Otto's blog

Movie: The Apartment

2月

16日

A student told me her favourite movie was 1959`s 'The Apartment'. I said I didn`t know it, so next class, she lent me her DVD copy. I expected a light-hearted romantic comedy, but the story was sometimes a little dark. However, it was interesting to see scenes & fashions of New York at that time, & I was surprised that I recognized a few of the actors from TV shows I watched as a young child.

Grammar:
OK: 誰か told 誰か『＿＿』e.g. She told me it was good.
OK: 誰か said『＿＿』e.g. I said it was good.
WRONG: 誰か said 誰か『＿＿』e.g. He said me it was good.
OK (but not common) : 誰か said to 誰か『＿＿』 I said to him it was good.

#映画

Gomora & Gomorrah

2月

13日

I bought this figure of Gomora ゴモラ for my coll... I mean* my son`s collection. Of course I checked that it was made in Japan, not China. What does 'Gomora' mean**? Well, the Bible (聖書) mentions a city called Gomorrah. It was full of evil people, so God destroyed it. So I guess ゴモラ is a suitable name for an enemy of Ultraman, right?

Vocabulary:
- * "A...I mean B" = "A...じゃなくって...B" (間違ったことを言って、(言い直しをしたい時に) 正しい言葉に言い換える時に役立つ言い回し）
- ** 意味

#趣味

Isuzu Bellett GT Type-R (1970?)

2月

10日

I just* saw this car, in the carpark just** behind my school. According to the internet, just*** 1,400 were manufactured, so it`s pretty rare. I wish it was mine. It`s just**** the kind of car I like.

Vocabulary:
* (見た) ばかり
** すぐ(後ろ)
*** (1400台) だけ
**** ちょうど

#車

2021 Nitten Art Exhibition

2月

5日

On Sunday I took* my kids into Nagoya to see the Nitten art exhibition. We took** the train & subway. Altogether it took*** about 40 minutes. First we had lunch, then we looked at the exhibition at The Aichi Prefectural Museum. After that we took a walk**** around the top of Oasis 21 shopping mall, I took***** a few photos, then we went home.

Vocabulary:
Take/took/taken have various meanings:
* 連れて行った
** 乗った
*** 掛かった
**** 散歩した
*****撮った
However, 'take lunch' is unusual. 'Have/eat lunch' is usual.

#アート

New Fishing Float Display Case

2月

4日

I have a lot of old fishing floats. I put the nicest ones in a display case in my classroom*, but I still had a lot left over (残り). So I made another display case. Actually, I didn`t find one of the floats in this case. I made it myself, from a champagne cork. Can you find it?

* https://en.bloguru.com/otto/361390/a-few-new-floats

Pronunciation:
- Champagne シャンパン is pronounced シャンぺーン in English (it sounds like campaign キャンペーン)

#アート #趣味