easy english

[Easy English Blog] Secret Santa

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santa clause figurine

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Do you know about Secret Santa?

Many offices and factories play “Secret Santa” before Christmas. All the workers in the office or factory write their names on a piece of paper. Then, they put the names into a box. Each person takes a piece of paper. They have to buy a present for that person. They wrap the present, and on the day of the Christmas party, they take the present to the office or factory. So, everyone gets one present.

You can read a story about a factory Christmas party and Secret Santa in one of our books. The book is called Christmas Tales.

My family loves buying presents. But families get bigger. People get married and have children – the family grows and grows. It is difficult to think of a present for everyone.

This year, all the small children got a present from everyone, but the adults played Secret Santa. So the adults got just one present from another member of the family.

By Patricia @ I Talk You Talk Press

[Easy English Blog] Christmas is a long festival

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christmas tree with decors under the staircase

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Sometimes when we think about Christmas, we only think about Christmas Day. But the Christmas festival is much longer than that!

Since the beginning of December, I have been hearing Christmas music in all the stores. Some people’s houses have big Santas in their gardens or many Christmas lights. The streets of our city have Christmas lights too. Everything is very colourful.

Christmas parties start early too. Everyone is very busy near December 25th so Christmas parties start in the first week of December. Most workplaces have a Christmas party for their workers. Clubs have Christmas parties too. I have been to a lunch party for my swimming group and another party for my sewing club.

Christmas Day is a family day, so we also try to meet up with friends in the weeks before Christmas. It is a very social time.

It is very difficult for everyone in a family to be together on just one special day, so often people have more than one family party. I cook a special meal on Christmas Eve and then it will be Christmas Day. We call December 26th  Boxing Day. On Boxing Day we go to a family party at a relatives house. Then on December 27th , some family members we didn’t see on Christmas Day or Boxing Day come here.

Perhaps we should stop saying Christmas Day and start saying Christmas month!

By Patricia @ I Talk You Talk Press

[Easy English Blog] I don’t know what Americans eat at Christmas

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Americans celebrate Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of November. It is a very important day for family and friends. People travel long distances to be at home for Thanksgiving. Sharing a meal is an important part of Thanksgiving.

One of my American friends told me what she cooked for Thanksgiving this year.

turkey

stuffing

mashed potatoes

gravy

cranberry-orange sauce

5-cup salad

baked apples and carrots

olives

raspberry pie

pumpkin cheesecake

 

That’s a lot of different dishes isn’t it? I thought my friend must be tired after cooking so much. But she said they ate leftovers for the next three days! So she cooked a lot, but then she had a rest.

If you look at the menu – you will see 5-cup salad. My friend has been making this recipe for many years. The first time I ate it, was when my friend and her husband came to visit us in Japan. We had a party so that our visitors could meet some of our Japanese friends.

My friend made 5-cup salad. It was very popular. If you are interested, send us a message and I will ask her for the recipe!

Christmas comes about four weeks after Thanksgiving.

We eat turkey at Christmas. But most Americans eat Turkey at Thanksgiving. So what do Americans eat at Christmas? I don’t know. Do you?

By Patricia @I Talk You Talk Press

[Short Story] A wonderful Christmas Eve party

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green christmas tree with string lights

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It was Christmas Eve. The small local train was almost empty. It was snowing very hard outside, it was very cold, and it was very dark.

Suddenly the train stopped.  Everyone wondered what was wrong.

Then the train conductor walked through the train.

“I am very sorry,” he said to everyone. “The snow is too bad. We can’t go forward and we can’t go back. We have to stay here until the snow stops.  And then someone will come and move the snow off the train tracks.”

“How long will we be here?” asked Melanie. “We have to get to Leeds by 8:30pm to catch our train to Manchester.”

“I don’t know,” said the conductor. “But it is 7:30pm now. I’m sorry. I don’t think we will get to Leeds in time.”

Melanie wanted to cry.  When she married Craig in July, they moved to a small village in the Yorkshire Dales. She loved Craig very much, but life in the village was very quiet. She had not made any friends and she missed her family. She had not seen them since the wedding. She wanted to be with her family at Christmas.

Craig put his arms around Melanie. “It will be OK,” he said. “You will see your family tomorrow.”

The conductor was talking to a family with two children at the back of the railway carriage. The children were crying loudly. “But we have to be at Grandma and Grandad’s! We wrote letters to Santa. We told him we would be in Leeds on Christmas night! He won’t know where to find us. We won’t get any presents!”

Everyone was very unhappy. Everyone was talking loudly. They were shouting at the train conductor.

Then an old man stood up and said. “Everyone! Please calm down. I used to work on this railway line. I know this kind of weather very well. I think we will be here until tomorrow morning, or maybe longer. So we must make our own Christmas Eve party.

