Imaginary Friend: What`s that? You gonna make something?
Me: Yeh - wanna know what?
I: Yeh, I wanna know.
Me: I thought you`d wanna know
I: ...
Me: ...
I: So tell me what you`re gonna make!!!
Me: Sorry - you gotta wait a couple of weeks.
I: I don`t wanna wait - tell me now!
Me: Sorry, first I wanna let students guess what I`m gonna make.
I: So they gotta write their ideas in comments?
Me: That`s right. Then in 2 weeks I`m gonna tell them the answer.
I: Sounds fun!
Grammar:
We don`t usually write 'gonna', 'gotta' & 'wanna', but we often use them in spoken English.
- gonna + [verb動詞] = going to
- gotta + [verb動詞] = have got to / have to / must
- wanna +[verb動詞] = want to
UPDATE:
The answer is in comments. Well done Andrew, who guessed correctly!
At my friends` wedding, they gave traditional Japanese `masu` cups to everybody as gifts. I`d wanted one for a long time, so I was glad to get one.
In return, I made one for them, from beach wood. They were surprised & happy (they said...) to get it.
I wonder what they will do with it? I hope they don`t drink sake from it - it must taste bad. Also, my cup has holes.
Do you have a `masu` cup? Where did you get it?
Grammar:
- give [thing] TO [somebody]
- make [thing] FOR [somebody]
There are some sakura trees at my local shrine, so this morning I went there to look at them & paint this small (100x150cm) picture. As usual I wrote the place & date at the bottom of the picture.
I hope to go to a cherry blossom viewing party this Sunday in Gifu. Maybe see you there!
Grammar:
- DRAW a picture/circle/map (with pen or pencil) OK
- PAINT a picture (with paint) OK
- WRITE a letter/the date/your name OK
- [write a picture/circle/map] X!
Yesterday I went to the annual Nitten art exhibition at The Aichi Prefectural Art Gallery in Nagoya.
I liked this painting, 「大楠図〜生樹の御門よりイメージして〜」by Masatsuga Itoh . It reminded me of Ishigaki Island in Okinawa - it looks like my photo, right? Also, there are three swallowtail butterflies in the painting. At the place I took that photo, I saw various swallowtail butterflies.
Yesterday was the last day of the exhibition, but if you missed it this time, don`t worry too much - you can catch it at the same time & same place every year.
Site:
http://www.nitten.or.jp/index.html
List of Paintings (click & view): http://www.nitten.or.jp/exhibition/45_list_japanese_all.html
A couple of weeks ago I made a biplane from recycled wood: http://jp.bloguru.com/otto/194997/one-mans-trash-15
Well, I had some wood leftover (のこり), so I made a second one.
Do you know the famous WW1 pilot `The Red Baron`? This plane looks like his, but it`s different. His was a triplane* but mine is a biplane.
*`bi-` means 2, & `tri-` means 3, so a triplane has 3 wings, a triathlon has 3 events, a Triceratops dinosaur has 3 horns, etc.
Near my house, there is a new house being built. The other day I walked past it with my son.
Me: Look - they`re building a new house.
My son: It`s big, isn`t it?
Me: Yeh. Oh, look - they threw away (すてた?) some wood. Shall we get some & make something?
Son: Yeh! Let`s make an aeroplane!
When we got home, we looked at World War 1 biplanes* on the internet and he chose one that he liked. I tried to copy it.
* Did you know "bi-" = 2, so a biplane has 2 wings, a bicycle has 2 wheels, a biped is an animal with 2 legs etc.
Happy New Year! This is my New Year`s postcard design for 2014, Year of the Horse.
Thankyou to everyone who looked at my blog last year. Please continue to look, and I`ll do my best to post interesting items.
My kids have a lot of toy cars, so I made this display case for them. Unfortunately my kids prefer taking cars out of the case to putting them in, so it`s usually empty.
I made it from recycled beach wood & my kids helped me paint it.
I talked to a student about my trip to Shikoku, & she mentioned Dogo Onsen. I didn`t go there this trip, but I saw it in 2007 when I visited my wife`s relatives who live in Matsuyama. We stayed at their house, so as a `thankyou` present, I painted this picture of Dogo Onsen & gave it to them.
It`s pen & watercolour on a Japanese `shikishi`-style 24 x 27cm board.
* click on picture to enlarge
This wooden butterfly I made is based on a black swallowtail butterfly, which is pretty common in Japan. They are in Australia too, but I don`t know if it`s the same as the kind in Japan. I was quite surprised to find on internet that there are lots of kinds of black swallowtail butterfly!
I`ve put this in my Gifu classroom. If you go there, please look for it!
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