Hi, ladies!
Long time no see…
How have you been these days?
My kids and I are really fine, now.
This afternoon I attended the English talk meeting for the first time at the restaurant arcade? in the Ion shopping center near to Cosmos’s house. The participants are Cosmos, Sunflower, Rose and me.
They brought some interesting topics, including cursive writing and printed writing; the false charge of Ashikaga case; drug abuse; Nobel peace prize for Obama.
It was a little bit hard for me to express my opinion in English during the meeting, but at the very end of it, I felt comfortable mainly because of the eagerness and kindness of the three. Thank you very much!
So, see you next time. Good night…
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Hi, ladies!!!
It’s been another warm and pleasant autumnal day, hasn’t it? Hope you are enjoying this lovely weather.
I’m very pleased to hear that Gloriosa has returned to her teaching job. This means that her physical condition has improved well enough to go out to work. Excellent!!!
I’m also glad to hear that Magnolia is now reading a most interesting book, according to her. She said that it was hard to put it down, though she was sick in bed.
Cherry and other ladies are enjoying English talking sessions as usual.
So far so good!!!
Now, ladies!!!
Here is a new quiz for you and me. The story is about Noriko Sakai, and you are very interested in it, especially how this type of news story is described in English, aren’t you?
Japanese pop star goes on trial
Summary
26 October 2009
More than 6,000 people have queued for the 20 seats in a courtroom public gallery in Japan to see a famous singer and actress go on trial. Noriko Sakai has pleaded guilty to using and possessing illegal drugs.
Reporter: Roland Buerk
Report
When she sang and acted, Noriko Sakai could always draw (1) crowd but rarely as big as the one that turned up to witness her downfall. 6,615 people queued, some all night in pouring rain, to get into (2) courtroom in Tokyo. (3) officials set up tents and handed out numbered armbands before holding (4) lottery draw to decide who would get the 20 seats in the public gallery.
When (5) hearing began (6) 38-year-old pleaded guilty to possessing 0.008 of (7) gram of what's been described as stimulant drugs, and using drugs too.
Noriko Sakai has been famous since she was a teenager, first as a J-pop singer, later as an actress. But her girl next door image was shattered in August when her husband was arrested over (8) drugs offence. She went on (9) run for several days before turning herself in. In the meantime the police have found more drugs in her flat.
In court, Noriko Sakai said she wanted a divorce and to make a fresh start, studying nursing care for the elderly. Her lawyers pleaded for leniency. (10) prosecution is seeking an 18-month prison sentence.
Roland Buerk, BBC News, Tokyo
Answers:
1. a
2. the
3. ---
4. a
5. the
6. the
7. a
8. a
9. the
10. The
Hi, ladies!!!
How warm and pleasant it is today!!! I can hear some birds, whose names I don’t know, singing near my house. They give me lots of comfort and solace, especially when I am blue and down, sitting before my PC.
I hope all of you are having a lovely day. Oh, I just want to give you some information about marmalade. I usually have buttered toast with marmalade on it and caffe latte for breakfast. I am very fussy about marmalade, to be honest with you. I love Fortnum & Mason’s Burlington Breakfast Marmalade. Have you ever tried this before? If not, I recommend you to try this. You can buy a jar of this marmalade at Fortnum & Mason at Lachic next to Mitsukoshi Department Store, Sakae.
Here is a new quiz for you and me. Hope you enjoy this quiz.
Silent phone calls
Summary
23 October 2009
When you pick up a ringing phone and hear silence at the other end, it can be frightening. However, most of these calls are made not by villains but by computers at call centres. Now in the UK such centres could be fined up to £2m for causing distress.
Reporter: Gavin Ramjaun
Report
It's an annoying thing many households have to put up with - answering the phone to find nobody on the other end of (1) line. They are often from a company's call centre which uses automatic dialling in (2) hope of selling you something. But if there aren't enough staff on hand to speak, (3) call into your home stays silent.
Industry regulator, Ofcom, says it's (4) breach of their guidelines for businesses who make persistent unwanted phone calls. And now those caught breaking the law could face (5) fines of £2m.
Kevin Brennan, Consumer Affairs Minister: 'It is still a real problem, despite (6) raising of fines that have gone on in the past. Last year, Ofcom did a survey and found that half of people that they surveyed said that it was a real nuisance to them.'
David Hickson, campaigner: 'We don't know how much of (7) deterrent it will be. The point is that the action point of Ofcom should be to stop people from making silent calls, not just to penalise them.'
Despite (8) previous attempts to tackle this, almost half of the UK still receives silent phone calls. So (9) officials will hope (10) threat of a bigger fine can help stamp it out.
