easy english

[Easy English Blog] Chippy tea

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I go back to the UK every year. As soon as I arrive at the airport, I go straight to the shop to buy chocolate! Then, when we are driving home, my mother always asks, “Shall we have a chippy tea tonight?”

I’m from north England. In the north, fish and chip shops are called “chippies”. Also, “dinner” is called “tea”. So, “a chippy tea” means to buy dinner from a fish and chip shop.

I always have a chippy tea on my first day back in the UK. I don’t eat fish, so I just have chips, with lots of salt and vinegar. (I know, this is not healthy, but it is only once a year!)

The taste reminds me of my childhood. When I was a child, we sometimes had chippy teas. There was a chippy near my house. My mum used to send me there to buy the fish and chips. The staff wrapped the fish and chips in old newspapers. Some people used to take their own plates and towels. The staff used to put the fish and chips on the plates, and then wrap the plates with the towels so the food stayed warm.

Now, fish and chips are usually served in cartons. I miss the smell of greasy newspaper and chips! I’m going back to the UK in December. As usual, I will have a chippy tea on my first night there. I can’t wait!

[Easy English Blog] We joined Pinterest

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black and silver film camera on brown wooden surface

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We joined Pinterest a few days ago. It’s fun! I could spend hours on it looking at all the beautiful images on the site. I made a board featuring images from our area in Japan. We are based in Shimane, which is a beautiful rural region of the country. I found many images of Shimane for the board. I’m also going to add some of my own.

I also made a board for people who are studying English. If you are studying English, I recommend you look at Pinterest. There are so many resources and links.

Are you on Pinterest? If you are, look us up! We are here!

[Easy English Blog]Driving in Japan

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aston martin automobile automotive car

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I live in a rural area of Japan, so I need a car to get around. I used a bicycle for a year before I bought my first car. I enjoyed riding my bicycle, but it was hard in winter because we get a lot of snow here. Also, I couldn’t go out of town so easily, because there weren’t many buses or trains. (There still aren’t!)

So, I got a car. I had to get my British licence translated into Japanese, but I think that was all. I didn’t have to take a test. I got my Japanese licence 17 years ago, so maybe the rules have changed now. Driving in Japan is easy for me, because we drive on the left, just like in the UK. The one difference that surprised me was that I had to get snow tires for winter. In the area of the UK where I am from, we used the same tires in winter, even when it was snowy and icy.

When I got my first car in Japan, I started to drive everywhere. I drove to work, the supermarket, my friends’ houses…I’m sure I put on weight! I also drove out to the villages and towns near my city. I also drove to the mountains and the sea. Some of these places are very difficult to get to without a car. I don’t have many problems driving to these places. Even in the countryside, in the small villages and towns, the roads are usually well-maintained.

Autumn is my favourite season. So, every autumn, I drive into the mountains to see the autumn leaves. I hope I have time to go this year. If I do, I’ll take some photographs for this blog. I really don’t like driving in winter though. The main roads are usually fine, but the smaller roads near my house are so icy and slippery. Even with snow tires, my car slides around! The snow was bad early this year. I had to wake up earlier than usual to dig my car out of the snow. But it is better than having no car. So I shouldn’t complain!

[Easy English Blog] Friends in different seasons

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I have friends who live in Australia and New Zealand. We often talk on Skype. Our conversations usually start with the weather. I spoke to my friend in New Zealand today. It is autumn in Japan, but it is spring in New Zealand.

I told her that it was getting cooler here, and she told me that it was getting warmer there. It’s interesting when we speak in winter or summer. When it’s winter here, I have the heater on, and I wear thick sweaters, while she has her windows open and wears a T-shirt!

It’s interesting to hear my friends’ stories about Christmas. I associate Christmas with snow, warm drinks, and hot fires. My friends in the Southern Hemisphere associate Christmas with the beach, or the swimming pool and cold drinks.

I’d like to visit my friends one day. I’d like to go during summertime in Japan. I don’t like the heat, so it will be good to get away from the heat and humidity. It will also be winter in New Zealand and Australia, which means it will be cool, and there won’t be so many insects! I’m really scared of insects. My friend in Australia always tells me stories about the insects in his garden. I don’t want to see them!

