syndication) to keep track of information on many different web sites.

If you have several different blogs or web sites that you would like to keep track of, "Google Reader" or another RSS feed reader can be very helpful. Here's how I register your blogs on "Google Reader":

First, I click on the orange mark to the right of the URL address:

Then, I click on "Add to Google Reader" (you may get a similar messge in Japanese):

From there, just follow the directions provided by Google.

Finally, what I have explained above only allows you to find out if any new posts have been made. If you want to know when new comments come out on a blog, type "feeds/comments/default" after the address of the blog and then hit the "return" key:

How am I doing?

I have listed the blogs of all of the students in this class on a page called "外書講読 Blogs."

The links to some of the blogs are in a pink area. I am satisfied with the progress of these students so far. In other words, their blogs are "good enough" (and some of them are excellent). The students whose blogs are in the pink area need to continue to work hard each week. If they stop posting to their blogs or if there are too many other problems with their posts, they will be moved to the grey area.

The links to the rest of the blogs are in a grey area. These blogs are "not good enough." I do not think these students are trying hard enough. I expect the students in this class to study outside of class each week. These blogs do not reflect the amount of study that I expect. I think that some of the people whose blogs are in the grey area have been studying enough but have had trouble getting used to writing in their blogs. These people need to talk to me so that I can help them. At the end of the semester, students whose blogs are in the grey area will fail this course; that is, they will get a "D" in this course. So, I hope that everyone will work hard to improve their blogs so that they can be listed in the pink area. I expect everyone whose blog is in the grey area to pay particular attention to the "Checklist for posts." One problem with blogs in the grey area is that their authors do not seem to have read what I have written on my blog about what and how to post.

If your blog is not listed on the "外書講読 Blogs" page, or if you feel that your blog should be in the pink area but isn't, please send me an e-mail or talk to me during class.

Posting from an e-mail address

Some of you may prefer to post messages to your blog from your mobile phone (keitai). Here's how to do that.

1. After you have logged into your blog, click on the orange "B" on the left-hand side of your browser.
   
   


2. You should see something that looks like this (though the name of your blog, of course, is different). Click on "設定".
   
   


3. Next, click on "メール".
   
   


4. Look for "Mail-to-Bloggerアドレス". The image you see below is what I saw on my blog. On your blog, the first part of the address will be different but you will also see an area like the one below in which you should add some letters to make a unique address that you can remember. I can't say what letters I typed in but, as an example, let's imagine that I typed in the letters "gaisho". Then, my "Mail-to-Blogger" address for this blog would be "kmasden.gaisho@blogger.com". When I wanted to send something to my blog from my e-mail account, I would just type it up as an e-mail message and send it to "kmasden.gaisho@blogger.com".
   
   
   
   I would recommend that you set your "Mail-to-Blogger" address for "下書きとして保存". Then when you have a chance to work on your blog at a computer, you can just check your draft or drafts, make any corrections or additions that are necesary, and then post what you have written.

I hope this makes blogging easier and more fun for you!

Context

I believe that students of language must learn words in context. I wrote about this in an essay called "How to Learn English." In particular, please read what I wrote in that essay under the following headings: "When you do look up a word think about the context," "Remember the context, not the dictionary definition," and "Words are like friends."

I also explained why just trying to memorize a Japanese translation for an English word is not a good idea. This explanation appears under the heading "Why memorizing Japanese equivalents does not work." I think my use of the word "equivalent" was confusing to many of you. I used the word "equivalent" to mean "a word that is thought to have the same meaning." For example, "inu" is thought to be the Japanese equivalent of "dog." But, as I explained in my essay, the usage and nuances of "dog" and "inu" are not the same. The best way to learn about the usages and nuances of the word "dog" (or any word, for that matter) is to pay attention to how it is actually used.

For these reasons, I am requiring you to always include the sentence you found a word in when you write about that word in your blog. I explained this requirement in my first post to this blog (look for the heading "What should you write in your blog?") and have repeated it since.

