2017-12

#872 Had a coffee with piglets

A coffee shop and a book

One day I went to a coffee shop which has a bean roaster.
I looked around the room and there was no customer. I found a pile of books on a counter with a note. It said “TAKE FREE.” These books were presents from a writer to the cafe. The book was a short story titled “Kobuta no hamming” (A piglet’s hamming).
When the master brought me the coffee I asked him “May I take one for free?” The master said “Sure”. Then I took a book and read it while sipping my coffee.

I felt as if I were dreaming.

The story was about a coffee shop’s master giving advices on how to live happily and positively to a young lady who has something bothering her. The illustrations were very cute pigs.
I felt a little strange while I was reading the book because the cafe in the book felt just like the one I was in. It felt like the story was happening right in front of me. This book was new and had a nice cover.

Was that a Christmas present for me?

I wondered why it was free. A nice book like this would cost more than a cup of coffee.
Thanks to this cafe and the book writer.
This was a wonderful Christmas present for me.

Small joy!!(2017.12)

2017-12-22 | Posted in English4 Comments » 

 

#873 Parents day~interesting experience for all of us

Parents day

I’m teaching English to elementary school children at a cram school.
Once a year I have to have a lesson in front of their parents. Actually their mothers come to see how hard their children are studying in my lesson. I have two classes for the 6th grade, 9 students in each class.
This year, I was still nervous but I think I did better than last year.
With their parents in the same room, some students looked happy, while some looked very nervous.

Shy boys and reliable girls

I found an interesting thing. The usually noisy boys were acting quite shy, and the otherwise quiet girls were speaking English louder than usual.
Surprisingly, one of mischievous boys passed the quiz even though he always failed in the past. He must have studied hard before the lesson so that he could make his mother proud. I was glad that he did well but at the same time, I recognized that I’m just no match to their mothers.

We did a good job, didn’t we!?

Speaking of me, I did my best. And I heard most mothers were satisfied with my lesson. With the parents around, my students did a lot better. They read louder and pay more attention in class. It was a wonderful experience for us.
We did a good job, didn’t we!?

Small joy!!!(2017.11.8)

2017-12-14 | Posted in English2 Comments » 

 

#874 Let’s learn English grammar through pop music.

NHK radio program

I found a textbook which looked interesting at a bookstore.
It is an English learning textbook for a NHK radio program. The title is “3 months English~English grammar through pop music.”
The cover of the textbook was Maroon5 who is a music band in the U.S.
I picked it up and flipped through the book. A musician, Yukihide Takekawa appeared on the book. He is going to be a regular guest in the program. I like his songs very much.

12 songs on the textbook

This program is going to showcase 12 songs to the listeners. Here are some songs from the list. “Sunday Morning” by Maroon5, “Numb” by Linkin Park, “Zenzenzense” by RADWINPS and “Gandhara” by Godiego.
Listeners can learn the lyrics and the English grammar through the songs.

The reason why I began to like English

In my case, the reason I started to learn English was because I wanted to understand English songs. When I was a junior high school student, I listened to a lot of English songs and began to like English.
I decided to buy the textbook. I’m looking forward to listening to the program. Actually I’m going to listen to it on the internet.

Small joy!!(2017.12.1)

2017-12-07 | Posted in English2 Comments »