[Easy English Blog] Reading in my native language

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I love reading. Now I read books in English and Japanese. However, about ten years ago, I went through a spell (a spell = a period of time) of only reading Japanese. I wanted to improve my Japanese, so I only read Japanese novels or non-fiction books. I have been a translator for 14 years, so at that time, I was translating. I read Japanese every day at work, and then I read Japanese every night after work.

I translate from Japanese into English, so it is important for me to understand Japanese well. However, it is also important for me to write English well. When I went through the spell of reading only Japanese books, I noticed that my written English was not as good as it used to be. It didn’t seem natural. Also, when I was teaching, students would ask me questions, such as “How do you say XXX in natural English?” Sometimes, it was difficult for me to answer.

I wondered why. Perhaps my brain got used to Japanese phrasing and expression because I was reading so much. Then, I realised something important. I had to maintain my native language too. In English there is a saying – “If you don’t use it, you lose it”. I felt I was losing my English.

So, I decided to start reading again in English. Now, I read more English books than Japanese books. I need to maintain a high level of English for my work. I teach, translate and write in English. So, even though English is my native language, reading English books is a kind of study for me. I still read Japanese books, but not so many. Actually, I would like to read more. Next year, I’m going to try to balance my reading so I read an equal number of Japanese and English books. It’s important to maintain both skills.

[Easy English Blog] Starting I Talk You Talk Press

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pen writing notes studying

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I started I Talk You Talk Press five years ago with two friends. We have all taught English for many years in Japan. We always told our students to read English, because we believe reading is a very important part of English learning. Some of our students listened to our advice and read graded readers. Other students didn’t. They said they didn’t have time, or graded readers were too difficult.

So, we started writing original stories for those students. We knew our students’ English levels, so we wrote stories they could understand. The students were happy that we wrote stories for them. Sometimes, they recommended the stories to other students too. We were also happy that our students enjoyed our stories and were reading in English.

One day, we thought, “if our students enjoy our stories, maybe other English learners will enjoy our stories too.” So we decided to publish our stories as graded readers. Before we started, we spend a year researching publishing and graded reader levels. Then, we started publishing our stories in 2013. We published them on Amazon Kindle, Kobo and Apple. Now, people all over the world are reading our stories. This makes us very happy. Our students are also very happy. We ask them what kind of stories they want to read, and they give us feedback about our stories. They feel special, because we write the stories for them!

Now, I Talk You Talk Press has 60 graded readers. We plan to publish a new one every month. This keeps up busy, but we enjoy it. 🙂

Heather@ I Talk You Talk Press

[Easy English Blog]Exercising at work

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I like sports and exercise, but recently, I haven’t been making the time to exercise. At first, I thought I had no time to exercise, but now I realise this is an excuse. I can make time.

I sit at a desk for most of the day. This is not healthy. When I’m working, I concentrate, and I forget to take breaks. Sometimes, I don’t move for three or four hours. So, I decided to change. I have a set of weights next to my desk. Every hour, I stop working, and take a break. I use the weights, or I stretch. I do this for about 5 minutes. It is a short time, but if I work for 9 hours, I exercise for 45 minutes a day.

It also helps me to work better. After taking a break, I feel refreshed. I am going to try to make this routine a habit. Sometimes, when I am concentrating, I forget to stop and take a break, so perhaps I should set an alarm. I can use the timer on my phone to make sure I do 5 minutes.

Now I wonder, if I can make time to exercise, what else can I make time to do?

[Short Story] Salt and sugar

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anise aroma art bazaar

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Wanda graduated from cooking school and got a job in the kitchen of a new café in her town. She was very happy. She has been working in the café for 6 weeks. She likes her job. The café is new and very small. The café belongs to Gregor. He makes coffee and looks after the customers. Wanda does all the cooking.

Wanda thinks Gregor is very nice, but he is also a tough boss. He wants everything to be perfect.

Today Wanda is having a very bad day. She has been in the kitchen since 6am. Last night, she broke up with her boyfriend. She was very sad so she went to visit her friend Janet. They drank a lot of wine.

Today she feels very ill. Why did I drink so much? I feel terrible, my head hurts and I went to bed so late! I am so tired!

Today Gregor is very excited. “Wanda, we must try very hard today. Look at the man sitting by the window. Do you know who that is?”