Gavin Ramjaun, BBC News
Answers:
1. the
2. the
3. the
4. a
5. ---
6. the
7. a
8. ---
9. ---
10. the
stamp it out
if you stamp something out, you put an end to it/eradicate it
Hi, ladies!!!
This morning, I went shopping for Christmas cards and others. Luckily I got some cards that I just wanted. I normally send several cards to my friends living overseas.
Well…, my son and his wife’s birthdays are coming in one month’s time, so sooner or later I am going to go shopping for their birthday presents. Also I have to buy Christmas presents for my little grandkids. Four grandkids!!! Can you imagine that?
Next week I will go to the post office to pick up the new-year cards I ordered a few weeks ago. It’s hard to believe that today is the last day of October and in two months the year 2009 will be gone.
Look at the new quiz I posted below. The story says that a new word is created in English every 98 minutes. Hum…, it’s hard to keep up with continuously created English new words for English learners, isn’t it?
Hope you enjoy this quiz.
Millionth English word imminent
Summary
10 June 2009
It is being claimed that the millionth word in the English language is about to be created. A US company which follows the use of language on the internet has made the prediction. However traditional dictionary makers aren't so sure.... .
Reporter: Lawrence Pollard
Report
(1) idea of the millionth word entering the English language is (2) brilliant bit of public relations for Texas-based Global Language Monitor. GLM runs (3) powerful search service which monitors web traffic. They make their money telling organisations how often their name is mentioned in new media, such as the internet.
What they can also do is (4) search for newly coined words. Once a word has been used 25,000 times on social networking sites and such like, GLM declares it to be a new word. By their calculations a new word is created in English every 98 minutes, hence (5) estimate that the millionth word is about to be created.
If you talk to lexicographers, however, dictionary professionals, they tell a slightly different story. Dictionaries have (6) tighter criteria about what constitutes a new word, for example, it has to be used over a certain period of time. Lexicographers will tell you that (7) exact size of English vocabulary is impossible to quantify, but if you accept every technical term or obscure specialist word then we're already way beyond a million. And if you restrict (8) inclusion of specialist slang, then there are possibly three quarters of a million words in English. All of which is way beyond (9) 20 - 40,000 words that a fluent speaker would use, or (10) few thousand you could get by with in English.
Basically, with 1.5 billion people speaking some version of the language, it's small wonder English is the fastest growing tongue in the world.
Lawrence Pollard, Arts Correspondent, London
Answers:
1. The
2. a
3. a
4. ---
5. the
6. ---
7. the
8. ---
9. the
10. the
quantify
measure or count
Hello, Cherry and my precious friends.
It’s a lovely day today.
A wealthy of nature prompted me to drive into the backcountry of Toyota city, which is designated as Aichi highland Semi-national Park.
I love old and rural countryside with green rice field beautifully cultivated. Hiking into the autumn mountain made me wonderfully comfortable and refreshing.
Hot spring such as Shirasagi Onsen is good for health.
I love marmalade. The story of Plum’s favorite Fortunum And Mason’s marmalade reminded me of the once gifted one but I forgot. f
The moment I found it, I was very happy. I quickly tasted it for breakfast. It was remarkably tasty.
Prochaska’s book is filled with many vocabularies I don’t know so it is quite a tough job for me and takes a considerable time to keep reading it.
But I know those words are essential and important for us students to recognize. But at the same time I could not help admiring his writing skills. That means the book is really intriguing and tells me lots of information and knowledge of philanthrophy in the victorian age.
Have a good weekend, my precious friends.
2009.10.29, initially wrote, 30th, corrected and added.
Hello, Cherry and ladies;
I’ve just read through a book, Tengai no fune, written by Tamaoka kaoru. The novel (actually two books, the first and second volume) took me one and half days to finish. I think that it is an excellent entertainment based on some well known historic events.
This novel tells a life story of students, both men and women of the upper-class intellectual elite, who sailed together to the US to study in the 1840s. After returning to Japan, their lives coincidentally crossed and affected each other. Their lives also are influenced by the then world conditions, such as wars (for example, the Russo-Japanese War and World War I) and economic ups and downs in the world. Although the piece has the impression of being a grandeur historical novel, the author seems to portrait a couple of lovers who had troubled with the illicit love, but later accomplished it in their own way.
The story consists of ideas as follows: family, self-identity, trafficking of women under the name of marriage, the contrast of the ideal womanhood in Confucianism and Victorian value, and the different view of life between Buddhism and Christianity. A piece of jewelry, paintings of impressionists, and corseted Victorian dresses seem to help the author weave the plot. A piece of Chinese poem is effectively quoted and repeated in order to illustrate the heroine’s sentiment, which amplifies her sorrow as Diaspora.
