英語長文練習問題集・読解トレーニング

たくさん英語に触れることで、英語は上達します。反対に、触れる時間が減ると、せっかく頑張ってあげてきた英語の能力が低下していきます。

英会話スクールmmm外国人講師の先生による、日本で住んで気づいたことや、海外との違いなどのエッセイを英語でまとめた英語長文練習問題を作りました。最後には、この英語長文のQ&Aとなる練習問題があります。英語レベル的には、英検二級?準１級、TOEIC500?600点を目標にしている方向け程度の英語長文練習問題となっています。

参考書や過去問にプラスして要約練習や模擬問題として、定期的に、英語長文練習問題をお届けします。

最初の英語長文練習問題は、カリスマ人気講師ケニー先生が日本に住んでみて気づいたこと、実際に住んでみて、また、観光で訪れた時に感じた日本とは少し違ったということ、その日本と外国とで違うと感じた風習・習慣・常識などについて英語長文練習問題を書いています。

What’s Bizarre about Japan? 【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検２級・TOEIC500点程度

When people talk about Japan, they would always think about how innovative and technological this country gets! Or how pretty and neat the country is! Last but not the least, fashion, Cosplay and hype beast were always a big thing in the city of Japan. Coming to Japan with the intention of tourism would have been a great experience. Different culture. You can find a lot of unique things they sell in Japan! But as you live in Japan, you interact with the locals and everything doesn’t seem the way you thought of Japan.

First thing I would like to discuss is how Japanese people are not flexible. They were taught to follow the rules and orders, which is good at some points but not so good at some points. There are always advantage and disadvantage. For example, when I crossed a small street, there were no cars at all, but people would choose to wait for the red lights to turn green. Since foreigners from all over the world start visiting Japan, Japanese people are much more open-minded. However, only certain elderly people would stare at you if you cross a small street with the red light. Not only about traffic light but customer services aren’t negotiable at times. ?We, as a customer need a flexibility. For example, in some restaurants we have our own positions and we are not allowed to take others. It’s great that we could focus more on our own jobs, but as the customers are waiting in lines, we should help out our teammates, but some of the staffs wouldn’t care.

Second, everybody who has their part-time jobs in a restaurant would have found out by now that Japanese restaurants love wasting all the clean leftover food. For instance, in Japan, they have different kinds of set meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner. As a restaurant, we need to prepare for breakfast, lunch and dinner set meals. If the meal we prepare for lunch hasn’t been sold out yet, the kitchen would definitely throw away all the leftover food after the lunch time ends. Why? Because they would like to have fresh food for the next day, not leftover food. It’s great but why not let us (staffs) eat the leftover stored in the refrigerator? I still can’t figure that out. It’s a waste of food. I know, Japan took really good care of the people so they won’t get food poisoning, but this is too much of a waste.

Many foreigners/ International students protested but no action being made. Many of us foreigners come to Japan to work and study, not to make a change in the Japanese culture or the laws. Japan is considered as one of the top countries in the world, compared to the country I was born. As Japan has much better laws, and how successfully well-developed Japan is proven, so we might have to learn on how Japanese do their jobs done.

Let’s try

Questions

1. What are the two examples that the writer mentions as Japanese being not flexible?
2. What did elderly people do when foreigners crossed the street with the red light?
3. What does the writer suggest we do when your job at a restaurant doesn’t allow you to take orders from customers?
4. What surprised the writer about the leftover food when working at a restaurant in Japan?
5. Which of the following is the closest to the meaning of “bizarre”?
6. a) amazing b) strange c) surprising d) interesting

Answers

1. People don’t cross the street with the red light even when there are no cars.
2. They stared at the foreigners.
3. They should help taking orders when customers are waiting.
4. The fact that some restaurants throw away the clean leftover food.
5. b)

次の英語長文読解問題は、人気講師ヤシンー先生からの英語長文です。

My first train ride【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検２級・TOEIC500点程度

My first train ride

Bicycles, motorcycles, personal cars, taxis, buses, donkeys and horses in the country side are the means of transportation I had ever used in Morocco before I moved to Japan. “Where are the trains, subways, tramways? ” is the question you might be asking yourself right now, right? Well, we do have some railway lines mostly connecting the big cities, so I didn’t have a chance to take a ride as I lived in a little town in the northeast of Morocco.

On the other hand, those trains were and still are so slow and not very punctual. That’s why I didn’t even think of trying them. Now we have the TGV (Train Grand Vitesse: High Speed train) though, so don’t worry if you’re planning to visit Morocco.

November the 2nd 2010 was the day I first stepped my foot in Japan. My wife met me at the airport. It was the time for me to take my first train ride since I was born. It was wonderful because it was my first ride and the scenery from the airport to our destination was astonishing, especially the Autumn colours. I still remember that like it happened yesterday.

A couple of years ago, I went back to Morocco and had a chance to ride a train for the first time, but this time in my home country. It was pretty comfortable but slow as hell.

Do you want to try trains in Morocco? As a Japanese you had better not unless you enjoy suffering hell.  I’m a bit exaggerating, but I seriously don’t like them.

Let’s try!

Questions

1. Why wasn’t he able to travel by train in Morocco?
2. What was bad about trains in Morocco?
3. What part of his train journey in Japan was so good?
4. What does the word “astonishing” mean?
5. What is TGV the abbreviation for?
   A) The Good Vehicle. B) To Go Vertical. C) Train Grand Vitesse. D) Trained Government Vehicle.

ANSWERS

1. He lived in a small town and trains mainly travelled to big cities.
2. Slow and not punctual.
3. The scenery with all the Autumn colours.
4. “Astonishing” means amazing, very surprising or impressive.
5. C)Train Grand Vitesse.

今回はオーストラリア人のデニー先生からの長文練習問題です。 Let’sTry！

FRIENDSHIP: AUSTRALIA vs JAPAN【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検準一級　TOEIC 700点

Since coming to Japan almost 2 years ago, I have noticed a large difference in interactions and socializing with friends, neighbours etc. There are many different aspects to this and to see how dissimilar the two cultures are in this subject is interesting to observe.

AUSTRALIA: In Australia, after work (usually around 5:30pm) I would call/message my friends and say that I will come over to visit for a few drinks, sometimes a meal with them and vice versa. Most of the time it was no problem and when it wasn’t ok, they would immediately ask if tomorrow is ok to visit them. There was barely any time during weeks where we wouldn’t see friends or neighbours and socialize. After having drinks and most often a meal as well, I would go home and go have drinks with my neighbours. Usually when I went to my neighbours they would have friends or other neighbours that we knew well and would drink and have a BBQ.

On the weekend there would always be the regular visiting friends, having drinks, BBQ and having the TV outside to watch while socializing. This was also the case with neighbours. You would walk to your neighbours, there would be a small to large gathering consisting of other neighbours or their friends and you would go there, start talking, drinking, BBQ, go to the pub together or watch sports on TV. The other thing we would do to each other is tease each other quite a lot but that’s what a normal thing to do as friends was.

JAPAN: I have always loved Japan, its people, food, culture and natural beauty as a country. As I started meeting people, it was a bit difficult being Australian as we are sometimes an overly friendly people in some cases (well maybe to Japanese people). I would meet people and greet them in the normal way I would greet people in Australia. This usually was saying “G’day mate! How are ya! Nice to meet you!” and because it was enthusiastically said, a lot of Japanese people were apprehensive about it. My wife advised me that I need to be not so overzealous with my approach. Anyway, when I contact my Japanese friends or speak to them face to face and say about meeting on the weekend or after work for a drink, they respond with I will message you or pull out their calendar. This happens a lot, then they go on to say how about in 3 weeks’ time or end of next month. It’s a bit like a restaurant but you make a reservation with friends for even an hour of time. It’s quite interesting. I have started forgetting what my friends here look like. I see them and think to myself you look vaguely familiar, do I know you from somewhere? Hahaha.

In finishing, I think that the differences between both Australia and Japan in this respect are quite opposite. I think that we underestimate the importance of friends and making time for them as they are a vital part of who we are and who we should be and I mean that for all people everywhere. Having friends you can see often is huge a benefit to us as people and helps you relax and reset from stresses in everyday life. Make time for your friends as you need them and they need you.

Let’s try!

Questions

1) What aspect is the writer discussing in this article?

2) How often would Australian friends and neighbors meet?

3) What do Australians usually do when they meet?

4) How often would Japanese friends and neighbors meet?

5)In your opinion, why don’t Japanese meet that often?

6)What’s another word for “overzealous?” A: Offensive B: Passionate C: Talkative D: Rude

Answers

1)The difference of how we meet friends between Australia and Japan

2)They meet quite often both during the week and on weekends.

3-They usually have a drink, have a meal or a BBQ, and sometimes They go to the pub and watch sports on TV.

4)They would meet once a month, with arranging in advance.

5)e.g.*) They are busy with work and need to prepare something in order to meet their friends.

6)B

Kenny先生からの英語長文読解練習問題です。 

Cultural Differences 【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検２級・TOEIC500点程度

Cultural Differences

Today I want to talk about the cultural differences between Indonesia and Japan. Since I’m an International student, as I arrived in Japan back in 2016, the first thing I should do was to apply for an Identification card and to create my own stamp with my name on it.  How cool is that to have your own ID card and your own stamp in Japan!  Foreign/International students in Indonesia don’t really have to bother getting these.  Cultural differences could be interesting and fun although sometimes it could be difficult for some people.  For instance, foreigner or International Students with darker skin would most probably get asked about a theft or ID verification.

First thing I’m going to talk about is how to write your “Signature” in a Japanese and Indonesian way.  As what I have said, it’s really new for me to use stamps.  Back in Indonesia,  only  a president of a company, high ranking officials or  a person in a position of authority  are the ones who usually use stamps.

In japan they call it ( Hanko / Inkan ) and there are 3 versions for different uses:

• Jitsuincarries the highest legal authority and is required for such dealings as purchasing real estate or automobiles, transferring titles or ownership, taking out a loan, and filing a will.
• Mitomeinserves for commonplace transactions such as filing application forms at City Hall and receiving packages from delivery services and post offices.
• Gink?inis used when opening an account.

