BR 2-13: Stories of robots

"You really are the laziest boy in the world!"  (Punter, 2007,p.18)

This book is divided in three stories, are "The terrible Tidybot", "Robot robbery" and "Robot racers"

Robots are very convenient but it happen some trouble sometime. They can did some things,  and the things is not correct and not well. They can't do the things exactly. So they trouble to some people. I want robot which can clean my room. Now, there are robots which can carry some things without falling. So, I think robots which I want is invented, it not so far from now. But I am fear robots little because I have ever watch movies in which human and robots fight.

Russel l Punter, (2007). Stories of robots, London: Usborne.

[115 words]

BR 2-12: Rumpelstiltskin

"With a roar, Rumpelstiltskin jumped on his spoon and shot through the wall." (The Brothers Grimm, 2006, p.47)

The miller's daughter, is Anna went to King's castle because her father lay the king that Anna can change straw to gold. She had to make gold in three days, or she is killed. But she can't make gold. Suddenly, by window, there was a little man. She let him in the room. He said make gold instead of taking her necklace. Next day, he made gold instead of taking her ring. Next day, he made gold instead of taking her first child. After her baby was born, he came to take the baby. But she declined it strongly. He said you have not to give me a baby if you can say my name in three days. And, her husband heard him who sung a song using his name. Therefore, she could say him name and he was never seen again. 

The Brothers Grimm, (2006). Rumpelstiltskin, London: Usborne.

[159 words]

BR 2-11: Pinocchio

"you're a real boy at last!" (Collodi, 2007, p.63)

This is a famous story as Disney character. He has long nose. You have seen the character.

First, Pinocchio is a piece of wood. Mr. Gepetto who is carpenter made him. Pinocchio have spoken from when he was a piece of wood. Gepetto made his body, Pinocchio run away somewhere. Every time he lay, his nose get long. He is not say truth, he often lay. He went a lot of places, and finally, he arrived in shark. And there was Gepetto, but all food was run out. Pinocchio helped him and they came home together. next day, when he got up, he saw that his hand weren't wooden any more.

It's good story, they are not real family but Gepetto says him son. Action of Pinocchio made him humanity.

[138 words]

Carlo Collodi, 2007, Pinocchio, London: Usborne.

BR 2-10: Twelfth Night

"Then, with a bow, he followed the others into the house." (Shakespeare, 2009, p 62)


Twin brother, Sebastian and sister, Viola shipwrecked and they divided. Sister, Viola was stranded on shore, but she thought her brother was dead and she identify herself as Cesario and cross-dress to defend herself. And then, she became servant of Orsino, is duke.

Orsino loved Olivia, she declined him propose. Orsino asked sincerely Cesario to tell him mind. Olivia loved Cesario. Cesario loved Orsino.

One day, Viola's brother, Sebastian appeared and he was mistaken to her by Orsino and Olovia. Olovia told him her love, but she thought he is Cesario. He answered her, it's ok. Orsino heard that talk was angry, but Sebastian didn't know why he was angry. And then, Cesario came there, everyone were surprised. Two who know they are a brother and a sister understood that things. Orsino and Cesario, Sebastian and Olivia were with.

[152 words]

William Shakespeare, (2009). Twelfth Night. London: Usborne.

Essays 2-03b: Learning with computer

Many people learn with computer now. Even though children and older use it. There are many kinds of learning. It is not only learning but also some functions. Also, computers are used academic work by students. There are good points, but there are bad points too in learning with computer.

College students use computer to do academic work. For example, English classes like reading, writing, speaking. They can use some online study, are English central and Power Words. English central is study contents of speaking. Speaking sentences, computers catch the speaking and gauge it. Power Words is contents studying English. Students can word meaning and pronunciation. They use computer to write report or something homework. Also, they can practice typing. It is important to use computer.

Computer has Office tool, are Excel, Powerpoint and Word. It is necessary to make graphs or tables. So it is used for report and homework. Excel makes graphs and tables. Word is used mainly for report, and graphs and tables that are made on Excel are used on Word. Powerpoint is need to presentation. These functions varies over the years, they have become usable.

