Using The Daily Yomiuri in the classroom
Happy New Year to you all! This month's article describes an interesting new business idea for the new year. The language tasks focus on building vocabulary while the language transfer activities feature designing ideal schools, hospitals and department stores, or creating a TV News program from the newspaper article.
University students find
niche in night clinic
When preparing for his university entrance exams, Yohei Kiguchi found he could rarely be absent from class to go to the doctor, even when he had caught a cold.
This experience gave him the idea of a walk-in clinic, which people could visit in the same way as they might pop into a convenience store after school or work.
The 19-year-old Tokyo University freshmen opened Collabo Clinic Shinjuku last November together with about 20 of his friends and classmates from Tokyo University, Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music and other schools.
The clinic is a one-minute walk from JR Shinjuku Station's west exit, an area filled with both workers and students, and is open from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
It seems as if Kiguchi's idea has really caught on, and the clinic has an increasing number of regular visitors. one of them, a 38-year-old man said, "I can't get out of the office when we're busy, so it's really convenient to have a clinic open [when I'm free]."
Kiguchi's idea captured the imagination of Masahiro Kami, 38, an affiliate assistant professor at Tokyo University's Institute of Medical Science and an alumnus of Kiguchi's high school, prompting him to assist Kiguchi by introducing him to doctors and dispensing medical advice.
With the support of his friends and classmates from university, Kiguchi began planning the clinic around three basic goals:
k It must be open at convenient times.
k It must be in a location handy for commuters and students.
k There must be close communication between doctors and patients.
Five doctors work part-time at the clinic in the evenings after spending their days researching or working at a hospital.
The clinic has two treatment rooms, and the doctor on duty switches between them, allowing the empty room to be used to prepare patients for treatment, thus increasing the time available for the doctor to talk with the patient.
Medical charts were designed to accurately display patients' symptoms, and free online medical charts and an Internet billing system make for an improved service.
It usually takes between 20 million yen and 30 million yen to open a clinic, but Collabo Clinic Shinjuku only needed 1.5 million yen. The students found an office at a discounted rate and were able to buy medical equipment cheaply on the Internet.
The clinic plans to apply this spring to become an incorporated medical institution, and in collaboration with interested entrepreneurs, the clinic's operators also aim to eventually open franchises.
"Despite having little knowledge or experience, I hope this idea will help bring about the kind of medical care people really want," Kiguchi said.
(The Daily Yomiuri, Jan. 7
STUDENT ACTIVITIES
-- Vocabulary search
Look through the article and find words with the same meaning as:
giving out (paragraph 6)
working (paragraph 9)
changes (paragraph 9)
better (paragraph 10)
cheaper (paragraph 11)
partnership (paragraph 12)
-- Lexical chain
Scan the article and find words relating to a) health and medicine, b) study and school
-- Basic reading comprehension
Quickly scan the article and highlight the numbers you see. Now answer these questions as quickly as possible.
1. How old is Yohei Kiguchi?
2. When is the clinic open?
3. How much does it usually cost to open a clinic?
4. How much did Collabo Clinic cost?
-- Intermediate reading comprehension
1. Why did Yohei Kiguchi start the business?
2. Where is the clinic located?
3. Who is Masahiro Kami?
4. What's the connection between Yohei Kiguchi and Masahiro Kami?
5. How did Kami help start the clinic?
-- Language transfer tasks
Elementary--Make a list of modal verbs, e.g., must, should. Now look at the examples in paragraph 7 and use each verb once to make sentences describing an ideal
* hospital
* school
* department store
Intermediate/Advanced--Use the information in the article and write an interview between a Yomiuri reporter and a) Yohei Kiguchi, b) Masahiro Kami. Now role-play the conversation with a partner.
NOTES FOR TEACHERS
-- Vocabulary search
To extend the activity have students predict the vocabulary before scanning the article. Another option is to include a time limit to promote scanning speed.
Answers: dispensing, on duty, switches, improved, discounted, collaboration
-- Lexical chain
This type of activity encourages students to make lexical connections while reading through a short text. Answers: HEALTH--clinic, doctor, cold, medical, hospital, treatment, patients, symptoms. STUDY--university, student, exams, class, freshmen, classmates, schools, alumnus, high school.
For both reading comprehension tasks include a time limit to help students increase reading speed and prepare for exam questions.
-- Basic reading comprehension
Answers: 19, 6 p.m.-9 p.m., 20-30 million yen, 1.5 million yen.
-- Intermediate reading comprehension
Answers: He couldn't visit a clinic after school; one minute from Shinjuku Station's west exit; Tokyo University professor; they went to the same high school / belong to the same university; Kami introduced doctors and gave medical advice.
-- Language transfer tasks
Elementary--A good (free) list of modal verbs and their uses can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English modal auxiliary verb. This exercise can be done with different groups working on one of the places listed, then presenting their ideas to the class.
Intermediate/Advanced--To make the activity more interesting, divide the class into groups of five and have them role play to the class in the style of a news broadcast, with one news anchor, two reporters and Kami and Kiguchi.
Weedon has 10 years' experience teaching English in Japan. He is also the coordinator for the Oita chapter of English Teachers in Japan. Contact him with any questions about the ideas in this column at gweedon 1971@nifty.com.