月別アーカイブ: 2015年8月

Riku stars in a Cartoon show

 Riku stars in a Cartoon show

He wasn’t hurt though, and thanks to the show creators, none of the cartoon characters was. Riku and the gang of cartoons changed into these really cool cowboy and cowgirl outfits complete with large hats and side pistol bags with pistols in them. They entered into these large rooms crowded with people having piles of fun on pachinko machines and tables with colorful wheels on top of them. Riku and his cartoon buddies won stacks of green money. They didn’t have any blue or brown Japanese money in that room. All they had was these green notes and shiny gold coins.

A fight started in one corner of the large room and very quickly spread all over the room. Everyone including Riku and his band of cartoon characters was hitting somebody or something or being hit! The conflict soon spilled over onto the streets. The police quickly arrived to stop the disturbance from turning into a world war. Everyone had pulled out a gun and people who’d run home to get weapons were back with them. “It’s the Asian kids who started it!” said a guy who looked like a rock star with a bloody face. It wasn’t true! Riku wasn’t anywhere near the spot where the fight had broken out. “Where’re they?” said a large police officer with a piggy neck. “Right over there, little scam bags posing like cowboys. Let me smoke ‘em rascals before they cause any further ruin to the town!” shouted a cowgirl in pink boots waving a long pink pistol as a flying boat with FUTSUBISHI AIRBOATS written on it touched down to lift Riku and the cartoon characters to safety. “They’re getting away!” someone shouted. “Who has a big gun I can borrow?” said the large police officer with no neck. “John Wayne!” the crowd shouted. An old man of about seventy-five or older, stepped forward with a very large weapon. He looked pretty buff despite his advanced age, I’d admit. But I wondered what in the world John Wayne a grandfather, was doing with such a weapon in his house. The world can be a very dangerous place, especially in the cartoon shows. “OK John Wayne, said the neckless police officer. Aim and shoot that thing down when you’re ready.” “I don’t need to aim. This baby can shoot god, Satan, the angels, demons and the goblins down from heaven,” said John Wayne and took a shot. In shock, I closed my eyes! John Wayne shot a bunch of large flashing neon signs clean off the city missing the Futsubishi airboat by meters! “Holly dog’s droppings!” the crowd said calling the dog’s droppings by their real name in English (that starts with a fashionable letter of the alphabet called “S”) and they all spat on the asphalt as they watched the flying boat get away, only to hit a large cube of ice placed in its way by a bunch of malicious cartoon aliens with red teeth, fish eyes and chicken legs somewhere over Hokkaido. I think I feinted.

outfit (一揃いの)服装、衣裳

get away 逃げる

a bunch of … …の集団、大勢の…

feinted フェイントをかけられた、陽動作戦をかけられた

仕事関係の慣用句

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仕事関係の慣用句

It was a nice long break this summer, 9 whole days off which is almost unheard of!

この夏は長い休暇を気持ちよく過ごせました。まるまる9日間の休みだなんて、今までなかったかもしれません!

I made sure that I did absolutely nothing work related for the entire holidays and much as I enjoy my job, I have to say it was fantastic.

その休みの間は、仕事関係のことは一切しないようにしました。仕事も楽しんでいますが、それと同じくらい素晴らしかったとしか言いようがありませんね。

Unfortunately all good things must come to an end and now it’s back to the grindstone.

あいにく、良いことには全て終わりがつきもので、休みが明けて仕事に戻った今は、ちょっとしんどいですね。

The topic for my next lesson is “At the office” so this time I will show you some work related idioms.

私の次のレッスンですが、テーマは「職場で」です。そこで今回は、仕事関係の慣用句をご紹介しましょう。

Before that though I would like to show you one common mistake that lot’s of people make with the word 残業 .

でもその前に、「残業」という言葉を使うときにありがちな間違いを1つ、申し上げておきたいと思います。

I often hear from my students that they do a lot of overwork but this word actually means 過労 so please be careful.

生徒さん達が、「たくさん ”overwork(働きすぎ)” をする」というのをよく耳にしますが、実は overwork の意味は「過労」なので、ご注意下さいね。

This is how you use them.

「残業」や overwork は、こういうふうに使います。

I am so tired, I did 35 hours overtime last week. Can you believe that?

