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From Akita to Queens
Kazuhiko Uebayashi, National Institute of Technology, Akita College
From Akita to Queens
MOVING FROM AKITA PREFECTURE,
where Namahage1 is well-known as folklore,
and then Toyohashi city, which prospered from
Tokaido-do and water transports in the Edo era,
finally I've been to Queens, where Spider-Manwas born. Leaving Narita Airport on 26th June,the other Japanese professors and I arrived atJFK Airport on the same day. While I was onthe flight, I could not sleep well, so I watched

A prospect from the highest floor in Queens

several movies: “Olympus Has Fallen”, “YouthCollege to Manhattan Island, 5th October 2016

- La Giovinezza’, “Fathers and Daughters”,“Kung Fu Panda 3”. The visual images helped

from all over the world and holds a lot of basic

me understand the contents. Three months havecourses in many fields. The course of ESL ispassed since that day...

one of these courses. After our arrival, we tooka placement test; then we were assigned several
levels of proficiency, respectively.

In the Summer Term
For one and a half months from the end of

I was placed in 7A, the highest level in theJune, we took a course in English as a second

ELI. There were twelve students in the class.

language (ESL) as our training program in theWe learnt four skills: Writing (Ws), Reading

daytime at the English Language Institute(Rs), Listening & Speaking I (LSIs), and23(ELI) of Queens College (QC) .

Listening & Speaking II (LSIIs). Each skill had

Every summer from the end of May totwo classes from Monday to Thursday; theAugust is a summer term in QC. I heard thatclass was a three-hour class with a 15-minute

some QC students will study abroad or will

break. Since the class consisted of twelve

take an internship at a company during the term.

students, which was smaller-scale than ones in

Ten students from the City University of NewJapan, we were able to talk to each other easily

4including QC also used theincluding the instructors. In Ws, we learnt

term so as to study at Toyohashi University ofgrammar, academic vocabulary, writing aTechnology, Japan, from the end of May to thesummary and an opinion of an article in themiddle of June. However, QC accepts students

New York Times (NYT)5 and writing an essay

York (CUNY)

after a debate on a topic with pros and cons. In
1 http://videolib-akita.jp/namahage/

Rs, we did intensive reading of articles from2 http://www.qc.cuny.edu/pcs/programs/E

NYT & Revisions6, a novel, and quotes fromnglishLanguage/3 http://www.qc.cuny.edu/

5 http://www.nytimes.com

4 http://www.cuny.edu/

6 http://revisions.qwriting.qc.cuny.edu
2well-known people as well as sharing ourhard time in the summer term of ELI, Iopinions. In LSIs, we learnt idioms and phrasal

survived the whole course with the instructors

verbs and took dictation from the instructor,

and the classmates. I would like to show myand each student gave a speech on his/herappreciation for their support and participation

cherished things/memory. In LSIIs, we readin the term.

several articles on life, environment, art, andIn the evening of that term, I also observed

science and engineering, and then we checked

Multivariable

Calculus(MATH201)

from

ourMondayThursday.

We

learn

comprehensioninourconversation.

to

could

Additionally, we made debates and team andparametric equations, vector analysis andindividualtopics.

multiple integrals. These topics are usually

Although the four instructors were all different,taught in KOSEN except for Serret-Frenet

my classmates were even more varied than theformulas, which is important to understand afour: young Chinese students who were goingcurvature in space. There were a variety ofto study for a degree in the USA; students fromstudents from QC and CUNY whose major isKorea, Taiwan and Mexico who wanted tomathematics, computer science and economics.

improve their English proficiency during

Besides, it was a pleasure for me to have asummer; a Korean man who was brushing up

lunch meeting with my research host professor,

on his English after emigrating here with hisSo Takei, on Fridays during the summer term infamily; Japanese instructors with the support oforder to find our joint perspective on research.

presentations

ontheseTUT; a Japanese exchange student who wasgoing to stay here for one year; a Chinese

In the First Half of the Fall Term

woman who stayed here during her daughter's

After a week break, the fall term started onsummer holiday. With such classmates, we23rd August. We have to take a one-credit

could always enjoy talking during lunch. We

course in this term, so I have been taking

also had a cultural outing in the course. That

Intermediate Methods of Mathematical Physics

day, we went to see the musical "New York

(PHYS233). Besides, we could choose several

Spectacular" with the Rockettes at Radio City

course observations, and thus I have enrolled inMusic Hall. The story is about a lost sister andElectromagnetism I (PHYS310), Physics for

brother who go to well-known places in

Computer Science(PHYS204), Research andManhattan before meeting their parents in front

Writingof the Statue of Liberty. After the play, we went

Communication Skills (CESL284). Each course

to lunch at Bryant Park and the visited the New

also has two lectures from Monday to Thursday.

York Public Library. We happened to see anBesides, we have been involved in two special

exhibition on Alexander Hamilton who foundedtraining courses on Fridays: Teaching in

the financial system in the USA. Speaking ofEnglish and Academic Language Supportshows, when we also went to see a modernCourse.

version of Shakespeare's "Troilus and Cressida"

Inin

theSciences

PHYS233,

wend(PHYS320W),

arelearning

differential equations

at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park at thenon-homogeneous 2

beginning of August, though I could notand vector analysis. Just before writing thisunderstand its whole story, I was impressed bynewsletter, I took a midterm examination, but I

its stage setting and the actors' and actresses'

could not solve all the problems because of theexpressions. Eventually, even though I had ashortage of time. In PHYS310, we are learning3

statistical electromagnetism. My host professor

actualteaches this class, and there is a lot ofreviewers

conversation between the lecturer and theCESL284, which was highly recommended bystudents, so it gives me a lot of ideas for myone of my ELI classmates, we are discussing

upcoming English lecture in Japan. He kindly

news articles and episodes of TV shows in agave me a chance to give a lecture while he wasdialog. The instructor also helps us withattending a conference. In PHYS204, we arelistening and note-taking skills in college

learning

lectures.

non-linear

physics

withseveralinteractions
ina

betweenauthors

andwell-known

journal.

