〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓 2010.1. 8発行.No15（毎週金曜日発行）〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓
株式会社 セイガンスピーク メールマガジン
Sagan Speak Co., Ltd English Educational Newsletter
(このＨＴＭＬメールはインターネットに接続した状態でご覧下さい)
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このメールは、これまでの弊社とお名刺を交換させて戴いた学校関係者様にお送りしています。
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■ 今 週 の Ｉ Ｎ Ｄ Ｅ Ｘ
１．気になる最近のニュース
２．弊社開発の新英語授業システム「リンクインシステム」の反響
３．弊社所属の外国人派遣講師による日本の英語教育への提言等(その8)
４．スティーブン自叙伝(第９話最終編)
５．編集後記(メルマガ編集者らによる雑感コーナー)
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〓 １．気になる最近のニュース 〓
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■早期英会話教育：効果は？ 中身なければ…でたらめ文法も
http://mainichi.jp/life/edu/archive/news/2009/12/20091220ddm013100024000c.html
■大学淘汰の時代、加速化 ５私大が募集停止、廃校へ
http://www.asahi.com/edu/news/TKY200912280233.html
■受験英語：上智大、実践英語検定が目指すもの
http://mainichi.jp/life/edu/archive/news/2009/12/20091217mog00m100020000c.html
■日本への留学生、過去最多に 中国や韓国の留学熱反映
http://www.asahi.com/edu/news/TKY200912280207.html
■高校無償化：松沢・神奈川県知事、県負担拒否方針
http://mainichi.jp/life/edu/archive/news/2009/12/20091222ddm041010063000c.html
■休校や学級閉鎖、ピーク時の４割に インフルエンザ
http://www.asahi.com/edu/news/TKY200912240420.html
■高校無償化：所得制限なし
http://mainichi.jp/life/edu/archive/news/2009/12/20091222dde041010042000c.html
■塾・習い事出費、親の年収で格差 ベネッセ調査
http://www.asahi.com/edu/news/TKY200912210145.html
■遠隔教育：デジタルペン使ったウェブ講座を提供 Ｚ会とソフトバンクＢＢ
http://mainichi.jp/life/edu/archive/news/2009/12/20091222mog00m100044000c.html
■草食化？学生、米留学に尻込み １０年で１．３万人減
http://www.asahi.com/edu/news/TKY200912110261.html
■１０年度予算：高校授業料 私立、低所得は助成増 公立、徴収せず
http://mainichi.jp/life/edu/archive/news/2009/12/20091224ddm002010051000c.html
■「先生の卵」東京へおいで…バスツアー作戦
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/kyoiku/news/20091219-OYT8T00608.htm
■公立校教員：精神疾患で休職５４００人 過去最悪、１６年連続の増加
http://mainichi.jp/life/edu/archive/news/2009/12/20091226ddm012040006000c.html
■就職氷河期 高校生、苦渋の進学
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/kyoiku/news/20091221-OYT8T00369.htm
■全国学力テスト：来年、抽出３割に縮小 「漏れても自主参加を」
http://mainichi.jp/life/edu/archive/news/2009/12/20091226dde041100002000c.html
■外国籍の先生、教壇に続々
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/kyoiku/news/20091226-OYT8T00217.htm
■全国学力テスト：自治体が公表判断 市町村の集計せず−−文科省
http://mainichi.jp/life/edu/archive/news/2009/12/20091228dde041100036000c.html
■公立小中学校など２８００棟、耐震化工事先送り
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/kyoiku/news/20091228-OYT8T00776.htm
■大学入試：「資格取れる学部学科が人気」
http://mainichi.jp/life/edu/archive/news/2010/01/20100106org00m100002000c.html
■皇族方、なぜ学習院離れ
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/kyoiku/news/20100107-OYT8T00195.htm
■大学入試：「志望大学は最後まで狙え」
http://mainichi.jp/life/edu/archive/news/2010/01/20100106org00m100020000c.html
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〓 ２．弊社開発の新英語授業システム「リンクインシステム」の反響〓
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
■昨年末にかけて、リンクインシステムの導入を検討中の学校法人様がお陰様で増えてまい
りました。ほとんどの法人様に共通していることは、自校英語教育プログラムに何か特色を持
たせることで他校との差別化を図っていく必要性を持たれていたことです。つまり、自校の生
徒募集広告に中で、従来のような「英語カリキュラムを充実させました」的な抽象的宣伝表現
ではなく、「従来の英語授業を一変するほどの英語カリキュラムを新システムで可能にしまし
た」という表現へと変えることで、保護者への遡及力を高めようとされていたようです。
昨年、開催したある入学説明会での参加者アンケートの結果によれば、保護者の声として、
たとえ不況で経済的負担が重くても、子供の将来の幸せのためには、生徒指導が行き届き、教
育プログラムが公立校と比べてしっかりしている私立の中学校をあくまでも志向したい傾向が
多かったそうです。さらに興味深い結果として、入学後、子供が私立校の効果的な教育プログ
ラムが享受できれば、塾や予備校費用も軽減可能になるだろうとの期待もあったそうです。こ
うした背景からも、私立校が、公立校と明確に差別化できるような効果的な指導方法を模索する
のは、確かに当然の流れであると言えそうです。これが、反響の原因なのかもしれません。
そんな反響を頂いている「リンクインシステム」ですが、今年も１月と２月にセミナーを開催
することになりました。詳細は次回のメルマガ又は弊社からのDMにてお知らせいたしますので、
是非、ご参加ください。
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〓３．弊社所属の外国人派遣講師による日本の英語教育への提言等(その8) 〓
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■今週も弊社の派遣講師Angela Stark(アンジェラ・ストーク)による、彼女の経験を通した
日本の英語教育への提言等です。
The holidays are over, the school year has begun, and we have entered a new decade.