In Indonesia, we use our own hand-written signature which is basically a form of our name as a legal mark for administration, bank use and verifying official papers.

Next thing I found quite interesting was at the theater.  When I went to the theater for the first time in Japan, I felt weird.   We all know that Japanese people are very respectful towards people. For instance, staying after the movie to watch all the cast names and crew member names in the movie.  It takes about 10 minutes or more. This does not happen in Indonesia. It may seem selfish but people usually leave the theater as soon as the movie ends.

There are many more cultural differences between the two countries, but I’m afraid I have to end it for now.  See you next month!  I hope you learned something from it!

Let’s try!

Questions

1) In Indonesia who would commonly use stamps for a signature?

2) What kind of signature do Indonesian people use?

3)What is MITOMEIN Inkan used for?

4)What does the writer think about Japanese people’s behavior at a theater?

5)Which do you prefer? Hand-written signature or stamps as your signature?

Why?

Answers (Example answer)

1)A president of a company, high ranking officials or person of authority.

2) Hand-written signature.

3) Mitomein is only for transaction use.

4)The writer felt weird

5)I prefer Stamps.  You don’t need to spend time and energy to write your signature. It is quite simple.

I hope my country will adopt it in the future.

TRAFFIC IN NAGOYA【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検準一級　TOEIC 700点

To begin, this may only be isolated to one area, as I frequent where I have noticed this happens on a daily basis. So this is just an observation on what I have seen in person. I am perplexed by how often it happens.

On my way to work each day, I frequently walk to the nearby train station. Before the station you cross a main road and walk down a side street towards the station. As you near the station, there is a backstreet that has three crosswalks in front of the underpass. Every time I go to cross, I have to wait for cars to go past before I can cross, none of which slow down even the slightest. On numerous occasions when I first arrived here, I was almost run down.

In Australia(not sure about in Japan) pedestrians have right of way and if you don’t allow pedestrians right of way or at least slow down, it can be considered by the law as attempted manslaughter by negligence. We have a monitoring system that has CCTV cameras monitoring the pedestrian crossings to catch people who do not stop if there are pedestrians present. If pedestrians are not present you are still required by law to slow down when approaching a crossing. When it comes to the said crossings that I am referring to here in Nagoya, you never see any police presence in that area to even monitor, if anything maybe once a month at least.

When writing this, it is to me a safety concern for all pedestrians who frequent the area as well as for my wife and myself. As I had mentioned in the beginning of this blog, I am merely making an observation on what takes place in this area. Unfortunately I have had this occur a few times in different areas of Nagoya but in this particular area it seems to be very common.

Let’s try!

Questions

1)  What is the main subject of this blog?

2)  What happens at these pedestrian crossings?

3)  What is a pedestrian?

4)  What is CCTV?

5)  How often does this happen at these crossings?

6)  Why is it a safety concern?

Answers

1)  Dangerous driving near pedestrian crossings.

2)  Vehicles don’t slow down or stop at the pedestrian crossings.

3)  A person walking.

4)  CCTV ? Closed Circuit Television

5)  The drivers could cause serious injury or even death.

6)  The drivers could cause serious injury or even death.

次は、ケニー先生からの問題です！チャレンジしてみましょう。

Cultural differences【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検２級・TOEIC500点程度

Back at it again with the cultural differences between Indonesia and Japan! Today I’m going to talk about the “Taste Preferences” between Japanese people and Indonesian people. Well, food is one of the greatest things about life. There is definitely some things that most of us Indonesian can’t eat while we are living in Japan due to the differences in culture.

To begin with, I will start with Indonesia’s history. Indonesia won the 4^th place for one of the many islands in a country, approximately 6,000 populated islands of the total 17,508 with more than 300 ethnic groups calling Indonesia home. Many regional cuisines exist, often based upon their original culture and foreign influences. Indonesia has around 5,350 traditional recipes, with 30 of them considered the most important. Indonesia’s cuisine may include rice, noodle and soup dishes to street-side snacks and expensive plates.  Indonesian cuisine often demonstrate complex ingredients and the rich flavors which most often describe as savory, hot spicy and also combination of basic tastes such as sweet, and salty, sour and bitter. Because I love food, I’m very excited to taste all kinds of Japanese food, including raw fish, famous natto(納豆) and etc. I love Japanese food. It’s just that after living here for over a year, I feel like there is less flavor in Japanese food, and everything tastes plain. Most Japanese people have low tolerant of spicy food, but they have two kinds of chilies, shichimi tougarashi and  wasabi.  Shichimi is a crushed dried chili and it’s not spicy for us Indonesian. We can finish a bottle of shichimi, but when it comes to wasabi, most of us can’t stand the strong effect that hit on our nose.

Whereas with Japanese cuisine and inherited tradition, they love to eat fresh food or some variant tastes such as salty, sweet and sour then again they would prefer the natural taste of the food. Keep it in mind too, that they dislike food that contain too much oil in it except for a deep fried food. I will take one of the traditional food in Japan washoku as an example. Washoku contains miso soup, pickles, rice and fish. It’s a complete set to charge up yourself, to start off your day with or even for lunch. The way they place dishes to make it easier for us to eat. This is the impression I get while I’m living in Japan.

There is no end towards food and taste , so before I finish this blog I would like you guys to answer some of my these questions below referred to the above blog.

Let’s try!

Questions

1)  Why are there 5350 traditional recipes all around Indonesia?

2)  Between 5350 traditional recipes, how many of them are being consider as the main recipes?

3)  There are 2 types of chili that are popular in Japan. Which one of them do Indonesian people dislike?

4)  What kind of flavor does the writer think Japanese people prefer?

5)  Do you agree about the taste preference that the writer wrote? Give out your reasons.

Answers

1)   Because there are 300 ethnic groups in Indonesia

2)  30

3)  Wasabi

4)  Natural taste

5) (Your Opinion)

次は、Denny先生　からの問題です！Let’sTry！

HOW I CAME TO LOVE JAPAN【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検準１級・TOEIC700点程度

It all began in Primary School (Elementary School) when we had an exchange teacher come to our tiny school from Japan. When I say tiny school, I mean that it is in a very small country town called Uraidla (means “Lots of rain” in Aboriginal language) in Adelaide, South Australia. Uraidla only had a population of 250 people at that time. She had come to Australia to learn to be a substitute teacher and see how things worked being a teacher in Australia. She taught us a lot about Japanese culture, people and food. We were able to try different Japanese food such as sweets and Okonomiyaki. I loved it. It was so interesting and amazing to me to see how different things are to Australia.

Soon after that I began learning Karate, where I was not only taught martial arts but also about different ceremonies, the cultural background of Japan and the many wonders of the country itself. This made me even more interested and excited about Japan as a whole. My parents also showed me a Japanese television program that they used to watch when they were young called The Samurai (Shintaro). I really loved watching that show.

After 3 years of doing Karate, I went on to High School where I started learning Judo. I learnt even more about Japan from my Judo instructor who wasn’t Japanese but he had trained in Japan for many years. He too was fascinated by Japan when he was younger. I trained in Judo for about 4 years before I stopped due to having to study so much. I really didn’t want to stop but time was a problem.

A year or so later I met a guy who I became really good friends with and he also loved Japan. He asked me if I would like to train with him in Ninja (Ninjutsu). I loved Ninja but I had no idea you could learn it. I always thought that it didn’t exist anymore. So I started training with him in Ninja. It was so good!

Let’s try!

Questions

1)   What does Uraidla mean in Aboriginal?

2)   How many people lived in Uraidla?

3)   When I was learning Karate, what other things did I learn?

4)   Where did I start learning Judo?

5)   What does “fascinated” mean?

6)   What did I love and think was so good?

Answers

1)   Lots of rain.

2)   Population 250 people.

3)  Different ceremonies, the cultural background of Japan and the many wonders of the country itself.

4)   In High School.

5)   Extremely interested in something.

6)   Ninja.

次は、Kenny先生が、日本とインドネシアの違い（お年寄りへの接し方）についての長文読解です。
ぜひチャレンジしてみましょう！！

Cultural Differences【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検2級・TOEIC500点程度

Have you ever looked at your parents and realized that as you grow older, they are getting older, too?  It depends on each family, how they teach their kids and how they approach their kids. But I’m going to explain it from my point of view on how Japanese people approach their parents and how most Indonesian do.  In my case, I’m being well taught on how to respect the elders, and have some affections to our parents.

Hug and kiss are the ways to show our affections towards the people we love; for instance, girlfriend, boyfriend, husband and wife. Well how about our parents? The people who have raised us and brought us into this world? I do think they deserve the same affections as what we give to our partner equally. I see, listen and talk to my Japanese friends, and they don’t treat the way I treated my parents, not all but most of them. And as I give out questions on their opinions about hugging our parents, their reactions were a bit disgusted. It would be quite unusual, awkward and weird for Japanese people if they have decided to hug their parents. As for my case, it’s the other way around. It would be pleasing to see my parents feel loved, and happy after my siblings and I hug and kiss them on their cheek.

It’s just sad to see a lot of old folks in Japan live on their own and even their kids don’t really care them. I’m pretty sure it’s because of how they treated and taught their children. In 2017, according to the newspaper “The Mainichi”,   20% of the nursing home refuse elderly people requiring level 3 care. In other words, for those elderly who cannot stand up or walk and need full support to go to the toilet, their availability is limited.

Well, from my point of view, we as children are responsible for taking good care of our parents regardless of how troublesome they might be, how annoying they could get, for example; asking the same questions over and over again. Before I end this blog I would like to list out some questions for you.

Let’s try!

Questions

1)   What did the writer find about the reaction he got from Japanese about hugging their parents?

2)   What did the writer find about the reaction he got from Japanese about hugging their parents?

3)   What is the main argument of this blog?

4)   According to “the mainichi” newspaper, what does the nursing home a level 3 care mean?

5)   What does the writer think about the responsibility of children after their parents get old?

