Saturday 29 December 2012

My self introduction by Manami

My name is Manami. I will be your student this term. Let me tell you about myself.

 

I began to study English from junior high school.  I got Eiken pre-2 when I was a high school student. I studied English in junior high school and high school, but I am weak in English.
 
I am from Saitama and live there now. So I go to university by train every day. It is hard to go to the university because I must get up early. So I am very sleepy every day.
 
My hobby is watching movies. I like horror movies and action movies in particular.  I don’t go to a movie theater much because the price of tickets is expensive. So I go to TSUTAYA to borrow a DVD. I usually watch a movie with my father. My father likes watching movies too. However, he doesn't like animated films. That is why I can't watch Ghibli movies in my house. When a Ghibli movie is broadcasted on TV, I cannot watch it.  I do not have time to watch movies because I am busy. I must do homework and reports every day. So I want to watch lot of movies for winter vacation.

Wednesday 26 December 2012

My winter vacation!

Hi! I'm Kaori.

I'll tell you about my winter vacation and three things I want to do
in my winter vacation.

First, drawing a New Year's card.
In recent years, we use e-mails, skype, and facebook, and so on.
These are very useful, not warm. I think.
So, I decide to send a New Year's card.
I asked my friend who study about design to design my card.
I like it very much:)
I' ll send my friend and teacher. I'm looking forward to posting and
being read by my precious person.

Second, shopping.
I like Happy bag, in Japanese "Fukubukuro".
We can buy this in New Year's Day.
We don't know contents, so I'm very excited!
I want to buy clothes Happy bag, hope good contents!

Third, eating.
There are many delicious food in Winter.
For example, rice cake, mikan, and sukiyaki.
I like rice cake, especially rice cake with soybean flour.
I long for eating rice cake.

I want to do these things.
But, I go to my part-time job aimost everyday.
I want to my free time.


Thank you for your reading!
Best wishes throughout the coming year.

Saturday 22 December 2012

About me by Sayoko

  Hello, my name is Sayoko. I'm a member of achademic writing class (1st period, Thursday). I'm from Gunma but I live in Tsukuba now. I like Gunma very much. Gunma looks flying crane. I live at its bill. I'm an only child in my family. I wanted a brother. I have not gone abroad yet. I want to go to Italia, Australia, and Canada. I like pizza. I study knowledge information science at Tsukuba University. I'm a member of light music club called "PBCM". I am a vocalist. I also like like Utada Hikaru. I often sing her songs. My hobby is watching TV. I like especially variety. For example "London Hearts" and "Lincoln" and so on. And I like reading comics. I read both girls comics and boys comics. For example, "ONE PIECE", "Konan", "Kodomo no omocha" and so on.

Nice to meet you. X)

About me by Hiroko Shimamura

Hello. My name is Hiroko Shimamura. I major in agro-biological
resource science.

My TOEFL ITP score on 11th,Feburary,2012 was 480. This 480 was the
total score. Listening comprehension was 43. Structure &Written
expression was 50. Reading comprehension was 51. I have not taken the
other TOEFL test yet. I like English. So I want to be good at English!

My hobby is listening to music and farming and so on. I belong to the
agriculture club. In this club, we cultivate various vegetables. For
example, we cultivate carrots, sweet potatoes, onions, Chinese
cabbages, shallots and so on. Eating vegetables that we make is very
good. I like listening to music. My favorite artists are Perfume,
Asian Kung-Fu Generation, Yuki and Aiko. Listening to music makes me
happy. Lately I listen to many Christmas songs! It is very fun. When I
was a junior high school student, I played the clarinet in the brass
band club. So I like music very much. Eating delicious foods is also
my favorite thing. I want to know good restaurants which serve
delicious and cheap dishes in Tsukuba and go there. I want to go to
the café in Tsukuba. I like cooking and eating foods with friends.
Playing various sports is my favorite thing too. 