Before we get too far into this new year, though, perhaps we ought to decide how
it should be pronounced.
There are two options for the reading of 2010:
First, we could continue with the pattern we have been using for the previous
years of the 2000s, and say, “two thousand ten” or “two thousand and ten.”
(The latter of the two is the more formal, British style.)
This feels quite natural following “two thousand [and] nine.” There is also an
elegant sound to “two thousand [and] ten” which is decidedly lacking in the
alternative.
This
brings me to our second option: “
manner requires one less syllable, which makes it faster and easier to pronounce.
It also follows the style of years prior to 2000—for example, 1974 was “nineteen
seventy-four;” not “one thousand nine hundred [and] seventy four.” Furthermore,
when we reach 2100, the shortened form will become more condensed—consider the
possible pronunciations of 2154.
So which usage is correct? There is much debate about this on the internet,
and people on both sides make valid points.
The National Association of Good Grammar (ironically abbreviated as NAGG) declares
that “twenty ten” is correct. Others argue that “two thousand ten” is entirely
acceptable. What it comes down to, in my opinion, is what feels right for you.
Some people say “twenty ten” sounds like a cliché science fiction movie, while
others think “two thousand ten” is unnecessarily cumbersome.
Because languages are formed by the people who use them, it is my opinion that
either style is correct. When a large segment of English speakers choose to use one
pronunciation, spelling, or grammatical construction rather than another, language
often changes to allow the new style.
Consider these two sentences:
1. May I borrow a pencil?
2. Can I borrow a pencil?
If you asked a grammarian, he or she would tell you that the first sentence is
correct and the second is incorrect. This is because the word can talks about
ability; it does not technically ask permission. Don’t be surprised if you ask a
strict English teacher, “Can I eat in class,” and he or she replies, “I don’t
know. Can you? You have teeth, don’t you?”
Joking aside, however, can feels more natural than may to a large group of native
speakers, and as such is generally considered acceptable in all but the most formal
situations. It is taught in a number of reputable conversation
textbooks because it
is used by a large segment of native speakers. Language is constantly changing in
a number of ways. Sometimes it’s better to go with the current than fight against
it.
An example of how spelling evolves through the years can be found in the name of
one of my favorite foods, the doughnut. Wait a minute, did I spell that right?
Isn’t there a shop called Mister Donut? Are they spelling it wrong?
Actually, both spellings are correct. The first known reference to these tasty
fried bits of deliciousness used the spelling doughnut and actually referred to the
round pieces cut from the middle of modern day doughnuts (or donuts) We now call these
doughnut (or donut) holes. Because they were pieces of dough shaped like a nut, the
word was spelled dough-nut or doughnut. This term later came to describe not only the
ring which the “hole” came from, but also a wide variety of shapes, including
jam-filled, maple bar, and apple fritter. Concurrently, numerous American shops and
newspapers began to use the shortened form donut and dictionaries started to list both
spellings as acceptable. Today some writers prefer the older, more traditional form
and others enjoy the brevity and simplicity of the newer spelling.
Like the pronunciation of 2010, this is a situation where language allows you a
choice rather than prescribing one expression as correct. Perhaps you should consider
your new choice over a cup of coffee and a donut—or a doughnut, if you prefer.
However you decide to say it, I wish you a joyful and bright year ahead.
(Speaking of doughnuts, if your travels should ever
take you my hometown of
I highly suggest a
visit to Voodoo Doughnut. The fluorescent orange Tangfastic and
triple
chocolate Diablos Rex are especially
good, but anything they make is sure to be delicious.)
