Otto's blog

Tiny Treasure

4月

24日

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While my kids were playing in the park, I poked around a nearby mound of dirt & found some interesting items, including a tiny brown bottle.On one side it says キンカン (kinkan) & on the other side 金冠堂 (kinkandou). I looked online & found out that this is a brand of anti-itching, insect bite medicine, which is still sold today. I couldn`t find out exactly how old this bottle it is, but maybe about 70 years old.

Vocabulary:
find = 見つける
find out = 分かる, 探り当てる (?)

Retro Stereo

4月

17日

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This stereo system belongs to my wife`s dad, but he stored it away ages ago & hasn`t used it since, so I thought I`d see if it still worked. Well, the record player & amplifier work, but the tape deck doesn`t work well. I`ll spray some of the points with contact cleaner spray & see if that fixes the problem.

Vocabulary:
- "see if..." = ...かどうか見る/調べる

Fish Tank Cleaning Tool

4月

14日

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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

Four-Leaf Clover Challenge!

4月

11日

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While out walking with* my son, I found a four-leaf clover. Lucky me! I took this photo with** my smartphone. Can you see the four-leaf clover? If not, check in comments - I marked it with** a pink line.

Vocabulary:
* with = と
** with = で, をもって

Common Copper

4月

10日

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I`ve seen a couple of these small butterflies in the last couple of days. In English, it`s called a Common Copper*. It`s on a yellow rapeseed flower (菜の花).

* copper (Cu) = 銅

Vocabulary:
- 'A couple of ___s' = 2 or 3 ___s

Otto`s Blog`s 10th Anniversary

4月

10日

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I started this blog 10 years ago, on the suggestion of Teragoya founder, Akemi. People told me, "A blog? You`re crazy!" & "It`s a lot of work!!" & "Nobody wants to hear about your geeky hobbies!!!" & "You`re gonna run out of ideas, get stress, catch swine flu & DIE!!!"

Okay, nobody said that. In fact, everyone was very supportive, and I`ve enjoyed not only blogging, but also picking up some useful computing, teaching, & language skills by doing it.

Please keep reading my blog ...for 10 more years? Maybe!

Grammar:
- People told me... OK
- People said... OK
- People said me... WRONG (People said to me... OK, but uncommon)

Fly Away, Butterfly

4月

8日

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Last summer I found a chrysalis & kept it ...& kept it ...& kept it, all winter. I wondered if it was okay... Finally, this week a common swallowtail butterfly came out. After a while drying in the sun, it flew off. Bye bye, butterfly!

Vocabulary:
- birds, butterflies etc: fly off/away
- people, legged animals, etc.: run off/away
- fish, mermaids, etc.: swim off/away

Footwear Fix

4月

6日

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Have you ever watched 'Life Hack' videos on YouTube? Depending on which video you watch, the ideas may be mostly stupid or mostly good. Anyway, I finally got the chance to try this 'life hack' idea when my thong broke. Nice idea!

Vocabulary:
- Be careful: In Australia, 'thong/s' = ビーチサンダル, but in other countries, 'thong' = Ｔバック!

Monotonia

3月

27日

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Are you stuck at home? Bored? Well, here`s a song for you – Monotonia, by a band called The Growlers. Most of it is in English, but the chorus (& title) is in Spanish. In most of the video, they seem to be taking medicine. Hmm. Maybe they have coronavirus? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSzluF9itcw

The lyrics are here: https://www.musixmatch.com/search/monotonia

I also like their song Big Toe (拇趾): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JDcerd5vvo

Grammar:
'Most of...' (55 – 95%) OK!
'Almost all of...' (96-99%) OK!
'Almost of...' WRONG!

Message From Malaysia

3月

27日

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Today we got a postcard from one of our students, who went to Malaysia to study English. I`ve got some (some? a lot of!) free time now, so I thought I`d blog about it. It sounds like she`s making nice friends & having a good time, but I hope she doesn`t have trouble because of the coronavirus outbreak. I hope she`s got enough money...

Vocabulary:
“I`ve got + 名詞” (= I have got + 名詞) = 名詞を持っています(持っている状態)
“I got + 名詞” = 名詞をもらいました