Lesson 24 - Apartments for Rent

Apartments for Rent 

Hello everyone,

Today, we're going to talk about the places we live, and the places we want live in the future.  It's true, everyone needs a place to live, but there are many housing options to choose from.  There are apartments, dormitories, houses, terrace houses, condominiums, shared houses, etc.

Let's looks at three of these housing options for today's warm-up...

WARM-UP!

1) Japanese Apartments

👆This is a small apartment building in Tokyo.

👆And this is the layout for an average apartment in the city.

👆And this is what an average apartment looks like inside.

Q&A: MKD tutors might ask Rissho students questions like:

   Are Japanese apartments quiet?

   Are Japanese apartments comfortable?  (快適 kaiteki)

   Are Japanese apartments stylish?

   How much is the monthly rent of a small apartment in the city?

   How much is the deposit（保証金 hoshōkin) on an apartment?

2) Japanese Houses

👆This is a small house in Tokyo.

👆And this is the floor plan for a small house in the city.

👆And this is what a small house in the city looks like inside.

Q&A: MKD tutors might ask Rissho students questions like:

   Are Japanese houses nice?

   Are Japanese houses traditional?

   Are Japanese houses solid and made well?

   How much does it cost to rent a house in Tokyo?

   How much does a small house in Tokyo cost?

3) Japanese Share House

👆What is a Japanese "share house"?

Originally, the word "share house" was used in Japan to describe a housing situation common in the U.S. and Europe, but uncommon in Japan.  A share house is an apartment or house that is shared by a number of people who share the rent and utilities. (光熱費 kōnetsu-hi )

👆And this is the floor plan for a share house in the city.

👆And this is another image of what a share house looks like inside.

Q&A: MKD tutors might ask Rissho students questions like:

   Are Japanese share houses safe?

   Are Japanese share houses popular these days?

   Do you want to live in a share house?  Why or why not?

   How much does it cost to rent a share house in Tokyo?

   Do you know anyone who lives in a share house?

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OK, now it's time to go into breakout rooms... We hope you enjoy today's lesson.

Click the link 👉 HERE

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Lesson 23 - A Day at School

                                                      Rissho University, Shinagawa Campus

Hello students and tutors, 

This is a difficult blog post to write.  It is difficult to write about school life these days.  Specifically, it's difficult to write about a life that 1st year Rissho students have not experienced yet: school life at Rissho.  Because of COVID19, no one in this class has had "A Day at School" on our friendly campus.  For all of us, this school year has been spent online.  So maybe we should make a lesson called, "A Day of Online School!"

But, we can imagine.  Let's try to imagine what a school day at Rissho is like.  Let's try to imagine what a day at school will be like after COVID.  For MKD tutors, too, MKD campus life this year is not the same as it was last year, right?  In fact, most students around the world have experienced a lot of change in their daily routines.  COVID19 has affected all of us. 🌏 

Most importantly, we must look ahead.  We must think of a happier, healthier, safer future.  Let's do our best.

                       Below 👇 is a photo of a happy, pre-COVID day at Mindanao Kokusai Daigaku!

                             And here 👇 is a video of historical day at MKD  (2017).  Check it out.

_____________________________ Warm up _____________________________

MKD tutors: Please ask Rissho students to talk about their high school days.  For example, please ask them to describe a regular day at high school was like.

Was your high school like this?👇...

or was high school like this?👇...

OK, so after the warm up chat, let's go to today's lesson.  It's on Randall's ESL Lab, and the title is 'A Day at School'.  Imagine and enjoy!

Click here

👇

https://www.esl-lab.com/easy/school-schedule/

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Lesson 22 - Voicemail

Hi all!

For today's lesson, we're going to talk about telecommunication.  

Do you know what the word telecommunication means?  Well, tele means "over a distance," so if you see a word with tele in it, it means something that is done over a distance.  And of course you know the word communication (通信 tsuushin).  So the word telecommunication is tele + communication = telecommunication, or communication over a distance.  

Here are some words with tele in them:

1.👇 telescope (to see something over a distance) 

2. 👇 television (to watch something over a distance)

t

3. 👇 telephone (to talk with someone over a distance)

4. 👇 Teletubbies (Well, I don't know how they got their name!😂)

and of course...

5. 👇 telecommunication (to communicate over a distance)

By the way, telecommunication means 電気通信 (denki tsuushin) in Japanese.

___________________________________________________

Next, let's talk about what functions (機能 kinō) you have on your smartphone and your landline (固定電話 kotei-denwa).  By the way, do you have a landline?  Some people don't use them anymore.

On your smartphone, do you have voicemail (ボイスメール) function?

On your landline, do you have voicemail or an answering machine (留守番電話 rusuban denwa) function?

👈 answering machine function on a landline 

____________________________________________________________

OK, next we're going to practice listening to voicemail messages, and then we will learn how to leave messages on voicemail or on an answering machine.

MKD tutors will use this website to teach you more about telecommunication, so click 👉 HERE.

                                    ☏

Lesson 21 - Reporting in Class

Hello everyone!

Thank you for checking out our blog.  Today we have a fun and interactive lesson.  We are going to practice an important communication skill.  It's called Reporting in Class.  Another word for reporting is announcing, or presenting.  As you know, your teachers often ask you to report something in class.  Today's lesson is about doing just that.  Specifically, your MKD tutors will help you build your confidence to report something in class, in English.  Doesn't that sound good?  We think so 😃 

                               interactive: インタラクティブ 

reporting, announcing, presenting: 報告、発表、発表 (hōkoku, happyō, happyō )

🧠 Remember: Learning involves making mistakes.  If you make a mistake, that's OK, that's normal.  Don't worry about making mistakes.  

