Dear Class,

In our last class we went over some more answers from our previous homework.
Take a look at these other examples:

#3 Skills necessary for success

Nagashima Tetsuo
*Consulting skills
*Good communication skills
*Needs analysis
*Solution planning, proposal writing, presentation skills, and implementation

Sugimoto Ouki
*Ability to analyze a problem from the management and employee points of view
*Sensitivity to clients' feelings, needs, and concerns
*Counseling skills
*Interview skills
*Good conversationalist

Target client or boss

*Small to medium size companies
*Entrepreneurs with their own companies
*Companies who want to educate their next generation of leaders
*Companies who want to expand their business but don't have the know-how

Homework:

*What's important to your target clients?
*What's important to you?

Write out and compare what's important to you and what is important to your clients in two columns.

See you next Tuesday!

Sincerely,

Matthew

Hello Class,

This morning we reviewed our homework which was to finish writing out the answers for questions 1-3:

Here are some examples:
#3 List the key talents and skills necessary for success in your present position

*Persistent hard work, consistently accurate accounting, strong financial background, analytical skills
*Account management skills, emergency crisis management, disaster management, organizational skills, financial knowledge
*Vision Creation, "Thinking out of the box", planning organizational change, persuading others, management knowledge and skills
*Manager/leader training skills, networking skills, good negotiation skills, honest communication, business and social etiquette training
* English skills, management skills, new IT knowledge, negotiation skills, writing skills

Part 2 of last week's homework:

Describe your target client or boss

*People who want to innovate
*Artists with innovative talent
*People dissatisfied with their current situation
*Galleries or museums who are interesting in cutting edge art using technology or curators who believe that art benefits humanity

*People who want to increase motivation in their employees
*People who want to create corporate identities and corporate cultures
*People who want to improve ther company image in society
*CEOs who are deciding who their successor will be

*People who want to manage their real estate more effectively
*People who are looking for offices or apartments in high-class areas
*Companies that need financial reports for REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts)

Thank you to all who attended today.
We got a lot of work done!

Homework for next week:
Please make sure that you have the three questions regarding your job or position and your description of your perfect boss or client

Enjoy your graded readers and have a great week!

Sincerely,

Matthew

Hello Class,

Here are the notes for lesson #25.

In our lesson on Tuesday we went over our homework for last week.

Examples:

#1 Your Title or Current Position

• Property Management Administrator
• Internal Communications Coordinator
• Organizational Development Consultant
• Financial Development Manager
• Management Solutions Team Leader
• Chief OD Consultant

#2a General responsibilities

• I am responsible for office leasing.
• I am responsible for account management
• I am responsible for internal communications
• I am responsible for corporate accounting
• I am responsible for developing and managing the corporate development plan

#2b Specific duties or responsibilities

• I have to check contracts, do accounting for all corporate office leasing, and make financial reports for Real Estate Securities
• I have to track costs and budgets for corporate accounts
• I have to plan internal communications including the website, newsletter, and company events such the annual kickoff meeting.
• I have to keep track of payments and receipts, make investments, and write risk management reports

Homework for next week:

1. Please make sure that you have finished questions 1-3 for next class.
2. Describe your perfect boss or target client/customer.

See you next week and have a great weekend!

Sincerely,

Matthew

Dear Class,

Good morning and Happy New Year!

This is the first post for 2007!
Tuesday morning in our 24th lesson we talked about our New Year's resolutions.
Here are some examples of what class members shared today:

*I want to make a regular habit of studying management
*My New Year's resolution is to read 1 million words using graded readers in 2007
*My New Year's resolution is to get up early every morning and read English books
*I want to make a habit of exercising regularly
*My New Year's resolution is to study English regularly
*My New Year's resolution is to save time and money
*My New Year's resolution is to wake up earlier and read more graded readers
*My New Year's resolution is to go to the movie theater at least once a month
*My New Year's resolution is to get up at 6 a.m. to stretch and study English on the train
*My New Year's resolution is to wake early and come to work at around 7:30 or 8:00 every morning and to study English and other subjects at home

A friend of mine also does video podcasts on his website.
His #17 podcast is on our the subject of New Year's Resolutions.
The name of his website is "English4Now.com".
Click on the link above and then go to the "podcast" section of his website and you will find his podcasts.
I think you'll enjoy it and it's a great way to get more listening practice!
Let me know what you think.

