Hello Everyone,

It's been a busy couple of weeks, but we are back with another blog for your enjoyment.

On September 5th, 2007, Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs had his latest keynote speech introducing the new line of iPods.

This is a good example of an American style presentation.
His presentations are always entertaining to watch.
He speaks clearly, uses simple English, and simple slides to support what he is saying.
Even people who are not Mac fans could learn from watching his presentations.
How does his presentation style differ from Japanese presentations?

Here's a few of the highlights from the keynote:

* iPod Shuffle - New colors including a product red version (charity for aids research);
* iPod Nano - New design with bigger screen for playing video.
* iPod Classic - Thinner design with more storage (80-160Gb) and longer battery life.
* iPod Touch Based upon the iPhone but thinner (8mm). It has Wi-Fi (802.11b/g), Internet browser (Safari), calendar, etc. New models include 8 and 16Gb versions.
* iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store is a new application that allows the purchase of digital music via Wi-Fi using the new iPod Touch. This feature will be added to iPhone later this month.
* iPhone 8Gb price reduced by $200 to $399. (Apple has since offered $100 credit to people who bought it when it launched)
=> Updated Apple iPod product line

In the second part of the keynote, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz made an appearance to talk about a new partnership between the two firms:

* Starbucks Coffee and Apple Inc. have collaborated to enable customers to view the songs played while sitting in coffee shops in the US and purchase them via Wi-Fi with their iPhones or iPod Touches. This should be completed for all Starbucks Wi-Fi stores in the US by the end of 2009.

How about Japan?
It makes you wonder when the iPhone will be coming to Japan.
According to the Japanese Wikipedia article on the iPhone, it looks as though the provider that is likely to become Apple's partner is au by KDDI.
I would be very happy if that happens since I have been using au for almost eight years.
Since we have a lot of Starbucks outlets here in Tokyo, I wonder if they will decide to install Wi-Fi and offer the same services here in Japan.

Two questions:
Do you have an iPod?
Are you excited about the iPhone coming to Japan?

Let me know what you think!

-Matthew

Good Morning Class,

Today we took the Thomson Foundations Reading Library Achievement Test for Level 1 again for the second time.

By taking the test again after reading more books, we can see if we are making any improvement in our vocabulary and accuracy.

Last week, we took the achievement test for Level 2.
Everyone has made some improvement since the last time we took it.

Today, we also practiced another sample dialog dealing with Small Talk.

"What do you like to do in your free time?"

This is another way of asking about hobbies and interests.
If someone asks you this, try to think of something other than "sleeping" or "watching TV".

A: What do you like to do in your free time?
B: I like to read magazines.

A: What do you like to do in your free time?
B: I like to surf the Internet.

A: What do you like to do in your free time?
B: I like to listen to music.

A: What do you like to do in your free time?
B: I like to run.

A: What do you like to do in your free time?
B: I like to play video games with my kids.

A: What do you like to do in your free time?
B: I like to read books and watch TV.

Title: Short Stories by Edgar Allan Poe
Series: 洋販ラダーシリーズLevel 3 YL 3.0-4.5
Author: Poe, Edgar Allan エドガー・アラン・ポー 著
Genre: HR
YL:
Headwords: 1600
Total Word Count: 16,600
Rating:


Summary:

明日絞首刑となる男が自らの犯罪を告白する『黒猫』、同姓同名の男に脅かされ、破滅の道をたどる『ウィリアム・ウィルソン』、そして黄金色の不思議な甲虫を手がかりに伝説の財宝を見つけ出す『黄金虫』。怪奇小説の巨匠ポーの代表作３篇を収録。

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Title: The Call of the Wild
Series: 洋販ラダーシリーズLevel 3 YL 3.0-4.5
Author: London, Jack　ジャック・ロンドン 著
Genre: AD
YL:
Headwords: 1600
Total Word Count: 14,570
Rating:


Summary:

カリフォルニアでの安穏とした暮らしから一変、アラスカで犬ぞりをひくこととなったバックは、厳しい自然のなか、生き抜いていくため、しだいにその野性をとぎすませていく。そして深い森の奥からの呼び声を耳にするのだった……。動物文学の傑作がラダーに登場。

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Title: Roald Dahl's Short Mysteries
Series: 洋販ラダーシリーズ Level 2 YL 2.5-4.0
Author: Dahl, Roald ロアルド・ダール 著
Genre: MY
YL:
Headwords: 1300
Total Word Count: 16,280
Rating:



Summary:

『チョコレート工場の秘密』などの人気作家ダールの作品集。自分の車と若者の指をかけた賭博をもちかける老人を描いた『南から来た男』他4篇。

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Title: Buying Some Gloves
Series: 洋販ラダーシリーズLevel 1 YL 2.0-3.5
Author: Nankichi, Niimi 新美南吉
Genre: CL
YL:
Headwords: 1000
Total Word Count: 1,630
Rating:



Summary: ある朝起きると、外は雪景色。思い切り外で遊ぶと、雪の冷たさで両手が真っ赤に。かわいそうに思った母さん狐は、町に手袋を買いに行くことを思いつきますが、人間のことを思うと足がすくんでしまいます……。立場が異なるもの同士の心の交流を描いた新美南吉の名作童話。

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CULTURAL CORNER
Today I've got a bit of trivia for you.
I found an interesting website that shows what people call "soft drinks" in different parts of the United States.
When students of English in Japan hear the word "soft drink", they often think of the word "juice".
In Japan, ジュース(juice)is used to describe fruit juice as well as carbonated and non-carbonated drinks.
In English, a "soft drink" is a drink that is carbonated and non-alcoholic.
(Although we don't usually say it, by nuance, a "hard drink" would be a drink with alcohol).
Juice, on the other hand, is used mainly to describe fruit juices or fruit-like drinks like Cool Aid.
If you ask a waiter or a waitress what "soft drinks" they have, they will say "We have Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, 7-Up, and Ginger Ale".
They will all be carbonated drinks.

In the United States, "soft drink" is the official word for carbonated drinks, but there are colloquial words for it them as well.
For example, where I come from in Wyoming, it is common to hear people say "pop" for "soft drink". Other parts of the country use the word "Coke" as a general term.
You might hear someone ask, "what kind of coke do you have?" and the waitress might answer "We have Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, 7-Up, and Ginger Ale".
Kind of strange, right?
You might think that it's weird that they don't even have Coca Cola when someone asks about coke.

Take a look at the chart of the United States.
This shows the regions of the country where people use the word "pop", "soda", and "coke" for "soft drink".
You'll notice that most of Wyoming, my home state, uses the word "pop" as I mentioned earlier.

If you aren't sure what people say in the state you are visiting, don't worry, everyone understands soft drink!