ReadOasis Step 2 (Part 1) Yuki stepped outside the airplane, and the warm air touched her face. “The heat feels nice,” she said to herself. “Better than winter in Japan!” She flew over 14,000 kilometers for one reason. She wanted to meet her boyfriend’s parents. Arturo, he stood tall,... Read more
ReadOasis Step 2 (Part 2) If Yuki marries Arturo today, imagine her future. His parents do not come to the wedding. On their honeymoon, Arturo receives a phone call from home. His father says, “You left our family. You broke our family. You are not my son anymore. I... Read more
ReadOasis Step 3 An Image of a Hobbit Frodo is a little man. Well, he's actually a hobbit. A hobbit is like a man, but only smaller. Frodo is small, but he has a big heart. He also has a big job. He holds a ring. It's a magic... Read more
Blind Men and the Elephant of Culture
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ReadOasis Step 2 Long ago in a faraway land, six blind men sat by the road. Animals and people walked by, kicking up dust in the air. The burning sun made the ground hot. The blind men had no food, no money, and no water. They just waited for... Read more
ReadOasis Step 2 Lena looked back. She felt fear, sadness, and excitement all at once. She waved to her friends and parents. And they all waved back, smiling and blowing kisses. Lena turned around and started walking. She took a deep breath and said to herself, “Don’t be afraid.... Read more
The Place Martin opened the green door of his second floor room, room 306. He stepped outside and closed the door. He felt the air on his face, and he heard the voices of his friends. He looked down at them. They stood talking in the parking lot below.... Read more
Making Work Fun: The Levity Effect (Step 2)
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ReadOasis Step 2 A manager at a company was interviewing a job candidate. The manager said, “We need a very responsible person for this job. We need someone who can take charge.” The candidate’s eyes lit up, and he answered with great confidence. “Sir, your search ends here! I’m... Read more
ReadOasis Step 2 Jane took a deep breath. She reached for the door, opened it, and stepped into the room. When she looked up, she saw five men in dark suits, sitting in a row. Jane introduced herself and took another deep breath. The man in the middle waved... Read more
The Biggest Sporting Event
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ReadOasis Step 2 In 1982, England and Argentina were at war. They were fighting over the Falkland Islands. The English took the islands. But even today, Argentina claims them as their own. In 1986, England and Argentina fought again. But this time, it was in Mexico, at the World... Read more
ReadOasis Step 3 Eating hot dogs is an American tradition. And July is National Hot Dog Month in the United States. Hot dogs are also called frankfurters. This name comes from Frankfurt, Germany, where hot dogs were first served on bread buns. They are also called wieners, a name... Read more
By James Baldwin ReadOasis Step 2 Alexander & Bucephalus by François Schommer Philip was the king of Macedon, a kingdom in ancient Greece. During his life, he had seven wives and seven children. His most famous son was called Alexander. Alexander studied with the philosopher Aristotle. And by the... Read more
How to Acquire Language (Step 2)
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ReadOasis Step 2 How do humans acquire languages? The answer is surprisingly simple. All people everywhere acquire languages in the same way. "We acquire languages by understanding messages." This is called the "comprehension hypothesis," and it was made by the linguist Dr. Stephen Krashen. I give this idea an... Read more
By James Baldwin ReadOasis Step 2 A long time ago, there was a King in Scotland. His name was Robert Bruce. He needed to be brave and wise, for the times in which he lived were wild and rude. The King of England was at war with Scotland, and... Read more
The Birth of Levi’s Jeans
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ReadOasis Step 2 Rivets By Rohit Gowaikar (Creative Commons) Levi Strauss was born in Germany in 1829. At 18, he joined his brothers in America. They had a dry goods business in New York City. At that time, many people were moving to California in search of gold. Levi... Read more
ReadOasis Step 3 To inspire us to read more, it always helps to have a good role model. When I was a boy, my father read to me before I went to bed. I can still remember the books he read to me! In this way, my father showed... Read more
Even if we (or our students) know the benefits of reading, we may still have trouble developing a lifestyle of reading. One way we can solve this problem is to see how avid readers keep a lifestyle of reading. With this in mind, here are 21 Tips for a Lifestyle of Reading for teachers and students.
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Reading Can Beat Study Abroad (TV)
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In this ReadOasis video, Dr. Hitoshi Nishizawa explains his research. He compared TOEIC scores for two kinds of students. Some studied for one year in English speaking countries. Others did extensive graded reading in Japan. Some of these students read more than 3 million words. And they got about... Read more
ReadOasis Step 1 So you want to improve your word power. But what words should you learn first? You can waste time learning uncommon words first. But it’s smart to learn the most common words at the beginning. The top 2,000 words of English make up 80% of all... Read more
Extensive Reading, Because it Works!
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This is Professor Thomas Robb from Kyoto Sangyo University, and he is one of the world’s renowned experts on extensive graded reading. Q: Tell us. Why should students do extensive reading? Dr. Robb: Why? Because it works. I’ve done it for Japanese as well. Really? Yeah. So I chose a mystery... Read more
ReadOasis Step 2 Imagine that you know a secret. Your secret is a powerful idea for change. It can change communities, cities, and countries. It can powerfully affect the future. It can change you. What is this secret, and what does it do? It is the power of reading.... Read more