Today we learnt the song The Twelve Days of Christmas. I can't imagine receiving a partridge for Christmas. What would I do with it? Maybe I would plant the pear tree and it could live there. But would it live peacefully with the French hens, the calling birds, and the turtle doves? These are the big questions of our day!
The American dialect map that I came across the other day is very interesting. Take a look sometime! It tells us about the various influences on American English in different parts of the country, such as (of course) British English on the East Coast, French in the south, German and Norwegian in some places, and Irish and Scottish influences in others.
We're going to watch the second half of Hannah and Her Sisters today. Yeah!
133 words
Thursday, December 24, 2015
Monday, December 21, 2015
X-Men: Apocalypse…and other matters
Today we watched the trailer for X-Men: Apocalypse. I have enjoyed the X-Men movies so far, so I am looking forward to this one. I like James McAvoy very much and he think he does a good job following in Patrick Stewart's footsteps as Xavier, and the rest of the cast is also good. It starts on Memorial Day in the U.S. and probably it won't be too far behind in Japan.
In the Premier League, there has been some turmoil. Jose Mourinho has been sacked as the manager of Chelsea, and Guus Hiddink has come in as interim manager. Manchester United has been losing a lot of matches, so their manager is under threat. Liverpool have also been losing a lot of matches. Leicester, the Thai-owned club where Okazaki plays, is at the top of the table. In England, the Christmas and New Year period is ultra-busy, and after that many players are tired or injured, and the situation often changes, but many people hope that Leicester will continue to do well.
In the Premier League, there has been some turmoil. Jose Mourinho has been sacked as the manager of Chelsea, and Guus Hiddink has come in as interim manager. Manchester United has been losing a lot of matches, so their manager is under threat. Liverpool have also been losing a lot of matches. Leicester, the Thai-owned club where Okazaki plays, is at the top of the table. In England, the Christmas and New Year period is ultra-busy, and after that many players are tired or injured, and the situation often changes, but many people hope that Leicester will continue to do well.
Star Trek: Beyond
Today we watched the trailer for Star Trek: Beyond, the latest movie in the Star Trek series, which has now continued for more than 40 years. The atmosphere was very different from other Star Trek movies, perhaps because the director is from the Fast and Furious series.
Probably all of you know about the latest Star Wars movie, which started on Friday. The director of that movie was recruited partly because of his success in rebooting the Star Trek series, when no movie had been made in the series for a long time. The two series are very different. Although Star Wars has a spiritual side (the Force), the stories are basically like westerns, with the Empire fighting against the rebels. By contrast, although Star Trek also features conflict, its general message is about hope and peace. If you get the chance, please check out some of the Star Trek: Next Generation TV series episodes.
Probably all of you know about the latest Star Wars movie, which started on Friday. The director of that movie was recruited partly because of his success in rebooting the Star Trek series, when no movie had been made in the series for a long time. The two series are very different. Although Star Wars has a spiritual side (the Force), the stories are basically like westerns, with the Empire fighting against the rebels. By contrast, although Star Trek also features conflict, its general message is about hope and peace. If you get the chance, please check out some of the Star Trek: Next Generation TV series episodes.
Monday, December 14, 2015
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows…and other matters
Today we watched the trailer for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, which is scheduled to open in June next year. It looked pretty exciting, so I'm looking forward to seeing it, even though it's a long way off. Talking of movies, the James Bond movie Spectre is already playing and the new Star Wars movie, The Force Awakens, is coming this Friday.
The Premier League is exciting as usual. Manchester United, Liverpool, and Tottenham slipped a little at the weekend, which means that Arsenal and probably Leicester City (who are playing tonight) are at the top, with Manchester City and Manchester United not far behind. Manchester United is getting a lot of criticism for playing boring football but also not being strong defensively. The groups for next summer's Euro championships were also decided over the last few days. England and Wales will be in the same group.
The Premier League is exciting as usual. Manchester United, Liverpool, and Tottenham slipped a little at the weekend, which means that Arsenal and probably Leicester City (who are playing tonight) are at the top, with Manchester City and Manchester United not far behind. Manchester United is getting a lot of criticism for playing boring football but also not being strong defensively. The groups for next summer's Euro championships were also decided over the last few days. England and Wales will be in the same group.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows… and other matters
Today, we saw the trailer for the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, due to be released in June next year. I enjoyed the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie in 1990, but I kind of lost track of them. I didn't realize that a new movie came out last year, nor that a sequel was in the works. In Kumamoto, I'm guessing that the movie will come out only in its dubbed version, so I'm not sure whether I'll go and see it. (Sometimes, even on iTunes the dubbed version is the only one that is available.) That's unfortunate, because part of the attraction of the Turtles is the language, which is based on the hippy talk of the 1960s.
Sunday, December 13, 2015
Making an audio book review
- Make sure that your audio file is ready. (Is the English correct? Can we hear clearly what you are saying?)
- Go to Vocaroo.com
- Upload your file, then listen to check that it's OK.
