BR 2-05: Old Friends, New Friends

One Saturday, the friends went up onto the common to ride their bikes. (p.1)

I picked this book because I was interested in the story about friends. I wanted to read it when I found this book at the library. This story began with an encounter of two boys. One day, Ben was in the common with his friends. They rode their bikes there. When Ben rode the bike on the track, a boy appeared suddenly. Ben slammed on the brakes and came swerving to a stop. His bike slid out from under him, and he tumbled onto the path. Ben got angry, but the boy who appeared suddenly told Ben that he taught Ben it would have been a disaster. Ben understood what the boy said, but he couldn't say "thank you." After Ben met his friends again, he told them he wanted to find the boy, so Ben and his friends searched for the boy, but they couldn't find him. After they gave up and went back, they saw an old bus. there is the boy who Ben searched for. Ben wanted to become a friend with him, but Ben's parents didn't allow because the boy was a stranger. Ben persuaded his parents. If you want to want to know the continuation of the story, please read it. Do you think Ben can become a friend the boy? What does it mean the title of the book? After I finished reading it, I could understand its mean.

Also, the boy who Ben met lived in an old bus with his mother. They hadn't a television, a computer, and so on. I think proper that I have a television, a computer and other home electronics. Ben thought so too. However, Ben knew that he could realize interesting things of the environment if he had no home electronics. If you read this book, you will realize them just like Ben. I think this is a very important thing. I want you to read the book.

Reference

Alexander, Jenny. (1988). Old Friends, New Friends. London, England: Literacy Land.

[353/4825 words]

My favorite dessert

My favorite dessert is ice cream because there are many kinds of ice creams. I like vanilla, chocolate, green tea, and so on. I especially like ice cream which has chocolate chips, cookies and nuts in it. I usually eat more than an ice cream a day. I love ice cream very much. My favorite ice cream shops are Haagen-Dazs ans 31 ice cream. However, these ice creams cost high, so I seldom eat them. I eat these ice creams once or twice a month. When I eat these ice cream, I become very happy because they taste pretty good. I can't eat these ice creams very often, so I put up with them. I usually buy ice creams at supermarket, and I eat them. I like Supercup, Black Mont Blanc, Yukimi Daifuku, and so on. I want to eat ice cream right now!

[146/4472 words]

My favorite music

My favorite music is J-pop. I have my favorite singers. I often listen to their songs. First, I like Arashi. It is famous group in Japan. There are five people in the group. I was encouraged by their songs. I want to go to concert! Secondly, I like AKB48. AKB48 is a popular idol group. I enjoy singing its songs. I also like sister groups of AKB48. Thirdly, I like JUJU. I love her ballads. Her voice is very beautiful. When I listen to her songs, I am touched by them. Lastly, I like Kobukuro. It consists of two men. They wrtie words for themselves, so I think their songs have their love. When I listen to their songs, I often feel calm. I like their harmony very much. Kobukuro took a rest their activities for a year, but I was happy that they resume their activities.

[148/4326 words]

Essay prep: mind-maps of favorite places

My Favorite Places

• My house
  • My room
    • new table
  • My garden
    • basketball goal
  • Bathroom
  • living room
    • TV
      • DVD
      • HDD
    • sofa
• My hometown
• nursery school
• elementary school
• junior high school
• full of nature
• Mt.  Kinpo
• fruits
  • pears
  • mandarin oranges
• animals
• firefly
• wild rabbits
• wild boars

[43/4178 words]

Bowling

I went to Round 1 with my co-workers last Friday. This, was a social gathering because a new member joined us this month. She is a year younger than I am. She is earnest and work hard, so I want to teach her a lot of things about my job. On Friday, nine people (including me) went to Round 1. Before we went there, we assembled at our work place at 11:00 p.m., and we left for Round 1 together. When we arrived at Round 1, we started to play bowling. We separated three teams and confront, and we had six games of bowls. My highest score of the day was 115, and my lowest score of the day was 86. I’m not good at bowling, but I enjoyed it. I sometimes got strikes and spares. I was very happy. However, I want to be a good bowling player.