Personally, Kansai (Harima) dialect that woman characters in the novel speak sounds odd to me because of the question if they really spoke like that. The development of the story is quick and will not let you get bored, however, some would feel it rough or unnatural.
This novel provides us with the physical and mental condition of the upper-class students who studied abroad to some extent. It shows how the chosen Japanese elite people associated with local celebrities in the US and Europe in the nineteenth- and the early twentieth-century. Given the condition of each character with specific environments and events, readers can easily overlap some famous historical figures and people in the novel, which would make reading more interesting.
As a whole, this is a great entertainment, or a romance. The work reminded me of Mishima’s novel (quaternary), Hōjō no umi, regarding characters in both novels. It is probably because historical and social background is similar to Tamaoka’s novel, which created similar types of personalities.
2009.10.30
Correction of articles is not enough, though I prioritize posting the writing. Maybe, I'll do it later.
Good Night, ladies.
Hello!!!
It's been a long time for me to write here. Unless I'm not under the weather, I'll try to write here. I'm afraid that a cold season is coming soon and if my fingers ache, I won't write often, but I'll try as possible as I can.
I read through 'TENGAI NO FUNE', which was a fantastic story, so I'll sum up for you.
"TENGAI NO FUNE" means a ship to the world or heavenly shores, actually it was an original brooch made in Austria for a Japanese woman, Misao who led a
checkered life.
She went to America to study when she was 12 years old in subsutitute for a princess of Himeji clan. Actually she was a maid for the princess. She had a
hard life for 6 years in America, but her strength made her very beautifu, sophisticated and intelligent woman, so she attracted many promising men,
among whom Kojiro who later became a founder of Kawasaki Industries and set up Matuskata collection of many famous paintings including 8000 Ukiyoe and some Impressionists' art and Max who was a son of a music teacher, but later he inherited his relative's land in Austria and became a viscounnt. Both men studied at Yale university and were good rivals and Max always went ahead of Kojiro because he is smarter, more handsome and straight forward.
Misao and Kojiro loved each other, but his father was a high rank bureaucrat and she was a fake daughter of a lower samurai who changed his status from
samurai to a merchant and earned a lot of money, so he could sent his son as well as his daughter to study abroad. So the social status for them was too different to marry. When the son, Misao's brother Kazuma noticed that Misao was not a real sister,
he also fell in lover with her.
There were many incidents happened, but at last Max won and married Misao, then she became a viscountess. What a dramatic life she had!
So it's very complicated, but I was impressed by the pure love between Misao and Kojiro, which lasted for 30 years.
Misao supported Kojiro's life in the back scene many times and vice versa.
The theme of this novel is true love and a success story of a Japenese man who had a dramatic life of up and turns through the World War I, making ships, selling them and climbing a ladder of success with a view to enlighten Japanese people and its culture.
But in the end he experienced misfortune.I really felt 'SHOGYOMUJO'.
I reccomend my friends to read this book, which has almost 800 pages though.
Best of weekends
Hi, friends.
I made a mistake last time when I wrote 'Unless I'm not under the weather,' I should say 'Unless I'm under the weather,'sorry for that careless mistake.
Today it's a nice day, so I'll go shopping with my mother from now.
I want to buy some bulbs of tulips and anemones for next spring.
see ya!
Hi, friends.
I was surprised to know how fast Gloriosa read 800 page- length novel! In 1.5 days?
I was also admired her comment on the novel. Gloriosa, you are a splenddid reader. I'd like to answer your guestion. Yes, the dialect was correct. It is the language usually used in Kobe. I felt reminiscent about it while reading the book.
The author was born in Hyogo pref. and has been
a resident of Kobe for many years and graduated from Kobe Jogakuin, so she became familiar with the dialect.
Hi, ladies!!!
Magnolia and Gloriosa, thank you so much for writing summaries of the novel, which really made me feel like reading the novel.
As Sunflower said in her message, it was a warm and lovely day yesterday. Thus, I started to cut or saw unnecessary branches and shoots of trees in the shrine in the mid-afternoon. How stupid I was!!! I cut one of my fingers and ended up in getting seven stitches. Alas, alas.
But I was lucky, I thought to myself, that my husband could manage to find a clinic that was open for 24 hours in Okute and I got a proper surgical treatment. Otherwise, since almost all clinics including emergency clinics for holidays are closed on Saturday afternoon, I had to be, half fainted, on the passenger seat of the car going around and around in Nagoya aimlessly until…
Now, it’s time to enjoy a quiz.
