Thursday, February 27, 2014

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

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

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。


Wednesday, February 19, 2014

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

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

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。

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

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