Otto's blog

Teragoya Fan, by a Teragoya Fan

7月

18日

Thank you Teragoya student & fan, Naoki, for designing our new 'uchiwa' fans. They look awesome (=great)! We will give them to current (今の) students & local (地元の) businesses. The design features fireworks (花火), Kinka Mountain, Gifu castle, Nagara Bridge, & the "The Bohme English Academy since 1998." Yes - we have been in business for 20 years!

The Case of the Crooked Display Case

7月

5日

I finished making this golf ball display case for our September craft event. Maybe you can notice that it`s not perfectly straight, but that`s not my fault (所為). It`s because the recycled wood I used for it wasn`t straight.

Do you believe me?

There is an English proverb (諺), 'A bad workman always blames his tools.' However, I don`t need to blame my tools when I use recycled wood, because I can blame the crooked (歪) wood instead. It`s a convenient excuse (言い訳).

#アート

Australia Failure

6月

28日

I`m disappointed that Australia failed to reach the next round of the World Cup, but I`m sure German fans are even more disappointed by their national team`s failure. Wow - what a surprise!

Tonight I`ll watch Japan play Poland. I hope Japan wins.

Vocabulary:
- fail + 名詞 = 落ちる
- fail to + 動詞 = しそこなう
- failure = 失敗、故障、不成功

#スポーツ

Australia v Peru Preview

6月

26日

Tonight, Australia will play Peru in the World Cup. I hope Australia wins. I hope Tim Cahill plays, and of course I hope he scores. I just wish he were younger... he`s 38 now. I also wish Australia had some of the big-name players that countries like France have. Well, let`s see what happens.

Grammar:
- I wish + 過去形動詞 (about now or future, something NOT true/possible)
- I hope + 現在形動詞 (about now or future, something POSSIBLE)
- "I wish Australia wins/will win" - WRONG

#スポーツ

Youtube Series Final Episode

6月

22日

Today we filmed the final episode of our current 'English Phrases' Youtube series. Thank you Minori for handling Tera, Miho for filming, & Yasue (in Tokyo) for editing. And thank YOU for watching them (you`ve been watching them, right...?). You can see the ones we`ve uploaded so far (これまで) here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNjA16foCpI&list=PLEL8h9GIzoeNLvfx0E6p1f7RzGMa9pbaU

If you want to buy the book that goes with the videos, please contact our school at www.teragoya.net

#ビデオ #本

Colombia v Japan

6月

20日

I finished work at 10pm, then went straight to Marquee Australian Bar in Gifu. I got (= arrived) there just in time for the second half of the Colombia-Japan game. I got (= bought) a beer then talked about the first half with a customer. She said a Colombian player got shown (= was shown, 出された/見せられた) a red card. Of course when Japan scored their second goal, the bar got (= became) pretty noisy. At full time, I got (= received) a free glass of champagne. Thanks, Chris!

Vocabulary
- As you can see, 'get' has many meanings.

#スポーツ #バー

Russia 2018 Football World Cup

6月

14日

The World Cup starts tonight! At midnight, Russia are playing Saudi Arabia. I`m not really interested in these two teams, but I think I`ll stay up to watch the game. I don`t have to get up early tomorrow morning, so I can sleep in. Or, if the game is boring, I might fall asleep during the game.

Vocabulary:
- wake up: 目覚める
- get up: 起きる
- stay up: 遅くまで起きる
- fall asleep: 寝入る
- sleep in: 遅く寝る

#スポーツ

Ink Painting Exhibition

6月

13日

During my lunch break, I popped outside to do a couple of things. While walking past じゅうろくてつめいギャラリー, (near ドンキホーテ) I noticed that an exhibition was being held, so I went inside to take a look. It was interesting & enjoyable. I laughed when I saw the fan design with English on it. Nice!

The gallery`s homepage: http://www.juroku.co.jp/aboutus/tetsumei_gallery/

Grammar:
- 'During + 名詞' e.g. my break, the night, the war
- 'While + 動詞ing' e.g. shopping, walking, driving OR 'While I was shopping... While he is driving...' etc.

#アート

Urinal Kinds of Trouble

5月

24日

When I was at Nagoya Chubu Airport, I went to the restrooms & noticed this spelling mistake. It should read "Urinal".

Natural English
urinal = 小便器, urine* = 小便, urinate* = 小便する.
* in casual English, words such as 'pee' (名詞 & 動詞) are often used

Zoo Trip

5月

23日

On Sunday, school staff & students visited Higashiyama zoo in Nagoya. It was a nice day - a little cloudy so not hot. The 6 girls in my group were well-behaved & enjoyed looking at the animals & hearing my interesting animal facts e.g. that hippos are the most dangerous African animal (did you know that?). The most popular animals seemed to be the koalas - it was a little crowded there.

Vocabulary:
Be careful: cloudy = 曇り crowded = 込んでいる

#動物 #旅行