Hope Emerges As Key to Success in Life

There is not always a means in the place there is a will. If you want to achieve your goal, you have to have hope and a way to accomplish your goal. People with high levels of hope believe in their ability to find the ways to reach their goal, and they have strong will to do so. According to this theory, I will be able to attain my goal. That is because I have a strong hope which is to master at least English and Chinese and this is one of my goals. I also have ways to master these two languages. I am studying Chinese and English everyday. I believe that I can reach this goal.

The Working Women in My Family History

The women’s working situation and environment have changed from generation to generation. People’s thoughts and common sense have also changed. How are they different? The women in my family are my grandmother, my mother, and myself. I think that looking at my family’s case of working women and the case of my generation is very interesting.
My grandmother used to work at Yonezawa Fabric Company. At that time, it was common for women to quit their jobs when they got married in Japan. So, my grandmother also quit her job after she and my grandfather got married. In traditional Japanese society, a woman had to live with her husband’s family after she was married. Women stayed in their houses, brought up their children, did housework everyday, and so on. My grandmother has always been at home. She raised two children and did housework. My grandfather didn’t help her with the housework. There was a large amount of discrimination between men and women at that time.
My mother works as an elementary school teacher. She has insisted that women and men should be treated fairly in the workplace. She hates the idea that women are inferior to men. She always says her opinion very clearly and sometimes has arguments with male teachers. She gave birth three times and she was able to have a break each time. It is said that women teachers shouldn’t teach Physical Education classes, but from about 6 or 7 years ago, my mother has been teaching Physical Education classes. In addition, my mother has to do housework but my father helps her and they share the housework.
A friend of mine, who already has a job, says that she doesn’t want to get married and have children. She knows that there are some laws to protect women’s right in society now. For example, a law rules that not only women but also men can take a break to raise their children. However, there are no penalties if a company doesn’t use this system. My friend is afraid to lose her career. More and more women have jobs and don’t want to get married in my generation. It connects to a lot of contemporary social issues, such as decreasing child population or some insurance difficulties. Thus, I believe we should consider our problems more seriously. I think women’s working environment and views about women’s work vary from generation to generation

War on Disease

There are a lot of fatal diseases all over the world. Influenza, HIV/AIDS, Diarrheal Diseases, Tuberculosis, Malaria, and Measles, these six maladies are especially famous for its cruelness. I have 　had Influenza before, but it was like a little bad cold and about in 2 weeks, I recovered from it. The good way to prevent us from having influenza is to take an Influenza vaccine which is predicted as a type that will be prevalent a year. These days, Bird flu is well known in the world. I heard that a Japanese researcher has developed a quick and easy test to detect the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu in poultry and in humans. The test came after the researcher found an antibody that reacts with H5N1. The test will be used in facilities such as airports.

Gladiator

I considered what is love through this movie; “Gladiator”. Maximus who is a main character in this movie loved Marcus Alilius who was a Commodus’s father. He also really loved Rome and his family. He fought and lived and died for things and people which he loved deeply. I am sure that his honor came from his love. I respect his strong love and principle very much. Not only Maximus but also other characters loved someone as their own. Commodus loved his real sister as if a symbol of tragic. His sister loved her son and her father and Maximus. She also loved Commodus who was a Cesar after Marcus Alilius as a sibling. I felt sad at the end of this movie because Maxmus died after the fighting with Commodus. Yet, I also felt happy, but I don’t know why. I strongly recommend you watch this movie. I learned love makes people strong from this movie.

Song For…　　　　　　　　　

If there is a meaning on our meeting
It is only now that I have a pain in my heart
This pain shows how much I love you
If there is a fear to love, you can get over it, right?
There is no place that this love can go,
But I cannot return like a clock, Look
Now toward you, only to you, I love you.

Days we cannot meet are piling up. Also Days I cannot sleep do.