Answers

1)   Unusual, awkward and weird.

2)   20%.

3)   Affection towards our parents.

4)   Elderly who cannot stand up or walk and need full support to go to the toilet.

5)   Taking good care of our parents regardless of how troublesome they might be and how annoying they could get.

次は、オーストラリア出身のDenny先生から「日本とオーストラリアのビール文化の違い」の長文読解問題です。

ぜひチャレンジしてみましょう！！

BEER【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検準1級・TOEIC700点程度

When it comes to beer, Australia is very patriotic. We always tend to think our beer is the best in the world and I must admit that I used to be the same. I have tried beers from many countries and Australian beer is good but so many other countries have better beer. I would have to say by far the best beer is from Belgium.

When I was on my way to Japan, I was a little worried about how the beer would be. In Australia we don’t have much opportunity to try Japanese beer and when we do, it is very expensive. The only Japanese beer we have in Australia is Asahi. I do really like Asahi. It’s a nice beer.

After being in Japan and having tried the different beers, I was very impressed at how good the beer is here. My favourite would have to be Suntory Premium Malt, but some of the cheaper beers are very nice as well. I really like the Suntory 8% as it has a sharp flavor to it and also the Kirin Strong 7%.

One thing that surprised me with beer in Japan is that a lot of it is seasonal, which I found a bit strange. We don’t have anything seasonal in Australia except clothing. It’s disappointing when you get to really like a certain beer, and then they stop selling it because of the time of year. If they did that in Australia, there would be a lot of very upset people. Hahaha.

To finish I would like to say that I am very impressed with the beer here in Japan. I think it’s much better than 90% of the beers in Australia and definitely is 100% better than American and British beer. I recommend, if you get a chance to try Kasteel Bier from Belgium (Such a beautiful beer), Coopers beer from Australia, Mythos beer from Greece and Chimay.

Let’s try!

Questions

1)  What was I worried about when coming to Japan?

2)  Where do I think the best beer is from?

3)  What is my impression of Japanese beer?

4)  What is disappointing about beer in Japan?

5)  How much better is Japanese beer compared to most Australian beer?

Answers

1)  What was I worried about when coming to Japan?

2)  Where do I think the best beer is from?

3)  What is my impression of Japanese beer?

4)  What is disappointing about beer in Japan?

5)  How much better is Japanese beer compared to most Australian beer?

次は、デニー先生の記事です！
オーストラリアではクリケットに次ぐ人気スポーツはオーストラリアンフットボールって知っていますか？
どんなスポーツなのか是非英語記事にチャレンジしてみてくださいね！

AUSTRALIAN RULES FOOTBALL
【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検準1級・TOEIC700点程度

In Australia we have a very unique game played during the winter months called AFL (Australian Football League). It’s not like Rugby and it’s not like Soccer. It originally started as a variation of Gaelic football.

Australian football is played on an oval shaped field with four posts at either end of the field. The two in the middle are the tallest posts which is the goals (6 points) and the shorter posts on either side of the goals are point posts (1 point). Each team has 18 players on the field and 4 on the bench. Each quarter is 20 minutes in length with a break between quarters 1 and quarter 2 of 10 mins also the same between quarters 3 and 4. Half time is a 20 minute break.

The game starts with an umpire bouncing the ball in the middle and the Ruckman (tallest players on the field) run, jump and tap the ball down to the small midfielders. Players can pass the ball to each other either by hand passing (ball on one hand and the other hand punches the ball to teammate) or by foot (hand directs the ball to the foot).

If the ball is kicked and it is caught without it touching the ground (referred to as a mark) the umpire will blow his whistle and the player who caught it can go back and kick or handball it without any player from the opposition allowed to tackle them until they dispose of the ball. Free kicks are given if you are pushed in the back, tackled without having the ball, holding the ball for too long while being tackled, tackled above the shoulders, tackled below the knees just to name a few ways to give away a free kick.

POSITIONS: Full Forward

Left and Right Forward Pockets

Centre Half Forward

Left and Right Half Forwards

Centre

Left and Right Wings

Centre Half Back

Left and Right Half Backs

Fullback

Left and Right Back Pockets

Ruck

Ruck Rover

Rover

Bench (x4 players)

If you get the opportunity to watch it I highly recommend doing so. It is exciting, acrobatic, action packed, high scoring and fast.

These players play hard and tough and don’t wear any protection. Crazy Aussies we are!

Let’s try!

Questions

1)  Where did Australian football begin?

2)  If the ball goes between the 2 tallest posts, how many points are given?

3)  How long is each quarter?

4)  What’s the name given to the tallest players on each team?

5)  What protection do the players wear

Answers

1)  It originally started as a variation of Gaelic football.

2)  Points

3)  20 minutes each quarter.

4)  Ruckman

5)  No protection at all.

インドネシア出身のKenny先生による日本とインドネシアのお風呂事情の違いについてです！問題にもぜひチャレンジしてみましょう。

Cultural Differences
【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検2級・TOEIC700点程度

Up until today, Japan still surprised me with the uniqueness that you cannot find in any other countries. Hello guys! Back at it again with me, an Indonesian guy who is trying to adapt and currently on a learning stage in Japan! Today I’m going to share some of my experiences that up until now I still cannot get used to in Japan and vice versa with you.

The public bath in Japan. It’s a culture  in Japan which is quite sometimes unpleasant for foreigners. It is said that Japanese homes didn’t have bath tubs in the past ,which is why public bath houses were constructed to accommodate the locals who wanted to get soaked and relax in warm water. In modern Japan, where bath tubs are already usual in Japanese homes, public bath houses are still widely available. They are common in traditional houses, dormitories, inns and etc. Japanese public bath houses have also branched out into other varieties such as sauna for relaxation purpose. Not only that, Japanese people also love hot springs!

For Indonesian, a few people who live in a suburban area are still using wells to shower, or even rivers. But of course in urban area, generally we don’t really use bath tubs, but we have  a shower area, unless for some particularly wealthy people or even people who could afford to buy a bath tub. In Indonesia, we have a lot of active mountains which means, yes, we do have hot springs! The difference is that hot springs in Japan are being well taken care of, while in Indonesia it’s quite dirty. In fact, it’s a good business in Japan, while in Indonesia it is pretty cheap and there is not a single nice and beautiful resorts which is good enough to renovate the hot spring.

Let’s try!

Questions

1)  In Indonesia, which part of area do people still using well to take a shower?

2)  What was the first paragraph talking about?

3)  Why was public bath house constructed in Japan?

4)  What’s the name given to the tallest players on each team?

5) Which part of Indonesia are shower area and bath tubs available?

Answers

1)  Suburban Area

2)  About public bath in japan

3)  Hot spring in Japan is well taken care of and Indonesia’s one was quite dirty.

4)  To accommodate the locals who wanted to get soaked and relax in warm water

5)  Urban Area

次は、ＤＥＮＮＹ先生が日本で暮らして感じた日本とオーストラリアの文化の違いについての内容です。

CULTURE  AUSTRALIA VS JAPAN
【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検準1級レベル・TOEIC700点程度

I have noticed here in Japan a few differences in behaviours compared to Australia. I would say that they are interesting behaviours and situations more than anything.

First, in Australia when something breaks or isn’t working, most Australians will fix or repair it themselves or at least attempt to. I have noticed here that people just call someone to come and repair it even for the simplest things. In saying that though, Japanese think more about a situation than Australians which just don’t think and just do. Lol.

In Australia we have gas stations, which we call service stations that are like convenience stores here in Japan, but service stations have gas and a range of products like a convenience store here. Our gas stations also have either a Subway restaurant, Cafe, Bakery or a tobacco store.

One thing you have a lot of here in Japan, but we have very little of is festivals. I was amazed at how many festivals take place here. I haven’t had the chance to go to many, but I really do hope I get a chance to soon. In Australia we are lucky to even have one. I love it how there are so many festivals as it means more socialising. Where I come from in Adelaide, Australia we have 1 festival that goes for 2 weeks which is good, but I think we need more. This festival is an arts festival that involves food, art, stage shows, stand-up, comedians and music acts. Most of these acts are held in parks, bars and theatres. We do have other events, but most are mainly sporting events such as bicycle races, motorsports and horse racing.

Looking at all these differences from both cultures, to me shows that mixing with different cultures means that we all can improve in many different ways. One thing we need to be mindful of though is picking up the negative cultural behaviours, as they can sometimes be learnt too easily.

Let’s try!

Questions

1)  What do Japanese people do that Australians don’t do?

2)  What do gas stations in Australia have and what are they called?

3)  Japan has more what than Australia?

4)  How long does the festival in Adelaide go for?

5)  What do we be careful of when mixing with other cultures?

Answers

1) Think before they do something.

2) In Australia we have gas stations, which we call service stations that are like convenience stores here in Japan, but service stations have gas and a range of products like a convenience store here. Our gas stations also have either a Subway restaurant, Cafe, Bakery or a tobacco store.

3) Festivals

4) 2 weeks

5)  We need to be mindful of though is picking up the negative cultural behaviours, as they can sometimes be learnt too easily.

A glimpse to Uzbekistan’s secret underground
【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検準1級レベル・TOEIC700点程度

This year’s June has brought some surprise to the foreign tourists. After a long 40 years of photo ban of Tashkent metro was lifted, never-before-seen images urged many tourists to make their way to the capital city, Tashkent.

Tashkent metro was the seventh to be built in the former USSR, first in Central Asia opening in 1977 has three lines and twenty-nine stations (ten more under constructions). What makes it so special is to be among the most highly decorated in the world. It is also considered to be designated for military uses as a nuclear bomb shelter which demanded strict safety measures restricting civilians from taking pictures. Central Asia’s oldest metro is the masterpiece which platforms never repeat each other’s design. In the first millennium, Tashkent was one of the biggest cities along the Great Silk Road, a crucial port on the ancient trade route from East Asia to the Roman Empire. Its popularity triggered regime changes. The conquest of Arabs during the 7^thcenturies led vast amount of Islamic conversion whose influence lasted for more than a millennium but when Russia seized the city in the late 1800, country become more secular stance. Being controlled by various powers gave its fruits in the architecture of platforms. Soviet propaganda Uzbek culture and Islamic architecture are here in pictures.