Wanda looks at the man. “No. I don’t know him. Who is he?”

“His name is Anton Wesley-Brown. He writes about food and restaurants for the newspaper! If he likes the food here, he will write a good report about this café!”

Wanda understands. Gregor wants the café to be a success.

But why today? Why did this restaurant critic come today?

Gregor goes out of the kitchen to talk to the customers. It is only 11:15 so there are not many people in the café. Most people are drinking coffee and eating muffins and cakes.

Wanda is busy making salads. Today’s special is very simple – a grilled pork chop, with cream and mustard sauce and salad.

I could have cooked something wonderful if I had known that man was coming. No, maybe not. Not today. I am too ill to cook.

Gregor comes back into the kitchen. “Mr Wesley-Brown wants the pork chop!”

“OK,” says Wanda. She takes a pork chop from the refrigerator. She reaches up to the shelf and takes down the seasonings. She sprinkles salt and pepper on the chop and puts it under the grill. She makes the sauce and puts salad on the plate.

When the meal is ready she puts it out near the door of the kitchen. Gregor hurries over and takes the meal to Mr Wesley-Brown.

Wanda turns back to the kitchen. She stares at the counter. Why is there brown sugar on the counter? I used salt, pepper, mustard. I didn’t use brown sugar. There is the pepper and the mustard. Where is the salt? Oh, no! I put brown sugar on the pork chop! Mr Wesley-Brown will hate it! Gregor will be very angry! I will lose my job!

Wanda doesn’t know what to do, so she keeps on working. She finishes all the food preparation. It is almost noon and many customers are coming in for lunch. It will be a busy day.

Gregor comes into the kitchen. “Wanda! Mr Wesley-Brown wants to talk to you.”

The restaurant critic comes into the kitchen. “This is Wanda. She does all the cooking,” says Gregor.

“I know you are very busy,” says Mr Wesley-Brown. “But I just have one question. Did you put brown sugar on my chop?”

Wanda looks at the floor. This is it, she thinks. I am going to lose my job. Gregor will fire me.

“Ur, yes,” she says.

I will have to explain, she thinks. But Mr Wesley-Brown is speaking.

It is a very good idea. The chop was very tasty. I like the way the sugar turned to caramel under the grill. Keep up the good cooking.”

He smiles and goes out. Gregor looks very happy.

Wanda smiles too and goes back to work.

I will have to have a hangover more often, she thinks.

[Easy English Blog]Soup season

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appetizer bowl bread breakfast

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I love soup, especially warm soup on a cold evening. Now that the nights are getting cooler, I make soup quite often. My favourite kinds of soup are sweet potato, mushroom and onion; tomato, onion, spinach and mushroom; and carrot, onion and mushroom. As you can see, I like mushrooms!

It only takes me five minutes to make the soup. That’s because I don’t actually make it. I chop the vegetables, put them in my soup maker and switch it on! I wait 20 minutes, and then I have smooth and hot soup!

I bought my soup maker about 4 years ago, and it is the best kitchen item I have ever bought. It was cheap too, only about 4,000 yen. I can also make smoothies in the soup maker, which is great for breakfast.

This season I’m going to try experimenting with different flavours of soup. I wonder what I will try next…something with mushrooms in it, I’m sure! 🙂

 

[Easy English Blog] Coffee morning

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six white ceramic mugs

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This morning I went out for coffee with a friend. At the beginning of the year, I decided that I needed to make more time to see friends. Most of my close friends are like me – they work for themselves (have their own companies), so it is difficult for us to schedule time together.

When I first came to Japan, I worked in a language school. When work finished, I often went out with my colleagues for dinner or drinks. Everyone started and finished work at the same time, so it was easy to see friends and go out.

Now, everyone is older. My friends are busy running their businesses, or they have children. I haven’t seen some of my friends for a year or more. The friend I met today is a friend I meet regularly. We usually meet once a week, but I have been busy lately, so we met for the first time in a month. We had a lot to talk about!

Most of my friends work in the afternoon or evening, so meeting in the morning is best for us. My schedule is quite flexible, although I prefer to work in the mornings, because I am more productive in the morning than at any other time of the day. However, chatting with my friend over coffee in the morning gives me energy. I should do it more often.