Computer can connect with the Internet. Using the Internet, people can research almost things. There are many kinds of sites on Internet. It is not only Japanese sites but also that of other country. So people can practice typing, learn English or some languages, listen to music and watch movies. If they use application like Skype, they can talk people with view phone on the Internet. If people use computers which are connected Internet, they can do almost things.

Learning with computers has a good point. It is what it is very convenient. If people use computer, they can read, listen to and see a large things at one time. What's more, they can study to watch movie. It's easy to understand than myself with books. There are many people who don't like studying, but using computer, people can study as thought it were a game. Using computer, they can share something with someone. When they have question they don't know, they can ask someone. Sharing, we can study with someone. When people study with books, book hogs space on my desk. But computer is compact. People can study anywhere they want to do if they have a computer. It doesn't choose place. They can use idle time effectively. For example, during time spent to work or go school. Learning computer doesn't take much time. They can copy and paste a lot of. So they can use them time well.

Bad point is it is not suited to studying of exam. people can know many information from computer, but it is difficult to memorize. Because using computer not let me write, They can't write by my hand if they know the answer. There is no exam using computer so much. Most exam needs handwriting. They have heard that learning with computer not make stimulate our brains than handwriting. If you want to use your brain much, you should study by your hands. Also, using computer for long time is bad for the body. Eyes are tired, having shoulder stiffness and It's fatiguing on the body and mentally as well.

As a result, learning with computer is not need if I am asked whether I need it or not. Deppending on people differ whether learning with computer is good or not, but It is additional studying tool. So learning with computer is good things for humanities student. For science student, writing on notes better than using computer. It is often used for deliverable, it is not necessary when someone memorize knowledges privately.

[611 words]

Journal8: what are the advantages and disadvantages of being famous?

I think that to advantages of being famous is what the person can get a lot of money. And what human network spread. Famous person have to get engaged many people. And what the person is welcome by other people. Because famous people are invited, they can be involved in many events. To disadvantage of being famous is having no privacy. Famous people have to care paparazzi and have to care about other’s eyes. So famous people tend to get stressed out. Instead famous people get a lot of many, they have no privacy and they can not spend time.

[100 words]

About housing in Kumamoto and MN

1.      Introduction

Everyone lives in a house and there are many kinds of houses. They differ not only by the type of house but also inside the houses depending on circumstances and places people live in.

This report is about housing in Kumamoto, Japan and Minnesota, U.S. It was done by Google questionnaire directed at college students who live in Kumamoto and Minnesota. It was taken on June 3, 2013 in Kumamoto and September 4, 2013 in Minnesota. There were 89 people from Minnesota (55%), and 73 people were Americans, (45%) survey said.

2.      Questionnaire results

In Kumamoto, according to Fig. 1-a, 19 people (22%) answered they live in a one-story house, 34 people (39%) live in a two-story house, 7 people (8%) live in a

 

Fig. 1-a What kind of housing do you live in? (Kumamoto)

condominium, 23 people (26%) live in an apartment, 4 people (4%) live in a three-story house, and one person (1%) lives in a dormitory.

In Minnesota, according to Fig. 1-b, 6 people (9%) answered one-story house, 47 people (69%) live in two-story house, there are no person who live in condominium, 7 people (10%) live in apartment, 3 people (4%) live in three-story house, 4 people (6%) live in dormitory, 2 people (2%) live in another kind of house, this survey said.

 

Fig. 1-b. What kind of housing do you live in? (Minnesota)

         People in Kumamoto live in different type of houses like one-story house, two-story house, condominium, apartment, three-story house, dormitory.　On the other hand, most people in Minnesota live in two-story houses. Only a few people live in apartments and no one lives in condominiums probably because American family is big and to buy a house is part of the American dream.

             The next question was “Are your bath and your toilet in the same room?” In Kumamoto, according to Fig. 4-a, only 8 people (9%) answered bath and toilet are in the same room. 81 people (91%) answered they are not in the same room. In Minnesota, on the other hand, according Fig. 4-b, 63 people (90%) answered that the bath and toilet are in the same room. 7 people (7%) answered that they are not in the same room. It is just the opposite result. American people does not custom to immerse in bath because America is not rich in water[m2].

 

Fig. 4a-b. Are your bath and your toilet in the same room?

