Gifu Links...



...a la Others.

Jeffrey's shortlist of useful links: personally tested and highly recommended for anyone in, on, or around Gifu.
I use these resources constantly, and I have a pretty nice life here. Of course, I cannot guarantee YOU a nice life
merely by following these links, but it could set you off on the right foot. Of course, as with all things in life,
please use at your own risk:

• Top Two / Informational / Medical / Psychological / Lifestyle / Educational / Japanese / Search
  
  
  

Top Two Helpful Links a la Others:

• Kikuko's Nagoya/Gifu Area Events Calendar
  Stop missing all the amazing cultural, musical, and mercantile opportunities
  this area has to offer just because your lame friends don't pay attention
  to anything outside their keitai. No one knows like Kikuko knows...
  
  (And if you instead happen to be in Miyazaki as I am now,
  here's an events calendar that might help you out:
  MAJET Events Calendar)
  
  
• www.hyperdia.com
  Hyperdia: Simply the best resource for Train Timetables in English.
  
  
  

Informational Links a la Others:

• The Weather Channel: Detailed 10-day Forecast for Gifu or Miyazaki
  Predicting the weather in Japan even from hour to hour is notoriously difficult, but this site boldly gives 10 days of detailed weather, updated constantly. If you check it daily, you will have a pretty decent picture of what to expect. And if you are expecting the unexpected, please check with the Japan Meteorological Agency for Typhoon/Earthquake/Tsunami/Volcano warnings and tracking.
  
  
• Google Maps Japan
  Accessing Google Maps through this link will drop you in on the map of Japan with both kanji and romaji displayed for prefectures, cities, wards, and towns (other geographical features and details are displayed only in kanji). All the usual Google Maps features are at your command, including detailed layouts of city blocks, overhead satellite photos, and ambulatory street photos. If you can enter addresses in kanji you can pinpoint anything, and you can search for cities and train stations using romaji fairly reliably. Unfortunately, romaji searches for exact address locations tend to be more miss than hit, so if someone hands you an address written in kanji, try the AU Navi Maps just below.
  
  
• AU Navi Maps
  All in Japanese, this site is perfect for those times you are given an address written only in kanji because it breaks up the search in sections, presenting you with a list of options by region first, then prefecture, then city, then area, then block number, narrowing the search items at each step. With this hunt-and-peck method you don't have to actually enter any kanji, making it surprisingly easy to find the address even for beginners.
  
  
• The Japan News by The Yomiuri Shimbun
  My favorite way to keep up with the local news in Japan. Seems to offer fairly balanced reporting and doesn't suffer from the foreigner-biased-perspective that tends to poison other English sources of local news.
  
  
• AP News (US) and Reuters News (UK)
  For World news that is a little less biased and a lot less cluttered, why not go straight to the source.
  
  
• Currency Exchange Rates
  Lately, predicting the vicissitudes of currency is nearly as difficult as predicting the weather but with arguably much higher stakes. Check here periodically for a convenient way to keep track of your incidental international pay raises/cuts and get the most out of your international money transfers.
  
  
  

Medical Links a la Others:

• Gifu Medical Facility Search Portal and the Multilingual Medical Questionnaire
  If you find yourself needing medical attention and don't know where to go, this search portal will help you find the right doctor in the right place at the right time, and even help you locate a doctor that speaks your own language. While you are making arrangements for medical care, make sure you are both on the same page by printing and filling out one of these Multilingual Medical Questionnaires. In fact, while you are here with some time to kill, why don't you print these out right now and keep copies at work and at home so they are there for you in an emergency.
  
