5歳から89歳まで、幅広い年齢層が集う英語塾
あーヒマだひまだ暇だ！
働くしか能のない昭和人間。盆と正月ほど辛いものはない。
これといった趣味はないし、テレビを見てもつまらない、ごろごろすれば女房に嫌がられる。まさに生き地獄。
そんなわけで無料オンライン教室を開いてみることにした。
塾生徒なら誰でもオーケー。どんなことでもお相手します、とLINEしたところ、結構みんな集まってくれた。
中2Ｔ 英検3級のライティングやてみたのでチェックしてください。
中1R リスニング苦手なのでコツを教えてください。
高3K 小樽商科大学の二次前期問題、わからないところを教えてください。
小2E こないだ遊んだトロッコアドベンチャーゲームまたやりたい。笑笑
おかげで充実した大晦日を過ごすことができた。みんなありがとうな。来年が素晴らしい年になりますように。
今日はリーディングは行いません。そのかわりメイさんとグループ通話をしてもらいます。
4人ずつ班をつくり、今まで見た中で1番面白かった映画について話し合ってください。1人1分をめどにスピーチ内容を考え、原稿にまとめておいてください。1分は結構長いです。映画のタイトルだけでなくおおまかなあらすじ、感動したところも押さえるよう注意してください。
授業の最初の30分はこの準備にあてます。
先日の名寄市立大学での授業で取り上げたYouTube記事は盛り上がりを見せました。
「もし皆さんの子供が将来YouTuberになりたいと言い出したらあなたはどうしますか」と英語で質問したところ、様々な返答が学生から帰ってきました。
ほぼ9割は容認派。趣味でやる程度であればオーケー。しかし、プライバシー侵害等で他人に迷惑をかけないよう充分注意すること、という条件付き。
一方で完全否定派が1割もいた。どんなことがあっても子供にはYouTuberなどになって欲しくない。もっと健全な道を歩んでほしいとのこと。
この大学の学生は皆しっかりした意見を持っていると感じました。将来の日本を背負って立つ金の卵です。
Youtube
Ask an elementary school student what they want to be when they grow up and it’s highly likely they’ll say a YouTuber. And who can blame them? YouTube is the second-most visited website in the world, and some of its biggest stars earn more than $20 million (¥2.2 billion) per year. But it hasn’t always been this way.
YouTube started as the brainchild of three PayPal employees in 2005. Initially, the founders had hoped to start an online dating site, but they soon recognized the potential of video-sharing and released a rudimentary version of today’s YouTube onto the internet in April 2005.
YouTube’s easy-to-use interface made it an overnight success and by the summer of 2006 it was receiving over 100 million views per day, making it one of the fastest-growing websites ever.
However, with popularity came complications. More and more equipment had to be acquired to handle the big user numbers, and the company ran into legal issues due to copyright infringements.
To avoid further issues, YouTube made agreements with several large media companies and started running advertisements. As a result, the site began to feature professionally made media, as well as the amateur content it had become known for.
YouTube’s success drew the attention of Google, which acquired the site for $1.65 billion (about ¥200 billion) in the autumn of 2006. It was Google’s second largest acquisition at the time.
With Google’s support, YouTube has evolved from an amateur video-sharing site to a comprehensive media company in its own right. Users can now stream music, rent full-length movies and television programs, and watch livestreams of major sporting events all on the one site.
Nonetheless, like many top-performing websites, YouTube is no stranger to controversy. Complaints about the website are wide-ranging. Though it has been instrumental in shaping politics, the website has been criticized for its tepid response to extremist videos. Similarly, though it has helped forge many careers, it has also been condemned for how it monetizes its videos. Both have caused advertisers to withdraw from the site.
Regardless, YouTube’s enormous influence is clear. Love it or hate it, it has quite literally changed how we view the world.
