Toyohashi University of Technology,Institute for Global Network Innovation inTechnology Education

News from QC（Vol. 13 2015/10/19）

Reports

A way of learning English with a language partner
Jongdoc Park, National Institute of Technology, Oshima Collegespeaker and I doing exchange of language).

It's been three months since I came toQueens College. I want to evaluate if I did well

A good way to learn English in daily-lifein this process of learning English to enhance

will be definitely connected with researching

my English skills which are necessary inactivities for the future. It seems like a bigproviding education in English. All FD

hurdle for me to reconcile my English skills

members agree that we want to expose

with my research activities in a short period ofourselves in an English environment so that wetime. But, I believe that the laboratory members

can enhance more of our English speaking

also could be my language partners from nowability.

on. I am in the nanofluids and nanochiralI have been looking for a language partner

research laboratory. I will introduce myto help me practice in learning different

activities which are improving my Englishlanguages. I am also searching for a language

conversation and research in the laboratoryexchange program on campus that will boost

someday.

our ideas and help someone learn the language

Finally, Queens College organizes a number

I am fluent in. A native speaker will share theirof social and cultural events throughout thelanguage with me, and I will share with him/heryear. These are great opportunities to get toin Korean and Japanese.

know other students in the program and further

During my ELI classes, I’ve been asking

explore some of the languages and cultures wemy English teachers how I can improve myare sharing.

English here in New York. But I haven’t foundthe specific answers yet. During the last one
and a half months, we learned English grammarskills

inwriting,reading,andlistening

comprehension. However, I am not sure if mylistening and speaking skills have improved or
not in daily conversation.
In my opinion, the best way for us to learn
English is to stimulate our brain continuously.
The problem is how long it takes us toconstruct English in our mind with nativespeakers. As you know, Japanese and English
basically differ in how the sentence structure
flows in our mind. Anyhow, if we had language
partners, we could do that in a short period oftime. Practice will make us perfect on how todraw the idea and on how to infer the next story
in our mind quickly (The picture shows a native5

Learning physics at Queens College, CUNY
Tomoki Takezawa, National Institute of Technology, Maizuru College
We arrived at Queens College, CUNY

students are enrolled in the combined class(The City University of New York) on June 28.

which consists of “Principles of Quantum

After attending summer intensive courses,Mechanics” and “Fundamentals of Quantum

which teach English to non-native speakers in

Mechanics”, and almost half of the students are

The English Language Institute (ELI), for about

international students.

two months, we attended regular courses in thecourses might be unpopular with the Queens

fall 2015 semester to learn skills of teaching inCollege students.

English.

We were able to choose the courses

which we wanted to attend.

Fundamental science

Those three combined classes which I

I have been

have attended meet twice a week for 110

attending three courses: “Thermodynamics andminutes.

Statistical Mechanics”, “Principles of Quantum

and Statistical Mechanics”, almost half of theMechanics”, and “Electromagnetism I”.

lecture time is spent explaining solutions to theI willIn the course of “Thermodynamics

explain these courses in detail and comment on

homework.

them.

especially in the course of “Thermodynamics

All the courses which I have attended are

There is a lot of homework,

and Statistical Mechanics”.

I have to solve

offered by the physics department in the form

five problems in the textbook after each lesson,of combined classes.

The combined class puts

so I have to write a five-page report twice astudents of two or more different grade levels

week for the course of “Thermodynamics andin the same classroom.

Statistical Mechanics”.

For example,

There are a lot of“Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics”

problems in the textbook, but Prof. Stevenis one course of the combined classes which

Schwarz (Figure 1), who is instructor of

consists of three courses, “Thermodynamics”,“Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics”,“Thermodynamics & Statistical Mechanics”,chooses only five problems as homework toand “Statistical Physics”. “Thermodynamics”

make the students learn effectively.

and “Thermodynamics & Statistical Mechanics”

think he made a good choice of textbook which

are undergraduate level, while “Statisticalis easy for students to read by themselves.

Physics” is graduate level.

The lecture period

Although he teaches only key points in everyof “Thermodynamics” is a little bit shorter thanlesson, he always talks about scientific issues tothe others, and the amount of homework ofencourage the students to become more

“Statistical Physics” is greater than the others,interested in physics.

but the contents of the lecture are the same forneed help, I think that he gives advice about a

all those three courses.

wide range of learning in physics.

I alsoWhenever the students
I like his

Although all the courses which I havelecture style, but the outcome may depend on

attended are combined classes, the number of

attitude of the students because they arestudents in each of those three combined

required to learn a lot outside of the classroom.

classes is fewer than 20 because few students

I think the achievement for learning in themajor in physics in Queens College.

college is left to the students.

Ten6The homework

don’t contribute significantly to the class.

A

frequent gesture and unique posture by theteachers is not observed in the classroom, but
most of the students concentrate on learning.
My major problem in teaching in English is an
inadequate knowledge of how to express
myself in English.
The experience of learning at Queens
College reminds me of the importance of theFig. 1. Prof. Steven Schwarz (left).

role of a teacher.

I think that the teachers

is a little hard for me, but I enjoy learning as if

should talk with the students and be asked a

I were a student again.

question frequently, and must always respondI think that Japanese lectures don’t differ

to these with a wide range of knowledge as

dramatically from Queens College lectures.

well as expertise so that the teachers encourage

Although some students ask teachers a question

the students to become more interested inin the classroom, these questions and answers

learning.

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