English for Japanese Speakers Course: Mako Makes Learning English Fun

Yesterday I went to one of my favorite haunts in Chicagoland, the Mitsuwa Marketplace. Mitsuwa Marketplace is a Japanese market which includes a grocery store, a food court, a travel agent, a video rental shop, a ceramics shop, and of course, my favorite, the Sanseido Bookstore. I could spend hours and hours looking at all of the Japanese magazines and  books.

One section that I really love to browse through is the EFL section for Japanese speakers. I discovered a publisher called ALC Co., which prints many EFL books for Japanese speakers and also many books on learning Japanese for English speakers. I made note of their web address and when I returned home I went to their site. I discovered an e-learning book so utterly brilliant that I wanted to share it with you.

There is an EFL book for the iPad in which a cute little Japanese cat named Mako will teach you English. I must admit, I do not read Japanese (yet) but after looking at images from the book and blog, downloading Mako's iTunes app, and watching the corresponding videos at YouTube, I think this is a delightful way to learn some English.

In this lesson from the book, Mako teaches you how to use the verb 'to look like.'

Mako has five lessons available at YouTube. This is Lesson 1: Mako's Home.

This is a screen capture of the iPhone app that is available for free download:

 

Lastly, Mako has a blog (a very talented cat!), which translates into English: Look strange cat named Mako.

Here is what Mako's blog looks like in its original Japanese:

 

If you are Japanese and have learned some English with Mako's help, please add a comment and let us know if you enjoyed learning English with Mako!

Essential Vocabulary

a haunt (n) ~ a place that one loves to visit again and again. It is like how a ghost haunts a particular location.

ceramics (n) ~ made of porcelain. Vases, bowls, and tea cups can be ceramics.

to make note of ~ to keep in memory for a later time; to write down for reference for a later time