Self introduction by Mizuki

My name is Mizuki.
I major in agriculture.
I have studied English for 7 years. I was not a good student, so I can't speak, read  and write English well. However I like English and want to speak fluently. This summer, I went to Thailand to learn about Thai agriculture and talked to Thai students. They are better at speaking English than me, and surprisingly they can speak Japanese a little too though they have learned it only 3 or 4 years. I felt sad and thought why can't I speak English well though I have studied it more than 7 years! This is the reason why I want to be good at English. 
My hobby is doing scuba diving. I belong to the scuba diving club of Tsukuba University. We go to a lot of places, for example Miyakejima-island, Okinawa, to dive during every long vacation except winter one. 
I like playing musical instruments, too. I had learned piano for 14 years, violin for 6 years, and had played clarinet, trumpet and contrabass some years. Now I don't play anything becouse the diving club and part time job are busy. Someday, I will learn music again surely.

My self introduction by Mitsuki

Hello, everyone. I'm Mitsuki. I'll tell you about me.

My first English experience was at junior high school. It's not special in Japan.
I'm good at reading English, but not good at speaking. It's also not special, I know.
From July 21 to August 2 in 2012, I went to Bordeaux, France. That was my first foreign experience. I used English to study and communicate with French people. Sometimes I failed to make myself understood, but it was a precious time to talk and hang out with them. I found communication with foreign people very interesting.  

I'm interested in agronomy and botany, and I like outdoor activities. I'm a member of The Wild Animals Researchers Circle of this university, and I have many friends in the circle. With them I often go to mountains, forests, the sea, rivers, and so on. I enjoy watching birds, looking around plants, hunting insects, and fishing. It's a special time. 
Tsukuba has many good places to enjoy nature. Sometimes please look around and have a good time with natural things.

Thank you.


Friday 21 December 2012

About me by Kohe


My name is Kohe. I have studied English since junior high school.  I’m not good at English. Last year, my English class was C2. , It especially is difficult to talk and write in English. I can’t catch what a person says and can’t express my idea in English. I don't have much vocabulary. I don’t have any confidence in spelling and grammar, so I can’t write good sentences. I write poor sentences. My reading is so-so. I forget my score, but the TOEFL score is average among sophomores majoring in agricultural resources.
My hometown is located along the sea. I’m sad, I can’t see and feel the sea in Tsukuba. 
I like sports. Recently I play baseball, badminton, softball and basketball, but I belonged to table tennis club from junior high school to high school, so I want to play table tennis once in a while.


About me by Ryousuke

I lived in U.K. when I was 2 to 3 years old. However, I was too young, and the period I lived there was too short to be able to speak or understand English.

I passed the EIKEN test 5th grade when I was 11 years old. It is the only EIKEN test I passed. I have not taken the EIKEN test since I was 11 years old. I took the TOEFL ITP test for the first time last year. This was the second time for me to take an examination that tested my English skills since the EIKEN test. The score was 480. I don't know about the allotment of points, but I only know it was not a good score. When I was a high school student, I was not a good English speaker. However, I studied English as hard as possible to enter this university. So, my English ability was as good as ordinary high school students, I think, so that I could have been accepted by the university.
Chances to take English lessons in this university are not as much as chances in my high school, so I think I have to study English harder. I started to study an English wordbook for the TOEIC test just the other day.I will keep studying the book to develop my English ability.

Thursday 20 December 2012

My self introduction by Miharu

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My first encounter with English was when I was a junior high school student. In those days, I was a student of Kumon-shiki ( a cram school for children). At Kumon-shiki, I read aloud short English sentences, and listened to long English sentences again and again. I read a lot of famous sentences authored by various famous people. For example, the address of Martin Luther King Junior ("I Have a Dream"), The Gift of the magi of O. Henry and so on. At junior high school, I exercised my English ability acquired in Kumon-shiki. My score of English examination was usually good. From the time I was 14 years old, I started studying for STEP. I memorized words, solned past tests, and listened to English radio program. Studying for STEP was very useful because it was useful for admission examination to high school. In high school, I sometimes read simple English newspapers or novels but I studied less than when I was a junior high school student. Now I' m a university student. I study English less than before because other subjects are difficult to understand. So I feel my English ability have diminished. I want to brush up my English ability and learn writing skill.

If you are curious, please continue reading.

