http://photo2.perfume-life.com/ ja http://photo2.perfume-life.com/?eid=734477 ]]> 季節の風景 2008-01-07T15:44:06+09:00 Tom Tom http://photo2.perfume-life.com/?eid=734476 ]]> 季節の風景 2008-01-07T15:43:20+09:00 Tom Tom http://photo2.perfume-life.com/?eid=734475 ]]> 季節の風景 2008-01-07T15:41:48+09:00 Tom Tom http://photo2.perfume-life.com/?eid=734474 ]]> 季節の風景 2008-01-07T15:40:27+09:00 Tom Tom http://photo2.perfume-life.com/?eid=734473 ]]> 季節の風景 2008-01-07T15:39:48+09:00 Tom Tom http://photo2.perfume-life.com/?eid=734471 ]]> English topic of the week 2008-01-07T15:37:24+09:00 Tom Tom http://photo2.perfume-life.com/?eid=734469 ]]> 季節の風景 2008-01-07T15:36:44+09:00 Tom Tom http://photo2.perfume-life.com/?eid=734468 ]]> 季節の風景 2008-01-07T15:35:56+09:00 Tom Tom http://photo2.perfume-life.com/?eid=464261 Welcome to our fifth English topic of the week. Today we would like to talk about peace. Yes, you can see that our topics of the week are normally put up on Sunday, Japan time. However, we have been waiting for great news, and it has finally come! ...
Yes, you can see that our topics of the week are normally put up on Sunday, Japan time. However, we have been waiting for great news, and it has finally come!

The Democratic party has finally taken control of the House and the Senate. They can now investigate what has been going on in Iraq and stop Bush. The American people have repudiated Bush and his war. We hope that Japan and the world will notice. We hope America will move back to being a better and more peaceful nation.

On a lighter note, the elections also included the City of San Francisco voting to impeach the president and vice-president. We don't think this will happen, but we can always hope.

With the Democrats in control of the House and the Senate, things will improve. We are eagerly awaiting to see the results and the improvement in life in America, Iraq, and elsewhere.
]]> English topic of the week 2006-11-09T19:25:21+09:00 Tom Tom http://photo2.perfume-life.com/?eid=464260 Welcome to our fourth English topic of the week. Today we would like to talk about teaching English in elementary school. New education minister Bunmei Ibuki feels that other problems need to be addressed before teaching English in elementary school. H...
We are not quite sure what social rules he is referring to. Based on his age of 68, we imagine that Ibuki remembers a Japan where women walked behind men. While Japanese society does need to teach its children the social rules of Japan, we are sure that these are not the rules of Ibuki's childhood. Those days are over. As Japan becomes a freer society, the rules are changing. Conservatives like Ibuki are naturally against such change. That is what being a conservative means. All over the world, conservatives want to bring the past back. It is not going to happen and Ibuki should use his energy to implement change that will help Japan. He cannot successfully fight the tide.

As to Japanese children having declining academic ability, reductions in school time and discipline over past years have certainly caused this decline. Some people regret this and feel Japan should return to the old system, striving for academic excellence at the cost of play time. Others think that the old system is not appropriate today and more balance is required. Students should have time to play and be children.

Moving to Ibuki's claim that many children do not write or speak decent Japanese, he is probably correct. However, we doubt that this is a recent historical development. We imagine that this has always been the case in Japan. It certainly has always been the case in America that many children do not write or speak decent English. Until we see substantial changes in values and socio-economics, this is likely to remain the same in Japan and America.

So, instead of teaching English in elementary school, Ibuki would like to address the above problems. We see several problems with Ibuki's approach. Firstly, solving these problems is not something that elementary schools have the budget or staff or time to do. Most of these problems need to be addressed at home. Secondly, again for socio-economic reasons, not every family can successfully address these problems. Thirdly, English education in Japan needs to be improved. Teaching English in elementary school is one way to do this.

Spending several hours a week studying English will not have a major effect on students' Japanese language education. If done properly though, it could have a major effect on English language education, helping students to become better at English.
]]> English topic of the week 2006-10-29T19:23:52+09:00 Tom Tom http://photo2.perfume-life.com/?eid=464258 Welcome to our third English topic of the week. Today we would like to talk about television and English. Do you watch TV every day? Most people do. How much time do you spend watching TV every day. We imagine it is quite a lot of time. At ALS, we have...
How much of this time do you spend watching English TV? We mean English language TV, whether it is American, Canadian, British, Australian, Irish, or from New Zealand. If you shift your TV watching time from watching Japanese TV to watching English TV, your English will greatly improve. Take a look at Sky PerfectTV. Channels with many English programs include Fox, AXN, Super Channel, and Disney as well as a variety of news and movie channels.

If you want to put in the time, your English will improve. We hope you are interested in putting the time in and reaping the rewards.
]]> English topic of the week 2006-10-22T19:22:34+09:00 Tom Tom http://photo2.perfume-life.com/?eid=464251 Welcome to our second English topic of the week. Today we would like to continue to talk about simple English. Last week we talked about Simple English News. Did you take a look at the site last week? Today we would like to talk about another simpl...
Today we would like to talk about another simple English news site, Voice of America Special English. This site is broadcast by Voice of America (VOA). They refer to their simple English as special English. The sentences are short, and they speak slowly.

Please take a look if you are interested. The site has both audio and text. VOA has been broadcasting in special English since 1959. American experts were not sure if people would listen. People in many countries around the world did listen, and Special English has been popular for almost 50 years.

We were particularly interested in their October 12 broadcast about books for dummies. Do you know the Dummies series? They are great, and we highly recommend them. We hope you will take a look. As we said before, if this site is too easy for you, and you are happy with news at the regular speed, that is terrific. If the regular news is too difficult for you, this may be just right. Whatever your level of English is, the news is a good topic to read about and listen to if you are interested. As we always say, the more you read, the better your English will get. Naturally, the more you listen, the better your English will get too!
]]> English topic of the week 2006-10-15T19:10:20+09:00 Tom Tom http://photo2.perfume-life.com/?eid=464245 Welcome to our first English topic of the week. Today we would like to talk about simple English news and Simple English News. As you can probably tell from looking at the capitalization and colors above, one of these is an idea and the other is a webs... Simple English News is one alternative.

If you are interested, please visit their site and take a look. You will see that the headlines are short and understandable. The recent Mona Lisa news, for example, is introduced as saying that she is smiling because she is a new mother. If this is too easy for you and you are happy with the regular newspaper, that is terrific. If the regular newspaper is too difficult for you, this may be just right. Whatever your level of English is, the news is a good topic to read about if you are interested. As we always say, the more you read, the better your English will get.
]]> English topic of the week 2006-10-08T19:00:09+09:00 Tom Tom http://photo2.perfume-life.com/?eid=35709 花写真2004年撮影 ]]> 花写真集2004年 2006-03-28T08:25:35+09:00 Tom Tom http://photo2.perfume-life.com/?eid=35706 花写真2004年撮影 ]]> 花写真集2004年 2006-03-28T08:23:37+09:00 Tom Tom