Finally, please place each word, that word's definition, and the sentence in which you found it close together. Here are two examples of good ways to show the context of the words you studied: Example 1, Example 2. On the other hand, I don't think it is a good idea to separate a long list of words and definitions from the text of a passage. Here are two examples of this problem: Example 1, Example 2. Notice that it is difficult to find the sentence in which each word was used in these examples. I want you to try to learn words in context so I think it is important to make the context in which you found each word clear. This will make it easier for me to read your blogs and I think it will help you review the words you have studied. When you review, always review each word in the context of a phrase or sentence.

Checklist for posts

Before you post something to your blog in this class, check the following list:

1. What is necessary?
   
   
   1. Information about your source
      When you post about something you have read, you must provide detailed information about what you read. (For more information, click here.)
   2. Context for any words you list
      If you write about or show the definition of a word you came across in your reading, you must include the sentence in which you found the word. (For more information, click here.)


2. What is desirable?
   
   
   1. Questions
      Asking questions, is a great way to learn. However, you need to make your questions specific. (For more information, click here.)
   2. Comments about what you read
      Writing comments in English about something you have just read is a very good way to improve your English. (For a good example of how to do this, click here.)
      
   3. English-English definitions
      I strongly encourage you to look up words that you do not know in a good English-English dictionary. I think that the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English is particularly good. You may also include definitions from English-Japanese dictionaries. However, do not include definitions that do not fit the context.


3. What is not necessary?


1. Translations
   It is not necessary to include translations of the sentences you studied. (For more information, click here.)
2. Unrelated definitions
   Several definitions are listed for most of the words you will look up in a dictionary. Include only those definitions that fit the context of the sentence in which you found the word. Do not clutter your blogs with unrelated definitions.
   

Make your questions specific

I think it is very good for you to ask questions about what you do not understand. However, your questions need to be specific and clear. If there is a sentence you do not understand, you need to tell me what word or phrase is confusing you. You should also tell me what you think the word or phrase might mean in that context. In other words, even if you are not sure of the meaning, you should try to develop some hypotheses about the meaning of the word or phrase in the sentence. When you write your question on your blog, you should explain your hypotheses about the meaning of the word or phrase and then ask which one of your hypotheses is correct. One way to explain your hypotheses is to use Japanese. For example, you could write something like, "Does this mean 何々, or does it mean 何とか何とか?" In addition, you should tell me why you are not confident about your hypotheses. For example, is the problem that your interpretations do not seem to fit in the context of the passage you are reading? In that case, before you ask me your question, see if you can think of another interpretation that would fit the context.

In summary, I think it is very good for you to ask questions but I want you to do the following:

1. Use dictionairies to see if they can help you understand the part of the sentence that is confusing you. Don't be satisfied with the first definition you find. Study all of the definition and think about which one might fit the context of what you are reading.
   
2. Make hypotheses (two or three would be better than one) about what the meaning might be and explain them in your question.
   
3. Explain why your hypotheses don't seem to be satisfactory.

If you do these things, you may find that you are able to figure out the answer before you ask your question. Great! In that case, write in your blog about what was confusing to you and how you figured it out.

What were you reading?

Several of the participants in this class have forgotten to indicate what they read. If you read something on the internet, it is not enough to merely write the title of what you were reading; you also need to include a link. I have explained how to do this in a previous message that I posted on this blog: How to add a link. Be sure to read that message.

If you read something that is not on the internet, you need to include enough information about what you read so that whoever reads your blog can find the same material. For example, if you are reading a book, you should include the title, author, publisher, and date of publication.

Translation

Some of you have been posting Japanese translations of portions of what you are reading. This is OK but it is not necessary. Occasionally, if you are not confident about how to interpret something, you may want to try to translate it and then ask me what I think of your translation. In most situations, though, I do not think it will be necessary for you to fill your blogs with translations. I think it is better to post notes about new words you come across and to write comments about what you read, preferably in English.

It is not necessary to translate something in order to understand it. If, for example, you are reading a story about a boy and his pet and you can clearly imagine what is happening in the story, you are understanding the story very well. In such a case, translating the story into Japanese probably isn't necessary; it's probably better to spend your time studying in other ways.

As you read materials, try to imagine the contents without translating them into Japanese.

First posts

So far, there have been posts on the following blogs: Sai, Yuri, Tomomi, and RAGAlife.