There are a lot of difficulties in our love, so even though we both love each other
very much, we can never be one.
Yet, I will wait for the day you can be an adult.

Although there are so many people all over the world,
I met you, I fell in love with you, I could have same feeling with you.
Can’t meet you. Wanna meet you. Now I want to meet you, now

I want to go to you. But I have to beyond the sadness which I cannot go, and
I must be strong, stronger.

If you say you love me to me so often, we never know our future.
I cannot stop worrying about the future.
Wanna meet you. Wanna meet you. Now I want to meet you, and then please hug
me with all of your strength.

Although there are so many people all over the world,
I met you, I fell in love with you, I could have same feeling with you.
Can’t meet you. Wanna meet you. Now I want to meet you. Just wanna meet you.

Just wanna meet you. Now I wanna meet you.

Translating for Parents Means Growing Up Fast

Many immigrants come to depend on their children because they can’t understand the language of the country which they moved to. However, there is a downside to this custom. When children are their parents’ interpreters, the dynamics of the typical family become inverted and the duties can bring very big strain to these children. I have never experienced such a situation which parent’s and child’s roles are reversed. Yet, these days, I felt kind of a same feeling as these children. Last weekend, my parents came to see me. I introduced them to a friend who came from America. He can’t understand Japanese yet and my parents can’t understand English well. So, at the moment, I was an interpreter and I felt I was not a small daughter who is controlled everything by my parents anymore.

Women and Work:
Around the World, Women Earn less

The survey in the Newsweek magazine “The Status of Women Around the World” was about women’s present situation of earning money all over the world. Every survey showed women are in severe situations compared to men. I was so surprised by the fact that 70% of more than 1 billion people who live in poverty are females all over the world. I know that women cannot work on equal terms with men in Japanese society yet. I think some law which supports women should be made and men also should think about women more. I think it is unfair that only women bring up their children. Those problems are connected to other problems such as the declining birth rate. I want to study about these issues more and improve our future.

Life is like a boat

Nobody knows who I really am. I never felt this empty before and if I ever need someone to come along. Who’s gonna comfort me and keep me strong? We are all rowing the boat of fate. The waves keep on coming and we can’t escape. But if we ever get lost on our way, the waves would guide you thru another day.

I am breathing in far far away. I feel like I became transparent. I thought it was dark but it wasn’t. I was just blindfolded. I give my prayers and wait a new day. See the vivid ocean and go to its end.

Nobody knows who I really am. Maybe they just don’t give a damn but if I ever need someone to come along, I know you would comfort me and keep me strong. People’s hearts vary and I wanna get away from it all. The moon takes the boat in a new revolution again. And every time I see your face the ocean heaves up to my heart. You make me wanna strain at the oars, and soon I can see the shore.

Oh, I can see the shore. When I will see the shore? I want you to know who I really am. I never thought I’d feel this way towards you. And if you ever need someone to come along, I will follow you, and keep you strong.

The journey still keeps going. Also in calm day, the moon illuminates the boat in a new revolution again. I give my prayers and wait a new day. See the vivid ocean and go to its end. And every time I see your face the ocean heaves up to my heart. You make me wanna strain at the oars, and soon I can see the shore.

We are all rowing the boat of fate. Weaves hit us one after another but it is also wonderful journey. Every thing is wonderful journey.

Believing in the True Self

There are a lot of types of people in the world. For example, there are people who are very sociable. On the other hand, there are people who are really shy. There are people who are good at languages, while there are people who are good at mathematics. Some people are talkative but some are quiet. I think I am sociable and talkative person and learning languages is suitable for me. I think it is very important to know what I like is. That is because if I don’t know myself, it would be difficult to adjust society around me. So, it is necessary to know myself to lead a comfortable life.