Let’s try!

Questions

1) How many stations does the Tashkent metro have?

2) Why it used to be prohibited to take a photo of stations?

3) What is special about Tashkent metro?

4) When Tashkent metro opened to public?

5) Where is Tashkent?

Answers

1) It has twenty-nine stations.

2) It is designated for military uses which demanded strict measures.

3) It is one of the most highly decorated in the world.

4) In 1977.

5) Tashkent is the capital city of Uzbekistan in Central Asia

Home Sweet Home
【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検準1級レベル・TOEIC700点程度

No matter where you come from, there are always things you miss terribly when you live in another country. As I have mentioned before in a previous blog, I have loved Japan from a young age, but sometimes you can’t help but feel homesick in many ways. You start to crave food from your country, the lifestyle, friends and family. Even my wife says that she has moments where she really needs to have traditional Japanese food even when she is in Japan. Others here have also told me that they sometimes just must have Japanese food.

For me living in Japan, I really love Japanese food, especially Sushi, Ramen, Okonomiyaki, Shiitake Mushrooms stuffed with meat (so awesome!), Curry Udon, Yakisoba…………the list goes on. I also love Japanese beer and Sake. It’s so…….as we in Australia……. Bloody good! (Very, very good!).

The foods I miss the most from Australia are the huge hotdogs with huge long, thick sausages. They would have toppings on them such as egg, bacon, salami, cheese and onion. Then there were the sauces you could have on them such as Smokey BBQ, Honey Soy BBQ, Sweet Chilli, Mustard, or garlic butter. Next on my list is Fish and Chips. Back in Australia, we used to go to our local, privately owned Fish and Chip shop and for $4.00 AUD (about 450 JPY) you could get a huge amount of hot chips (thick French Fries in Japan) and 3 big pieces of fish in batter. It would be rolled up in paper and we used to tear a hole in the end of it, add vinegar and walk with it and eat. Also, the hot chips in gravy rolls were great from there as well.

In Australia, we also had the privately-owned Pizza Bars, which used to make some of the best pizzas. They always put so much topping on them and always had the best balance of herbs. The biggest size was 28 inches (approximately 70cm), which was awesome. We would invite all our friends over with a few boxes of beer and have a great night.

All in all, it’s just a strange thing that we get so used to our own ways, no matter where we are, and it takes so long to get used to different environments. In saying that, I love it here in Japan and really appreciate the opportunity that I have been given here in Japan. Thank you.

Let’s try!

Questions

1) What is the main topic of the Blog?

2) Which Japanese foods do I really love?

3) Which Japanese foods do I really love?

4) Which Japanese foods do I really love?

5) Which Japanese foods do I really love?

Answers

1) Missing Home

2) Sushi, Ramen, Okonomiyaki, Shiitake Mushrooms stuffed with meat (so awesome!), Curry Udon, Yakisoba.

3) Huge long, thick sausages. They would have toppings on them such as egg, bacon, salami, cheese and onion.

4) Tear a hole in the end of the bag and add vinegar.

5) They always put so much topping on them and always had the best balance of herbs.

Christmas in Japan【英語長文練習問題】
レベル：英検２級レベル・TOEIC500点程度

December is here! And everyone is waiting for 25^thDecember to come! Celebrating a wonderful Christmas here in Japan. It’s one of the widely held and biggest events for Japanese people.

Let’s look back to the tradition and history of Christmas. Christmas is both a sacred religious holiday and a worldwide cultural, commercial phenomenon. For two millennia, people around the world have been observing it with traditions and practices that are both religious and secular in nature. Christians celebrate Christmas Day as the anniversary of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, a spiritual leader whose teachings form the basis of their religion. Popular customs include exchanging gifts, decorating Christmas trees, attending church, sharing meals with family and friends and, of course, waiting for Santa Claus to arrive. December 25?Christmas Day?has been a federal holiday in the United States since 1870.

I came from one of the countries that lies on the equator line unless if you are a Christian, you won’t feel the Christmas atmosphere that much. However, Christmas day has been an essential festival in Japan where it’s being portrayed as followings.

1. Go on a date.

Christmas Eve in Japan is often thought of as a couples’ holiday, like Valentine’s Day in the West. Japanese couples ? especially young couples ? like to book dinners at a romantic restaurant, and it can often be hard to find a seatat any restaurant as the number of people spending time with their family has declined.

2. Admire Christmas Illuminations.

Illuminations are one of the Japan’s favorite ways to celebrate a winter season.

3. Exchange Gifts.

It has become commonplace for couples to exchange gifts on Christmas Eve, but rarely with anyone else. This may be because Japan has already a gift exchanging custom in December, the Japanese work-culture tradition of Oseibo, when co-workers exchange gifts. Presents are more commonly exchanged for the New Year, which is a much bigger deal in Japan

4. Eat Strawberry Shortcake

A Japanese strawberry shortcake is light and spongy with whipped cream filling and frosting, which is much less sweet than other cake toppers. This treat is sold as ‘Christmas Cake’ in Japan (although it’s also very popular for birthdays) and is a great way to celebrate the season with family and friends

5. Go Shopping

Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without a little holiday shopping, and Japanese malls are no stranger to Christmas decor. During this time of year, traditional trees, ornaments, and goods for sale aimed at the holiday shopper can be found at most major malls and department stores, especially in the big cities.

6. Visit A Christmas Market

From Hokkaido to Kyushu, Japan hosts European-style Christmas markets throughout the winter season. Find everything from delicate tree ornaments to hot cider.

7. Dine on Chicken

Kentucky Fried Chicken on Christmas has been a Japanese tradition since the 1970s, thanks to their catchy slogan and marketing campaign.

My own belief about Christmas is no more than a business game. In fact, as you can see, these centuries, cultural events have an impression of being monopolized by business all over the world and theytook advantages of giving gifts customs in this seasonin orderto make an extra profit. Some religious people protest against this “commercializing” of Christmas because they feel that a sacred, holy day is desecrated by it. If you did some research, you will find out that these events and how we celebrate it, have nothing to do with the historical believes.

Let’s try!

Questions

1) There are 13 countries lie on the equator line. can you mention 1 of them?

2) According to the article, why is that exchanging gifts in Japan are not uncommon?

3) What does the writer’s belief about Christmas?

4) The word desecrated in the passage above had the closest meaning to

(a) Honor
  (b) Misuse
(c)Save

5) According to the article, why is that exchanging gifts in Japan are not uncommon?

Answers

1)

• Sao Tome and Principe 
• Gabon
• Republic of the Congo
• the Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Uganda
• Kenya
• Somalia
• Maldives
• Indonesia
• Kiribati
• Ecuador
• Colombia
• Brazil 

all lie along the Equator Line

2) because Japan already has a December gift exchange of its own, the Japanese work-culture tradition of oseibo, when coworkers exchange gifts.

3) No more than a business game.

4)   (b) Misuse

5) Illumination

Australia Day【英語長文練習問題】
レベル：英検準1級レベル・TOEIC700点程度

On the 26^thof January every year we celebrate Australia day. It’s a day all of Australia gets together and celebrates with all people from all cultures living in Australia as one. It’s a celebration of Australia becoming a nation from the time of settlement.

As a tradition, we have a public holiday (national holiday). On the day everyone get’s together with friends, family, neighbours or goes to a local park with the rest of their Community. We have BBQ’s for breakfast, where we have bacon, eggs, sausages, mushrooms and baked beans. Between breakfast and lunch, a lot of the Australian men start drinking (usually alcohol) and talk while preparing for the food for the lunchtime BBQ and the traditional Australia Day cricket match on TV. While this is going on, the women will have coffee, talk, start preparing salads, cold meats and dips for lunch and get ready to watch the cricket. The children are usually running around together and causing trouble.

At lunch we start cooking the BBQ, where we cook sausages, steak, lamb chops (traditional Australian Day meat), kebabs, chicken and vegetables. While we are getting lunch ready, we start watching cricket on TV and continue drinking. Usually for Australia Day it’s very hot, usually between 35 ? 44 degrees Celsius, but we still stay outside.

Between lunch and dinner, we play a game of backyard cricket with all the family and continue drinking along with eating snacks. The grand parents usually take a nap before dinner starts.

When it comes to dinner, everyone starts to get the food ready to cook on the BBQ (usually the same food we cooked for lunch) and start getting dessert ready. As usual we continue drinking and watching the cricket.

After dinner a lot of Aussies get ready to go to the city to watch the traditional fireworks display which is almost as big as the New Years Eve fireworks display. Many thousands of people go to the main big parks in the city or to the beaches to watch because it’s still hot at this time of the day. The fireworks are designed to commemorate the foundation of Australia.

Australia Day originally was not a good day in Australian history, which I will explain in detail in my next blog. Recently people have been wanting it changed to the 8^thof May due to the nature of the history with the Aboriginal people in the past. Still though for a majority of Australians it’s about acknowledging the past, moving forward and coming together as one people and sharing a great day together.

Let’s try!

Questions

1) What’s a traditional Australian food to cook on Australia Day?

2) What date is Australia Day held on?

3) What do we watch on TV during Australia Day?

4) What game do we play with the family in the afternoon?

5) Where do we go in the evening to watch fireworks?

Answers

1) Lamb Chops

2) 26^th of January

3) Cricket

4) Cricket

5) The main big parks in the city or the beach.

次は、Ｂｅｋ先生による中央アジア～東ヨーロッパまで広範囲で話されているチュルク語についての記事からの問題です！ぜひチャレンジしてみてくださいね。

Turkic languages【英語長文練習問題】
レベル：英検2級レベル・TOEIC600点程度

Whenever the question arises about the dawn of human civilization, answers vary from person to person. But, for me, it was when early hominins [1] started gradually changing their primate communication systems, acquiring the ability to form a theory of other minds and a shared intentionality. It is believed that, around the world, there are 5000 to 7000 Human Languages. Estimates show that one language dies out every 14 days.