Each post is good in its own way. There are several good things about Sai's posts. One is that she is using an English-English dictionary. In my first post on this blog I recommended The Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English. You can use this online free of charge. Please give it a try.

Lilo on RAGAlife wrote about something she did not understand. This is very important to do. If you ask questions your English will improve. One reason that asking questions is important is that you must think about why you do not understand something in order to ask a question. When you don't understand something, try to figure out why you don't understand (that is, what word or expression it is that you cannot understand) and ask a question about that. The more concrete the question, the better.

Tomomi wrote a short essay introducing herself. This is a good thing to do too. Since this is a reading course, I think that most of what you write will be about what you are reading. It is a very good idea to write in English about what you are reading and occasionally you may choose to write about other topics as well. Even though the main activity of the class should be reading, we can also use our blogs to improve our writing as well.

Yuri's post was good too. She was the first one to post. Doing your reading and writing early is a very good idea. On the other hand, if you postpone writing in your blogs too long, you will not be able to catch up. As I have written elsewhere on this blog, I expect each of you to post messages every week about what you are reading.

I'm looking forward to reading more posts.

Comments

I've been writing comments in the blogs of the people who have posted so far. I may not be able to comment on every post in the future, but I would like to post comments from time to time. In this post, I will explain where to find comments that other people have posted on your blog and how to post your own comments on other people's blogs (or, on your own blog).

First, please click here to view Lilo's blog. If you scroll down to the bottom of her message entitled "The bitaba bird" you should see the following:



The "1 コメント" that you see means that one comment has been posted in response to this message. If you click on the "1 コメント" link, you will see my comment:



On the same page, you will also see a place where you can post your own comment:



I hope that all of you will read the comments that are posted on your blogs and also post comments on the blogs of other members of this class.

How to add a link

Since I last posted a message to this blog, a couple more people have begun writing in their blogs. I think that everyone who has begun to write is doing well. I'll post comments on what they have written in a day or two.

In this post, I would like to explain how to add a link to the text you have written. As an example, I will link to the first message in Sai's blog. Here is the address:

http://cuimingqing.blogspot.com/2008/04/how-to-learn-english.html

To link text to this address, follow the following steps:

1. Type in the text.
   
   For example, "I hope all of you will look at Sai's most recent post."


2. Select the address to which you wish to link . . .



and choose "copy."





3. Select the text you want to add the link to.




4. Click on the link icon to the upper left of where you are typing.



5. Then, paste the address into the dialogue box.







If you cannot use "paste" from the "edit" (編集) menue, then you can either "right click" (Windows) or hold down the "command" key and then, without releasing the command key, press the "v" key (Mac).

The result of these steps should look like this inside your editor:

I hope all of you will look at <a href="http://cuimingqing.blogspot.com/2008/04/how-to-learn-english.html">Sai's most recent post</a>.

The Blogger software has added what is called an "HTML tag" to your text. This tag produces the following link in your blog:

I hope all of you will look at Sai's most recent post.

HTML tags are used in most web pages. There are many types of HTML tags that you don't need to learn for this class. I hope, though, that by the end of the semester you will become comfortable with a few basic tags like this. You don't need to remember all of the letters used in each tag, but I hope you will come to understand how they work.

Your blogs

Hello everyone!

I'll write this message in Japanese as well English because I want to make sure that everyone understands what I'm trying to say.（このポストの内容を必ず全員に理解してほしいと思いますので、英語に加えて日本語でも書きます。）

Most of you have created a blog. You can view all of your classmates' blogs by clicking here.（皆さんの多くはプログを作成しています。ここをクリックすれば、仲間のブログを見ることができます。）

As you can see if you take a look, almost all of the blogs are empty. Those of you who aren't sure what to do should look at Yuri's blog. She is off to a good start, so if you look at her blog you will have an idea of what I expect you to do. I explained what I want you to do in my first message on this blog, so be sure to read that too. （見てもらえれば一目瞭然ですが、ほとんどのブログはまだ空っぽです。何を書いたらいいかが分からない場合にはYuriのブログを見てください。いい感じで書き始めていますので、参考になると思います。また、私のこのブログでの最初のポストで何をしてほしいかを説明しましたので、必ず読んでね。）

