Girls Just Want To Have Fun - Cyndi Lauper

I come home in the morning light
My mother says: "When you gonna live your life right?"
Oh, mother, dear
We're not the fortunate ones
And girls
They wanna have fun
Oh, girls
Just wanna have fun

The phone rings in the middle of the night
My father yells: "What you gonna do with your life?"
Oh, daddy, dear
You know you're still number one
But girls
They wanna have fun
Oh, girls, just wanna have
That's all they really want...
Some fun...

When the working day is done
Oh, girls
They wanna have fun
Oh, girls
Just wanna have fun....

Girls
They want
Wanna have fun
Girls
Wanna have

Some boys take a beautiful girl
And hide her away from the rest of the world
I wanna be the one to walk in the sun
Oh, girls
They wanna have fun
Oh, girls
Just wanna have
That's all they really want...
Some fun...

When the working day is done
Oh, girls
They wanna have fun
Oh, girls
Just wanna have fun...

Girls
They want
Wanna have fun
Girls
Wanna have

They just wanna
They just wanna...
(Girls...)
They just wanna
They just wanna...
(Girls just wanna have fun...)

Morning glory 朝顔

Morning glory  朝顔

An annual climbing plant originally produced in Asia, morning glory blooms from midsummer to early fall.
アジア原産の一年草のツル草で、朝顔は盛夏のころから初秋にかけて咲きます。

It was brought to Japan for medical purposes by an envoy to China sometime in the 900s and began to be cultivated.
日本には西暦900年代に遣唐使によって薬用として持ち込まれ、栽培されるようになりました。

In keeping with the meaning of its name in Japanese, "morning face," it blooms in the morning and the blossoms close up immediately.
「朝の顔」という日本語名の意味通りで、朝咲き、すぐに花を閉じてしまいます。

Cultivation flourished in the Edo Period (1603-1867) and many varieties were developed.
江戸時代（1603?1867）に栽培が盛んになり、多くの品種ができました。

In the hot, humid Japanese summer, morning glory  blooming in the cool morning air soften people's hearts.
湿気が多く暑い日本の夏には、朝の涼しい空気の中に咲く朝顔が人々の心をなごませるのです。

Mount Fuji 富士山

Mount Fuji  富士山

Fuji-san is Japan's highest mountain, known throughout the world for its beauty.
富士山は、その美しさゆえに広く世界に知られている日本一高い山です。

It is 3,776 meters high, located almost in the middle of Japan, and in the past erupted frequently.
標高は3,776メートル、日本のほぼ中心部に位置し、史上たびたび噴火してきました。

Since 1707 volcanic activity has ceased, but geologically it is a dormant volcano.
1707年以降は火山活動を休止していますが、地質学上は活火山です。

Fuji-san is one of Japan's three sacred mountains and has been an object of worship since ancient times.
富士山は日本三霊山の１つで、古来信仰の対象として崇められてきました。

In the Edo Period (1603-1867)  in particular, it was frequently climbed as an expression of faith.
特に江戸時代（1603-1867）には、信仰のための登山が盛んに行われています。

Its grandeur and beauty have fascinated many Japanese artists, who have left behind outstanding works of art.
その偉大さと美しさはまた、日本の多くの芸術家を魅了し、優れた作品が残されています。

There is, for example, the outstanding work called the "Fugaku Sanjurokkei" by the ukiyoe artist Katsushika Hokusai, which contains worldly known masterpieces like the "Akafuji."
浮世絵画家・葛飾北斎には「富嶽三十六景」という優れた作品があり、「赤富士」など世界に知られる名作もあります。

Let It Go music video

The snow glows white on the mountain tonight,
not a footprint to be seen.
A kingdom of isolation and it looks like I'm the queen.
The wind is howling like this swirling storm inside.
Couldn't keep it in, Heaven knows I tried.
Don't let them in, don't let them see.
Be the good girl you always have to be.
Conceal, don't feel, don't let them know.
Well, now they know!

Let it go, let it go!
Can't hold it back any more.
Let it go, let it go!
Turn away and slam the door.
I don't care what they're going to say.
Let the storm rage on.
The cold never bothered me anyway.

