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Names and Nouns
(Week Two)

http:// www.agu.ac.jp / ~vicks62 / jeffreyb / oral / Aweek2. html

This is a lesson for Blair's Oral English class at Aichi Gakuin University on:
Monday for the Jr. College Dept. on the Kusumoto Campus

1-minute Level Checks and Pattern Practice
Target Sentences and Review

English listening and background.

[Eng to Jpn] translate [Jpn to Eng]

Basic Patterns for Conversation

WELCOME to Week 2. (Have you HAD) Any problems so far? Were you able to NAVIGATE from Lesson 1 to the assigned video and the Target Sentences? Did you WRITE DOWN some noun phrases or sentences as you WATCHED the video? Did you also WRITE DOWN some Target Sentences every day? Do you UNDERSTAND what a Noun Phrase is and how to DIVIDE them into four slots(4区)? Do you UNDERSTAND what a Sentence is and how to DIVIDE them into four slots(4区)? Did you NOTICE that noun phrases and sentences are different?


Did you MEMORIZE the 5-sentence recitation about the Titanic? I HOPE so. We will be CHECKING that today. How did you MEMORIZE it? Do you HAVE images in your head of the events, OR did you TRY to REMEMBER all those words? It is easier to REMEMBER the story by images than by words.

Did you WRITE down your own 5-sentence talk, a mini-speech that you can TALK about today. TAKE that paper (size B-5) out right now, and let's CHECK the heading. If you didn't WRITE it down yet, TAKE OUT a new sheet of paper and WRITE the heading. You will have to WRITE your talk in class.

(( Explain the 2nd minute: IMITATE or IMPROVE
(( USE this 2-minute Routine to PRACTICE your talks
(( .... while I CHECK the recitations

(( INTRODUCE Shodo Girls
LEAD students in the 10-minute Daily Practice


Let's GO back to Lesson 1 and review what we learned about English noun phrases. They are extremely import building blocks for MAKING interesting, informative sentences. PAY particular attention to the examples and how they are DIVIDED into 4(つの)区.

From Noun Phases to Sentences

Do you WONDER why do so many Japanese students HAVE trouble SPEAKING English (and other foreign languages) even after LEARNING lots of vocabulary and grammar? Many educators and students in Japan HAVE explanations for this problem. The traditional approach to language learning does NOT WORK very well. If you WANT to LEARN to SPEAK English fluently and with confidence, then you NEED a NEW PLAN. You NEED to STOP TREATING English as a set of rules and START THINKING of grammar as a set of language PATTERNS. Haruna HAS a simple plan.

LISTEN to her explain her 5-Step Plan
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P62hvjRPcbI]

Her plan is for learners like you to SPEAK easy English about things(物 and 事)that you SEE in your daily life. You USE noun phrases to TALK about the people, places, and objects(物)that you SEE(pattern: 1, 2, 3 区). You USE (declarative) sentences to TALK about the actions(事)that you SEE(pattern: S, V, O/C, +A 区). And you USE questions to SHOW interest in the things that you are WATCHING(pattern: Wh-, m-S-V, O/C, +A 区 plus two special patterns). These are the three basic PATTERNS that you must PRACTICE and KEEP PRACTICING in order to BECOME fluent: (1) 名詞句, (2) 平序文, and (3) 疑問文.

REVIEW the Lesson for Week One.

DEMONSTRATE the 3-Minute Routine with a 3-sentence Practice Pattern: Conversation Starter(平常文), Thought Question(疑問文), and a Full-Sentence Answer(平常文). We start by WATCHING 2-3 minutes of the assigned video.

TAKE the Flash Quiz on Teams (or on paper).


Plan A: Speak English => Write English

Today I WANT to TALK about Plan A--the basic plan for this class. We WATCH video stories. You simply THINK of what you WANT to SAY about the story in English ... and then SAY it ... a direct route from the (video) image in your brain to English, without thinking about Japanese at all. This is exactly what Haruna SUGGESTS you DO. LOOK around and SPEAK English ... in five steps that GO through (#2) noun phrases, (#3) sentences, and (#4) questions. Her plan does NOT INCLUDE any written record ... no writing ... just SPEAKING English.

Plan Japanese
Record
Speaking Practice
with Repetition
English
Record
Haruna  Speak Eng 
A Speak EngWrite Eng

Plan A, on the otherhand, INCLUDES both WRITING and SPEAKING English. Please NOTICE, however, that speaking COMES first. This is very important. Reading aloud is NOT the same thing as speaking. As you SPEAK English, you are STRENGTHENING associations in your mind between the images (of things and actions) that you see, the motion of your mouth, and the sounds of the English phrases and sentences that DESCRIBE those images. Equally important, YOU are CHOOSING (1) what to say AND (2) how to say it in English. You are CREATING YOUR own noun phrases and sentences from scratch (=nothing) ... not just MEMORIZING a dialog, FILLING-IN blanks, or PERFORMING fake (transformation, expansion, etc.) drills.

