Thursday, March 15, 2012
Week 9 Blog Question
Hi!
This week's question is from Yui; like last week's question, it's a good one! Here is the question:
If you could be [at the] top of the government, like a president or a prime minister in your country, what [would] you want to change [about] your social system?
I look forward to your responses.
Happy writing students!
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I think this question's answer is clearly for me. It is to change energy system planning in Japan. In our country, the principle energy resource is nuclear power plant, but everyone know the plant has huge risk in some counties which it happen earthquuake frequently. I think that we need to change the plant from nuclear power plant to "renewable plant". There are some advamtages to change it. First, it is more safety compared the two plants. Second, it is more good for environment to use nuclear power plant because the plant use nature power like lake,the sun, and wind. Third, it is low cost to make energy. For these reasons, I want to change the system of energy system planning if I am prime minister.
ReplyDeleteHi Wata,
DeleteYou have brought up a very important point about the dangers of supposed "clean" nuclear energy. A country like Japan experiences both earthquakes and tsunamis; the threat of a nuclear meltdown is very high. However, I'd like to know which renewable energy source you'd recommend.
On Grammar: Adjective Clauses for Places
When you want to describe a place with an adjective clause, you can you "where" or "in which." There are other possibilities as well--the preposition depends on the verb (on which, at which, etc.).
Example 1: ....huge risk in some countries IN WHICH/WHERE earthquakes happen frequently.
In this case, the verb-preposition combination is "happen in" (Earthquakes happen in this country), so we use "in which." Note that I can just use "where" and delete the preposition altogether.
Example 2: The restaurant AT WHICH/WHERE we ate lunch is quite popular.
Here the verb-preposition combination is "eat lunch at."
Hope this helps.
If I could be at the top of the government, I really would like to change the education system, especially English. In Japan, we start to study English as one of subjects when we are thirteen years old. We learn the character, words, grammar, and culture which of people who use English. However, we do not learn listening and speaking so much. It is not useful to talk with English, which means Japanese people cannot talk with people who speak English. I would like to change the system as Japanese can listen, talk, write, and read English fluently. For example, each school has at least one English native speaker, students take not only the grammar test but also speaking test, and so on. I really want Japanese people to use English well.
ReplyDeleteHi Yui,
DeleteI completely agree with you and wonder how this change could get started. It's obvious that Japanese students learn English grammar and reading quite well under the current system, but speaking and listening are both pretty big challenges for most students. There has to be a way to find a compromise so that students develop all skills more or less equally.
On Grammar: Using "so that"
This grammar point will come up next week in our discussion on adverb clauses, but I'll make quick mention of it here as well.
When you want to explain an action that has an intended result or purpose of the first action, you can use "so that."
Example 1: I would like to change the system SO (THAT) Japanese can listen, talk.......
Action 1: change the system; Intended Result: Japanese can speak, listen, etc.
Example 2: There should be a native speaker in each school so (that) students can practice speaking and listening naturally.
Note that the "that" is optional, and it is possible to put the dependent clause first since this is an adverb clause.
Hope this helps.
If I could be at the top of the japanese government,I'd like to use a tax more efficiently.In Japan,we have to pay a consumption tax at 5%.The government made a useless bridges,dams,roads,buildings and so on.Nobody use those.I think they have to use a tax for more effcient and useful things.If I was at the top of government,I'd like to use a tax for people who need help.
ReplyDeleteHi Saki,
DeleteFive percent seems really high for a consumption tax. A lot of Americans feel exactly the same way you do about the American tax system. Unfortunately, once the government collects taxes, it's really hard for the people to be involved with determining how that money is used. Luckily, here in Montana there isn't a sales tax!
On Grammar: "Nobody" Subject-Verb Agreement
"Nobody" is always a singular subject, so the verb that follows is always in the 3rd person singular form.
Example 1: Nobody USES those.
Example 2: Nobody CARES about what happens with the money.
Hope this helps.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteIf I could be at the top of the government at my country, I would change the salary for employees and make it higher. For example, some employee’s salaries in my country are not enough for them because the requirements of living are expensive. Therefore, some people don’t have enough money to pay the rents for their houses or cars that make several of them taking loans from their families, friends, or banks. Also, I would require for all people who they drive cars to adhere to traffic regulations for pedestrians because many people yearly died, especially the students when they want to across the streets behind their schools. For instance, in my country, we don’t have many signs of schools or the man who carry the stop sign in front of the school that require cars to stop while the student across the street, so that lead several students to died when they want to go to their schools because the cars drivers run quickly and they don’t concentrate that there is school in front of them.