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〓 ４．スティーブン自叙伝(第９話の最終編) 〓
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■以下は、本メルマガに連載形式にて好評掲載中の弊社 スティーブン・オーストウィック
の前半生です。
Sending Out A Search Party –conclusion
The food was ready and the three that
went off to pick apples were now safely back with
their
plunder, or should I say with their pickings and they were eagerly waiting for
their
hot
scram. As we did not have any
plates we would have to do the best we could with
passing
the pan and the tin lid around taking it in turns to eat from them. As far as
eating utensils
were concerned, Adi had a small spoon fitted onto his Swiss army knife
so he
was okay, the rest of us made do with a couple of twigs that we found that we
used
as chopsticks, that did not work very well,
so we ended up using our fingers and also
passing
Adi’s spoon
around. Food always tastes better
when it is cooked outside and
on this
day it was exceptionally good.
After having our fill of potatoes and other
vegetables
we then set about eating our dessert which was originally going to be
steamed
apples, but everyone including myself wanted to play, so we decided to eat
our apples in the way one would normally eat an apple.
The
day was getting on and we were all eager to get out into the field and
play.
We
put the fire out and generally cleaned up where we had been eating, we hid the
pan
and the tin lid for another day and we went into the field to play hide “n” seek.
We had a lot of fun running
around and hiding and jumping into hedgerow bottoms
and
climbing trees, we were having so much fun playing that we forgot about the
time
and
when we checked the time through Mark, Mark was the only one that ever wore a
watch, a Timex watch that illuminated in
the dark, I think he spent more time looking
at his
watch in bed under the covers than what he did looking at it in normal daylight
hours,
anyway, he told us in a very worried voice that it was just after 5pm. As we
had
almost 4 hours to walk to get back to our homes that meant that we were not
going
to get home until after 9pm, we also we had to go home with the onset of
darkness looming which would not make things any easier.
We
set off and started walking a fairly fast pace down the side of the dykes.
We
were making pretty good time, but the light was fading fast and it was
beginning
to get harder to see where we were going, so consequently we started to
slow
down a bit. We kept getting a time
check from Mark, not just because he liked
looking
at his illuminous Timex watch, but because his father was very strict and it
was not
uncommon for him to hit Mark with a belt or whatever else was on hand at
the
time. I knew my mum and dad would
be mad and, but they would not hit me,
they
would shout and tell me that I could not go out for a month or something, but
that
would be about the total sum of the wrath I would feel. Adi and Mike were in
similar
boats to me, it was just poor old Mark that would really be in for it from his
dad. It was approaching 9pm and we were still
quite a long way from home, we
started
to jog, but it was difficult because we were jogging at the side of the dyke
and at
times losing our footing and falling over, plus the straw in the field was
slippery
and this made it even more dangerous, but the desire to get home kept
us
going. The dark of the night was
also creating images of us being followed by
ghost
like figures or as we thought at the time, beings from another planet.
To try
to protect ourselves from these beings we started to talk out loud as we
jogged,
I can
remember asking Adi if he had his 12 bore shot gun loaded to which he replied
with a
nervous and out of breath, but confident “Yes, I have, and have you got
your
knife in your pocket, Oz?” (Oz was my nickname back then), to which I
replied
“Yes, I have, I also have my
catapult with me ”
. This banter went on between the four of us for a while and it made us feel safe.
All
of a sudden we heard something and we all stopped dead in our shoes, it
was
someone shouting in the distance, actually several people shouting at the
same
time. I heard my name and then Adi’s, then Mikes and then Marks,
it
sounded
like our parents, we then picked up the pace, we were no longer jogging,
but
running as fast as the surface would allow us to run and as we ran the voices
became
louder and clearer until finally we could see images of people walking
towards
us. My dad was there, Mikes mum and
dad were there, so were Adi’s
mum and
dad and of course Mark’s dad was there, he was easy to pick out
because
of his Goliath like statue. We were
then confronted by a barrage of
questions
and statements that only parents can really get away with asking
and
making “Where
the hell have you lot been? Don’t you know how much
worry
you lot have caused?, You are in for it when I get you home”.
“The Police have been notified and are out
looking for you, the neighbours
are
also out looking”. “You cannot imagine how much
trouble and worry you
lot
have caused, do you know what can happen out here when it gets dark?”
We were tired, hungry, scared and upset
with ourselves, the guilt we were
all
feeling was very evident, but we were relieved that we were back listening
to
familiar sounds, even if they were sounds that we knew had a pretty severe c
onclusion connected to them.
I
was surprised that Mark’s dad seemed the least upset out of all the other
parents; however, we did learn
later that that was just a show because when
Mark got home he was belted
and sent to his room. The rest of
us were
either grounded and our pocket
money was stopped or we were barred from
doing other things we were
used to doing for a while, but unlike Mark, thank
fully we were not hit. The strange thing was that the point in
the field at
which
we met up with our parents was very close to the place where I had hidden
the
brambles earlier on in the day and I can remember asking my dad if he
would
go with me to collect them; the thing was I had promised to bring back
brambles
for my mum and keeping promises were everything to me, they still are.