Round 1 had a special game. It was Strike Game. This game was held suddenly, so challenger was a person whose turn came next. If challenger is a man, he must get strike. If challenger is a woman, she must get more nine pins. When s/he get them, the staff of Round 1 take a picture for him/her. Two people of us got strike, so we were taken two pictures. These were presented people who got strike after a short time.

After we finished playing bowling, we played UFO catcher. I tried once, and I got six small chocolates. It was so fun. Playing bowling was very exciting and fun, but we finished it at 5:00 a.m., so I was very tired. However, I want to go there again. Won’t you go bowling with me?

[284/4135 words]

BR 2-04: The Enormous Crocodile

“I have secret plans and clever tricks,” said the Crocodile. (No page number.) 

I picked this book because the cover of the book was attractive for me. This story was about a crocodile which wanted to eat little children. There were two crocodile in the river in Africa. One was the enormous crocodile, and the other was not so big crocodile. The enormous crocodile told not so big crocodile that it would like to eat a nice juicy child for its lunch. The enormous crocodile was hungry, so it left for jungle at once. When the enormous crocodile was walking, it saw a hippopotamus, an elephant, a monkey and a bird. Whenever it saw them, it told them to be going to eat children, and it said “I have secret plans and clever tricks.” Animals the enormous crocodile met thought it was brutal and cruel. After that, the enormous crocodile carried out the plan. Do you think the plan go well? Do you think the enormous crocodile is able to eat children? If you are interested in the story, please read it. I thought it was very fun after I finished reading it.

When you see the book, you may it has long sentences. However, the book has a lot of pretty pictures, so it is easy for you to read and understand. I don’t like reading books very much, but I felt it was interesting for me to read it. If you didn’t like books which have long sentences, you could read this book. I recommend you to read it!

Reference 

Dahl, Roald. (1978). The Enormous Crocodile. New York, NY: Penguin Books.

[273/3851 words]

BR 2-03: Nate the Great and Me: The Case of the Fleeing Fang

"We are having a detective party just for you. Because you have solved so many cases for us." (p.9)

I picked this book because I wanted to read Nate the Great series. Nate the Great is a detective. One day, his friends held a party for him, and Rosamond named the day "Happy Detective Day!" However, Annie noticed. Annie is one of the members who held the party. She noticed her dog, Fang, was missing. Nate the Great usually solves cases, but "Happy Detective Day" was his day off, so his friends tried to find Fang and solve the case for themselves. However, they couldn't find Fang. In the end, Nate the Great solved the case and found Fang. After I read the book, I thought the process that he solved the case was was very interesting. Moreover, some hints and clues were showed in the middle of the story, and small characters sometimes appeared. The sentences written in the small characters asked readers whether you could solve the case, so you will feel that you are solving the case with Nate the Great while you are reading the story. If you are interested in it, please read it. It will be fun.

Last 11 pages are very fun. The pages have detective certificate of Nate the Great, pancake recipe, how to make strawberry milk shake, secret code, and so on. I would like to try to make pancake and strawberry milk shake! This is why you will be able to be fun if you read this book. I recommend you to read it!

Reference

Sharmat, Marjorie Weinman. (1998). Nate the Great and Me: The Case of the Fleeing Fang. New York, NY: Random House.

[287/3578 words]

My favorite junior high memory

My favorite junior high memory is culture festival. I was a chairperson of the executive committee when I was 3rd grade at junior high. Moreover, this culture festival was 60th anniversary festival. I had many work to prepare the culture festival, for example, deciding the slogan, choosing the theme song, making a speech at the beginning of culture festival, and so on. I cooperate with members of committee, and we worked harder.