             

In Kumamoto, according to Fig. 5, 37 people  (41%) answered they had a garden with trees, 34 people (38%) answered with flowers, 27 people (30%) answered with grass, 12 people (13%) answered with vegetables/fruit, and 30 people answered they had no yard or garden. In Minnesota, 52 people (71%) answered they had a garden with trees, 43 people (58%) answered with flowers, 56 people (76%) answered with grass, 20 people (27%) answered with vegetables/fruit, 5 people (6%) answered they had no yard or garden.

Fig. 5. Do you have a yard or garden?

              In Kumamoto, 30 people did not have a yard or garden, but in Minnesota, only 5 people had no yard or garden. As for yards with grass, American answers were twice as high as the Japanese answers probably because gardening is a hobby of many American people.

To heat their homes, in Kumamoto, according to Fig. 6a, 30 people (35%) answered space heaters (electric), 16 people (18%) answered space heaters (gas or propane), 23 people (3%) answered central heating, 31 people (36%) answered wall air conditioners, 2 people (2%) answered none, 5 people (6%) answered other. In Minnesota, according to Fig. 6b, 7 people (10%) answered space heaters (electric), 10 people (14%) answered space heaters (gas or propane), 49 people (66%) answered central heating, 5 people (7%) answered wall air conditioners, there is no person who answered none, 2 people (3%) answered other.

Fig. 6a. What kind of heating do you use? (Kumamoto)

   

Fig. 6b. What kind of heating do you use? (Minnesota)

     On the other hand, for cooling, according to Fig. 7a, 29 people (34%) in Kumamoto answered they use electric fans 48 people (57%) answered wall air conditioners, 5 people (6%) central cooling, 1 person (1%) answered none, 2 people (2%) answered other. In Minnesota, according to Fig. 7b, 13 people (18%) answered electric fans, 14 people (19%) answered wall air conditioners, 45 people (62%) answered central cooling, one person (1%) answered none, and no one answered other.

Fig. 7a. What kind of cooling do you use? (Kumamoto)

Fig. 7b. What kind of cooling do you use? (Minnesota)

  For heating in Kumamoto, electric space heaters (34%) and wall air conditioners (37%) are used a lot. In Minnesota, central heating is the most used heating system. Two people in Kumamoto have no heater, but there were no person like that in Minnesota probably because Minnesota is very cold. In Kumamoto, wall air conditioners are most used for cooling, and the second most popular is electric fans. They occupy 90% of the answers. In Minnesota, 62% use central cooling, and the rest use wall air conditioners and electric fans. Also, there are few people who have no coolers. In Minnesota, many people use both central heating and central cooling, but people in Kumamoto doesn’t use it much at all.

           As to the age of their house, In Kumamoto, according to Fig. 8, 10 people (12%) answered less than 5 years old, 13 people (15%) answered 6-10 years, 39 people (45%) answered 11-20 years, 17 people (20%) answered 21-30 years. 5 people (6%) answered 31-50 years, 2 people (2%) answered more than 51. In Minnesota, no one answered less than 5 years old. 6-10 years old are 9 people (12%), 23 people (32%) answered 11-20 years old, 22 people (31%) answered 21-30 years old, 11 people (15%) answered 31-50 years old, 7 people (10%) answered more than 51 years old.

Fig. 8. How old is your house?

   In Kumamoto, 11-20 years was the most common answer, about half. The others were less than 5 years, 6-10 years and 21-30 years. 8% of people live in houses which are more than 31 years old. On the other hand, in Minnesota, 11-20 years and 21-30 years were the most common answers. Though there were few people who answered their houses were more than 31 years in Kumamoto, twice as many people in Minnesota answered they live in houses more than 31 years old. Also, there are no people who live in houses less than 5 years old, probably because used houses are popular in Minnesota.

3. Conclusion

            Through this report and my experience, I learned about differences between American houses and Japanese houses. In each country, people live in houses which suit the environment. For example, most American people use central heating or cooling because their houses are big.

From observation, it seemed that American people like to decorate houses and gardens more than Japanese. In Japan, there is no grass in gardens compared to America, where most yards have grass, flowers, and trees.

[1031 words]