Otto's blog

Arichanna gaschkevitchii (ヒョウモンエダシャク)

7月

8日

I saw this pretty* moth while I was hiking in a forest in Ibigawa. Although the internet says it`s pretty** common, it was the first time I`d seen one. It`s pretty** colourful for a moth, isn`t it?

English Language Point:

* pretty (+ 名詞) = きれい, かわいい

** pretty (+ 形容詞) = かなり, けっこう

#動物 #虫

Frog Blog

7月

13日

My kids said they wanted to catch some frogs, so I said okay. However, they caught too many, so I told them to release a few.

What do you think of frogs? I don`t mind them, but my colleague said she hates them. She said when she was young , she came home and there was a frog on the door, so she couldn`t open it, so she rang the doorbell until her mum came, and she told her mum to open the door. lol.

Grammar
say/said + 単語 / 文章 (= 言う)
tell/told + 誰かに + 単語 / 文章 (= 教える)
tell/told + 誰かに + to 動詞 (= 頼む)

#動物

Happy Hopper

10月

7日

I have lots of Japanese Rice Fish (メダカ), and a few goldfish, which I keep in several fish tanks (水槽) outside. The last couple of nights, I`ve been hearing a frog there. Today I spent a couple of minutes looking for it, and found it on the edge of a tank. Haha – he seems to be smiling. I hope that means he`s happy.

Vocabulary:
a couple of ___ = 2 or 3
a few ___s = 3/4/5
several ___s = 4/5/6/7
lots of ___(s) = many

#動物

Chicken Dinner

7月

14日

#動物

Shall we Eat Shells?

7月

13日

#グルメ #動物

Baby Red-eared Sliders

5月

12日

#動物

Carpenter Bee

5月

5日

Do you like The Carpenters? How about carpenter bees? I found this one pollinating my lime tree. I hope the chickens don`t eat it.

Vocabulary:
pollen = 花粉
pollinate = 受粉する
花粉症 (pollen allergy) = hayfever

#動物 #昆虫 #虫

Fish Tank Cleaning Tool

4月

14日

I found this interesting item in a 100yen store (although it cost 200yen). It`s a 2-piece magnetic tool for cleaning the inside of a fish tank, so you don`t have to put your hand inside the tank. Pretty clever! And pretty effective, as you can see.

Vocabulary:
- fish tank = 水槽
- septic tank = 浄化槽
- 満タン = full tank

#動物

Fly Away, Butterfly

4月

8日

#動物 #昆虫 #虫

DIY Fish Viewer

3月

26日

I made a fish-viewing box from a sheet of clear perspex (クリアアクリル), which I bought at a hardware store (about ¥200 for A3 size). To bend it, I used a blow torch. Next I used a glue gun to attach the side pieces. Finally I tested it using my pet loach (どじょう ).

I`m looking forward to using it with tropical fish when I visit Miyakojima. Please check my blog next week to see what I caught!

Grammar:
- To 動詞... I 動詞... = I 動詞... to 動詞...
- To 動詞...please 動詞... = Please 動詞... to 動詞...

#動物