ReplyDeleteHi Aisha,
DeleteThe problem of "reckless driving" is way too common in Montana as well. As you said, at least here we do have crosswalks by schools and people who stop traffic so children can cross. In my neighborhood, there are some really crazy drivers, and I wish there was some way to make them slow down, especially because there are so many children in our neighborhood.
On Grammar: The Verb "require"
When using "require," we have two ways of forming the complement (or what comes after the verb.
1. require that someone do something.
Example: ELI requires that each student attend class.
Note that this is the subjunctive form.
2. require someone to do something.
Example: Eli requires students to attend class.
Correct: I would require all people who drive cars to adhere to....
Note that I delete "for" because we don't need it.
Hope this helps.
Guys I read your comments and I think we can face these problems almost everywhere. To be honest if I will be a president even a prime minister I will just change one thing the teachers salary. In Tajikistan teachers salary is very low, so for this reason in schools or in the universities there is no well-educated teachers. Well-educated teachers are going to teach in other countries such as Russia, Kazakhstan, Europe because their they teach with very good salary. In Tajikistan educational system is a huge problem because of teachers in some educational places there you can not even find teacher some students teaching to their classmates. I don't know how long it gonna take but I think if it continues the youth future will be uneducated, and the amount of construction workers will be high, so if I will be the president of Tajikistan even prime minister I will make teachers salary high like now their taking hundred dollars (100 $) per month I change to five hundred dollars (500 $) in order to make the teachers amount twice or more than that. If the salary of teachers will be high everyone want to be a teacher and in order to be a teacher people start to study hard. However I know all of this is miph. Each prime minister or presidents said that they would change a lot of things, which changes people life to a better. However most of them just said that words and when they became president or prime minister they forgot about their speech which they did before became president or prime minister. Some people say, "money will change people mind." A lot of people agree with this because a lot of prime ministers they were saying a lot of stuffs which they gonna change if they will be prime minister and they were poor when they became prime ministers they just enjoyed their own life.
ReplyDeleteHi Oyatullokh,
DeleteThis is also an issue here in the U.S. In fact, many people believe that increasing teacher's salaries here would encourage really smart, talented people to pursue the profession of teaching rather than some higher paying livelihood like law, the medical field, and so on. The problem, of course, is that the government does not always set aside enough education money for this to happen. You bring up some really good points on what consequences might result if this problem isn't solved soon.
On Grammar: Don't Forget Commas!
1. Use commas after extra introductory information.
Example 1: To be honest, if I.....
Example 2: In Tajikistan, [the] education system.....
2. Use commas after transitions.
Example 1: However, I know all.....
Example 2: However, most of them....
3. Use commas when an adverb clause comes before an independent clause.
Example: To be honest, if I will be president even a prime minister, I will just...
4. Use commas before FANBOYS when you have to independent clause.
Example: I don't know how long it gonna take, but I think if it.....
If I will be a president, I will change some rolls in the educations, and businesses. In my county, it is hard to study at the universities because all the students get A pulse. so, most of the students do not study the major that they like. Even when they get the major that they like, they have to get A pulse at the first year in the university. Another thing is get a job. In KSA it is so hard to find a job even when you have a good certificate. Another thing that people who finds a job in Saudi Arabia he or she doesn’t get good salary. In KSA the goods become more expensive every year.
ReplyDeleteHi Ayidah,
DeleteIf I understand correctly, most (or all) students in KSA get As in their classes. Is this because the teachers do not grade them appropriately? How is this possible? I've heard that finding a good job in KSA is really difficult. I do think that getting a degree here in the U.S. should give you an advantage when you go back to KSA. I hope so!
On Grammar: Using the unreal conditionals
When we speculate on things that are not true in the present, we use the following form: If + simple past, would + verb.
Example 1: If I WERE president, I WOULD change some [rules] in the education and business.
Note: I am NOT president AND I CANNOT change the rules. However, I can talk about this if I use the form above.
Example 2: If I could change the education system, I would pay teachers higher salaries.
