Happy Birthday Present!

We had a wonderful date in Hiroshima today in the lovely sunshine and Kaori bought me a Cajon kit, so I can make my own cajon!! 
I hope I can find time to do it soon.

 I want to play it now!

Christmas is coming...

Only 5 days until Christmas and today my annual package from my parents in London arrived!!

Inside was the gravy I asked for to make the sauce for Christmas dinner and a selection of 3 mini Christmas cakes...with no strawberries in sight ;)

I am getting excited now...

COMING SOON...Top Ten Christmas Tunes!!

say / tell

I am often asked "What is the difference between 'say' and 'tell'?"

The meaning, of course, is very similar but the way to use them is different.

to tell (someone) (something)
to tell (someone) about (something)
to tell (someone) to (do - ) 

to say (something)
to say (something) to (someone)

eg.


He told me a story.
He told me about his plans for the weekend.
He told me to sit down.

He said (that) he was hungry.
He said 'hello' to her.

Sometimes you can use either to say the same thing...

He said he was hungry = He told me (that) he was hungry

He said "Sit down" = He told me to sit down

Hope this helps...if you have any questions please comment below :)

Bumped into...

'Bumped into' is a very useful verb to know...

Last week I was out for a walk around Kure with my wife and I bumped into 3 of my students with their mum.
They are only 4 years old and they are triplets!!

I really enjoy teaching them and, because they have been coming to me for around 2 years now, their English is very natural and their pronunciation is excellent...

thank you Mr K, Mr F and Miss K and see you soon :)

Drawing

I am looking forward to going to London so much that I decided to draw a picture of one of the places that holds most memories for me in London, Berwick Street in Soho...I will be walking this street very soon : )

...the idea of...

I was teaching last week and one of my students said something like...

"I have never been climbing, but I like climbing"

Because he has never been it is impossible for him to know whether he likes it or not.
What he wanted to say was...

"I have never been climbing, but I like the idea of climbing"

'to like the idea of...' is the phrasal verb we use to talk about things we would probably like if we tried them eg.

"I like the idea of working for Mazda"
"I like the idea of moving to Tokyo"
"I don't like the idea of having children"

Ta

Useful English #1 - lend/borrow

the verbs 'lend' and 'borrow' are part of one process, but seen from different points of view.

'I lent my friend 10 pounds' = 'My friend borrowed 10 pounds (from me)'

It is very useful for making requests eg.

'Please lend me a pen'
'Can I borrow a pen please?'

When money or a fee is involved we use 'rent' or 'hire' eg.

'We hired a car for the weekend'
'I want to rent an apartment in London'

Strawberry Picking

Yesterday Kaori had booked for us to go strawberry picking in Kamagari, so we woke up early, became late (as usual) and raced to Kamagari in record time. We got there just on time and ran to the green-houses to start our 40 minutes of free strawberries!

After 5 minutes my son was already full up and wanted to go home! but my daughter kept going and when she couldn't eat any more she started picking them for me and Kaori. After 40 minutes I had eaten about 60 or 70 BIG strawberries and was feeling pretty full up. I don't think I want to eat any more strawberries for about a year!
It is a fantastic place, in some green-houses just above 'Kenmin no hama' beach. They are open from January to May and it costs 1500 yen for adults and 800-1200 yen for kids. If you have time and can get there it is well worth going!

Common English Mistakes #3 - smart

...also in English the word smart has a different meaning to スマート in Japanese.
In English smart does not refer to body shape, but dress style.

eg. "He is wearing his new suit for the wedding. He looks really smart"

...but not "He has been working out at the gym. He looks smart"
which should be "He has been working out at the gym. He looks thin / He has lost weight"

so SMART...

and THIN...

WOW!!

I was just listening to the radio on my pc and this song came on...WOW!
This song is just AMAZING
If you have time please 'have a listen'



'have a listen' = London English for listen

Common English Mistakes #2 - narrow/wide

In English narrow and wide are used to describe the width of things...

"Central Street is very wide"
"The hallway is very narrow"

...but not to describe the size of spaces.

NOT "My room is very wide" X
BUT "My room is very big" O

...

NOT "Inside his car is narrow" X
BUT "Inside his car is small"O

I hope this helps

Amazing Hip Hop Choreography

2 weeks ago I wrote about dance, then last week I wrote about my top music from 2011, and here is a mix of the two!
One of my favourite tracks from 2011, with some amazing choreography by a Korean-American guy called Anthony Lee...you must see this



then, after I accidentally found this on YouTube, I did a search for more of his work and came up with this piece of choreography to some UK dubstep, which is also fantastic
enjoy...

2011 Top 5 Music

I listen to A LOT of music! I almost never watch the TV because I always have music on at home.
Last year I heard loads of new tunes, but these were my favourites...
Please check them out if you have time...

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always
usually
often
sometimes
hardly ever

almost never

never

check it/them out = try something for the first time

Kids Xmas craft

...so, continuing on form my last blog post, just before Christmas I did this craft with my kids' classes.
I designed a cut-out Santa Christmas card and told the kids to make in any way they liked, and here are the results.
I love that they are all unique and I have the photos to remember it into the future.

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unique = one of a kind, original, only one in the world