#10 edX

Japanese Pronunciation for Communication

from Waseda University

(Course About Video)

For students, MOOCs are a good way to explore something new while you’re figuring out how your career will take shape. MOOCs can help you develop a wide range of skills and knowledge. You can study anytime anywhere and anyway. It's really good that I can try everything I want to. And the coursework can improve my career in the future.

#8 TED Talk

The shared experience of absurdity | Charlie Todd

Three words I learned from this song

1. surrounding  (a.) -that is near or around something

    From the top of the hill you can see all the surrounding countryside.

2. anonymously  (adv.) -by somebody who does not want their name to be known or made public

    The donation was made anonymously.

3. matter-of-factly (adv.) -without showing any emotion, especially in a situation in which you would expect somebody to express their feelings

    She talked matter-of-factly about seeing her father gunned down.

Comments

Charlie Todd is the creator of Improv Everywhere, a comedic performance art group based in New York City. They showed us that even though you are adults, there is always a way to play and having fun. We can find a funny idea and make people have a fun time as well.

#7 English song

#7 English song

Ed Sheeran - Castle On The Hill

Lyrics

When I was six years old I broke my leg
I was running from my brother and his friends
And tasted the sweet perfume of the mountain grass I rolled down
I was younger then, take me back to when I
Found my heart and broke it here
Made friends and lost them through the years
And I've not seen the roaring fields in so long, I know I've grown
But I can't wait to go home

I'm on my way
Driving at ninety down those country lanes
Singing to "Tiny Dancer"
And I miss the way you make me feel, and it's real
We watched the sunset over the castle on the hill

Fifteen years old and smoking hand-rolled cigarettes
Running from the law through the backfields and getting drunk with my friends
Had my first kiss on a Friday night, I don't reckon that I did it right
But I was younger then, take me back to when
We found weekend jobs when we got paid
We'd buy cheap spirits and drink them straight
Me and my friends have not thrown up in so long, oh how we've grown
But I can't wait to go home

I'm on my way
Driving at ninety down those country lanes
Singing to "Tiny Dancer"
And I miss the way you make me feel, and it's real
We watched the sunset over the castle on the hill
Over the castle on the hill
Over the castle on the hill

One friend left to sell clothes
One works down by the coast
One had two kids but lives alone
One's brother overdosed
One's already on his second wife
One's just barely getting by
But these people raised me and I can't wait to go home

And I'm on my way, I still remember
This old country lanes
When we did not know the answers
And I miss the way you make me feel, it's real
We watched the sunset over the castle on the hill
Over the castle on the hill
Over the castle on the hill
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Briefly introduce

The song was performed by Ed Sheeran.
He is an English singer, songwriter, guitarist, record producer, and actor. Sheeran was born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, and spent most of his childhood years in the English countryside town of Framlingham, Suffolk, before moving to London at the age of 17 to pursue a music career.
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Three words I learned from this song

1. reckon (v.) -to think or believe

    I reckon it's going to rain.

2. overdose (n.) -too much of a drug taken at one time

    She took a massive overdose of sleeping pills.

3. perfume (n.) -a liquid, often made from flowers, that you put on your skin to make yourself smell nice

    She was wearing too much perfume.

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Song review

The lyrics of "Castle on the Hill" are all about Sheeran's younger days growing up in his British hometown. This song feels like home. Even though I go home every day now, but every time I hear this song, I have a strong feeling of nostalgia, and It reminds me the friends I had before.

# 6 ESL Cyber Listening Lab

1. trim   (v.)  -to make something neater, smaller, better, by cutting parts from it
 
    We trimmed the bush into a heart shape.


2. styling   (n.)  -the act of cutting and/or shaping hair in a particular style
 
    Our experts will give you advice on styling and hair care.


3. prank   (n.)  -a trick that is played on somebody as a joke
 
    When I was at school we were always playing pranks on our teachers.


4. decent   (a.)  -of a good enough standard or quality
 
    I thought he was a decent person.