- Click embed, then copy the code. (Be sure to copy the whole code and nothing else.)
- In Blogger, make a new post.
- Switch to HTML mode.
- Write a sentence or two to introduce your audio book review.
- Press RETURN once or twice after the sentence(s).
- Paste the code that you just copied.
- Press RETURN once or twice.
- Add a picture of the book cover in the usual way. Set the alignment to RIGHT.
Make sure that the code you paste into your blog post is separated from your sentence(s) and the picture.
Use the usual Book Reviews tag for the post.
For the title, use TITLE_OF_THE_BOOK (audio review).
Ireland (audio review)
Hi, everyone, please check out my review of Ireland, an Oxford Bookworms Factfile!
Audio recording >>
Audio recording >>
Ireland (audio review)
Hi, everyone, please check out my review of the Oxford Bookworms Factfiles book, Ireland!
Monday, December 7, 2015
Ireland script
Hello. Today, I'm going to tell you a bit about Ireland, a book in the Oxford Bookworms Factfiles series.
The book consists of 10 chapters. I'm going to tell you about just one or two chapters that particularly interested me:
Chapter 5: Death from Hunger and Chapter 6: Fighting to be Free.
Chapter 5 begins at the end of the 18th century, and goes through the 19th century. It's about fights between the Irish and the English, the joining of Ireland and England into one country, and the potato blight that sent many Irish fleeing to the U.S.
Chapter 6 concerns the Irish fight for independence in the 20th century.
The other chapters are all interesting, and you can learn a lot about Ireland from this book. Check it out if you have time!
The book consists of 10 chapters. I'm going to tell you about just one or two chapters that particularly interested me:
Chapter 5: Death from Hunger and Chapter 6: Fighting to be Free.
Chapter 5 begins at the end of the 18th century, and goes through the 19th century. It's about fights between the Irish and the English, the joining of Ireland and England into one country, and the potato blight that sent many Irish fleeing to the U.S.
Chapter 6 concerns the Irish fight for independence in the 20th century.
The other chapters are all interesting, and you can learn a lot about Ireland from this book. Check it out if you have time!
Exposed…and other matters
Today we watched the trailer for Exposed, a movie starring Keanu Reeves, Mira Sorvino, and Ana de Armas (a new actress from Cuba). It seems to be a very familiar story involving a murdered cop, a cover-up, and a partner who won't give up. Keanu Reeves is well-known for Speed, The Matrix, John Wick, Much Ado About Nothing, and many other movies. Mira Sorvino isn't seen so much these days, but she won an Oscar for her role in Woody Allen's Mighty Aphrodite. Other movies of hers include Beautiful Girls, Romy and Michele's High School Reunion, and Replacement Killers. Others that I haven't seen are Barcelona and Like Dandelion Dust, both rated very highly.
Ireland script
Hello. Today, I'd like to tell you about a book in the Oxford Bookworms Factfiles series, called Ireland. It's divided into 10 chapters, but I'd like to talk to you about two of them:
Chapter 5: Death from Hunger; and Chapter 6: Fighting to be Free.
Chapter 5 is about the end of the 18th century and the 19th century, when the Irish and English fought a lot. Most of the Irish were Catholics and poor, but the English were Protestant and rich. Many Irish farmers died from hunger and many others ran away to the United States.
Chapter 6 tells us about the Irish Republican Army and independence for Ireland.
The other chapters are all interesting, so please check out this book if you get the chance. Thank you.
Chapter 5: Death from Hunger; and Chapter 6: Fighting to be Free.
Chapter 5 is about the end of the 18th century and the 19th century, when the Irish and English fought a lot. Most of the Irish were Catholics and poor, but the English were Protestant and rich. Many Irish farmers died from hunger and many others ran away to the United States.
Chapter 6 tells us about the Irish Republican Army and independence for Ireland.
The other chapters are all interesting, so please check out this book if you get the chance. Thank you.
Exposed…and other matters
Today we watched the trailer for Exposed, a move starring Keanu Reaves and Ana de Armas, and costarring Mira Sorvino. I'm not a great fan of Keanu Reeves, and I haven't seen Ana de Armas before, but I like Mira Sorvino. She was good in Mighty Aphrodite and Replacement Killers. The movie looks like many other cop movies, with the star's partner murdered and the star investigating his death, but his boss discouraging him from looking too deep. Will Keanu discover the dark secrets behind the death? And will he rescue Ana de Armas's character?
In the Premier League, Leicester are still top, followed by Arsenal, Manchester City, and Manchester United. Liverpool lost to Newcastle, which gives Newcastle the chance to get out of the relegation zone next week. No-one thinks that Leicester will win the title, but no-one else is very convincing, either.
In the Premier League, Leicester are still top, followed by Arsenal, Manchester City, and Manchester United. Liverpool lost to Newcastle, which gives Newcastle the chance to get out of the relegation zone next week. No-one thinks that Leicester will win the title, but no-one else is very convincing, either.
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