Something strange happened the other day. I wanted to cool down some beer quickly, so I opened the the ice-compartment of our refrigerator and put a can in.
Bad decision.
A second or two after the can touched the ice, it exploded. Wow. I didn`t expect that to happen. It seems the can couldn`t stand the sudden cold. My wife asked, "What happened...?!" I said, "Nothing! Just relax and keep watching TV..." so she did.
Good decision.
Japanese English:
- 'a happening' (名詞) is rare in English. The word 'happen' is almost always used as a verb (動詞).
It was easy to notice this car - the back sticks out of the parking space & into the street! American cars, especially old ones, tend to be pretty big - not just long but also wide - not suitable for Japan`s narrow roads & small parking spaces, I think. Also, they`re pretty heavy. Cars like this were made using 1.2mm thick sheet metal panels; a Camaro like this weighs about 1,600kg. Modern cars use thinner metal - only 0.8mm, so weigh less - on average about 1,300kg.
Vocabulary:
- narrow 狭い wide 幅の広い, 広い
- thin 細い thick 厚い, 太い
My 2nd son used to be into (= interested in) the Japanese superhero Ultraman, so we bought him a book & some figures. Nowadays most Ultraman figures are made in China, but they used to be made in Japan. Little by little, I started to enjoy looking for made-in-Japan Ultraman figures in thrift stores. When I buy a new one, I give it to my son to I.D. (= identify 指す) in his Ultraman book & play with it, then I display it with the others.
Vocabulary:
- Overseas, at bars or nightclubs, staff may ask you for “I.D. please” before you can enter or buy alcohol. In this case, I.D. = passport, driver`s license etc. that shows your age.
I made a bunch of wooden smartphone stands, which I am selling at school for ¥300 each. Staff member Takako is my first customer. Thank you Takako!
There are two designs. One is here:
https://en.bloguru.com/otto/372124/whats-that-for
Vocabulary:
- "A bunch of ____" = several, a group of
- a bunch of flowers = 花束
I`ve been cleaning & fixing this old stereo system. I can play tapes on the tapedeck, and records on the turntable, and now, after buying some cables from a thrift store（リサイクルショップ), I can connect it to my computer & play music from Youtube through it - nice! The stereo speakers are way (=much) better than my computer ones.
Unfortunately, the tuner on the stereo is still not working, so I can`t listen to music on the radio yet. I will try to fix that next.
Grammar:
- play games/listen to music/edit photos ON my computer/smartphone
- watch movies ON my computer/my smartphone/DVD/Youtube/Netflix
- chat with friends ON Facebook, Line, WhatsApp
As you know, I love collecting things. In this 5-minute podcast, I talk about three of my childhood collections. Please listen & enjoy!
https://bohmeenglish.podbean.com/e/the-bohme-english-podcast-16-listening-%e7%b7%b4%e7%bf%92/
Last Saturday our school did something new - we had a Zoom party! First we introduced ourselves, then we chatted for a while, and finally, we played a game. The game was to find, in two minutes, five objects:
1) something purple
2) something square
3) something dangerous
4) something made in Japan, and
5) something sweet
It was interesting to see everyone`s items. Did you do anything fun last weekend?
Grammar:
Usually in English an adjective comes before a noun, e.g. 'a red ball', but an adjective comes after the words 'something/someone/somewhere/anything/everything/nothing' etc. e.g. 'We need someone strong' 'I wanna go somewhere warm' 'Nothing special'
It was a long time since I`d been to Ichinomiya Tower Park, so I took my sons there last weekend. We rode bicycles, but it didn`t take long because we live kind of nearby. While we were there, I saw this car. I wanted to get closer, but the car didn`t stay long before driving off.
It was nice to get out, and my kids spent a long time playing with rocks & catching shrimp in the river; it was almost sunset when we finally left for home.
Grammar:
- It`s usual to use 'a long time' in a positive sentence but just 'long' in negative sentences & questions e.g. "Have you been in Japan long?" "I haven`t been here long, but my friend has been here a long time - 10 years."
I took my kids to a nearby creek (small river) to look for turtles. We took nets, gloves, & containers. We found three baby red-eared sliders (アカミミガメ), which we brought home & put in a fish tank.
Vocabulary:
- take (took) + 誰か + 何処か = 連れて行く
- take (took) + 物 + 何処か = 持っていく
I found a few of these fancy-looking caterpillars on my blackberry bush. I pulled them off & threw them to my chickens, but they didn`t fancy them. Well, I don`t fancy having them in my garden, so I squashed (押しつぶす) them.
Vocabulary:
* fancy 形容詞 = ファンシー
** fancy 動詞 = want / like / want to
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