Week 3 - Blog Presentations

Good afternoon!

Here is a Social Media writing example:

Social Media and Me

I use social media sites almost daily. I have Twitter, Line, Instagram, and YouTube accounts and use them everyday. I use Line to keep in touch with friends. I use Instagram to see what activity my friends are doing. I use YouTube for information gathering and as a hobby, but I also post videos from time to time. The videos are of me playing games with my friends. I also have a Facebook account, but I don't use it much. And I'm also interested in Reddit. I don't post on Reddit, but I do browse a lot, and I use Reddit to gather information about foreign countries.

I also have my own blog. This blog is a English music Japanese translation blog. I started this blog in 2017 and still update it. I started this blog with the hope that people all over Japan would get to know various songs and artists. Of course, I also want people to know the meaning of the lyrics. I have translated many songs into Japanese on this blog. Now it has been accessed more than 700,000 times.

I don't often look at other people's blogs, but I do look at blogs to find out the meaning of English words, slang, etc. I also look at blogs when I want to see Japanese translations of English music that other people have made.

Ryosuke

Blog Presentations Today

Ryosuke - My Favorite Songs - by Kanami

Minami - Shunta's Music Box - by Shunta

Yuka - Saki's Cafe Review - by Saki

Kaito - My Favorite YouTubers - by Kaito

Hiryu - We Watch Movies - by Hisato

Funo - Everything is New Here - by Chaeyoung

Chihiro - Miu's Foods Diary by Miu

Rui - Natsumi's Foods Diary - by Natsumi

Mana - Tomoka's Cooking Studio - by Tomoka

Aoi - Shunya's Instructive Music Space - by Shunya

Shizuka - Kanako's TV Dramas - by Kanako

Saki - Delicious Cafes - by Haruna

Today, students will present a blog. The presentation order will be determined by the class spinner!  Spinner

Please mention these things (among others):

• name of the blog
• URL
• purpose of the blog
• audience
• design
• why it's good, interesting or useful
• features
• other things you notice
• some details about one specific post

Presentations are for speaking practice. Try to have good eye contact, a loud voice, and smile if you can! If you do this many times in BlogZemi class, you will be more relaxed in the future when you have to present for your future company.

Also, typing practice at Typing.com
Bubbles Typing Game

Grammar Practice
Conditional Sentences I - statements

Assignment: Present a Japan blog
Today you will start preparing to present another blog or website in class. Kevin will introduce a list of blogs that are written in English about Japan. Most of these blogs are written by foreigners, but some are written by Japanese. Kevin will assign you one blog to view. Please check it out carefully and try to understand the blog as much as you can. You can ask Kevin questions.

Many of the blogs below are no longer current. Sometimes people get tired of writing about the same theme. Sometimes they move away from Japan. For some people, the trend has moved away from blogs to other media, like YouTube. The Corona virus situation has also discouraged some people, as they can't easily travel or go out to restaurants.

I numbered them so that I can assign one to each student. The numbers are NOT rankings.

1.     http://alicegordenker.wordpress.com/ 
2.     http://www.asiaisforlovers.blogspot.jp/   
3.     https://www.chopstickchronicles.com/
4.     http://celiaintokyo.wordpress.com/  
5.     http://bakadaruku.blogspot.jp/   
6.     http://www.survivingnjapan.com/   
7.     http://www.ramenadventures.com/ 
8.     http://www.haikyo.org/      
9.     http://iffybizness.blogspot.jp/ 
10.     http://japanexplained.wordpress.com/ 
11.     https://www.behance.net/shinjitsuchimochi   
12.     http://kyoto-images.blogspot.jp/ 
13.     http://www.victoredison.net/
14.     http://joruraljapan.blogspot.jp/     
15.     http://ojisanjake.blogspot.jp/ 
16.     http://okaasanandme.blogspot.jp/   
17.     http://hotspringaddict.blogspot.jp/ 
18.     https://hikinginjapan.com/
19.     http://japaneseruleof7.com/
20.     http://www.dannychoo.com/
21.     https://bigsushilittlefishes.wordpress.com/      
22.     http://japan-australia.blogspot.jp/   
23.     http://whatjapanthinks.com/
24.     http://www.locoinyokohama.com/        
25.     http://www.ageekinjapan.com/  
26.     http://zoomingjapan.com/
27.     http://wandertokyo.com/
28.     https://www.byfood.com/blog/culture/japanese-food-bloggers    
29.     http://regex.info/blog/
30.     http://muza-chan.net/   
31.     http://boutiquejapan.com/blog/    
32.     https://www.tofugu.com/      
33.     https://japaneselit.net/   
34.     https://theasiancinemablog.com/category/cinema-of-japan/
35.     http://www.thesushilegend.com/     
36.     https://justhungry.com/    
37.     http://www.japansubculture.com/     
38.     http://www.japanese-castle-explorer.com/     
39.     https://www.22places.com/japan-blog/     
40.     https://www.therealjapan.com/blog/    
41.     https://www.twowanderingsoles.com/japan
42.     https://notanomadblog.com/countries/japan/
43.     https://kyotofoodie.com/
44.     https://www.humblebeanblog.com/
45.     https://www.justonecookbook.com/
46.     https://japaneselevelup.com/blog/
47.     http://nihonshock.com/
48.     https://blogs.transparent.com/japanese/