The Search for Identity

It is a challenge for teenagers to search for their identity. There are a lot of conflicts on the way to develop their identity. I remember that I have confused when I was a adolescent. My friends and I behaved differently in different situations.The way to show our feeling to others doesn’t always reflect how we actually feel inside. I hated this kind of way to behave, but this was the only way to avoid conflicts between me and my friends and to adjust our friendship. Besides, I also had conflicts with my family, not only with my brothers but also with my parents. I always had arguments with them. I think that through these conflicts, however, I have looked for my Identity.

Smoking

Smoking is a big problem for teenagers. It is influenced by genetic functions but the main reason why teenagers smoke is their environment. Especially their friends’ or peers’ smoking influence teenagers strongly. Some smokers will become addicted to nicotine. Lectures about smoking by adults are not effective way to stop teenagers’ smoking. I do not have close friends who smoke around me now. However, when I was a junior high school student, one of my friend smoked heavily almost everyday. She became addicted to nicotine and her ability to concentrate on something became very bad. So, she was not able to pass the entrance examination for high school which she wanted to go. I think smoking causes not only one problem but also a lot of problems. So, teenagers’ smoking should be forbidden more strictly.

Native Americans

An Act of Courage

SuAnne was a Native American. There were a lot of discriminations against Native Americans in Pine Ridge. For example, some people used violence on Indian drunken person. Some played a hoax on Indians. Although there were those kinds of discriminations, SuAnne joined the Pine Ridge basketball team. In the fall of 1987, she succeeded her playing. Her play was the coolest and bravest achievement at that time. Almost all the people on Pine Ridge know her story and they always talked about it cheerfully. I think there are a lot of discriminations in the world yet, and there are many people who are doing resistance movements. They are very brave about their life. I think I have to consider those problems more deeply.


Honoring Warriors from Both the Past and the Present
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
This article describes about Crazy Horse who is the great Sioux chief. There was a riding horse event which people crossed that rolling prairie by using horse from Nebraska to South Dakota. It was called Crazy Horse Ride and this had been held every year. Many riders came from the Pine Ridge Reservation. This event was held in order to show their honor to Crazy Horse. Riders reflect Crazy Horse’s courage and strength and they really proud of him. Horse was killed in 1877 at Fort Robinson. He was buried in Hay Springs, Neb. Riders camped near this place. His grave has been kept secret.


Black Elk

Black Elk is the great Sioux elder. He was over 60 years old and almost blind. He reflected on the invasion between 1863 and 1980. He said that he can’t forget the Wasichu‘s (white man) massacre against Buffaloes. When he was 10 years old, he saw white men for the first time. Before they came to the land in which he lived, humans and animals lived together in perfect harmony in his home land. However, Wasichus made little islands for Native American people and for their animals, and then they made those islands smaller and smaller. As for the massacre, Wasichus killed so many baffaloes to get their hides and tongues, or just because they wanted to kill then.

A reflection on my English learning History

Indeed, I found that using English every day and to enjoy it is the best way to improve my English skills though the independent learning class.

Actually, I already recognized the fact that English ability would be bad unless using English everyday, when I was a high school student.
However, I haven’t understood the deep truth of my thoughts. Surely, I tried to use English in daily life when I was a high school student. Anyway, I just tried to speak English. However, it was not enough. That is because there are few people who can speak English correctly. What is more, I had to use a lot of Japanese with my friends and family because they were not able to speak English and they didn’t have any interest in using English. Thus, my English ability got really bad.

