ESUJ Debate 2009 (Adults and non-students)
Participants wanted! Odaiba, June 20 (Saturday)

Every year ESUJ hosts an English impromptu debating competition for participants other than students. This year is our Eighth “Shakaijin” Debate. Motions for debate and the Proposition and Opposition sides are announced twenty minutes before the actual debate. Victory depends on how well a team uses its own knowledge, speaking skills and powers of persuasion to win over the judges and audience.

English debate sounds like hard work, but this event is about the pleasures of communication! Every Shakaijin Debate is lively and exciting because it provides an opportunity to use and exchange the personal experiences adult debaters accumulate in their everyday lives and at work. Last year 32 business persons, English teachers, homemakers, and others debated in 16 two-person teams. (Last year’s Final Debate topic was: “This House believes that Japanese with metabolic syndrome should pay higher health insurance.”) If you are interested in improving your speaking skills or simply want to see what debate is like, we urge you to come along on the day to watch. It’s free, so tell your friends about the event also.

If you want to participate in the actual debating at our Eighth “Shakaijin” Debate, please consult the ESUJ web site for details and apply.

Date: Saturday, 20th June 2009 10:00-19:00
Place: Plaza HEISEI, Tokyo International Exchange Center (Odaiba)
Participation fee: ESUJ Member ￥2,000 Non-member ￥4,000
(￥4,000-￥8,000/team, depending on number of ESUJ members)
Debating style: Parliamentary-style debate
Application deadline: Tuesday, 12th May 2009

The sixth Haiku in English Workshop took place on February 25 (Wed) with 14 participants and Ms. Emiko Miyashita once again presiding over the session. Eight seasonal ‘winter’ poems written beforehand, were introduced, with each author reading them, followed by a group discussion and Miyashita-sensei’s suggestions on ways the poems might be improved. Veteran poets as well as ‘debutants’ condensed their thoughts into three lines, followed by various interpretations and suggestions, for a lively, free-ranging intellectual exchange of views. “spring dusk--” was proposed by Miyashita-sensei as the theme for an impromptu haiku. Ten minutes later, everyone without exception revealed what they had written. Many had written about scenes of nature, often including the moon. Why not think up your own haiku?

English Club took place on February 17 (Tue). The Guest Speaker was Mr. Steven Givens, an attorney and university professor, speaking to a full house on the theme of “Legal Rights and Obligations: Why English Became the Global Language of Law and Contracts,” a topic of wide interest. Many US Presidents have come from legal circles, including President Obama, which reflects the fact that America is a legalistic society.

Mr Givens explained the reason why law developed in the English-speaking countries was deeply related with the development of ‘liberalism’ which rooted in the concepts of individuality and equality. Law is the system to create rules for people who are treated as individual. It was also developed as wall to protect the people from dictatorship. Mr. Givens also pointed out that in modern capitalism the contract was effective for transactions between strangers and which expanded market.

Within such a concept, the English language is well-suited as a language for clarifying subjects, actions and objects. This contrasts sharply with the Japanese language, which is rooted in the Japanese custom of placing importance on first getting to know each other and cultivating a trusting relationship. This difference appears in reality as legal language.

While introducing concrete examples of provisions and wordings concerning intellectual property right and corporate acquisitions etc, Mr. Givens concluded that the style and wordings of Japanese law and contract could be effective in domestic business but it is difficult to be understood in international transaction. At the end of this intense presentation, there was a lively Q&A session, with many questions from the floor.

The next English Club meeting:
March 17 (Tue) 19:00-20:30 at Marunouchi Café
"The Art of Public Communication in English: How Is It Learned?--Actual Training through Simple Impromptu Debate" (Full House)
Speaker: Mr Toshiyuki Inoue.
April 21 (Tue) (Same time and place)
Ms. Michelle Arnot, an expert and author on Crossword Puzzle, which has many fans everywhere, will describe this world in depth.

Spring Gala 2009 April 23（Thursday）18:30-20:30
Place：Meiji Kinenkan
Enjoy a splendid performance of Dixieland jazz!