TV pirates
Summary
4 September 2009
New figures show a surge in the numbers of people using the internet to watch unauthorised copies of television programmes. While American drama series are the most popular, millions of people are also downloading the British programme Top Gear.
Reporter: Rory Cellan-Jones
Report
(1) visits to web sites offering illegal access to music and video have nearly doubled over the last year, and increasingly it's television and films which are being sought out.
(2) media measurement firm Big Champagne has compiled (3) top ten of illegal downloads. It's dominated by American drama series, with 55 million people downloading (4) episodes of Heroes in the first half of this year. But (5) BBC's Top Gear is also amongst the most pirated programmes, with hundreds of thousands of people, many in the United States, downloading each episode of (6) recent series.
Despite (7) apparent surge in (8) piracy, (9) researchers say television should not suffer as much damage to its revenues as (10) music business has faced.
Rory Cellan-Jones, BBC News
Answers:
1. ---
2. The
3. a
4. ---
5. the
6. the
7. the
8. ---
9. the
10. the
Hello!!!!
I loved your blog!
I would like to make part, I love English!
I have a blog too, but I have to update!
Well, I would love to have you on my skype! We could practice our English!
Congratulations for the blog!
It is perfect!
If you want to take a look at my blog:
www.bestwaytolearnenglish.blogspot.com
I hope you like!
Hi, friends.
plum, are you OK? Don't you have to cut trees in the shrine? I wonder if you do it voluntarily every year?
I'm worried about your fingers and hands. Did you overcome your arthritis fully?
My wrists are too weak to cut even small branches.
I had to plant tulips and dig many holes yesterday, then my wrists began to ache. So I have to be very careful not to use my hands so often.
Take care!
Hi, ladies!!!
It has been getting chilly, hasn’t it?
Winter is sneaking in very quietly, but steady and surely. Oh, I have to get ready for winter… You, too, everybody.
Magnolia, thank you for your kind concern about my injury. Luckily enough, I am perfectly alright now, though I have to shuttle to the clinic every other day to get my wound disinfected and treated, which is sort of a nuisance to me. (The clinic is in Chikusa ward, but I have to walk quite long distance from the subway station. In addition, the waiting room of the clinic is filled with patients and I have to wait for about one hour. Oh, dear, dear.)
I am very pleased to hear, Magonlia, that you are getting much better now, enjoying shopping and gardening. I rarely feel pain from my arthritis nowadays, to my joy, though I try not to overuse my hands, streamlining cooking and other housework.
Perhaps, in 2011, the nationwide digital switchover, which has been broadly publicized on TV, takes place in Japan, doesn’t it? I’ve found an article concerning the digital switchover in the USA. Hope you enjoy this new quiz for you and me.
US prepares for digital switchover
Summary
12 June 2009
More than two million households in the US will have blank television screens today when stations across the country switch off their analogue signal for good. The nationwide digital transition has caused a last minute rush to buy converter boxes and new TVs.
Reporter:
Matt Cleghorn reading report from Greg Wood in New York
Report
(1) American television viewers have been bombarded with (2) series of adverts over recent weeks, warning them that (3) analogue signal would be switched off today and urging them to buy set- top converter boxes if they didn't want to lose (4) reception.
The government has issued coupons, worth 40 dollars each, to cover most of the cost. In total the US authorities have spent two billion dollars to smooth (5) transition. But, according to (6) Federal Communications Commission, there are still 2.2 million households which have made no preparations.
Unlike the United Kingdom, where (3) analogue signal is being switched off region by region, the United States has decided to pull (7) plug in one go, across the nation, leading to accusations that some groups, especially (8) elderly and (9) low income households, have been left behind in (10) digital rush.
Greg Wood, BBC News, New York
Answers:
1. ---
2. a
3. the
4. ---
5. the
6. the
7. the
8. the
9. the
10. the
adverts
commonly used abbreviation for 'advertisements': films, pictures or songs aimed at selling a product or idea to viewers
digital rush
the changeover to digital technology which is happening very quickly
Hi,friends!!
It is a little chilly, but comfortable today. My son caught cold and has had a fever as high as 49℃ for 5 days. During the daytime he has a normal fever, but at night around 18P.M. the fever goes up and up. My mother looked after him, so I don't have to take a leave to take care of him. He took TAMIFUL, so someone has to watch him for 2 hours. Today he gets better and I hope he can go to school after the national holiday. Luckily he has gotten a recomendation to enter the university.
