BR1-07

Mudge hated it. Mudge knew when he was going to get a bath. (p. 24)

Today, I read Henry and Mudge in the Green Time. It is the third book in the Henry & Mudge series. There are more than 30 books in the Henry & Mudge and Annie & Snowball series. I know 13 books in H & M. I think this one, about summer days, and Henry and Mudge in the Sparkle Days, about winter, are the best. This book actually consists of three short stories. The quotation above is from the second one, The Bath. Henry likes baths but Mudge doesn't. I think Suçie Stevenson's illustrations are charming.



Rylant, Cynthia. (1998). Henry and Mudge in the green time (Ready-to-Read Level 2). New York, NY: Simon Spotlight.

Vocabulary

droop: 垂れる、うなだれる

[127 words]

My weekend…and other matters

This weekend was similar to most other recent weekends, in that I had lots of work to do, but I also had to attend the annual general meeting of my neighborhood association. The meeting was 10 minutes long but, fortunately, even though I'm an officer, I didn't have to speak. It lasted just over two hours. I went to work before the meeting and afterwards. Then, on Sunday, I went to work again but went home early to do some gardening. It was tiring but fun.
You may have heard that a general election is coming soon in the UK. It looks like there won't be much difference between the main parties in terms of support, so whichever party can make an alliance with other parties is likely to form a government. As you probably know, the
two main parties are the Labour Party and the Conservative Party. [146 words]

My weekend, and other matters…

My weekend was nothing a special, a bit like all my recent weekends. I went to work on Saturday. But before that, I had to attend the annual general meeting of our neighborhood association, because I am an officer of the association. The meeting took about two hours, so I was a bit late to start work and had to continue working until quite late.
On Sunday, I had more work to do, so I went to my office quite early. In the afternoon, I did some gardening, cutting trees with a small saw. It was quite tiring. In the evening, I checked the football Premier League news. It seems that Chelsea are certain to become champions this year. Arsenal were unable to beat them, but didn't lose, and third-placed Manchester United lost, so Arsenal look likely to come second. Better than usual!
Does anyone know when the new Avengers movie is coming to Japan? Oh, look, it's not coming until July!

160 words

Improving book reviews

Today, let's take a look at some ways to improve book reviews.

First of all, remember a few formatting basics:

1. When you quote directly, be sure to quote accurately. Make sure the quotation is formatted differently, so that readers can see what is a quotation and what is your own writing. Add the page number (but not the other reference information) after the quotation.
2. Don't forget to add an APA-style reference at the end of your book review. Remember that there are basically 4 parts to a reference: Author, Year, Title, Publication information. The author's name should start with the family name. 

Now, a couple of grammar points:

1. Think whether a noun should be singular (1) or plural (2 or more). Try to make sure any verb agrees with the noun.
2. If a noun is singular, usually it needs an article (a/an, the). Think about the rules for using articles.

[145 words]

BR 1-04: Land of the Dinosaurs

Wilf ran on and climbed a hill. He wanted to look for an apatosaurus.
"Come up here, Biff," he called. "You can take a photograph."
Wilf had not climbed on a hill. He had climbed on a dinosaur and it was enormous. It looked round at Wilf. (pp. 13-14)

Will Wilf get away from the dinosaur in time? Will the magic key come to his rescue? Like most of the Oxford Reading Tree books, this one is lots of fun and also contains educational content (this time some information about dinosaurs). A level 6 book, it's also very short and quick to read. The illustrations, especially of the dangerous dinosaurs, are cute and entertaining. I recommend the book very highly to everyone.

Hunt, Roderick, and Brychta, Alex. (2011). Land of the Dinosaurs. Oxford University Press.

Vocabulary

apatosaurus: アパトサウルス◆ジュラ紀後期の北アメリカに生息した大型の草食恐竜

[132 words]

My weekend

This weekend was very busy for me. I had to do gardening on both Saturday and Sunday. I also had to go to Bear Big to do some work with a teacher there.
I enjoyed eating Burgundy Cherry ice cream, too. It is one of my favorite flavors of ice cream. I only have it about once a year, because it is on sale usually in April only.
Do you like ice cream? What are your favorite flavors?
[76 words]

BR 1-03: The Willow Pattern Plot

"We know you want to run away," said Biff.
"But how can we?" asked Kim. "There are guards all round the garden."
Nadim had a good idea. He told them what it was.
"It's a brilliant idea!" said Chip. (pp. 19-20)

Nadim, Chip, and Biff go back in time with the magic key to ancient China (?). They meet Chang and Kim Shee, who love each other, but Chang is too poor to marry the rich Kim Shee, whose father keeps her locked up in the garden. What is Nadim's idea? And will it work? Find out in the thrilling Willow Pattern Plot!

Vocabulary

willow  柳
cruel  残酷な、非情な

Hunt, Roderick, and Brychta, Alex. (2011). The Willow Pattern Plot. Oxford University Press.

(115 words)

My weekend

This past weekend was very busy for me. I had to go to Bear Big on both Saturday and Sunday to do some work with a teacher there, and I also had to do some gardening at home. The gardening involved trimming the hedge, cutting some trees that had grown too big, and generally clearing up any mess. These days, I haven't been getting enough physical activity, so I found the work quite tiring. But it was raining yesterday so it wasn't hot.
Even though I was busy, I found some time to go to Baskin-Robbins ice cream. I rarely go there but I like to go in April every year because they have Burgundy Cherry, and that is one of my favourites. My other favourite is Love Potion 31; that used to be a seasonal special, but a few years ago they made it a year-round flavour.
By the way, have you heard the big world table tennis news? Last month, Ma Long took the world number 1 spot off Xu Xin (my favourite player) for the first time in a year, and he looks like holding on to that position for some time. These days, Xu Xin usually loses when he meets Ma Long directly, as often happens in finals and semi-finals around the world.
In other sports news, the UEFA Champions League is starting again on Wednesday.
[227 words]

Mulan

Today I read Mulan, in the Penguin Kids series. It's a level 6 book, so much longer than most of the other books in the series. It tells the story of Mulan, a Chinese girl who dresses up like a man in order to be a soldier in the Chinese army in place of her father, who is old and sick. She has many adventures with the other soldiers, and finally has to try to save the Emperor. Do you think she succeeds?

[83 words]

Writing 3 First Class

Hi, everyone, I'm Rick. I'm happy to meet you here at this first session of the Writing 3 class. I'm from the UK, but I have lived in Japan for a long time. I recently came back from 6 months in Bangkok, so I can speak Thai a little. I can also speak Chinese and French. I like watching movies and playing table tennis. I'm looking forward to helping you improve your writing this year.
[75 words]

WALL÷E

Today I read WALL÷E, in the Penguin Kids series. It's a Level 5 book so a little long compared to most books in the series. It tells the story of WALL÷E, a robot left alone on Earth to clean the trash after the planet became uninhabitable. One day, he comes across Eve, another robot, and their adventures lead to humans discovering that Earth is safe to live on again!
[69 words]

Writing 3 First Class

Hi, everyone, I'm Rick. I'm glad to meet you all at this first session of Writing 3. I'm a professor in the English department at PUK. I teach second language acquisition and applied linguistics, and also English. My favorite of the 4 skills is writing. In my free time, I like watching movies, playing the koto, and playing table tennis. But I don't have any free time these days. A couple of weeks ago, I came back from 6 months in Thailand, where I learnt to speak a little Thai. I can also speak French, German, Mandarin Chinese, and Cantonese.
[100 words]