Turkic or commonly known Turkish languages are a language family of at least thirty-five documented languages, spoken by the Turkic people of Eurasia from Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and West Asia all the way to North Asia (particularly in Siberia) and East Asia.

(Turkic Languages-Wikipedia, n.d.)

Hominins a primate of a taxonomic tribe, which comprises those species regarded as human, directly ancestral to humans, or very closely related to humans.

●Southwestern (Oghuz)
●Southeastern (Karluk)
●Khalaj
●Northwestern (Kipchak)
●Chuvash (Oghur)
●Northeastern (Siberian)

[1]Hominins a primate of a taxonomic tribe, which comprises those species regarded as human, directly ancestral to humans, or very closely related to humans.

The number of Turkic speakers is over 200 million. According to one estimate, it is around 2500 years old.

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー
[1]The Japonic or Japanese-Ryukyuan language family includes the Japanese language spoken on the main islands of Japan as well as the Ryukyuan languages spoken in the Ryukyu Islands.

Turkic languages show some similarities with the Mongolic, Tungusic, Koreanic, and Japonic[2]languages. Having variety of sounds gives a privilege to Turkic speakers pronounce foreign language words accurately and easily.

Probably, for that reason, as a Turkic speaker, I really find Japanese language easy to learn. Of course, aside from Kanji. Whenever I think about Kanji, Mt Fuji comes to my mind. As Mt Fuji is hard to climb, Kanji is also a dream yet to come true.

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー
[2]The Japonic or Japanese-Ryukyuan language family includes the Japanese language spoken on the main islands of Japan as well as the Ryukyuan languages spoken in the Ryukyu Islands.

Let’s try

Questions

1. Why does the author feel Japanese language is easy to learn?
2. How many human languages are there?
3. How many languages are considered to be Turkic language?
4. According to the author, when is the start of Human civilization?

Answers

1) Having similarities with Japonic languages, the author feels, Japanese language makes it easy to learn

2) 5000 to 7000

3)  At least 35 documented languages

4)  The start of civilization when modern humans started to communicate with each other more verbally

Climate Change【英語長文練習問題】
レベル：英検準1級レベル・TOEIC700点程度

What is Climate change? Well, I’m pretty sure you guys have heard about it, for example, through human activity. Global warming is one measure of climate change, and is a rise in the average global temperature.Climate change (or global warming), is the process of our planet heating up. The Earth has been warmed by an average of 1°C in the last century, and although that might not sound like much, it means a big issue for people and wildlife around the globe.Unfortunately, rising temperatures don’t just mean that we’ll get nicer weather. The changing climate will actually make our weather more extreme and unpredictable. As the temperatures rise, some areas will get wetter and lots of animals (and humans!) could find they’re not able to adapt to their changing climate.

A lot of people are still unaware of these climate changes that could affect us in the near future. If we are lucky enough, we won’t have to see what will happen. What I can do best right now is to talk about it and share the knowledge of these battalions that are building a lot of foundations and constitutions in order to encourage people toward helping the environment, wild life and even human beings. One of the biggest constitutions the UN(United Nation) creates is an agenda designed for 2030 for Sustainable Development,adopted by all United Nations Member countries in 2015. This provides a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet now and into the future. At its heart there are 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which is an urgent call to action by all countries – developed and developing – in a global partnership.

They recognize that ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth ? all while tackling climate change and working towards world preservation.  Japan held its fifth meeting on June 15, 2018 with 3 following outcomes.

1. Promotion of society 5.0 that corresponds to SDGs
2. Regional vitalization driven by the SDGs
3. Empowerment of next generations and women

In addition, the government of Japan (Goj) headed by Vice Minister, Okamoto, in cooperation with Mr. Yoshimura, Mayor of Osaka, and other wide ranges of organizations including Japan Business Federation (Keidanren), private companies and civil societies, motioned in favor of the  Osaka-Kansai Japan EXPO 2025 and played up Japan’s initiative to promote SDGs.

Questions

1. What is climate change?
2. How will  climate change affect us as humans?
3. What does  SDGs stand for?
4. How many conclusions or outcomes did Japan come to at the 2018 meeting session?
5. Where is the Goj going to promote SDGs?

Answers

1) It is a rise in the average global temperature.

2) The changing climate will actually make our weather more extreme and unpredictable.

3) Sustainable Development Goals.

4) 3(three)

5) Osaka-Kansai Japan EXPO 2025.

Work-Life Balance Part 1【英語長文練習問題】
レベル：英検準1級レベル・TOEIC700点程度

In today’s social constructs and day to day life, we seem to ignore the issues caused by our hectic lifestyles. These issues are caused by overworking and lack of social interaction outside the confines of the workplace. Having a life outside of work is essential for our physical and mental wellbeing. The instances of health issues due to over the top working hours are right in front of us, but we tend to ignore the harm it causes. When we do notice it, it’s usually too late, so we become reactive instead of proactive. We need to take notice and educate ourselves to be aware of these issues.

There are many issues, not just health related but also in the socioeconomic side of things that are detrimental to the population overall. What I am saying when it comes to socioeconomic effects is the time and cost to employers due to absence from illness. There is extra pressure on the health system from illnesses caused by excessive or increased work hours. There is then the problem of hospitals having patients that shouldn’t be there because the problem could have been avoided by being aware. It also means that the people that really need the hospital to find it difficult to get treated. The costs then rise and those costs are passed on to the taxpayer.

Next, we need to look at the issue of increased work hours and its effect on other areas of the economy. Increasing work hours means that the customer service and retail industry lose valuable revenue due to fewer hours to spend money from the customer. This not only affects the economy but also customer service and retail businesses. Consumers need to spend money to increase economic growth.

As we all know populations are getting older and the birth rate is dropping, that, in turn, causes major economic pressure. Without having more social interaction and increasing work hours, we are only adding to the trouble and it will only get worse if we ignore it. It can be fixed.

Questions

1. What does ‘Physical and Mental wellbeing’ mean?
2. What causes these problems?
3. What do consumers need to do to help the economy grow？
4. How is the aging population and the drop in the birth rate going affect the economy
5. What does ‘detrimental’ mean?

Answers

1) Safe, sheltered and overall good health.

2)  Increased work hours and little rest.

3) Spend more money.

4) Economic pressure will increase.

5) To cause harm.

Short briefing about Indonesia Election 2019 【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検準1級・TOEIC700点程度

In the early morning of Tuesday 21 May 2019, Indonesia’s General Elections Commission (KPU) declared, President Joko Widodo the winner of Indonesia’s 2019 presidential election. However, due to the ongoing tensions in the country, KPU apparently decided to make the announcement at a different d ate and time in order to take a precaution from a country that has been heavily divided by the latest elections.

It’s a battle between the current President Joko Widodo and Prabowo Subianto, a former military general. They also went face-to-face in the 2014 elections. Prabowo is closely related with the political elite. He was married to the daughter of former dictator General Suharto, who ruled Indonesia and named as an iron fist for three decades. He has been accused of complicity in human rights abuses committed under General Suharto, though he has maintained his innocence. After spending many years overseas, he made his political comeback in 2009. In the 2014 presidential election he campaigned on an anti-poverty program, saying he wanted to reduce unemployment and create new jobs. Joko Widodo – known generally as Jokowi – comes from humble beginnings but first became well known internationally when being assigned as the governor of Jakarta in 2012. In the 2014 presidential election he campaigned on a “man of the people” anti-corruption policy, promising to tackle poverty and to clear out bias and intolerance that has been happening up until now.

For the first time, presidential, parliamentary and regional elections are all taking place simultaneously on one day. It’s a massive democratic responsibility which will determine the future identity of a massive and diverse country. About 245,000 candidates will be running for more than 20,000 national and local legislative seats across Indonesia made up of around 18,000 islands and covering 1.9 million square km.

The Lowy Institute, an Australian think-tank, calls it “one of the most complicated single-day elections in global history”.

Questions

1. Who is against who in the 2019 Indonesia Election?
2. What did the Australian think tank say about Indonesia parliamentary and regional elections?
3. How many Islands are there in Indonesia?
4. What is the short form of Indonesia’s General Elections Commission name?
5. Who went on face to face in the 2014 elections?

Answers

1. Joko Widodo and Prabowo Subianto
2. One of the most complicated single-day elections in a global history
3. Around 18,000
4. KPU
5. Joko Widodo and Prabowo Subianto

Work-Life Balance Part 2【英語長文練習問題】
レベル：英検準1級レベル・TOEIC700点程度

In this part of the blog, I will be addressing possible solutions to the issues with the current work-life balance situations. I will look at all sides of this topic from the social aspect and also from the economic aspect. No matter the situations that arise, there are always solutions that can benefit all that are involved. With the possible solutions that I am putting forward in this blog, they aren’t definite flawless solutions, hence why I said possible solutions.

When it comes to not just the physical but also the mental health side of things, we really don’t think about it too much as something to worry about. The way to get the best out of your employees as companies and employers is to have balance. We should be looking at the number of hours each employee is undertaking each month and spread it evenly throughout the workforce. This reduces exhaustion, stress, and situations of physical and mental burn out. Another thing that can be done is to pay attention to the employees, any changes in behavior and just simply asking them if they are ok. I also think that when having company physical examinations, they should also look at the mental aspects by asking if they are feeling good and also if there is anything that concerns them at work. 

There should be longer vacation leave like we have in Australia where most companies have up to 4 weeks per year available. By doing this, it not only gives more rest time but also can help with social interaction and economic stimulation. I will elaborate on what I mean. When you have a good rest, you feel more motivated, your mood and feeling is more positive and in turn encourages not only social interaction but also better work habits. The other thing that it does is allow more time to spend money, which then helps stimulate the economy. I also think that having campaigns to advertise and encourage socializing with others, as there is huge benefits health wise by doing so. Again, socializing more also encourages spending, relaxing and relationships, which helps not just the social side but also the economy.   

