「ALT Report」カテゴリーアーカイブ

Today I want to talk about something very interesting. Recently in America and Europe, the trend in music has been… old Japanese pop music? It’s true!

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Hello again, everyone! We are all back at school now, so now it is time for a new ALT Report. Please enjoy as I talk about something I like very much.

Probably you have seen some of the Marvel superhero movies. Many people in Japan love the exciting stories and cool characters in these movies. But did you know about the original Marvel comic books?

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Hello, everyone! In today’s ALT Report, I will talk about a very popular character.

You know this dog, right? Snoopy, the “World Famous Beagle,” is a popular character all around the world. But do you know where Snoopy came from?

The world met Snoopy for the first time almost 70 years ago! He first appeared in artist Charles Schulz’s comic strip Peanuts on October 4, 1950. Here is his first appearance:

In Peanuts, Snoopy was the character Charlie Brown’s dog. Peanuts was a very popular comic, that lasted for 50 years. Artist Charles Schulz made Peanuts comics from 1950 until his death in February 2000. Charlie Brown was the main character of Peanuts, but his dog Snoopy was the most popular character. Many people love the cute dog that Charles Schulz made.

Snoopy has many personalities. He loves to dream about different jobs. Sometimes he is a cool beagle named Joe Cool. Sometimes he flies an airplane. Sometimes he is an astronaut. Sometimes he is a writer. There are so many different things that Snoopy can be! This is one thing that people love about Snoopy.

Thank you for reading this week’s ALT Report.

Until next time,

-Devon (Kasachu ALT)

Hello everyone!

As you probably know, today is Valentine’s Day. But did you know that Valentine’s Day is very different in Canada and Japan? It’s true! Here I will show you the differences.

Cards, not chocolates

In Canada, people do sometimes give chocolates as gifts on Valentine’s Day. But not all the time. The most important gifts on Canadian Valentine’s Day are cards. Sometimes we call these cards “Valentines.” Sometimes people make Valentines themselves, sometimes they buy them from a store.

Not about girls giving gifts to boys

In Japan, girls give chocolate to boys they like on Valentine’s Day. In Canada, Valentine’s cards are given by anyone, to anyone. Students give cards to teachers. Parents give cards to children. Friends give them to each other. In Japan, a month after Valentine’s Day is White Day, but in Canada there is no White Day. So Valentine’s Day is for everyone.

Well, I hope you learned something today!

Thank you for reading, and until next time,

-Devon (Kasachu ALT)

Hello, everyone. In today’s ALT Report, I will talk about something very interesting and strange in Japanese history: the “American football boom.”

Do you know about American football? Maybe when you hear “football,” you think about soccer. Soccer is called football in Europe. But in the USA and Canada, we think about the American sport when we hear “football.” It is a game like rugby. Two teams try to get the ball to the other side of a large field. In America, football is more popular than soccer. The biggest football league is called the National Football League, or NFL for short. Every year, millions of people watch the NFL championship game, called the “Super Bowl.” This year the Super Bowl was on February 3, and the Kansas City Chiefs played against the San Francisco 49ers. The Kansas City Chiefs won the Super Bowl.

These days, you do not see American football on TV in Japan. But in the 1970s, the sport was very popular and you could watch games on TV. This time is called the “Amefuto boom.” Even college football was popular, and there was a famous toy at this time called “College Ace,” a college football player made of metal. Many children in Japan wanted to play American football, and the Amefuto boom was strong.

But what happened? Why was football so popular in the 1970s, but not now? This is what makes the Amefuto boom strange. We don’t know why it isn’t popular now. Sometimes things are popular for a short time and then they are not anymore. When this happens, in English we call it a “fad.” But American football is still in Japan.

The Japanese American football league is called the X-League, and they play games even today. The X-League started in 1971, the beginning of the Amefuto boom, as the Japan American Football League. It is not as popular as baseball or soccer, but I am happy that American football is still played in Japan. My country has an American football league too, the CFL (Canadian Football League). Many people in Canada love this sport.

Thank you for reading, and until next time;

-Devon (Kasachu ALT)

Hello, everyone. The first-year students at Kasachu wrote introductions for our school this month. I chose the best introduction from each class, now you can enjoy reading them all here.

Class 1-1, No. 12, Kobayashi Ayana

Welcome to Kasakake junior high school!!

Our school is in Midori city, Gunma.

It is 73 years old.

We have about 500 students and 40 teachers.

We have our chorus contest in October.

We practice every day.

It’s difficult, but it’s also fun.

Class 1-2, No. 9, Kawakami Yurina

Welcome to Kasakake junior high school!

Our school is in Midori City, Gunma.

It is 73 years old.

We have about 500 students and 40 teachers.

We have our chorus contest in October.

We practice very hard because we want first prize.

It’s very interesting.

