Mystery Skype with Vietnam

≪Questions: Where are you from？≫
１:Do you border the ocean? 
    Answer: Yes, we do. 
２: Are you in Middle East?
    Answer:No,we are not.
３: Are you in Asia?
    Answer:Yes, we are.
４: Does your national flag have 3 colors or more?
    Answer:Yes,It has 2 colors.
５: Are you in an island?
    Answer:No ,we are not.

≪About Vietnam≫
There is the biggest cave of the world.
The cave is as large as New York .
Pho is the most famous food in Vietnam. (But they don't eat it every day.)

≪Impression≫
We were glad to meet them. It was very fun. It was difficult to understand what they said. I was surprised that hearing words was a little difficult.
We could know a lot about Vietnam.

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(Teacher’s comment)
Today's partner was kids from Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam. First we played Mystery Skype and it was a little difficult for us to find where they are from.
We have connected with schools in Vietnam several times, and it's very interesting that every school has each characteristic. Today, Vietnamese students introduced their culture to us.
Thanks Jenny from Vietnam for connecting!

Mystery Skype with Serbia

≪Questions Where are you from?≫
① Is your official language English?
Answer：No, it is not.
② Are you in Europe?
Answer：Yes, we are.
③ Are you in island country?
Answer：No, we are not.                                     
④ Does your national flag have 3 colors or more?
Answer：Yes, it does.
⑤ Do you border Russia?
Answer：No, we do not.
⑥ Are you in Czech Republic?
Answer：No, we are not.
⑦ Is your country　larger than Czech Republic?
Answer：No, it is not.
⑧ Does your country name start with a vowel?
Answer：No, it does not.
⑨ What time is it now?
Answer：It is 7：46 in the morning.
⑩ Are you in Serbia?
Answer：Yes!

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Students in Serbia were wearing ordinary clothes. They were 12 to 14 years old. They looked like real family.

≪Flag≫
There are the symbol of two-head eagles on their flag. It has red, blue and white.

≪Impression≫
It was fun, but difficult for us to guess the country,
We were glad to meet them. We felt a little nervous. We were surprised to hear they thought that we ate sushi every day.
We could not understand what they said at first. They were cool and cute. We want to talk more next time. We want to study more about foreign countries.

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(Teacher’s comment)
After a few months absence, we restarted Skype in the classroom activities. This April 6 new members joined ESS club and today they had the first Mystery Skype. It's always pleasure to see students trying to communicate in the foreign language they learn at school. But I was happy to see that many other senior members, who have played Mystery Skype several times, led the session and helped their juniors. They spoke English impromptu and I hardly helped them. (I just assisted in technical issues.)
Thanks Bijana from Serbia for connecting! Let's keep in touch and we are looking forward to seeing your students again!

Innovation Project - Learning and Sharing through Skype

May 18, 2018

Today. we Skyped for the second time and with two different countries; Sweden and Belgium. We were surprised to hear kids younger than us asking difficult questions such as “Is there a lot of poverty in Japan?” We were also surprised by the technology they had. They never use paper in their class! It was very fun and we learned a lot from them.

<Questions for Mystery Skype with Sweden>

Are you in the northern hemisphere? - Yes

Does your national flag have 3 or more colors? - No

Do you border the sea? - Yes

Do you speak English as your official language? - No

Are you in Europe? - Yes

Do you live in Russia? - No

Are you in Sweden? - YES!!

<Questions about Innovation Project to students in Sweden>

Minecraft is famous among Japanese people. Please raise your hand if you use Minecraft. (Most students in the room raised their hands)

It cost 700yen for us to use Minecraft. Is it free in your country? - No

How old are you?

<Questions for Mystery Skype with Belgium>

Are you in the northern hemisphere? - Yes

Are you in Asia? - No

Are you in America? - No

Are you in North America? - No

Do you border the sea? - Yes

Are you in Middle East? - No

Are you in the eastern hemisphere? - Yes

Are you guys in Europe? - Yes!!

Are you in Belgium? - Yes

What language do you speak? - Dutch

How old are you? - 10 to 12

Are you in a public school? - Yes

What does your school start? - 8:30am

What time does your school end? - 3:30pm

Why are there may foreign people in your country?

(Belgian students are from 38 different countries and regions like Suriname, Bosnia, Senegal, Palestine, Tibet  and do on.

<Questions Belgian students asked us after Mystery Skype>

What kind of religion do you have in Japan? - Most of us are a kind of Buddhism, and some are Christians or something else.

In recent news we heard that Japanese railway company apologized for the train being late for just 5 minutes. Is it true? - Yes

Is there a lot of poverty in Japan? - In some big cities yes. But few.

Did you ever had war in Japan? - No since 1945.

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(Teacher’s comment) 

On May 18, we connected with students in Sweden and Belgium as the part of Innovation Project (http://www.innovation-project.info). First, our students in the 1st year played Mystery Skype to find where they are and then we shared what we learned through this project with them. We were very impressed to see the video about prototypes of new smartphone that Belgian students shared on the webpage of Innovation Project. We were also pleased to answer the questions about the prototype we made for water issue. 

Thanks Emma in Sweden and Oliver in Belgium for connecting! 

Mystery Skype with Hungary

Is it morning?
Is it Austria?
Does your national flag have three colors?
Are you in the northern hemisphere?
Are you in Europe?
What time is it?
How old are you?
How do you say "hello" in your country?

We had Skype session for the first time.
We felt nerbous so sometimes we paused but we enjoyed it.
We were surprised at a journalist came to ESS club.
We thought that our English skill is not enough. So we will study more and we wanna talk with foreigners.
We showed PPAP to them. They laughed a lot.
It was fun!!


