Kyoiku Eikaiwa Mid-Term Conferences

Sign up for a time next week.

Be prepared to talk about the books you have read.

Also, pick one documentary from the playlist below and be prepared to discus it using the ideas we have read about in “Visual Storytelling”. (What makes it an effective documentary? What filmmaking techniques are used? What can you say about the film? etc.)

Films to Inspire!

For this class, we may refer to certain documentaries. Here they are in one place, but in no particular order:

From the “Nyorkers” Series

Documentary Films in Action

Welcome to “Kyoiku Eikai…Eigo!”

No one explained to me what this class is supposed to be about, so I’m making it up myself. Because you are all such bright, creative and high-level English users, we’re going to push into new experiences: Short Documentary filmmaking!

Every student will have to hand in a 3 to 5-minute documentary film by the end of the class for a final semester project. The subject of the film will be determined by each student in coordination with me. (I mostly just want to make sure you don’t take on too much work.)

Throughout the class, I’ll give you lots of practical, low-budget filmmaking tips and techniques. There will be plenty of time for editing in class, don’t worry!

Because this is an “Eikaiwa” Eigo class, students should use English most of the time in the class and during project work, even,–hey! why not?– when it occurs outside of class time. This gives you an excuse to speak English all the time, even in public, without having to feel like a weirdo. It’s for your class!

There is also a Free Reading part of the class. Every Thursday morning, for 30 minutes, we will all read English. Even me. It may seem like a waste of class time, but I strongly believe that developing the habit of reading in English for fun will pay off over your lifetime.