英語でおしゃべり！

[katobushi]

i watched "Downton Abbey A Journey to the Highlands" too!
in that dorama they are in coutry side !
i love it !
they went sika-gari, kiji-gari, fishing ...
i dreame ...
wearing tweed jacket , ride on a hose , shot the lifle !!!
many movies and dorama of england
have the same seane.
when i wached that i was very excited every time !
i love traditional culture !
it s so ereganto !!!

>MIKI-san
you should think about when he shoud put on his pans.
when he didn't want to get dirty ... yes sure
but how about when he meets his friens ??
ofcouse absolutly completly exactry he should.
but hi didnt...
its very funny ! isnt it ??

[natubon]

thank you.
miki-san ,katobushi-san ,sakaisensei
i'm so glad and very exciting

we cleaned and tidied our house a bit
i could'nt do 断舎利
And i useally say "what a mess!"

katobushi さんが書きました:do you know when Poppleton put on his pants ??


He put on his pants when he worked in the garden and hanged wallpaper.

And he put on his pants when he go for sleigh ride
He has three pair of overall ,blue ,white and purple

I love Poppleton's story
I want to be Poppleton's neighbors

[さかい＠tadoku.org]

natubonーさん、What a mess! is so 便利、isn't it?

Without a mess, no pleasure in spring cleaning!

[katobushi]

i m very excited !

because i found Khan Academy

horimama-san let us know it before

but i didnt notice that

i can be an student right now !!!!

i thought it takes long time to learn in english !!

there we can learn form more easier level

tasizan hikizan kakezan ......

and they have so many videos !

they have art history class !

it looks so fun !

i will ask horimama-san about Khan Academy tommrow !!!

[MIKI]

"How can I speak English well?" She always asks me when we meet.
Actually, I ask myself the same question all the time.
She wants to improve her English ability, but doesn't try to take time for it.
She sets the higher goal, but doesn't think about the course she has to go.
I understand her feelings well. I was like her before I knew about tadoku.
I explained that I was not good at English at all either, that I couldn't read English books
with or without dictionaries, etc. Then I introduced her tadoku.
I said "I'm not a good English speaker yet, but I can enjoy reading a lot of English books,
listening to many audiobooks while doing the housework, writing emails, tweeting in English,
watching English dramas, movies and lectures, talking with friends in English. It's all thanks to tadoku."
I explained 3 basic rules.:
1. Don't use dictionary. 2. Start with easy picture books.
3. Quit reading if you don't like it or you feel it too difficult or not interesting.
She was immediately interested in the new way.
"I know you can read more difficult books, but let's start from this one." I said,
handing some very easy books like ORT to her.
She glanced over them. She looked unhappy. She didn't like them.
She thought they were for children, not for her.
I showed her some OBW starters, PGR easystarts, etc.
I said "you might want to listen to the CDs. Listening is good to improve
your listening ability and to get the English rhythm."
She said they were too easy. She didn't like to start with easy books.
She didn't think she needed to listen to the CDs.
I saw she had much pride. So, I let her choose books by herself.
She took this and that, this and that... Finally, she chose some YL3 books.
She has read about 5 books. Only 5 books.
I recommended her to watch English dramas and movies.
I suggested her to write anything in English.
She said "That's a good idea! I'll try!" But I think she didn't try it at all.
Then she starts to ask me the same question again.
"How can I speak English well?"
Oh...what a impatient person she is!
How can I make her understood that she needs more time, experience,
practices and effort for it?

[katobushi]

miki san

i m not sure
children in your class speake english ?
if they do, they speak easy but dificult english , dont they ??
they enjoy books , comversation , playing games in easy english, dont they??
when she know that she understand how important easy word is...???
does she know how many books have you read ??
how many books have she read ??

i dont know how to teach tadoku
maybe its difficult to explain for "nomal"people
mr.sakai says you are all strange peple.
maybe sakai-sensei will give you some advice !
good luck !!

[MIKI]

Thanks, katobushi-san,

children in your class speake english ?
if they do, they speak easy but dificult english , dont they ??
they enjoy books , comversation , playing games in easy english, dont they??

Yes, they do. All of them can respond to the greetings, requests and questions in English.

when she know that she understand how important easy word is...???

I think even if she understands it, she won't do it. She thinks it so childish, maybe?
I don't know... she is so proud of herself. Besides she won't try to make time for English.
She keeps making excuses not to do, like "I'm so busy.""It's boring.""I don' think it's interesting."

does she know how many books have you read ??
how many books have she read ??

I think she knows how many books I've read.
I don't know exactly how many books she's read...less than 100,000 words?

i dont know how to teach tadoku
maybe its difficult to explain for "nomal"people

I can understand how she feels because I felt the same before I started tadoku.
I was too proud to admit that I had to start from the babys' level.
I couldn't understand I needed to be as simple as children.
I think I could really understand it when I knew how my children learned Japanese.

mr.sakai says you are all strange peple.

Ahaha! No, I don't think so. We ARE normal. Others are strange, aren't they? :)

maybe sakai-sensei will give you some advice !
good luck !!

Thanks!

MIKI

[MIKI]

I read an interesting article, "Study: Children Internalize Stereotypes About Abilities".
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/early_years/2012/07/ever_hear_a_girl_say.html

The study shows that if a person hears that he/she is supposed to be bad at math,
he/she may believe the same about himself/herself and therefore do worse than he/she should.
That means if Japanese people hear that they are supposed to be bad at English,
they may believe the same about themselves and therefore do worse that the should.
Okay. From now on, I'll refuse to believe Japanese people do poorly in English.
I won't say the negative things like "I'm not good at English."

MIKI

P.S. While reading other articles about tadoku in English, I found my mistake about 3 rules.! What a shame!
No.2 is not "Start with easy picture books." It's "Skip the words that you can't understand."

[MIKI]

When I started tadoku about 8 years ago, the purpose of it was just to enjoy reading the English books
and still it is my first thing. It was definitely not to improve my English ability.
Speaking English fluently or pronouncing as native English speakers do or writing in English correctly hardly interests me.
The important thing is if I can enjoy it or not and I can feel it comfortable or not.
It is only omake for me to improve my English ability.
I can't understand the people doing tadoku for speaking English well or getting points in test.
If you want to speak English well, go find someone who speaks English.
If you want to get good points in tests, just study harder, not tadoku.
If you want to ENJOY English books, you might want to try tadoku.

[MIKI]

I've been reading (while listening to the audiobook by Rob Inglis) "The hobbit" by J.R.R. Tolkien.
"The Hobbit" is one of the most famous fantasy novel for children in the world.
It was published in 1937 and nominated for the Carnegie Medal.
The story is about the quest of a hobbit, Bilbo Baggins, who lives in a small comfortable hobbit house.
Lots of legendary creatures appear in the story, such as a wizard, dwarves, dragons, trolls, elves, goblins, etc.
The first movie, The Unexpected Journey, was released last year and it's going to be followed by other 2 movies,
The Desolation of Smaug and There and Back Again.
My friend told me that there was a very beautiful song in the movie, The Misty Mountains Cold.
The lyrics is different from the dwarves' song in the book. I like this movie version too.
I'd like to see the movie after I finish reading.
MIKI