You will present these blogs in two weeks, May 10. You will start reading them after class today. You do NOT need to send me your writing for this. You need to identify and present this information in class:

1) What is the name of the blog?
2) What is the name of the blog writer? (Try to find it; usually in "About" or "Contact")
3) If you can identify the blog platform (Blogger, Wordpress, Tumblr, Medium, etc), tell us.
*4) Summarize the purpose of the blog and identify the target audience.
5) Tell if the blog is current or not
6) List 3 topics covered in the blog posts
7) Tell one of the topics in more detail (find one that's interesting to you)

* All of these blogs are about Japan or have some kind of Japan connection. Some of them have a wide range of topics from Japan and some are very focused, such as, 'sushi.' Identify which it is and be prepared to explain it to us. Be ready to present this on May 10!

Choose one of these, then post the number you chose in the comment box.
Ryosuke  - 1, 13, 25, 37
Minami - 2, 14, 26, 38
Yuka - 3, 15, 27, 39
Kaito - 4, 16, 28, 40
Hiryu - 5, 17, 29, 41
Funo - 6, 18, 30, 42
Chihiro - 7, 19, 31, 43
Rui - 8, 20, 32, 44
Mana - 9, 21, 33, 45
Aoi - 10, 22, 34, 46
Shizuka - 11, 23, 35, 47
Saki - 12, 24, 36, 48

https://www.japan-guide.com/blog/schauwecker/

To Do List
1) Choose one of the 4 blogs next to your name.
2) Tell Kevin which one you will do by making a comment in the comment box.
* Blogs that aren't chosen are free for other students to choose.
3) Make a presentation about the blog you chose. Include the information from the list above. You will present in two weeks, May 10

Week 2 - Introduce a Blog

Good afternoon!

Grading Policy 2022 PDF

Here is a list from the blog comments last week about topics students are interested in:

• cooking
• music
• books
• J-Pop
• K-Pop
• Japanese movies
• Foreign movies
• tv dramas
• anime 
• cafes
• sweets
• games / gaming
• Virtual Reality
• Disney 
• cosmetics
• birds
• bugs
• badminton
• coffee
• flowers

For now, these topics are just ideas. You will see many kinds of blogs this semester, and I hope some of you will find a new blog topic. Please keep an open mind, and use your imagination! Choose something that is interesting to read about and fun to write about.

Next ...
I received Google Drive documents (SNS topic) from everyone. Nice job!

* When you share a Google Doc (on Google Drive), you have to choose the setting that lets the person you share with (me!) open the document. In the Settings, allow anyone who has the link to see the document.

Grammar Exercises

• Articles - A, An
• Questions and short answers in English (no form; just tell Kevin your score)
• What are they saying? - 'be' verbs

* Some smart phones (or smart phone browsers) don't work well with these Google forms. In particular, they don't recognize apostrophes, especially the Japanese type. But don't worry; I can see your answers even if they are marked wrong.

Next ...
Kevin will talk about media in history (and ask for your input, too!)

Today, Kevin will introduce one of his blogs to you. He will use vocabulary necessary for talking about blogs. You must pay attention and ask questions about words you don't understand. Remember the words you need to talk about blogs, because you will present in the same way!