  
• Kamo Shika Dental Clinic
  Even in childhood, I have always had a sort of paranoia concerning trauma to my, admittedly slightly less than perfect, teeth. So, I am very choosy about who gets to tinker on them with metal instruments. Here in Japan I have heard of many, and have nearly had my own, disturbing experiences with poorly equipped, non-communicative dentists with outdated training. The truth about dentistry in Japan is that with our national health insurance we have very reasonable access to state-of-the-art dental care. It's just unlikely to be found in the grungy old chair of your local grandfather-of-a-friend-of-the-friend-to-all-foreigners. It is much more likely to be found in the fantastically equipped new offices of the well trained younger generation of dentists. If you are willing to travel for top-notch dental care, I can highly recommend this dentist in Minokamo. He has been cleaning and repairing my fragile and precious teeth for the past several years, and has given excellent service to several other ALTs from all over Gifu Prefecture. His English isn't perfect, but what makes me so comfortable with him is that he is a great communicator. He actively checks the dictionary, draws pictures, and gestures to make sure you clearly understand what is wrong and what work will be done before proceeding. He even has a mini-camera and touch screen display so that he can take pictures of your teeth and show you exactly what is going on in there. He is also very good about answering your questions and checks if everything is okay throughout the procedure. His office is beautifully designed by a local architect, outfitted with marvellous equipment, and he uses up-to-date techniques with modern materials. He does not use Mercury in tooth repair. For fillings on the visible front teeth he usually uses white composite resin, which requires only one visit. For the heavy-duty back teeth he uses solid silver, requiring up to three visits: (1) to prepare the tooth, take impressions for the mold, and fill with temporary plastic, (2) to fit and install the cast-silver filling, (3) and possibly to check and adjust the biting surface to maintain proper alignment. If you are coming in from far away this can add up, but keep in mind that multiple visits are the norm in Japan for most procedures (and logistically necessary for procedures involving solid-cast fillings), and that the costs for the work itself are shockingly cheap because of our national health insurance coverage. For travelers he has been very agreeable to performing things like dental cleaning in a single visit instead of the usual four (one quadrant at a time...), so just be sure to discuss the issue during the initial consultation. I still go to him even though I now live an hour away, and I am not the only ALT who has found his service worth such a trip. Conveniently, he is located just north of Kobi Station (one stop past Minoota on the JR Takayama Line) not far from Highway 41, with evening and Saturday hours.
  
  
• Ito Chiropractic
  Regular physical tune-ups a la chiropractor have helped keep me lively, fit, and youthful for the past decade, and they could probably help you too. Unfortunately, chiropractors are not all created equal, and the lack of sufficient regulation here in Japan does not always inspire confidence. Intending to stay graceful and beautiful forever, I am extremely picky about choosing my healthcare professionals, and this chiropractor passed my rigorous personal screening with flying colors. Dr. Ito studied and practiced for several years in the US, graduating from the original Palmer College of Chiropractic, and is a fully US licensed Doctor of Chiropractic. Further, he uses a very soft method of chiropractic adjustment that I have found to be more effective on me than the usual pop-pop-neck-twist sort of thing common back home, which might especially appeal to any of you first-timers. He speaks perfectly and idiomatically fluent English, has a very comfortable table-side manner, is very conveniently located just north of Kanayama Station off Highway 19 in Nagoya with evening and Saturday hours, and charges less for all this than you would expect to pay back home.
  
  
  

Psychological Links a la Others:

• joyomancy
  because life is a journey towards joy--
  Healing and life-path consulting for your body, mind, and spirit from Yours Truly, Jeffrey.
  
  
• Myers-Briggs/Jung-Typology Test (in English 英語) and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (in Japanese 日本語)
  One of the most famous and functional tests of personality type, I have found this to be surprisingly helpful in understanding both myself and my friends, colleagues, and co-workers, both foreign and Japanese, in ways that greatly improve our ability to communicate and work smoothly together despite differences in approach.
  
  
• Susan Miller's Astrology Zone (in English 英語) and the VOGUE JAPAN Monthly Horoscope with Susan Miller (in Japanese 日本語)
  Get your monthly horoscope in English or Japanese from one of the best international astrologers, Susan Miller. The English version is very comprehensive with lots of details and dates to give you a complete picture of the month ahead, and the Japanese version is a somewhat summarized translation of the same information. Taken together they can help keep you and your Japanese friends in synch with the stars and with each other...
  
  
  

Lifestyle Links a la Others:

• Surviving in Japan: (without much Japanese)
  The ultimate, unconventional how-to guide for expats living in Japan. Tons of help on tons of topics with tons of translations and tons of pictures. What else can I say? Go check it out. Now!
  
  
• Living in Gifu Guidebook
  Invaluable information on all the details of going about the daily business and the not-so-daily business (emergencies, getting married, having babies, dying, getting a pension,...) of life in Gifu. Complete with important addresses, phone numbers, reference tables, and in bilingual format (Japanese content faces matching English content), these PDF pages are easy to print out as a bilingual reference that can help keep everyone on the same page while navigating the issues of Real-Life in Japan. And just in case things happen to suddenly get Larger-than-Life, make sure you are prepared by checking out this Gifu Emergency Guidebook.
  