In addition to preparation as the executive committee, I had to practice programs. I had 5 programs. My first program was English recitation. I read textbook again and again, and I memorized long sentences at home. I practiced with English teachers. After I recited, they advised me. I couldn't recite very well at first, but thanks to their advice, I could recite better than first. My second program was musical of tales of old Japan. The members practiced during classes. We acts urashima-taro and issun-boushi. We enjoyed singing and dancing on the stage, wearing yukata. My third program was English drama. It was first attempt at my school. I acts hero of the story. The story showed difference of American culture and Japanese culture. I practiced harder, but I memorized all of my lines, so I secretly attached cheat sheets on the stage before the drama started. However, audiences enjoyed our drama, so I was so happy.

Next program was class drama. The drama was made some students of the class. I joined it. It was difficult for me to make the scenario. I discussed a lot with the members. After we finished making the scenario, we decided each roles. Our class practice playing it again and again, and more, we made small tools and pictures of background for ourselves. On the day culture festival was held, we enjoyed playing the drama on the stage. While we played it, audiences often laughed. After we finished the drama, people who watched it said it was very interesting, so I was so happy. My last program was a chorus. The title of song our class sand was memories are full. It is a famous music in Japan. It was chosen by all members of my class. I practiced to sing harder. Before I sang a song, I was so nervous, but I could enjoy singing. After we sang a song on the stage, our class teacher said that your song was touching. We are very happy.

At night, lights were turned outside of school buildings. The lights were called mizu-akari, and they were made of bamboo. Some students made them. They were very beautiful. Many people who saw them said that it was beautiful scenery. This culture festival was the best memory of junior high. I'll never forget it forever.

[465/3291 words]

My favorite flower

My favorite flower is cherry blossom because it is very beautiful. There are some cherry trees near my house. I become happy as cherry blossoms come out in spring. I also like to see that cherry trees are in bud in March. When I was an elementary school and a junior high school student, I liked full of cherry blossoms on the way to school. The new teachers often said that cherry blossoms of my town were very beautiful. Also, I have ever been to Aso to see big cherry tree. It is called issingyou-no-sakura. It is very large and beautiful. I went there when I was a child, so I want to go to see it again.

[120/2826 words]

My favorite season

My favorite season is winter because winter has many interesting events, for example, Christmas, New Year's Day, and my birthday. I enjoy these events every year. I eat birthday cake and Christmas cake. I get presents on my birthday. I become 20 years old in December, so I will be participated is a coming-of-age celebration in January. I can't wait because I will meet my old friends wearing kimono. However, I become a woman, so I may not get a New Year's gift next year. I also like winter because it is cold and snows. I can't put up with hotness, but I can bear the cold. When it snows, I enjoy building a snowman.

[121/2706 words]

Movies I want to watch

I have three movies I want to watch during this year. First, I want to "Tsunagu." This movie is showing now. Tori Matsuzaka, who is my favorite actor, is in it. He acts the hero of the story. The movie is about a man whose job is "Tsunagu." He can let a living person see a dead person once for all. Whenever I see the commercial of this movie on TV, I want to watch it at the movie theater. It will make me touching.

Secondly, I want to watch "Bakarea Private High School." This movie will be opened to the public on October 13th. The members of AKB48 and Junny's Jr. are in it. This movie is the continuation of TV drama. My favorite  member of AKB48, Haruka Shimazaki, is the heroin. She is very cute. The movie is about a school which is a girls' school that is famous for excellent students marge with a boys' school that is known for bad students. At first, boys and girls stand i opposition, but they will become close through many problems. I think the movie will be fun.

Lastly, I want to watch "Today, I start to love." The original of the movie is manga. I haven't read this manga, but know it is a love story. Tori Matsuzaka acts the hero, and Emi Takei acts the heroin, so I want to the the movie. The movie will be opened to the public on December 8th. I  already promised to go to the movie theater and watch it with my friend. I can't wait to watch it!

[270/2585 words]

BR 2-02: Brittany the Basketball Fairy

“I’d like to find Brittany the Basketball Fairy’s magic basketball.” (p.1) 

When I went to the library at KGU and looked bookshelves, colorful books attracted my attention. It was the series of Rainbow Magic books. The stories were about many kinds of fairies, for example, weather fairies, music fairies, sports fairies, and so on. And more, all of the book covers were very cute. I picked the book about the basketball fairy because I like basketball very much.

