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Otto's blog

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An Old Student Pops In

Jun
20
thread
An Old Student Pops In
Today an old* Teragoya student popped in to say hello. Three years ago Yuji went to Australia to study. Today he told us that he graduated from his course & got a job as a tour guide at Ayer`s Rock (Uluru). He said he is having a great time in Australia. Well done, Yuji! We`re proud of you.

Vocabulary:
- * 'old' usually means 古い or 年寄り, but here it means 旧. (Yuji is not 年寄り!)

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Brave鳩? No, Brave Sparrow!

Jun
12
thread
Brave鳩? No, Bra...
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.
#動物

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Tokugawa Museum, Nagoya

May
16
thread
Tokugawa Museum, Nagoya
This morning I was in Nagoya & I had some time to kill, so I visited the Tokugawa Museum. It has various objects such as old art, scrolls (巻子本) and weapons, especially samurai swords (刀) - lots of swords! Actually, I don`t know much about the Tokugawa period, or swords, or scrolls, so I felt a little ignorant. How about you? Are you interested in these kinds of old objects, & the Edo era? If so, please visit this museum.

Pronunciation:
- sword = ソード (not スォード / スワード)
#アート #文化

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Teragoya Marché

May
14
thread
Teragoya Marché
I made a set of shelves for our school lobby. We will use it to display handicrafts, etc. for sale. If you enjoy making things such as jewelry, accessories, toys, stationery, or something like that, please let us know - we can arrange to display them here.

Vocabulary:
- 'marché' is actually not English - it`s French, for 'market'.
#趣味

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Nice Legs!

May
8
thread
Nice Legs!
My wife bought a 'Roomba' automatic vacuum cleaner. Unfortunately, it couldn`t get under the sofa, which was too low. So I took out the original legs (red circle) & made new, slightly longer legs (green circle).

When I put them in, I noticed that a couple are not perfectly straight, but never mind - you can`t really tell (= notice). Anyway, now the Roomba can clean under the sofa, so my wife`s happy. And I`m happy because I saved money by using wood & black spray paint that I already had, so I only had to buy bolts, which were about ¥50 each.

Vocabulary:
- put in = 入れる
- take out = 取り出す (*not 'put out')
#趣味

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On The Small Side

May
7
thread
On The Small Side
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
#動物

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F.C.Gifu v Ryukyu

May
6
thread
F.C.Gifu v Ryukyu
I went to see F.C.Gifu on Sunday. Because Sunday was Children`s Day, before the game they showed childhood photos of each F.C.Gifu team member on the big screen (the member above is the goalkeeper, Jan-Ole Sievers, who is from Germany.) It was kind of funny.

The final score was 2:1. Gifu won! Because of that, I went home in a good mood ...finally.

Grammar:
- "Because + 文節, 文節"
- "Because of + 名詞 / 名詞句, 文節"
#スポーツ

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Welcome Party

Apr
24
thread
Welcome Party
On Saturday, we had a welcome party for new teacher Jade, & two new full-time staff, Misaki & Takako. Lots of students came & we had a lot of fun. We played bingo, ate sushi & pizza, drank beer, and chatted a lot. Please join us next time!

Vocabulary, Grammar:
- a lot of + 名詞 = lots of + 名詞
- talk/eat/drink/動詞 a lot. OK
- talk/eat/drink/動詞 a lot of. WRONG
#パーティ

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Can You Tell I`m a Geek?

Apr
16
thread
Can You Tell I`m a Geek?
Can you tell* what`s interesting in this photo?

Shall I tell** you?

Well, if you look carefully, you`ll notice that the shed is actually a converted train carriage. I can`t tell* what it`s used for now, but it has windows & curtains, so maybe someone uses it as a bedroom. Cool! (Actually, it`s made of metal, so in summer it probably gets pretty hot.)

Vocabulary:
- *tell... = notice, know, understand
- **tell (+誰かに)... = say, teach
#鉄道

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F.C.Gifu v V-Varen Nagasaki

Apr
15
thread
F.C.Gifu v V-Varen Nagasaki
I went to see F.C.Gifu on Sunday. If they`d won, they would`ve gone to #14 in the J2 League table. But they lost. They lost badly. They missed a PK. And one Gifu player got a red card. Now their league position is #21.

Oh, and it rained.

I should`ve stayed home.

Pronunciation:
- "Would`ve" と "should`ve" の発音は "would of" と "should of" と似ている。 書く時に、ネイティブもたまに間違える事があります！
#スポーツ

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