Saying Goodbye to John
We will be saying our sad goodbyes this month to John “the Legend” S. John has seen it all and has had some great years in Japan and with FIA. I had the chance to sit down with him to get to know the man and to reminisce about his life in Japan.
What will you miss the most about Japan when you are gone? Good ramen, un-defaced public property, useful trains, peaceful people, onsen, good convenience stores, being the perfect size to buy clothes-90% of clothes in Japan seem to have been made for someone exactly my size. I could go on and on with things I'll miss.
What will you not miss about Japan? Those ridiculous masks, conformity of thought, too many announcements in every public space, drafty buildings, overly bright lights, people who think comic books are art and never read a real book, movies that cost almost $20.
Some of these next questions came from a French series, Bouillon de Culture, hosted by Bernard Pivot.
What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally? Doing art, great music, good conversation over a bottle of wine sitting on a lanai in Hawaii as the sun sets.
What turns you off? Many things...stuffy offices, people with nothing to say and no intellectual curiosity, people who think shopping is a creative activity. The list could go on.
What sound or noise do you love? falling rain, birds singing.
What sound or noise do you hate? People chewing, pachinko, the shrill voices of some shop staff in Japan.
What profession other than your own would you like to attempt? I would love to be a DJ 'cause I love to play music. I'd also like to try flying a jet airliner-though the passengers might have something to say about that.
What profession would you not like to do? Wow, Garbage man or police man.
If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates? "Welcome John, we know you thought Christianity was a bunch of hogwash during your life on Earth. We are pleased to tell you that that that's no problem!"
Any last thoughts for our readers? For personal reasons I feel good to be leaving this country but I've been here for so long and I know it truly is a great place that can teach so much. The Japanese people are extremely intelligent and always surprise me by being welcoming, open minded and cheerful. I will miss it.
Thanks John! We wish you all the best in the future. FIA won’t be the same without you!
Holidays Around the World in April
- April 29th - Showa Day (Japan)
- April 16—Easter (Various Countries)
- April 25—ANZAC Day (NZ)
- April 4—Women & Children’s Day (England)
- April 27—Freedom Day (South Africa)
Most and Least Common Words in English
#1 the
#2 of
#3 to
#4 and
#5 a
#6 in
#7 is
#8 it
#9 you
#500 among
#499 language
#498 weight
#497 east
#496 fill
#495 perhaps
#494 sit
#493 bring
#493 bed
A Few Short Lesson / Activity Ideas For Pair Training
The following are some short activities I have tried recently in my pair training classes. All worked pretty well for my classes and were good activities that helped relax the class a little bit because it gave the members something interesting to talk about, which really made the pair training classes very enjoyable for everyone. Anyways, here they are…
Activity: Do you agree or disagree?
Recommended Level: All levels
A very simple activity where I had members first review or learn about basic expressions when debating about a topic, like “I agree with this topic”, “I think/feel that we should…”, “I don’t agree with you”, “What do you think?”, etc. You can also tell your members that these expressions can sometimes be very helpful for business meetings, but overall, a good way to help them use English to express their opinions. The hardest part of this exercise was coming up with topics to discuss. I made up a list of various topics ranging from modern events, to problems or ideas noted in recent Japanese news, to simple topics like “Yakiniku is better than Shabu Shabu”. Anyways, I have uploaded a word file of my list that I have used recently to FIA First Hand under the Pair Training Forum. Feel to use these topics, and of course, feel free to add any new ideas because the topics for this activity can be limitless.
Activity: Superstitions
Recommended Level: All levels
A very good conversation activity to get members to talk about their culture and about themselves on anything they are superstitious about. First explain and give examples to the members on what superstitions mean. I used some very familiar examples known in Japan, such as the bad meaning of the number “4”. I also noted how superstitions are very popular in sports and among athletes, such as Ichiro always eating curry rice for breakfast everyday. I then asked members to think about any superstitions that they know of and do with regards to Japan, in their own family, or personally. After this warm up conversation, you can continue this activity by sharing examples of common superstitions from your own country and see how the members think about it. In my case, I shared common American superstitions and Hawaiian superstitions. For classes where it’s difficult to get members talking, it might be good to get them prepared before the pair training class by having them write down some superstitions that they believe in or know about. That way, they will have something ready in pair training class to explain and talk about. As a side-prep, it would also be good to look up on some superstitions in your home country and why they are believed. I’ve also uploaded a word file to the FIA First Hand website (Pair Training Forum) of some common American superstitions for your reference if needed. Please note that a few months ago, Dave Dyer also posted a Good Luck/Bad Luck lesson plan on FIA First Hand which was a really great reference point for me in doing this activity.
You asked for more lesson plans and ideas in the Monthly and the P&P Committee has provided! This article is part 1 of a 2 part series written by Jimmy. Please look for more great TT ideas from Jimmy and if you have any good plans please submit them for future newsletters. THANK YOU!
By Jimmy
Ask Gundam is Back!
Dear Gundam F91, I am writing to you today to talk about something that has been bothering me for the past few months. When you first appeared in the newsletter, I thought that it was awesome that there was a representative of Gundam fandom within the ranks of the PP committee. But I soon realized that you are nothing but an imposter. Anyone who is an avid fan of the various Gundam series can recognize the many different mobile suits featured in each series. In actuality, Gundam F91 (1991) is not necessarily a series. It was meant to be a full 50 episode series, but due to budgeting, it had to be made into a two-hour film. The picture you used for Gundam F91 was not Gundam F91 at all. It was actually Gundam Strike from the series Gundam Seed (2002). Seeing that you didn’t know of this, I bet you don’t even know anything about the original Gundam either. Who was it’s pilot? Who was the pilot’s rival? What was the name of the principality that fought against the federation? Do you even know what F91 means? Can you answer these questions without looking them up on the Internet? I think not.
I have added a picture of the real Gundam F91 to this letter, and you can definitely see that it is Gundam F91 due to the markings on the left and right shoulders. My suggestion to you is to either change the picture that you currently have, or to change your name to Gundam Strike. If you have any questions about Gundam, please feel free to ask me or go onto wikipedia and thoroughly research every Gundam series.
Sincerely, Concerned Gundam Fan
