新コースのご紹介★「大前研一ライブ」とは？

2010年11月期生より、実践ビジネス英語講座は
初級・中級・上級のレベル別コースの提供を開始いたします。

まず中級コースを皮切りに、11月期生から提供を開始いたしますが、
「前のPEGLと一体どこが違うの？」とお感じになっている方も多いかと思います。

そこで・・・

今回から、新しいPEGLの内容を順次ご紹介致します！

今まで「講座内容がよくわからないから、ちょっととっつきにくいなぁ・・・」と
思っていた方、ぜひこちらをご覧いただき、受講を検討してみてはいかがでしょうか？！

まず今回は3つのコース全てに含まれる、『大前研一ライブ』をご紹介します。

『大前研一ライブ』とは・・・
大前研一学長が毎週2時間、最新の経済ニュースをライブ解説するコンテンツです。
大前学長ならではの鋭い切り口・分析力で日々の経済、時事ニュースを読み解いていきます。

大前学長の独自の目線での解説のため、「なるほど！」と思ったり、
するどい分析にハッとさせられたり。

普段テレビや新聞で見聞きするニュースとは異なる視点での解説に驚かれるかと思います。

また「自分が経営者だったら」「私が事件になった企業からコンサルティングの
依頼を受けたら」等、立場を想定して思考訓練していくことにより、論理的思考や共感力、
発想力等を身につける事ができます。

世界情勢の変化に柔軟に対応できる「グローバルマインド」を養い、
自分の頭で考え、根拠ある議論を行うスキルを身につけることをができますので
「グローバルリーダー」のためには最適な番組となっております。

自分の目でニュースを見て考える事で、「物事の本質」を見極める力を養う。

つまり、沢山の情報が飛び交う昨今、正しい情報を取捨選択していくのは
自分の目と耳を鍛えていくしかないんですね。

歯に衣着せぬ学長の「大前研一ライブ」、ぜひこの機会にご視聴ください。

また、新しい実践ビジネス英語講座では
当番組について受講生の皆さまでディスカッションが
できる場を設けております。

自分の考えを誰かと共有できることで、また更なる発見があるかもしれません。

どうぞご期待ださい！

詳細は実践ビジネス英語講座 ホームページにて！

事務局・内藤

Vacations Part.2 - Minnesota

Online Speaking Lessons講師がお勧めする

旅行スポットのシリーズ

第2回の今回はCurtis講師お勧めのMinnesotaです。

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Vacations Part.2 - Minnesota
Land of 10,000 Lakes

Minnesota is one of the 5 states in the U.S. that are referred to as the central mid-West, along with Wisconsin, Iowa and North and South Dakota. This area is characterized by rolling prairies, farm land (corn, wheat and dairy cows), wooded forests, and lakes. The name “Minnesota” comes from the Dakota Indian tribe’s word for “sky-tinted waters”. The lakes were formed roughly 12,000 years ago when glaciers moving down from Canada covered the northern portion of the state. These lakes are very popular for fishing, swimming and boating.

While Minnesota has the coldest winters of the main 48 states, sometimes down to as much as -32 degrees C, the summer months of July and August can get pretty hot, up to 35 degrees C. This warmer weather lets us enjoy outdoor activities, such as hiking, cycling, camping and picnicking in the various parks in the big cities, as well as the bigger national parks in the Boundary Waters (the lakes near the Canadian border). There are 22 state parks, and many of them allow day visits, and have provisions for fishing on the lakes. It is best, however, to check the park’s webpage for details and restrictions in advance.

Business-wise, the largest well-known corporation based in Minnesota is 3M (Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing), makers of Post-It Notes sticky notepaper, and Scotch-brand cellophane tape. 3M’s headquarters are just northeast of the capital city of St. Paul. The neighboring big city of Minneapolis is a financial center, with many investment companies housed in the IDS building in downtown Minneapolis.

Probably the one attraction that most Japanese tourists are sure to visit is the Mall of America, which has the Nickelodeon Universe theme park, an aquarium you can walk through, a 14-screen movie theater, and a total of more than 520 stores. The Mall is undergoing an expansion to allow for another 400 stores. When it first opened in 1992, many of its customers were tourists from Japan in the U.S. solely for shopping at the Mall. In 2006, the Mall had 40 million visitors.

