Sunday, May 12th, 2019
Morning session:
1) current English words in April 2019
2) shadowing: Learning Revolution
3) translation from Japanese to English using a movie "The Sting"
6 people attended.
Afternoon session:
Guest Speaker: Chris Towns
Topic: The anti-vaccination movement
Summary:
There exists in many Western countries a movement motivated by the mistaken belief that vaccines are dangerous.
Members of this group are often known as “antivaxxers”, and their refusal to allow their children to receive vaccinations
is more and more causing outbreaks of serious, but easily preventable diseases.
The original, major cause of resistance to vaccination was a fraudulent medical study by a now-disgraced British doctor
named Andrew Wakefield, which claimed, falsely, to show a link between a certain type of vaccine and autism.
Because a very small number of people actually cannot safely receive vaccines, exemptions from requirements to vaccinate
are available. This has unfortunately led to unethical doctors selling these medical exemptions to those who do not need them,
increasing the risk of outbreaks of serious diseases such as measles. When too few people are vaccinated, “herd immunity” is
lost, and diseases can jump quickly from one vulnerable person to another.
Although governments around the world are trying to combat anti-vaccination beliefs through public education, sterner measures
may be needed to prevent a future pandemic.
6 people attended.
No April meeting 2019
Sunday, March 10th, 2018
No Morning session:
Afternoon session:
Guest Speaker: Jackie Suzuki
Topic: Chonaikai in Akita: Impacts of aging and depopulation on the local chonaikai system
7 people attended.
Sunday, February 3rd, 2018
No Morning session:
Afternoon session:
Guest Speaker: Tim Ernst from America
Topic: Warriors of the plains, the last stand of the American plains Indians
6 people attended.
No January meeting 2019
No December meeting
November meeting
Sunday, Ocotber 21st, 2018
Morning session:
1) current English words in October 2018
2) shadowing: Learning Revolution
3) translation from Japanese to English using a movie "The Sting"
6 people attended.
Afternoon session:
Guest Speaker: Kim Carlson
Topic: Strategies and the Need for Environmental PR in the 1990s: part 2
9 people attended.
October meeting
Sunday, Sepember 30th, 2018
Morning session:
1) current English words in September 2018
2) shadowing: Learning Revolution
3) translation from Japanese to English using a movie "The Sting"
6 people attended.
Afternoon session:
Guest Speaker: Matthew Trojic
Topic: Black Lives Matter Movement
Summary:
I talked about the Black Lives Matter movement and the circumstances surrounding its beginnings and development. I sought to give illustrate
the need for such a movement by sharing the details of specific murders that are thought to have been committed with racial motives. I also
spoke about how this movement has polarized society and how both its supporters and detractors have responded to the slogan.
9 people attended.
Sunday, Sepember 2nd, 2018
Morning session:
1) current English words in August 2018
2) shadowing: Learning Revolution
3) translation from Japanese to English using a movie "The Sting"
7 people attended.
Afternoon session:
Guest Speaker: Kim Carlson
Topic: Strategies and the Need for Environmental PR in the 1990s
the summary of "Strategies and the Need for Environmental PR in the 1990s"
The 1990s have been labeled as a time when consumers in the USA started to become more aware of what was happening to the environment and
was labeled the “Decade of the Environment.” Americans rated a clean environment more important than a satisfactory sex life. All aspects of
human lives have an environmental impact. That is why public relations professionals realized the rapid growth and need for environmental Public
Relations firms.
Corporations and businesses are the target of the media, activist groups, and the general public and started to need to communicate what they are
doing to improve or protect the environment. Heightened public awareness of the environment forced companies to realize they can not conduct
business in a vacuum. Effective public communication by PR professionals now makes a great impact for companies. PR professionals learned they
need to take advantage of their strategic positions to influence how organizations communicate about their services and products (Shell 10). The
companies that demonstrate a sincere commitment to protecting the environment will be the most successful in the future.
Many PR professionals realized the need for environmental PR. Ruder, Finn and KCS & A of New York City started their own environmental divisions.
McGrath/Power Associates have followed the same path. These firms are not taking their involvement with the environment lightly. Both firms check
credentials before the companies are taken on as clients. Besides environmental issues, clients are checked for social issues (Salzberg 10). The leaders
of these firms feel all aspects of human lives have an impact on the environment as well as the corporations they work for.