The story began with Rachel Walker’s question. She asked Kirsty Tate, who is Rachel’s best friend, what we should do after lunch. They shared a very special secret that they had become friends with the fairies. However, the fairies had a problem that the sports fairies’ seven magic objects had been stolen by Jack Frost and his goblins. One of them is a magic basketball. Rachel and Kirsty intended to find it. They went to the rec center, and they met Abby, who is Rachel’s friend. She was participating in basketball game, but she worried her team challenged to next game with the very strong team. The team was a group of goblins. Rachel and Kirsty joined next game because they were invited by Abby. They understood goblins used a magic basketball. They thought it was unfair to use it to win the game, so they carried out a plan to get it back to the basketball fairy in the second half of the story. If you know the continuation of the story, please read this book! I felt it was fun after reading. I also wanted to read other books of the series. 

Reference

Meadows, Daisy. (2008). Brittany the Basketball Fairy. New York, NY: Scholastic. 

[283/2316 words]

Minnesota Diary

I went to Minnesota and stay for four weeks during summer vacation. I’ll post about the life in Minnesota occasionally.

 【July 22 (Sun)】
I arrived at Minnesota. Before I came to Minnesota, I was so nervous because I had never been to foreign countries. However, I could get rid of my uneasiness because my host family was willing to receive me. When I went to the terminal at the airport, a lot of host families had waited Kumamoto Gakuen University students. My host sister, Natalie, had welcome board. There were a lot of people, but I could find my host family because welcome board was decorated cutely. When I first met my host family, we hugged and shook hands. I also greeted Yukino’s host family because my host family and Yukino’s host family are neighbors. I thought it will be fun for me to stay at Minnesota.

After that, my host family and I went to Wisconsin State because Natalie participated in camp for a week, so we saw her to the campground. We went there by car. While I was in the car, I felt a sense of incongruity. I had known cars run on right side, but I was really surprised when I took the car at the actual. We stopped at MacDonald on the way to go to campground. I ate small cheeseburger and drank chocolate shake. I was surprised at the system of MacDonald and the size of hamburger. When we arrived at the campground, we carried her baggage to bungalow. I saw a wild squirrel for the first time outside the bungalow. My host father, host mother and I said good-bye to Natalie, and we went to Welcome Picnic at Roseville Central Park.

The picnic started at five o’clock, but we arrived at six o’clock. According to talking I heard later, leaders of KGU students tried to drink a famous juice of America, and some American people tried to eat natto before I arrived. After I arrived, KGU students separated five groups and told our host family Japanese culture. My group told Japanese snacks and sweets. We brought snacks from Japan, so host family tried to eat them. People who tried to eat them showed a variety of reaction. Some people showed their smile and came to like Japanese snacks, other people showed strange expressions and said “Wow!” It was very interesting. We also showed picture of Japanese sweets and snacks. However, it was difficult for me to explain what kind of snacks or sweets and things America doesn’t have, for example, anko.

After the picnic finished, I leave for my host family’s house. When I arrived at the house, a dog greeted me. She is their pet, and her name is Little Lady. She is very pretty girl. And then, my host father and host mother showed all of the rooms in the house. After that, they told me to go to bed because they thought I was tired and I have to get up early and prepare to go to school. I said good-night to them, and I went to bed.

[520/2032 words]

Seven Flavor

On September 26th, I went to eat Haagen-Dazs ice cream at Shimo-tori, Kumamoto City with my sister after I finished classes. Haagen-Dazs is famous ice cream brand, and the cost is high. I usually don't eat that ice cream, but the day was special day, so I and my sister went to the store of Haagen-Dazs. The store had many kind of ice cream flavor. We could choose and eat seven flavor ice creams. Usually, Haagen-Dazs ice cream costs 300 yen per one ice cream, but it costs 500 yen to eat seven kinds of ice creams on special day. I chose pumpkin, red potato, green tea, macadamia nuts, vanilla pudding, caramel walnut and chocolate. Tastes were very good! I felt so happy! Special day is every Wednesday, so I promised to go to eat again with my sister.

