カプランの閉室予定は下記の通りです。ご確認ください。

■【銀座/表参道校】2009年5月2日（土）～5月8日（金）
■【四谷麹町校】2009年5月4日（月）～5月8日（金）


上記期間中のお問い合わせなどの業務は、お休みとさせていただきます。
メール・FAXでのお問い合わせはお受けしますが、
期間中にいただいたものは5月9日（土）より順次
返信・回答させていただきますのでご了承ください。
※メールでお問い合わせの際は、下記にあります各教室のアドレスにお願いします。
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【英語学習プログラムに関してはこちら】
□銀座校　Ginza English Center
　〒104-0061 東京都中央区銀座3-2-10 並木ビル7F
　Tel：03-5524-5851　E-mail：kapinfo-ginza@kaplan.ac.jp
□表参道校　Omotesando English Center
　〒150-0001 東京都渋谷区神宮前5-53-67 コスモス青山1F
　Tel：03-5774-6968　E-mail：kapinfo-omotesando@kaplan.ac.jp

【試験対策プログラム（GMAT, GRE, LSAT, SAT,USMLE等）に関してはこちら】
□四谷麹町校 Yotsuya Kojimachi Test Prep Center
　〒102-0084 東京都千代田区二番町8-2
　Tel:03-3238-0171　E-mail:kap-info@kaplan.ac.jp
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When you're trying to learn something, consistency is pretty important. Exactly how extreme the consistency needs to be kind of depends on the person and the subject. I think for language, no matter the person, the consistency needs to be very very extreme. Everyday of course. But then how often each day? Well generally the more the better. In fact all day would be ideal. (By this I mean living in the country that uses the language you're trying to learn and not speaking your own language while there.)

For other subjects you probably don't need to be quite as extreme. But still consistency. Sometimes I tutor people in math and meet them about once a week. And when I meet them I ask if they practiced during the week and some people always say no. These people never really learn that much and it's pretty sad because they're paying a lot of money.

If I'm trying to seriously learn something or memorize something I study it many times throughout the day. I normally write down some information on a piece of paper and put it in my pocket and look at it many many times throughout the day. In high school I used to write it on my arm, but this was only during winter so that my long-sleeved shirt could cover it up. And then when walking down the halls I'd pull up my sleeve and read my arm. But that somehow doesn't seem so appropriate anymore. Too much information at once isn't really helpful, so if I have a lot of information I need to memorize I put a relatively small amount down on a piece of paper and carry it around as many days as it takes to really remember it. Then I write a new piece of paper and so on. (If you have a time limit this would obviously take some planning out.) Sometimes I do this for kanji and it's really effective. But for kanji I actually have to write it to really practice and learn it. Soooo... I just write the kanji many many times throughout the day. On the train, while waiting in line at the supermarket, on the toilet, wherever. The more your brain thinks about information the stronger you make the fact connected to your brain. This is true of any kind of information: formulas, vocabulary, chemical names, geography, dates, anything.

So consistency. It really works.


▼▽▼▼【講師】Amberly先生のバックナンバー━━━━━━━━
・【Get rid of your text book and your teacher】2009.04.08 (Wed)

今、このブログをご覧になっている方、ありがとうございます。
カプランの生徒さんでしょうか？
それともたまたま立ち寄った方？
なにはともあれ、わざわざご覧になっていただきありがとうございます。
つたない文章にお付き合いいただき感謝です。


ブログを書くことって、やってみると結構難しいものです。
やっと最近その難しさを面白くも感じはじめました。
相変わらず、「今回は何を書こう！？」と頭を悩ませていますが。。。



先日のクラスで、「ブログ見ました！」と言っていただき、
照れくさかったですがものすごく嬉しかったです。


ご覧になっているカプラン生徒の方にお願いです。
クラスやワークショップなどで、この写真の顔にピンッときたらお声かけいただけると幸いです。
「読んだよ」の一言が寄稿する原動力になります。
でも恥ずかしさが勝るので､そっけないリアクションでも許して下さいね。



社交辞令も含めて褒め言葉が日本語と英語では違うと感じたことはありませんか？
英語での褒め言葉って、日本人にとってびっくりするくらい大仰な表現と感じたことはありませんか？
曰く「素晴らしい～」、「君は日本の宝だよ！」etc．．．
つたない英語力でも「褒めてくれている」とはっきり理解できる単語を選んで、
聞いていて逃げ出したくなるくらい全力で褒められることがあります。
まだまだ英語文化ではそのリアクションのとり方が分からず困ってしまいます。
その褒め言葉も含めて、英語の言い回しや考え方、文化を理解できるようになりたいなと思っています。



先日のクラスメートの方には正確には「ブログ見ました」ではなく、
「ブログの写真見ました」と言われました。
文章力も頑張らなきゃいけないと思った次第です。


▼▽▼▼【受講生】田口さんのバックナンバー━━━━━━━━
・【今、ここで】2009.04.06 (Mon)

Someone once asked me, "Is there anything you don't like about Japan?" For me the answer is easy, and it's always the same. "The food," I replied. Despite the fact that there are so many things I love about this country, its cuisine is one thing I'm not sure I'll ever be able to adapt to.