It's funny how some distance,
makes everything seem small.
And the fears that once controlled me, can't get to me at all
It's time to see what I can do,
to test the limits and break through.
No right, no wrong, no rules for me.
I'm free!

Let it go, let it go.
I am one with the wind and sky.
Let it go, let it go.
You'll never see me cry.
Here I'll stand, and here I'll stay.
Let the storm rage on.

My power flurries through the air into the ground.
My soul is spiraling in frozen fractals all around
And one thought crystallizes like an icy blast
I'm never going back; the past is in the past!

Let it go, let it go.
And I'll rise like the break of dawn.
Let it go, let it go
That perfect girl is gone
Here I stand, in the light of day.

Let the storm rage on!
The cold never bothered me anyway...

Two-part Verbs (Phrasal Verbs)

Listen and Repeat- simple English sentences

Watch to Listen and Repeat to simple English sentences.

From manythings.org

Wind-bells 風鈴

Wind-bells  風鈴

Furin are small bells made of glass, metal or ceramic which are hung from the eaves of houses chiefly in summer.
風鈴は、ガラスや金属、陶器でできた小さな鈴で、主に夏の間、家の軒先などに釣り下げます。

A rectangular strip of paper, which is called tanzaku, is hung from a clapper, and ancient Japanese poems or verses are written on it.
鈴の下方には、短冊とよばれる長方形の紙片が付いており、ここには日本の古い詩や歌が書かれています。

When the tanzaku catches the breeze, the bell chimes. In the hot, humid Japanese summer, the sound of the wind bell vibrating in the breeze is, for the Japanese, a puff of coolness.
短冊が風を受けると鈴が鳴ります。湿気が多くてむし暑い日本の夏ですが、風鈴が風に搖れる音は、日本人にとっては一服の清涼剤なのです。

Irregular Verbs 2

Watch the video, and Listen & Repeat, to practice common irregular verbs.

Second in a series of 4 videos. 

From ManyThings.org

Manzai

Manzai- Comic dialogue  漫才

This is a kind of vaudeville performance in which two comedians as a team make spectators laugh by their humorous verbal exchanges.
主に２人の芸人が１組になり、面白おかしく言葉をやりとりして観客を笑わせる寄席演芸の１つ。

The singing and dancing that once served to celebrate New Year changed into a vaudeville performance, and in the early part of the Showa Period (1926-1989) became dialogue-oriented.
新年を祝う歌舞が寄席演芸に変化したもので、昭和時代（1926-1989）初期に対話中心になりました。

Compared to comic storytelling (rakugo), manzai is contemporary.
落語に比べ漫才は現代的です。

The two comedians divide their comic roles and entertain the spectators with the skillfulness of their humorous, ad-libed exchanges.
２人がこっけいな役割を分担し、やり取りの面白さやアドリブの巧みさが客を楽しませます。

Like rakugo storytellers, manzai artists appear regularly on television variety shows.
落語家と同様、漫才師もテレビのバラエティー番組で大活躍しています。

Don't Worry, Be Happy! Music video

"Don't Worry, Be Happy"

Here's a little song I wrote
You might want to sing it note for note
Don't worry be happy
In every life we have some trouble
When you worry you make it double
Don't worry, be happy

Ooh, ooh ooh ooh oo-ooh ooh oo-ooh ooh ooh oo-ooh
(Don't worry)
Ooh oo-ooh ooh ooh oo-ooh
(Be happy)
Ooh oo-ooh oo-ooh
Ooh, ooh ooh ooh oo-ooh ooh oo-ooh ooh ooh oo-ooh
(Don't worry)
Ooh oo-ooh ooh ooh oo-ooh
(Be happy)
Ooh oo-ooh oo-ooh
(Don't worry, be happy)

Ain't got no place to lay your head
Somebody came and took your bed
Don't worry, be happy
The land lord say your rent is late
He may have to litigate
Don't worry, be happy
(Look at me I am happy)

Ooh, ooh ooh ooh oo-ooh ooh oo-ooh ooh ooh oo-ooh
(Don't worry)
Ooh oo-ooh ooh ooh oo-ooh
(Be Happy)
Ooh oo-ooh oo-ooh
Here I give you my phone number
When you worry call me, I make you happy
Ooh, ooh ooh ooh oo-ooh ooh oo-ooh ooh ooh oo-ooh
(Don't worry)
Ooh oo-ooh ooh ooh oo-ooh
(Be happy)
Ooh oo-ooh oo-ooh