Overall, we really need to be looking into what we can do to help ourselves as a collective and look into being proactive and not reactive. If we do that, it means less work for us in the future and less to be worried about. If we think ahead and do the simple, preventative actions now, the positives for all will be huge. As I like to say “Work smarter not harder.”

Questions

1. What does ‘aspect’ mean?
2. Name 2 solutions that can help?
3. How can we improve the economy?
4. What do I like to say?
5. What does ‘Proactive’ and ‘Reactive’ mean?

Answers

1. It means one part of a situation, problem or subject.
2. More vacation time, evenly spread work hours, ask employees if they are ok.
3. Socialize more, encourage spending.
4. “Work smarter not harder.”
5. ‘Proactive’ ? Taking action by causing change and not only reacting to change when it happens. Act before something happens.
   ‘Reactive’ -React to events or situations after they have happened, rather than acting first to change or prevent something.

PetroYuan  A new English word or a new world order
【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検準1級レベル・TOEIC700点程度

About 800 years ago Marco Polo visited the ground of Genghis Khan’s grandson who was the first emperor of Yuan Chinese dynasty. For his surprise, he found most likely the first fiduciary currency of all time. Currency which was completely founded on government’s reputation and law enforcement which was inevitable punishment for those who refuse to use it. In recent centuries, world’s financial sectors has been substantially dominated by the west pound sterling, in the US, dollar becoming hegemonic for more than 200 years with its petrodollar, we seem to forget the fact that those were the Chinese back in the 7^thcentury who developed crucially important financial innovation, paper money. Now, China wants to reclaim that leadership.

So what exactly Petrodollar is? If you search the word definition, you may probably get this “a notional unit of currency earned by a country from the export of petroleum.” The petrodollar is a U.S. dollar paid to oil-exporting countries in exchange for oil. Since the dollar is a global currency, all international transactions are made in dollars. As a result, oil-exporting nations must receive dollars. Most of them own their oil industries. That makes their national income dependent on the dollar’s value. If it falls, so does their revenue.

As a result, most of these oil exporters also peg their currencies to the dollar. That way, if the dollar’s value falls, so does the price of all their domestic goods and services. That helps these countries avoid wide swings in inflation or deflation. At the same time, they become highly dependent on American dollars, economy, military and politics. But, everything is about to change, China, being the 2^ndlargest economy and largest exporter has surpassed US in oil imports.

What it means is now China can change petrodollar to its currency, Yuan.Saudi Arabia plays the major role in world economy being number one oil exporter has agreed to trade with China in Chinese Yuan. Second largest oil exporter, Russia tried the same approach in 2013 but after the sanctions followed by its occupation of Crimea, Russia realized its economy not ready yet financially.

What do you think will be? What is the effect on Japan? Should Japan be concerned about China becoming economically and militarily strong?

Questions

1. What is Petrodollar?
2. Whose grandson is the first emperor of Yuan dynasty?
3. Which country is the largest oil exporter?
4. What are the side effects of being dependent on US dollar?
5. Why Russia failed to establish PetroRuble?

Answers

1. The petrodollar is a U.S. dollar paid to oil-exporting countries in exchange for oil.
2. Genghis khan
3. Saudi Arabia
4. Oil-exporting nations must receive dollars. Most of them own their oil industries. That makes their national income dependent on the dollar’s value. If it falls, so does their revenue. Aside from that, they have to act according to US’s wills in the sector of politics, military and foreign policy.
5. Russia tried the same approach in 2013 but after the sanctions followed by its occupation of Crimea, Russia realized its economy not ready yet financially.

JAPAN AND FOOD
【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検準1級レベル・TOEIC700点程度

A few things that really stand out to me about Japan compared to Australia is the accessibility to food and drinks. As a foreigner to Japan, I was in awe of what you can have to eat and drink. To me being able to have all you can eat, and drink is amazing, especially when it’s so cheap. Some of my favourite places to go are Otto, Meitetsu Beer Garden and an all you can eat Yaki Niku place.

In Australia we used to have, a long time ago only a few all you can eat places were available, but they were expensive and all you can drink was only for sodas. Eventually they were forced to close due to being against health regulations. I was really upset about them closing because the food was so good. Unfortunately, we don’t have anything like Izakaya, which are great.

I would have to say that most of the all you can eat places are good, but some are to me falsely advertising all you can eat and drink. A couple of them that I have been to say all you can eat for 2 hours but after one and a half hours they call last order. They have great food, but I feel a bit ripped off when they call last order.

Overall, Japan has so many options available when it comes to food and drink. The other thing that surprised me was being able to eat and drink anywhere. In Australia you can only really do that in restaurants and bars. Japan always surprises me and continues to do so each and every day.

Questions

1. What are 2 of my favourite all you can eat places?
2. What really stands out to me in Japan?
3. Why were the all you can eat places closed down in Australia?
4. What do I think about Izakayas?
5. What amazes me about Japan?

Answers

1. Otto and Meitetsu Beer Garden.
2. The accessibility of food and drink in Japan.
3. Due to breaches in heath regulations.
4. They are great.
5. You can have food and drink almost anywhere.

“Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie (BJ Habibie)”
【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検2級、TOEIC 600レベル点程度

You guys might be wondering, who is this guy, and why is the writer so fond of writing an article about him? It was because he has passed away on the 11^thof September and was recognized as one of the smartest men in Indonesia.  Besides being known as the smartest person among flight experts, he is also the former President of the 3rd Republic of Indonesia. He had many accomplishments that Indonesian felt a great loss knowing, that he died at the age of 83 after suffering from a heart failure.

What’s interesting about BJ Habibie’s inspiring story is the discovery of a formula for calculating cracks or the multiplication of cracks randomly down to the atom by Habibie. To assess his intelligence and contribute to it, this equation is called the Habibie Factor. Not only that, he was also labelled as Mr. Crack by Aviation specialists. In 1967, he received the title of Honorary Professor or Professor at ITB (Bandung Institute of Technology).With all the intelligence he has, he gets a lot of recognition from international class institutions like.

• Gesselschaft fuer Luft und Raumfahrt (German Reform Institute)
• The Royal Aeronautical Society London from England
• Academie Nationale de l’Air and de l’Espace from Francis
• The Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering from Sweden
• Finally, from the US Academy of Engineering in the United States.

In addition to awards from many foreign institutions, Habibie also received several prestigious awards namely the Edward Warner Award and the von Karman Award where this award was most in line with the Nobel Prize award. In addition, Habibie also won the prestigious Theodore van Karman Award in Germany.

After studying for 10 years in Germany, Habibie returned to Indonesia to fulfill a call from the President of Indonesia, at that time the president was President Soeharto. In Indonesia, Habibie was appointed as Minister of Research and Technology / Head of BPPT (Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology)for 20 years. Not only that, he also led the BUMN (State owned enterprises of Indonesia) Strategic Industries company for 10 years.

In 1995 he succeeded in leading the aircraft manufacturing project which was named the N250 Gatot Kaca. The aircraft is the first aircraft made in Indonesia.

His fame, patriotic, historical act had a huge impact on the current Indonesia’s state, and thanks to his theory, he helps save many lives and the vast technology of the Aviation sector.

Questions

1. What huge impact did BJ Habibie brought to the Aviation Sector?
2. When did BJ Habibie Died?
3. After studying in German why did he decide to come back to Indonesia?
4. What is the name of the formula that he created?
5. What is the so special about the N250 Gatot Kaca Project?

Answers

1. He created a Formula
2. 11^thof September
3. to fulfill a call from the President of Indonesia
4. the Habibie Factor
5. It was the first aircraft made in Indonesia

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“Why are the Japanese Tech firms loosing global competitiveness?”
【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検2級、TOEIC 600レベル点程度

Good day everyone. It is great to be with all of you again. Today, I am delighted to have the opportunity to share some of my thoughts on a subject I am concerned about and why you should too: The future of Japanese Tech.

Japan, known as a country of magic for so many. Japan gave my father legendary Walkman which helped him to pick up girls as having Walkman at that time was like being on the height of coolness and to millennials including me, the PlayStation series. But there are far more crucial innovations than meets the naked eye of common consumers.  Japan dominated the world with its brands Sony, Toshiba, Shark, Panasonic and countless more and supplied the digital world with its semi-conductors but this shift is changing.

In order to understand the importance of today’s topic, let’s have a look at Japan’s top 10 export products in the below data provided by WorldsTopExports.com

1. Vehicles: US$154.1 billion (20.9% of total exports)
2. Machinery including computers: $148 billion (20.1%)
3. Electrical machinery, equipment: $109.4 billion (14.8%)
4. Optical, technical, medical apparatus: $41.3 billion (5.6%)
5. Iron, steel: $29.9 billion (4.1%)
6. Plastics, plastic articles: $26.1 billion (3.5%)
7. Organic chemicals: $18.9 billion (2.6%)
8. Mineral fuels including oil: $13.3 billion (1.8%)
9. Ships, boats: $12.6 billion (1.7%)
10. Gems, precious metals: $12 billion (1.6%)

Machinery including computers alone accounts for more than 20% of the total exports equivalent to 1,480億円 but one the other side, we have the news headlines like this:

Creditors urge Toshiba to consider bankruptcy.

Japanese electronics firms Eclipsed by Apple  etc.

Now, I am going to talk about the causes of these situations. First of all, I believe japan left behind from the globalization. Globalization is the process by which businesses or other organizations develop international influence or start operating on an international scale. But I would define Globalization as diversification of consumer needs around the world and the competitiveness of a company which depends on whether its products would be selected by the diverse consumers. Interestingly, the market value of Samsung Electronics alone rivals those of Japanese giants Sony, Panasonic and Toshiba combined, and South Korean makers today dominate electronics and electric equipment markets in emerging economies. When it comes to emerging economies, in Asia alone have a combined population of about 3 billion, Japan’s strategy about the consumer needs and market strategy wasn’t right.

Second cause is Brain drain and leak of knowhow. Software development cannot be automated and relies on human resources as the key to growth. According to the asia.nikkei.com from 1976 through the spring of 2015, 490 employees left Japanese electrical machinery makers for South Korean businesses, while 196 went to China. Another 350 went to smaller rivals like Taiwan and Thailand. I strongly believe numbers must be bigger and it keeps rising.