Hello, My name is Haruka.
I'm a student in the College of Agro-Biological Resources Sciences at Tsukuba University. Although I do not belong to any laboratory now, I'm thinking of studying remote sensing technology from next year.
Let me explain my experience studying English.I started studying when I was 6 years old. The start was my mother's recommendation to go to language school where some of my childhood friends went. However, I think I had already had opportunities to hear English before that. I still remember that I learned many English children's songs at home.
I've been to the U.S two times(Texas in 2006, Utah this summer), and Brisbane, Australia once in 2008. These experience really inspired me. In my future, I'd like to have a study more about science communication in some university in Britain or North America. That's because my dream is to be an educator in addition to be a good researcher.
This is my score now. I want to continue studying to get better scores.
Eiken 2  (November, 2007)
TOEIC 725 (January, 2012)
TOEFL iBT 80 (August, 2012)
My hobby is reading, playing the piano, listening to music(especially songs of Japanese singer, "Kururi", "Yomo-to-Ohana"), going to museums(I like permanent exhibitation in "Kahaku", for example), swimming, walking, brewing coffee and tea, and so on.

Thank you very much for your time :)

Self-introduction by Nan

My name is Nan. I am Chinese. I came to Japan in 2010, soon after I graduated from high school. When I was in Junior 3, I started to learn Japanese, because I was fond of Japanese animation at that time. After entering high school, I realized that the problem of food in China is serious, so I decided to continue my university life in Japan to learn something about food.

There was a TV program which taught children English in China. I started my English learning by following that TV program when I was six. I began to study English seriously in my primary school. I took the TOFEL-IBT test in senior 3 just before I came to Japan, and got 82 points. I also took part in the TOFEL-ITP last year, and got 530 this time.

My hobby is reading books,especially novels.I think I can study a lot from books.

I'm Yuka

My name is Yuka. I am 21 years old and a second year student at University of Tsukuba. I belong to the College of Agrobiological Resource Sciences. I’m interested in applied biological chemistry so I’d like to pursue it from next year. I’m not good at English, especially speaking and listening to it. I wanted to improve my English skills, so I went to Toronto last summer to study English. I stayed there for seven weeks during my summer vacation. It was  the first time for me to go abroad alone. Since I have never lived without Japanese language I was very worried about my stay. I was living in a foreign country that I had never been to, I met people from all over the world, I had chances to speak English. Everything was a first for me and wonderful experiences At first I wanted to go back to Japan, but finally I came to like Canada very much.

Let me introduce myself by Gumi

This is Gumi.
I have studied English for eight years. One of my hobbies is to listen
to music by the Beatles, and I have been familiar with English songs for
about ten years.
I have corresponded to a friend in Sri Lanka for four years in English.
Last summer, I visited the Asian Rural Institute to do farming with
people from developing countries for one week. I used mostly English
there.
I went to Melbourne, Australia for two weeks this March to study English.
It was a home stay program, and I commuted to the language learning
school named Cambridge International College. There, we couldn't speak
any language but English, so it was a really good experience to brush up
on my English skills. The host family was really kind and friendly. I
noticed that their English was Australian English, and the difference
was interesting.
In July, I went to Thailand for the program named International
Agricultural Training. We spoke English to communicate with Thai people,
and had lectures in English there.
I worked as a tutor of students from ASEAN from this September to
November. I helped their life in Tsukuba a little, and sometimes
translated lectures from Japanese to English.
Thus, I had opportunities to speak English. But still I can use only
basic English, and need more vocabulary. I want to use more complicated
phrases as well.

My self introduction by Chikako

Hello. My name is Chikako. I am in second year あt the University of Tsukuba. My department is Agrobiological Resource Sciences. My favorite subject is biology. I like to study about plants or forests. I am from Yokohama, Kanagawa prefecture. It takes about two hours from Yokohama to Tsukuba. I made the move to Tsukuba, when I entered this university. I go to school by bicycle weekdays. It takes about ten minutes. My house is near the university, so it is very convenient. However, sometimes I am late for school, especially when I have first period. My favorite thing is going on a trip. I went to a hot spring in Ishikawa prefecture during summer vacation, and went to Sendai during autumn vacation. I am going to go to Singapore in winter vacation. My family, parents and a brother lives in Singapore now. I have not been to the Shikoku district, so I want to go there. I like watching movies in my house or the theater recently. I record various movies on TV, and I watch them when I am free. I am not so good at English. I don't have any experience studying abroad or taking the TOEIC test.

