OCTOBER 2020

EEC NEWSLETTERVOLUME 42

ENGLISH EDUCATION CENTERTopics■ Useful Studying Tips from the EEC Teachers■ Simple Things to do for a Better Travel Experience(Article by Ron)

■ Reports from Aidai Students Back from Overseas

Useful Studying Tips from the EEC Teachers
Scott WEBBER: To get better at any activity or skill requires
practice and time. Learning the English language is no different. For some of us, time is in short supply. One way to improve your English is to read English books and/or articles inour free time. There are many graded reader books available
on the internet. One such online resource is called ReadTheory.org. This website has reading material for
all levels of ability and it's free. So, if you
want to improve your English, one way is toread a lot of English books or articles.
Akira NAKAYAMA: This book, “Sounding Natural in English” (byKathleen Yamane, Hituzi Syobo), is practical, insightful, andimmediately useful for Japanese users of English. It’s an essential resource for both students
and teachers to correct incorrect
usages and lexical errors. I am surethat we can brush up our English
after reading this book. (Japaneseversion is also available.)

Julia KAWAMOTO: When I was asked togive some useful tips on studying English,
there is one thing that popped out - While
watching a YouTube video in English, dosome shadowing. You can also use the subtitles/closed caption to see the words on the screen. Of course, it is not a perfect device to capture all the speaker's words, but closeenough. There are all kinds of videos and different types ofcreators that you can enjoy. Not only would it be challenging
to do shadowing, but it would also help you to know the current lingo and expressions.
The ones that I like to watch that would be good for you tostart is Fairyland Cottage (if you are into zero waste, veganism,and sustainable living), Clean My Space (her videos are about
cleaning and organizing), and Wolter's World (he gives advice
and tips on traveling). The reason why I chose these channels
is that they are very easy to understand for Japanese listeners.
Good luck with your English studying journey.

Simple Things to do for a Better Travel Experience
I have travelled in 57 countries, and students sometimes ask
where the best place to go is. My response? I suggest a bestplace. But I have suggestions of things to do that will maketheir visit more memorable, wherever they go. These suggestions are, admittedly, unusual, but all have served me well on
my travels as easy and cheap ways to experience the local culture as the locals themselves experienceit. Here are my suggestions:
1. Get a haircut. Cut shops in foreigncountries are fascinating. Procedures,
tools, sequences, and service all are likely to differ from what you are used to.
Indian haircutBright, modern shops might offer an interesting experience, but I recommend shops that seem familyowned, and not in main tourist areas.
2. Ask directions. When I first came to Japan, my Japanesewas enough to ask simple questions. So, every day, I asked alocal person downtown, “Sumimasen, Iyo Ginko doko desu ka?”
Of course, I knew where the bank was! But it created a chance
to interact with a local person. Sometimes, wehad a short chat. It helped me gain confidence
speaking with Japanese people. I also did this in
China and South Korea. Some people respondedwith “No English!” and kept walking. But others
were helpful and talkative. Don’t be shy!
3. Take a local bus or train one or two stops. Then return towhere you started. Observe everything closely! Again, proce-- by Ron Murphy

dures and behaviors are likely different than in Japan. But make sure it
is a local bus or train – not an express!
4. Go to a movie theater. These areespecially amazing (like many
Pakistan villagethings) in developing countries.
Don’t go to watch only the movie. Go to watch the locals watchthe movie. Also, check out the snacks, toilets, behaviors, etc.
In all these cases, it is good to prepare a few words andphrases in the local language. For example, on a bus: “Can Isit?” or “Is the next stop Gortov?” At a theater: “Famous movie?” or “That was a good movie.” Haircut: “This much off” or “I
like this style.” These are all conversation-starters that haveworked for me in many countries. Be polite, friendly, and natural.
The purpose is to experience the local culture as the locals experience it. Asking questions or doing minor small-talk, politely, are ways to make a connection with a local. The things that
happen after your first question or comment in the local language can last 30 seconds, or 30 minutes. In my experience,these encounters have always felt authentic. Tourist spots areinteresting, but they are full of tourists. Locals don’t often go
to such places. Try to do what the locals do – see a movie, geta haircut, take a local train or bus. Be careful, pay attention,and don’t be shy.