Ain't got no cash, ain't got no style
Ain't got no girl to make you smile
But don't worry be happy
'Cause when you worry
Your face will frown
And that will bring everybody down
So don't worry, be happy
Don't worry, be happy now

Ooh, ooh ooh ooh oo-ooh ooh oo-ooh ooh ooh oo-ooh
(Don't worry)
Ooh oo-ooh ooh ooh oo-ooh
(Be happy)
Ooh oo-ooh oo-ooh
Don't worry, be happy
Ooh, ooh ooh ooh oo-ooh ooh oo-ooh ooh ooh oo-ooh
(Don't worry)
Ooh oo-ooh ooh ooh oo-ooh
(Be happy)
Ooh oo-ooh oo-ooh
Don't worry be happy
Ooh, ooh ooh ooh oo-ooh ooh oo-ooh ooh ooh oo-ooh
(Don't worry)
Ooh oo-ooh ooh ooh oo-ooh
(Don't worry sweetie, be happy)
Ooh oo-ooh oo-ooh
(Put a smile on your face, don't bring everybody down)
Ooh, ooh ooh ooh oo-ooh ooh oo-ooh ooh ooh oo-ooh
(Don't worry)
Ooh oo-ooh ooh ooh oo-ooh
(It will soon pass, celebrate it)
Ooh oo-ooh oo-ooh
Don't worry, be happy
I'm not worried, I'm happy

Irregular Verbs 1

Watch the video, and Listen & Repeat, to practice common irregular verbs.

First in a series of 4 videos. 

From ManyThings.org

Word Order Practice- Present Continuous

This page makes simple Be + ~ing sentences, negatives and questions.

For example:

1. They are jumping at the moment.
2. You are always dancing.
3. That lawyer is eating at the company just now.

Click on the <3 Sentences> <4 Sentences> or <5 Sentences> buttons to make new sentences.
Also, write your name in the box at the bottom center of the page to include your name in the sentences!

from www.manythings.org

Japanese Wistaria 藤

Japanese Wistaria  藤 (also spelled Wistaria or Wysteria)

Fuji, pronounced the same way as Mt. Fuji, are beautiful pale purple flowers with vines that bloom in late spring.
藤は、発音すると富士と同じですが、晩春に咲く薄紫色の蔓性の美しい花です。

They grow wild in fields and mountains, but, to appreciate their beauty, the vines are trained over a trellis and the flowers are drooped down from it.
山野に自生していますが、観賞用としては棚を作りその上に蔦をはわせ、花はその棚から垂れ下がるようにします。

Each bunch of fuji measures from scores of centimeters to one meter and scores of centimeters in length, and beauty is found in the bunches swaying (like waves) in the wind, which are referred to as fuji waves.
この花の房は数十センチから１メートル数十センチになり、風が吹くと波のように揺れるのが藤波といって美しいのです。

A pale purple color is generally called fuji color.
薄紫色は一般に藤色といわれます。

The National Flower

The National Flower  国花

The flower that is most beloved by the Japanese people and that symbolizes Japan is the cherry blossom.
日本人に最も愛好され、日本を象徴する花といえば桜です。


From the cherry blossom which falls only within a week or so, the Japanese sense beauty, as well as transience, melancholy, and perhaps honor of graceful resignation.
日本人は、１週間ほどで散ってしまう桜から、美しさとともに無常感や物悲しさ、あるいは潔さを読みとります。

The lyricism of the Japanese people has been closely connected with this flower from ancient times; since the Heian Period(794-1185), it has been often included in classical Japanese poems.
この花と日本人の叙情は昔から深く結び付いていて、平安時代（794-1185）以来、和歌にもよく詠まれています。

From the early years of the Showa Period (1926-1989) until the Second World War, the way that the cherry blossom quickly and gracefully falls was appropriated into militarism to beautify the deaths of the suicide units.
昭和時代（1926-1989）初期から第２次大戦までの間は、この桜の散りぎわの潔さが軍国主義に利用されて、特攻隊の死が美化されたりしたのです。

Today, Japan has sent cherry trees with their beauty overseas as the symbol of peace, and their light pink flowers bloom every spring, for example, beside the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., and on the remains of the Berlin Wall.
今ではその美しさが平和のシンボルとして、日本から海外に贈られ、アメリカのワシントンD.C.のポトマック河畔やベルリンの壁跡に、その薄桃色の花を春ごとに咲かせています。

Word Order Practice S-V-O-C

This page makes simple Subject-Verb-Object-Complement sentences. For example:

1.I left the door open.