My self introduction by kokko.

Hello! My name is Kokko. My twitter's ID is Wizaard_Oz, because I like Wizard of Oz.
I was a member of the color guard at the time in elementary school. I was acting with the songs of The Wizard of Oz as Repertoire. So, The Wizard of Oz is a song that has very memories.
I am from Tokushima. Have you been to Tokushima? Tokushima is famous for the sudachi, and Awa Odori. The sudachi is a type of citrus, it can use cooking. Awa Odori is a kind of a Bon Festival dance.I belong to a the circle of people in Tokushima Prefecture. I have danced the Awa Odori in the circle during the Lantern festival. Students of the University of Tsukuba have dance performances along with the college students of Waseda University and Keio University and
Yokohama National University and the Central University and Tokyo University of Science.I also danced the Awa Odori festival at Tsukuba and at the Tokyo University of Science. I am going to participate on in the future because I love Tokushima. I belong to the College of Agrobiological Resource Sciences.I have been studying various other agricultural economy and agriculture and
environmental engineering and life chemistry there. I think I will do my best to study and to activate circle activities.

About me by Natsumi

My name is Natsumi and I'm a student in your first period Academic English Writing II class on Thursdays at Tsukuba University. I'm twenty years old and I'm in second year. I belong to the College of Informatics and Library of Science. I have Society for Testing English Proficiency Pre-2. I go to school by TX from my house every day.  Getting to school takes 1 hour and 30 minutes, and I am very sleepy every day. My hometown is Soka city in Saitama. My hometown has la ocal specialty. One of the local specialties is Soka-Senbei. This has a very very long history. This is one of my favorite sweets. Moreover my hometown has Nikko-Kaido which Matsuo Basyo traveled on.  There are two hobbies of mine. One is listening to music. My favorite group is Arashi. Their music makes me happy. My favorite member is Sho Sakurai. Hi is so cool. I love him! And second is watching sport game. I like baseball and my favorite baseball team is Yomiuri giants. I was really glad for the Yomiuri giants to have won the victory this year. I would like to go to see their game next year also. I read many books very well. My favorite writer is Ruiko Kodemari. She wrote many love stories. I need your help well during 3 term.
Best regards. Thank you.

Wednesday 19 December 2012

My self introduction by Honoka.

Hello, I'm Honoka.
I will introduce myself.
First, I will tell you about my hometown and my family. I was born in Ishioka City in Ibaraki prefecture. Ishioka is close to Tsukuba and Tsutiura. Now, I live in Ishioka with my family. I live with my mother, father, grandmother, grandfather, two little sisters and my dog. I also have a little brother, but he lives in Kanagawa prefecture by himself.
Next, I would like to tell you about my school life. I go to school by car every day because I don't live in Tsukuba. I got my driver's license in November last year. After classes, I usually return to my home or go to my part-time job since I don't belong to any circle. I work at a convenience store.
Finally, I will explain one of my hobbies. I like handicrafts very much. I enjoy decorating my cell phone and making stuffed toy animals.

About me! by Kaori

Hi, I'm Kaori. Let me tell you about myself. My English experience is poor. I have the Eiken 2nd grade and I took the TOEIC. I took theTOEIC only one time, so I want to take TOEIC again. By the time I start job hunting, I want to take TOEIC at least three times. My weak point is listening. I must make an effort. I also want to speak English fluently. So, I will stick it out.

Next, I'll tell you about my hobbies. First, I like to go shopping. I sometimes go to Tokyo to buy some clothes and cosmetics. It is very fun! My favorite spot is Harajuku. I can buy cheap clothes.
Second, I like travelling. Now, I'm making plans for travel with friends. I want to go New Caledonia. It is very beautiful place. Third, I love to look at night views. I go to high places, for
example, an observation deck or a tower, whenever I travel somewhere. When I look at night views, I am excited. The best night view is that from Umeda Sky Building, Osaka. The lookout point is 173 meters high! From there, Osaka City is like a starlit sky. I want to live where I can look at good night views like that someday.

