FMEC トピック・ディスカッションコース掲示板

January 10, 2020 Topic - Resolutions

Welcome everyone to the new decade of 2020s! I hope you had a great New Year's and reflected on all the ups and downs you went through. This week we will discuss about the future and the things we want to better for ourselves. This week we will talk about resolutions.

Link: https://www.writing-skills.com/four-simple-tricks-resolutions-stick


Discussion questions:

1) What is one Near Year's resolution you keep telling yourself each year, but never managed to accomplish?

2) What motivates you to be the best version of yourself?

3) What New Year's resolution do you want to accomplish this year?

December 27 Topic - Memories of the Decade
Hello everyone! Welcome to the last meeting of this year and of this decade (2010-2020)!
This week we will be remembering the good times and the bad times of things that happened in this past decade.
We'll be going over some major events that have happened and how it has affected the world and us personally!

https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/g29729623/things-you-forgot-happened-this-decade-2010-to-2019/

Easy to see guide:
1) 1st iPad
2) Lady Gaga 'meat dress'
3) Rebecca Black 'Friday'
4) Royal Wedding
5) Planking
6) End of Harry Potter
7) Linsanity
8) Kony 2012
9) Gangnam Style
10) End of the World
11) Harlem Shake
12) Cup Song
13) What Does the Fox Say
14) Mayalsia Airlines
15) Ice Bucket Challenge
16) The Dress
17) Racially-diverse emojis
18) Same-sex marriage
19) Leonardo won an Oscar
20) Pokemon Go
21) The Vine app
22) Women March
23) Fidget Spinner
24) Solar Eclipse
25) #MeToo
26) Hawaii missiles
27) Harambe
28) Royal Wedding
29) Banksy
30) US Congress diversity
31) Black hole photo

Discussion Questions:
1. What event or trend impacted you the most from this list and why?
1b. What about outside the list?
2. What events do think will happen in the next 10 years (decade)?
2b. What do you want to personally accomplish in the next 10 years?
3. What's your best memory from these past 10 years?

December 20th's Topic - Miracles

Hello everybody. How are you doing today. Did you have a nice lunch. I hope you are having a great day! Anyways! We are down to our last two meetings of the year and in the spirit of the season, this week's topic will be a fun light topic of miracles. We will read different real-life stories of people experiencing miracles. This is also a chance for us to grow closer as we share a bit of happiness with one another. Share peace and love everyone.

Link: https://www.rd.com/true-stories/inspiring/christmas-miracles/

Topic discussion:

1. Do you believe in miracles or are they something else?
2. Have you ever experienced a miracle yourself or do you know anyone who has?
3. If you were to be granted one miracle (aka wish), what would it be?

Dec. 13, 2019 - Japan’s LGBT+ Community

Only 1 article today yay!

This week, we will be discussing the current state of the LGBT+ community in Japan. Currently in Japan, same-sex marriage is not legally recognized federally. However, several local goverments have granted legal recognition of same-sex union. The reading material this week is a news article about what’s going on in Japan’s LGBT+ community. I would like everyone to share their thoughts and feelings, and also have a look at the situation from an objective perspective.

Japan's LGBT+ progress outpaces politics:https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Asia-Insight/Japan-s-LGBT-progress-outpaces-politics

1. What does the abbreviation LGBT+ stand for? How much did you know about this community in Japan before reading the article?
2. What do you think about the LGBT+ community in Japan?
3. The article mentions a survey where the results have indicated that 78% of the people aged between 20 to 59 are in favour of same-sex marriage. Why do you think that Japan, as a country, does not recognize same-sex marriage?
4. The article mentions that not legalizing same-sex marriage is a deterrent for highly-skilled workers thinking about immigrating to Japan. Therefore, legalizing same-sex marriage can have a positive economic impact. What are some other benefits of legalizing same-sex marriage in Japan for the country? How about drawbacks?
5. How do you feel about same-sex marriage? Should their union be recognized legally? Why or why not?

December 6th, 2019 – Marijuana

With recent scandals surrounding Erika Sawajiri, I thought it would be interesting to talk about cannabis, also known as marijuana. While her arrest seems to be due to marijuana as well as other drugs, I would like to focus your attention just on marijuana.

Over the past decade, Canada, as well as many states in the US, have legalized the recreational use of marijuana. Furthermore, there have been evidence that marijuana can be used medicinally.

Meanwhile, currently, there are no countries in Asia where marijuana is legal recreationally, including Japan. This week, I would like everyone to share their thoughts and attitudes toward marijuana.