2. They elected him President.

3. We named her Jane.

Click on the <3 Sentences> <4 Sentences> or <5 Sentences> buttons to make new sentences.
Also, write your name in the box at the bottom center of the page to include your name in the sentences!

from www.manythings.org

Chopsticks 箸

Chopsticks are two sticks that hold food between them when one eats.
箸は、食事をするときに食物をはさむ２本の棒で。

They were brought from ancient China.
古代中国から伝わりました。

In Japan, chopsticks are almost always used when eating.
日本では、食事のときはほとんど箸を使います。

Most are made of wood or bamboo painted with lacquer or of plastic, but there are also high-class ones with the inside made of ivory.
 漆を塗った木や竹、またはプラスチック製のものが多いのですが、中には象牙製の高級品もあります。

Chopsticks put out for visitors or in restaurants are half-split chopsticks; made of unfinished wood, they are to be used and thrown away.
 来客用、あるいは飲食店で出される箸は、割り箸という使い捨ての白木の箸です。

Most Japanese are skillful at using chopsticks, because they learned how from their parents during childhood.
幼少時に両親から箸の使い方を習うため、大部分の日本人は箸を上手に使えるのです。

Word Order Practice- S-V-IO-DO

This page makes simple Subject-Verb-Indirect Object-Direct Object sentences. For example:

1. Mr. Hanson bought her a gift.

2. They make him some coffee.

3. That bus driver offered her a ride home.

Click on the <3 Sentences> <4 Sentences> or <5 Sentences> buttons to make new sentences.
Also, write your name in the box at the bottom center of the page to include your name in the sentences!

from www.manythings.org

Rock-Scissors-Paper じゃんけん

1. The game of Rock-Scissors-Paper is played to decide things like order of participation (playing order) or victory or defeat in trifling games. 
2. じゃんけんは、順番を決めたり、ちょっとした勝負をつけたりするときに行うゲームで、「じゃんけんぽん」と言いながら、同時に手を出すのです。 
3. While saying "jan-ken-pon," players put one hand forward in a fist--stone (gu)--or with two fingers protruding--scissors (choki)--or with all fingers completely open--paper (pa).  
4. 握りこぶし（グー）は「石」、２本指（チョキ）は「はさみ」、開いた手（パー）は「紙」を意味します。 
5. Victory is determined with stone breaking scissors, scissors cutting paper, or paper covering stone. 
6. 石ははさみに、はさみは紙に、紙は石に勝つことができます。
7. When everybody puts forward the same shape, or when all the three kinds of shape is put forward, they keep on playing, saying "it's a tie" (aiko-desho) until the winner is decided.
8. 全員が同じものを出すか、３種類がすべて出たときは「あいこでしょ」と言って、勝負がつくまで繰り返し行います。

Music video- The Proclaimers- 500 miles

 

Got milk? How to make yogurt

Click to read and listen to a Voice of America story about

Got milk? How to make yogurt.

from www.manythings.org

Word Order Practice- S+V+C

This page makes simple Subject-Verb-Object sentences. For example:

1. They are pilots.

2. Becky isn't tall.

3. Jimmy Joe isn't hungry.

Click on the <3 Sentences> <4 Sentences> or <5 Sentences> buttons to make new sentences.
Also, write your name in the box at the bottom center of the page to include your name in the sentences!

