Intermediate on 4/26/10 (Spring #8)

Number of students: 1 (unfortunately...)  So we did the same as the last time.

It was a bit sad because today was the last lesson of my Japanese class at the Asian Culture Center this year.
But I guess most students have been busy, with finals and the end of the semester/academic year.

Well, I hope to see you again sometime next year when I resume teaching (hopefully January 2011), and I hope that you will keep up with your Japanese until then!

Have a great summer and rest of the year.

Intermediate on 4/19/2010 (Spring #7)

Number of students: 1

Therefore, we did a free-talk session in Japanese instead of studying with the textbook.

I hope to see everyone next week (our last class in this semester)!

Intermediate on 4/5/2010 (Spring #6)

Number of students: 3
Summary: The 2nd session of Lesson 11.

(1) 「～たがっています」「～たいと言っています」
Two ways to state someone else's wish/hope.
「～たいです」 expression is supposed to be used only for yourself.　Therefore, when you state someone else's wish, you have to use either 「～たがっています」or 「～たいと言っています」expression.
ex.1) メアリーさんは、今年（ことし）の夏（なつ）、海（うみ）に行（い）きたがっています。
ex.2) メアリーさんは今週末（こんしゅうまつ）、映画（えいが）を観（み）たがっています。
　　* Please note that you cannot use 「が」for an object marker when you use 「たがっています」 x映画が見たがっています
　
For more details, please read p.215 of the textbook.

(2) Exercise p. 220 E and F

(3) 「～たり、～たりします」
　When you want to mention activities or events just as exemplars, and leave room for other things which are left unsaid, you can use this expression 「～たり、～たりします」 instead of 「～て、～します」.

Conjugation: Add 「り」to the short form past tense
ex) 読（よ）む→読んだ→読んだり
　　　見（み）る→見た→見たり

Important: There is no class on next week (4/12).
And that will leave us only two classes in this semester (4/19 and 4/26). I hope to see all the students in the two left classes in this semester!

Intermediate on 3/29/2010 (Spring #5)

Number of students: 1

So we didn't use the textbook today, and instead we had a class in a free conversation style. (We talked in Japanese, of course!).

Intermediate on 3/1/2010 (Spring #4)

Number of students: 3
Summary: The first session of Lesson 11.

(1) 「～たい」（Verb stem + たい）= to express your wish or hope
(2) Exercises p. 219 I-A, B, C and D

Intermediate on 3/1/2010 (Spring #3)

Number of students: 4
Summary: The last session of Lesson 10. Review exercises and a review test.

(1) Dialogue on p.190 (pronunciation and role play)
(2) Exercise p.207 VII-C
(3) Useful expressions regarding the train station/traveling with trains (pp.208-209)
(4) Review test of Lesson 10

Next week we will start Lesson 11. Please start studying vocabulary

Intermediate on 2/8/2010 (Spring #2)

Number of students: 6
Summary: The 5th session of Lesson 10. Almost finished the lesson.

(1) Exercise p. 206 VI-B and C
(2) Review Exercises pp. 206-207 VII-A and B

Next Week we will finish Lesson 10 and I will give you a short review exam. Please be prepared!!

Intermediate on 2/1/2010 (Spring #1)

Number of students: 5
Summary: The 4th session of Lesson 10.

(1) Review of 「[verb dictionary form] + つもりです」
(2) New Grammar 1: Adjective + なる = "to become"
「[イ-adj. - くなります／-くなりました」
「ナ-adj. - になります／-になりました」
「[noun]+になります／になりました」
(3) 「どこかに／どこにも」「だれかに／だれにも」
(4) 「～で」（a particle as a marker of the means of transportation/communication or the instruments you use)
* Please read your textbook (Genki I) pp. 196-198 for details of these grammatical items.

Exercises:
(1) p.203 IV-A & p.204 IV-B
(2) p.204 V-A & p.205 V-B
(3) p.205 VI-A

Next Week:
(1) Review Exercises of Lesson 10 and Dialogues of Lesson 10
(2) I am meaning to finish Lesson 10
(3) I am planning to run a brief review test of Lesson 10 in next week or the week after.（来週かその次の週に、復習テストをするつもりです！）