The downtown areas of the “twin cities” of St. Paul and Minneapolis are only 10 miles apart. While St. Paul, as the center of the state’s governmental bodies, is very conservative, Minneapolis is much more liberal. This means that Minneapolis has more art galleries, bars and nightclubs. Music makes up a big part of Minneapolis’s nightlife. Two of the most famous names to come out from Minneapolis are 1960’s protest singer Bob Dylan and pop star Prince. Others include the bands Husker Du and The Replacements. On the other hand, the most famous person from Minnesota is most likely Charles Schultz, creator of Snoopy, and the “Peanuts” comic strip. In 2000 there was an art project, “Snoopy on Parade” where 100 statues of Snoopy were placed around St. Paul and decorated by different artists. Some of these statues still remain in St. Paul if you want to try to find them.

For a specific travel recommendation, I’d suggest coming to Minneapolis in July. While the weather will be getting very hot and humid at this point, you have the choices of watching a 4th of July fireworks display at the State Fair grounds, or waiting to arrive until July 16th to the 24th, when the city hosts the Aquatennial, a celebration of water and summer activities, including sand castle building, marathons, and milk carton boat races. You’ll probably want to rent a car, which would also allow you to drive to Mall of America, and to get outside of the cities a few miles for fishing at a state park. Or, if you like the cold, then try coming between January 27th to Feb. 6th, for the St. Paul Winter Carnival, and a few days of ice fishing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Minnesota_state_parks
http://ww2.startribune.com/news/variety/peanuts/index.shtml
http://ww2.startribune.com/news/variety/peanuts/snoopymap.pdf
http://aquatennial.org/
http://www.winter-carnival.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_fishing

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In the News # 17 - The Long Haul

Online Speaking Lessons講師のCurtis講師が提供する
ニュースの英語を解説する" In the News"シリーズ
第17回の本日は"The Long Haul"です。

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In the News # 17 – The Long Haul

The Sept. 1, 2010 Japan Times newspaper had the following article:

“Kyoto’s Miyako at 120, inn for the long haul”
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20100901f2.html

The headline uses a form of word play that relates directly to a business idiom. There are several variations of this idiom, including:

In for the long haul
Settling in for the long haul
Digging in for the long haul

There are few sources giving the origins of this phrase. We can think of it as a person preparing to take a long trip, which for truck drivers is called “a long haul”. To prepare for driving for 4 or 5 hours at one time, the person may want to have some food within easy reach, something to drink, a music player, and a comfortable cushion to sit on. So, “settling in for the long haul” means “preparing for a long trip”.

(c) shin ｜写真素材 PIXTA

We often use these idioms to describe our readiness to take on a long-term project. Examples include:
“Our company may be new to the e-book reader market, but we are here for the long haul.”
“This lawsuit will take years to settle, so our law firm is digging in for the long haul.”
“We know that it will take decades to start up a new space mission to Mars, so we’re settling in for the long haul.”

We can use this idiom to describe the opposite case as well, where someone wasn’t ready to take on a long-term project:
“We sold our shares in that company after 3 months. After all, we were never in this for the long haul.”

Next, we need to explain the wordplay in the article’s headline. “Miyako” is a hotel in Kyoto. It was first built as a tea house and garden in 1890, by Nihei Nishimura, a wealthy merchant of that time. In 2002, the Miyako partnered with the Westin hotel chain, and was renamed “Westin Miyako”. It is now celebrating its 120th anniversary this year, and the newspaper article was written to promote this anniversary.

Richard Sutter, the General Manager of Westin Miyako, was interviewed for the article. At the end, he is quoted as saying, "With the comfortable mix of heritage (Miyako) and modernity (Westin), we'll be here for our 240th anniversary". The editors at the Japan Times think that running the hotel for another 120 years is “a long haul” and that therefore Mr. Sutter is “in for the long haul”.

Another word for “hotel” is “inn”. This is why the Japan Times editors used “inn” instead of “in” to create the wordplay “inn for the long haul”. This headline now has the nuance of “a hotel that plans to remain in business for many years from now”.

When you read the news paper this week, try to find other stories that discuss long-term plans.

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Miss and Missus (Mrs.)

先日最終回を迎えたWomen in the Workplace Seriesですが

もっと読みたい！という声にお応えして、
シリーズ延長が決定いたしました。

Jennifer講師が書く7回目の今回は「Miss and Missus (Mrs.)」です！

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Women in the Workplace Series 7 – Miss and Missus (Mrs.)