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(Teacher's Comment)

With more than 10 new members of 1st year students, we enjoyed playing Mystery Skype at  club activity today. In fact it was first Skype session for new members. There were approximately 30 students in the room so we divided them into 3 groups. 2nd and 3rd years supporteed 1st years, teaching them how to think and help them with making questions in English. Overall, I found 1st year students had very good communication skills. They didn't hesitate to talk and asked many questions.

Thank you Dondi Gyöngyi Tóthné Bán, the amazing teacher from Hungary, for this special moment. It's always nice to have a session with you and hope to collaborate with your students again.

Climate Action Call with Serbia

October 25th, 2017

Today we talked with Serbian students.

<Questions>
Are you in the Northern Hemisphere? - Yes
Do you border the sea? - No
Are you in the Western Hemisphere? - Maybe.
Are you in Europe? - Yes
Does your country name start with a vowel? - No
Do you border Germany? - No
Do you border Romania? - Yes

Are you in Hungary? - No
Are you in Serbia? - YES!!

(Questions from Serbia)
Do you live in Asia? - Yes
Are you in China? - No
Do you live in Japan? - YES!!

They could find our country quickly. So we were surprised. They were 13 years old, but they looked mature for their age. They played their traditional instrument. It was very beautiful sound. We felt pleasant. We showed them PPAP. They laughed a lot. It was very fun!

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(Teacher's Comment)

Again this call was for Climate Action project. After we found out each country, we showed our national flag - though I could not find our own, so we drew red circle on a piece of squared paper. Later, we asked how to say "Climate Change" in each native language, and gave a short presentation about the project. The connection was a bit challenging this time, but we managed to keep the session. 

Thanks Anica Trickovic for setting this session. We also enjoyed your showing your school after the session. :)

Climate Action Skype Call with Vietnam and Denmark

October 24th, 2017

We interacted with students in Vietnam and Denmark today.

16:00 - 16:30
<Questions>
Do you border the sea? - Yes.
Are you in the Northern Hemisphere? - No
Are you in Asia? - Yes
Are you in an island country? - No
Are you in Malaysia? - No, but close!

CLUE "Our country looks like the letter S. "

Are you in Vietnam? - YES!!

They knew a lot of Japanese culture such as anime and sushi.
They were in the same age with us.
They were very active!!
Also, they knew many things about Japan. They told us about Vietnam. Vietnam's famous food is "Pho". A boy students wanted us to call him.

17:00 - 17:30
<Questions>
(Japan to Denmark)
Do you border the sea? - Yes
Are you in the Northern Hemisphere? - Yes
Do you border the Mediterranean Sea? - No
Do you border Germany? - Yes

Are you in Netherland? - No
Do you border Poland? - No
Are you in Denmark? - YES!!

How old are you? - 10-11 years old.

(Denmark to Japan)
Do you live in Asia? - Yes
Do you have red in your flag? - Yes
Do you have white in your flag? - Yes
Are you from Japan? - YES!!
Do you live northern than Tokyo? - No
Is the population in your city more than billion? - No
Does your city border the sea? - No
Is there more than 50,000 people in your city? - No
Are you in Kyushu? - No
Do you live in the capital? - No
Where do you live? - We live in Maibara.

How old are you? - 15-16 years old.
Why do you put mask? - Because it's cold.


They were elementary school students but their English was very fluent. We were surprised!
Denmark is famous for Lego and Little Mermaid.

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(Teacher's Comment)

This call was set to share what we learned in Climate Action project (http://www.climate-action.info). Vietnamese students told us that pollution is a serious problem in their nation and Dennish students showed us their ideas with Minecraft and we were all amazed to see their high creativity.

Also, a Dennish girl asked us why Tokyo is so clean - well, honestly the cityside in Japan is not so clean as the coutryside. But one rule that might interest you is that in Japan everyone never leaves trash. If we can't find trash boxes, we usually bring the trash to our home and it is like a tacit rule. If you leave them, you will be regarded as rude or ignorant. Even in my school, students must bring the plastic bottles to their home if you bring one from their home. I think this rule influences greatly to keep the environment clean. 

Let me show my gratitude to the two educators we had a call on the day - Lieu Nguyen Thi from Vietnam and Katja Borregaard from Denmark. It was great pleasure to see you two after meeting you in E2 Toronto.

Mystery Skype with Genius School in India

September 15, 2017

We talked with students in India via Skype.

<Questions>
Are you in Asia? - Yes
Are you in an island? - No
Are you in Eastern Asia? - No
Do you border China? - Yes
Are you in India? - YES!!

They gave a hint to us: the country Japanese Prime Minister visited recently

<Questions to India>

What time does your school start? - At seven o'clock

Do you eat curry every day? - Yes

Do you eat cuerry with your hand? - Yes

What is your religion? - Hinduism

They were interested in Japan. So they asked some things about Japan to us.

When you take off your shoes, why do you arrange its direction?

- Because you can put on those shoes easily when you go out of the building.

We made some questions of math for them. Of course, they could answer those questions very easily. We were surpirised. 

We enjoyed talking with them. It was fun to make math questions and we decided to compete with them someday.

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(Teacher's Comment)

I'm sure that both Japanese and Indian students learned eaxh culture through this session. (It's timely because currently our Prime Minister stays at India.) Some questions were quite interesting - like why we take off our shoes oppositely when we enter the house, or if it is true that we give handkerchief when we welcome guests at home. (The latter one is not common so we are not sure if it is true or now, but not at home but in restaurants we are given hand towel freely.)

Also, my students asked an interesting question: is it true that Indians are good at math?

They agreed, and we gave them some questions from our math textbook. The Indian students solved the questions quite fast, which surprised all of us! Maybe we should hold Skype competition for math with Indian someday.