Otto's blog

Cool Cars in Gifu

7月

5日

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At first I thought this was a Triumph but actually it`s a Honda S800 (1966-70). I think it`s the first one I`ve ever seen. It was outside Gifu Teragoya yesterday so I went to take a photo. First I took a photo from the front, then... I didn`t get a chance to take any more photos because the owner came, got in, revved the engine noisily to impress me, then drove away.

Vocabulary:

- First... = まず...
- The first... = さいしょの...　
- At first... = さいしょは...

Wooden Truck

7月

3日

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My son asked me to make a wooden truck for him. Usually when I make a toy for him, I get him to help me a little. This time I got him to hammer in a couple of nails & spray-paint the wheels black. When the truck was finished, I told him to play with it carefully, so it doesn`t break. But actually, it seems quite strong. I hope he enjoys playing with it.

Grammar:

- ask/tell/get + だれか + to 動詞 = 頼む
- `order/instruct + だれか + to 動詞` are also possible, but not common in spoken English

Challenge - Find the Animal

7月

2日

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On Monday I went cycling around Bisai & Hashima. It`s not really rural (= countryside), but there are a lot of fields, so I wasn`t really surprised to see a few small wild (野生) animals. Can you find the animal in this photo? It`s kind of hard to see... Click to zoom. The answer is in comments.

Vocabulary:

- No/Not = ではありません Not really = そんなに Kind of = 結構
- "Can you cook?" "Not really - just pasta. You?" "Kind of - my mum taught me"

World Cup Update (World Cupdate?)

6月

16日

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Sorry I haven`t been blogging lately. I`ve had a fever...

World Cup Fever!

Usually I get up late, but on Saturday I got up early to watch Australia play. They lost. The next day I got up early to watch England play. They lost too. After the England game I watched Japan play. They lost too. I feel bad but not too bad. Maybe because I`m an FC Gifu fan & I`ve gotten used to (なれている) losing.

Anyway, I hope my teams` luck improves.


Vocabulary:
- Late (adverb 副詞) = 遅く
- Lately (adverb 副詞) = recently 輓近
- Be careful: late & early are about time, but slow/fast are about speed, so "I start work late/early on Sunday" is OK. "I start work slow/fast on Sunday" is WRONG

Women`s Asian Cup Final

5月

26日

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On Sunday night Japan & Australia met in the final of the Women`s Asian Cup. Japan won 1-0. I was supporting Australia, so I was disappointed (がっかりした ) But I should get used to losing - the Men`s FIFA World Cup is coming soon & Australia`s group is very difficult - I expect them to lose most of their games.

Pronunciation (発音):
Usually the letter 'o' has an オ sound e.g. on オン lost ロスト
But sometimes o has an ア sound e.g. come カム monkey　マンキー　honey ハニー
Sometimes o has an ウ sound e.g. lose ルズ
It can even have an イ sound e.g. women ウイメン

Be careful: won ワン = 勝った　　　won ウオン = Korean money

Higashiyama Zoo Excursion (遠足)

5月

21日

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On Sunday, Teragoya staff & students went to Higashiyama zoo. Of course we saw lots of animals.

Do you know the name of the animal in this photo? in Japanese? How about in English? I thought staff knew, but she didn`t. She thought it was a hippo (short for hippopotamus河馬), but actually it`s a rhino (short for rhinocerous犀). I teased (茶々を入れる) her about her mistake.

Later we saw an elephant. I asked her, "Is it an African elephant or an Asian elephant? Do you know?" She thought it was an African elephant, but actually it was an Asian elephant (Asian elephants have smaller ears than African elephants). I teased her again.

Everyone had a good time at the zoo. The kids enjoyed looking at the animals. I enjoyed teasing staff.

Grammar:
When our knowledge or information is wrong, we often use:
- "I thought (past tense verb過去形動詞) but..." e.g. 'I thought the meeting was today, but it`s tomorrow', 'I thought I didn`t need a visa, but I did'

Ogaki Festival

5月

16日

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On Sunday I went to Ogaki festival. I`d never been to it before. It was bigger than I expected, with more stalls (やたい) & people than I expected. As expected, the stalls were selling the usual things - shaved ice (かきごおり), fried noodles (やきそば), corndogs (アメリカンドッグ) etc. My kids especially (とくに) like chocolate-coated bananas (チョコバナナ). In addition to other food, they ate two chocolate-coated bananas each. I was surprised - they ate much more than I expected at the festival. I hope this means they had a good time.

Have you ever been to Ogaki festival? What did you think of it?

Grammar:
- expect = 積もり
- as expected = 予想通り
- [adjective形容詞]er than (I) expected = (私) 予想より[形容詞]
- more [adjective形容詞] than (I) expected =　(私) 予想より[形容詞]
- more [noun名詞] than (I) expected =　(私) 予想より[名詞]　たくさん　

Birth of a Butterfly

5月

12日

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At the end of summer last year I put a caterpillar in a box. I fed it until it got big, then it turned into a cocoon (繭). I wasn`t sure if it would survive (= not die) the winter, because it gets pretty cold in Japan, & I kept the cocoon outside, not inside my house. Finally the weather turned warm, & I noticed that a butterfly had emerged (=come out) from the cocoon. After its wings had dried, it flew away.

I was pleased (= happy) that the caterpillar finally managed to become a butterfly.

It`s a Common Yellow Swallowtail (Papilio machaon) (アゲハ蝶)

Grammar:
There are a few ways to say なります in English:
1. get + adjective形容詞 e.g. get big, get sick, get fat
2. become + adjective形容詞/noun名詞 e.g. become confused/become a mother
3. turn + adjective形容詞 e.g. turn 21 (years old), turn red
4. turn into + noun名詞 e.g. turn into a butterfly, turn into a typhoon
5. go + adjective形容詞 e.g. go crazy, go quiet

Furry Crab

5月

8日

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The area around our hotel was a little touristy but in front of the hotel there was a nice sandy beach. There was a roped-off area for swimming but I swam with my kids outside the roped-off area. The lifeguard came & told me not to, because... I couldn`t understand clearly, but he said either "shrimp" (ebi えび) or "snakes" (hebi へび). Probably the second I guess! He was a bit bossy.

Nearby there was a rocky area (the bossy lifegaurd didn`t stop us going there), where we looked for shells & sea animals. We found a couple of these furry crabs. They`re strange. My son thought they were really funny & laughed a lot.
Have you ever seen one? If so, lucky you!

Grammar:

More `noun名詞　+ y' = 　'adjective形容詞' vocabulary:
- tourist (かんこうきゃく ) --> touristy (かんこうしゃむけの)
- sand (すな) --> sandy beach (すなはま)
- boss (じょうし、ボス) --> bossy (おやぶんはだのひと, うるさい)
- fur (毛, ファー) --> furry (毛がいっぱい)
- luck (うん) --> lucky (うんがいい)

Okinawa Snorkeling

5月

6日

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In Okinawa I went snorkeling & saw a lot of nice fish, but it was a bit difficult to take photos of them because they kept moving (of course!) But I kept trying & managed to get some decent (= pretty good) pictures. The water was clear but a bit cold, so after I got out of the water, I kept shivering (震えた) on the beach for a long time - a bit embarrassing! But it was worth it. I really enjoyed snorkeling in Okinawa.

Grammar:
keep/kept + ____ing = continue/d ____ing = _____つづける/つづけた