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 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.

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).

Now, nothing very exciting HAPPENS in an ordinary classroom or at home, but there are many exciting places to GO to on the Internet. Let's GO to Heisei Central Hospital and FOLLOW the nurses and doctors around when a new doctor ARRIVES from America. ASK yourself this question as you WATCH: What did you SEE? (noun phrases)