Pros and Cons of Marijuana Legalization https://marijuana.procon.org/

Marijuana vs Alcohol: Which is Worse for Your Health? https://www.livescience.com/42738-marijuana-vs-alcohol-health-effects.html

Medical marijuana FAQ https://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/medical-marijuana-faq

Discussion Questions:

1. What was your stance about marijuana before reading these articles? Were you for or against legalization of recreational use of marijuana? How about medical use of marijuana?
2. Do you think that the pros of marijuana legalization outweigh the cons? Or do you think that the cons outweigh the pros? Please explain.
3. After comparing the effects of alcohol vs marijuana, which do you think has more negative effects?
4. What is your stance about marijuana after reading these articles? Should it be legalized only medically? Should it be legalized recreationally as well?
5. What is your stance on alcohol? Has it changed after reading the article discussing the effects of alcohol vs marijuana?
6. Do you think that there is a chance that Japan would legalize marijuana in any form? Why or why not?

November 29 Topic - Awkwardness

Hello everyone. Have you ever talked about someone (in a not so good way) and then suddenly that person shows up behind you.... What did you do?
Well today we'll talk about everything awkward! From personal stories to stories found online!

Article Link
https://www.boredpanda.com/embarrassing-people-stories-andy-ryan/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic

Discussion question:
1. Have you ever talked about someone and they showed up behind you? What did you do?
2. What is your most awkward moment from your school days?
3. Have you ever walked in on something you were never supposed to? What was it? How did you react?
4. Have you ever held your tongue on something you really wanted to say?
5. Have you ever overheard a conversation and it was so interesting that you didn't stop listening?

November 22 Topic- - Impeachment of Trump
Hello everyone.

This week we will talk about Donald Trump and his current status in the impeachment inquiry.


Link: https://apnews.com/Trumpimpeachmentinquiry

Discussion questions:
1) What does impeachment mean?
2) How long do you think the impeachment process will continue for?
3) Do you think it'll go through or fail? (Consider past presidental impeachments such at POTUS Bill Clinton)
4) What makes a good president?
5) Should the presidental election requirements be different in order for someone to become president?

Hello everyone. For this week's discussion we will be discussing evolution.

Links:
Animal evolution
https://www.cracked.com/article_20368_the-6-coolest-survival-traits-designed-by-evolution.html

Human evolution
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/ten-weird-body-parts-you-8431307

Evolutions that have barely evolved
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/11/151114-animals-mammals-evolution-platypus-opossum/

Discussion Questions:
1. What traits do you humans will evolve to have in the future?
2. If you can have any trait from the animals (from of the article), what trait would you want to possess?
3. Are you missing any of the "useless" body parts mentioned in one of the articles above?
4. Do you think technology is helping with human evolution or do you think it is slowing down it's process?
5. Do you think humans will look completely different in the next 100,000 years or do you think our future generations will look similar to how we are now?

Discussion Topic for Nov 8, 2019 (Tim)

Food authenticity

It's been a while! I'm back with another discussion topic!
This week, we will discuss about the authenticity of Japanese food in other countries, as well as ethnic foods in Japan.

Article from 2006:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/23/AR2006112301158.html

Discussion Questions:
1. What do you think about Toshikatsu Matsuoka’s plans to certify authentic Japanese food in other countries?
2. What do you think is real “authentic” Japanese food?
3. Have you had “non-authentic” Japanese food? What do you think about it?
4. Have you had food from other countries? Do you like it?
5. Do you think that food from other countries in Japan is “authentic?”
6. Should food always be “authentic?”

Bonus Question: What’s your favourite ethnic food restaurant? Please share!

Hello everybody! On this week's discussion topic we will discuss two separate ideas. The first one is about ghosts, people's personal stories, and what science has to say about it. The second on is about China's censorship on a popular American TV show, Southpark. Join us this week as we discuss both topics and share our ideas with one another!

LINKS (Censorship)
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/amp/news/south-park-banned-chinese-internet-critical-episode-1245783

Discussion Questions (Censorship)
1. Do you believe China's censorship is justifiable?
2. Is censorship good or necessary?
3. What are some examples of censorship in Japan?

LINKS (Ghost)
https://www.buzzfeed.com/spenceralthouse/real-and-scary-ghost-stories

Discussion Questions (Ghost)
1. Do you believe in ghosts? (OR) Do you believe science has an answer?
2. Have you ever encountered ghosts before?
3. If someone told you they could make you see ghosts, would you accept?