In

experiments for computer science. This lecture
gives the students a video clip of every class toFrom Now

review the contents via Google drive. TheIN THE CLASSES AND MEETINGS from thestudents can move anywhere inside the classsummer term to the first half of the fall term, Iwith a mobile combo desk to discuss thehave just recognised the difficulty of conveying

material with each other. The programming andwhat I want to share with others. In the next

its

as

half of the fall term, I hope that I will acquireassignments. In PHYS320W, there are several

the proficiency to express difficult concepts inassignments related to writing, and we often

English in various ways. In addition, I hope that

discuss these with each other and the instructor.

I will bring a new research collaboration among

It surprises me that the instructor shows theQC, TUT and Akita into the world.

video

explanation

areprepared

A Report on Lectures in QC
Iori Nakaoka, National Institute of Technology, Ube College1. Outline of Training

there are about 10 Chinese and one Vietnamese,

After completing the training at Toyohashi

Columbian and Italian (Chinese) students. I felt

University of Technology started in April, weno difference from their writing, reading andarrived at QC on June 26. It has been threegrammar skill with me but they had higher

months to attend the training in QC. In thislistening and speaking skills than me. The

report, I will describe some courses in thefollowing contents are the details of the lessons

training.

that are most impressive.
In the writing lesson, we learned much

2. English Courses at the ELIEnglish grammar especially the adjective

During the first one and a half months, weclause and adverb clause. A 30-minute shortparticipated in the English training program at

essay exercise with different subjects was

ELI (English Language Institute). The classes

added every week in the second part of thehad been held 6 hours a day, four days a weekcourse. The titles of the subjects were, for(from Mon. to Thur.). We always have home

example, "Boys and girls should attend separate

works after lectures. In ELI, four kinds ofclass?" and "It is sometimes said that borrowingclasses: speaking, listening, writing and readingmoney from a friend can harm or damage theare rotated to develop general English abilities.

friendship."  etc. The format of the essay

I am Level 5b and in the class I was assigned,begins with answering whether I agree with the4title or not, thenfollows by two or three

economics. However, the professor conducts

reasons for the answer, and close with thethe course as if each student already knows theconclusions. In short, the format is the same

meanings of the common technical words andwith the TOEFL writing. These issues seem tosymbols often used in economics. If I don't

be adopted from samples of TOEFL test,

know the words, I can't keep up with the course.

although I realized it later.

Therefore, preparation is necessary using theThe exercise of speaking is added acourse documents which are all uploaded on

10-minute presentation besides ProCon that

Blackboard as an e-learning system. This

have already been reported. In my class’s

course has four exams in total, and I already

ProCon, we debated about "use of the tablet as

took the first exam. The exam was multiple

a teaching tool in the classroom" between favor

choice and had five questions. Fortunately, Igroup and opposite group. On the other hand,

was able to answer all the questions correctly,

the presentation theme was optional so that thebut I felt the challenge of the exam in English.

Columbian student presented the reasons whyIn addition, I have attended two courses as

study abroad, Vietnamese student introduced

an observer. One of these courses is "Dataabout Vietnam and one of Chinese students

Mining / Warehousing" with a mentor professor

introduced the Yoga.

at QC. There are about 20 students in theIn the Japanese education system, PBL andcourse, which is given a lecture using textbook

active learning became popular in recent years.

written by the professor. The construction ofI noticed the improvement in the education

data warehouse and the differences between

system, and it was very helpful to me because I

database and data warehouse were introduced

did not have a presentation in my class when Iat the beginning. Recently, the professor

was a student.

introduced entropy as information theory andAll the professors had to take the same kindconditional probability. I think the Japaneseof final exam as the placement test after thestudents often listen to the class passively, andsummer classes ended. All the evaluation

don’t often participate. Conversely, these QC

scores (aural, structure reading cloze andstudents are the opposite side in my impression.

composition) increased in my case.

The other observation course is "MarketingResearch." There are about 10 students. The3. Courses on Fall Semesterclass is for students who already have a basic

I am participating in one credit course andknowledge of marketing. It consists of both

two other courses as an observer in the falllecture by professor and group work. In groupsemester. I belong to the Department ofof 3 or four members, we will do actual

Business Administration at Ube College now.

marketing research based on the contents of theIts students often wish to enroll in the Facultyclass. My group members are working on theof Economics at Kyushu University and theiPhone, and we are using "Survey Monkey" asDepartment

Hiroshimaa web marketing service. "Questant," which is

University. Therefore, I selected "Introduction

provided by Macromill has a similar function in

to Macroeconomics" as a credit course because

Japan. Because all the members are student, it

if I learn economics, I can help my students.

is difficult to determine how well we will work

There are about 30 students in the course. Thetogether.

ofEconomics

atcourse, as its name suggests, introduces

In my overall impression, I am (often)5

surprised at the difficulty of learning in English

my academic field other than daily courses, butand aggressiveness of American students. I am

I will describe this in my next QC news.

currently participating in some events related toToyohashi University of Technology
Institute for Global Network Innovation in Technology Education
Center for International Education
1-1, Hibarigaoka, Tempaku-cho, Toyohashi, Aichi, Japan
Tel: +81-532-81-5161
Mail: unireform@office.tut.ac.jp

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