☆ "rain"を使った表現2

前回のクリスティーナによる
雨の表現に続き、もう少し
雨に関する表現を掲載したい
と思います。

*"rain like cats and dogs"
は「土砂降り」の意味で、
大学受験の時に勉強したような。。。
と思う方も多いはず。
昔の神話で猫は雨を、
犬は風を起こす力があると
信じられていた事が語源とか。
土砂降りは a downpour
の方が普通には使うかもしれません。
ちなみに"fight like cats and dogs"
と言えば、日本語でいう”犬猿の仲”。
They are always fighting like cats and dogs
（彼らは犬猿の仲だ）
という様に使います。
日本では仲が悪いのは犬と猿なんですけどね。。。
*"rain on and off" は「雨が降ったり止んだり」の意味。
It has been raining on and off today.
(今日はずっと降ったり止んだりだ。)

*"rain or shine"は一言で言えば「雨天決行」。　
We will hold the bazaar on Sunday, rain or shine.
(日曜日のバザーは雨天決行です。）
転じて、「何があっても」という様な意味でも使います。
Please come, rain or shine. (何があっても絶対来てね。）

*"rain out"は「雨で流れる」の意味。
The game was rained out.
(ゲームは雨で中止になった。）
ちなみに、中止ではなく延期なら、
The game was postponed becauseof rain.
となります。

*"rain check"は「またの機会に」の意味。
"Can we go for dinner tomorrow?"
"Let me take a rain check on it"
（「明日ディナーでもどう？」「また次の機会にね」）
"Rain check"は元々は野球などが
雨で順延になった時に観客に渡す切符の事で、
これが転じて使われるようになったそうです。

是非使ってみて下さいね！

☆ "rain" expressions 1

☆ 「rain」を使った表現

最近よく雨が降りますね。
今日はクリスティーナに”rain"を使った表現を書いてもらいました。
”rain"という単語を使っていても実際には雨とは関係のない
表現であったり、なかなか面白いですね。

"Saving it for a rainy day" is a good expression to use
when someone is saving extra money for a sudden
surprise situation, such as job loss.
It also means a person is being wise with their money
and not just spending it all. We all know that
not everything is perfect in life, so having a
little extra money can help during times of difficulty
or challenges. You can use the expression:
"saving it for a rainy day" as often as you like.

Conversation Example:
A. Do you have enough money saved for college?
B. No, I don't. I know I should save more,
but it's hard when I want to go out with my friends
on the weekend.
A. If you don't start saving for a rainy day,
you may have trouble when you start college next year.
You may not be able to live away from home.

By Christina:)

☆ Favorite word in English

Do you have a favorite word you like to use in English?
One of my favorite words is "felicity"
because it means "happiness".
Some words I like to use because
they sound very good, but other words are good
to use because they can describe things really well.
Here are some more of my favorite words you may enjoy.
If you don't understand what they mean,
please look them up in your dictionary.

"Serendipity", "Scrumptous", "Zealous", "Vivacious".

These are just some words to add to
your vocabulary list, if you don't already know them
or use them.
Try to talk with someone,
using at least one of the words here.

By Christina

☆ Opposite words

Here are some opposite words:

Happy - Unhappy
Believable - Unbelievable
Complete - Incomplete
Considerate - Inconsiderate
Kind - Unkind
Emotional - Unemotional
Ability - Inability
Talented - Untalented
Essential - Inessential
Sensitive - Insensitive
Educated - Uneducated
Forgettable - Unforgettable
Necessary - Unnecessary

If you don't understand the meaning of all these words, please look them up in the dictionary. Looking words up in the dictionary can sometimes help you remember them.
Knowing the opposite words can help you build on your vocabulary and conversation skills. They are also useful to for describing feelings, things, people and general situations.

By Christina

☆ Shopping at Costco

Do you enjoy shopping?
Japan has some of the most incredible
items and products to buy! Recently,
I went to an American mart called Costco.
It is a wholesale store, that sells not only
food, but also furniture, clothes, books,
CDs, DVDs, computers, televisions, etc.

It is a very exciting place to go shopping.
A wholesale store means that it sells things
in bigger quantities. For example,
you can buy lots of bread rolls for a bargain price.
Shopping "in bulk" means that you can buy
lots of things and you don't have to go
shopping during the week, or for a long time.
It saves time and also saves money too.
To be able to shop at Costco, you need to
become a member. There are only 3 stores
in Japan to visit. One in Kaihin Makuhari,
one in Yokohama, and one in Saitama.
They also sell Japanese food there, but for a good price.

By Christina:)

☆ What on earth!!!

If you want to express sudden surprise or upset,
you can use the following expressions to show your feelings:

"What on earth are you doing!"

"Why on earth are you playing that music!"

"How on earth did you get my phone number!"

"Where on earth are my car keys!"