• tsurumieats.blogspot.com

Please find one blog written by a student in this class from previous years. Introduce it to the class next week. You will follow Kevin's model for presenting (i.e., present like he did re. Tsurumi Eats!). Please mention these things (among others):

• name of the blog
• URL
• purpose of the blog
• audience
• design
• why it's good, interesting or useful
• features
• other things you notice
• some details about one specific post

I want everyone to introduce a different blog, so after you choose one, please make a blog comment below and tell the group which blog title you chose and please paste the URL in your comment. If you see that blog on the list above yours, you must choose another blog! Gambatte!

To Do List
1) Grammar Exercises (see 3 links above)
2) Fix the mistakes in your SNS writing. Send a revised paragraph to Kevin. This is due May 10 according to the schedule, but I think you can send it sooner. Share from your Google Drive!
3) Prepare to introduce a student blog from one of Kevin's former students. See the list of talking points above.
4) Post which blog you will introduce in the comment box of this blog. Be sure to choose one that is not already on the list.

The next class will be April 26! You will present a student blog on this day.

Welcome to the Blogging in English Seminar 2022!

Hi everyone! How are you doing in this strange time of COVID-19? I hope you are staying healthy and keeping your older family members healthy. Let's not take too many risks, OK?

Blogzemi is a full year course (30 classes). Classes this year are in the classroom. There will be many presentations in this class.

In the spring semester, you will view blogs and analyze them. You will try to find blogs that are interesting to you and you will introduce them to the class. In the fall semester, you will make your own blog. You will use your experience of viewing blogs to make an interesting blog that will appeal to others.

As a first step, you must have a Gmail (Google) account so you can make comments on this blog and on the blogs of others. Do you have a Gmail account? If not, please make one SOON. If you want Kevin's help, you need to choose English as the display language.

Let's make a list of topics

Assignments:
We will do two writing exercises today.

#1) Write a comment in the comment box below. You have to sign in with your Gmail account. Tell Kevin (and everyone who reads the comments) what topic from the chat list is interesting to you. Maybe this will become your blog topic in the fall semester. But don't worry; you still have plenty of time to choose a great blog topic later. Be sure to write your name at the end of your comment so Kevin knows who wrote the comment.

Topics from last year's chat list:
cooking, movies, video games, travel, organic food, etc.

Example:

I'm interested in 3 topics. First, I'm interested in TV dramas, because I like foreign dramas, like 'The Walking Dead' and '24 Hours'. I want to watch many overseas dramas and write about them. The next topic I'm interested in is sweets. I want to know more about sweets around the world and I want to bake sweets and show how to make them. My  third topic is animals. I want to go to zoos and write about animals of the world

2722040 Tomoe Saito

Now that we have a Google account, we can make use of Google Drive. Google Drive is like Microsoft Office. It's free and it's online. You can make documents and slide shows. You can access your documents from any computer that has Internet. You can also share your documents with other people with your Gmail account.

#2) Please take a minute to think about what kinds of social media and blogs you currently use. Do you use Instagram, Twitter, Line, Facebook, YouTube or other sites? Which ones do you use daily? Occasionally? Do you view anyone's blog? Which sites? Tell us now, using the document function in Google Drive. Share your document with Kevin by Gmail (not Google +). Please make a title for your writing.

* A few writing and typing points:
1. Make one space (only 1!) after a sentence.
2. Write in paragraphs (段落). Several sentences on the same topic should be in the same paragraph. Don't use the 'Enter' key after each sentence. Just keep typing, with one space after each sentence.
3. For the purpose of blogging and commenting, we will NOT indent (字下げしない). After each paragraph, Hit 'Enter' twice to make a line space between paragraphs, as in the sample below.
4. Did you read the 3 points above? Then please do it!

Here's Kevin's example:

Social Media and Me

I don't use the most common social media sites, or at least not very often. I have a Twitter account, but I rarely use it. I don't use Facebook either. I have a Line account, and I mainly use it to communicate with my wife and daughter, but recently I contact students by Line. I sometimes use YouTube to post videos to use in my classes. My favorite social media site is called Reddit. On Reddit, I can view interesting and funny articles or memes, and I can read the comments people make about various topics. Sometimes I post my own comments and opinions. Reddit is different from Facebook or Twitter in that it's anonymous.

I have many blogs, which I use for my classes. I have this one, "Blogging in English", for my Blog Seminar. I have another blog for my Movie Seminar and one for my Graduation Seminar. Basically, whenever I have a class that uses a computer classroom, I make a blog for the class, and I have students post comments on the site. I also post links on the blogs so students can quickly find the sites I want to introduce.

