スケジュール変更のお知らせ。

スケジュールの変更のお知らせ。
お休みできるみなさんもそうでないみなさんも、Happy holilday!新年はじまりの一週間、学校でも一部クラスがお休みになります。月曜日午後8時30分からのクラス、水曜日 午後1時30分からのクラス、木曜日午後10時からのクラス、金曜日午後3時からのクラスがお休みになります。(すべて日本時間)
みなさん良いお年をお迎えください。
Happy New Year!

Calendar update

Happy Holidays to everyone, even if it's not really holiday for you.

The first week of the year, the classes on Monday 8pm PST (Tuesday1pm JST), Tuesday 8.30pmPST (Wednesday 1.30pm PST) and Thursday 10pm PST (Friday 3pm JST) will be canceled.
Happy New Year!

Bounenkai!!


bounen=to forget the year
kai=meeting
bounenkai = a shameless party where people can drink together and sing songs to forget the bad things of the year.

December 15, 5.30am PST. Check the time in your country.
The party will be at Hiromi's place.
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/New%20Olympus/91/46/21

No class today. Join us for the party. Everyone is invited. Bring your own drinks and food.

Tutorial in Vietnamese

The tutorial is available in Vietnamese too. Check the list of translations in the box in the right bar.

Viewer tutorial in Spanish with new pages

The viewer tutorial in Spanish is online.
This is the latest version, with new pages for how to stand up and camera controls, that are very important and very difficult to explain without the tutorial.
The new pages will be added to the tutorials in other languages.


New: viewer tutorial in Arabic

The tutorial is getting translated in many language by Help Team members.
Today, Arabic goes online.
Find the links to the English, Indonesian, Japanese and Italian in the box on the right.

New Calendar: Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Western Australia, China, Philippines, Taiwan

New calendar for Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Western Australia, China, Philippines, Taiwan.
The complete list is in the right column of this blog. 

Adhams (and Song Lyrics class) are back!

Adhams is back Song lyrics class is back!
Same day and time: Sunday at 6am PST

Teacher: Adhams Darkstone
Class Runner: ai12in Resident - IND

This class is for intermediate/advanced students.
This week's song will be: "Somebody That I Used To Know" by Gotye

If you have never been to this class, ask the class runner how to play streaming music.

Second life tutorial: Translations

There is a new box on the right bar of this blog: Viewer tutorials.
If you click on one of the links you will open the viewer tutorial in that language.
Available now: Basha Indonesia, Japanese, Italian and, of course, English.
More translations coming soon.

New Classes Tuesday and Thursday 10am PST

Two new classes: Tuesday and Thursday 10am PST
Teacher: Giovanni Tweak
Class Runner: Quenya Jinx - ITA

These classes are recommended for beginner students.
These classes last 30 minutes.
Types of class: Pronunciation, Picture Description, Grammar Practice, Dialog (expression) and Dictation.
This week: Tuesday: Dialog; Thursday: Picture description.
Next week: Tuesday: Pronunciation; Thursday: Grammar Practice

Cost: 750L$ (1 credit; 300YEN) week: 2000L
More classes: http://www.drive-through-esl.info/index.html

New Class: Monday 6am

Teacher: Giovanni Tweak
Class Runner: Hipostech Resident

New class every Monday at 6am PST: Basic English Grammar
It's recommended for beginners.
This class is a repetition of the previous Saturday's class. This week: Expressing Feelings / Corrections
This is a listen/write class. You can attend without a microphone.

Calendars in local times

There is a new box on the right bar of this blog: Class Calendars in Local Times.
If you click on one of the links you will open the class calendar in the local time of that country.
For now we have Japan, Saudi Arabia and CET (Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland)
I'm sure it will be helpful!

Second Life Tutorial


click to zoom
New at the infohub: the Second Life tutorial.

Learn how to use the viewer, how to set-up voice for best results, how to receive, open, create and share notecards (text files), how to move around, sit, etc.

The tutorials are short and easy to use and understand.
Soon we'll have translations in many languages.
And of course, you can contact us directly during Help Team hours (in different languages).
Now it's a lot easier to join our classes.

To visit the infohub click here. 
No viewer? Click here Do you want to read the tutorial in your browser? Here!

Day Change: From Tuesday 12pm to Wednesday 12pm

Cat's class moved from Tuesday to Wednesday.
Starting this week.

VOICE - Pronunciation, Comprehension.
During this class we'll read a story and explain its meaning, words, idioms. Students will answer questions about the story.

Same class, same time, different day.

Giovanni's class (wed 11am PDT) will be moved to another day TBA (to be announced)

Time Change: Saturday 1am PDT

This Saturday, the Basic Grammar class (this week: corrections and participle practice) will be at 1am PDT instead of 6am.
This week only.