“Miss” and “missus” are honorific terms similar in use to “-san” in Japanese, but not exactly. The reason why they are not an exact equivalent of “-san” is because in English both of these terms (along with “Mister”/“Mr.”) can be used to refer to one’s self. For example, when speaking about yourself, it is alright if you say “I am Mrs. Smith”. Of course, this is not the case in Japanese, as a person is not supposed to refer to themselves by their name using the honorific “-san”. Thus, “I am Yamada-san” is incorrect but “I am Mrs. Yamada” is okay. Also, the words “miss”/“missus”/“mister” can be used alone, without a person’s name. Some examples are below.

Additionally, “miss” and “Mrs.” are used with women’s names, and “mister” with men’s names, whereas “-san” is unisex.

David Jones inquires about the wife of his co-worker, Alan Smith.

[David Jones] Hello, how are you today?
[Alan Smith] I’m doing okay. How about you?
[David Jones] I’m fine. How’s the missus?
[Alan Smith] She’s fine. She just returned to work from pregnancy leave.

*Note: In this conversation, when David asks about Alan’s wife, he refers to her as “the missus”. This is another way of asking “how is your wife?”

A receptionist asks Leda Jones if she needs help.

[Leda Jones] Excuse me.
[receptionist] Yes, can I help you, miss?
[Leda Jones] Yes, I’m Mrs. Jones. I am here to see my husband, David Jones.

*Note: In this conversation, the receptionist refers to Leda as “miss”; however, Leda confirms her status as a married woman by referring to herself as “Mrs”.

Given a person’s age, sometimes people make assumptions about their marital status, thinking that an older woman is more likely to be married than a younger woman. However, usually using “Miss” or “Missus” is not based upon a woman’s age, unlike ojosan and obasan. Typically if someone makes a mistake in referring to someone’s marital status, they are corrected by the person being referred to, as seen in this example:

Juanita Lopez goes in for an interview.

[Interviewer] Good morning, Mrs. Lopez. Could you take a seat?
[Juanita Lopez] Thank you. Actually it’s “Miss”. I’m not married.

Unlike Japan, in the United States it is much more common for a married person to wear their wedding ring. Given this practice, it is much easier to identify whether or not someone is married without having to ask first.

(c) 赤城　一人 ｜写真素材 PIXTA

If someone is unmarried, it is best to avoid questions like “Why aren’t you married?” and “Are you still single?” In the latter case (“Are you still single?”), the word “still” could be taken to imply that someone should already be married by their current age, which might be seen as offensive depending on the person. Oftentimes it is best for this information to be volunteered by each individual, rather than to ask them about it. This means that it is best to allow a person to decide what information they would like to give you about their personal life – sometimes it is best not to ask. As is true in many other cases, it is best to err on the side of caution!

*Note: “to err on the side of caution” refers to the practice of being overly-cautious, compared to not being cautious enough.

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Vacations Part.1- Oregon (Crater Lake)

本日から、Online Speaking Lessons講師が
お勧めする旅行スポットのシリーズを開始致します。

第１回の今回はTyler講師お勧めのOregonです。

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Vacations Part.1- Oregon (Crater Lake):
Not your first choice, but it should be at least your seventh.

Many visitors to the United States often think of travelling to New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington D.C. or Seattle before they ever think of Oregon (mainly because we only have one major city; and honestly, Seattle, Washington, would be a better choice). Even Yellowstone and Yosemite Parks have more visitors annually than the whole of Oregon.

Though I’m saddened that not so many people feel inclined to visit my home-state, I would actually encourage you not to come to Oregon on your first visit to the U.S. New York, Washington D.C. and San Francisco are much better experiences for people who are only planning on coming to the U.S. once or twice. For those of you, however, who have been to the U.S. so many times that you feel it is losing its appeal, I would recommend going to see ‘real’ America (American cities that don’t have much contact with foreigners). There are hundreds of places that you could go to see this ‘real’ America; however, since I’m from Oregon, I’ll encourage you to come here.

Even among Americans, Oregon is not the most famous state. I read an article in the Yomiuri Newspaper by a writer from New Jersey (one of the most made-fun-of states in the U.S.). In the article, she called Oregon the ‘armpit of Canada.’ Though I was a bit perturbed about her not-so-funny joke, at least she didn’t make some crack about French-Canadians and B.O. (body odor).
(http://www.latimes.com/sns-safe-for-work-humor-hotel-new-jersey,0,1941238.story )

Getting back on topic, I’d like to introduce Oregon’s only National Park- Crater Lake. This park is about a 90 minute drive northeast of Medford, Oregon (the largest city in southern Oregon). It is the ninth deepest lake in the world (it’s the deepest in the U.S.) that formed in the bowl of an extinct volcano. Because of its depth and its lack of inlets, the water is extremely pure. Swimming is not allowed and boating is limited to a small, eco-friendly ferry that travels back and forth between the shoreline and Wizard Island.

