ETJ Blog

Okay, it’s time to make a pledge here and now on our blog. As of today, 11 June 2006, I, John Koons, am going to make a regular and diligent effort to improve my Japanese langauge ability. Furthermore, I’m going to register for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) which is given in early December every year. I could attempt the Level 4 (easiest) exam, but I think I’m going to sign up for the Level 3 exam.

The Japanese writing system is pretty complex. It combines two Japanese alphabets (katakana and hiragana) with the ideograms (kanji) of the Chinese language. I now know a few kanji, but it’s going to take a lot of hours of studying to learn all of the ones I need for the formal Japanese exams!! For the JLPT Level 3 test, I’ll need to learn about 300 kanji.

Yes!! It’s really time to get serious about my Japanese language studies. I’ve developed a basic gameplan of the materials that I’m going to use. Here’s a list, and I’ll add more in the future:

• Use three or four different textbooks that I have laying around. (multiple choices tend to keep away the boredom)
• Listen to podcasts at: JapanesePod101.com
• Download and read the lesson notes from JPod101
• Use the online ‘Learning Center’ at JPod101
• Listen to other Japanese audio cd’s and podcasts (MORE Japanese when I’m using the mp3 player and LESS news, politics and tech podcasts!)
• optional: sign up for a pretty serious online or cd set from a language training firm like Rosetta Stone. (These programs are NOT cheap!)

That’s about all I can handle right now. I’ll post updates about my new learning approach and new commitment. Let’s do it!

Hey everyone,

It’s time for our SECOND Expressionist Live Show. We’ll do it this Friday, June 9th at 1:00pm GMT. More info on our Skypecast page.

You can check the local time in your city here.

ETJ’s EXPRESSIONIST Live Skypecast No. 2
Friday, June 9th, 2006
Topic: GOALS FOR THIS YEAR. What important things do you want to accomplish this year?
Also: Let’s talk about our FAMILY MEMBERS: brothers & sisters, husbands & wives, mother & father, children, grandparents. How old are they? What do they do? Where do they live? Do you have a good relationship with your siblings? with your parents? your kids?
Asking questions.
Oh yes .. I almost forgot .. It’s World Cup Football/Soccer time! Bring your comments.
06.00 (6:00am) USA, Canada – PST – West Coast
09.00 (9:00am) USA, Canada – EST – East Coast
10.00 (10:00am) South America
13.00 (1:00pm) U.K., Ireland
14.00 (2:00pm) Continental Europe
16.30 (4:30pm) Iran, other Western Asia
17.00 (5:00pm) Moscow
18.30 (6:30pm) India
20.00 (8:00pm) Thailand
21.00 (9:00pm) China
22.00 (10:00pm) Korea, Japan
–other countries–

Please write your comments under this blog post. You will need a Skype account to join us.

I look forward to chatting with you on Friday night!

John

mp3 audio (part 2) | Duration: 49:55 | File size: 22.93mb (big!) | part 1

Hey everyone,

Thanks again to everyone for participating in our first Expressionist Live show. This is the SECOND PART of the recording. Participants are from: Japan, Italy, Germany, Tibet, Ecuador, Spain, and China.
Our next live show is coming soon. Check the blog for details!
John

Lesson 42 (mp3) | Duration: 25:15 | File Size: 10.20mb | Podcast Page

TRANSCRIPT for Lesson 42 (pdf, 138kb)

Yes, it’s time for another podcast lesson. Are you ready???

In this audio lesson …
The Past Perfect Tense. Wow it’s difficult! We’ll learn about using the past perfect tense when we tell a story, especially a story that’s not in chronological order. We have three idioms to learn today.
IDIOMS: run into someone, catch up with someone, and make/made it, as in, show up or attend.

Enjoy and learn!
– John

I have tentatively scheduled our next EXPRESSIONIST LIVE skypecast show for Friday, June 9th. You can always check the skypecast page for more information.

