Using the Past Continuous with the Past Tense

When が先に来る場合は「、」（カンマ）が入る。
中央にWhen が来る場合は続けて書く。

* When I was taking a bath, the telephone rang.
= The telephone rang When I was taking a bath.

* While I was taking a bath, the telephone rang.
= The telephone rang while I was taking a bath.

* As I was taking a bath , the telephone rang.
= The telephone rang as I was taking a bath.

上記はすべて同じ意味。

English as an International Language

to spread - to go everywhere
in common - the same
communicate - talk
complicated - difficult
artificial - not real


About one hundred years ago many educated people learned and spoke French when they met people from other countries. Today most people speak English when they meet foreigners. It has become the new international language. There are more people who speak English as a second language than people who speak English as a first language. Why is this?

There are many reasons why English has become so popular. One of them is that English has become the language of business. Another important reason is that popular American culture (like movies, music, and McDonald's) has quickly spread throughout the world. It has brought its language with it.

Is it good that English has spread to all parts of the world so quickly? I don't know. It's important to have a language that the people of the earth have in common. Our world has become very global and we need to communicate with one another. On the other hand, English is a fairly complicated language to learn and it brings its culture with it. Do we really need that?


Scientists have already tried to create an artificial language that isn't too difficult and doesn't include any one group's culture. It is called Esperanto. But it hasn't become popular. But maybe the popularity of English won't last that long either. Who knows? There are more people in the world who speak Chinese than any other language. Maybe someday Chinese will be the new international language.

Conjunctions 接続詞

Coordinating Conjunctions

1. And - means " in addition to "
 * We are going a zoo and an aquarium on the same day.

2. But - connects two different things that are not in agreement.;
 * I am a night owl, but she is an early bird.

3. Or - indicates a choice between two things;
 * Do you want a red one or a blue one?

4. So - illustrates a result of the first thing;
 * This song has been very popular, so I downloaded it;

5. For - means "because";
 * I want to go there again, for it was a wonderful trip.

6. Yet - indicates contrast with something;
 * He performed very well, yet he didn't make the final cut.

Correlative Conjunctions

1. Both/and

 * She won gold medals from both the single and group races.

 * Both TV and television are correct words.

2. Either/or

 * I am fine with either Monday or Wednesday.

 * You can have either apples or pears.

3. Neither/nor

 * He enjoys neither drinking nor gambling.

 * Neither you nor I will get off early today.

4. Not only/but also

 * Not only red but also green looks good on you.

 * She got the perfect score in not only English but also math.

=Both my friend and I are taking the geography class.

=Do you want to go swimming or golfing?

=I studied grammar for a long time, but I still make mistakes.

=Either wood or bricks can be used as homebuilding materials.

=I wasn't feeling well this morning, but (or yet) I had to go to work.

Sightseeing

A. Would you like to go sightseeing?

B. That sounds fun! Do you think there is still enough time?

A. Yes, there is! I know some good places nearby.
     Do you know the Tokyo Sky Tree?

B. Yeah, I've seen it on a postcard. It's the tallest tower in Tokyo, isn't it?

A.  it sure is. And it's also the tallest broadcasting tower in the world, see? There it is, over there!

B. Wow; that's incredible! Do you have a camera? Can you take a picture of me?

A. Why not? That will be a perfect souvenir!

B. Thanks, here should I stand? Here?

A. Perfect! Now take a pose! smile...1,2,3! (Take a shot.)

B. Thank you. Now let's go there and climb up the tower.



A asked B to go sightseeing...

incredible=in-kred-b(ə)l
climb up =climup

It's the tallest tower in Tokyo
Tallest broadcasting tower in the world
They will take pictures in Tokyo...
I like historical buildings..
I'm going to visit my family's grave ..
If I go to my favorite places...
I think other places are exciting and interesting..
I can gain/acquire knowledges about other cultures.
I like to travel to other country but my husband doesn't..
He loves to go to hotsprings...
Turkey was the most memorable place I've been to..
I took some pictures in Turkey..

New Smartphone!

A. Did you see? Lynda bought a smartphone!

B. She must be rich. Anyway, I don't see why someone would need such a
     fancy mobile phone.

A.  if you look at it as small computer, it is not that fancy, not at all.

B. But it is a cellphone. It is supposed to make calls and write messages.
     Well, emails too.

A. Well, it an clearly do as much.

B. But, but...I mean, it is not even comfortable to use the internet in it.
     For internet we have computers and for photography we have cameras...

A. However you look at it. I don't think smartphones are harmful.

B. Well they aren't. I bet mobile phone companies earn a lot selling
     glossy mobile phones. I think some people buy them just because
     they're popular.