I miss the talking session very much.. Gloriosa and Magnolia seem to be in good shape, which is very pleasant.
Mastering of article is very difficult, and the best way to learn is to practice, so it takes time. I really would like to admire Plum's earnest sincere attitude toward that.
I hope you have a wonderful time on Nov.3.
2009.11.2
Hi, friends;
Plum, you sometimes make us astonished. It was always just a brief report that you had undergone some serious physical troubles or injuries.
Arthritis of the right hand past spring, a trouble of the neck vertebrae last year, and a saw-cut injury (I know it hurts worse) to the finger this time should have brought acute pains, however, you’ve never shown us a sufferer’s face. So, we’ve hardly imagined how badly you had suffered from these hardships. I’m wondering whether your dauntless attitude against hardship is in your family blood. I think you are a SAMURAI. Anyway, please take care of yourself.
Magnolia, thank you for the answer and giving a good mark to my summary. Let me place a further two questions. Is the dialect now and the dialect the past same? Doesn’t the dialect differ due to the class?
Good news. I’ve enjoyed an abundant harvest of persimmon and a second blooming of bougainvillea recently.
Bad news. A pair of goldfish disappeared on Nov. 1. We had kept them in a stone mortar in the yard since past August. My daughter has taken care of them. Poor Mariko. She got shocked. Probably a cat assaulted and ate them. The culprit broke a guard net. Shoot…… We should have been more alert. Grumble, grumble……
It’s windy outside now. Good night!
Hi, friends.
Gloriosa, I think there is no difference of Kobe dialect in compliance with the class and it is almost the same as it was in the past. But there is some polite usage of the word.
For example, "IMAMADE DONAI SHITOTTAN? which means "How have you been doing?" to a close friend
, but to a senior person, we say,"DONAI SHITEHATTAN?"
I'm not sure if it's the same as Osaka dialect or not. There may be some differences.
Hi, ladies!!!
It has been a cold day, hasn’t it? Very wintery weather. But, according to the NHK weather forecast, it will be less cold tomorrow, so it’s nice, isn’t it?
Peach, I am sorry to hear that your son had suffered from a fever of 49 degrees for as many as five nights. I have never imagined that the flu could cause such a high fever. It must have tormented not only your son but also you, a working mother, although I understand your mother devotedly looked after your son.
It is an excellent piece of news that your son has got a recommendation from his high school. Next spring, your son will be a university student. How wonderful!!! Congratulations, Peach!!! Your husband also must be very happy about it.
I just wonder how many of you are interested in the translation of the novel Magnolia and Gloriosa are discussing in this blog. If you have some interest, please let me know. I think I can organize this translation program. I am sure it will be a remarkably fabulous opportunity to improve your English writing skills.
I’ve come across an article about a recently unearthed fossilised skull. Hope you enjoy this quiz for you and me.
Jurassic fossil discovery
Summary
2 November 2009
A 150-million-year-old fossilised skull belonging to a creature called a pliosaur has been unearthed along the Jurassic Coast in Dorset in England.
Reporter: Rebecca Morelle
Report
While (1) dinosaurs roamed (2) land, pliosaurs terrorised (3) oceans. These giant, crocodile-shaped creatures were fearsome hunters, their immense jaws and razor-sharp teeth made easy work of passing prey. Now (4) 8ft-long skull has been found in Dorset by a local fossil collector. And (5) scientists say it could be one of the biggest ever found, belonging to (6) creature that would have measured up to 50ft long. Palaeontologist Richard Forrest has been examining (7) specimen.
Richard Forrest: 'To get a whole skull like this is like Christmas and Easter and everything rolled into one, because we actually can see, yes this really was an absolutely enormous animal, and realistically, probably the most powerful predator that ever lived.'
(8) fossilised skull has now been bought by (9) Dorset County Council using Heritage Lottery Funds. They plan to eventually put it on (10) public display.
Answers:
1. ---
2. the
3. the
4. an
5. ---
6. a
7. the
8. The
9. ---
10. ---
fearsome hunters
frightening creatures which look for, chase and kill other
passing prey
animals which were swimming along and which the pliosaurs could catch and eat
predator
animal that hunts, kills and eats other animals
Hi, ladies;
Magnolia, thank you for your quick reply. Is DOSHITEHARIMASHITAN? a modern usage influenced by standard Japanese (hyojunngo)? Anyway, the dialect is too difficult to express its nuance in English, I'm afraid.
As for the article quiz, I made scores of 5, 4, 8, 4, 8 for recent quizzes. Still unstable results, to my regret. Noway to get out of the condition. Sigh......
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