とっても疲れてるんだ。先週は35時間も残業したんだよ。信じられる?

He regularly did 35 hours a week overtime and eventually his health broke down due to overwork.

彼は日頃から週あたり35時間の残業をし、過労のためついに健康を害した。

Here are a few idioms that we use when talking about work.

ここでは、仕事の話をするときに使う慣用句を、いくつか。

Work yourself to the bone. (Work yourself to the point of exhaustion)

骨の髄まで自分を働かせる。(疲れ果てるまで働く)

I worked myself to the bone trying to get the project finished on time.

企画を締め切りに間に合わせようと、へとへとになって仕事したよ。

Slack off. (be lazy at work)

たるませる。(職場で怠ける)

I can’t stand that guy, he’s always slacking off and seems to get away with it.

あの男には我慢ならないわ、いっつもだらだらしてるし、怒られずにうまいことかわしているようだし。

Be swamped with work. (to have a lot of work to do)

仕事で水没している。(しないといけない仕事がたくさんある)

I don’t think I can make it out tonight, I’m really swamped with work at the moment.

今夜は抜け出せそうにないよ、今本当に仕事に追われてるんだ。

Breathe down your neck. (to feel pressure, usually from your boss)

うるさく、しつこく付きまとう。(圧力を感じる。通常、上司から)

I find it really hard to concentrate on what I’m doing with the boss breathing down my neck all the time.

ひっきりなしにまとわりついてせき立てる上司がいると、自分のやってることに集中するのは本当に大変よ。

Call it a day. (Finish work for the day)

それを1日と呼ぶ。(その日の仕事を終える)

It’s getting late, let’s call it a day and get back into it from tomorrow.

もう遅いので、今日はここまでにして、明日からまた仕事に戻ろう。

Talk shop. (Talk about work)

商売の話をする。(仕事について話す)

Okay, let’s all agree not to talk shop tonight and just have a good time.

はーい、仕事の話は今夜はしないってことにして、とにかく楽しみましょう。

There you go, that’s all for just now, see you at the next lesson and don’t work too hard!

よし、今回はここまで。次のレッスンでお会いしましょう。仕事しすぎないようにね!

Jaimie

ジェイミー

Riku stars in a Cartoon show

Riku stars in a Cartoon show

In the scene he was flying with a bunch of cartoon characters in something that looked like a flying boat. He wasn’t a cartoon, but he spoke in a cartoonish voice. He was having a ton of fun! They flew over this large crack in the ground I think it’s in America or Brazil and ended up in a desert town full of cowboys and Indians running around and riding horses in the dust. The cowboys were shooting pistols in the air and just being disorderly all over the dusty town. I guess cowboys weren’t really cool in the past. In the scene, their behavior was totally unacceptable by any standards of coolness. They were ruining everything. Some of the cartoon characters almost got shot! It was a wrong place to hang out for a Japanese cartoon character and a boy for that matter and that boy was my own brother.

The scene changed suddenly to a city full of lights and buildings full of pachinko and other game machines. Riku and the cartoon characters were about to land into the city when…out of nowhere, a mean-looking cartoon character came riding on a really sleek looking flying boat and BANG! It slammed into Riku’s flying boat. It happened so quickly. I couldn’t get the words “watch out Riku” from my mouth fast enough! I was really terrified! I thought that my brother had been killed in the cartoon show!

a bunch of   大勢の

a ton of   すごく

a desert town   砂漠の町、荒れ果てた町

dust   (舞い上がる)埃

totally unacceptable   全く受け入れられない

hang out   つるむ、ぶらつく、遊ぶ

mean-looking   意地の悪そうな

terrified   おびえた(terrify: …をおびえさせる。terrifiedはその過去分詞形)

日本、夏真っ盛り

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Tim’s blog – Midsummer in Japan

日本、夏真っ盛り

The rainy season is over and we are getting deeper into August. It’s officially midsummer and the first thing I talk about with my students when I meet them is how hot and humid it is.

