Otto's blog

2 Fish, 1 Wish

Sep

17

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My kids caught these 2 fish in Australia. The bottom one, about 25cm long, is a 'Gunther`s Wrasse'. The top one was about 30cm, but I don`t know what it is. I wish I knew... Can you help? Do you know this fish?

Grammar:
- "I wish + 主語 + 過去形動詞 (NOT 現在形)..."

Brave鳩? No, Brave Sparrow!

Jun

12

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The title is a joke - brave = 勇ましい, & 'Brave鳩' sounds like 'Braveheart' the movie. Do you know it? But this bird isn`t a pigeon (鳩). It`s a sparrow. Do you understand? Is it a funny joke? No? A little? No? Ah...

Anyway, I was having lunch in the park today, & this sparrow came closer & closer, & finally jumped on my leg. I was surprised. I don`t usually feed birds, but I gave this brave sparrow some of my lunch.

Language Use:
- If you are chatting & want to change the subject [話題を変えたい時、仕切り直したい時] because it becomes boring, confusing, uncomfortable, or irrelevant (見当違い) use "Anyway..." & start a new subject.

On The Small Side

May

7

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One of these eggs is a bit on the small side. Can you tell which one? That`s right - it`s the one on the right side of the dish. I wonder which hen is responsible...

Vocabulary:
- "(a bit/little) on the + 形容詞 + side" = ちょっと / やや　形容詞　(*usually used in a negative or critical way)　
- "on the left/north/etc side = 左/北側に

Zoo Trip

May

23

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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

Magical Miyako Island

May

8

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Last week I visited Miyako Island with my family. We spent a lot of time in the water; my kids enjoyed playing in their swim rings (浮き輪) & I enjoyed snorkeling. I saw a lot of colorful small fish, but not many big fish. We also collected a lot of shells. I`m thinking of making (作るうと思う) something with them for our school`s craft event in September.

The weather was good - a lot of sunshine & not much rain. As for food, I ate a lot of Okinawa-style noodles, & of course drank a lot of Orion beer. I had a lot of fun.

Natural English:
- In spoken English, it`s usual to use 'many' (with 可算名詞) & 'much' (with 不可算名詞 ) in negative ('not') sentences & questions. BUT! in positive sentences - 可算名詞 OR 不可算名詞 - it`s usual to use 'a lot of', or 'lots of' (casual style) in spoken English.

Three Eggs a Day

Sep

19

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For a while my 3 chickens were only producing 2 eggs a day. One of them wasn`t pulling its weight (= not working hard). However, now I`m finally getting one egg per chicken everyday - that`s 3 eggs a day, or 21 a week.

That`s a nice ROI (Return on Investment, 投資利益率).

Vocabulary:
- a/per = 対して, に就いて
- 'a' is more common than 'per', but 'per' is usual for people e.g. '$5 per person'

Finally - an Egg!

Aug

25

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After deciding to get pet chickens, first I made a chicken house, then I made a fence. Finally* I bought 3 chickens. I gave them food every day & they got bigger. Finally**, after two and a half months, one of them laid an egg. My kids were pretty excited (egg-cited?).

Vocabulary:
* 最後に
** やっと, 到頭, 遂に

Cicada

Aug

16

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When I went camping last week I saw this cicada (蝉) which had just come out of its shell. Nice colour, isn`t it? But after a few hours it turned brown, and then flew away.

Pronunciation:
U.S.: si-kay-da U.K./Australia: si-kar-da

Ducklings in a Ditch

Jul

4

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While I was taking my 3 kids for a bicycle ride, I noticed this mother duck taking her kids for a swim. How many ducklings? 9? Poor mum!

Grammar:
- 'take + 誰か/動物 + for (a) + swim/walk/ride/drive' = 誰か/動物を + 泳ぎ　散歩　自転車に乗る　ドライブ + (し)に連れて行く

Unripe Grapes

Jun

21

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My grape vine has lots of grapes, but I haven`t picked any yet because they`re still green, so they`re not ready to eat yet (they`re red grapes). I put a net over them to stop birds. I haven`t seen any birds trying to eat them yet, but I`m sure they`ll come and try soon. I think my chickens want to eat them too.

My chickens still haven`t laid any eggs. I`m still waiting... Come on, chooks!

Grammar:
- still + ___ = まだ ___
- not + ___ + yet = まだ ___ない
- still + is/are/have/do + not + ___ = まだ ___ない