I was never interested in traditional sports like baseball, basketball　and soccer.　I guess I liked sports that require less footwork and more handwork.　As a child, I had so much fun playing ping pong nearly everyday on a　piece of wood my father placed on top of his pool table. Me and my　two brothers could always be found in our basement playing ping pong　immediately after school and dinner.

After graduating from high school, tennis replaced ping pong.
I played tennis for more than 20 years.

But the sport that changed my life was freestyle frisbee ! In"freestyle frisbee," you will find there are so many ways to throw and catch... it is really fun ! And you don't need to buy a dog. Freestyle frisbee is played by PEOPLE ! Any age is okay, frisbees are cheap ( usually less than ￥1000 ), are indestructible, and frisbee can be played anywhere and anytime. No court reservations required !
Some people even play it in the rain !

Frisbee is a great form of exercise. Some people think frisbee　players just stand in one position and throw and catch. But players　can not always throw accurately, so we need to run to catch those　shots. And some of my frisbee partners love to throw long and deep,　so the receiver must be prepared to run.


Frisbee is NOT hard to learn ! The "basics" can be learned in just a　few minutes.　When you buy a frisbee, you should buy one that weighs 160 grams.　Lighter frisbees　are harder to control, and heavier ones can hurt when you catch them.


Finally, I have met so many people and made many friends because of frisbee.　Frisbee　seems to attract people to it. I often have people walk up to　me and ask if they can　throw with me. And I do the same to other　frisbee players. Frisbee players usually　say "yes" if someone wants　to join the action. So, don't be shy. Join the fun !

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We talk to students every day who are working hard to improve their test scores.
For non-native English speakers, of course, the four basic language skills (reading, speaking, listening and writing) are crucial for success in academic settings abroad, so these are all tested in the new TOEFL iBT.


For most people, writing is the most difficult of these skills to master. As a result, students tend to avoid it, hoping to improve more on the others. In fact, however, it's relatively easy to make significant improvements in writing scores, so it pays to put some effort into writing. Even if you have problems with grammar and language use, you can improve your score significantly with better organization and by learning how to improve the content. And don't forget - the ability to write a logical, easy to understand essay will come in handy after you're admitted to your new school, as well!


Kaplan's courses provide you with the tools you need to successfully write essays for the TOEFL, as well as other tests. For those wanting to improve their writing even more, we even have courses which concentrate exclusively on this skill.


If you want to improve your overall score quickly, don't neglect writing!




▼▽▼▼【講師】Kurt先生のバックナンバー━━━━━━━━
・【How much will I improve?】2008.10.08 (Wed)

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皆さんは自己紹介のとき、名前のほかにどんなことを話しますか？
趣味やモットー、職業などが定番といったところでしょうか。
校内に入ると日本語厳禁のカプランで、私は自身満々にこう自己紹介していました。
"I am Humanitarian aid worker."
（「私は人道支援組織の職員です」）


しかし、クラスメイトの顔には？マークが浮かんでいました。
皆にはこう聞き取れていたようです。
"I am Italian eight worker."
想像を最大限膨らますと、「私はイタリアの8人の働き者です」（！？）
黒澤明監督の映画、『七人の侍』（"The seven Samurai"）や、
1960年のアメリカ映画、『荒野の七人』（"The Magnificent Seven"）に似て響きはカッコいいですが、何のことだかさっぱり分かりませんよね。
誤解の最大の理由は、私の拙い発音。まだまだ改善の必要ありです。


でも、どんなに発音に気を付けても伝わらないことがありました。
いろいろ試した結果、"Humanitarian aid"が、数人のクラスメイトに馴染みのない言い方だと思い当たりました。
確かに聞き慣れない単語と私の変なイントネーションでは？マークですよね。
日本語でもそうだったと私の前職、大工職人になりたての頃を思い出しました。

想像してみて下さい。若かった私に親方が指示している様子を。
「しゃかんやがすみおっかいたからげんのうもってこい。」


皆さん分かります？
「おっかいた」＝欠いた、「げんのう」＝とんかち
知らない単語と江戸っ子口調で、さっぱり分かりませんでした。
正解は、「左官屋さんがぶつけて、角が欠けてしまったからトンカチ持ってこい。」


では、これは分かりますか？
「アサシとジャガー買ってこい！」


見かねた先輩がこっそり通訳してくれました。
「あと5分で仕事おしまいだし、今日はみんな暑い中頑張ったから、
親方のおごりで酒屋行ってビール。
だ・か・ら、アサヒ・スーパードライとキリン・ラガーを買ってこいってこと。」

英語で自分の意図を正しく表し相手にキチンと届く「正しい言葉」を使うのは簡単ではありません。
しかし、英語はコミュニケーションのツール（道具）であって、ミスを過度に恐れずに取り組んでいれば、きっと身に付くものと私は信じています。何度も「げんのう」で打ち損ねて指に痣を作っているうちに、体で覚えてちゃんとクギを打ち込めるようになりましたから。

