Things have been pretty chaotic due to the caronavirus outbreak. Although our school has been closed to students, we`ve been busy with things which I`ll blog about soon. But first things first (でも重要な事から先に始めよう). Teragoya`s website has been given a facelift. The address is the same (https://teragoya.net/) but to find my blog, you need to scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on ブログ. Then click on the handsome guy on the right. Of course, if you bookmark my blog (https://en.bloguru.com/otto), you don`t need to do this.
Pronunciation:
chaos 名詞: ケイ.オス chaotic 形容詞: ケイ.オ.チク
In Otsu we had lunch in this old building – it`s the old Otsu Town Hall (旧大津公会堂), built in 1934. I like* old buildings like** this. I`d like to know more about it, but there isn`t much information about it in English online.
By the way, can you see the black cars in the old photograph? They look a little like the 1936 Toyoda model aa, which I saw at the Toyota Museum in Nagoya. However, I`m pretty sure the one on the right is a 1934 Chevrolet master series DA. I`d like a car like that!
Vocabulary:
*like = 好き
**like = 〜ような
`d like to + 動詞 =〜(動詞)し たい
`d like + 名詞 = (名詞)がほしい
On Sunday my family & I went to* the town of Otsu, in Shiga Prefecture, to** visit my sister & her family, who were visiting Japan. We all took a cruise on this boat - The Michigan - on Lake Biwa. During the cruise, there was a show, with performers in colourful outfits (= costumes/uniforms) singing some songs in English. Good job!
Vocabulary
* to = に, へ
** to = ために
I found this plastic model in a wardrobe at my parents` house in Australia. It belonged to my younger brother when he was a kid. He must have put it there & forgotten about it. I decided to bring it to Japan & put it together with my kids. A couple of the guns for the wings were missing or broken, so I put parts of old Teragoya pens there instead. Finally, I put the finished model in my kids` room, hanging from the ceiling. Looks good!
Grammar
Don`t forget to use an object (目的語) with 'put':
“Where did you put the model?” “I put IT in my room.” "Why did you put IT there?" etc. ["Where did you put?": WRONG "I put in my room": WRONG]
After visiting Ise Shrine & Oharai-machi, on the way back to the car park, I saw this Airstream caravan ('travel trailer' or 'trailer' in U.S. English). I sometimes see them used as restaurants, & there`s a place that sells used ones near my house in Ichinomiya (see blog post https://en.bloguru.com/otto/295556/ichinomiya-airstreams ). However, it`s unusual to see one on the road in Japan.
Vocabulary
- car + park = car park ('parking lot' in U.S. English) = 駐車場
- trailer + park = trailer park ('caravan park' in U.K. English) = トレーラーパーク
Happy New Year! On the last day of 2019, I went to Ise Shrine in Mie with my family & my wife`s relatives (親戚). After visiting the shrine, we walked along Oharai-machi for a while*, then ate udon noodles at a shop called ふくすけ. It took a while** to be served, because there were a lot of customers. After that, while*** the others were watching a taiko drum performance, I bought a couple of postcards at my favourite postcard shop, 徳力富吉郎版画館. I sent one to my parents & the other to my brother.
Vocabulary
* for a while = 暫く
** take a while = 時間かかる
*** while + 動詞 = (動詞)している間
Have you prepared your New Year`s cards yet? I`ve finished making a rubber stamp, and I`ve already (既に) printed & sent a few cards to family & friends outside Japan but I haven`t sent any to people in Japan yet. I have to do that by the 25th. You too!
By the way, have you ever had a carving set like this? It`s my wife`s, from when she was a student.
Grammar
-Have you +「 過去分詞」 + yet? = 「過去分詞」をもうしたか？
- Have you ever + 「過去分詞? 」= 「過去分詞」をしたことはあるか？
- I`ve already +「 過去分詞 」= もうすでに「過去分詞」をした
- I haven`t + 「過去分詞」 + yet = まだ「過去分詞」していない(したことがない)
- I`ve 過去分詞 yet: WRONG (間違い)
It`s the end of the year & everyone is busy, but last Saturday we could forget about work & relax at our school Christmas party in Gifu. Everyone looks happy in this photo, right? Some people are holding their presents from 'secret santa'. Hang on (=ちょっと待って)... in the background someone isn`t looking at the camera... he`s drinking beer... I wonder who it is? Does anyone know? Haha. Merry Christmas!
Grammar
- Does/Is (NOT Do/Are) + anyone/someone/everyone...?
- Everyone/Someone/No-one + is / 動詞s (NOT are / 動詞)
I found our wreath & replaced the old leaves with new green ones. Last time we used red flowers to add colour. This time we used fishing floats. Yes, I have a lot of them ( https://en.bloguru.com/otto/361390/a-few-new-floats )! This might be the last time we use this wreath - after 4 years, it`s starting to get a bit shabby (ぼろぼろ). Next time we might make a new one. We`ll see.
Vocabulary
- last time = 前回 this time = 今回 next time = 今度, 次の回
- the last time = 最後 / 前回
I recently received gifts from my niece ('ニース' = めい ) & nephew ('ネフュー' = おい) in Thailand. Can you believe the stamps on their packages? Nice! I love getting mail from foreign countries. Thanks, guys.
Spelling
- the spelling rule "i before e, except after c" is usually true (NIEce, beLIEve, reCEIve,), but some weird (= strange) words are different e.g. WEIrd, tHEIr, foREIgn.
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