シニアクラスでの出来事。奥様たちが3人、例のNHK番組の批評をしている。
絶対おかしいわよ。なんであんなに急に英語が上手になるの。
そうよねえ。録音機器も何にもなかった時代に、ラジオだけ聞いてあんなにペラペラしゃべれるようになるわけがない。
そうそう。それにさぁ、あのアメリカ人兵士、日本語すらすらじゃない。だったらなぜあの花売りおばあさんと出くわした時、理解してあげなかったの、変よね。
まあまあそう目クジラを立てなさんな。
でも彼女らの言い分もわかる。
スマホはもちろん、ラジカセもなかった時代だ。たった1回の放送を聞いてそれを自分のものにするのは2階から目薬をさすより難しいはず。外国語を真剣に勉強してきた人間なら誰でもそう感じるはず。
NHKさん、もうちょっと考えて番組を作って。あまりにも現実離れしすぎている。
Guinea pigs are very cute pets, and have also often been used in laboratory tests and experiments. Someone may also be called a “guinea pig” if they are a test subject for something new. “We have a new English examination, and this year’s students will be the guinea pigs.” The expression can be used when someone is trying a new experience. “I’ve got a new recipe I’d like to try making before I serve it for a party. Will you come over for dinner and be my guinea pig?”
Elephants are rather large creatures that would stand out if they were ever in someone’s living room. If you hear the idiom “elephant in the room,” the speaker is referring to a controversial topic that everyone can see but no one wants to talk about. It is a useful expression when people at an event avoid discussing an obvious issue because it’s uncomfortable to speak about. “We enjoyed John’s birthday, but the elephant in the room was that we all knew he and his wife are getting a divorce.”
In the United States, people used to buy cans of worms to use as bait when they went fishing. When the cans were opened the worms would try to wriggle away. From this comes the expression “to open up a can of worms.” You try to solve a problem, but instead you discover other hidden problems. “An audit of the company finances opened up a can of worms and now the chief executive is under investigation.” People often use this phrase in the negative if they are afraid of causing extra trouble and inconvenience. “I’m not going to complain about my boss’s behavior because I don’t want to open up a can of worms.”
It’s difficult to shuck an oyster — that means to open an oyster shell — but your reward might be a beautiful pearl. That gives us the phrase “The world is my oyster.” It comes from Shakespeare’s play The Merry Wives of Windsor. When someone says this, they mean that they have many opportunities to make a profit or gain an advantage. People often say this phrase to young people to emphasize that they have many choices that can lead them to wealth or happiness. “I don’t know what to do with my life.” “You have just finished university and you’re still young — the world is your oyster!”
Another seafood-related expression is the phrasal verb “to clam up.” When a clam encounters a predator it may close its shells together to protect itself. If someone is refusing to talk or to give up information, they are often described as “clamming up.” “The thief clammed up during the police interrogation and didn’t say a word.” Like a clam protecting itself from a confrontation, the phrase suggests that someone doesn’t want to look at other people in the eye and instead looks down at the ground. “My son always clams up when he is guilty of something.”
脱サラして塾を始めてから12周年を迎えた。
振り返るといろいろあったが1番強く印象に残っているのは当時中学3年生だったK君だ。
スポーツとゲームが大好きで勉強は苦手。特に英語は常に20点台という有様。
しかし努力の甲斐あってある日の単語小テストで初めて満点をとった。その答案用紙を握りしめて満面の笑みで駆け寄ってきたあの日…
だが良い状態は長続きしなかった。複雑な家庭事情、無断欠席をかさねる様になり、やがてやめてしまった。
数ヵ月後、ひょっこり教室に現れた彼、手には菓子折り。「あの、突然やめてすみませんでした」とペコリ。
思わずジワっと来た。歳をとると涙もろくなる。涙がバレないようケツに蹴りを入れ「なんだよう今ごろ来てえ。」
ヘタな芝居だ。大根役者以下。
彼に素晴らしい未来が訪れますよう。