Thirdly, Senpai culture of Japan is one of the triggers. In a world developing with such a fast pace, creativity, fresh ideas and above all skills are crucial. Effort of a company must be put on different aspects rather training a new employee without technical skills.

The foremost reason is that Japan hasn’t taken the role of English seriously in this new digital world. English is considered as the language of information technology, called “Globalish,” and is learned as the second native language around the globe. While Japanese people have little to no inclination to learn English.

What do you think the causes are?

Let’s try!

Questions

1. How the author defines globalization?
2. How many people are in the Asian emerging economies?
3. What is the Japan’s top export item?
4. What is the third cause of the problem? How far do you agree?
5. Do you use foreign phone model? Why not Sony?

Answers

1. I would define Globalization as diversification of consumer needs around the world and the competitiveness of a company which depends on whether its products would be selected by the diverse consumers.
2. diverse consumers.
3. Estimated three billion.
4. Vehicles: US$154.1 billion (20.9% of total exports)
5. Senpai culture of Japan in tech firms.
6. -open question-

Disaster
【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検準1級レベル・TOEIC700点程度

Some may not be aware that currently there are wildfires (bush fires as called in Australia), but many are not aware of what is happening. Overseas many countries are unaware of what is happening in Australia currently.  At the moment there is a fire that is made of many other fires that have destroyed over two million hectares of Australian countryside. There have been expectations by the Australian citizens that other countries would come to our aid in hope of solidarity.

Only a few fellow countries have come to our aid. Canada and New Zealand being a part of those few. Our biggest allies are still sitting idly by while Australian people and animals are suffering in horrific proportions. Our appreciation of the support from both Canada and New Zealand have been nothing short of a great bond between nations. The Australian people had hoped that ally nations, such as England, America, Indonesia and Malaysia, would offer a helping hand. So far, there has been none forthcoming from each of these nations.

Unfortunately, the lack of support from around the world has weakened the Australian people’s faith in support in times of crisis. So far, many homes, people and animals are struggling to survive. Much of this has been caused by segments of government not being proactive and doing the exact opposite by restricting certain measures to prevent such a disaster.

The leading authority of firefighting in Australia approached the Prime Minister requesting the help of the military, air force and navy, but the Prime Minister refused any assistance.

In writing this, as a representative of the Australian people and animals, I hope that Japan assists Australia in its plight, as both nations have strong and friendly relations in both trade and friendship. Even with former disagreements in the past, Australians see Japan as one of our greatest friends.

Let’s try!

Questions

1. What kind of disaster is currently happening in Australia?
2. Which countries joined Australia to fight this natural disaster?
3. What hasn’t the government in Australia done in the past to prevent this from happening?
4. What has the authority of Firefighting asked the Prime Mister of Australia for?
5. What is the author hoping from Japan?

Answers

1. Bush fires (wildfires)
2. Canada and New Zealand
3. Being proactive
4. The help of the military, air force and navy
5. Assistance

Learning new thing【英語長文練習問題】
レベル：英検2級レベル・TOEIC600点程度

For a long time, I’ve wanted to practice snowboard. Finally, after a couple years in Japan

I finally got the chance to tried it for the first-time last year.

I would say that is probably the most challenging and scariest thing I’ve ever tried so far. So, I planned my trip to the Ski place called Takasu in Takayama, Gifu prefecture. I was very excited; I search for everything about snowboard on the internet and asking my friends about it. The day came, so I drive for hours to Takasu; as I arrived and look at the big mountain, I got terrified, I’m not too fond of high places, so the lift was one of my main concerns. After practicing some basics, it was time to face my fear “the lift”, after I got on it, I realize it wasn’t scary as I thought. The scariest part was looking down the hill and see how up on the mountain I was. Even this, I was scared I got on the snowboard and tried to stand up, it took me so many falls, but as the more the I tried, the better I was getting. By the end of the day I was tired, but I never felt so happy, I was able to go downhill better than I started, it might not be perfect but was a started.

This year I decided to get more serious about it and booked a snowboard lesson. I choose an indoor snowboarding place for it. I made a reservation for Japanese snowboarding lessons; I was concern about it, but at the same time, I said to myself that this is going to be an excellent chance to learn and use my Japanese. As I enter the place, I got scared to see how high it was. The instructor was helpful and patient with me, I understood everything he said, I was proud and surprised at the same time. The lesson began with some warm-up exercises, then we started in the middle of the slope. It was scary again do it even though I tried before; I couldn’t stand up quickly, so the instructor helped me a couple times. After some practice, he decided that I was ready to go on the top, I didn’t share the same thoughts as I wasn’t feeling confident, but I trust and followed him to the top. After a couple times trying, I realize that I was actually doing well even though I haven’t practiced for a year, and my instructor was right. After the lesson finished, I thank my instructor, and the real challenge began I decided to try again, but this time by myself, it was scary, but I could do it better than before.

Learning new things is scary at first and seemed that we can’t do it, but with practice, you gain confidence, and you started getting better and liking it.

It was a double challenge for me, but I decided to go for it. So, for new learners of the language, I would recommend taking a lesson in your target language that can be cooking or any sport. Practice, gain confidence, and love it.

Let’s try!

Questions

1. What does the writer suggest doing when we want to improve in our target language?
2. Where did the writer go snowboarding for the first time?
3. How does the writer is scare of?
4. Why did the writer decide to take lessons in Japanese?
5. When did the writer tried snowboarding for the first time?

Answers

1. Learn a new activity or sport in the target language.
2. Takasu, Takayama, Gifu prefecture.
3.  High places.
4. Because the writer wanted to use Japanese.
5. Last year.

Why are Japanese so slim?【英語長文練習問題】
レベル：英検2級レベル・TOEIC600点程度

Hello MMMers, I am Beck, and it’s great to be with you again. Probably some of you have read my previous blog about Petro Yuan. But this time, as you have already realized, I would love to talk about the physique of Japanese people. It has already passed more than three years since I moved to Japan (Time flies), and yet I can vividly remember me being surprised by how slim Japanese ladies are. The reason being, I wasn’t even attracted to slim girls until it passed three months after my arrival.

Today, I will be writing about what factors cause Japanese to stay slim and healthy, although they eat carbohydrates such as rice, ramen, and udon, which is supposed to make us gain weight. Although I never assumed to know the best about the culture I had never lived among nor spoken the language of, I simply accepted the commonly held presumption that it’s in their gene until I myself have lived and lost 10kg in the 1^st year of my life in Japan. So, what are the reasons?

Portion
The volume of food is way smaller than in western countries.

The size of the dinner plates has increased over the 20 years all over the world, but it’s not a considerable case in japan. They drink green tea, which has virtually 0 calories, whereas we drink soda a lot.

Dinnerware
Using chopsticks or a smaller spoon makes us feel full.

Slowing the speed at which you eat allows your brain to notice that you are full. Japanese people find it easier to see they are full because they use chopsticks, which is a more time-consuming way of eating. Imagine you eating a plate of burger with potato fries using your hands while a variety of food in small-sized dishes eating with chopsticks, which one takes a long time?

As an aside, I have realized that Japanese people tend not to eat while watching their Netflix. Because you can’t really control how much you are eating while enjoying your entertainment.

Infrastructure
Public transportation and active lifestyle

Japan has an extensive railway system enabling commuters to reach even remote areas; for that reason, most people don’t own a car.

It’s normal for an office worker in Tokyo to spend 2 hours a day just to commute to work. And they do so by walking to the station and from it to work or cycling.

Peer pressure/Inconvenience
Overweight people feel alienated

Having been surrounded by slim people around urges you to be slender as well. Another aspect could be having a hard time finding the bigger size of clothing since most stores don’t have it.

Dating culture
Japanese guys prefer slimmer girls

Contrary to the US, where masculinity is common or being praised, Japanese girls are expected to be more feminine and obedient. In an environment like this, girls prioritize their body shape strongly.

What have you seen as the cause of Japanese slenderness?

Let’s try!

Questions

1. What are the other ways of saying “Slim”?
2. How long has the author been living in Japan?
3. What does the author imply by “extensive railway system”?
4. Why Japanese fashion makes it inconvenient to be overweight?
5. Why does sing chopsticks help us prevent obesity?

Answers

1. slender, thin
2. More than three years
3. Japan has an excellent public transportation service, which allows accessing even rural areas.
4. Clothing stores don’t have big sizes for overweight people.
5. We know when we are full.

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SITUATIONAL CHANGE【英語長文練習問題】
レベル：準1級レベル・TOEIC700点程度

With the types of situations that occur in our lifetimes, for example the current situation with the Coronavirus, we tend to see it as a doomsday type scenario. This is usually because we are complacent in our attitudes towards these types of events. We get overly caught up with the here and now and are reactive rather than being proactive. In this kind of scenario, we end up becoming negative in our approach to everything, which is unproductive in the scheme of things.

During my life I have encountered many adversities, some of these were small in context and others much bigger. These occurrences at the time did bring me down, but once I got through them, I realised that I should have been more proactive during those times. Although I was feeling down during these periods, I would always pull myself up and use those times to better myself and plan and that is the key.

Currently all we hear from the media are providing misinformation, arguing with each other and continually changing their stories. This is causing a lot of unnecessary panic and people to do silly things. In this situation, instead of believing everything the media says, we should only listen to what all of them can confirm. They should be working together to help the collective good and stop thinking only of arguing with each other.

verall, we should not see this as a negative situation, but more as an opportunity to change our way of thinking. We need to use this time in a useful and productive way, such as planning for after this is over. This is where we need to look at learning new skills, setting goals and improving ourselves. We all need to be more proactive and prepare for our futures. Keep safe and let’s look after each other and support each other.

Let’s try!

Questions

1. What does ‘doomsday’ mean?
2. What should we do instead of being reactive?
3. I would always do what when I was feeling down?
4. The media are causing…….?
5. We should not see this as a negative situation, but…….

