月別アーカイブ:2020年2月

Trains in Japan 英会話・英語 アミック

The other day I was in the book store.  I usually go to the Men’s Interest corner, because I like magazines about cars and motorbikes.  I was surprised, because there was a young lady in that section.  Of course, I was a little curious about what kind of magazine she was looking at, so I took a quick glance.  It was a magazine about trains.  So it got me thinking about trains in Japan.

 

I grew up in Hawaii and parts of the mainland in the US.  When I was living in the mainland, I almost always lived in the countryside. Unfortunately, I never had the chance to ride a train.  In Hawaii, we don’t have any trains except for a tourist attraction that was used to haul sugarcane from the plantations to the refinery.  You can see this train in the “Train, Train” music video by the rock band “The Blue Hearts”.  Unfortunately, I never had a chance to ride it.

 

I first came to Japan in 1994 and that was my first experience riding on a train.  I was living in Nagasaki, so I rode the train to neighboring cities and also the street car.  It was amazing how punctual and clean the trains were.  Coming from Hawaii, we only have “The Bus” and it’s always late, crowded and slow.   With this new found public transportation, I always looked forward to riding the train and still do.

 

I was a little surprised when I noticed how many people in Japan are enthusiastic about trains.  When you ride trains, you can often see people taking pictures of the train along the tracks.  It is also surprising how many people know all of the different types of bullet trains (Shinkansen) and local trains.  On the news, you can usually see a long line of people waiting to ride on a train when it’s the train’s final run.  The passengers waiting in line always talk passionately about that particular train and how they will miss it.  Many little children, especially boys, also love Purare-ru- the plastic train sets from Takara/Tomy.  Sanrio also has the “Shinkansen” line of character goods, which feature cute bullet trains.

 

Here in Ehime, we have the Anpanman Shiokaze Express.  No matter how old passengers are, they always seem to be happy when they get to ride on “the Anpanman train”.  They even sell the miniature trains at the convenient stores inside the station.  If you ride on the Anpanman train and look hard enough, you will probably be able to see a train enthusiast taking a picture of the train. 

     

Personally, my favorite train to ride is the Iyotetsu street car.  I especially like the street cars with wooden floors.  They’re very beautiful and have a very nice feel to them.  I also like the old fashioned logos on different components inside the older street cars.  The newer street cars are nice as well, but the older ones really add a nice flavor to Matsuyama City.  I hope they stay around for a while.  I also hope the love and enthusiasm that the Japanese people have for their trains continues as well.

Shane

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

投稿日:2020年2月8日

Happy Groundhog Day! 英会話・英語 アミック

Here in Japan, we recently celebrated a very fun and unusual holiday on February 3rd– Setsubun. But did you know that the USA also had a very strange and interesting holiday this week?

One of my favorite and one of the most unusual American holidays is celebrated on February 2nd every year. The name of the holiday is “Groundhog Day”, and it celebrates the approach of spring and the end of winter.

A groundhog is a small furry animal that is only a little larger than a rabbit. They live in holes in the ground, and are native to North America.

If you were to see a groundhog, you might not think it’s anything special. But once a year, on Groundhog Day, the groundhog gets its chance to shine. 

According to tradition, when the groundhog comes out of its hole on February 2nd, if it can see its shadow on the ground, that means there will be six more weeks of winter. However, if it doesn’t see its shadow, it means that spring will come early.

Every year, news trucks and reporters flock to a small town in Pennsylvania where the “official” groundhog, named Punxsutawney Phil, lives to see if he spies his shadow. This year, it seems that Phil did not see his shadow, so people in the US can look forward to a short winter and early spring!

It might seem like a very strange and silly tradition, but it’s still a lot of fun.

“Groundhog Day” is also the name of a very funny movie starring Bill Murray that was made in the 1990s. It tells the story of a news reporter who is sent to report on Groundhogs Day, but somehow gets stuck living the day again and again and again and again… I highly recommend this movie for anyone who likes slightly dark humor. 