The challenge for businesses is how to deal with environmental problems. The nations industries are fighting to restore credibility with the public and
demonstrate they can carry out their activities without environmental harm. PR professionals face the challenge of how their companies and firms are
going to do it. C.J. Silas, Chairman and CEO of Phillips Petroleum Company has devised three components to meet the challenge (Silas 10, 34).
9 people attended.
Sunday, August 5th, 2018
Morning session:
1) current English words in July 2018
2) shadowing: Learning Revolution
3) translation from Japanese to English using a movie "The Sting"
7 people attended.
Afternoon session:
Guest Speaker: Chris Towns
Topic: "European migrant crisis"
his message: With regard to my topic, if it would be of interest to you and your group, I'd like to speak about issues related to immigration
and cultural assimilation, particularly in western Europe right now, in other words: the "European migrant crisis". I think there are many
interesting features in this topic which may be fun to explore, and there are similar issues affecting both the United States and Canada
as well which show similar traits.
Summary of The European Migrant Crisis and Cultural Integration Challenges
In 2015, a wave of immigrants, mostly those fleeing the Syrian Civil War, made 1.2 million applications for asylum in various Western European States, mainly Germany
and France. Several more million followed in subsequent years.
The characteristics of this wave are very different from those of previous waves, in that it is mostly male (over 70% men), and possesses a highly unified religious and
cultural nature, in other words, Muslim and socially conservative. This has created major challenges – particularly with regard to gender relations – concerning their
integration into the liberal and secular cultures of their new host nations.
Some of these issues might be addressed by requiring as conditions of their asylum participation in not only language classes, but also cultural education programmes
to help these migrants better understand and acclimate to their host cultures. Further, there is a method showing significant success at present in Canada through which,
for the purpose of preventing the creation of "cultural ghettos" which tend to form in major cities, new immigrants are obligated to reside for a temporary period of one
or two years in a designated city or village, and thus also making unavoidable a much greater degree of cultural intercourse.
10 people attended.
No July meeting
Sunday, June 10th, 2018 (The venue is Narayama Community Center from this month)
Morning session:
1) current English words in May 2018
2) shadowing: Learning Revolution
3) translation from Japanese to English using a movie "The Sting"
7 people attended.
Afternoon session:
Guest Speaker: John Lennon
Topic: "Civil War in Syria" and "My last 5 years in Japan"
"I will do 2 presentations. I've been reading more about what's happening in Syria. So, first we can talk about the civil war over there. It's a bit sad with what's happening. Then I will talk about my last 5 years in Japan and what I've experienced as an ALT in Akita."
summary of "Civil War in Syria"
To understand the breakout of the civil war in Syria and the continued conflict we looked at the origins of the Syrian state and how it formed.
After WWII ended and Syria became an independent republic the fledgling democracy only lasted three years before a military coup took power.
And, after about a twenty year power struggle Hafez al-Assad came to power by announcing himself as president without a vote. When he died
and his son, Bashar al-Assad, took power in 2000. There were calls for democratic reform, but protesters were jailed. The continued lack of
human rights would continue and be voiced again by the Syrian people during the Arab Spring in 2011. Protesters became violent after more
people were captured and killed by what is believed to have been government forces. This lead to the current situation that is extremely hard
to fix, because there are not just two sides to the conflict now. There are government forces, rebels, ISIS, Kurds, Hezbollah, influence from
surrounding regional and global powers all intertwined making the the Syrian civil war a complete mess. And, the people who suffer the most
are the Syrian citizens and children.
summary of "My last 5 years in Japan"
I have been working in Akita as an assistant language teacher for the last five years on the JET Program. By looking at each year I talked about
all that I have learned by working at junior high schools and elementary schools in Katagami City and my involvement with the Akita JET group.
The first year had a lot of new experiences for me living in rural Japan, such as: working at six different schools, running an after school eikaiwa,
participating in a sumo event, and being a cultural ambassador to my students. The second year was my hardest due to having knee surgery. But,
I spent my third year working on new activities for my students and introducing Japan to my family when they visited for a trip. My fourth and fifth
year involved taking a leadership role in assisting in English Camps around Akita prefecture, organizing international day events for my schools, and
enjoying all the perks of living in Akita that I will miss greatly when I return home to the USA this summer.
8 people attended.
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