Synopsis
Compelling Conversations - Japan: Questions and Quotations for High-Intermediate Japanese English Language Learners deploys a range of speaking activities, vocabulary expansion lessons, classic quotations, and search-and-share internet activities. The fluency-focused English as a Foreign Language (EFL) conversation textbook includes 12 thematic chapters that explore daily life in Japan and develops English skills. Designed to help Japanese English language learners describe their lives, share their experiences, and develop their critical thinking skills, the innovative conversation book includes activities for asking questions, paraphrasing proverbs, expressing opinions, comparing ideas, summarize articles/videos, discussing Japanese objects, and give reviews. Each chapter concludes with a communicative exercise where students find articles/videos online, summarize the material, and evaluate the information. Chapter sections Sharing Experiences, Vocabulary Expansion, Culture Corner, Ask More Questions, Photographs to Start Conversations, Paraphrasing Proverbs, Pronunciation Practice, The Conversation Continues, Discussing Quotations, Tell Me About Japan ... in English, and Search and Share webquests. These speaking activities provide many opportunities for college students and adult professionals to develop, deepen, and practice their speaking skills in English. Chapter titles are: Getting the Conversation Started; Going Beyond Hello, Home Sweet Home; Eating and Drinking; Exploring Daily Habits; Being Yourself; Making and Keeping Friends; Pet Peeves; Taking Photographs; Talking About Movies; Learning in School; and Exploring Cities. The Resources and Notes includes reproducible instructor evaluation, peer review, and self-evaluation forms for student presentations; recommended EFL resources; an index of quotations; and an index of proverbs. Written by a team of experienced English teachers, this book expands upon the popular communicative techniques used in prior Compelling Conversations books and focuses on the specific needs of Japanese English language learners. This title is the fourth book in the critically-acclaimed Compelling Conversations series and the third book created for English language learners inside a country (United States, Vietnam). The three authors - Eric H. Roth, Shiggy Ichinomiya, and Brent Warner - have taught English to college students and working professionals for a total of over 40 years, including 17 years inside Japan. Roth has co-authored three other Compelling Conversations books. Recommendations for Compelling Conversation- Japan -------- A much needed book for Japanese English Language Learners. As an ESL teacher and accent reduction coach, I regularly encounter frustrated students from Japan who don't feel comfortable speaking English. Their English learning experiences consisted mostly of the traditional method of learning grammar rules and preparing for English exams. Compelling Conversations - Japan will prove very useful to Japanese English learners who want to travel or study in the US or simply feel more comfortable conversing in English. With this book, the learner won't stop talking. And that's the goal! It's more than just a conversation book. It's also a cross-cultural awareness book, filled with proverbs and cultural insights. It also has great vocabulary expansion exercises. There are valuable English pronunciation exercises focusing on the sounds that are difficult for native Japanese speakers. It contains tons of fun and thought-provoking conversation topics relevant a person from a Japanese cultural background. A must-have for a conversation class with Japanese learners of English. Lisa Mojsin Author, Mastering the American Accent www.AccurateEnglish.com
About the Authors
Eric H. Roth teaches international graduate students the pleasures and perils of academic writing and public speaking in English at the University of Southern California (USC), and holds the title of Master Lecturer. He also consults English language schools on communicative methods to effectively teach English, and writes and edits ESL/EFL books for English language learners with Chimayo Press. Given a full scholarship as a Lilly Scholar, Roth studied philosophy and American history at Wabash College (1980-1984), and received his M.A. in Media Studies from the New School (1988). Since 1992, Roth has taught English to high school, community college, adult, and university students. Highlights of his career include: teaching the first Saturday morning citizenship class in Santa Monica (1994); directing the CES Adult Education Center (1995-1998); working with international students in summer IEP programs at UCLA Extension (1997-2000, 2003-2005); teaching USC engineering students in Madrid, Spain (2007) and Paris, France (2008); and directing the APU International High School in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (2009). USC promoted Roth to the title of Master Lecturer in 2013. Roth co-authored Compelling Conversations: Questions and Quotations on Timeless Topics in 2006 to help English language learners increase their English fluency. Recommended by English Teaching Professional magazine, the advanced ESL textbook has been used in over 50 countries in English classrooms and conversation clubs. Easy English Times, an adult literacy newspaper, has published a monthly column, Instant Conversation Activities, based on the book since 2008. The first specific version for a particular country, Vietnam, was published in 2011. Compelling American Conversations: Questions and Quotations for American English Language Learners, designed to help American immigrants develop both academic vocabulary and strengthen speaking skills in English, came out in 2012. A member of the USC faculty since 2003, Roth is a member of numerous professional organizations including: California Association of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (CATESOL); the International Communication Association (ICA); the International Professors Project (IPP); and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL). Roth has given several CATESOL and TESOL conference presentations and led many English teacher training workshops. He writes short reflective essays, reviews ESL/EFL related books and apps, and shares teaching tips at CompellingConversations.com/blog. Roth looks forward to learning something new today, tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow.
