Farrah H.  — Sailor Moon theme was an influence in her younger years, so she became (more) interested in Japanese culture. Especially, she was influenced by a cat character, Luna, who gave S.M. confidence. She came to understand simple parallels between her own experience and the animation that she adored. 

Once she arrived in Japan as a JET, in her first year, she was isolated. One evening she met a cat who befriended her. She used Japanese with the cat and it reminded her of the S.M. experience. The cat became her "speaking partner." Gradually she gained more confidence in using Japanese and dealing with other people. In short, a safe speaking environment gave her the confidence that she needed. One day, she met the owner of the cat over tea who told her of a language exchange (Japanese) in Hamamatsu. From there she went from no friends to “tons.”

Gregg M. — Songs are a proven way to help learners better understand and internalize grammar. He showed us in some detail the curriculum and rationale for his course that features carefully selected songs and one video in order to promote listening skills and a better understanding of grammatical elements.

Adam J. — Geekiness is a label and one needs to be careful about such labeling. Jenkins asserts that one’s identity is self-determined and that we should reject labels that we are not comfortable with.

Adam P. — Lingua Anglica

Google's neural network translation is coming to us and may be eliminating lingua francas over time. It is an arguable concept to be sure, but we will see to what extent significantly better machine translators influence the use of and need to learn English.

Mike B. — Embracing Awe “In the Pursuit of Happiness”

Lifestyle is important but we are spending so much time working. Mike tries to find the depth and essence in each thing he does. Attitude improvement is achieved though studying awe. Awe is being completely focused and in touch. Mike even learns awe from his dog. He suggests that we have students write about, think about, and recognize awe. Take the time to consider awe.

Jon D. — Communicating in an Intercultural relationship

Love is said to have three types: Romantic Love, Compassionate Love (selflessness) and Attachment Love (social obligations, belonging). He also referred to ren’ai in Japan.

He quickly went through the 10 aspects of the qualities of love.

Leveth J. —The Features of Classroom Action Research

Action Research is a systematic yet dynamic collaborative enquiry done by regular teachers to improve (change) their teaching environment. It can be used to solve or improve problems quickly. She recommends all teachers to engage in AR

Why AR? Affords opportunities to reflect about how one teaches.

AR is starts wi Action and leads to Critical reflection. Jackson affirmed that reflection is a much needed teaching practice.

AR is participatory. This affected get to have input in the process. Research is shared with various stakeholders.