                               that's normal: それは当たり前のことです。 (sore wa atarimae desu.)

Hey!  Let's try a quick warm-up activity!...

WARM-UP: QUICK JAPAN NEWS REPORTS

Directions: As a group, MKD tutors will ask Rissho students to give 8 short news reports about Japan.  The 8 news photos below will have meaning to most Rissho students.  So, Rissho students: do your best to report to everyone the news story related to the photos below.  The basic news stories are written below each photo, but students can add their own knowledge and extra information.  Have fun! 😆

Photo 1 👆: COVID 19 cases are still quite high in Japan, especially in big cities like Tokyo and Osaka.  New COVID cases in our country are at about one thousand. 😷 🏥

Photo 2👆: Last year about this time, Japan's Emperor, Akihito abdicated.  His son, Akishino, became our new Emperor, which was a historical event that changed the Japanese era (and calendar) from the Heisei era to the current, Reiwa era.  😮🙇

                                   abdicated: (退位しました taii shimashita )

Photo 3👆: In September of this year, Yoshihide Suga became my country's new PM.  Former Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, resigned. 😮🙇

                                PM: Prime Minister        resigned: 辞任した (jinin shita)

Photo 4👆: Due to the pandemic, the 2020 Tokyo Olympics were cancelled 😢🏅

Photo 5👆: Recently, the Japanese court system decided that tattoo artists do not need a medical license to give tattoos; therefore, this decision basically legalizes tattooing in Japan.  MKD tutors, do you want to get a permanent omiyage (souvenir) in Japan? 😂💘

                                                   

                                          permanent: 消去不可 (shōkyo-fuka), 恒久 (kōkyū)

Photo 6👆: Sadly, in September of this year, Japanese actress, Yuko Takeuchi (40) died.  She was too young!  😢😭

Photo 7👆: Recently, Japan food makers are producing more and more non-meat items.  At 7-11, you can buy meatless taco meat. Nippon Ham now makes meat-free soy ham, and Otsuka company makes a meat alternative called ZEROMEAT.  This is great news for vegetarians (and animals😉) and is a good thing for the global environment.  🍖👼

Photo 8👆: This is Rissho news!  As we speak, Rissho University is having a new building built.  It's going to be called Building 12, and it's gonna be amazing!

                                                                                📰🗞

Well, now that you have practiced reporting, let's move on to today's lesson.  Here we go...

Here is today's lesson PDF; click🖱 👉 here  

and you can print it out 🖨 before class.

Lesson 20 - Asking Permission

Lesson 20 - Asking Permission 

Hi everyone,

We hope you enjoyed meeting Taisei last week.  Let's give special thanks to Taisei for coming to both of our Online English Zoom classes.  We learned a lot about making international friendships.  Thank you, Taisei!  Your stories, memories and photos were inspirational (刺激的 shigeki-teki) for everyone!

We want to also give special thanks to Kurt for guiding the meeting with Taisei.  Thank you, Kurt!  We can see the friendship you and your classmates made with Taisei.  👬  Thank you for sharing your great memories together!

Now, let's talk about today's lesson.  Today's lesson is called Asking Permission.  It's an important lesson, so please try your best!

Last week, we asked Taisei for permission to post photos of him on this blog.  And it went something like this...

Warm-up: Dialog - Asking Permission & Inviting 

Instructions: This dialog is between Kurt and Taisei.  Listen to the teacher or MKD tutors model the dialog one or two times.  Listen carefully.  If you have any questions about the dialog, please ask your teacher or tutor.  Afterwards, please take turns reading this dialog with your teacher, tutor or classmate.

Kurt: Hi, Taisei!  Long time, no see!

Taisei: Oh, hi Kurt.  Yes, it has been a long time.  How are you?

Kurt: Actually, fine.  But you know, COVID is making everyday life difficult.  How about you?

Taisei: Oh, I'm doing fine.  But you're right; Coronavirus makes life tough.

Kurt: Yeah, it sure does.  By the way, I need to ask your permission for something?

Taisei: Hmm... my permission?  Permission for what, exactly?

Kurt: OK.  Let me explain.  Well, we'd like to get your permission to post a few photos of your Davao visit. Would that be OK?

Taisei: Oh, really?  Yeah, sure!  I give you permission to do that.  No problem.

Kurt:  Great!  Thank you, Taisei.  Oh, and if you have free time, would you like to join our Online English Zoom classes on Wednesday, 2nd and 3rd periods?

Taisei:  Oh, really?  That sounds fun.  Absolutely!  I have free time.

Kurt: Great!  Thanks, Taisei.  You will inspire the 1st-year Kokusai Course students!  You'll be our special guest.

Taisei: Hahaha... thank you for saying that! 😂

Kurt: It's true!  I will send you the Zoom link on LINE.  See you on Zoom on Wednesday!

Taisei: Yeah, see you then, Kurt.  It was good talking with you.

Kurt: Nice talking with you, too, Taisei.  Bye for now...

Taisei: See you, Kurt...

                                                                          👬👭

And now for today's lesson!  If you want to view today's lesson PDF, please click 👉 here.