Can you complete this English saying?
The customer…
a) is important
b) is sometimes troublesome
c) is always right
The answer is below ↓
Answer: (c)
The customer is always right.
Example: When you work in a shop, you must remember, the customer is always right! So don’t argue with customers. Try to give them what they want and make them happy!
The other day, I made corn stew. Well, I didn’t really make it. I cheated a little! I used blocks of corn stew flavouring, which I bought at the supermarket.
This is how I made it.
First, I steamed some broccoli, shiitake mushrooms, green peppers, onions, cabbage and komatsuna (Japanese mustard spinach). Then, I put them into a pan with water and soy milk and heated them on the gas stove.
When the water and milk had heated up, I put the blocks of flavouring in and stirred the mixture until the blocks melted.
That’s it! Easy! I served it with whole grain toast.
My way of making the stew is a little different from the recipe on the back of the packet of flavouring, but I think it was just as nice!
Here it is! (It tasted better than it looks!) 🙂
How about you? Do you make stew? What ingredients do you use?
to talk shop (to talk about work or business outside the office)
E.g. 1:
A: I’m really worried about the meeting on Monday morning. Do you think the management team will be angry about the sales figures?
B: Stop talking shop! We came to this party to relax and to forget about work!
A: Yeah, sorry. I just can’t stop worrying about it.
E.g. 2:
A: I really don’t like going out for a drink with people from the office. After a few minutes, everyone starts talking shop.
B: Well, I think that’s normal when you go out with work colleagues.
A: I know. But I wish people could stop talking shop and talk about other things, like holidays or movies!
to pat (someone) on the back (to praise (someone))
E.g. 1:
A: You deserve a pat on the back for that speech. It was amazing.
B: Thanks. I’m glad you liked it.
E.g. 2:
A: Gillian’s boss gave her a pat on the back when she hit all her sales targets.
B: Yes, I heard that her boss praised her in front of everyone at the meeting yesterday.
I enjoy running. I try to run at least five days a week. Sometimes, I run for about an hour, but usually I only have time to run for about thirty minutes.
I enjoy running on the beach the most. In spring, autumn and winter, there are very few people at the beach, so I can run up and down along the sea-coast. The wind from the sea is very refreshing.
If I don’t have time to drive to the beach, I go running in the park, or around my neighbourhood. Even at night, many people run in the park.
When I run, I often listen to music. I find that when I run and listen to music, I can run faster and for longer. For me, music is very motivating. Some people say that running and listening to music is dangerous. I think that in some cases, it can be dangerous, such as when running on a road, or in a quiet place at night.
I turn the volume down low when I run, so I can still hear what is happening around me.
Some people train for marathons. In the future, I’d like to do a marathon, but now, I just enjoy getting out of the office and into the fresh air and getting a bit of exercise!
How about you? Do you enjoy running? Where do you go running?
Teacher’s pet (teacher’s favourite student)
E.g.
A: Why don’t the students in your class like Maggie?
B: Because she’s the teacher’s pet. She sits at the front and always answers the teacher’s questions. The teacher is always telling us how wonderful Maggie is.
——
Are you a teacher’s pet? 🙂
Can you complete this English saying?
The early bird…
a) catches the worm
b) gets eaten
c) gets first prize
The answer is below! ↓
Answer: (a)
The early bird catches the worm.
Meaning: If you do or start something early, you will be successful.
In the last post, I talked about Japanese sweets. Here are some pictures I took outside the sweet shop. The shop sells traditional Japanese sweets, so the building and garden are Japanese style.
The path leading to the shop is paved with stone and has moss.
At the entrance is a flower arrangement, which changes with the seasons.
A doll display fills the window at the entrance.
The building is made of wood, which has a calming effect, and blends in well with the garden.
It is a nice place to relax with friends or alone. Also, because it is far from central shopping areas, it is quiet. When I go, there are never more than three or four people there. I enjoy looking at the garden while drinking tea, or reading a book.
How about you? What kind of cafes or restaurants do you like?
(H)
to have a lot on one’s mind (to be worried about many things)
E.g. 1:
A: Why are you so quiet? Normally, you can’t stop talking.
B: I’m sorry. I’ve got a lot on my mind at the moment.
A: What like?
B: Money worries, job worries, family troubles…lots of things!
E.g. 2:
A: Have you seen Simon lately?
B: Yes, I saw his yesterday. He seemed to have a lot on his mind. I’m worried about him.
Yesterday, I went to a Japanese sweets shop with my friend. The shop is in a quiet location and it has a small Japanese garden. I had a matcha parfait. Matcha is powdered green tea. In the parfait, there were many ingredients – matcha flavoured ice-cream, sweet beans, many kinds of fruit, and cake. It was served with green tea. It was quite expensive – around 800 yen, but it was big and very filling.
My friend had zenzai. Zenzai is a warm red bean soup, and is very sweet. There were soft rice cakes called mochi in the soup. Zenzai doesn’t look very appetizing, but it tastes very nice!
When I first came to Japan, it took me a while to get used to matcha and red beans, especially in desserts. Now, I really like matcha and drink it everyday.
How about you? What kind of sweets do you like?
(H)
I Talk You Talk Press EXTRA 
You must be logged in to post a comment.