いつかは「イタリアの8人の働き者（！？）」から昇格して「人道支援の働き者」になれるようカプランの宿題に取り組む田口は、右手に辞書、左手に「ジャガー」なのであります。

▼▽▼▼田口さんの過去の記事を読む━━━━━━━━━━━
・【「言葉」について】2008.09.29 (Mon)

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Some of you may know I majored in mathematics in university; I also minored in physics. One of the most interesting things I learned in physics was in a quantum mechanics class. It was Bell's Theorem. Bell's Theorem, by John Bell, tests the ideas of reality and separability. (The word locality is used more than separability, but I think separability is more representative of the concept it labels.) Reality is the idea that objects have physically real properties that are not created by observation. This means, for example, that a rock is a rock before anyone ever looks at it. Even if there is a rock far in outer space which no one has ever seen, ever, it is still a rock; it's not waiting to be observed so that it can become a rock. Separability is the idea that objects can always be separated so that what affects one does not affect the other. For example if you're in Japan and raise your right arm, this doesn't simultaneously affect me standing in America. This should be true because nothing can travel faster than the speed of light, not even information. Both of these ideas should be very intuitive. Quantum physics says they're both wrong.


Bell's Theorem was an inequality which assumed both of these ideas to be true. Then an experiment was performed based on Bell's Theorem. The experiment resulted in false information. This means, that at least one of the assumptions were wrong. (This kind of logic is call proof by contradiction.) This should be absolutely fantastically surprising. And counterintuitive. I love that word. Basically, either my observation of an object CREATES its physical properties, OR it's possible for objects at opposite sides of the universe to affect each other INSTANTANEOUSLY. So a rock is actually not a rock until someone looks at it, OR let's say you are in Japan and you raise your right arm, this could cause me, in America, to raise my right arm at the exact same time. You could even be on Mars and raise your right arm; this could still cause me in America to raise my right arm at exactly the same time. Weird, huh?


Later, a man named Henry Stapp performed an experiment similar to Bell's but left out the reality assumption. The experiment still produced false information. This means, that there is DEFINITELY NOT separability in our world, in this universe. The reality concept is still awaiting to be proven either way. So go ahead and feel free to feel... connected.


(By the way, this is all completely, factually, scientifically proven. It's not a bunch of metaphysics or new age. However, the actual implications are not as fantastic as new agers would like to imagine. The raising the right arm scenario was just an example to foster understanding, as well as the rock one. If you're interested or didn't understand this blog, I'd love to explain it more so feel free to ask me about it any time!)

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There's are two old sayings of which I'm particularly fond; "It's always something," and "Things change." Now, these aren't particularly deep sayings at first browse. They certainly don't have the epistemological avoirdupois of "Ceci n'est pas une pipe" Nonetheless, each has a certain ontological pith. They are sayings with long fuses, apt to detonate when almost forgotten.


And that's what I like about them; their simplicity belies their profundity. Of the two, "It's always something" likely requires more explanation to the non-native speaker of English. The "it" in the saying is, basically, life itself, whereas the "something" is adversity, or at least the ethereality of perfection. I might say "it's always something" when my car blows a tire while I'm on my way to an important meeting, or my cell phone dies exactly when I most need it. When I was a kid and tried to make excuses to avoid mowing the yard (it's raining, it's snowing, I have a broken leg), my father would say, "it's always something." Translation, "do it anyway." In this way, the saying is somewhat akin to Japan's "ganbatte."

I love the saying "Things change" even more, because it is entirely bereft of reconditeness. The saying means exactly what the two words mean. Your favorite ice-cream shop goes out of business? Things change. Your girlfriend leaves you for someone who does not eat fruit directly from the fruit section of the supermarket? Things change. Your best friend betrays you and sells you into slavery while you are on safari? Things change. The world ends? One apprehends the picture.


Despite their somewhat resigned and fatalistic nature, neither of these sayings should be conflated with that omnipresent Japanese rejoinder "It can't be helped." I despise that phrase, because it smacks of submission rather than efficacy. "It can't be helped" indicates that one has stopped trying; "It's always something" and "things change" imply endeavor and perseverence.


Both sayings fit nicely into the lexicon of students preparing for standardized tests. It is, indeed, always something. You have your job, your family, and your life to contend with even as you struggle to prepare for a tough test. It's likely to be discouraging, infuriating, and even humiliating. But things change; do the work, fight the angst, and you will get better and stronger and tougher and, ultimately, ready.




▼▽▼▼Douglasの過去の記事を読む━━━━━━━━━━━
・【Smoke and Makuuchi】2008.10.01 (Wed)

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