from www.manythings.org

Doll's Festival ひな祭り

Doll's Festival  ひな祭り

The Doll’s Festival occurs on March 3 and is an occasion to pray for young girls' growth and happiness.
ひな祭りは３月３日、女の子の成長や幸福を願う行事です。
Most homes with girls display dolls for the Doll's Festival and dedicate to them peach blossoms, rice cake cubes, special colored and diamond-shaped rice cakes, white sake, and other items.
女の子のいる家庭の多くはひな人形を飾り、桃の花やひなあられ、菱餅、白酒などをひな人形に供えます。
The origin of the Doll’s Festival is an ancient Chinese practice in which the sin of the body and misfortune are transferred to a doll and washed away by setting the doll in a river to drift away.
ひな祭りの起源は、身のけがれや災いを人形に移し、川に流して厄払いしたという古代中国の風習にあります。
When this practice spread to Japan, it was linked to girl's playing with dolls and, in the Edo Period (1603-1867), was developed into the Doll’s Festival.
これが日本に伝わると女の子の人形遊びと結び付き、江戸時代（1603-1867）からはひな祭りとして行われるようになりました。

Word Order Practice- SVO

This page makes simple Subject-Verb-Object sentences. For example:

1. I draw a map.

2. They iron a shirt.

3. Those taxi drivers read the story.

Click on the <3 Sentences> <4 Sentences> or <5 Sentences> buttons to make new sentences.
Also, write your name in the box at the bottom center of the page to include your name in the sentences!

from www.manythings.org

Reading and Listening with the Voice of America

Click to read and listen to a Voice of America story about

A Cool Way to Keep Food from Spoiling.

from www.manythings.org

Cookpot dishes 鍋料理

Click to hear the text-

Japanese culture, which can be called "a culture of harmony," places importance on harmony among friends.
日本文化は「和の文化」ともいわれ、仲間同士の和を大事にします。
One cultural form for confirming harmony involves friends getting together to drink sake and eat, and nabe-ryori is appropriate for such gatherings.
その和を確認するために仲間が集まって酒を飲み、食事をするのはその文化の型の１つですが、そんな集まりに鍋料理は適しています。
Soup stock and ingredients are put in a pot and heated; four or five persons sit around it, put soup and ingredients from the pot into their own bowls and eat.
鍋の中に汁と具を入れて温め、それを囲んで４か５人が適当に鍋の中から具と汁を自分の食器に取って食べます。
This enhances the bond of friendship and stimulates the discussion.
仲間意識が持て、話もはずみます。
There are all sorts of ingredients and soup stocks, as many flavors and ways of preparing, in fact, as there are households.
具も汁もさまざまな種類があり、家庭の数と同じだけ味や作り方の種類があるとさえいえます。
Typical ingredients include fish, shellfish, a variety of vegetables and meats, and soup stocks are seasoned by soy bean paste or soy sauce.
代表的な具としては魚、貝類、あらゆる野菜、肉類などで、汁は味噌や醤油などで味付けされます。

Snow Country

Snow Country   雪国

"The train came out of the long tunnel of a border area into the snow country."
「国境の長いトンネルを抜けると雪国であった」……
That is the famous opening of Nobel Prize-winning novelist Kawabata Yasunari's masterpiece "Snow Country".
これは、ノーベル賞作家・川端康成の名作『雪国』の冒頭部の有名な１節です。
 This phrase accurately indicates a geographical feature of Japan.
この表現は日本の地形をもよく表しています。
In winter, a chilly seasonal wind blows from Siberia, striking the mountain range that runs through the central part of Honshu from the northeast to the southwest and causing heavy snowfall on the Japan Sea side.
冬はシベリアから吹く冷たい季節風が、本州中央部を北東から南東へ連なる山脈にぶつかり、日本海側に大雪を降らせます。
There is not much snowfall on the Pacific Ocean side of the mountain range.
山脈の太平洋側にはあまり雪は降りません。
Thus, when one comes out of the tunnel from the Pacific side to the Japan Sea side, the yuki-guni with snow piling high appears dramatically.
そのため太平洋側から日本海側へトンネルを抜けるといきなり深い雪の積もった雪国が劇的に出現するのです。
The term yuki-guni therefore indicates the regions on the Japan Sea side of Honshu, the Tohoku area and all of Hokkaido.
このように雪国とは本州の日本海側一帯と東北地方及び北海道全域を指します。

Listening Activity- XBOX ONE

Click on the link to go to the listening activity page:

http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/1311/131126-xbox-one-a.html

This is a short listening and reading activity from Breaking News English.

Walking on the Moon- by The Police