We also talked a little bit about the way English is pronounced.
Here's a really good link to a listening text that I introduced to Berlitz Japan.
It is a really great guide to how English changes when spoken:
http://www.abax.co.jp/listening/index.html
I will put the file onto the Project You! Community site too.

Homework:
Finish writing out the answers to the questions about your job and work responsibilities from last class. Please see the last post on December 19th.
I have updated this on the Personal Branding Statement page on the Project You! Community discussion group.

Our next step is to look at our target market which we'll do next week in class.

Have a great week and be sure to record your the graded readers you've read in our Extensive Reading Community!

Sincerely,

Matthew

Buying Some Gloves - Chapter Preview

(洋販ラダーシリーズ)
By Niimi Nankichi

Theseus and the Minotaur - Chapter Preview

(Penguin Longman Active Reading)
By Ken Beatty

A King's Sword

'You have two fathers, Theseus,' his mother said. 'You are the son of Poseidon, the god of the sea, and the son of King Aegeus.'

Theseus lived with his mother in Troezen, in Greece. He was a clever, happy young man, but he did not know his father.
One day, his mother said to him, 'Come into the garden, Theseus. Do you see that big rock? Can you move it, my son?'
Theseus was strong He moved the rock and looked under it. There was a sword - a king's sword!
'This is the sword of King Aegeus,' his mother said. 'And now it is yours.'
Theseus looked at her, and then at the sword. 'Mine?' he said. 'Why is it mine?'
'You have two fathers, Theseus,' his mother said. 'You are the son of Poseidon, the god of the sea, and the son of King Aegeus. King Aegeus lives in Athens. Go to him now. It is time.'
That night, Theseus said goodbye to his mother.
'I am going to walk to my father's home,' he said to her.
'But it is a long and difficult walk,' his mother said.
'I am strong,' Theseus said. 'You know that, Mother. Don't cry for me.'
Theseus walked for ten days. There were many bad men on the road. But he fought them - and he killed them. Then he came to Athens, to the home of King Aegeus.
But Aegeus had a new wife, Medea, and she had a son too. She was angry about Theseus.
'He is your father's first son,' she said to her son. 'You are going to be king after your father - not him.'
She wanted to kill Theseus. But Aegeus watched her and he stopped her.
The king talked to Theseus. 'You moved the rock and you have my sword,' he said. 'You are my son.'

Crime Story Collection - Chapter Preview

(Penguin Longman Active Reading)
By Sara Paretsky

Three is a Lucky Number
Margery Allingham

This was the difficult bit. The discovery of the body must be made, but not too soon.

At five o'clock on a September afternoon Ronald Torbay was making preparations for his third murder. He was being very careful. He realized that murdering people becomes more dangerous if you do it often.
He was in the bathroom of the house he had recently rented. For a moment he paused to look in the mirror. The face that looked back at him was thin, middle-aged, and pale. Dark hair, a high forehead and well-shaped blue eyes. Only the mouth was unusual - narrow and quite straight. Even Ronald Torbay did not like his own mouth.
A sound in the kitchen below worried him. Was Edyth coming up to have her bath before he had prepared it for her? No, it was all right; she was going out of the back door. From the window he saw her disappearing round the side of the house into the small garden. It was exactly like all the other gardens in the long street. He didn't like here to be alone there. She was a shy person, but now new people had moved into the house next door, and there was a danger of some silly woman making friends with her. He didn't want that just now.