You can use these expressions when you are not very happy with someone or with the situation.

Example conversations:

A. "Where on earth are my car keys?"
B. "I don't know?"
A. "I think I've lost my car keys. Are you sure you don't know where they are?"
B. "Sorry, but I have no idea where you put them!"

A. "Hello, Maria."
B. "Daniel? Is that you?"
A. "Yes it is, Maria."
B. "How on earth did you get my phone number?"
A. "I looked it up on the Internet!"

A. "What on earth are you doing?"
B. "Sorry Mom, I got hungry, I had to eat some of the birthday cake!"
A. "John, that birthday cake was for your birthday celebration."
B. "Yeah, I know. I just couldn't wait until tomorrow."

A. "Why on earth are those neighbors playing that crazy music again?"
B. "They like having parties."
A. "Well, it's 3:30am in the morning, I can't sleep with that loud music playing."
B. "I'm sure they will finish their party soon. Try to get some sleep."

By Christina

☆ Need a challenge?

Do you like challenging activities or a challenging life style?
There are so many everyday challenging activities
you can do to improve yourself.

For example, take a long walk for at least an hour,
walk up some steep hills or long distances,
this will challenge your body.
Start reading a book that has some
challenging vocabulary, long sentences
and an indepth topic, this will challenge
the way you think.
Speak with a smart person or e-mail someone
you know who is smart, try to write something
interesting and influential to them,
this will challenge your writing skills.
Do something you have never done before,
such as cook a challenging recipe or take
a dance class that will teach you a new hobby,
something that will help you, this will challenge your creative skills.

Life is about forever learning something new,
so take it on and enjoy the challenge!

By Christina

☆ Out with the old, in with the new

Soon Spring will be here!
With Spring comes a new beginning of a season
and also new fashion. Imagine not having to wear thick,
fur coats and lots of clothes to keep warm.
As soon as you start to wear new colors
and designs you'll be able to say:
"Out with the old, in with the new",
because you will be wearing Spring fashion,
not winter fashion.

Using the expression:
"Out with the old, in with the new" is great,
because you can use it for anything.
For example, if you buy furniture, you can say
"Out with the old, in with the new"
or if you buy a new car you can say the same expression.

So next time you buy something
or you start wearing the new season's fashion,
try using the "out with the old, in with the new" expression!

By Christina

！ Valentine's Day - バレンタインデー

２月１４日はバレンタインデーですね♪
日本では女性が男性にチョコレートを贈る日ですが、
これは日本独特の行事のようです。
私がアメリカにいた時、男友達に義理チョコをあげたら
ものすごく驚いていました。
向こうではバレンタインは、本当に恋人行事なようで
友達同士でチョコレートをあげるという習慣はないようです。
「チョコレート」と限られているわけでもなく、
プレゼントは何でもあげるみたいですね。

バレンタインがどうやって始まったのか、
海外ではどんなバレンタインを過ごすのか、
少し調べてみました。
Christinaが海外でのバレンタインの習慣を
書いてくれていますので、
そちらもご参照ください♪

まず、バレンタインの起源と言われている説に、
バレンタイン司教の話があります。
当時のローマ皇帝は、強い軍隊を作るために
兵士の結婚を禁じていたのですが、
バレンタイン司教はそれを無視して兵士の
結婚式を行っていました。
これをとがめられてバレンタイン司教は
逮捕され処刑されたそうです。
処刑された日が２月１４日で、
彼の冥福と勇気ある行動を祈って、
バレンタインデーができたようです。

海外でのバレンタインデーは、
日本のように女性から男性にチョコレートを
贈るということはなく、
主に男性が女性にプレゼントを贈ったり
男女問わずにプレゼントを贈り合う、
という風習のようです。
ホワイトデーの様な習慣はないみたいです。

バレンタイン関連の英単語はこちら！
Valentine - バレンタイン
Chocolate - チョコレート
Gift/Present - 贈り物
give a gift/presentで贈り物をあげる
recieve a gift/presentで贈り物を受け取る
confess - 告白する
declare - 宣言する
He declared his love for her.
で彼は彼女に愛の告白をした。
この場合confessでもdeclareでも
どちらを使っても大丈夫だと思います。
obligation - 義理
義理チョコは何というのでしょう？
obligation chocolateでしょうか・・・。

☆ Valentines Day

Valentines Day is a very special day
for people from America, Australia,
England, Canada, Europe, etc.
It is a celebration for lovers,
friends and family in some countries.
It is a day when chocolate and
romantic gifts such as cute toys are
given by couples who love each other.
Giving romantic Valentines Day cards
are also very important, and
writing a special, loving message
is necessary to show your feelings.
Sometimes in America, families also
give one another a card to show their love.
But this does not happen in Australia,
it is only for couples.
But in Japan, Valentines Day is very different.
It is a day where women must give chocolate to
their co-workers and perhaps other men.
So it is not very romantic.

