ネイティブが教える英会話のジェムスクール☆Teachers☆

We had a great Fourth of July event in Saijo last Saturday. We ate ice cream sundaes, lit fireworks, and listened to the U.S. National Anthem. Our nation anthem is called "The Star-Spangled Banner" and it refers to our flag. I think the lyrics of the song paint an exciting picture of the battles that took place for our country to become independent. The song is notorious for being hard to sing. If you start too high in the beginning you won't be able to reach the highest note that comes at the end of the song. There are many good and bad versions of people performing this song because it's so hard to sing. Here's one that I like because it's very true to the original song and well sung.  

The other day my students decided to read a book by themselves.

It's a simple book with one or two words in every page! The book is called "Yo Yow!"

This was a level 4 class with 2 students (brother and sister) age 11 and 12.

I was amazed by not only their ability to read so well! But also by their motivation to want to read a whole book by themselves.

Here is a video of them reading to me this great book! Check it out!

I think they did an amazing job! What do you think?

  

This fine lady is my Cambodian friend Khov's grandmother. She's in her 90's now, (94?) but until recently was still doing pretty well. Recently though she can't leave the house, since it involves climbing down, since, to avoid flooding, the house is up on stilts. The construction is very practical. The floor is open lattice work, allowing the air to come in, since it's usually very hot there. Anyway, she's been getting slower lately, barely moving, but her spirits seem to be quite good. Interestingly enough, when the daughters of the family are married off, it's the husband who moves in with the wife's family, not the other way around, so there are sons in law in the house, and fewer sons. I'm not sure if it's only in this part of the country or elsewhere as well that it works this way. I think all she has been through - years of U.S. carpet bombing, the Khmer Rouge, the slow growth since then, in a politically violent system. We wish you well grandma.   

Happy Friday everyone. I hope everyone is doing well. Today is my Niece's first High school dance and she is so excited. She and my sister went out and bought her a new blue dress and she is the kind of girl who hardly wears dresses. Her name is Starlyn but we all call her Star. She is a true joy and blessing in my life and i am so proud of the young lady she has become. When she found her dress she told her mother that she felt beautiful . Her mother replied telling her " Star you are and always have been Beautiful. it is not the dress that makes you beautiful, it is you who makes the dress beautiful." . I love my Family. that is very good words to hear your mother say to her young daughter in high school.




This is Star modeling her dress.

Enjoy your weekend everyone.

-Zee-   

So I went to see a prescreening of All You Need Is Kill, and I was completely impressed. I am not a big fan of Tom Cruise, nor had I read the manga on which the movie is based. I was completely caught up in the movie from the opening sequence. While the movie isn't going to win any major awards, it is incredibly entertaining. If you are a fan of sci-fi or actions movies, you really should see this.  

Happy Independence Day! On July 4th, Americans all around the world celebrate the birthday of our country. We are reminded that our country is a great nation which stands for freedom, liberty, and justice, as well as equality. Though I do not live in America now, I still love my country and I call myself a true patriot of my nation as I still believe in the original idea of America.

On this day, families and friends gather to celebrate by barbecuing, playing games, and lighting/watching fireworks. It is a thrilling and fun filled day that the people look forward to yearly.

God bless America and God bless the world.

Thank you for reading!

Leigh!  

Hello everyone.

Hope everyone had a wonderful week. Today i would like to talk about the cartoon Sailor Moon. It is a very old cartoon I grew up with and this year they have remade it . I was worried at first when i heard they where remaking it, because of the artwork. Most cartoons and movies , when they get remade, then tend to no be as good as how it was the first time. this causes the show or movie to fail or die.




But after seeing the first episode I must say they did it right and stuck to the style and art that the show started with. That cartoon was very special to me and my sister when we were growing up as it had also became her daughter's favorite show years later when my Sister became a mother.





Well have a awesome weekend everyone!  

This is the Skydome! It's where the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team play. In these days it's actually called the Rogers' Center but if you ask anyone in Toronto it'll always be called the Skydome. What's really cool is that it has a retractable roof. That means it can close the roof during rainy days and open the roof during sunny days. I'm looking forward to the next time I go back home so I can watch a Blue Jays game.

This stadium also holds many other sporting and concert events. Recently it has started to hold many American Football games each year due to the popularity of American Football in Canada.

- James Barbosa  

So I was able to see the infamous Gundam robot in Odaiba during Golden Week. I found it so peculiar that there was a giant robot near a super mega mall. But I found it extremely cool that it was one of the larger attractions for Odaiba.
  

I knew that ¥2000 bills existed but I had never seen one before. Recently I saw that my friend had one. I got to look it over closely and take some pictures of it. It was interesting to see it. A $20 bill would be the equivalent of the ¥2000 bill. Of course have $20 bills are very common in America, but seeing the equivalent here was quite amusing.

  

Back in the states, I played a game called hacky sack. It's a game involving a footbag, also called a hackey sack, and at least two (but can definitely be more) players, grouped in a circle. The object of the game is to keep the hacky sack moving around the circle (or between the two people if only two are playing) without using your hands. What you can use are your feet. People have also been known to juggle the footbag, using their feet, knees, chest, shoulders, and head. I was never skilled enough to do that, but it definitely looks cool.
The footbag comes in many varieties. The most commonly used is the crocheted bag, seen here:



These are filled with plastic beads, and are relatively sturdy, as in they won't fall apart as easily. There are also footbags filled with sand instead of plastic beads. These are better for casual or beginner players, as they are easier to control.
There are also some interesting footbags that have been made, including ones that glow in the dark, ones made of chain mail, and even ones that you can set on fire.





Hacky sack is quite fun to play, and can be a very active past time. When I use to play, I would jump all over the field, falling to the ground as i made sure that the footbag never landed. It was a great time. I hope to continue that here.  

This week I have been wondering about the Lore of Japan. Every country has their back stories that people claim are true, and because there are no written records one has to wonder. Specifically I was wondering about some of Japans very very old stories, ones that maybe have been passed down for a thousand years. It is really difficult to research this topic for some reason. What are some of the oldest stories in Japan? Do people think they are real? What are the origins of the story? These questions have plagued me and I would really like to know the answers! Is there a book in English that has a collection of old stories anywhere? That would be very interesting to read.  

Well all good things must come to an end. America lost their game today during the round of 16. I was an awesome game though with 16 saves by Tim Howard and one of the youngest players on a national team scoring the US's only goal. What makes this game even crazier is that all three goals, Belgium and America didn't score in the first 90 minutes. They scored all three in extra time. It was gonna give me a heart attack.



  

Unfortunately, I'm unable to have a pet in my apartment right now. Growing up I almost always had a pet. Usually a dog and a cat. Besides pets I often saw other animals in my yard like deer, rabbits, and squirrels. So I'm used to having animals around in my life. I was very happy to see this frog outside my apartment.




Even though it's not really a pet, it's nice to have it living near me :) Do you have a pet? What is it?  

Lately, it's been hard to make delicious food in Japan. I love baking and although I have a toaster oven at my home. It's still very difficult to bake some of my favorite dishes. I baked apple tarts the other day they came out delicious ! But having a real oven would have been a lot more convenient than having a toaster oven ^^ I really hope that one day I can use a real size American oven while in Japan!
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