My self introduction by Nanami

Hello, my name is Nanami. Let me tell you about myself.
I started to take English conversation lessons when I was 5 years old, and I continued English conversation lessons for 6 years. Though I started English at a relatively early age, I am not good at English. I only have the third grade of Eiken. My weak point is reading English quickly and grasping the main point of English. My ability to understand spoken English is very low, so I want to improve my ability to understand spoken English.
I am a member of a study club in social welfare which is called "shafuku". With the club I teach kids, talk with kids, and play with kids. It is very enjoyable and I am always looking forward to club activities. I like kids and having a relationship with kids very much.
In my spare time, often I just lie around. Also, I usually watch TV, watch YouTube on the PC, read books and comics, and eat sweets. I like idol singers very much. I am lacking in hobbies and I am searching for a hobby.
Thank you.

My self introduction by Yohei

Hi, I'm Yohei. Let me tell you about myself.
 

My first English experience was in the first grade of elementary school. My elementary school had English class about once a month. We called the class ALT in the elementary school. I learned English there for the first time. I was taught by a foreign teacher in the class. I learned mainly speaking skills through simple games. From the fifth grade, I went to ECC. ECC is a language school. That is often advertised on TV. I learned mainly speaking skills. I went to the language school for five years. I gave up going to the language school the moment I graduated from junior high school. I was very busy in high school. I belonged to a baseball club in high school and practiced everyday. I had no time to go to the language school. When I was a high school student, I learned English in class. That is all my English experience. I have never been to foreign countries. I want to go abroad, someday. So, I want to be good at speaking and writing English.

My hobby is exercise. I belong to a baseball club, Junkosikiyakyubu. I have played baseball for ten years. I like sports, soccer table tennis and so on. I like both playing and watching.

My introduction by Miyu 2

Hi, I'm Miyu 2. Let me tell you about myself.
I do not have much English experience. I am bad at English. So I have not taken a test of English.
My hobbies are playing sports and reading books. My favorite sport is softball.  I played softball when I was a junior high school student. So I still sometimes play softball. Of course I also like swimming, basketball, soccer and so on. My favorite genres of books are mysteries and comics. I especially buy comics, more than ten books every month.  So, all my books do not fit in the bookshelf, and there are a lot of books in my room.

I am from Ehime.  The mandarin orange is a special product of Ehime. The climate is warm, I was surprised to be cold when I came to Tsukuba. This winter, I need a kotatsu and a mandarin orange from Ehime.

My dream is to become a Japanese high school teacher. So my fields of study are literature and education. 

My self introduction by Yukie

My name is Yukie. Let me tell you about myself. I have learnt English since I was thirteen years old. I got Level 2 of the English Language Proficiency Test (EIKEN) in 2008. I have never taken a TOIEC or a TOIFL test, but I will take a TOEIC test next March. I like listening to English songs, especially Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, and a men's vocal group called The Back Street Boys, so I like listening tests more than writing tests.

I belong to the College of Comparative Culture, my field is Information Culture. I'm studying about media, like movies, television, SNS, music, communication, mass communication and more. I'm interested in relations between the human mind and media, like "Why do we love television?" "Why are we healed by listening to music?"

I love music very much. Every day, I take one and a half hours to go to university from my parent's home. While I go to university, I always listen to music. I also like making playlists with names like, "healing", "morning", and "night".

I also like looking up at the sky and taking pictures. I love the time of twilight best. I want to go to places which have beautiful oceans such as Okinawa, Hawaii, New Caledonia, and take a picture of sun down.

My self introduction by Takaaki

Hello. My name is Takaaki.

I am not good at English. I can read English but I am not good at speaking and listening to English. I hardly have any English experience. I have not taken the TOEIC, the TOEFL or the IELTS. When I was a junior high school student, I passed the 3rd grade examination of Eiken.  However I have not taken Eiken since then. I do not know how to study English or what to study.

My favorite pastime is to watch a movie. I often watch a movie on DVD. I also like going to a theater. However I cannot watch a movie because I am busy recently. The movies I watch are various. For example: documentaries, dramas, animation and classics. My favorite movie is "Princess Mononoke" by Studio Ghibli, Inc.