I am not good at reading English. So, in the Independent learning class, I set my goal to “read novels and short stories fast”, and I chose my material and considered what strategy was the best for me. Actually, these processes were really helpful for me. Because I had not realized what was the week point on my reading skills. Yet, finally I found them through these steps. I was not used to read English sentences so I couldn’t concentrate on reading English sentences.
I chose “Harry Potter” as a first material. Because I have a same story book but it is written in Japanese so I thought it was easy for me to read the book in English. However, it took so long time to read one chapter though I did my best. Through this material I learned a lot of things, mainly two things.
One is the fact that I didn’t have much vocabulary skills. During the reading, there were so many unknown words or some unknown expressions. That is why it took so long time to read that book.
The other is comparison is really fun. As I mentioned above, I have a same story book but it is written in Japanese, so I tried to compare some English sentences with Japanese sentences. There were some interesting differences between them. I think those happened because of some grammatical and even cultural differences, but actually I am not sure. I hope I can study such a difference.
At the end of this material, I found I could concentrate on long English sentences at least for one hour and half.
Anyway, I decided to change my first material into “CNN English Express”. There are also a lot of unknown words and difficult words in the text book. But the good point of this material is that it’s MD has two types of speed; natural speed and slow speed. I tried to do shadowing and reading aloud this time. It was really helpful because I could memorize some English expressions and words more clearly. In addition to this, I found I could read English sentences gradually faster and faster. What is more, I tried to make flash cards when I found some useful English expressions. I always carry them in my bag, and sometimes review them.

I think that it is obvious that my mother language is Japanese. So I have a clear perception on Japanese. Yet, on English, it is very difficult to have such a perception. It is said that we never forget our mother tongue, but as for foreign languages, we do. So, I thought that I should use English in daily life as much as possible.

Now I understood the deep truth of my thoughts. Using English is not only Speaking but also thinking in English and so on. My teacher always said “speak in English”. First, it was so difficult for me to use English for Everything. But now, I really love to speak English and to think in English in the class and even in daily life.
I was not used to using English so I didn’t know what my weak point was. However, finally, through independent learning class, I could find it.
I want to continue to use English everyday. Of course, I will do my best on my TOEFL test. Yet, I want to enjoy using English in daily life and in classes. In fact, I think that is the most important thing to learn English.

Vocabulary Learning Method

The post it note method is a really quick and effective way to master a lot of vocabulary words. When I was in a cram school, the biggest weakness of my English was my lack of vocabulary. I had tried many methods to improve my vocabulary. For example, I made a vocabulary note book and cards. However, they were not very effective and it took a long time to make these materials. I decided to try to use post its to learn English vocabulary because a friend of mine said that using post its makes it easy to remember things.

I used yellow post it notes; 7.5 cm long and 7.5cm wide. I wrote down 5 to 6 words on each one. I wrote down the categories (noun, verb, adjective and so on), phonetic writing, and Japanese translations for each word. In addition to this, I wrote down the names of the text books in which I found the words and the pages on the back of each post it note. I put the notes on walls such as the wall in front of my desk, the bathroom wall, bed side wall, and sometimes on doors. If I had to write a word down twice, I would highlight it in my notes. It was easy to review these words often because I would always see the notes around my room. After I had mastered the words, I put them in my file. Thanks to this method, I could learned many vocabulary words.

Protect Yourself

Since there are a lot of crimes in society nowadays, it is necessary to take precautions if you don’t want to be a victim of crime. There are people who could be harmful to your safety or steal your personal belongings. One of the precautions you should take is not to walk outside alone late at night. That is because you be vulnerable to criminals who will single you out if you walk alone in the dark. These people could be harmful to your personal safety or steal your personal belongings.
For example, in my hometown, which is located in a rural area, a boy was killed by a group of juvenile delinquents. They were not acquaintances of the boy. The boy had a big argument with his parents that day and he stormed out of his house at midnight without saying anything. The group of juvenile delinquents targeted him because they wanted his money. Once they had found out the boy didn’t have any money, they attacked him for a long time and finally killed him. Because of the darkness, nobody noticed the incident and therefore nobody could help him. So it was easy for the group to get away with committing the crime.
The other precaution is that you should walk with at least two people you know if you are going to walk outside at night. That is because it isn’t easy for criminals to target many people at once. You should take care of yourself by taking proper precautions to prevent being a victim.
from my writing class assignment

The Atomic Bomb

In 1939, the World War II started. Axis countries; Italy, Germany, and Japan, and Allied countries; the USA, Great Britain, and France etc had been fighting with each other until 1945. In 1943, Italy surrendered, and on May in 1945, Germany surrendered. And Japan was the last country which surrendered to the Allied countries. Two atomic bombs ended the World War II with a lot of victims. That was the biggest bombers of the war.