My favorite blog that I check often is "Free Technology for Teachers" by Richard Byrne. The URL is http://www.freetech4teachers.com .This blog gives me ideas that I can use in the classes that I teach in computer classrooms. 

I'm interested in history, especially American history, and as a kind of hobby, I have a website about Pocahontas and the Jamestown colony. The website is called Pocahontas Lives!

Kevin Miller

(260 words)

More stuff to do!

You need to work on your typing skills! This can only be done on a PC. Typing practice on a smart phone will not be useful. Typing Lessons at Typing.com

Grammar Review
You all know the Simple Present Tense in English grammar. We use it to describe things we do every day. For example, "Recently, I stay at home every day." and "She eats bread for breakfast."

Remember to add an 's; when the subject is he, she or it.

Singular  /  Plural

• I speak English.  /  We speak English.
• You speak English.  /  You speak English.
• He speaks English  /  They speak English.
• She speaks English
• It speaks English.

Also, "Do you speak English?" and "Does she speak English?" "No, I don't speak English." "No, she doesn't speak English."

Exercises:
017 Eduardo's Family - Simple Present Tense
018 What's the Word? - Simple Present Tense

Submit your Gmail address when you do these exercises.

One more thing!
In this class, I usually make a class photo for the Blogzemi Website. I can either make a collage or take a group shot as in the photos at the bottom of this page. We'll talk about it in class.

Example:

Week 1 To Do List

1. Join the BlogZemi Line group.
2. Make a Google account (if you don't have one)
3. Write a blog comment (on this blog) about topics you are interested in
4. Write a paragraph about Social Media and how you use it
5. Send your paragraph to Kevin using Google Drive's share function. How to send is explained below.
6. Practice typing on a PC (if you have access to a PC)
7. Do 2 online grammar exercises. (They will ask for your Gmail address.)
8. Photo for website

If you have questions, send Kevin an email or Line message. Use your Gmail account for email. Send mail to my Tsurumi mail account.

Student - Teacher contact will be by ..

• this blog
• Gmail
• university email
• Line
• Manaba

We will use all of these ways. Please reply when I contact you. Always include your name in your email messages.

Archive BlogZemi Photos

BlogZemi 2014

BlogZemi2017

How to share a Google Drive document

1) Make a Google document in your Google Drive.

2) Give your document a title (top left of document).

3) When you're ready to send, go to File, Share.

4) Change the setting to "Anyone on the internet with this link can view" (under "Get link")

5) Click on Copy link and click Done.

6) Make a Gmail message to Kevin and paste the link in the message. Include your name in the email.

7) Send Kevin the email.

If there is a problem, I will contact you. Please check your mail from time to time.

(If you don't do it this way, I will have to ask you for permission to open the document, and if you don't check your mail, I will have to wait.)

Schedule - Blogging in English 2022

Blogging in English Seminar Schedule 2022

Rm. 302         Tuesdays 3rd Period (13:00~14:30)          30 classes

      April 12         Intros; announcements; Gmail; one paragraph assigned

      April 19         Policies; grading; intro to blog topics; one paragraph due ↩

      April 26         One paragraph returned; typing; introduce a blog site

✪    May 3 – Golden Week!; no class!

      May 10          Revised paragraph due ↩; book/movie/manga review assigned

      May 17          Introduction to Blogger; make a practice site

      May 24          Book/movie/manga review due ↩

      May 31          Book/movie review returned; intro to restaurant review

      June 7           Revised book/movie/manga review due ↩

      June 14         Book/movie review presentations; restaurant review assigned

      June 21         Photo editing

      June 28         Restaurant review due ↩

      July 5            Restaurant review returned

      July 12          Revised restaurant review due ↩

      July 19          Restaurant review presentations

      July 26          Declare probable fall blog theme

✪ Summer Break!

      Sept. 30         Announce blog topic

      Sept. 27         Blog Post #1

      Oct. 4            Blog Presentation

      Oct. 11          Blog Post #2

      Oct. 18          Blog Presentation

      Oct. 25        

      Nov. 1            Blog Post #3

      Nov. 8            Blog Presentation

      Nov. 15         

      Nov. 22          Blog Post #4

      Nov. 29          Blog Presentation

      Dec. 6           

      Dec. 13         Blog Post #5

      Dec. 20         Blog Presentation

      Jan. 10          Final edits to blogs    

You CANNOT be absent from this class! Gambatte!