A. There are always people like that. I don't buy it for that kind reason,
     though Probably I don't need it soon.

B. Well, at least we are o the same page. I am not planning to buy a
     smartphone anytime soon, either.

Burglary Over Cupcake

act on  ～に従って行動する
　I need to act on her request now or she'll get angry.
　彼女の希望に従って行動しないと怒りそうだ

burglary  夜盗
　There hasn't been any reports of burglary here in a year.
 　この周辺では夜盗が出たという報告はこの一年無い

complain about   不満を言う
　Customers complain about price.
   消費者は価格に不満を言う

crime scene  事件現場
　No one is allowed to enter the crime scene.
   事件現場には誰も入る事が許されない

deed  行い
　He makes sure to do at least one good deed a day.
   彼は毎日欠かせず一つは良いことをしている

spot  発見する
　He finally spotted his mom aid the crowd.
   彼は群衆の中でやっと彼の母親を見つけた

tip over　ひっくり返る
　Don't put the vase on a table that could tip over.
   ひっくり返るかもしれないからその鉢を机に置かないで


A burglary suspect, covered in cake and icing, could not hide her deed when she was spotted by the police a few blocks away from the crime scene.
The police acted on a report by a woman complaining about a stranger making a mess in her kitchen.
The woman said that the suspect broke several of her things and tipped over a tray of cupcakes.
Is was not difficul for the police to catch the suspect.
Accoring to the police officers, the suspect was drunk and had cake and icing all over her legs.

Halloween Town

beware of　気を付ける
fortune teller    占い師
fraud     詐欺　　　=fraud=/frod/　フロード
hunted    憑りつかれた　ホネット　
go-to    いつも助けになる
graveyard    墓場　　=graveyard　グレイビアード
psychic      超能力　　psychic=sīkik　サイキック


=haunted=/hôn(t)əd/
=dead=/ded/
palm=/pam/　パン

numerous　=a lot of  　ニューメロース


Cassadaga in  Florida,US, is the go-to for individuals who want to speak with the dead.
There are enough haunted hotels and graveyards in Cassadaga,
but its main attraction is the significant number of people who say that they can make the dead talk.
Cassadaga is also known as the "psychic capital of the world" an here ,one would find a lot of psychics like tarot card readers, palm readers and fortune tellers.
However, visitors should beware since Cassadaga has also become home to numerous psychic frauds.

Driveing School Crash

A student driver failed his driving test.
Why? As he was pulling up to take his driving test,he crashed into a driving school.
A police officer even took a picture as proof.
Luckily, neither the student driver nor the people inside the building suffered any injury.
What happened was the student driver made a mistake of hitting the gas pedal instead of the brake pedal.

Grace is 27 years old and she lives in Tokyo,Japan.

She's an American but she's working in Japan as an English tutor.
She has been teaching English in Japan for 2 years.
When she first came to Japan.
She did not have any friends.
She met some of her good friends at work.
On her first day at work,she met Megan.
Megan became her best friend in Japan.
Megan is an American, too.
Grace and Megan love to go shopping for shoes and bags.
They also love watching movies on weekends.
They don't spend much because they watch movies online.

At work,Grace teaches 5 classes every day.
Her first class starts at 9AM and her last class starts at 2PM.
Each of her classes lasts for only one hour and she only has 5 students in each class.
She likes teaching because she gets to talk to different kinds of people and she learns more about Japanese culture from her students.

Grace has her lunch break at 12PM.
She usually eats at the office canteen.
She loves eating rice and fried chicken.
When she has more time left on her break,she reads a book or talks with Megan about fashion,movies and books.

When grace finishes work at 3PM,she walks home for about 30minutes so she can exercise.

Cooking a Dish

Sally: I want to cook something for dinner.

Kumi: What's in your mind?

Sally: I have no idea. I cannot come up with a good dish. Do you
            recommend anything?

Kumi: How about teriyaki chicken?

Sally: It's a Japanese dish, right? I don't know how to cook it.

Kumi: It's not so difficult. Actually it's one of basic dishes in Japan.

Sally: I'll try if you kindly teach me.

Kumi: It's my pleasure, First, tenderize and season the chicken by
             marinating it with soy sauce and sugar, Grill and baste the
             chicken with teriyaki sauce until it's done.

Sally: What's the next step?

Kumi: Add some spices like ginger on it.

Sally: Sounds fairly easy and yummy!

Kumi: It is! You can garnish some vegetable salads with it on a
             plate.

Sally: I can't wait to  try the new recipe! Thank you, Kumi-san!

Good manners

* acceptable　(許容可能な）
          agreed or approved of by most people in a society.

* behave　（振る舞う）
          to do things in a particular way; sometimes in a away that people
          think is correct or polite.

* cough　(咳）
          to force out air suddenly and noisily through your throat,
          for example when you have a cold.

*belch　（げっぷ）
          the action of letting air come up noisily from your stomach and out
          through your mouth.

* manners　（マナー）
          behavior that is considered to be polite in a particular society or
          culture.

* polite　（丁寧）
          having or showing good manners and respect for the feelings of
          others

* stare　（見つめる）
          to look at somebody/something for a long time.



I have a friend who isn't polite at all. It never bothered me until recently. I started noticing how bad he behaves in public a few months ago. When we went to a rather expensive restaurant the other day he belch so loudly that people turned around. He always gets in trouble because he stares at people. If I didn't know him, I wouldn't like him looking at me either, to be honest. He sometimes coughs straight into a person's face! Last time I tried to tell him that this is not polite he got mad at me. He told me it was I who didn't have any manner.