EL本棚紹介(71) Asterix: Omnibus I, by Goscinny and Uderzo

[Welcome to the EL Book Introductions series. These posts are all short (<180 words) introductions/reviews of books in the EL library. They focus on telling you what we think will be interesting for you, a college student and English learner, so use them to help you find the right book for you. You can also use the tags to find books about topics you might be interested in.]

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Asterix is one of the most famous French cartoon characters in Europe. He is as well known as Bugs Bunny in America and Doraemon in Japan. He is a Gaul (ゴール人) during the time of the expanding Roman Empire. Although the Romans have great technology and many soldiers, the Gauls use magic potions to become super powerful. Asterix and his friends always get into trouble with the Romans, but they always use their strength and smarts to escape in the end. This comic reminded me of Vicke Viking (小さなバイキング ビッケ), who used to be popular in Japan (learn about the new movie here: https://www.vic-movie.com/)

Asterix is not very easy to start reading because there is a lot of word play and some Latin and other foreign language. However, if you keep reading past the first two or three pages, I think you will get used to it and start enjoying the story. This book contains three full stories, so you don’t have to read the whole thing.

My two cents: Read a little, ask a native speaker about some of the jokes you don’t understand, and enjoy the funny art and silly story in a group instead of by yourself.

EL本棚紹介(70) Medicine: The Definitive Illustrated History, by Steve Parker

[Welcome to the EL Book Introductions series. These posts are all short (<180 words) introductions/reviews of books in the EL library. They focus on telling you what we think will be interesting for you, a college student and English learner, so use them to help you find the right book for you. You can also use the tags to find books about topics you might be interested in.]

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This beautiful book teaches the history of medicine, from ancient times, through the renaissance and birth of modern medicine, all the way to contemporary issues, like stem cell research. It is “beautiful,” because it is full of large, detailed photographs showing artifacts, people, and tools from throughout the history of medicine. It not only covers history in a “deep” way (going back in time), but it also does so “broadly” (learning from different cultures around the world).

The book is designed like an American textbook. Most pages have nice photographs, famous quotes, and small text boxes covering different topics. On the one hand, the book’s size and thickness makes it scary; on the other hand, every topic or sub-topic is covered in just 1-2 pages. As I suggested in my introduction to Mammoth Science, you can learn a lot just by reading 2 pages a day. Or, you could keep this book in the English Lounge, open it up in the conversation corner, and use it to start an interesting conversation.

My two cents: The size and scope of this book makes it interesting not only for medical students, but also for anyone interested in different cultures, human history, or technology.

EL本棚紹介(69) Disney’s Magic English Picture Dictionary, by Nova

[Welcome to the EL Book Introductions series. These posts are all short (<180 words) introductions/reviews of books in the EL library. They focus on telling you what we think will be interesting for you, a college student and English learner, so use them to help you find the right book for you. You can also use the tags to find books about topics you might be interested in.]

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Picture Dictionary contains a mix of pictures of Disney characters, English with Japanese translations, and some example sentences. It is actually meant for elementary school students learning English. So, why should we keep it for university students? I think there are a few ways you can find to use this book.

First, if you have read any of my book introductions that mention vocabulary, you already know how images can help you learn. Connecting a word with a picture is an effective way to remember new words. Using example sentences is also helpful. Both pictures and example sentences create “context” (文脈) for the word.

Second, because this is a children’s book, it may be interesting for you to see what kind of English children use. This may be particularly useful if you are studying children’s education.

Last, this is a large-sized book that you probably don’t want to carry around. Instead, open it up in the EL and use it with a friend. You can think of some games using the pictures, translations, and simple vocabulary. Be creative, and you can have fun while studying.

My two cents: When I first saw this book, I thought it was strange and didn’t belong in the university. However, if you think about it and use it creatively, you may learn something interesting from it.

EL本棚紹介(68) Black Jack Volume 1, by Tezuka Osamu

[Welcome to the EL Book Introductions series. These posts are all short (<180 words) introductions/reviews of books in the EL library. They focus on telling you what we think will be interesting for you, a college student and English learner, so use them to help you find the right book for you. You can also use the tags to find books about topics you might be interested in.]

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You must know the name Tezuka Osamu, and you probably have heard of Black Jack. It is less famous abroad than Astro Boy (Tetsuwan Atomu), but it is still an important and really interesting Tezuka manga. Although the title of the manga is Black Jack, the doctor Black Jack is not always the main character of each story. Each story in this volume focuses on the different characters with different problems, so you can easily just pick out any chapter to read by itself.

The translation is excellent. It includes a little bit of English wordplay (dajare) and a little bit of accented or colloquial speech. This is a good way prepare yourself for encountering world Englishes spoken by real people instead of “textbook English.” Because this is a “medical manga,” there are some difficult vocabulary words related to medicine and surgery. However, they are only a very small part of each chapter, and you do not need to understand any of it to enjoy the stories themselves.

My two cents: I was again surprised, like when I read Astro Boy, at just how good Tezuka Osamu is at writing stories. Some of it reminded me of SF author Hoshi Shin’ichi’s short stories, too.

EL本棚紹介(67) Superman: Earth One, by Shane Davis

[Welcome to the EL Book Introductions series. These posts are all short (<180 words) introductions/reviews of books in the EL library. They focus on telling you what we think will be interesting for you, a college student and English learner, so use them to help you find the right book for you. You can also use the tags to find books about topics you might be interested in.]