Another one of my favorite pastimes is to go to a museum. I major in archeology in the University of Tsukuba. It is possible to obtain the knowledge of archeology or history or  art, and so on.  Therefore I like going to a museum.  Recently, I went to the Tokyo National Museum to see "CHINA: Grandeur of the Dynasties".  The exhibition made me excited. I have bought the pictorial record of the exhibition.

About me by Hana

My name is Hana. I major in Nursing in the University of Tsukuba.

I started studying English when I was an elementary schoolchild. I studied English only at school, but I am taking the 3rd Grade exam for STEP (certification program offered by the Society for Testing English Proficiency).

This summer vacation, I went to CANADA to study English. I did not want to go to CANADA, because I had to stay with a family for 2 weeks. I am shy in front of strangers, but my mother said "You should go to CANADA!!" First I could not speak English well so I used gestures. When I was asked about my flight, I said "Well... My airplane so trembles... So... I was fearful" with gesture. I stayed in CANADA for 2 weeks. I felt it was too long for me, but it was too short to study English.
I could make a lot of friends. For example: Korean, American, Brazilian...and Japanese!! The English school I went to had many Japanese students. These 2 weeks was good English experience for me. Now, I still can not speak and write English well, nevertheless I stayed
in CANADA 2 weeks. I like English. I have motivation to study English.

My self introduction by Sakko

Hello my name is Sakko. Let me tell you about myself. I started to learn English when I was a junior high school student.That means I have studied English for eight years. However, I am not good at English yet, especially speaking.I haven't taken English tests,like TOEIC or TOEFL. However I want to take the TOEIC test next year.

This summer, I went to Australia for a month to study English. That was my third experience to go abroad.There, I went to an English school,and studied English with my friends from various countries. I thought many foreign people speak English well though they aren't good at grammar. On the other hand,I am good at grammar,but I can't speak English well. Therefore, I want to practice speaking and speak more fluently. 

My favorite pastime is running.I am a sprinter. Practicing to run fast is my great pleasure.
  

My self introduction by Miyu

  Hello! My name is Miyu. Let me tell you about myself.
  I'm from Nagaoka, Niigata, and now live in Hirasuna Residence. I'm majoring in Humanities, European History. I especially want to study about ancient Rome. So now I am learning Latin and ancient Greek. They are very, very difficult, but I enjoy it! I am a member of the mixed chorus club of Tsukuba University, Tsukuba Daigaku Konsei GassyoudanThis club has about 60 members, and we practice 4 times a week. We gave a concert on December 16th at Nova hall in Tsukuba Center. We sang some Japanese songs, German songs (composed by F. Mendelssohn,) and an English Christmas song, "Jingle Bells". This concert is the biggest concert of the year for our club.

My self introduction by Kanae

Hi, I'm Kanae. I will be your student this term. Let me tell about myself.
I have studied English (grammar, writing, listening, etc.) since I was a junior high school student. I took a TOEIC test twice this year. I am not satisfied with my TOEIC store. So I want to acquire advanced English skills in this class. I'm going to take a TOEIC test in March. To get a high score, I decided to study English very hard every day.

I like listening to music. My favorite kinds of music are Japanese Pop, Korean Pop, and Classical music. Perfume is my most favorite Japanese Pop artist. Their songs and performances are wonderful. I want you to watch their performances. They can be watched on You Tube.

Also, I'm interested in foreign culture. So I want to travel all over the world like you, and I'm interested in Japanese culture too. I sometimes visit traditional places and historical buildings. I like Asakusa the best. There are many Japanese restaurants. Famous foods in Asakusa are Ningyo-yaki, Tempura, Sushi, Motsu-ni, Monja and so on. I enjoy visiting Senso-ji temple and eating many foods in Asakusa.

Welcome to our writing blog

Hello everyone!
Welcome to our writing blog. We will use this blog to publish our writing. We will publish our writing so that we can share our writing with people all over the world. We will also read posts by our peers (同等[同格]の人), and make comments on posts written by our peers. It is very important to share your writing. Sharing your writing is important to the writing process. The comments you get on your writing from me, your friends and from the people all over the world that read your blog posts will help you come to understand your readers and become a better writer. Please remember that this blog is public, so anyone in the whole world can read it! So, let's get started.
Enjoy!