  
• CLAIR Multilingual Living Information
  A comprehensive, detailed, multilingual guide to living in Japan. This seems to have more information and in more languages than the Gifu-specific guide above, though unfortunately the format makes it slower to load, more complicated to navigate, and difficult to print out. It also lacks the local contact information found in the local guide. But if you can't find what you are looking for in the local guide, or need information in a language other than English, this should be your next stop.
  
  
• Gifu JETs Website
  The articles here are a great resource not only for JET Programme Participants, but for anyone teaching English in Japan. And in the Downloads Section you can find some great Gifu Regional Guides and Living Guides, including the comprehensive Arrival/Departure Guidebooks for anyone coming to or leaving Japan for the first time.
  
  
• Warabe Mura Wholefoods
  Did you know that there is an organic whole foods store right here in Gifu-ken? If you live in the Chuno area, stop by their storefront in Tomika. Otherwise, check out their online English catalogue and place an order.
  
  
• Alishan Organic Center / Tengu Natural Foods
  If you can't find an item or particular brand you want at Warabe Mura Wholefoods (or if you live over in Eastern Japan), then give this organic grocer up in Saitama a try.
  
  
• FBC: The Foreign Buyers Club
  Finally, if you really need a product or US brand (ranging from popular processed crap to 100% natural organics; and including real, full-sized, orange pumpkins for Halloween) that you just can't find anywhere in Japan, this is the place to go. The Deli keeps a variety of fresh foods in stock locally, shipped from Kobe within a week. The General Store has a surprisingly wide-ranging stock of items shipped directly from the USA within a month. And their Learning Center gives you access to all of the fun teacher's stuff you remember from back home. Prices are quite reasonable, and shipping is shockingly low at less than ¥1,000 for most orders regardless of size.
  
  
• No.1 Travel × H.I.S.
  From 14 day treks across 4 countries, to last-minute family emergency flights back home, I have usually found the best service and cheapest fares here. If you are making travel plans, try a call to the Nagoya office of No.1 Travel. They will work to find the best discount plans available and can handle it all over the phone and by fax (including cheap, convenient travel insurance), and all in English. They are also probably your best bet for reserving any work-reimbursable flights on your way back home--
  
  
• The Nightclub Scene a la Ashley
  Going out on the town? Let Ashley guide you to some of the best venues in Nagoya and Gifu. And yes, I did say Gifu. Believe it or not, one of my favorite nightclubs is the very hip B's Cafe right here in the downtown Yanagase area of Gifu City. Unfortunately, Ashley has been away from us for some time now, so some information may be past its freshness-date. Please double-check the details before heading out the door.
  
  
• The Nagoya Players
  Whether you join them in the audience at one of their Spring/Fall shows, or backstage as an actor, stage crew, or production crew, come give a hand in more than 40 years of English-language community theatre here in Nagoya.
  
  And to enjoy even more of the highest caliber theatre in the area, check out the show schedules of Theatre Iridescence and KPB Theatre. You worked hard to cultivate your literary sensibilities, so keep them maintained, entertained, and profoundly moved by the diverse offerings of these amazing directors--
  
  
  

Educational Links a la Others:

• imagineigo いまじん英語
  After twelve years of ALT teaching and support, I have finally launched out on my own with online English lessons. I am currently focused on small-group adult sessions to build and maintain fluency, flexibility, and confidence.
  Learning English can be easier than you think --just use your imagination!
  
  
• ALT Advising / Curriculum Consulting with Jeffrey
  If you're new to teaching and tired of the stress that comes from constantly wracking your brains to come up with ideas for the next lesson and the seemingly random hit-or-miss nature of student engagement... or if you are already a seasoned teacher looking to up your game with a fresh perspective on what is possible in a truly student-centered curriculum... I am offering a comprehensive consulting service to help you develop engaging classroom skills, create fun but effective lesson plans, and build a sustainable curriculum tailored to your own unique circumstances, strengths, and ideas.
  
  When you consult with me, you are partnering up with years of wide-ranging practical experience coupled with truly inspired outside-the-box thinking. Don't let the stress of teaching keep you from the joys of teaching... just a few hours and a reasonable fee can dramatically change the course of your day-to-day working life --for your self, for your students, and for your sanity.
  