One reason for the written record is so that the students will HAVE something to SHOW their teacher as evidence of their work. It also PROVIDES the teacher with feedback for future lesson plans (the PDS Cycle). Students can also USE the written record to REVIEW and THINK more deeply about the sentence patterns AND the flow of their conversations. In addition, oral repetition while WRITING English will INCREASE retention of these language patterns (for deeper learning).


Let's TAKE a look at the structure of noun phrases. Haruna does not ANALYZE English, your teacher, however, THINKS it is important that you PAY ATTENTION to the language patterns that you PRACTICE when you START practicing them. Let's LOOK at Haruna's noun phrases.

Step 2: Noun Phrases
1 区 2 区 3 区  
abig brown table 
anold man 
afast car 
ahot coffee 
1 区 2 区 3 区 +a 区
a  cupof (hot) coffee
acoffee cupwith ...
... somehot coffeein it

The noun(名詞)GOES into 3 区 . The other three columns(区)HOLD modifying words(1 区 and 2 区)or phrases(+a 区 ). Adjectives(形容詞)GO into 2 区 . There CAN be more than one of them. Articles (冠詞 = a, an, some, the) and similar words(仲間 = this, these, that, those, his, her, their, etc.) GO into 1 区 .

Inside the +a 区 is a connecting word(前置詞)and a simple noun phrase. Together this group of words MODIFIES the noun(形容詞の役割). 「of hot coffee」 TELLS you what is in the cup. 「in it (=the cup)」 TELLS you where the hot coffee is.

As you watch the assigned videos (every day), it is best if you WRITE DOWN noun phrases OR full sentences on a piece of paper that has been DIVIDED into four equal columns (like the examples above). When WRITING Homework or Group Reports on Microsoft Teams, however, please DIVIDE each English sentence (or noun phrase) by PUTTING a half space(半角), two slash marks (//), and another half space(半角)between each of its parts (like the examples below).

a // red alarm // clock [2:40]
 
Hanako's // wall // calendar [3:00]

Now, nothing very exciting HAPPENS in an ordinary classroom or at home. Even a long trip by car can be boring. There are, however, many exciting places to GO to on the Internet. Let's GO to Tokyo Station and FOLLOW Hanako around. ASK yourself this question as you WATCH: What did you SEE? (noun phrases)

watch at least 10 minutes a day of the assigned videos

[Let's try it now ... inside the 会議 Chat Box.]

Gu-Ichi-Pa

Haruna ADDED "a" (or "an") to all her nouns. That simple step TURNED those words into noun phrases--an important structure in English that Japanese students and teachers all too often IGNORE. Little 4-year-old Japanese children (like my granddaughter) BEGIN LEARNING English by LOOKING at pictures and SAYING the nouns out loud. Later they ADD some adjectives--numbers, colors, size, etc. Haruna is very wise to INCLUDE an article(1区)right from the beginning. So will we.

All of Haruna's examples were singular nouns, let me INTRODUCE all three patterns: singular, plural, and uncountable noun PHRASES AND, so you won't forget them, hand signals for each: gu, ichi, pa. Below are some examples. Try to PICTURE in your mind what they LOOK like. How are the three forms different in meaning? How are the images different?

Gu
(Uncountable)
Ichi
(Singular)
Pa
(Plural)
some coffee
(a liquid)
a cup of coffee
(in one container)
some cups of coffee
(in several containers)
some chicken
(meat)
a chicken
(one bird)
some chickens
(several birds)
some hamburger
(meat)
a hamburger
(one sandwich)
some hamburgers
(several sandwiches)
some haira hairsome hairs
some sanda grain of sandsome grains of sand
some paper
(紙)
a paper
(論文)
some papers
(書類)

These examples are unusual. The vast majority of nouns are countable with ONLY two forms ... singular or plural ... Ichi-Pa (no Gu). You should PRACTICE both forms:

a big table . . . some small tables,
a fast car . . . some slow cars,
an old man . . . some young men, etc.

Can you PRODUCE full(1, 2, 3 区)noun phrases to DESCRIBE things that you SEE around you?

LOOK at the people, places, and things in a video clip.
What do you SEE? DESCRIBE them in English.
You can also PRACTICE noun phrases
while LOOKING at pictures OR even with 漢字.


Last updated May 27, 2024
contact information

These lessons are DESIGNED to HELP Japanese students
to LEARN to SPEAK English as a foreign language. They could
be REVERSE ENGINEERED to help English speakers learn to
speak Japanese as a foreign language.

I would be happy to SHARE my ideas about teaching foreign
languages with other teachers. You can CLICK the link above
to FIND my contact information.