On Aug in 1945, atomic bombs were felled on the city of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The difference of those two atomic bombs is what chemicals were used. Uranium 235 was used for the bomb against Hiroshima and Plutonium 239 was used against Nagasaki.
August 6, 1945 “Little Boy” dropped on the city of Hiroshima. It is the nick name given to the atomic bomb. It was in the morning, “Little Boy” was dropped from the Enola Gay, which is one of the B-29 airplanes that flew over Hiroshima on that day. After being released, it took about a minute for “Little Boy” to reach the point of explosion. Little Boy exploded at approximately 8:15 am when it reached an altitude of 6,000m above, the building that is today called the “A- Bomb Dorm”.
As for “Little Boy”, a nuclear fission reaction was caused explosively. Uranium wedge and Uranium target hit each other and generated an enormous amount of energy in terms of air pressure and heat. In addition to this, it generated a significant amount of radiation (Gamma ray and neutrons) that subsequently caused distractive human injuries. Distribution of energy released by the atomic bomb is like this. The energy of it is almost same as 15 kg of TNT gunpowder. Half of the energy generated Bomb blast, 35% of that produced heat, and 15% of that released radiation. The strong wind generated by the bomb destroyed most of the houses. And the wind bumped against a mountain and turned back. So, it gave more damage to the city. The wind influenced 3,200m radius at least. The speed of the wind was so fast; 400m per one second that is about 5 times as Typhoon. Many things melted because of heat produced by the atomic bomb. The heat reached 7,000 Celsius at the hypocenter.The radiation generated by the atomic bomb caused long-term problems to people who affected. Many people died within the first few month and many more in subsequent years because of radiation exposure. Some people had genetic problems which sometimes resulted in having malformed babies or being unable to have children. It is believed that the total number of people who have died due to the bomb is estimated to be 200,000 in Hiroshima.

Just three days after, the bomb was dropped to Hiroshima, the second atomic bomb called “Fat Man” was dropped to Nagasaki. The height was 3.2m and the diameter was 1.5 m and the weight was 4.5 t. That was significantly larger than that of “Little Boy” but the damage was slighter than Hiroshima because of the geographic structure of the city. It is estimated that approximately 70,000 people died by the end of the year because of the bombing.


I think we have to consider about those awful history. That is the reason why we learn history in school. These days, people all over the world are focusing on the North Korea. Because the country is insisting that they finally had nuclear power. Now, it is possible to send bombs from America to Japan within 10~15 minutes. The rate of direct hit is almost 100%. North Korea is a neighborhood country. Imagine if North Korea lunched the atomic bomb…. what is going to happen?? I think it is very serious problem. So let’s think about the Issue seriously not to repeat same sad history in our future. http://kids.s24.xrea.com/heiwa/sonota/negai/index.htm

Early Childhood English Education

Today, I will talk about the issue about “Early Childhood English Education”. Many of you know how big problem it is. The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology mentioned that from 5th grade elementary, English should be become a compulsory subject. Now, English is regarded as international common language among of the world. In Asia, lots of countries started to teach English to elementary school students. There are a lot of opinions about this plan. A survey was done for 3005 Japanese people. It asked people “Do you think English should be become a compulsory subject from elementary school?” 52% of them said “No”, 38% of them said “Yes”, and 10% of them said “I don’t know.” There are so many reasons for this and it is really difficult to decide what is wrong and what is right. The famous person who agrees with that plan is Mineo Nakajima. As you know, he is the president of our University. I discussed about the Issue in my circle activity. Yet we couldn’t make an answer. That plan doesn’t start yet, so I think we are going to face to a lot of problem and we cannot predict all of them now. We must consider this issue more carefully because education is really important and necessary or children.

