ネイティブが教える英会話のジェムスクール☆Teachers☆

I used to take many photographs. I loved going to special places and taking all kinds of photographs. I haven't really taken very many photographs recently but I still like to take photographs sometimes. One method of photography that I like very much is light writing. Light writing is when you take a long exposure shot in low light and you write with a bright light. This is a photograph that I took at night in front of a lot of cars. I used the headlights of the cars as my bright light and wrote with the camera's movements. I really like the result. What do you think?

  

Have you heard of Bigfoot? Bigfoot is a creature that some people say lives in the woods of North America. It is also sometimes called "Sasquatch". It is very tall, walks on two legs, and looks like a furry human or an ape. However, Bigfoot may not actually exist! Many scientists and other people have gone searching for Bigfoot and found nothing. Right now it is considered a mythical creature, but who knows what the future may hold!  

Well, it's over, the Halloween Party I mean. It was a lot of work, the weather was really bad right up until the last minute, and only let up enough for us to hold the event, but I think we all enjoyed it a lot. There were all kinds of fun things to do, and even what I did, the story telling part, was very well attended, we hardly had a break with kids coming all the time. It was great, and it was fun meeting some of the kids from the schools I don't usually go to. Lots of really great kids, full of energy, and anxious to have fun and enjoy something different from what is usually done around here. I hope everyone was happy about our efforts, and got a chance to see old friends and meet new ones. Congratulations to those who one prizes, and to those who didn't, well, don't take it too hard. There's always another time.   

Throughout history, every culture has had amazing fashion designs and concepts. It is a part of our every day lives that make us unique. I love fashion to the point that I think of new designs and ideas all the time. For a long time I struggled with making a decision on what exactly I wanted to do when I reached adulthood, and even in adulthood I had a difficult time pin pointing exactly what I wanted to do. I have decided that I wish to go into the fashion industry and one day a dream of mine would be to open my own company and compete with huge companies such as Vogue. As new ideas flood through my mind, I try to sketch them out so that I do not forget them. Where do your passions lie?

Thank you for reading!

Leigh  

What will you be for Halloween? In the USA, it is a big decision. It is important to be original, but you also have to be easily identifiable. There is nothing worse on Halloween then people asking you constantly, "What are you suppose to be?" I am excited to see everybody's costumes this wee at the Halloween event in Manno Park. See you there.

  

I'm a pretty active and agile person. I like to challenge myself physically too. Along with that I also like to get cool pictures and video of my various feats. Here is a picture in front of Takamatsu station. It took a few tries but Leigh, who was photographing me, finally got this one. I think it came out quite well.

  

One of my goals while I'm in Japan is to make a documentary. A documentary is a work of non-fiction that informs people about something. My documentary is about Saijo Matsuri. When I first came here last year I was able to watch the festival but this year I was able to participate and be a part of the team. It was a life changing experience. I can't wait to put all of the footage together for my film.
  

Last week I took part in Saijo Matsuri! Last year I saw the festival for the first time, and this year I was asked to join a danjiri team. It was very tiring because we had to be awake all night, but it was also lots of fun. A lot of people asked me if there are any festivals in the United States like Matsuri and unfortunately there aren't. The closest holiday I could think of would be the 4th of July where we celebrate our independence and watch fireworks. But it is still very different from the Japanese fall festival.  

It's hard to believe it's fall, since the weather seems to still be summery, but it is. There's nothing better than to take a breather, enjoy the final days of warmth before the cold season begins, and brace yourself for the cold. At least it's not as cold as up in Tohoku where I was living before, but still cold enough. It's a good time to not just sit in front of the T.V. but enjoy other indoor activities, like reading. I sometimes wonder if anyone reads anymore, though I do see people occasionally with books in their hands, but are they airport novels, cookbooks, or only comic books? I'm not sure. I hope there are other books people reach for and enjoy. I may be delusional though. Maybe people don't really read anymore. What do you think?   

Hello all! It's Halloween time! Get your costumes and join in the fun! Next Saturday Gem School is having the Halloween Event in Manno Park. We will be enjoying many English games and many American games from our traditional Halloween parties!!! Let's all enjoy it together!!! I look forward to seeing you there!!!