Here are some popular gifts
Australians and Americans enjoy giving to
both men and women on Valentines Day:
Flowers, chocolates, sexy lingerie, cute toys
(such as teddy bears and love hearts), perfume,
jewelery, and beautiful cards with
romantic messages inside them.
Often couples go out for dinner to
an expensive restaurant.
Sometimes couples light candles together.
It is also a very popular day to get engaged.
Many men like to propose to their girlfriend on Valentines Day.

The craziest Valentines Day my husband and I
ever experienced was in Australia.
We decided to go to a seafood restaurant for dinner.
We were excited to go, but when we got to the restaurant
we had to wait for over 1 hour for our lobster!
After dinner we went home, but I started feeling very sick.
The seafood was not fresh and my stomach became very sick.
It was the craziest Valentines Day I can remember! But now I laugh about it.

Happy Valentines Day Everyone! I hope you find happiness and true love.

By Christina:)

☆ Ideas for Valentine's Day gifts

Both men and women may find some of these ideas
useful for Valentine's Day.

Ideas:
Matching towels
Matching travel bags
Matching rings
Watches
Bags
Gold or silver picture frames
Cute candles
Books
Cute ornaments
Teddy bears or other cute toys

Homemade ideas for Valentine's Day:
Poem
Song
Love heart chocolate cake with pink icing
Breakfast in bed
Home cooked meal
Quilt
Cute coat hangers (homemade decorations)
Family photo album

There are so many wonderful ideas and choices
for Valentine's Day.
Don't be scared to use your imagination.

Do you know what a quotation is?
A quotation is a famous statement or
something that a famous person said.
Here are some famous quotations that
you can use to make your conversations more interesting.

"Love puts the icing on life"
(Patrick White, Australian famous writer).
This quotation means that love makes life beautiful.
This is a good quotation to use on Valentine's Day,
you can write this in a card.

Use quotations when you want to make a point stronger.
They are very good to learn because they show
you have read books and you are smart.
But it takes a lot of practice to learn the skill of how to use them.
They should be used as naturally as possible.

By Christina

☆ Misery loves company

Here's a popular, everyday expression: "Misery loves company".
What do you think it means?
It means that very unhappy, sad people usually love to be with
other sad people, and sometimes they love to make other people sad.

What kind of situation do you think this expression is used?
It is used for a situation where someone is making you unhappy
or you think a person is always sad.
You can say: "Well, that person is always sad, misery loves company!"

Unfortunately, there are many unhappy people all over the world,
so this expression is very useful to remember!

By Christina:)

！ Turin Olympic - トリノオリンピック

今日からトリノ冬季オリンピックが
始まります。
日本でもフィギュアスケートや
モーグルで盛り上がっていますね。
オリンピックを英語で説明する時に
知っておくと便利な単語を調べてみました。

トリノーTurin
トリノという音は、イタリア語Torinoからきています。
英語だとトリノという音とは違い、チュリンというのが近いようです。
フィギュアスケートーfigure skating
ボブスレーーbobsled
競技ーcompetition
動詞だとcompeteで、競技するという意味になります。
競技者ーathlete
競技場ーstadium
金メダルーgold medal
銀メダルーsilver medal
銅メダルーbronze medal
メダルを獲得するーwin a medal

☆ Intensive care

What is "intensive care"?
Many famous products use
this expression. Intensive
care means: deep treatment,
deeper care, looking after yourself
carefully. There are now many
shampoo and conditioner products
with the expression "intensive care"
written on them.

There are also many
skin care lotions that are for "intensive care" for the skin.
All these products are supposed to be
more helpful for both hair and skin health.
The purpose for "intensive care" products is
to help repair any damaged hair or any skin problems.

Hospitals also use the expression "intensive care"
for very sick people. Usually people who have had
a bad accident or a severe operation are placed into
an "intensive care" room.
The purpose for the intensive care room is
to help patients recover and become healthy,
so they can live a normal life again.
Often elderly people need intensive care
if they can't breath properly or look after themselves.
Special nurses and doctors often give intensive care treatment in hospitals.

Sometimes animals also need intensive care
if they become badly sick or after a serious operation.
But usually the intensive care is given by the pet's owner,
not the Vet. The owner usually has to look after
their pet more carefully and make sure
the animal does not go outside until it is fully healthy again.

As you can see, the expression "intensive care"
can be used for various human situations,
and also for animal situations.
It's a very useful and important expression
to understand and use appropriately.
The main thing to remember is that intensive care
is only used when it is a very serious problem, not for normal usage.

By Christina

☆ Expression: Bright side of life

Do you know the expression, "Always look on the bright side of life"?
It is a very positive, happy expression, used to encourage someone
who is feeling sad or depressed.
You can use this expression in any situation,
with any person you meet.
It is very friendly to use, and it can help someone to
feel good about their daily life and their future.
Please try using it.

