Easy English Blog

This blog is for learners of English.

I Talk You Talk Press staff blog about many different topics – life, study, language, work, travel, books, music, film, culture, cooking, and many more, all in easy English!

[Easy English Blog] I saw you in the paper

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I was in the local newspaper a few weeks ago. We won the 2019 Language Learner Literature Award, so the local paper was interested in our story.

I live in rural Japan, and many people read the local paper. Since I was in the paper, people have been saying “I saw you in the paper!”

I know some of these people. They are neighbours, acquaintances, and clients. But there are some people I don’t know. Some people I have never met see me and say “I saw you in the paper!”

Maybe this is what it is like to be famous!

By Heather @ I Talk You Talk PressI Talk You Talk Press

[Easy English Blog] School visit

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The other day, I visited a primary school to give a talk to the children about being a writer. The children were 9-10 years old. Many of them were very interested in the job of a writer, and some of them want to be a writer when they are older.

They asked me what they should do if they want to become a writer. I told them to read books and develop their imaginations. They had so many questions that there wasn’t time for me to answer them all.

The school has a special programme. Every month, they invite someone to speak to the children about their job. I think it is a good system. The children can start to think about the job they want in the future, and they can learn about different ways of life.

When I was a child, my school didn’t have a programme like that. We had a careers room with lots of pamphlets about jobs. We could go to the room and learn about jobs. There was a careers advisor who sometimes came to our school. We could talk to her about different jobs. It would have been good if people from the community came to the school and talked about their jobs. It would have been interesting.

I hope the children enjoyed my visit to the school, and I hope it was useful for them. Maybe in the future, some of them will become writers!

By Heather @ I Talk You Talk Press

[Easy English Blog] No dogs or cats

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I’m not allowed to have a dog or a cat in the place I live. I really want a dog. When I was a child, my family had dogs. Having a dog in the house is normal for me. We treated our dogs as family members. I enjoyed walking our dogs every day after school.

I have lived in different houses and apartments during my time in Japan. None of the places have allowed cats or dogs. I rent my house. The contract says no pets are allowed, so I can’t get a dog.

Sometimes I think about the type of dog I’d like. I like big dogs. My sister has a Labrador. Maybe a Labrador would be nice. I also like Japanese dogs, like Shiba or Akita. If I had the chance, maybe I would get a Japanese dog. I wonder, what language would I use with the dog? Would I use English? Or Japanese? Or both? Maybe the dog could become bilingual! But this is just a dream. I can’t have a dog.

When I go back to England to visit my family, I look forward to seeing my family, and I also look forward to seeing and playing with their dogs. It is a precious time for me.

By Heather @ I Talk You Talk Press

[Easy English Blog] Purple sky

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In our city, there is a large lake. We can see the sunset over the lake when the weather is clear. It is a very beautiful spot. Many people come around sunset time to take photographs. Last week, a strong typhoon hit Japan. There wasn’t much damage in our area because the typhoon did not hit us directly.

The day before the typhoon came, I passed the lake just after sunset. I was surprised to see that the sky was purple! I had never seen such a purple sky before!

In the photograph, you can see an island. Usually, this island is not lit up at night, but in October, our city has a “lantern festival”. The area around the castle is lit up with many lanterns. The island on the lake is also lit up during this period. It looks beautiful. When it is lit up, we know that autumn is here.

By Heather @ I Talk You Talk Press

[Easy English Blog] In the newspaper

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We were featured in the local newspaper a few days ago. We won the 2019 Language Learner Literature Award in the advanced category, and the Finalist Award in the intermediate category.

The local newspapers heard about this, and asked us if they could write a story about it. Of course we said yes! Our book which won the Finalist Award features ghost stories by a man called Lafcadio Hearn. He was a Greek/Irish writer who lived in our city in the 19th century. He wrote ghost stories. Our book Old Jack’s Ghost Stories from Japan contains six of his most famous stories.

Lafcadio Hearn introduced Japanese culture and Japanese ghost stories to the world over 100 years ago. We hope that our book helps to introduce readers today to Japanese culture and Japanese ghost stories. Here is a link to the book.

by Heather @ I Talk You Talk Press

[Easy English Blog] Autumn leaf viewing

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red and orange autumn leaves on the ground and on trees beside body of water

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There are many places in Shimane where we can enjoy autumn leaf viewing. I hope I have time to go to these places this year. Some of the best places are temples. There is a temple in Yasugi City called “Kiyomizu-dera”. It has the same name as the famous temple in Kyoto. However, the Kiyomizu-dera in Yasugi doesn’t have so many visitors, so the atmosphere is calm and quiet. It is famous for its pagoda and autumn leaves.