Let’s have some fun and EXPRESS ourselves!! More info coming soon …
John

mp3 audio (part 1) | Duration: 30:45 | File size: 14.16mb
(sorry about the poor audio quality –John)

Hey everyone,

Thanks to all of you for participating in our very first Expressionist Live show!
Sebastian from Germany
Hiromi from Matsumoto, Japan
Romel from San Francisco, United States
James from Shanghai, China
Viviana from Quito, Ecuador
Egidio from Sardinia, Italy
Gyantsen from Tibet/India
David from Seville, Spain

Please write your comments about the show here at this blog post. Also, how about using the ETJ WIKI TRANSCRIPTER for writing the transcript??? I think this would be a good learning experience. Just listen to the audio a few times (maybe many, many times??!!) and try to produce the transcript. Give it a try and I’ll check it regularly.

I think we’ll do the next show on Friday, June 9, 2006 at 10:00pm Japan time which is 1:00pm GMT. You can check out information about the next show here. Can you attend??

The second part of the audio from this show will be available soon. Thanks again for participating!!
John

Hey everyone,

Hi everyone, yesterday for the first time I had my first chat with two members of our group! They are Clélio and Aythami and I want to thank them. It was very interesting! We had only a short textual conversation for this time, just to know something of our english learning experiences but the next time I hope to speak with them . And now just a few words about the live skypecast event. It really seams  a good idea and I’ll do all I can to be present. In my country (Italy) it will be at 3.00 p.m. , if i’m not wrong, and I hope to be back home at this time.  

John, could you please explain how we can join the skype session? Thank you in advance! Ciao.

Egidio.

My skype id is egidio_ricciardi.

 

Hey everyone,

Well, let’s continue to talk about NETPALS ENGLISH but THIS WEEK, let’s try a live skypecast together … what do you think??

This is the place to go for our new English Teacher John Show EXPRESSIONIST SkypeCast. Our first LIVE SKYPECAST will be this Friday evening, May 26th at 10:00pm (2200) Japan time. You can check the local time in your city here.

ETJ’s EXPRESSIONIST Live Skypecast No. 1
Friday, May 26th
Topic: Talking about yourself; self-introduction. What do you do? (student? job?) What are you studying?; What are your hobbies? What do you like to do in your free time? Asking questions.
06.00 (6:00am) USA, Canada – PST – West Coast
09.00 (9:00am) USA, Canada – EST – East Coast
10.00 (10:00am) South America
13.00 (1:00pm) U.K., Ireland
14.00 (2:00pm) Continental Europe
16.30 (4:30pm) Iran, other Western Asia
17.00 (5:00pm) Moscow
18.30 (6:30pm) India
20.00 (8:00pm) Thailand
21.00 (9:00pm) China
22.00 (10:00pm) Korea, Japan
–other countries–

Please write your comments under this blog post. You will need a Skype account to join us.

I look forward to chatting with you on Friday night!

John

[ FYI Message audio file (mp3, 3:42, 1.48mb) ]

Hello everyone,

Today is Wednesday, May 17th and this is a special FYI message. FYI means ‘for your information.’

A few months ago, I created a service called NETPALS ENGLISH. I discussed it on our blog, and then created a webpage on our website. The idea was to match English learners from around the world — by level — and have them talk to each other in English by using SKYPE or another internet phone application.

Well, starting this past January, I made some pairings and sent emails to these NETPALS ENGLISH MEMBERS, and then …. well, NOTHING HAPPENED. I put some instructions on the NETPALS ENGLISH page that members should make phone calls and then write about their experiences on our blog. I don’t know what happened butNO ONE wrote anything on our blog about their NETPALS ENGLISH experiences.

I think that the main problem was that I didn’t get on SKYPE very much and give the EXTRA EFFORT to make it happen. So, I’m sorry about that.

I also want to say that I have received many, many emails from people who would like to join NETPALS ENGLISH. Yes, I’ve received your emails but I’ve been very slow (maybe LAZY!) in getting back to you. Thanks for your interest, and this podcast is my response to your emails and your interest.

Well, I think the best way to comment on this message, or any comments about the NETPALS ENGLISH idea and service, is to please write a comment to this blog post.

We’ll keep all of the NETPALS ENGLISH comments together so that we can all read them.

I’d really like to do the NETPALS ENGLISH service and I’d like to RE-LAUNCH IT WHEN THE TIME, THE CONCEPT AND THE PREPARATION are right. Thanks for your initial interest in this program.

Everyone, have a good week, and check our website soon for the next episodes of the ENGLISH TEACHER JOHN SHOW and the WHAT’S UP PODCAST.

Take care,
John