5. licensed   (a.)  -having official permission to do something
 
    There are only two companies licensed to produce the vaccine.

#5 Free writing

Last winter, I went to the coldest place I have ever been. My parents and I went to the north pole to see one of nature's most awesome spectacles, Aurora. Because Auroras are most commonly visible at high latitudes, we went to Lapland which the northern city of  Finland to wait for this amazing view.  To see the Auroras, it has to be a very clear sky. Unfortunately, we had a bad cloudy day when we got there. But thankfully, next day was a sunny day, you can see thousands of stars shine in the night sky. We all stayed up late waiting and hoping that we can see it. It just depends on luck, the only thing you can do is keep your finger crossed. Suddenly,  I saw a glow over the peak of the tree,  it took on a slightly blue, slowly the skies began to move like a sheet in the wind. It is the most incredible thing I ever saw in my life.

tools:
1. Google translate : blue
2. Oxford learner's dictionary : green
3. Linggle : red

#4 Collocation

1. tabloid   (n.) 
    a newspaper with small pages (usually half the size of those in larger papers)
    tabloid ＋ report
    The tabloid reports that they met on Twitter and exchanged some flirty private messages and texts.


2. breach  (n.) 
    an act of breaking a law, promise, agreement, or relationship
    security ＋ breach
    There have been serious security breaches.

3. leak  (v.) 
    (of a liquid or gas) to escape from a hole or crack in a pipe or container
    leak ＋ out
    Oil leaked out of the car.

4. scapegoat  (n.) 
    a person who is blamed for something that someone else has done
    make ＋ scapegoat
    The captain was made a scapegoat for the team's failure.

5. scandal  (n.) 
    reports about actions or events that cause shock and disapproval
    scandal ＋ broke
    The scandal broke on the front pages of all the papers the next day.

#3 Collocation

Early Life
Stephen Hawking was born in Oxford, England on January 8, 1942. He grew up in a highly educated family. Both of his parents had attended Oxford University and his father, Frank, was a medical researcher.

Stephen enjoyed math and science in school where he earned the nickname "Einstein." He wanted to study math at university but Oxford didn't have a math degree at the time so he chose physics and chemistry instead. Stephen found college coursework to be very easy. He enjoyed being a member of the school's boat club as well as classical music. After graduation, he went to Cambridge to study for his Ph.D.

Diagnosed with ALS
While Hawking was working on his Ph.D. at Cambridge University, he began to have health issues. His speech became slurred and he became very clumsy, often dropping items or falling for no reason. After going through a series of tests, doctors discovered that Hawking had a disease called ALS (also called Lou Gehrig's disease). At the time, the doctors said he only had a few years to live.

Overcoming ALS
Although Hawking was initially depressed over his diagnosis, he decided that there were things he wanted to accomplish with his life. He began to study and work harder than ever before. He wanted to earn his Ph.D. before he died. Around the same time, he met and fell in love with a girl named Jane Wilde. Between his work and Jane, Hawking had a reason to live.

Despite the initial grim diagnosis from his doctors, Hawking has lived a full and productive life with the help of science and modern medicine. Although he is confined to a wheelchair and cannot talk, he can communicate using a touchpad computer and a voice synthesizer.

Black Holes and Hawking Radiation 
Stephen spent much of his academic work researching black holes and space-time theories. He wrote many important papers on the subject and became a noted expert on relativity and black holes. Perhaps his most famous discovery was when he demonstrated that black holes emit some radiation. Prior to this, it was thought that black holes could not get smaller because nothing could escape their enormous gravity. The radiation from black holes has become known as Hawking Radiation.

vocabulary	part-of-speech	collocation	example
grow	v.	grow + number	There is a growing number of businesses and individuals using Bitcoin.
nickname	n.	earn + nickname	These teams earned the nickname of "Headhunters".
health	n.	health + decline	His health has declined markedly in prison.
diagnosis	n.	delay + diagnosis	The cost and difficulty of screening and assessment can delay diagnosis.
know	v.	become+ know	In the last 60 years they have become better known to the general public.