There is a temple in Izumo City called Gakuen-ji. This temple is in the mountains. It is surrounded by forest. We have to climb many steps to get to the top of the temple. From the top, we can see beautiful mountains in red, yellow and orange. Many people visit in autumn, but at other times during the year, it is quiet. It is a nice place to visit and think about things. I used to go quite often, but recently, I haven’t had time.

The area around Matsue Castle is also nice in the autumn time. The castle grounds and forest are nice places to stroll around in any season, but for me, autumn is the best. I will try to go this year and take many pictures.

By Heather @ I Talk You Talk Press

[Easy English Blog]Autumn and studying

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School terms in the UK begin in September. So for me, autumn is the time to start something new, or study something. I always feel like studying more in this season. I think many people in Japan feel like this in spring, but I feel really motivated to study in autumn.

Autumn is a busy time for me at work, but I still want to find time to study. I have been studying Chinese for around an hour a day. I am going to take the 3rd grade HSK test early next year, so I must keep at it. I have decided to take a Korean test next year too, so shortly, I am going to start studying Korean.

I love studying. For me, it is a hobby, so it doesn’t seem like a chore, or like work. I’m going to make the most of my heightened motivation this season and study as much as I can. I also feel motivated in winter, so the next few months are important study months for me. I’m going to study hard, and enjoy it too!

By Heather @ I Talk You Talk Press

[Easy English Blog] Where are the Kereru?

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New Zealand worries about its native birds. So many, very special birds were lost because people from other countries came to NZ and brought dogs, rats, pigs, cats and other animals that attack birds.

Every year, at the end of September, there is a kereru count. These are large, crazy, fun birds.  Everyone is asked to look around their house, their garden or their farm. Everyone is asked to record the number of kereru they see, on a special site on the Internet.

We always look for kereru around this time.

Last year, there were many kereru in our garden the week before the count. There were many kereru in our garden the week after the count. But we didn’t see one kereru during count week!

I thought they are crazy birds. But maybe they are smart. Maybe they don’t like being counted.

This year we have seen no kereru. I think there is a lot of food in the mountains, so the kereru are not coming down to gardens in the town. I hope so.

NZ has lost so many birds – I would be very sad if we lost these crazy fat, funny birds.

By Patricia @ I Talk You Talk Press

[Easy English Blog] The “I Like Meat” Bird

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A bird sings in our garden. The bird always sings at sunrise. Sometimes this bird sings all day. To be honest, it can drive us crazy. But, we have never seen this bird. We know the song of most birds in our garden. But this bird is a mystery.

The bird song is e♭, a♭, g♭ – e flat, a flat, g flat. When I hear it I think ‘I like meat’. Everyone says this is strange “Why do you think the bird is singing ‘I like meat’?” they ask.

Maybe the bird is singing ‘I like sun’ or ‘Come to me’. But the first time I heard it I thought ‘I like meat’, so this mystery bird will always have that name for me.

By Patricia @ I Talk You Talk Press

[Easy English Blog] Freesias

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My mother died seventeen years ago. It is not only her family who remember her. Friends and neighbours remember her too. One thing they remember is her garden.  Close to the street, she had a bed of freesias. Every spring, anyone who walked past her house could smell the beautiful perfume of these white spring flowers.

When my mother died, we had to sell her house. But family and friends took freesia bulbs to remember her by. There were 1000s of bulbs so the people who bought her house did not lose her famous freesias.

I didn’t live in NZ then. My sister saved freesia bulbs for me. She gave them to me when I came back to live in NZ.

The freesias did not do well in my garden. Every year the green leaves would come out of the ground, but there were no flowers.  This year is different.

This year I have some beautiful perfumed freesias. I cut some and put them in a vase in the entrance hall. Today I went to visit my childhood friend. Seventeen years ago, she took freesia bulbs from my mother’s house.

She had some freesias in a vase in her house. We drank coffee and laughed. But for a moment we talked about freesias and we remembered my mother.

By Patricia @ I Talk You Talk Press