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Everyone knows the name “Superman.” Maybe you have seen a movie or read a comic about him saving Earth. What makes Superman: Earth One special is that it looks at superman as an alien. A lot of people forget that he comes from outer space. In this book, Superman comes in a spaceship and is followed by aliens who attack the earth. Instead of thinking being a story about humans, (in some ways) it is more like a story about aliens.

“Superman” is a classic American superhero comic. The Earth One series uses very modern art and rewrites the classic stories in interesting ways. This book has some difficult “science fiction language” (and real science language), but you can follow the story by looking at the pictures and reading whatever you can understand. Also, there are several “flashbacks” – scenes that go back to Superman’s childhood – and scenes with different groups of characters, so there are good places to take breaks (in other words, good 区切り).

My two cents: I think the art in this kind of comic is interesting. Compare it with Japanese manga and also with the other Superman comics in the English Lounge.

EL本棚紹介(66) Scott Pilgrim vs. the World Volumes 1-3, by Bryan Lee O’Malley

[Welcome to the EL Book Introductions series. These posts are all short (<180 words) introductions/reviews of books in the EL library. They focus on telling you what we think will be interesting for you, a college student and English learner, so use them to help you find the right book for you. You can also use the tags to find books about topics you might be interested in.]

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Scott Pilgrim is a typical young Canadian. Recently graduated from college, he has no goals or ambitions. Instead, he spends his days sleeping late, practicing with his rock band, and dating. Unlike typical young Canadians, however, his life is also somehow like a video game. When he falls in love with a new girl in town, Ramona, he is challenged to fight her seven evil ex-boyfriends. When he defeats them, they leave coins and special items behind, like extra lives, and sometimes he even levels up.

This comic book is extremely popular. It has been made into a video game, card game, and a very successful movie (https://www.imdb.com/video/vi4036739097/?playlistId=tt0446029&ref_=tt_pr_ov_vi). It contains a lot of slang and popular culture, and shows how a lot of young people in Canada like to socialize. You might say, this book is more about capturing a feeling of being young than about telling a detailed story.

My two cents: These comics were written for a very young audience, so I think you can appreciate them a lot more than I did.

 

2022/10/31 Intercultural Halloween Party 国際交流ハロウィンパーティー

Join the English Lounge to practice English with:
– Games and riddles
– Candy
– Spooky videos
– International students
– Wear costumes
(optional)

 

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国際化が進む世界の中で、外国人に日本語を教える「日本語教師」という仕事があるということが、近年社会的にも認知されるようになってきました。私は日本語母語話者の日本語教師として、国内外で10年以上にわたり世界中の日本語学習者に出逢ってきました。今回は私のこれまでの経験から日本語教師の社会的意義や日本の国際化、多文化共生時代において日本語教師が果たす役割についてお話ししたいと思います。

EL本棚紹介(65) Bone, by Jeff Smith

[Welcome to the EL Book Introductions series. These posts are all short (<180 words) introductions/reviews of books in the EL library. They focus on telling you what we think will be interesting for you, a college student and English learner, so use them to help you find the right book for you. You can also use the tags to find books about topics you might be interested in.]

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Bone is an epic adventure in which the three Bone cousins, Fone Bone, Phoney Bone, and Smiley Bone find themselves lost in a mysterious forest valley. The first few episodes are weird and silly: Fone Bone falls in love with a girl called Thorn, and Phoney and Smiley try to cheat the villagers in a cow race. But soon you learn that everything is not all fun and games. There’s something important about the dragon that Fone keeps seeing. Thorn has a secret past. Giant rat creatures have started to attack the village. And an ancient evil is awakening.

This book hits you hard with “next page syndrome”: you think you are finished reading for the day, but you just have to read one more page…then another…then another. You want to know the answer to the mystery. You want to see the conclusion of the adventure. You want to know if they get home safe in the end. You want to know if dragons are really real. Although the whole series is quite long, each episode is short enough to read in one sitting.

My two cents: This book is highly recommended! I have divided it into three volumes to make it easier to borrow.

EL本棚紹介(62) The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, by Akira Himekawa

[Welcome to the EL Book Introductions series. These posts are all short (<180 words) introductions/reviews of books in the EL library. They focus on telling you what we think will be interesting for you, a college student and English learner, so use them to help you find the right book for you. You can also use the tags to find books about topics you might be interested in.]

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One of the first video games I remember playing when I was a child was The Legend of Zelda on the NES (American Famicon). When the Nintendo 64 came out, Ocarina of Time was one of my favorite games. This book, originally a Japanese manga, tells the story of Ocarina of Time with a lot of action, humor, and heart. It is not the exact same as the game, but it is pretty close.

The story moves by very quickly, and each chapter is very short. It is very easy to read: the story is simple and the language is not very difficult. However, because this was originally a Japanese manga, the speech bubbles (吹き出し) go from right to left. You will get used to it after reading a few pages. Although there is no deep story or complicated characters, this book is probably fun for anyone who likes light fantasy novels or the Zelda video game series.

My two cents: This book is very “light.” The characters are mostly goofy and fun, so even though there are “serious” parts to the story, it never feels heavy or dark.