What are some strange or unusual holidays that you celebrate?

–Veronica

投稿日:2020年2月5日

The Double Vocabulary of English

English has one of the largest vocabularies of all the languages in the world. I grew up speaking English so I thought it was normal to often have two words for what is, more-or-less, the same thing. Only when I became a teacher of English did I realise how enormous and complicated the English vocabulary is.

 

At university I started learning Spanish and I noticed an interesting thing, when there were two words for the same thing in English often the Spanish word would be similar to one English word and not the other. For example, in English ‘decision’ and ‘choice’ have the same meaning, and the Spanish word ‘decisión’ matches the first English word but not the second.

 

When I researched why this happened I learnt a lot more about the history of the English language, and I understood why English has such a large vocabulary. This short video helps explain the ‘double vocabulary’ of English!

 

 

– Helen

投稿日:2020年2月4日

Setsubun

今日もアミックblogを訪れてくださりありがとうございます♪

春のように暖かかったり、寒い日が続いたりしていますが、今日は節分の日ですね。

節分は立春の日、昔は立春から新年が始まりました。一番寒い日と言われていますが、明日から春の始まりだとおもうとワクワクしませんか?

そんな節分の日、英語でどのように言うのかご紹介します♪

 

February 3rd is the day of Setsubun.:2月3日は節分の日です

The literal meaning of the word Setsubun is “division of the seasons,”:節分は季節を分けるという意味です

It is believed that *oni come when the seasons change in Japan.

日本では季節の変わり目は鬼がやってくると言われています

There are many rituals to exorcise these oni.:鬼を追い払うためのさまざまな儀式などがあります

Throwing roasted soybeans was first practiced back in the Heian period, to stop oni from attacking villages by throwing beans at their eyes.

豆まきは平安時代に鞍馬山の鬼が都で悪さをするのを、大豆を投げて鬼の目をつぶし、災難を逃れたのが始まりです

To get rid of the oni, people scatter roasted soy beans both inside and outside of their houses.

鬼を追い払うために炒った大豆を家の中と外に撒きます

The phrase “Out with the devil! In with good fortune,” is said when throwing soybeans.

豆を蒔く時には「福はうち、鬼はそと」と掛け声をあげます

Once the beans are thrown, gather them all up and eat the same number of beans as your age. Eat one extra to keep you from sickness and stay healthy for the whole year.

撒いた豆を拾い、歳の数よりひとつ多く食べるとその年の1年風邪をひかず、健康でいることができます。

ぜひ使ってみてくださいね!

英会話・プログラミング・塾・英語学童

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投稿日:2020年2月3日

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愛媛県・松山市・東温市で最大規模の英会話スクール、アミック・イングリッシュセンター

アミック・イングリッシュセンターは、1998年に愛媛県重信町(現東温市)で英会話スクールとして創業して以来、愛媛県松山市と東温市を中心に、これまで20年以上にわたり誠実に英語を教えて参りました。
最近のグローバル化に伴い、英会話スクールの必要性はますます増加しております。特に、スピーキング・リスニング・ライティング・リーディングの4技能をバランスよく持つ人材が必要とされており、英検など4技能対応型の試験への期待も高まっております。小学校の英語必修化や資格試験を重視する大学入試の大幅な変更もすぐそこに迫って来ている中、 アミック・イングリッシュセンターとしては、英検やTOEICの対策にも力を入れており、優秀な外国人及び日本人講師を積極的に採用しております。

特にお伝えしたいアミック・イングリッシュセンターの魅力は、「英語を教える外国人講師及び日本人講師が極めて優秀である」「英語教授法により、効果的に英語力を向上させるカリキュラムが組まれている」「初心者にも優しく、かつ通訳という高い英語力が必要な指導も可能な英会話スクールである」という点です。

TOEICの点がなかなか伸びない、英検を取りたい、更に英語力を伸ばしたい、通訳者になりたい、これから英語を始めるので正しい勉強法を知りたいという方は、ぜひアミック・イングリッシュセンターにお越しください!

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