  
• Daily English Diary & Learning Tips FREE on YouTube!
  If you are teaching ESL English, feel free to use this easily accessible resource for your busy students outside the classroom! They are probably already on YouTube, so meet them where they are actually at to turn a perpetual distraction into a daily learning tool--
  
  Every day I'm posting my short daily diary. It's in easy English so you can enjoy some listening & reading practice and learn some useful daily conversation. Sometimes on Thursdays I will post a quick English learning tip on something from the diaries. Have fun!
  (click here for some tips and printable resources)
  
  
• Teacher Training & Professional Development
  If you are thinking of getting serious about teaching, want to network with other English teachers in the area, or just need some new tools in your ALT-kit, there are plenty of local opportunities waiting for you:
  
  
  • The Archipelago Group is an exciting newcomer on the scene focused on creating Academic Wa or harmony between Japanese Teachers of English (JTEs) and Foreign Assistant Language Teachers (ALTs) through joint practical training workshops and idea-development retreats. So grab a co-worker and come be part of a revolution...
    
    
  • ETJ Aichi specializes in workshops for teachers of young-learners. So if you work with small children, this is the group for you. They host about 6 workshops per year on Sunday mornings at Chukyo University (Nagoya Campus in the Yagoto area).
    
    
  • JALT Gifu is the local chapter of the national JALT organization with a focus on professional development and plenty of opportunities for training, networking, presenting, and publishing. There is something here for everyone, and you may find this group especially useful if you are in or interested in the university teaching scene. They host about 8 workshops per year on Saturday evenings in Heartful Square (east end of Gifu JR station).
    
    
  • Power Seminars brings you the latest ideas from the most dynamic local speakers, presenting it all to you in extended, intensive workshops.
    
    
• Communicative English: A Practical Guide
  Probably the most comprehensive guide available as to what the Gifu Board of Education expects of its ALTs, JTEs, and English Education in general, recommendations on how to reach these expectations, troubleshooting guides for when things go awry, and a host of resources to help you on the way. So if you ever find yourself wandering, wondering why you are here, this is a good place to go to find your bearings and set your course.
  
  
• Grammar and Diagramming Sentences
  Ok, though I have no reasonable idea why, I know that diagramming sentences fell out of fashion (and most educational programs) long before many of you were even born. But if you have ever wondered why I am so quick on the draw when it comes to answering obscure grammar questions, it is because I diagrammed sentences for fun as a child. Seriously. And I've got Gertrude Stein on my side, Baby. Anyway, it is not too late for those of you who were deprived as schoolchildren by your so-called "modern" educational system to pick up this invaluable skill and pass it on to your English students in some form or other. So put down your crosswords or sudoku grids and try your hand at puzzling out some grammar. You might be surprised just how interesting it really is...
  
  In the meantime, while you are diligently improving your mastery of Basic Patterns and Complex Constructions through sentence diagramming, should you be presented with any grammatical puzzles or paradoxes beyond your current skill level, please check out their amazingly comprehensive Guide to Grammar and Writing. And before composing an email to tell me off about my grammarian elitism, please feel free to consult their equally comprehensive Principles of Composition.
  
  
• Web Tools for Students
  A collection of online tools to help students' English study and projects.
  
  
• Web Development Tools
  A collection of online resources to aid your web development projects.
  
  
• Easy English NEWS
  If you work with advanced English learners who would like to follow the current US news in English, this might be the perfect fit. This monthly newspaper contains a variety of interesting articles and advice columns written in simple sentences with an included glossary of highlighted vocabulary. It makes good challenge readings for intermediate students or appropriate extensive reading material for highly advanced learners. It's a paid subscription that gets significantly cheaper when ordered in bulk, and the quality is excellent. You can easily download a complete sample PDF to try it out for yourself and your students--
  
  
• Project Gutenberg
  Find yourself with a lot of time on your hands? Then catch up on some reading. And if there is a dearth of reading material in your apartment, then turn to the wealth of classic reading to be had for free from Project Gutenberg. This is an archive of free e-texts compiled from the vast quantities of books that have fallen with time into the public domain. New material is being added constantly, so keep checking back if you don't find what you are looking for.
  