Though it isn’t a destination for swimmers, it’s a beautiful sight to see. You can take a ferry to Wizard Island in the middle of the lake or you can go horseback riding around the caldera. As well, there are falls, hiking trails, and during the winter there are snowmobiling areas - all within a 20 minute drive from the lake.

Crater Lake is a great day trip, but if you would like to fully experience all the area has to offer, you can stay at Crater Lake Lodge. Room rates are a little expensive- ranging from $157 to $283 per night. However, as hotels don’t usually charge per person-rates, you can have as many people as you want in one room (with a $25 charge per person after 2). In the end, it costs about the same as a respectable hotel in Japan.

One thing to keep in mind is that though the park is only open when the weather isn’t bad, the lodge itself is only open from May to October. So, if you want to stay for longer than one day, it might be best to go during the warmer months. As for the park being open, the weather is usually pretty bad from late December to mid February since there are usually 3 meters of snow then. If you’re unsure of the conditions, it’s best to call the park service in advance. I recommend coming to Crater Lake (on a day trip) in March just after the snowy season and before Spring has had a chance to melt the snow. The view is the best during this season, I think.

To get to Crater Lake, it is best to fly into the United States through either San Francisco or Seattle and connect to a flight heading to Medford, Oregon. From there, you can rent a car. That way, you can have the freedom of mobility on your trip.

Crater Lake Lodge Homepage:
http://www.craterlakelodges.com/crater-lake-lodge-1842.html

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PEGL Supplement一般販売終了のお知らせ

実践ビジネス英語講座（PEGL）コース内容改訂に伴い、
http://ameblo.jp/pegl/day-20100916.html

PEGL Supplementの一般販売は
2010年9月25日（2010年10月開講）をもって
終了させていただきます。

※PEGL Supplementのサービスは
　2010年10月開講生のサービス期間が完了する
　2011年9月末まで提供いたします。

▼カリキュラムの詳細はこちらから
PEGL Supplementカリキュラム

▼お申し込みはこちらから
PEGL Supplement申込案内

事務局・山口

In the News Part.15 - iced

Online Speaking Lessons講師のCurtis講師が提供する
ニュースの英語を解説する" In the News"シリーズ
第16回の本日は"iced"です。

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In the News #15 – iced

In the June 5, 2010 Japan Times, we had the following headline:
Ski star Bode iced in shot at U.S. Open

(c) デジ009 ｜写真素材 PIXTA

The first sentence of the story reads:
“Rafa and Roger can relax. Bode Miller is no longer on the slippery slope to challenging them at the U.S. Open.”

U.S. Olympic skiing champion Bode Miller also likes to play tennis. His parents owned a tennis academy, and Bode was a high school State tennis champion in Maine. Recently, the United States Tennis Association (USTA) offered him a free trip to the U.S. Open qualifier meets in Hawaii, with any money he would win to be donated to charity.

Because this was a charity event, Bode Miller was not expected to compete seriously against professional tennis players like Rafa Nadel and Roger Federer. However, Bode lost quickly to Erik Nelson-Kortland and did not make it past the qualifying rounds.

The reporter is attempting to make a joke with the line “slippery slope”. Obviously, because Bode is a professional skier, he is constantly skiing down the slippery slopes of skiing hills. Unfortunately, “slippery slope” has the additional meaning of “an uphill course of action where it is easy to make a mistake that leads to failure and possibly to jail time”. It has the nuance of making a moral decision, implying that Bode is somehow doing something wrong in playing in the Open.

Icing is a hockey term, which refers to a player shooting a hockey puck from one end of the court to the other if no one touches it along the way. The player’s team will be penalized as a result. Being iced means that the offending player was called for icing.

In the other hand, “being put on ice” has the meaning of “being sent to prison”, or “ordered to sit on the bench during a game by the coach”. Normally, we would not say that someone being put on ice was “iced”, but the usage in the headline (“Bode iced in shot at U.S. Open”) to mean that Bode was defeated in the qualifying rounds makes more sense if we take “iced” to mean “put on ice” (defeated/arrested/benched) than it does if we use “penalized for an illegal hockey play (icing)”.

There is one more word play in the headline, if we look at it closely enough. ‘To take a shot at” (something) means “to try to accomplish something”. So, Bode’s attempt at playing in the U.S. Open was something he was “taking a shot at”. At the same time, we have the “tennis shot”, which simply means to hit a tennis ball with a tennis racket. Therefore “Bode’s shot at U.S. Open” is another word play.