Dangerous Money

Story Writing Class – 2nd August, 2012

The young man and woman walked along the footpath to the beach. They stood on the rocks admiring the sparkling sea and watched the ship passing by far out on the water.  Then they saw a man with a gun running along the beach.

The man put the gun between his teeth so that it wouldn’t get wet and jumped in the sea, swimming like a dog towards the boat. But after a few meters he stopped and started to yell, "I can't swim. Help me! Help me!”  They wondered what that man was doing with a gun in his hand.  This couple didn’t want to take a risk so they ran away and called the police.

After that, some police come to the sea and found the man and they tried to help him. They found out he was the most dangerous criminal who cannot swim. So the man was arrested

The police took Armand and Julie to the police station to interrogate them. They said they had never seen the man before but the police didn't believe them. They were convinced that Julie and Armand were helping the criminal.

Salvatore's Class tomorrow at 3pm SLT

Salvatore's class will start at 3pm SLT tomorrow and only for tomorrow.

Teacher: salvatorepadilla1 Resident. Class Runner: Tuanjana Resident

This class: VOICE - Grammar, Conversation. During this class the teacher will ask questions to which students will answer using a particular verb tense, grammar form, vocabulary and expressions.

We hope to see you in class!!

Music for Lions



DT-ESL - Story Writing Class - 20th July, 2012

1.  Mike worked for the circus.  He helped to set up the tents for each show.  One night the lion tamer was practising his act with one lion while the other five lions sat on their stools.

2.  Suddenly one lion got down off its stool.  It started to creep on its belly across the floor to the door. The lion tamer was looking at the other lion and did not see it.

3.  Since I was child, I have been very much in love with music. I remembered when my dad bought a piano for us children.  It was a small one but it was very useful for me.  I tried to improve and train myself to be skilled although there was no teacher. 

4.  I have tried for a very long time but I want to train to get better.  So I tried to take some samples from the internet.  Greetings everybody.  Now I am ready to train my skills.

Bimbo, Ringo and the elephants

DTESL - STORY CLASS - 12th July, 2012

1.  The woman stopped at the corner to check for cars.
She began to cross the street and then she screamed as a huge truck with two circus elephants on the back came speeding down the road towards her.

2.  She ran fast when she saw the truck with two elephants, then the truck passed by her.  She was stunned there and asked herself “What was going on?  The truck driver sounded the horn so loudly that even the elephants raised their trunks, frightened by the sound.

3.  Her name was Bimbo, today it was her birthday, Friday the 13th.  She couldn't feel her body, as if she was a ghost.  The driver couldn't believe his eyes. He got out of the truck, let the elephants down too, so they could take a pee and a drink, and started to walk towards Bimbo.

Dreams of a little girl and the dancers in the music box

Story Class - Friday July 6, 2012

1.  A little girl sat snuggled on her grandmother’s soft floral armchair and rested her chin on her hand gazing at a smooth glass bottle that played a little Spanish tune. Inside the bottle two tiny ballroom dancers twirled around in each other’s arms in time with the music as their legs twiddled away uselessly beneath them.

2.  The child took the music box with two hands and saw that there are many white doves that fluttered into the sky.  She fell asleep and suddenly dreamed that she was in a beautiful park which had many flowers and it looked like a wedding park. There were many accessories for brides and grooms. She stared around and looked at people dancing.

3.  The girl, Susanne, wanted to dance but no one was inviting her.  She walked onto the dance floor and started to dance alone. It was like she was invisible.

4.  Suddenly, Susanne, saw a table full of food and her eyes widened.  There were so many chocolate cakes and she went crazy.  She went to grab the chocolate. She didn't realize that someone at the corner watched over her. He had a frown, that's why he stood at the corner. He approached her to ask her name. “Hi, my name is James and yours?”

TOO MANY ALIENS, NOT ENOUGH TIME or: How Aliens Think The World Just Revolves Around Them

Story Class 21st June, 2012

1.  It was the year 3000.  John and Elizabeth sat quietly together on the grassy hill side, looking up into the peaceful night sky.  The stars twinkled against their dark, velvety backdrop, when suddenly a bright light streaked across the horizon.  What could that be?

2.  Only one person paid attention to it.  The other one closed their eyes.  But from their right there was a hand that caught that person whose eyes were closed.  Suddenly he was alone.

3.  She felt the hand that held her so cold and small. She turned her head to the direction of who the hand came from.   All of sudden she screamed, "What do you want from me?" She saw an alien beside her and the alien had given her telepathy.

4.  Now she could hear the thoughts of the alien as if she were listening to him. But she could not understand the language, and the alien could not understand hers. She wrangled out of the alien's grasp and went back home, looking for her friend. 