After eating ice creams, we went to TSUTAYA, and we rented CDs. At last, I bought three socks at tutuanna. Tutuanna is my favorite sock shop. There are a lot of cute socks, I often go to buy socks there.

[185/1512 words]

My favorite sport to watch

My Favorite sport to watch is soccer. I have loved to watch soccer game since I watched Asian Cup maybe two years ago. It is very exciting for me to watch soccer game. I was very excited to watch semi final at the Asian Cup in particular. This is the game between Japan and Korean. I watched it with all of my family. My favorite soccer player is Keisuke Honda. He is playing in Russian professional soccer team. He is cool and good at playing soccer. I also like Atsuto Uchida and Maya Yoshida. I heard they are very close each other. However, I have watched soccer game only on the TV, so I want to watch soccer game at the stadium.

[122/1327 words]

Essay 2-01a: How and How Well I Have Learnt Languages

listen to ‘learning languages ’ on Audioboo

My faverite shoes

My favorite shoes are platform shoes. I bought them two weeks ago. The color is gray, and the height of the sole is four centimeters. Platform shoes are no heels, so it is easy to walk, and I don't get tired even if I walk a long time. I bought them at LEPSIM in AEON Mall Kumamoto. Before I went there, I look around for platform shoes everywhere, but I didn't meet platform shoes I like. When I found them at the store, I liked the shoes at a glance. There are three colors: gray, white and beige. I chose the color because I hadn't had gray shoes. Recently, I run around for cute sox that it suits the shoes.

[123/1204 words]

BR 2-01: Nate the Great and the Musical Note

It was a note for Pip from Rosamond. I knew it would be strange. (p.10)

I picked this book because illustrations of the cover were so cute and the title is attractive for me. The hero of the story is Nate the Great, and he is a detective. One day, when he took a bath, a boy came to Nate the Great’s house. A boy whose name is Pip gave Nate the Great a piece of paper. It was a note for pip from his teacher of piano lessons, but it was so strange, so Pip couldn’t understand. He asked for Nate the Great to tell what it means. Nate the Great tried to solve the problem. If you want to know the answer of the problem, please read this book. It was very interesting. And more, this book is one of the series of Nate the Great. I want to read all of the series.

Moreover, after the story, there are extra pages in this book. Extra pages have fun activities. When you read them, you can get a lot of information, for example, pianos, fingerprints, and so on. They are useful and very fun. I read them, but there were many things I didn’t know, so I got new information. I recommend you to read this book!

Reference

Sharmat, Marjorie Weinman and Mitchel. (1990). Nate the Great and the Musical Note. New York, NY: Random House.

[239/1082 words]

Cocktail Party

Hello! My name is Teresa. I’m from Peru. Peru is in South America. I live in Lima. Lima is the capital of Peru. I’m 22 years old. I live with grandparents, parents, two older brothers and their wives and children, a younger sister and a dog. My family is a large family, so my home is always bustling.

I’m a cartoonist. I draw cartoons every day. I like love story, so I’m drawing it. It is so fun for me to draw cartoons. I heard that my cartoons are very popular among young women and girls. I’m so happy. I will draw a lot of cartoons, and I want many people to read and buy them.

My hobby is skiing. When winter comes every year, I go to Canada to ski. My father likes skiing, so he often takes me to ski. When I was 10 years old, I skied for the first time. I couldn't ski very well at first, so I fell again and again. But Now, I could ski very well. I could jump and turn.

I have a thing I dislike. It is alcohol. I loved to drink alcohol before, but I dislike alcohol because I have gotten drunk, and I couldn't have walked straight. I have not drunk since then.

[215/843 words]