Otto's blog

Chicken Coop

Jun

3

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I made this chicken coop. I only have 3 hens, so it`s big enough, but I hope it is strong enough to keep out predators (捕食者) such as cats & weasels (鼬). Unfortunately I only had enough sheet metal to cover one side. The other sides are just wood. If I have enough time, I will try to strengthen the other walls.

Grammar:
- OK: ...enough + 名詞, ...形容詞 + enough
- WRONG: ...名詞 + enough, ...enough + 形容詞

Pet Chooks

Jun

2

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I bought 3 hens. A hen is a female (雌) chicken. A male (雄) chicken is a rooster. Roosters are not good pets because they are noisy; hens aren`t. In a few months I hope to get eggs from these hens, but now they are too young.

A student told me where to buy them. Thanks, Junko!

Vocabulary:
- 'chook' is Australian & NZ slang, = chicken

Killifish Puzzle, Higashiyama Zoo

May

22

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On Sunday, Teragoya kids, teachers & staff went to Higashiyama Zoo. We go every year, but in previous years, I didn`t notice this killifish (メダカ) section. I`m interested in killifish, so I wanted to look. I asked the kids in my group, "Are you interested in looking at killifish?" They said yes, so we looked inside. There were various displays, but they were most interested in this killifish internal organs (内臓) puzzle.

Natural English:
- 'be (not) + interested in + 名詞 / 動詞ing` is more common & natural than ' have an (/no) interest in 名詞 / 動詞ing', though both are correct.

Resident Pheasant

May

16

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When I ride my bicycle to the east of my home, I look for the pheasant which lives around there. Recently I was lucky enough to see it. It tried to hide, but I got closer & managed to take this photo.

Vocabulary:
- 隠れん坊 = 'Hide & Seek'
- Seek = Search for = Look for (探す)
- In natural spoken English, we usually use 'look for', not 'search for' or 'seek'

Miyako Island Snorkelling

May

16

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During the Golden Week holidays I went to Miyako Island, in Okinawa. I went snorkelling everyday. Actually, when I go snorkelling, I only use goggles, but no snorkel. A snorkel is a hassle when I dive under the water to take photos of fish, which I did a lot.

This fish has many names e.g.Striped Surgeonfish, Lined Surgeon, Clown Surgeon, & Pyjama Clown.

Pronunciation:
snorkel: "スノーケル" (NOT シュノーケル)
snorkeling: "スノーケリング" (NOT シュノーケリング)

Spot the Animal

May

11

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While riding my bicycle near my house, I saw an animal next to the path, so I stopped to take a photo. Can you find it? If you can`t, please look in comments to find out what I saw.

Vocabulary:
find = 見つける find out = 聞込む, 聞き取る, 聞きただす, 悟る, 認識する

Creepy Cocoons

Mar

28

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A couple of weeks ago I found a green swallowtail (揚羽) cocoon in my garden: http://en.bloguru.com/otto/294414/green-cocoon . While I was gardening on Sunday, I found two brown ones. One of them was in an interesting place - can you see?
Some people think cocoons like this are creepy (気色悪い) & gross (気持ち悪い), but I think... well, yes, I agree they are kind of creepy & gross, but they are interesting too.
Do you have a garden? Do you like gardening?

Vocabulary:
- garden = にわ gardening = にわいじり, にわづくり

Green Cocoon

Mar

15

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Sometimes I check the lime tree in my garden for insects, damage, etc. Today I was surprised to find this green cocoon on it. It must have been there since sometime last year. Usually swallowtail cocoons are brown, but sometimes they`re green. I guess this butterfly will come out sometime this Spring. I hope to see it.

Vocabulary:
- Sometime = いつか
- Sometimes = ときどき

Hawkmoth

Aug

19

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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

Tad Pale Tadpole

Aug

4

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My kids like to catch tadpoles (お玉杓子). I`m not really interested in tadpoles, but when I found this unusual pale (生白い) one in a ricefield, I decided to catch & keep it. Will it turn into a rare pale frog? I hope to find out in a few weeks.

Vocabulary:
- find = (物) 見つける
- find out = (情報) 認識する