If I will be a chairman, I will change the education system and health care system. First, education system is one of the most important system in a country. They connect the future in a country, all the children using this system to study. Chinese works hard on this part but still needs work for a long time, like we still need to pay a lot of money for the university. Moreover, chinese traditional education system tells us the only measure is the score for our final test; I think that is not fair and too unilateral. Also I want to change health care system in China because it is too expensive to pay for the hospital. For example, when I got a cold and went to hospital, I will pay 5 dollar to get in the hospital, then I need to pay 50 dollar to check. After that I needed to pay the medicine bill. Many poor people still lack of ability to pay the bill to make themselves healthy.
ReplyDeleteHi Bohan,
DeleteI can't agree enough that scores are not everything. What about creativity, innovation, project creation, self-expression, and original thought? I don't know much about the Chinese education system, but it sounds like it's quite different from what I experienced growing up here in the U.S. At the same time, U.S. students lag pretty far behind in math and science, so there might be disadvantages to the U.S. system as well. If only we could find a perfect balance.
On Grammar: Using Unreal Conditionals
See my comments above on Ayidah's response.
Example: If I WERE a chairman, I WOULD change the education system......
Hope this helps.
Hi Bohan,
DeleteI understand your point about the education system, but I see it a little differently. I think students (or their parents) need to pay a lot of money to the university. If they paid a little money, the university could not manage any more. Of course, the government should help some student to give scholarship. I don’t know the detail of Chinese education support, but students need to pay a lot in most country. In addition, score is very important I think. Surely, dairy activities like attending, attitude, and mini quizzes also important. However, students can not get a good score if they do not study hard daily. A score shows how much the student understands this course. On these points, I can not agree with you.
However, I agree with your opinion about health care system. The government should help people especially poor people to give money support for the health problem.
I want to change the employee system if I am president in Japan. Nowadays, it is very hard for many people to get a certain job. Not only young people but also adults have trouble getting it. This is because economic in Japan is depression and has no way of getting it righted again. This situation causes a lot of problems. First, there are many young people who are not working and fed by their parents although they are adults. They don’t have ability of living by oneself and independent heart. If the rate of these people is increased, economic in Japan would getting worse. Second, economic in depression brings forth a lot of homeless people. They lost everything like money, their house, and their family and cannot recover themselves because of poor economic system. Finally, Japan is also aging society with a falling birthrate so that it will be difficult to support old people economically in near future. When this happens, Japan would come up against serious situation. In short, in order to avoid these situations, Japan has to do something to improve employee system as soon as possible.
ReplyDeleteHi Hikaru,
DeleteYou outline a number of economic challenges that people in Japan are facing right now. The big question is what to do to remedy this problem. The U.S. faces a number of economic issues similar to those you describe in your response, and both Republicans and Democrats claim to the have the answers. However, I am not sure if they really do know how to fix these problems.
On Grammar: Using "so" instead of "so that"
First, go back and review what I said to Yui above about using "so that." In your second to last sentence, using "so that" is inappropriate; instead, you should us "so." In this case, you are explaining the result of the first action, but not the purpose or intended result. Note that "so that" introduces an adverb clause, while "so" is a coordinating conjunction (FANBOYS).
Correction: .....with a falling birthrate, so it will be difficult to support old people economically.....
If you ever want to test whether you should use "so" or "so that," simply switch the clauses. In our correction above, you CANNOT switch the clauses because the second clause is not an adverb clause. In the following example, you can switch the clauses:
Example: I went to the market so that I could buy some rice for dinner.
So that I could buy some rice for dinner, I went to the market.
Hope this helps.
I want Japan to change some Japanese social systems and I really agree with Wata, Yui and Saki. Japanese government should change these systems, and also I have other ideas. If I could be a top of the government, I would like to change the electoral system. Now, the Japanese president is elected by member of the Diet, not Japanese citizen! Usually, Japanese president change every four years. However our presidents resigned for very short period recently. I felt they were lack of a sense of responsibility, and some of them looked like dull. Therefore, I think Japan should change the electoral system.
ReplyDeleteHi Fumika,
DeleteSorry for the delayed response. First, I thought that the Japanese president was chosen by the people. That's very interesting. Do you think Japan would have better, more responsible presidents if the people could elect them directly? I would think so.
On Grammar: 1) to have/lack a sense of responsibility 2) look vs. look like
1. We say "to have/lack a sense of responsibility." Note that there is not a "be" verb.
Example: I felt they LACKED a sense of responsibility.
2. look vs. look like
When we use "look" to mean "appears" or "seems," + an adjective, we only need to use "look" + adjective.
Example: They looked dull. = They seemed dull.