☆ What makes your trip happy?

When you go on vacation, what makes your trip happy?
Is it the food, the fantastic shops, the beautiful scenery,
the people, or everything?

Recently, I traveled to Guam and the best part about the trip
was the happy people. All the people in the shops,
supermarket, restaurants, hotel and other places
were very friendly and welcoming.
It made the trip extra special, because they were so kind and caring.
If you have not visited Guam, I recommend you
go there for a wonderful holiday.
The people of Guam will warmly welcome you
and treat you with high respect.
There are many family activities for both fun and entertainment.
So, if you're planning your next vacation,
and you're wondering where to go, Guam is the place!
It's only 3 hours from Tokyo by airplane, so it's also very convenient.
The peak season is December, but all year-round the weather
is supposed to be warm and sunny.
However, I suggest you travel to Guam in December,
because the shops have many extra special bargains for you to buy!
I hope your next trip is just as happy and exciting as mine was in Guam.

By Christina:)

☆ Suggestions for short memory loss

Do you find yourself forgetting people's names
or important dates and appointments?
Here are some helpful hints on
how to remember people's names and important appointments.

Instead of asking directly what a person's name is,
you could ask: "How do you spell your name?"
or "Is there any special pronunciation of your name I should know?"
or "What's the meaning of your name?"

If you can't remember an important date or appointment,
you could send an e-mail stating
that you've been very busy recently
and would like to confirm the date and appointment again.
You could also phone and state the same thing.

For future help on remembering names, dates and appointments,
try writing things down in a small notebook.
Keep the notebook with you all the time so you can refer to it.
You will be happily surprised at
how quickly you will remember important things by doing this.
Many famous leaders and business people have done this
in the world and it has worked for them, so I am sure it will work for you.

By Christina:)

！ 土曜日は祝日でも開講いたします

今年は祝日の土曜日が多いですね。
建国記念日やみどりの日・・・。

英会話ベラは、祝日と日曜日は休講なのですが、今年は祝日の土曜日は開講いたします。
土曜日はいつもどおり授業がありますので、皆さん今年もはりきって英語を学びに来てくださいね♪

今年の土曜日で祝日の日：

２月１１日　建国記念日
４月２９日　みどりの日
９月２３日　秋分の日
１２月２３日　天皇誕生日

以上の土曜日は、開講いたします。

☆ Using the word "get" for everyday language

The word "get" can be very useful for everyday language.
Some common phrases to use for the word "get" are:
"get used to it", "get over it", "get to the point",
"get lost", "get going", "get started", "get real",
"get happy", "get plastered", "get lucky",
"get smashed" and "get a life!".
You may not know what these "get" phrases mean
or how to use them, so here are some examples.

"Get used to it"
No choice but to learn to accept
a serious situation or a difficult situation.

"Get over it"
Stop being sad or disappointed
and cope with the problem.

"Get to the point"
Talk more clearly and communicate more directly.

"Get lost!"
Go away and don't come back
(usually used during a very bad argument with someone you dislike).

"Get going"
There is no time left to waste, it's now time to hurry up!

"Get started"
It is time to begin the important task,
project, chore or work related assignment.

"Get real"
Don't be silly, be truthful and realistic,
stop thinking in a fantasy mind.

"Get happy"
Be happy and stop being sad and depressed.

"Get plastered"
Become very, very drunk - deliberately drunk.

"Get lucky"
Try to find a girlfriend or boyfriend, win a game or do well on a test.

"Get smashed"
No chance to win a sports game.
High possibility of being beaten in a competition.

"Get a life!"
Do something with your life - stop being lazy and boring!

By Christina:)

☆ Movie time: The Chronicles of Narnia

Movies are a great way of relaxing,
but they are also a wonderful way to learn more
about the English language.
As you watch a movie, you can begin to learn
more natural phrases, expressions,
and how western people think in many different situations.

This year, a terrific movie is coming to Japan, The Chronicles of Narnia.
It is a great movie to see.
It has been made in three different countries,
two of the countries were filmed in Europe, and the other country
was filmed in New Zealand.
It's a movie that the whole family can see and enjoy,
and also learn from.
So, the next time you watch a movie,
try to learn at least one natural phrase from it,
and try to learn something about the story or the message from the movie.
The Chronicles of Narnia is a movie not to miss!

By Christina

☆ Standing up and sitting down

Do you stand up a lot on the train or sit down
most of the time?

Recently there seems to be more people
standing up than sitting down,
during the mid morning as well as the evening.
A few years ago it didn't seem so busy.
In Australia, not many people use public transport,
especially trains. Using the train at night is
dangerous in Australia, it is surprisingly safe in Japan.
The freedom of the train services here is amazing.

By Christina:)