easy english

[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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tilt shift photography of birds

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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

[Easy English Blog] Car inspection

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I took my car for its inspection a few weeks ago. The inspection is called “shaken” in Japanese. I always take my car to the same place. They give good service. A month before the inspection is due, they send me a postcard. If I take the postcard with me on the day of the inspection, I can get a free oil change.

This year, they also cleaned my car inside and outside. (My car wasn’t so dirty, but it needed a vacuum!) A few parts needed replacing, and there was a water leak, but there were no major problems. I was relieved, because my car is over ten years old.

Older cars tend to have problems, which can be expensive. The only problem I have is the key. Sometimes it doesn’t work. I tried changing the battery and it became slightly better, but sometimes when I press the button, it doesn’t unlock the car and I have to press it many times. Sometimes I wish my car had an old-style key!

Anyway, the next inspection is in two years’ time. I will take care of my car and drive carefully until then.

By Heather @ I Talk You Talk Press

[Easy English Blog] Speech contest

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A few weeks ago, I was asked to judge a speech contest. I judge the contest every year. The participants are elementary and junior high school students. I am always impressed with their English skills. It seems like they improve year by year.

When I started judging the contest 12 years ago, I struggled to understand some of the participants. Now, I understand everyone. Their pronunciation, rhythm and intonation are all very good.

Good English skills are important, but communication skills are also important when giving a speech. What do you want to tell the audience? How are you going to communicate that? How are you going to show emotion? Some students use gestures. A few meaningful gestures are fine, but too many is not good. When using gestures, it is important to think “Why am I using this gesture?” “What will this gesture communicate?” “Does this gesture add anything to my story?”

Some students used gestures very well. They didn’t use too many, and only used meaningful gestures. Some of them were great communicators. I left feeling very impressed.

[Easy English Blog] Summer

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aerial view of seashore near large grey rocks

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It is nearly summer in New Zealand, so in this post, Patricia talks about summer.

If you think of summer – what comes into your mind? I think everyone thinks about vacations when they think about summer. I know I do. Of course when I was a student, summer was also the time when I could work at two or three jobs to save enough money for the next year – so I guess I have those memories too. Hard work and long days but feeling happy because I was saving money.

The meaning of summer also depends on what part of the world you live in – for many of us, summer also means Christmas and New Year.

Maybe the strongest memories we have, are about celebrations and festivals. So you might think about cherry blossom viewing or Chinese New Year or Easter, when you think about the seasons.

How about spring? Or winter? Or autumn?  What do these seasons mean to you?

By Patricia @ I Talk You Talk Press