5.  Elizabeth (who was the woman who had been sitting with John, the man) was very afraid now because she had been dragged away by an alien who had given her the power of telepathy. But even having the ability to read his mind made it worse because she could not understand his thoughts.

Article about the school

Did you attend the grammar class two Saturdays ago?
They talk about us in this article on the Examiner.com
If you didn't attend that class you can read about it and contact a Help Team member to try this school.

Separated at birth but a happy ending

STORY CLASS 15th June, 2012

Albert and Greg were finally going to meet at the age of 26 after finding out they were twin brothers who had been separated at birth and adopted by different parents.  Albert was very anxious about it. In the week before the meeting he couldn't sleep.  He was curious and afraid at the same time, but he didn't know why.  

They were twins, so they could feel each other. They tried to resolve the problem.  They relaxed by playing with a bicycle but they suddenly saw dwarfs around them.

The young men finally met and were amazed to see how much they looked alike. They felt very emotional and had many things to talk about and many things to show each other, such as photos and family portraits.

No one in the pictures was a dwarf; no one in their family was a dwarf, so they could not understand why they were seeing dwarfs.  They were not even sure the dwarf was real, because they had seen dwarves only in dream sequences in movies. 

Albert was a little scared, so it was Greg who talked to the dwarfs.  While Greg enjoyed talking with them, Albert asked Greg to stay away from them.  Before Greg stopped talking, they saw a cute fairy suddenly come up.  The fairy talked into Greg’s right ear, “You need therapy, let me help you Greg”.




The story of Jimmy's path to peace and enlightenment

Story writing class is a text only class. No need for voice.
Students write a short story, one or two sentences each. The teacher corrects each sentence while the next student continues writing the story.
Every Friday at 5am PDT [check your local time]
Do you want to join story class?. Contact us for information and assistance.

STORY CLASS 8th June, 2012

Everybody was having a wonderful time and he'd have loved to have joined in with everyone else, however he was big and strong, and had bullied his classmates. This is why he was escorted to the cage by the police and why he was following classes sitting at his desk in the cage.

He was often ridiculed due to not being as tall as the other students. Often Jimmy ended up bullied in situations like this but inside he was feeling a bit lonely. No one wanted to talk to him. He disliked his family and his parents were so busy at work.
He had much hurt inside of his heart. He felt lonely and rejected by anyone around him. But He had a good hobby, he liked to fold origami.

After school Jimmy was left out of the cage. Police took him home and took his handcuffs out. He went to his rooms and started to work on a new origami. The biggest he had ever done.

One day when he fell asleep the origami that he had made became real. He had made a big robot. The robot said, Hi master, "Tell me your wish and I will complete it".


Chinese Time Calendar

Dreams of a broken heart

STORY CLASS 1st June, 2012

"There was a loud knock on the young woman's front door, but when she opened the door nobody was there. She saw a large package on the front door step with her name written on it.  She took it inside and it was very heavy.  She noticed that there was no sender's name or address.  She opened the parcel and found inside........."

She was shocked, suddenly a little puppy appeared in the box. He had a white coat and big eyes. What a cute puppy!  But inside there was another thing... it was shining. Something in the bottom of the box. She felt a chill, but she wanted to know what it was.  So she put a bamboo pole into the box. It looked like something was dragging on the bamboo pole. Suddenly she felt the box raising up into the air and then flying. At first she was very scared, then she got tired and fell asleep.

From Inge

Thank you!
Sun, May 27 2012 5:03:54 AM PDT

I would like to thank the students, the staff and everyone involved in all aspects of the party (ies) held for me. I am very touched and extremely happy for what you all have done for me. I am impressed by your creativity and your abilities as singers and songwriters. Thank you for the kind words in the crossword puzzle, in lyrics, on sign boards and in chat. Thank you also for the beautiful settings in which you arranged my party and thank you all for being there.
Love
Inge

Story class is back. Fridays at 5am PDT

Story class is back, finally.
Every Friday at 5am PDT, text only.
This class: TEXT. Story Writing. During this class students will write a short story and the teacher will correct mistakes.
Read past stories

Flat mates now on Wednesday at 9am PDT

Flat Mates, with Inge, has moved. Now it's on Wednesday, always at 9am PDT.

Scripted conversation. Vocabulary, reading, comprehension
This class is open to students of all levels.

Reading/comprehension/discussion class now at 11am PDT on Thursday too.

New class on Thursdays ay 11am PDT.
It's the same class as Wednesday at 6am PDT: Reading, comprehension, discussion. Not for beginners.

This class: VOICE - Reading, comprehension, discussion.
During this class we'll read a text and explain its meaning, idioms, slang and context.
Comments and submissions are welcome.

May 26, 4am PDT. It's not a surprise.