As you read the English newspapers this week, try to find other examples of icing, iced and being put on ice.

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/amateur/story/2010/06/03/sp-bode-tennis.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icing_(ice_hockey )

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実践ビジネス英語講座（PEGL）コース内容改訂のお知らせ

2010年11月期生より、実践ビジネス英語講座は
初級・中級・上級のレベル別コースの提供を開始いたします。

各コースの詳細については、9月28日プログラムのホームページ

実践ビジネス英語講座 Practical English for Global Leaders (PEGL) にて

発表の予定です！

新たに進化していく実践ビジネス英語講座に
これからもどうぞご期待ください。

※現在のコンテンツは2010年10月期生までの提供となります。

※開講月は以下の通りになります。

　[中級コース]2010年11月期より、毎月開講

　[初級コース]2010年12月期より、毎月開講

　[上級コース]2011年1月期より、1・4・7・10月開講

Gender Roles and Stereotypes

本日はJennifer講師が書く、
Women in the Workplace Series をお送り致します。

6回リーズ最終回の今回は
Gender Roles and Stereotypesについてです。

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Women in the Workplace Series 6 – “Gender Roles and Stereotypes”

Gender roles are the societal expectations for the behavior of people of a particular gender – so basically, how society thinks men and/or women should do and behave. It is the public image of a particular gender.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:We_Can_Do_It!.jpg

The link above is of a very famous poster in the United States titled called We Can Do It. It was a poster made for Westinghouse Electric, which was an American power company. This power was a symbol for women’s changing gender role during World War II, as women became employed in jobs formerly dominated (or in some cases, reserved) for men.

A stereotype is a common impression about specific social groups. Some examples of stereotypes are:

Blonds (people, mainly women, with blond hair) are dumb.
African-Americans are good at singing and sports.
Asians are smart.

Though some would argue that the reason these stereotypes exist are because they are at least partially true, the danger of stereotypes is that it is unfair to credit a single behavior to an entire group. This means that if there was a stereotype that all people who wear glasses are smart, people will expect all people who wear glasses to be smart. Or if the stereotype was negative – for example, a stereotype that all people who wear glasses are dangerous – then it is harmful to all people who wear glasses because while it is true that there are dangerous people in any group, not just a single group.

Both gender roles and stereotypes are supported by popular media – movies, for example – as certain groups of people are typecast into particular types of roles. Because so many people enjoy television and movies, if they continually see stereotypical images they may start to believe that it is the truth. For example, if there were several movies and television shows and news stories in which people who wear glasses are evil then some people might start to believe that it is true for that entire group.

Gender roles are supported by the media in that males and females are cast into “traditional” gender roles – for example, if there is a movie about a single-parent household it is often about a woman and not a man, because the accepted gender role is that a woman is the primary caregiver for children.

One case where gender roles are reversed are in comedies and the gender role reversal is primarily done for comedic effect. The traditional female gender role is that women are expected to stay at home while their husband works, that women should do the cooking and the cleaning and all the chores and that she should take care of the children. The traditional male gender role is that males are the “breadwinners” (primary or sole earner) of the family in that they are expected to work and “bring home the bacon” (bring home a salary). In the workplace, some people expect female workers to be secretaries and not executives, or they are expected to be in supporting staff rather than management.

When speaking of gender roles and stereotypes as it pertains to gender, sentences often start with phrases such as

“It is a woman’s responsibility to…”
“Men are expected to…”
“Women should…”

These types of sentences assign a particular activity or type of behavior to an entire gender, which is a type of stereotype because people expect certain behaviors and actions from a particular gender. The idea of gender roles goes a little bit beyond stereotypes in that the assignment of gender roles shapes an entire society. Because women are (according to traditional gender roles) expected to support rather than lead, it may be more difficult for a female to secure a managerial position. If there is a stereotype that woman are not effective managers, people may be less-inclined to hire females as managers. In this way, both gender roles and stereotypes can be unfortunate for women in the workplace.

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In the News Special Edition – Which Paper?

ニュースの英語を解説する" In the News"シリーズ
今回は特別編として、Curtis講師が英字新聞の選び方をご紹介いたします。

英字新聞購入の際の参考にどうぞ！

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In the News Special Edition – Which Paper?