911

Today, I will talk about 911. It happened on September 11th, 2001. It was the multiple simultaneous acts of terrorism. It took the lives of several thousands people immediately and brought an immeasurable shock to all over the world.
This is the picture when two airplanes plunged into the World Trade buildings. When I saw this affair on TV in my house, first I thought that was some ironic movie or something. However, it was not. That fact gave me gooseflesh and I felt my blood frozen. I couldn’t believe my eyes at the first time. That was because my older brother and grandparents had been there and took some picture of the twin tower buildings from the Statue of Liberty. So, I still remember those buildings surely stood there clearly.
The next year of that year, I went to the United States of America by sister city program. The immigration formalities were so severe thanks to the affairs and it took long time to finish all of those procedures. This is the picture of the place in present day which the affairs happened.
I express deepest condolences and sympathy to the victims. In addition, I denounce those groups and individuals who planned or executed the terrorist act. I will never put up with such actions of indiscriminate terrorism that kill so many ordinary people as means to attain any aim.

Canada
I have two friends in Canada. They are not Canadian, they are American. I chat with them these days. I asked something about Canada to them. They live in Vancouver that is a at sheflourishing city in British Columbia. One of my good friends, Krystin said that she can see the Washington Volicanoe, Mt. Baker from her house. Here is a pictures that she sent to me. One is the mountain, and the other is a famous stutu, she said. That scenes are very beautiful, don't you think?
I heard that Canada just looks like the Noeth Europe from an International student. There are a lot of beautiful nature and he said the climate of Canada is almost the same as that of the North Europe.
Next, I will tell you about the National Flag of Canada. There is a Red maple leaf on the flag. Canadian flag is a symbol of Canadian identity. The Canadian Red Ensigh, bearing the Union Jack and shield of the royal arms of Canada, was lowered. And then, on the stroke of noon, our new maple leaf flag was raised. the crowd sang the national anthem , followed by the royal anthem God Save The Queen. The flag is the symbol of the nation's unity, fro it, beyond any doubt. represents all the citizen of Canada without distinction of race, language, belief or opinion.

Republic of Bulgaria
This time, I chose the Republic of Bulgaria. Maybe many of you know Kotoohsyu who is a famous sumou wrestler from Bulgaria to Japan. However, I don’t know much about him. I just know his face.
The location of this country is in the north of the Europe; Balkan Peninsula and faces on the Black sea. Donau River flow though this country. This is border line between Bulgaria and Rumania. Mountains cover the one-third of its area. Musara Mountain is the tallest mountain in the Balkan Peninsula. The height is 2,925 meter. The size of this country is 110,909 km/sq. This is as one-third large as Japan, that also means 1.3 times as large as Hokkaido. The population of this country is 8,100,000.This is as well as Kanagawa prefecture. Language of this country is Bulgarian. They use Kiril letter like Russia. I am really interested in this letter so I am studying it in Russian circle. Main industries are Aquiculture and processing industry. This country is famous for wine, yoghurt, and potato etc. As for religion, there are a lot of religions in Bulgaria. However, many people believe in Bulgarian Christianities. There was a communist government in Bulgaria, but now, it is democracy. Its national flag is three stripes.
The color of that are White, Green, and Red, in turn form above. The meaning of the national flag is depends on color. White means peace and friendship, Green means Farming and forest, and red means courage and perseverance of army. Bulgaria is one of the members of NATO, and it wants to join the European Union. Its currency is REF. Relationship between Japan and Bulgaria is very good.
Bulgaria has many problems. Unemployment is still high and living standard is still low. So they are trying to join the EU to spread their market place.
I had big interest in this country last year. That is because I read a non-fiction book. That name is “white rose of Sofia”. The story is so deep. It is my treasure but if anybody wants to read this book, I will lend it.