Thank you to everyone who came to the surprise party for Inge last Sunday.
It was great to see all of you. Thanks to Hiromi who provided the amazing location and everyone else who helped out in many ways.
Inge wasn't there though, so we'll do it again :)

Inge will receive a prize for her 5 years at the school.
New Date: May 26, Saturday, 4am PDT (time in your country)
New Location: Hanako land
(more avatars allowed. You will not receive the message: "can't teleport. Region full"
Enable voice: make sure you can listen to what people say in local chat and feel free to speak.

If you have been away from Second Life for a long time, download a new version of the viewer in advance.
For technical assistance in your language or in English contact a Help Team member. (Help Team Calendar)

Picture Description with Jeff on Friday (only this week)

Picture Description with Jeff Hemma
will take place on Friday at 2:00 SLT.

- Only for this week-
**************
Teacher: Jeff Hema 
Class Runner: oo Broono - CHI
 This class: VOICE - Picture Description 
Work on your skills of description 
- ask questions about words and expressions. 
This class is open to students of all levels.
*******************

New classes at 10pm PDT

A lesson a day keeps the doctor away.
4 new classes: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 10 pm PDT.
Each class will last 30 minutes.
Monday: reading/pronunciation
Tuesday: picture description
Wednesday: grammar practice
Thursday: reading/pronunciation
Practice English 4 times/week for 30 minutes.

Cost: 
1 class: 750L$ (1 credit; 300YEN)
A week (4 lessons): 2000L

Sal's class 2am PDT. Today only

Sal's class will start at 2pm PDT. Only today. Have a good Labor Day.

Teacher: salvatorepadilla1 Resident
Class Runner: Giovanni Tweak - ITA

This class: VOICE - Grammar, Conversation
During this class the teacher will ask questions to which students will answer using a particular verb tense, grammar form, vocabulary and expressions.

This week: talking about our daily routines and the routines of others.

Be nice! tell the CR you're coming to class

Well, the title says it all.
Our slogan is: when you want, when you can, when you need. Students are not required to sign up or commit to a schedule.
But we also want to respect the limit of 6 students per class in voice classes. Especially for News, Flat Mates and Excursion.
So be nice, and send a IM to the Class Runner if you know that you'll attend class. The Class Runner is at the infohub 30 minutes before classes but you can send it anytime, even if the Class Runner is offline.
This will help the Class Runner very much because he/she will know how many new students to call.

Basic English Grammar class Tuesday, April 10 at 11pm PDT


This class is the same as last Saturday, until Calliope comes back.

Teacher: Giovanni Tweak
Class Runner: Draceina Pinion - JAP

This class: VOICE - Grammar practice
The elements of speech.
Today's Class: Pronouns, prepositions practice
This class is recommended for beginners

Website update

A few updates to the website: check the right column.

New Class on Thursday with Jeff Hema at 2:00 am SLT

On Thursday morning we are going to  learn with pictures and Jeff Hema

This is a new VOICE class:
- Picture Description Work on your skills of description - ask questions about words and expressions.
This class is open to students of all levels.

Test voice before class. Microphone recommended

Salvatore's Class on Tuesday and Wednesday this week...

This week Salvatore's classes are on Tuesday and Wednesday at 16:00 SLT.

On Tuesday:
VOICE class: - Grammar, Conversation During this class the teacher will ask questions to which students will answer using a particular verb tense, grammar form, vocabulary and expressions. This week: Future continuous, How to express times and the future activities that will take place in those times

On Wednesday:
VOICE Class: - Grammar, Conversation During this class the teacher will ask questions to which students will answer using a particular verb tense, grammar form, vocabulary and expressions.

Time change

Second Life time changed Sunday, March 11 2012.
Now it's PDT
Now the difference between SL time and your time is one hour LESS. Classes will be one hour earlier, unless the SL time has changed.
For most of you it will change again in two weeks (March 25)

Viewer politics

 I listened to an interview of Oz Linden by Jessica Lyon so you don't have to.
Actually, I listened to one hour of it. If someone has the time to listen to the last 30 minutes and report if anyone said anything relevant to our business, please add it to this article.
  • Online Status. The breaking of this code has been put on hold.
  • The next official sl viewer will include automatic translation and spell check, like phoenix and firestorm.
  • LL really wants everybody to use their official viewer.
  • Sooner or later phoenix will work so badly that there will be no choice but to update to v.3 or firestorm.

Yanto's last class

Tuesday 24 January at 12pm PST will be Yanto's last class after 4.5 years.
You're all invited to say goodbye and ask your last questions.
Thank you very much Yanto for all your answers through the years.

New Class: Monday 2am PST

New class every Monday at 2am PST

Teacher: Jeff Hema Class Runner: oo Broono - CHI 
This class: VOICE - Idioms, sayings, vocabulary This class is an opportunity for you to get familiar with common English idioms and sayings.