One thing that I want to make sure that everyone understands is that you will have to study outside of class and write in your blog about what you studied every week. （必ず全員に理解してもらいたいので、毎週、授業の外で英語を勉強し、勉強したことについてブログで書かなければなりません。）

If you are really interested in improving your English and don't mind studying outside of class every week and writing in your blog, I hope you will participate in this class for the whole year. However, if you don't want to study that much, I think you should take another class instead. （本当に英語のレベルアップがしたくて、毎週授業の外で勉強してもいいと思うなら、是非この授業に参加してほしいと思います。しかし、授業の外で勉強する時間がない、あるいは上達したいという思いがそれほど強くないのであれば、別の科目を履修した方がいいだろうと思います。）

I hope you are really interested in studying English and that I will see you again in class next week!

Getting started

Hello everyone!

As I write this, I have no idea who will take this class or even how many students will take it. Still, I'm really looking forward to meeting you and studying English with you.

Starting your blogs

In this class, I want each of you to keep a record of your study in a blog, like this one. To start your blog, click on the following address and follow the directions:

http://www.blogger.com/


After you finish starting your blog, send me an e-mail (my address is masden@kumagaku.ac.jp) telling me the address of your blog. Be sure to include your full name and student number (学生番号) in your e-mail. It is not necessary, however, to include your full name in your blog. A nickname will be fine.

How often should you write in your blog?

Write in your blog at least once a week. It is better to write more often if possible. I expect you to study English at least three hours every week outside of class and for your blogs to reflect that much study. This does not mean that you need to spend three hours each week writing in your blog. Rather, the combination of the time you spent studying and the time you spent writing on your blog should be equal to, or more than three hours per week.

What should you write in your blog?

Please keep a record of what you are studying. You should include information about what you are reading, what you thought of the content, words you studied, and questions that you have about the material. I think that notes about the words you studied will take up the most space in your blogs. Be sure to include the following information about each word that your write about in your blog:

1. Where did you find the word?
   
   If you were reading a printed book you should include the page number. If you were reading something on the internet, you should include the URL (the address) of the web page.
   
   
2. How was the word used?
   
   Include the sentence or phrase in which you found the word.
   
   
3. How was the word defined?
   
   If you looked up the word in a dictionary, include the definition or definitions that fit the context in which you found the word. Do NOT copy and paste every definition for the word that you find in a dictionary.
   
   
4. Other things you may wish to include in what you write about a particular word.
   
   
   • If you have a question or are still not sure of the meaning of the word after studying the context and looking it up in a dictionary, you should include a question about the meaning of the word.
     
     
   • If you can imagine how you might like to use the word yourself in the future, it's a good idea to write a sentence in which you use the word.
     

What language should I write in?

The short answer is that you may write in either Japanese or English. The more you write in English, the more your writing skill will improve. I may not have time to correct everything that you write in English but I will try to offer helpful comments about your English as much as possible. Writing comments in English about something you have just read in English is a particularly good idea. This is a good way to make your passive vocabulary active (I'll explain what I mean about this in class) and to avoid translating from Japanese when you write in English. Sometimes, however, you may prefer to write in Japanese. I think it's fine to include comments in both languages in your blogs.

Is there a format that I need to follow when writing about words I studied?

I would suggest something like the following, though it is not necessary for everyone to follow this exactly:

Trade

Where: Chapter 1 of Robinson Crusoe
Context: "My father wanted me to learn a trade."
Definition: a particular job, especially one needing special skill with your hands; 職業

By the way, I would like you to notice that the English definition, which was taken from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, provides more complete information than the Japanese translation does. This is one reason why I recommend using English-English dictionaries. In the long run, I think you will find that the definitions they give you are actually easier to understand.

Assignment for next time

Read my essay entitled "How to Learn English." I have provided an mp3 file (that is, an audio recording of the essay) so you can listen to it as well. Then, write in your blog, making note of any new words or expressions you learned while reading this essay. If you have extra time, start reading Chapter 1 of Robinson Crusoe. If you would like to listen to this on your computer or an mp3 player (such as an iPod), you can find the audio file here. By the way, the audio is provided by a site called "Librivox," which I think can be very useful for students like you.

See you next week!!