  
• Bartleby: Great Books Online
  If Gutenberg doesn't have what you are looking for, or you if are looking for something to be found in an Anthology or Reference Material of the sort that libraries never seem to let you take home, this is the place for you: tons of published Reference Materials all freely browseable online.
  
  
• Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable
  Do your students or colleagues frequently pester you to explain some of the strange, absurd, or archaic phrases littering the English language? The problem is that for every such phrase there seems to be at least ten even more ridiculous and highly suspicious explanations floating around. Search here for a studied and comprehensive background check on these common offenders.
  
  
• The Free Dictionary
  This is the dictionary/thesaurus to which I turn when I need definitions or synonyms for English words. It is free, comprehensive, and complete (some other online dictionaries abridge their free content). It can also conveniently cross-reference several specialized dictionaries or even Wikipedia without leaving the site or retyping the search terms.
  
  
• Online Etymology Dictionary
  The multitude of meanings accompanying most English words lays out between us a field full of landmines and buried treasures. To use a word in all its glory without blowing yourself up, it helps to understand the history behind where it came from and how and when all of its different meanings developed. Here is a free, convenient etymological roadmap to help you navigate as you use and teach the English language. Though this isn't as complete, extensive, researched, or revered as the Oxford English Dictionary, it is carefully compiled and cross-referenced from such respectable sources, and it's free, which makes it categorically as well as significantly quantitatively cheaper than the OED.
  
  
• Wikipedia
  Though not reliable enough to be an authority for academic research on its own, Wikipedia is so convenient and comprehensive that it should always be your launch pad for conducting any extensive online research campaign. In addition to providing highly relevant bibliographical links for further research, it provides plenty of background information and related terms for developing more effective search criteria for use in Google.
  
  And you may not realize this, but Wikipedia can also function loosely as a multilingual translator. Whenever I have trouble communicating something that is not found or sufficiently covered in a bilingual dictionary, I look it up on Wikipedia in English, check the languages list on the left side-bar for Japanese (日本語), and use that as the starting point for discussion.
  
  
• YouTube
  As educational as it is entertaining, YouTube is perfect for conveying those things that defy explanation. And because most popular songs have been converted into lyrics-video versions, it is an excellent resource for educating with music.
  
  
  

Japanese Links a la Others:

• Jim Breen's WWWJDIC
  A massive, comprehensive, and well-established online Japanese-English dictionary. This is probably the best way to find and research the Kanji characters themselves.
  
  
• Takoboto
  This cool newcomer on the dictionary scene has the smoothest interface and highest relavance of search entries, hands down. And if you are on Android or Windows, I highly recommend you download their free offline-capable app for the smoothest experience you will ever have while using Japanese.
  
  
• Rikai
  This truly amazing web portal is perfect for anyone who wants to read Japanese content in the original language, but with an assistant ready at hand for instant translations of unknown words. Just insert a website URL (or copy/paste some selected text) into the input box and hit GO. You will then be browsing through the Rikai portal with your mouse transformed into a tireless translation assistant. As you move the mouse over the page, the translator will actively target blocks of text it recognizes as words and instantly popup with the kana reading and English meaning (including a breakdown of individual kanji in compounds). There is also a reverse portal your Japanese friends can use that translates English words into Japanese. For those of you who are advancing in your Japanese language skills, this is a good way to easily and confidently browse content and glean information in Japanese without having to sort through the often humorous linguistic garbage that tends to come out of full-translation portals like Google Language Tools, which are nonetheless useful for those with no Japanese skills whatsoever.
  
  
• Tae Kim's Japanese Guide to Learning Japanese Grammar
  Well, this guide is not actually written in Japanese (it's in English), but it tries to teach you Japanese from the ground up, so to speak. It starts with the very basics, and explains them from a perspective within the Japanese language rather than through comparison to a secondary language. From there it shows you all the ways in which those basic components can be arranged into larger, more complex constructions. A very enlightening method of studying the Japanese language, and a perfect match for anyone who has ever diagrammed sentences for fun.
  
  
• Reviewing the Kanji
  THE companion website for anyone following James W. Heisig's Remembering the Kanji method in their study of Kanji meanings and writings. I used this method to get down the basic meanings and writings of the entire 2000+ Jouyou General Use Kanji in 6 months of focused study. This website lets you store your individual kanji notes as well as share them and view others'. It also sets an efficiently organized, online flashcard review schedule to maximize learning time.
  
  
  
  

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