2. "Look like," on the other hand, is used to compare a person to another noun, so the structure is "look like" + noun.
Example: He looked like a child.
Example 2: They looked like students.
Hope this helps.
I would like to try to decrease the debt Japan has if I could be at the top of government in my country. At the present, Japan owes about 1000 trillion yen. It is the one of the countries that have huge debt. Last year, the ratio of debt to GDP was about 210%, so if the situation continues for years, the Japanese economy would collapse like Greek one. As the result, next generation Japanese people will need to deal with the debt that increased more than today. Japanese government at the present has responsibility to cope with the problem. It is not good to leave it for later.
ReplyDeleteHi Yuki,
DeleteInteresting topic. Many people in the U.S. feel exactly the same way about the U.S. debt. In fact, this issue will greatly influence the next election (November 2012) and maybe even help decide the next president. The question is how governments can reduce debt without cutting spending on popular programs. It's a difficult question.
On grammar: Singular nouns and subject-verb agreement.
When we use expressions like "one of the..." or "three of the...," the first noun decides the subject-verb agreement. If it's singular (one), agreement is singular; if it's plural (two or more), agreement is plural.
Example: It is one of the countries that HAS huge debt.
Example 2: They are two of the countries that HAVE great huge debt.
Hope this helps.
If I were the president, I would change education system about communication. Japanese have high-context communication, so I think Japanese tend to be not good at talking, disscussing and debading. In addition, I think that that Japanese speaking-characteristic problem is related to the problem that the Japanese Government is not good with its foreign policy almost every year. So if I were the president, I would make education system about communication more helpful for recent global society.
ReplyDeleteHi Hideki,
DeleteI think what you are saying is that the Japanese education system does not help give Japanese students the communication skills needed to communicate in a globalized world. What types of communication skills do you think the Japanese education system lacks? Do you with Yui's suggestion above?
On Grammar (& vocabulary): to change something IN something else
In your first sentence, I understand your idea, but a more accurate way to say it would be to use the following structure: change + in + something.
Example 1: I would change communication IN the education system.
Example 2: We want change IN our schools.
Example 3: I can see some positive changes IN your writing.
Example 4: There was a big change in her personality.
Hope this helps.
1. The students could not understand the question so that they asked their teacher.
ReplyDelete2. American friends could not solve the math question so that I did for them.
I am so sorry. I made a big mistake. i don’t mean that student in K.S.A get A at the university. However, most of them get A at high school. So, it is hard to get to the university that you want. Students get A because we take a lot of quizzes in the high school before the final exam.
ReplyDeleteExample:
1. If I got the TOEFL score, I would study at the university.
2. If I could be a president, I would give all the citizen salary.
1. He is one of my friends that helps me with my homework.
ReplyDelete2. They are three of the companies that agree with the decision.
I think communication education in Japan lacks 2 things: appealing and negotiating. Basicaly, in Japanese culture, being modest is regarded as a kind of virtue. Therefore, most Japanese people are not good at appealing themselves to other people. Japanese education doesn't have many oppotunities that students do group works such as debating, discussing and something like that. Japanese education make students study alone. In addition, as I wrote above, Japanese people tend to be modest, so they tend to agree with other people's opinion. It become disadvantage about diplomacty.
ReplyDeleteI disagree Yui's proposal because there are too many schools in Japan so, most of them are worried about the lack of teachers and students. I often hear the neas about closing a school. Instead, I propose to change in the system about textbook publication. In current system, schools cannot make students use the textbooks that is not permitted by the govetnment. My junior high schools and high school made me buy textbooks but some my teachers didn't use that textbooks in their classes. Their reason was that textbook was not clear to understand and they thought using that textbook was not efficient. Instead of that textbook, they made students use the sheet of paper that they made. I think it was wasting money and time for both students' side and teachers' side. If the government change in current textbook system, competition of publishing textbook will become keener, snd school's opinion about textbook affect the people who make textbooks directly. I think this relationship make Japanese education advance. I also think at English class, teacher should tell students how to study English efficiently. I'm tired from typing.
1. I went to Thailand in which there are lots of hot foods.
ReplyDelete2. I like to go to the beach where we can swim.
Hi, Hideki
ReplyDeleteI see what you mean, but I think that the reason Japanese tend to be not good at talking because of the high-context communication is wrong. I believe, due to the shame culture, many Japanese people don't discuss or talk actively. They dislike speaking wrong; therefore, they can't have good communication styles.