ETJ Blog

Well, everyone, you might have noticed that our website was down for a couple of days, and looks a little … ah, well … incomplete, maybe strange. It’s not completely back to normal, and you’ll probably find that some things are missing.

WHY?? Yes, our webserver was HACKED and the website was completely wiped out! Luckily I had backups of most things, but not ALL data was recoverable. So, some of your blog posts are gone and I’m sorry about that. Also, you may have to REGISTER again as the blog database was also affected.

We are very sorry for this inconvenience and wish you a good learning experience on our website. As this all happened just a couple of days before my scheduled vacation, I was really busy trying to clean up the mess. One of the things that I didn’t get done was the transcript for the new AdventurePod English video podcast. Sorry, but you’ll have to wait a couple of weeks for that.
The good news is … there are some new audio podcasts and there’s our first VIDEO podcast. Look around, learn and enjoy.

Take care,
John

[Audio is on our podcast page. Duration: 13:13]

Our very first AdventurePod English! Charlie’s going on a cycling adventure — yes, a ONE-YEAR TOUR OF JAPAN!! — and so we interviewed him for our very first video podcast. Don’t forget to watch the video and read the transcript!

Wanna hear it? [download | link to rss feed | expression list]
Duration: 10:15

Hey … WHAT’S UP???

Welcome to our fourth episode of English Teacher John’s ‘What’s Up? Podcast.’ This is John speaking and I am happy and excited and energized to be speaking to you once again from our home in Matsumoto, Japan.

Hey, what’s up??? Well, here’s what’s up on my end …

YES .. YES … YES! JAPAN HAS FINALLY WON A MEDAL IN THE TORINO WINTER OLYMPIC GAMES. A gold medal. Ganbarimashita Shizuka Arakawa, who won the gold medal in women’s figure skating last night. Good job!! I know that all of Japan is celebrating this moment!

You know what I think? I think we should celebrate and congratulate ALL OF THE ATHLETES. I’m sure most of them have trained, practiced and practiced and practiced and trained and practiced and practiced and sweated for many years to improve and perfect their athletic talents. I think it really takes an incredible amount of focus, perseverance, discipline and determination.

You know what I think? I think ANYONE who has a passion, and then focuses themselves, himself or herself, on this passion, and keeps the fire burning, keeps focused, and accomplishes a goal .. we should congratulate ANYONE who does this, not just our sports stars. I think that people from all countries, and from all walks of life are working hard and following their dreams.

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Wanna hear it? [download | link to rss feed | expression list]
Duration: 9:20

Hey … WHAT’S UP???

Today is Thursday, February 16th and welcome to our third episode of English Teacher John’s ‘What’s Up?’ Podcast. My name is Bartholomew Schmageggy and I’m from Ougadougou, Burkinafaso … no no no, I’m just kidding. My name is John Koons and I am your host.Hey, what’s up??? Well, here’s what’s up on my end …

EMAIL. EMAIL. EMAIL!!! Isn’t it something that’s really changed our way to stay in touch, our way to communicate with each other?

When I think about email, I think back to my days of wandering the globe. I think about all the time I spent traveling, and how hard it was to meet up with people; how hard it was to keep in touch with people. I remember being in Bangkok, Thailand – probably around 1993 or 94 – and I was so excited to receive a letter at the post office there. It was such an exciting moment to go into the ‘poste restante’ area of a city post office and … ‘WOW … a letter for ME!!’ At that time, it was pretty rare to get something from friends, whether they were newly made travel friends or longtime friends from back home. Of course I kept in touch with my parents by calling a couple of times a month, but that was about it.

I remember all those days, weeks and months on the backpacker trail, meeting people at every stop, and making so many friends. But, once you parted ways, it was very difficult to maintain contact, and often, only fate could determine if you’d meet again.

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Duration: 7:00

Hey … WHAT’S UP??? Today is Thursday, February 9th and welcome to our second ‘What’s Up? Podcast’, brought to you from Matsumoto, Japan. My name is John Koons, I’m originally from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA and I am your host.

Hey, what’s up??? Well, here’s what’s up on my end …

You know what kinds of people or actions inspire me? People who do something a little different and create something that educates us, gives us a new look about something, tells us something interesting that we didn’t know. I especially get inspired by work that people do which has a lasting effect. You remember it and it may even cause you to do good things in your life, to think differently, see things differently or live your life differently.

I recently watched a documentary movie called ‘The March of the Penguins.’ Maybe some of you have seen it. It’s a French production and the filmmaker’s name is Luc Jacquet. I think the French title is ‘Le Marche d l’Empereur’ (and I’m sorry about my very bad French pronunciation! Please feel free to send me an audio file with the correct pronunciation!!)

This film is a wonderful documentary film about the journey that these special creatures take each year. It focuses on their annual ritual, where they brave the elements and walk distances of up to 100 kilometers to a more protected area.

WHY DO THEY DO IT? They take on these hardships – cold weather, storms, predators, fatigue, starvation – so that they can breed in a safer area. It’s truly amazing what these animals go through each year. You have to see the penguin couples sharing duties between the male and the female. They rest their egg on their feet, and they have a special flap of skin that comes down to keep the egg warm. While one parent is keeping the egg warm, the other is walking – that long, long distance – walking back to the sea to find food.

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Wanna hear it? [download | link to rss feed | expression list]
Duration: 8:05

Hey, what’s up??

I’ll tell you what’s up … our new podcast is what’s up and it’s called the English Teacher John ‘What’s Up? Podcast’. Download it from our RSS feed.

In this new podcast, I’ll speak a little more quickly and talk about a topic of interest. Well, I hope that it’s interesting for some of you at least. As I said, I’ll speak at a natural pace and use everyday English and I’ll also use some casual English, including some idioms and slang. There won’t be any grammar explanations but I’ll include a TRANSCRIPT – the exact text of the podcast. You can find the transcript on the MY ENGLISH BLOG. Oh wait a minute, I forgot to mention … it will be a lot shorter in length than our English Teacher John Show!!

Don’t forget … the transcript of this podcast is on the MY ENGLISH BLOG at englishteacherjohn.com
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Hey … WHAT’S UP??? Today is Wednesday, February 1st and welcome to our very first ‘What’s Up?’ podcast. My name is John Koons and I’m your host. I’m also known as ‘English Teacher John’, and I am broadcasting or podcasting live from Matsumoto, Japan. Hey, what’s up??? Well, here’s what’s up on my end …

I’m wasting too much time on the internet today. I woke up a little after 7 this morning and I thought I’d get right to work. Actually, my university classes ended earlier this week so I don’t have as many classroom lessons. But, I still have some other work to do AND I WANTED TO START EARLY on it. Sounds like a good idea, huh?

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Why don’t we do things together? We could think in a project each week as home-works like this:

I Usually learn better with pictures so I’m going to complete the missed definition of these 200 Basic English words and add then the British English Phonetic Transcription. Anyone would like help?

Let’s improve the Wikipedia to help ourselves to learn!

2006 is here and I am EXCITED!! I’m looking forward to a good year in 2006.

I wanted to let all of you know that ‘Podcast 27’ is now available here. This audio lesson is about making ‘New Year’s resolutions.’ You can hear some of my friends talk about their resolutions for 2006.

As for me, my first New Year’s resolution is to be more helpful with my wife, especially around the house. And my second resolution is to put more effort into studying Japanese language, and to improve my speaking and listening. It’s going to be hard!!

What are your New Year’s resolutions?

Happy new year to all of you.