My dad
looked at me with a face of worried relief, and the surprise that I was
asking
him such a question prompted him to reply “Don’t push your luck kid,
you
have your mum to deal with when you get home. I wouldn’t want to be
in your
shoes when we do get home. Bloody
brambles are the last thing on
your
mum’s mind,
don’t you
understand how serious all this is?”
“Well.
Do you?” I can't remember what I replied but I
think a few tears
came out.
We
were indeed all duly punished for what we had done, but we lived to fight
another
day, actually many more days in terms of rambling adventures we later
went
on, none quite as action packed as this one I might add, but memorable all
the same. The end.
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〓 ５．編集後記(メルマガ編集者らによる雑感コーナー) 〓
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■新年明けましておめでとうございます。本年も弊社・セイガンスピークをよろしくお願い
申し上げます。さて、正月に年賀状をもらった学生時代の友人のことなのですが、学生時代
の英語学習方法といえば丸暗記が主流でして、その友人は英単語の暗記が得意で、常に英語
の辞書のページを引きちぎる度に丸めて口の中に入れてました。何とも嘘のようなハナシで
すが、確かに彼の英語の成績は優秀でした。その当時の英語辞書といえば、三省堂コンサイ
ズ英和辞典くらいしかなく、貴重だったその辞典を彼は２冊も持っているばかりか、贅沢に
もそのうち１冊を暗記専用に使っていました。時間の経過とともに、彼の暗記専用辞書のペ
ージが薄くなっていったのを今でもよく覚えています。そんな６０年も前の英語学習環境と
比べるのもなんですが、今の学生は恵まれています。テキストはもちろん、映画・インター
ネットといったメディアが充実し、街中でその気になれば容易に外人に話しかけることもで
きますし、日常生活で英語表記を目にしない日が無いと言っても過言ではなく、昔のような
暗記に頼らなくても済む学習機会が溢れています。にもかかわらず、これだけ恵まれた環境
にありながら、いまだに「日本人は自信をもって英語を話せない」という傾向を引きずって
います。これだけ世の中が英語に囲まれた環境へと変わっても、学校での英語授業が昔とあ
まり変わっていないことが原因なのでしょうか？
■新しい年を迎えるにあたって、少子化による将来予測の特番が放映されてました。特に世間
で耳にする「人口が増えれば、経済が発展し、ＧＤＰ(国内総生産)も増える」という法則・・・
ど、社会的に保護しなければならないモノを抱え、経済的に非効率なモノを排除できない構造
になっており、確かに人口の増加過程においてはある程度まで経済は発展するものの、やがて
はＧＤＰを伸ばせない状況に陥っているそうです。そうなると、人口の多いことや人口を増や
すことが、国にとってはたしてプラスなのか？マイナスなのか？大いに議論が分かれるでしょ
う。皆さんはどう思いますか？
■昨年末のことですが、世界的な高級携帯電話端末のブランド“Vertu”のお店をのぞいて
きました。中のたたずまいは、まさに高級ブティックそのもの。
実際に、店内で現物の商品に触れてみたところ、端末部分は確かにノキア製なのですが、外装
が英国のクラフトマンによる仕上げというだけあって、まるで金の延べ棒でも触っているかの
ようなズッシリと重い印象でした。
http://plusd.itmedia.co.jp/mobile/articles/0903/13/news118.html
たまたま、店員さんと居合わせた他のお客との雑談を聞いていましたら、「スイス製自動巻ブラ
ンド時計に５０万円かけるお客様が大勢いますよね。とすれば、自動巻時計以上の精密機器であ
るブランド携帯電話に１００万円出費しても何ら不思議ではありません。８００万円の高級外車
を購入する人が、仮にワンランク下の５００万円の車種へ変更し、残りの３００万円を毎日使う
携帯電話へ振り向けても不思議ではないはずです。そもそも、車というものは自分が乗っている
時間よりも、むしろ使っていない時間の方が長いはずで、その点、携帯電話は２４時間肌身離さ
ず身につけていられる。単なる浪費と考えるか、形を変えた投資と考えるかは、お客様の価値観
次第ですね。」・・・・・・・なるほど、そうかもしれないなぁと納得しつつ、寒風が吹きすさ
ぶショップの外に出ると、ドトールで２００円のホットコーヒーを飲んだつもりで、自動販売機
の１２０円の缶コーヒーを選ぶことにしました。
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本メールは、株式会社セイガンスピークより発信しております。
東京都品川区西大井６丁目２４番１４号第５下川ビル２階
株式会社セイガンスピーク アルファベンディ事業部
電 話 ０３-５４９３-８１９３
F A X ０３-５４９３-８１９１