バックナンバー of the SQ1 Reader – Issue #2

From the Library

The Fall of the House of Usher and Other Stories is a wonderful first step into reading gothic literature. Retold by Adrian Kelly, these tales are still as spooky as Poe intended.

Illustrations also help the reader to get a better picture of some of the scenes described.

It’s a level 3 book from Pearson written at the A2 CEFR level, that means it is suitable for beginners and lower intermediate students.

It’s 11000+ word count sounds like a lot, but it would only take a student an hour or so to read. As it is actually 5 short stories it’s a nice choice for reading just 1 story a day.

SQ1 Original Content – Losing your Cool (CEFR B1/B2 Level)

Losing your cool is an English idiom. It means that you fail to stay calm and controlled. It means you got angry. It means you lost your temper. It means you snapped.

Will Smith lost his cool at the Oscars when he slapped comedian Chris Rock in the face live on international television.

It was a huge shock to everyone involved. The audience were not sure whether it was real or not. They probably assumed it was a bit, a comedy routine, that was part of the show. When Smith continued to shout after returning to his seat it was clear this was no performance. This was real life.

In real life, if you slapped a comedian on stage you would be thrown out of the venue and most likely arrested. Indeed, you probably wouldn’t be able to reach the stage before a security guard tackled you. In Hollywood the rules are different for A-List celebrities. What security guard would want to tackle Will Smith?

An hour or so later, after refusing to leave the venue voluntarily, Smith won an Oscar for his performance in the movie King Richard. The crowd even applauded his acceptance speech. It was a truly bizarre moment.

A man violently assaulted another person because of a joke. He then received a prize. It was a deeply embarrassing night for most of Hollywood, but it was a shameful night for Will Smith.

Study Tips – Mini-Dictionaries

Sometimes dictionaries are not very helpful. They give you a long list of words and you don’t know which one is the best fit. When you are a language learner it’s really tough to pick the right word for the right place and the right time.

Topic dictionaries can help you. A topic dictionary is a mini-dictionary. It collects the most common words you might need and arranges them by theme or topic.

They also tell you what level the word is. If it’s an A1 word you definitely need to know that as soon as possible. If it’s a C2 word you can avoid studying that until later if you want.

The Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries website has a collection of topic dictionaries you can use for free. Please give them a try!

Visit the topic dictionaries page by clicking here.

Thanks for taking the time to read Issue #2 of The Square One Reader.

If you enjoyed the newsletter, please recommend and share The Square One Reader with friends, family, and colleagues!

See you next Monday!

Matt Keighley

Representative Partner @ Square One Japan Ltd.

SQ1 Monthly Round-Up: Articles on EFL for Teachers and Students

~ 今月のおすすめ記事 10選 ~ 

Hello, everyone!梅雨が明け、暑い日が続きますがいかがお過ごしでしょうか?「梅雨明け」は英語でどのように表現しますか? 
“It was announced that the rainy season ended around Tokai-area. 

(東海地方で梅雨明けが発表されました)” 

と言います。他にも表現方法がありますが、一つの例文として覚えるのも勉強になると思います。水分をしっかりとって、暑さに負けず夏を乗りきりましょう! 

1.“apples and oranges”というイディオムを聞いたことがありますか?どのような使い方をするのか読んでみましょう。 

“ばか丁寧な高校英文法 英会話で使える表現 apples and oranges” 

2.“I really appreciate your cooperation.”と言われたら、何と返事をすればよいのでしょうか? 

“英語で感謝の気持ちを伝える為にはどんな表現を使うべき?” 

3.“concerning”, “pertaining to”, “relating to”は「~に関して」という意味ですが、同じ意味であっても使う場面などが違ってきます。どのように異なるのか解説もあり、また例文も載っているので、実際に使ってみるのも良いでしょう。 

“concerning, pertaining to, relating toの違いとは?” 

4. 英語で挨拶をする時や相手の仕事を聞きたい時、趣味や出身地を聞きたい時、メールや電話番号を伝える時など、native speakerはどのように表現するのでしょうか。そう表現するのか!という発見もあると思います。それぞれが3分程の解説です。トータルで30分ほどの長めの動画となっています。 

“English in Three Minutes” 

5.英語は科学の研究者達にとっても必須となっています。専門家の方々の対談が英文記事となっています。現在の英語教育をどのように見ているのか、また具体的にどのようなスキルが必要なのか、現在の英語教育や大学の課題や取り組みなどが書かれています。長文記事です。 

“English part of equation for science students” 

6.メールやLINEなどで使える英語の略語の紹介です。日本語の略語と同様に、フォーマルな場面で使うのには向きませんが、友人や親しい人とのメールなどで使うのが良いでしょう。  

“LMAO、TTYL、ELI5の意味とは?メールやSNSでよく使われる英語の略語25選” 

7.「ハイタッチ」は英語で何と表現するのでしょうか?動画を観てみましょう。 

“星星のベラベラEnglish”より 

8.日本在住のALTが2019年に書いたブログ記事です。2020年度から小学校での外国語教育が変わることに対する筆者の意見が書かれています。実際にテキストがどのように変わっているのかにも触れられています。 

“New Elementary School English Curriculum for 2020 Rolling Out in Japan”

9.一日45分を使って出来る英語学習の取り組み方が載っています。英語学習を何から始めたらよいのか、またどうやってやればよいのかわからない方は参考にしてみてください。まずは自分が出来そうな項目からスタートするのも良いですね。 

“Study Skills for Intermediate Level Language Learners” 

10.アルクのHPより、英語教師向けの内容です。いくつかの英文法の解説が載っています。 

“子どもに聞かれて困らない 英文法のキソ”