Leigh   

Hello every one, i hope you all have had a wonderful week. i am doing pretty good , even tho i as sick this past weekend. But on the bright side i got to see my favorite tv show, the walking dead. prefect show for Halloween. i also got to work on some artwork based off my pc game character i made. She came out pretty


i love Halloween  

I was working late night at Gem School and found a strange bug. I'm really not sure what it is but I know it likes to dig. It was trying to climb out of the container when I took the picture. The later you are awake the stranger things are it seems. I'm not sure about you but the strangest things I've seen have been at night.

  

Though the hot weather seems to belie the fact, this is the fall, but the temperatures seem more than "Indian Summer" would have it. It's nice to enjoy the warm weather a bit longer on the one hand, but on the greater scale of things, it's really rather worrisome as well. The warning signs of serious climate disruption have been with us for quite some time now, if you think of the famous "Club of Rome" reports in the 70's. The projections made then have not only been surpassed, but the increase is not linear, as most might suppose, but accelerating with the fear there is probably a turning point beyond which there will not be anything we can do about it. Considering the reluctance of society to come to terms with its possible extinction, and in the U.S. even the denial of the problem there seems to be little basis for optimism. Most of us just don't care enough, don't think there's anything we can do about it, and that is the recipe for defeat.

  

So... I've held it in long enough... but... MY SISTER IS COMING!!!! I haven't been this excited in a long time. For a long time we shared the same dream, to come, live, and work in Japan. I came a while back because after I got married (4 years, 3 months, and 19 days ago) I was able to complete my University degree that I had started working on at 15. After receiving that I was able to come and work in Japan. I was then able to help my sister finish her university degree and now she is coming here!!! I'm super excited that she will be closer to me. She has been waiting for this in envy since I left America!!!

Let's give her a warm welcome!!!

Thanks for reading! Leigh   

Hi all! I am looking forward to going to Ishigaki! I went to Okinawa a few years ago and really enjoyed it. I have heard from several people that Ishigaki is even prettier than Okinawa. I plan to go snorkeling everyday, and I will go to Iriomote to do an eco-tour, canoeing and hiking in the jungle. I hope I get lucky and spot an Iriomote cat. Wish me luck  

My friend Kris and I once went out took some very fun pictures with our instruments. He had an electric keyboard and I had an accordion. I couldn't play my accordion but he could play the piano a little bit. Since neither of us were very good we decided just to take some fun pictures. While we were driving around we saw some hay bails. We asked the owned of the land if we could take pictures with the hay bails. They said it would be fine. We got a lot of fun pictures that day.

  

Family photos are wonderful. They show you a lot about a family and remind you of the great times that you can have together. This particular photo was taken around my college town of Grand Rapids. The family looks like they are having a great day, but if you see in the background there are a lot of cars. Those aren't just any cars, those are police cars. A man stole something from a shop near the park the family was having a BBQ. The police were chasing him. This family will never forget their family moment.
  

Last month I visited my friends and family at home in Michigan. One change that was a little difficult to adjust to was the portion sizes at restaurants. In Japan you usually get just as much food as you can eat at one time. In the U.S. they always give you way more food than it's possible to finish! The picture above is actually HALF of one meal (I shared the other half with Eric) and I couldn't eat it all. Luckily, restaurants let you take home the food you can't eat. Just ask your server for a box if you are full :)  

Hello, This is Zee.

I am from America and i am a gamer nerdy kinda girl. I am also an artist. I love to draw, paint, and create. I also have a great passion for dancing.

I love working here at Gem School. I can't wait for Halloween week, I have costume ready. I will be Miku


I hope to meet you all soon

-Zee-  

Studying alone all the time can get to be quite boring I think, especially a language. There's nothing better than studying together with someone else and practicing the dialogues, the songs, the readings with each other. For example, one of you tests the other, asks the questions and checks the answers with the book. Or reading to each other from the book. Then switching roles. Another thing is to really learn the songs, at the speed you hear them on the CD. Sounds hard? Only at first. With time it becomes easier. Language is a physical activity in a real context. You can only really learn it by using it. In fact some of the best language schools in the world put the students together in a dorm and insist that everybody has to speak the target language all the time. What one doesn't know the other does. Anything you do to practice the language will help.