“Is there anyone in the next carriage?” he asked the train conductor.

“Yes, there are four young men,” said the train conductor.

“Please ask them to come here,” said the old man.

Then the old man smiled at everyone. “My name is George. I have a bottle of whisky. I was taking to my brother as a Christmas present. But I think I will share it with you.”

“I have Christmas pies and a bottle of my homemade orange drink,” said the mother of the children. “My name is Lisa. This is my husband David, and my children Angela and Micky. We want to share our food and drink with you.”

Melanie felt better. “We have cheese and crackers. Craig and I will share them with you.”

There were six adults and two children in the train carriage. Most people had special Christmas food and drink in their bags.

Then the four young men came from the next carriage.  One of them had ham. “I promised my mother I would bring her some ham for Christmas tea tomorrow night. But she will have a lot of turkey, so I think we should eat it tonight.”

Everyone felt happier and the children stopped crying. They put all the food and drink out in the carriage. There was whisky and the orange drink, a bottle of champagne, ham, cheese, crackers, nuts, chocolates and Christmas pies. The only person who didn’t have anything was a quiet man in a suit.  He looked sad because he didn’t have anything to add to the party.

“But we have no glasses or plates!” said Melanie.

The quiet man looked pleased. “I can help! My daughter asked me to bring paper cups and plates. I have a lot!”

The conductor went to the front of the train. The train driver came back with him and joined the party.

Everyone had a great time, especially the children.  One of the young men had a guitar. They sang Christmas carols and played games.

Finally the children fell asleep but the adults stayed up until midnight. The snow had stopped falling, but the train couldn’t move.

Everyone said, “It was a wonderful party, but I hope the train can move soon.”

In the morning, when the children woke up, there were presents next to their seats.

“Santa found us!” they shouted. The adults were cold and tired, but everyone smiled.

“Santa is very clever,” smiled the old man. “And I heard the rescue team arriving about an hour ago. Merry Christmas!”

“Merry Christmas!” shouted everyone, as the train started moving

By I Talk You Talk Press

[Easy English Blog]Christmas cards

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blur bokeh card celebration

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Do you send Christmas cards? If you do, how many do you send? When I was in primary school, I sent cards to everyone in my class. It was a kind of tradition. I can’t remember very well, but when I went to high school, I think I just sent them to my close friends.

Now, I only send cards to my family and one friend. I am in contact with my friends on social media, so we wish each other “Merry Christmas” there. I think people are sending fewer and fewer cards these days.

I buy cards here in Japan. There are really cute ones of small Santas in famous sightseeing places of Japan like Kiyomizu-dera Temple, Izumo Taisha Shrine, or the Buddha at Kamakura. I always buy these cards. There are other more colourful ones of Mt. Fuji and famous places, but I like the Santa cards the best.

I don’t receive many cards, because I don’t send many. But that’s OK. I don’t think we need to send cards to wish each other a Merry Christmas. It’s the thought that counts!

By Heather @ I Talk You Talk Press

[Easy English Blog] Volcano

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brown mountains

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A volcano erupted in New Zealand. It is a small volcanic island, a little more than 40km from the coast of the North Island.  It is called Whakaari or White Island.  It is a very popular place for sightseeing. People travel by boat or helicopter to the island.

It often has small eruptions, but yesterday it erupted when there about 50 tourists and tour guides on the island.

I watched the news all afternoon and all evening. The news was not good. The situation was dangerous. The rescue teams were very brave and did everything they could. But many people who were injured and it seems that 13 people died. Some were New Zealanders but others came from many different countries. They were on vacation.

I am sure all these people were excited to visit a volcano.

This makes me very sad.

It’s Christmas, but everyone in this country will be thinking about this terrible accident and about the families of the people who were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Sometimes life does not seem fair.

By Patricia @ I Talk You Talk Press

[Easy English Blog] A day out

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photo of a woman holding shopping bags

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I went on a day trip to Hiroshima the other day. I went by bus. It took around three hours. I took a business Japanese exam while I was in Hiroshima. After the exam, I had about two hours before the bus departed, so I went shopping.

I live in a rural area, so there are not many shops. Of course, we have large shopping centres and a department store, but there are not as many as in the city. It was good to walk around a big city and look in the shops. I bought some skincare products and a calendar for next year.

The bus coming back to my city was full. Most people had many shopping bags. Many people go to Hiroshima for day trips to go shopping. It is our nearest big city.

A few years ago, a new highway was built, so it is easier for us to get to Hiroshima. In the past, we had to use a normal road, and it took a long time – maybe around four hours. Now, the bus takes around three hours and it takes around two and a half hours by car.

I would like to go to Hiroshima more often, but I’m busy with work most days. Still, I enjoyed my day out. The weather was nice and the city was not too crowded.

By Heather @ I Talk You Talk Press

[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