I should qualify my statements by adding that it's not just the fact that Japanese food is so foreign that makes it unappetizing; it's simply the fact that the thing I like to eat least in the world just happens to be a staple in the diet of this country. I have never been able to enjoy seafood, and my friends and family can all attest to this as true. Three years ago, when I told everyone that I would be moving to Japan, usually their first response was, "WHAT are you going to eat?" All I could do then was confess that I had no idea.


Three months before I left America, my friends and I went to the home of a Japanese woman, Nozomi, and her American husband. She cooked a Japanese traditional breakfast for us, and when I first saw the sticky rice, barley tea, miso soup and tamago-yaki, I was relieved. I like all of those things. My relief didn't last long, however, and I became slightly unnerved when those dishes were accompanied by ume-boshi and some of the strangest looking "pickles" I had ever seen. But the ume-boshi had an attractive color, and when I was told that it was a plum I was eager to try it. Plums in America are always sweet, so why wouldn't these be also? But when I attempted to put a whole one in my mouth, Nozomi shouted, "Stop! You should take only a small bite...it's very salty." I'm definitely grateful for that warning. After that, as the day approached for me to fly to Tokyo, I only became increasingly nervous about what kinds of food I would find in Japan.


Don't get me wrong, there are some Japanese foods that I really love eating. O-inari-san would be one of my favorites. (I've even learned how to make it!) It's just that if I was given a choice between Japanese food and something else, I'm almost always going to choose something else. That being the case, finding good restaurants in Tokyo that serve food I like may be a difficult task. My favorite foods are sometimes nearly impossible to come by. (If anyone knows where I can buy American cornbread, let me know!) Suffice it to say that when I make trips back to the States to visit family, eating good Mexican food is also near the top of my priorities. The photo below was taken in Portland on my first visit back home. I had my friend take this picture in order to document my enjoyment in eating a good burrito for the first time in a long while...



On the other hand, there are lots of other things in Japan that I prefer over any other place I've been to, which means that even though I don't like the food, there's plenty else to enjoy!




▼▽▼▼【講師】Melanie先生のバックナンバー━━━━━━━━
・【An Oregonian in Tokyo】2009.03.27 (Fri)

KAPLAN事務局よりゴールデンウィーク中の閉室スケジュールとNewsweek List更新のお知らせです。

ゴールデンウィーク中のカプランの閉室予定は下記の通りです。

■【銀座/表参道校】2009年5月2日（土）～5月8日（金）
■【四谷麹町校】2009年5月4日（月）～5月8日（金）
※よって5月2日、3日のクラスはお休みになりますのでご注意下さい。

The Anti-Obama

来週のワークショップNewsweek Reading/Discussionで取り上げるトピックスは下記の通りです。
リストなどではReading/Discusiionまたは、Discussion/Readingと通しの時間表記ですが、ReadingまたはDuscussion、どちらか1コマから受講が可能です。
詳しいワークショップスケジュールはコチラをご覧下さい。

・4/27(MON)　
・20:40-22:30　表参道校　pp.30-31
　Business【More Grapes, Less Wrath】

・4/28(TUE) 　
・15:00-16:50　表参道校　p.43
　Environment&Leadership 【Our Tanks Are On Full】
・18:40-20:30　銀座校　p.46
　On Science【Sex, Race and IQ: Off Limits?】

・4/29(WED)　
・20:40-22:30　銀座校　 pp.29
　World Affairs【Toppling Kim Jong ll】

・5/1(FRI)
・11:00-12:50　表参道校 pp.19
　World Affairs【Eat Your Heart Out, Chicago】　
・19:40-21:30　表参道　 pp20-22
　World Affairs【The Crafty Superpower】

※5/1(SAT)/5/2(SUN) のクラスはお休みです。

　

■ニューズウィークリスト(PDF)ダウンロードはコチラからどうぞ。

今週に引き続き、来週もこれらの記事の読解やディスカッションを通して語彙を増やし、読解力、スピーキング力を向上しましょう。
クラスに関しまして、何か不明な点等ありましたら、いつでも講師までご質問下さいませ。