If you are just starting out with your English learning program, you will probably want to read the English newspapers that are published in Japan. You can read the online news sites like Yahoo News, CNN and BBC. But if you want local news, or you want to read a paper on the train, then you have the choice of the Japan Times, Daily Yomiuri and Asahi Shimbun.

Which is the best newspaper to buy?

This is a very difficult question to answer in one or two words. All three have their strengths and weaknesses. First off is the price. In the U.S., if you buy a newspaper from a news stand every day, it will become expensive after a few weeks. For this reason, and to get money from readers quickly, newspaper publishers offer subscription discounts. Buying a 3-month subscription can be 30% to 50% cheaper than buying one paper at a time from the news stand.

But in Japan, the publishers do not offer discounts. The cost of a 3 month subscription is the same as buying one paper every day from a convenience store for 3 months in a row. The only reason for getting a subscription for a newspaper in Japan is to have it delivered directly to our house for us.

Strictly from a cost-basis, one paper stands out. The prices and page counts are:
Japan Times, 180 yen, average of 17 pages per day
Daily Yomiuri, 120 yen, average of 20 pages per day
Asahi Shimbun, 160 yen, average of 26 pages per day.

Unfortunately, the Asahi Shimbun contains 5 pages of advertising per issue. If we remove the advertising pages, the number of useful, readable pages per issue goes down to 21 pages per day. Also, the Asahi isn’t published on Sundays.

For 30 days, the totals are:
Japan Times, 5400 yen, 550 pages, 9.8 yen per page
Daily Yomiuri, 3600 yen, 600 pages, 6 yen per page
Asahi Shimbun, 4160 yen, 574 readable pages, 7.2 yen per readable page

Aside from the price, the Daily Yomiuri has the advantage of having 1-page English and Japanese learning sections every day. The Japan Times also has a Japanese learning page that could help English learners, but it only appears in the Wednesday issue. However, the Asahi Shimbun has more pages per week which is good if you want lots of stories to read.

None of the three papers print many of their own original stories. The Asahi Shimbun is 80% reprints of the London Herald Times paper. The Japan Times gets most of its stories from the Associated Press (AP) and Kyodo News. The Daily Yomiuri mostly reprints stories from the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times. All three papers have the exact same TV listings.

The Asahi Shimbun carries the most pages of world news. The Yomiuri has a good selection of local business news and information about Japanese foods. The Japan Times has more cultural news, such as movie reviews, stories on Tokyo art gallery showings, and dance performances.

But, there are certain days where each paper has nothing of interest for me. Also, many of the stories are shared by all three papers, and the writing level is the same for all of them. Therefore, I choose to read different papers each day of the week.

Monday – No paper
Tuesday – Daily Yomiuri, for national news and the Japanese learning page
Wednesday – Japan Times, for the Japanese learning page
Thursday – No paper
Friday – Japan Times, for the art gallery listings
Saturday – Daily Yomiuri, for the Japanese/English learning page and western comic strips
Sunday – Daily Yomiuri, for the Photoscape page, Sudoku and national news

If you like sports, all three papers have 3-4 pages each per day. If you prefer movie and art gallery reviews, I suggest the Friday edition of the Japan Times. If you like western comics, get the Asahi Shimbun.

If you’re just starting out learning English and want a paper that is easy to read, none of these three are easier than the others. But, the Daily Yomiuri does have the language learning page in each issue which will help you, plus quizzes on certain Japanese and English “phrases of the day”.

Then there are the online homepages. Each newspaper has its own home page:
The Japan Times home page has only 5 or 10 new stories per day. Many of the stories displayed on the main home page can be 2 or 3 weeks old. However, all of the stories that appear in the print version of the paper are available online if you do a search for them.

The Daily Yomiuri homepage has links to 30-40 new stories at a time, but there are very few photos, and most of the stories that appear in the paper version are not available from the website.

The Asahi Shimbun homepage has only a few links to new stories, and, like the Yomiuri, doesn’t have many of the print stories online. There are almost no photos, either.

I don’t like the homepages of any of these three newspapers, and if I want to read news online, I will go to yahoo.com. But, if I am looking for a specific local story, I will use the Japan Times homepage to find it.

As for your own learning needs, it is best for you to try sampling each paper and find the one that best fits your needs. You may want to do what I do, and get the Japan Times on Fridays and Wednesdays, and the Daily Yomiuri on Tuesdays and the weekends. Or, just focus on the language learning sections that appear daily in the Yomiuri. In any event, have fun with what you read.

http://news.yahoo.com/
http://edition.cnn.com/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/

http://www.asahi.com/english/
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/

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