Class 1-3, No. 17, Tayano Koko

Welcome to Kasakake junior high school!!

Our school is in Midori city, Gunma.

It is 73 years old.

We have about 500 students.

We also have 15 classes.

We have our sports day in September.

We practice very hard.

It’s very fun.

Class 1-4, No. 17, Takakusagi Kaede

Welcome to Kasakake junior high school!!!

Our school is in Midori city, Gunma.

It is 73 years old.

We have about 500 students.

We have sports day in September.

We enjoy it every year.

We love our sports day.

We love our school.

Class 1-5, No. 14, Takakusagi Yuno

Welcome to Kasakake junior high school!

Our school is in Midori city, Gunma.

It is 73 years old.

We have about 500 students.

We also have about 40 teachers.

We also have 15 classes.

We have our sports day in September.

We practice every day for the sports day.

It’s hard & different, but it’s interesting & fun.

I hope you enjoyed reading everyone’s school introductions. Many students love our school.

-Devon (Kasachu ALT)

Hello, everyone! I hope you all had a good winter vacation. For today’s ALT Report, I will talk about my vacation.

This winter, I went to the Philippines to be with my wife and son. Here is a picture of me and my son Alejo on the beach. He is one year old now.

This family picture with my wife and son was from the Silonay Mangrove Conservation area. The Silonay Mangrove Conservation area is very important for nature in the Philippines. It has won many international awards for helping with local fish and wildlife. You can see many kinds of animals there.

Alejo loved his Christmas presents. He is a very happy baby.

What did you do for winter vacation? I hope you all did something fun and interesting.

-Devon (Kasachu ALT)

Hello, everyone!

Holiday break is coming soon. During the break there are two major holidays in North America: Christmas and New Year’s.

In my family, we would always have a special family dinner on Christmas. What did we eat on Christmas? I will show you.

Main dish: Stuffed turkeyHave you ever had turkey? In Canada and the U.S.A., turkey is a traditional holiday food. A turkey is like a very big chicken. In Japanese, the name for turkey is シチメンチョウ. We fill the turkey with stuffing – usually made of bread, spices and vegetables – and cook it for a big holiday dinner. One turkey usually is enough for a whole family.

Side dish: Mashed potatoes and gravy

Maybe you don’t know what gravy is, but it is very delicious. It is a thick sauce like demi-glace, but not sweet. It is great on potatoes, and often we put it on turkey too.

Side dish: Asparagus

Asparagus is a green vegetable. When we serve it for Christmas dinner it is cooked and topped with butter. My family served many other kinds of vegetables at Christmas dinner, but we always had asparagus.

Side dish: Cranberry sauce

Cranberry sauce is a berry sauce that is delicious with a turkey dinner. It is sweet and thick.

Dessert: Christmas cookies

In Japan, the traditional Christmas dessert is a cake. But in Canada, we never had a cake for Christmas. We made special Christmas cookies instead. Christmas cookies are fun to make and eat.

I hope you enjoyed learning more about Canadian Christmas traditions.

Happy holidays,

-Devon (Kasachu ALT)

All cultures have things they think are “lucky” and “unlucky.” In Japan, for example, the number 7 is lucky and 4 is unlucky. The date of Friday the 13th, in English-speaking countries, is an unlucky day. But what else has good and bad luck? Let’s look at some things.

Good luck: Horseshoes

If you put a horseshoe above your door, it will bring in good luck.

Bad luck: Black cats

If a black cat walks in front of you, it means bad luck.

Good luck: Four-leaf clover

If you find a clover with four leaves, it means very good luck!

Bad luck: Breaking a mirror

If you break a mirror, you will get bad luck for 7 years! Please don’t break a mirror.

Maybe these things don’t bring good or bad luck, really. But it’s interesting to think about.

This has been the ALT Report, thank you for reading.

-Devon (Kasachu ALT)

Do you like to read books? I like to read books very much. Today I want to talk about a favorite writer of mine, Stephen King.

Recently, Stephen King is very popular in America. He has written 61 novels, 11 short story collections and five nonfiction books. That’s a lot of writing! This year, four of his books became movies: Pet Sematary, It Chapter Two, In the Tall Grass and Doctor Sleep. Doctor Sleep is actually in theaters right now.

Stephen King writes many kinds of books, but he is called a “master of horror” because most of his books are horror novels. His stories usually are about people with special powers. In Carrie, a girl can move things with her mind. In the Shining, the Dead Zone and others, people can see the future. In Firestarter, a girl can make fire with her mind. It’s very interesting.

If you like stories about monsters, special powers and interesting things, you should try to read some Stephen King books. All his books are translated into Japanese. My favorite is the Shining, which also has a very good movie directed by Stanley Kubrick.

This has been the ALT Report, come back soon for more.

-Devon, Kasachu ALT