In Ken Robinson’s speech, he argued that the present education system in England and America robs children of their creativity. The education stresses rote learning and practical subjects like English and Mathematics. An ideal person in the education is a professor. This system doesn’t include a training to create something new and this deprives human beings of an only means to develop our society, “creativity”. I think his opinion is right to the point and the same problem exists in Japanese education system. However, Japanese education system is much worse than the ones in the West, and should be improved as soon as possible. I pick up 3 bad points of it.

First, rote learning is stressed in studying all subjects in Japan. In English class, every student repeat the same sentence loudly many times and doesn’t learn how to reply to a greeting. In mathematics, students only learn formulas by their hearts and apply them to questions. And, surprisingly, actual technique classes like physical education and music class put the importance on exams. In contrast, art classes that stimulate children’s creativity are few. Students are absorbed in rote learning and preparation for exams, so there is no room for creativity.

Second, students have to devote most of their school life to preparation for entrance exams. In Japan, to get a stable and high-salary job, entering universities keeping high deviation value is necessity. A lot of parents make their children go to cram schools and students have to struggle with much homework. Thus, they don’t have much time to enjoy classes in school, especially actual technique classes. At Keio University, a lot of my friends used to go to cram schools and had studied hard since they were elementary school students.

Third, in Japanese education, classes that teach students how to live are few. In a curriculum of compulsory education and public high schools, classes of home economics are sometimes done. However, most of the private schools, a lot of classes aim at entrance exams and students can’t learn how to cook, wash clothes and do needlework. Therefore, a lot of students can’t do any housework. Of course, I’m not good at housework. I took lessons of home economics in elementary school, but those classes are much less than classes of subjects used in entrance exams. These days, people say it is good for husbands to do housework. However, if this situation in home economics class continues, husbands can’t do any domestic chores.

Considering these 3 points, I think that all schools of compulsory education in Japan should be public and, in this 9 years classes that stimulate creativity and teaches how to live should be placed the importance on. In all public schools under the same curriculum, students take creative classes. For example, creative dance class in physical education and drawing pictures under a free theme in art class. In addition, home economics become a big part of the curriculum so that every student can live by himself. These curriculum cultivate children’s creativity and an ability to live.

As Robinson said, creativity is necessity for development of human beings. Only the weapon human beings have is creativity, so we will die if creativity dies. Therefore, to cultivate creativity is urgent business for us. To take the first step, we have to change Japanese education.

Summery

Nowadays game controllers are used in a lot of practical ways. For example, surgery training, flight simulating and bomb defusing. In addition, a future weapon of U.S. Navy using laser is going to be controlled by a controller like that of PS3 and XBOX360. The reason for these wide use of video game controllers is that they have evolved into more and more comfortable and intelligent forms. They have polished for a lot of years to become easier to handle and intelligent to control complex things. As a result, they exceed controllers developed by public organizations. Ways of controllers will expand in the future.

My opinion

I think surely game controllers are great, but it can lead dangerous situation. For above reasons, game controllers are easy to handle and can control complex system. Ways of video game controllers will expand from controlling a robot to driving. However, some people will use controllers in playing feelings. This brings about danger because of their practical use. If a student of medical department uses a controller in surgery training  with playing feeling, they cannot obtain enough skills. If a pilot controls a automated bomber with playing feeling, serious mistake bombing can occur. Therefore, you can use video game controllers in a lot of situations, but you should use them in serious attitude.

Summery

Protesters in Hong Kong called off a ballot about whether to accept government concessions or not. This is because protesters’ opinions about a format of the vote were divided and protest leaders thought they could not hold it. In Hong Kong, a lot of protesters, especially students, have requested the government to receive “full democracy” and done sit-ins since September. At first, Hong Kong government did not allow these actions and tried to suppress them. However, protesters have stood up to this and the government has no choice but to make a concession about democratic system. Considering a failure of a ballot to decide protesters’ policy, it is hard for both the government and protesters to find a point of compromise.

My opinion

I think that protesters should get opinions in shape and decide clearly what they demand for the government. Now, opinions of protesters were divided and they do not unite. If this situation continues, the government will try to attack them by inner maneuver and oppression. In addition, an internal strife over the course of the campaign can happen. To avoid this and realize the first democratic society in China, demonstrators have to unite and decide their policy.  In conclusion, the ballot should be held as soon as possible.

What I believe is the future of Japan.This is because Japan has wonderful good points.Those points are the excellent scenery, the national traits and long peace. In this essay, I talk about these appealing points.

First, a lot of great pieces of scenery are in Japan. For example, Mt.Fuji, historical buildings in Kyoto and Nara and forests in Shiretoko. These are very beautiful and famous as sightseeing spots. However, appealing points are not only their beauty. If you visit these places, you can learn how Japanese people have lived and how powerless human beings are. So you cannot help think what human beings live for. Therefore, Japanese scenery charms people by not only beauty but also profundity.

Second, the national traits of Japanese people are very gentle. They always take actions thinking what other people think. So they often concede something to others and prioritize them. The good example of this is conducts in a train. When someone who are aged or injured gets on a train, most of the people in Japan give their seat to him. And their gentleness appeared on the international stage. In the 2014 soccer world-cup in Brazil, Japanese supporters surprised all over the world by cleaning a stadium after a game. This action was much talked about on the Internet, and supporters of other countries did the same thing.　From these points, gentleness of Japanese people is recognized in the world.

Third, Japan has been peaceful since WW2. This is because Japan has a stable political system. This system include the constitution that prohibit participation in a war, democratic election system and the separation of government. In addition, the alliance with the U.S. has defended Japan from other countries. Especially, this alliance played an important part in Japanese international relations during cold war. These factors leads to long peace of Japan.

Considering these 3 points, I think the prosperity of Japan will continue in the future. In the 21th century, there are a lot of problems in the world. However, if Japan cooperate with other countries and tackle the difficulty, these problems will be solved. Thank you for your listening.

Summary

America is in difficulty because of an illegal immigrants problem. These days, more and more immigrants, especially unaccompanied children, from Central America cross the border illegally. To deal with this, American government is sending a lot of agents to the boarder to capture the immigrants. However, there is another problem. The government have to find an answer to how to treat young immigrants who have already been in America. They don’t have their citizenships, so they cannot get a fixed job, take out an insurance policy and go to school. Therefore, American government is at a loss what to do to treat those children.

My opinion

I think America should find a fundamental solution to this illegal immigrants problem. This is because those immigrants cross the border because of their poverty. Now, the economy of Mexico is very bad and people have no choice but to work abroad. Therefore, to stop immigrants, America have to change economic situation of Mexico. A good example of this is to overseas expansion of factories. This enables companies to cut down personal expenses, and people in the country can get more works. In conclusion, America should not only reinforce the guard of the border but also take some fundamental steps to change the economic situation.