梅雨が明け、8月もたけなわとなってまいりました。本格的な盛夏に入り、生徒の皆さんとお会いしたときに最初に話すことといえば、気温の高さや蒸し暑さのことですね。

The Obon holidays are coming soon and our English schools will be closed for the summer holidays.  Do you like the Obon holidays? Do you go back to your hometown? Personally Obon is my second favourite holiday after Christmas and I know I’m not Japanese or a Buddhist (well I’m not Christian either) but I find that there is something so comforting in the idea of your ancestors spirits coming back to the living world to spend 3 days with you every year. It makes the loss of your loved ones a tiny bit more bearable than it would otherwise be.

もうすぐお盆休みを迎え、教室もしばらくお休みになります。お盆休みは好きですか?里帰りをなさいますか?個人的には、お盆休みはクリスマスの次に大好きです。自分は日本人でもなければ仏教徒でもないとは分かっていますが(クリスチャンでもありませんが)、毎年ご先祖の霊が現世に戻ってきて、そこで3日間を過ごすという考えに、何かしら心なごむものを感じます。大切な人達を亡くした喪失感は堪え難いものですが、お盆がそれをほんの少しですが和らげてくれます。

Now for today, I have picked some words and expressions that are useful when talking about the Japanese summer.

さて今日は、日本の夏を考えるときに役立つ言葉や表現を、いくつかとりあげてみました。(フラッシュカードはこちら)

Rainy season 梅雨

It’s scorching hot! うだるように暑い!

It’s really humid, today! ほんとに蒸し暑いね、今日は!

The heat is unbearable! 暑すぎてどうかなりそう!(暑くて我慢できない!)

cicada せみ

I love the sound of cicadas! せみの鳴き声が大好き!

Shaved ice かき氷

Firework display 花火大会

Did you go to the firework display in Ohori on Aug 1st? 8月1日の大濠花火大会に行きましたか?

Have a barbeque バーベキューをする

Go camping キャンプに行く

Ancestors 先祖

A spirit 魂

In Obon our ancestors’ spirits come back to visit us. お盆には、先祖の魂が私達に会いに戻ってきます。

A tomb お墓、墓石

Clean my ancestors’ tomb 先祖の墓掃除をする

Hold a Buddhist ceremony 法事を営む

Go back to my hometown 帰省する、里帰りする

Visit my grandparents’ house 祖父母の家を訪ねる

Meet my relatives 親戚に会う

How are you going to spend Obon this summer? I hope you have a wonderful time.

今年のお盆はどう過ごされますか?素晴らしいときになりますよう。

Riku stars in a Cartoon show

                                                 Saturday, July 17

 Riku stars in a Cartoon show

Mm… How and where should I start? How about this…?  Yesterday was my birthday. I turned 10. I think my dad forgot it was my birthday because Riku and I went to bed before he came home. He’s always busy. All my friends’ dads are.

 My life has gotten pretty exciting and sometimes scary or a little weird. I guess this is the major reason I’ve started writing stuff in this notebook.

Today is Saturday, so there was no school. Riku and I didn’t get up until 9:30. Outside, the summer sun was starting to roast the neighborhood and the cicadas’ song was deafening. Summer break begins next week! It’s a wonderful feeling!

It was almost unbearably hot but mom wouldn’t let us turn on the A/C because it was not 11:30 yet. It is the rule. A terrible rule, if you asked for my opinion.

We had rice balls, scrambled eggs and milk for breakfast. We dumped the dirty dishes into the kitchen sink after the meal and turned on our electronic babysitter known as television. Mom left home on a short errand. I don’t know what it was exactly.

On TV, they were showing this stupid cartoon show called AA. I think all the kids at my school watch it. Riku and his friends are crazy about it. They talk about it all the time.

I had a chance to pull myself away to go to the bathroom during a commercial break. When I got back to the living room, the TV was turned off and Riku wasn’t in the room. Well, I thought maybe he’d stepped out for a few minutes he’d be back. I turned the TV back on and…Riku my younger brother, was on TV! I mean…the kid was acting in the cartoon show!

weird   不気味な、奇妙な

cicadas   せみ

deafening   耳をつんざくような(耳を聞こえなくするような)

unbearably hot   我慢できないほど暑い、暑くてたまらない

on a short errand   ちょっとそこまでの用事で

a commercial break   コマーシャルによる番組の中断、コマーシャルの時間