Shigemitsu Shiggy Ichinomiya is a professional photographer, a triathlete, and writer of English teaching materials living in Los Angeles. Born in Kobe, Japan to a Japanese father and a German mother, raised primarily in London, England, Shiggy Ichinomiya, graduated with an English literature degree from Boston University in 1991. Shiggy moved to Japan and was an English language immersion teacher for the Hyogo Prefectural Government, the YMCA and YWCA, Shoei Women's College, Shinwa High School, Mitsubishi Electric, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, juku's (commonly known as cram schools, ) Proctor and Gamble (P & G), and taught English privately from children to doctors, lawyers and business executives. Selected as a co-host on DirecTV's TOEIC Friends Club, in 1999, a show that aired twice daily for one full year, he also wrote and starred as over ten different characters in his own TV show where he taught English phrases through humorous skits. He was also a live-on-air radio DJ doing a Top 20 Hits Countdown Show for FM Tokyo's affiliate station-FM Shiga. Shiggy sat side by side with the gaijin tarento, Dave Spector and Yoshimoto Kogyo's Hijokaidan Silk, as a live-on-air TV reporter for ABC Japan, (Asahi Broadcasting Corporation) entitled Wide ABCDE-SU! In addition, Shiggy introduced new music on Virgin Megastores TV. A passionate, well-liked and respected teacher, he also enjoyed doing voice-over work in both English and Japanese for various companies including Japan Airlines (JAL), National-Panasonic, for Inoki Bombaye's New Years' Eve 2000 TV special, as well as J-Phone, Sony Playstation and other game devices. After a satisfying decade in Japan, Shiggy returned to the United States in 2002 to pursue a photography career at www.GoShiggyGo.com. An active participant in the Los Angeles Triathlon Club, Shiggy was voted as 2010 Member of the Year and competed 7 triathlons, including his first Ironman. In 2011, Shiggy met Eric, rejoined TESOL, and co-authored Compelling Conversations: Questions and Quotations for High Intermediate Japanese English Language Learners. This book combines his love of Japan, teaching English, good conversation, and photography.
Brent Warner is the founder and CEO of Social Light Online, a social media management and consulting agency which focuses on educational institutions and technology. Brent has been a pioneer online, sustaining himself through college as the publisher of a massive online e-zine (this was back before websites were dynamic). He hand-coded travel journals for bands like Death Cab for Cutie (back before there were blogging platforms). He also had a pretty good stint as a popular food blogger in Japan. Brent has spent his adult life in education, meeting people from around the world and learning what makes them tick. He has traveled to over two dozen countries, became fluent in Japanese, and learned a thing or two about life along the way. Brent realizes that companies are nothing without the people behind them. With his keen observation skills, his online savvy and his passion for teaching, Brent decided to combine these skills to help people learn how to navigate the tricky waters of the web. Finally, Brent is the author of the EFL ebook, How to Pass the TOEFLibt Test? In 2015, Brent joined the faculty of the USC International Academy and gave three CATESOL presentations. He also co-authored Compelling Conversations - Japan: Questions and Quotations for High Intermediate Japanese English Language Learners in 2015. Brent currently teaches English at a California Community College, serves on the board of Orange County CATESOL, and hosts the podcast Edtech.TV.
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