Otto's blog

Gifu Fleamarket

10月

4日

During my lunchbreak on Saturday I popped out to check out a fleamarket in the park nearby. I picked up (= bought) these two helmets, because my sons` current helmets are old & damaged. One was ¥100 & the other was ¥500 - a bargain (買い得)! Another stall had Ultraman figures, but they were made in China, not Japan, so I didn`t buy them. I like to buy Ultraman figures made in Japan.

Grammar:
- About 2 things: "One... the other..." (not "Another...")

Chevrolet Nova

9月

23日

On Sunday I went to Itadori. On the way, we passed a caryard full of cool old cars. As we went past, I quickly took this photo of one of the cars (my wife was driving). It looks like a Chevrolet Nova from about 1970.

Later I looked online & found the place: http://carcass.jp/

Vocabulary:
Be careful: `through` & `pass/past` are different:
(車で) 店の前を通る = go/drive past a shop OR pass a shop
(車で) トンネルを通る = go/drive through a tunnel

#車

Phonbies

9月

14日

Last weekend I went to `Jazz Dream` outlet mall. I noticed heaps of people walking while looking at their phones. Do you know why? You got it - they were playing Pokemon Go. It`s a fun game - I get that - but it`s not a good idea to walk while looking at your phone. It`s inconsiderate (心無い) & dangerous. Don`t they get that?

I call these people `phonbies`. (Get it? Phone + zombie = phonbie)

Don`t be a phonbie!!!

Vocabulary:
- In these examples, `get` = understand.

Forging a Kaizen Culture

8月

31日

Student Hitoshi gave me an English version of his book, “Forging a Kaizen Culture.” I find most business books boring but most of his book is interesting. Most of all, I liked this part:

“You can predict most of the time what instructions your boss is going to give you, once you understand his/her character well. ...(Most bosses`) orders are overwhelmingly the same and consist of only about 400 words.” (page 129)

That`s true.

Grammar:
OK: Most 名詞 e.g. Most people, most bosses
OK: Most of 代名詞 e.g. Most of us, most of them
OK: Most of 人代名詞 e.g. Most of my friends
OK: Most of the 名詞 e.g. Most of the time, Most of the teachers at my school
WRONG: Most of 名詞 e.g. Most of time, Most of people

#本

Money Box

8月

27日

Sometimes I help my son with his homework. This summer I helped him make this money box for his summer holidays homework. I collected most of the parts (except for the screws, ネジ以外) from the beach.

You insert a coin at the top & it rolls down to the bottom.

Grammar:
- help + 誰か + 動詞 or help + 誰か + to 動詞 (both okay)
- help + 誰か + with 名詞

#アート #趣味

Hawkmoth

8月

19日

At the end of last month I found this eye-catching caterpillar at the end of a vine (蔓草) in my garden. I expected it to become a colourful butterfly, but in the end, it just became a brown hawk-moth (雀蛾, hawk = 鷹 moth = 蛾). I was a bit disappointed.

Vocabulary:
- at the end (of 時) = 最後(終わり)
- at the end (of 所)= 先, 端, 突き当たり
- in the end = 結局

#動物 #昆虫

Agate

8月

18日

My kids collected lots of small things such as coloured glass from the beach. I didn`t collect much, but I picked up these pieces of agate ( メノウ? 瑪瑙?). I don`t know what kind of agate it is - sorry, I don`t know much about stones. I didn`t have much time, so I didn`t find much - just a few pieces. Next time I go to that beach, I hope to find more.

Natural English:
- "don`t + 動詞 + much (+ 名詞)" = "動詞 + little (+ 名詞)" e.g. "I don`t have much money" = "I have little money" but the first style is much more common & natural in spoken English.

#趣味

Beach Treasure Collecting

8月

18日

At the beach, my sons picked up various small items of `treasure` (宝) & put them in plastic boxes which I gave them. They also picked up some old turban shells (栄螺) but they stank (鼻をついた) so I told them to throw them away. They also wanted to pick small pine cones (松毬) from trees but I said "No!"

Vocabulary:
- Be careful: pick = [木から] 折る, pick up = [地面/床から]　拾う

#趣味

Landrover Defender

8月

15日

I saw this cool Landrover in Fukui. I`ve never owned a Landrover, but I`ve always wanted one. I`ve just been looking at Landrovers like this one online & they are all manuals (ミッション). Unfortunately I`ve only got an automatic license. I`ve never needed a manual license in Japan - I`ve only driven automatic cars here.

Grammar:
- I have + never/always/only/just + 過去分詞

#車

Fukui Camping

8月

14日

Last weekend I went camping with my family by the sea (海沿い) in Echizen, Fukui Prefecture. We went there by car (車で), & were delayed by a traffic jam (交通渋滞に) near Sekigahara due to an accident. The weather was hot - by (までに)　10am each day it was already 30 degrees. But that`s fine by me (私はそれで良いですよ) - I like hot weather. And I could cool down by swimming (泳いで).

Vocabulary:
- As you can see, `by` has many meanings & uses.

#アウトドア