Reports from Aidai Students Back from Overseas
My Experience on the SWY
Hello this is Soichiro Hirai from Faculty of Agriculture. I’d liketo introduce my experience in a program which is promoted bythe Japanese Cabinet Office on the ship Nippon maru.
The program name is “Ship for World Youth” (SWY). There
were 120 Japanese participant youths and 120 overseas participant youths who are from 10 countries like Bahrain, Brazil,Egypt, France, UK, Kenya, Mexico, Peru, and Sri Lanka. The
destination was to Ensenada, Mexico via Hawaii. The route
was only for this year. That routechanges every year. We can jointhat program once in our life. So,I felt I was lucky because I havenever been to Hawaii and Mexico.
What made this more exciting
was that it was by ship, not by
Sun rise view fromairplane.
Nippon maru
Before I could join that program, I took some tests and interviews at Ehime Prefecture Office and at Osaka City University.
First of all, I wrote an application to the Japanese Cabinet Office. Then I took a test about each participant countries andwrote an essay. The interview wasn’t difficult but because Iwas so nervous that I made it difficult than it should havebeen. At last I was interviewed based on my paper that I had
submitted. My heart was about to pop out because I have never been interviewed in my life, however I could pass the testluckily.

Arre bhaiyaa aal izz well (All is well)
I was really excited to study and live in India for a long time,
so I felt that I should prepare for Indian life. I decided to watch
an Indian movie “3 Idiots （邦題：きっと、うまくいく）.” This is a bit
strange but it worked for me. Then I really became more andmore interested in this culture that I soon discovered Punjabi
dance. This is an Indian dance.
The night I arrived in India, it was at midnight. It is a bad time
because it is not safe at night. Men kept on approaching me, I
felt that they would attack or kidnap me. I was really scaredthat they might have some ulterior motive. However, it was thefirst and last time I felt this scared.
I went to Jawaharlal Nehru University which is one of the best universities in India. It’s in the capital, Delhi,
where thousands of students fromdifferent part of India and the worldcome to pursue their dreams. At thattime, there was a big protest forthree months because of the raise of
the tuition. This was problematic because every day was a holiday for me.

At Taj Mahal

I talked about Ehime prefecture to overseas participants
using orange jelly and”Botchan” style clothes on
the ship. There were threemembers from Ehime, so it
was easy to explain about it.
We ate lots of gorgeous meals Painted skull face on Mexican night(me in the center)on the ship. I could eat soba,ramen, sushi in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It’s particularly more delicious than to have it on land.
I learned about gender, feminism, vegan, Amazon rainforestand environment problem from these seminars on the ship. I
haven’t thought about gender and feminism because I havenever seen it on the news on TV. So, I wanted to learn about it
more after getting off the ship. I joined some more seminars
and researched it after SWY. And also, I could think about mylife like “What am I going to do after SWY”, “What do I want toachieve in my life”, and “What’s my dream”. I still have no answers, however, I got one thing, it is: because of SWY, thesethree letters were significant to me which is, “We will always
continually connect with each other.”If you are interested in that program, please let me
know. I’d like to talk it more.
SWY official
webpage- by Soichiro Hirai (Faculty of Agriculture)

I joined a cheap tour in Rishikesh which costs
1500 rupees (2200 yen). I met a guy from Assam. I spent a lot of time with him in India. Heguided me to many places. He is a really crazy
guy in a good way. He always suddenly calls meand takes me all over the place. One day I got a call from him
to go to Assam on the next day, which is quite far from Delhi(more than 1500 km away!). It was a long trip but it turned out
to be a great experience.
As I mentioned before I became
interested in Punjabi dance. Iwas really surprised that mostIndians can dance naturally andrhythmically. I noticed that
there is a big difference between
the Japanese and Indians. One
example is there are many DJparties in India compared to Ja- Lunchtime during Rishikesh Tourpan. I wish there were as many here on campus. People
seemed free and happy while dancing. There are many thingsin India that are great that I wish it was the same in here in
Japan. So I encourage you to experience India like I did.
- by Tatsuya Nakao (Faculty of Law & Letters)

ENGLISH EDUCATION CENTER @EHIME UNIVERSITY
2nd floor, Aidai Muse, 3 Bunkyo-cho, Matsuyama, Ehime
Phone : 089-927-8340 E-mail : eec@stu.ehime-u.ac.jp
Webpage : http://web.eec.ehime-u.ac.jp/