Answers

1. Last day of existence.
2. Be proactive.
3. I would pull myself up.
4. Unnecessary panic.
5. …..more as an opportunity to change our way of thinking.

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Is Japan Environmentally Friendly?【英語長文練習問題】
レベル：準1級レベル・TOEIC700点程度

What I have noticed in the differences between Australia and Japan regarding environmentally friendly practices has been quite eye opening.  Some areas are similar while others have been quite opposite. Actions taken in this area have been slow in some respects.  Awareness of the world around us on both sides has been lacking and honestly deplorable.

Firstly, when it comes to plastics, Japan seems to overuse plastics in many aspects of life. In Australia, we try constantly to reduce or refuse plastics unless we have no other options. As an example, in convenience stores in Japan, almost 75 to 80% of products have some sort of plastic in the packaging. On the other hand, Australia has reduced this to about 50 to 60%. Also, when it comes to convenience stores, they have a habit of giving out plastic bags for even the smallest products, which is unnecessary. In saying that, in Australia some people still have bad habits when it comes to plastics.

One big problem we have in Australia, which Japan has done better with, has been the transition from gasoline and diesel cars to hybrid cars. Australia tends to have this macho type attitude towards hybrid vehicles and wants big V8 powered cars or old-style diesel pickup trucks (4 x 4). I feel this is kind of a balance between the two countries when it comes to the impact being negative on their own environments.

One last aspect to look at would be the rubbish disposal system in each country. When I first came to Japan, I was surprised that there were no public trash cans and in Australia we also have not only public trash cans but separate trash cans one for bottles and one or cans.  One thing that did not make sense to me in Japan was with the drink container trash cans have two separate holes, one for plastic bottles and the other for cans. When I looked at them closely, they all go in the same container together. It should be separated in two halves, otherwise it does not make sense to have one hole for cans and one for bottles. When it comes to household trash cans, we have large plastic trash cans, one for general rubbish, one for recyclables, and one for green waste. (e.g. garden waste, vegetable scraps) These trash cans have wheels on them, and we put them at the top of the driveway. For collection, this made it much easier for collection, kept pests out and was less work for collectors. In Japan, they have plastic bags and the collection is irregular and you can not put the rubbish out the night before for fear of birds, rats and other pests getting into the rubbish.

In conclusion, overall, both need to really look at the way they deal with the efficiency and ultimately make a difference. I would say that if both Japan and Australia integrated ideas, it would be a far more effective start to improving our situations. It just shows you that both of our cultures are really missing the point and are really being counterproductive even with our improvements. We could all make this work by working together.

Let’s try!

Questions

1. How is the macho attitude reflected in Australian culture?
2. What did not make sense to the writer in Japan?
3. What percentage of packaging in convenience stores in Japan have plastic in them?
4. What are the three types of trash cans in Australia?
5. What does the write suggest each country do to improve?

Answers

1. They want big V8 powered cars or old-style diesel pickup       trucks (4 x 4).
2. How public trash cans for drink containers in Japan are structured.
3. 75 to 80%
4. General rubbish, recyclables, and green waste.
5.  Japan and Australia to integrate ideas.

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Racism in Indonesia【英語長文練習問題】
レベル：英検2級レベル・TOEIC600点程度

Racism is an idea created by humans to differentiate between people seen from their skin color, ethnicity, and the area of their residence. Usually, racism is always attached to the superiority of certain groups. They can do anything because they feel superior. Finally, the rights of different people are violated. Even leads to criminal-ism.

Racism has existed in this world for a long time. In fact, it has very strong roots. In almost every country, cases of racism always arise and create social inequalities. The tragedy of the death of George Floyd in the United States brought back the issue of racism in black #BlackLivesMatter in various regions of the world. In Indonesia, the issue of racism that emerged was in the form of the #PapuaLivesMatter campaign, which raised the issue of discrimination against Indonesians against Papuans.

Dutch colonize Indonesia in 1595. Racism is inseparable from colonial heritage how the Netherlands used to make social stratification in the colonies. In Indonesia, stratification is divided into three. Namely, the European group, the Eastern group, which at that time was dominated by Chinese and Arabic descent, as well as the indigenous group. From there, we can see the roots of racism. Then racism was increasingly formed during the New Order when the government carried out repression against ethnic Chinese.

Regarding #PapuaLivesMatter, that the tribes in Papua are indeed biologically different from other regions in Indonesia. Racism towards Papuans also formed during the New Order era. I think that racism in Papua also cannot be separated from the New Order when the area became the location of military operations in 1974. In my opinion, there is a share of history in current discrimination; however, both anthropologists stress the issue of racism in Papua in contrast to the US. That discrimination in Papua was different from black slavery that had occurred in the United States. Black people have become slaves in the US with a very long history. While here, the problem is the treatment of the region (Papua), which is not good. There was attention to the eastern parts of Indonesia that were left behind. Maybe there are still feelings of anger, heartache felt by the Papuan people in the past.

One of the most significant issues that have occurred in Indonesia since the past is racism against Chinese descendants. In 1998 The past government carried out repression in such a way (against the descendants of Chinese) so that the effect is felt up until now. In Papua itself, racism exists, some of Papuan are getting names as ‘straight hair’ and ‘curly hair.’ Racism is strong; it differs according to the location. But not strong in others. Malay Batak ethnic groups refer to Indian descent as ‘keling’ which means dark skin person from India. This is because biologically, their physical form is different. But it is different with the descendants of Chinese in Kalimantan, which is more likely not a problem because they are biologically similar.

Let’s try!

Questions

1. Which Country that Colonized Indonesia and affected their culture into the current “racism” happening in Indonesia?
2. What did “Racism” create in our society?
3. What campaign did Indonesia create when #blacklivesmatter campaign was happening in America?
4. What happened in Indonesia in 1998?
5. What name do other ethnic groups call Indian descendants with?

Answers

1. Dutch/Netherlands
2. Social Inequalities
3. #papualivesmatter
4. The past government carried out repression against the Chinese descendants
5. Keling

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The way we learn【英語長文練習問題】
レベル：英検2級レベル・TOEIC600点程度

Growing up, I didn’t have much contact with kids even though I have a brother, and he is about my age. I was always interested in what it would be like to be around kids or have a baby brother. It wasn’t until recently that I had the opportunity to be around kids but not only one but many of them. I started teaching English and Spanish to little kids with different nationalities like Japanese and Brazilian.

I was in Peru when I was their age, so it is very interesting to see the difference in how they are learning. And because of the generation gap, the teaching methods differ from the ones been taught now, and also, the difference of the culture they are born and raised in. I found that, in Japan, teaching a new language to kids has to be through very fun activities, as they use playtime as a learning method. Kids absorb new languages better if it is taught dynamically with a lot of games and movement. It is a slow process as learning a language is new for them. Still, repetition with physical movements helps them learn words by relating it with the target word.

It is quite interesting how kids interiorize language learning, as this sometimes can bring emotions like boredom, frustration, or happiness. Kids show these emotions at the moment and let you know about it by saying “I don’t want to do this,” “I am so happy, look at what I learned today” or “teacher, I am hungry, I want to go home.” Showing emotions and speaking about them is quite helpful as some kids will show if they understand it or not and speak out. However, for some, doing this can be difficult, so they just sit back without any interaction, or they show that they don’t understand because they are afraid of what other peers could say.

Through teaching, I learned some interesting differences between not only adults and kids but nationalities as well. For some, foreign pronunciation and vocabulary can be easier as some can be similar between countries. The tricky part is that these words might have a different meaning (this is called false cognate). On the other side for Japanese, vocabulary and pronunciation can be difficult as their language is very different from English, but some vocabulary might be easier as the Japanese used a good amount of English words on an everyday basis, just with a change in pronunciation.

Another thing that I found interesting is the way they interact with me. For example, when I interact with foreign kids, there is kind of a feeling of an age gap like they treat me as an adult. On the other hand, Japanese kids treat me more like I am equal to them, expressing themselves more freely from frustration to happiness.

Teaching kids has shown me how different the way we learn is and how our different backgrounds shape how we learn and interact with the world around us.

Let’s try!

Questions

1. Where is the author from?
   a) Peru
   b) Japan
   c) Brazil
   d) America
2. What does the author do?
   a) Teach Japanese
   b) Teach English
   c) Teach Spanish
   d) B and C
3. How does kids learn better?
   a) Tongue twisters.
   b) Talking to the teacher.
   c) Playing games
   d) All above
4.  Where is the author teaching?
   a) Japan
   b) Brazil
   c) Peru
   d) Spain
5. Is the teacher teaching only kids?
   a) True
   b) False

Answers

1. 1) a)

   2) d)

   3) c)

   4) a)

   5) b)

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Five underrated things in Japan【英語長文練習問題】
レベル：英検準2級レベル・TOEIC500点程度

If you have been living in Japan for a long time, things become usual for you and sometimes don’t even realize how you will miss these things if one day you traveled abroad or maybe move to another country.

Public bathroom

One of the things I love in Japan is clean, beautiful, and efficient Japanese toilets. While traveling, finding a bathroom was not an easy task; public restrooms were challenging to find, so mostly, I’ve had to eat or drink at a restaurant or cafe to buy something to use the toilet. Coming back from Europe made me appreciate this even more, as it is so comfortable in Japan to access public restrooms everywhere.

24 hours convenience store

Have you ever wanted to eat ice cream at night? Well, you can crave anything at any time it will be plenty of options to fulfill your cravings; when I was in Europe, I sometimes walked at night, but most of the stores where closed, so I had to think in advance and get all those things I need at the supermarket before closing time. Have you ever been on a long road trip? You can take a rest at any convenience store to eat, drink, go to the toilet and rest in any connivance store along your way.

Security

I could say that I feel safer in Japan most of the time; I can look at my phone while walking, have money in my hands, go to the convenience store at night and drive without locking my car doors, without being scared that something bad is going to happen. While caution is always advisable, I feel more freedom, and I don’t need to be in a fear mode all the time.

Omotemashi

Japanese customer service is the best in the world although I encountered some that were not so good. In general, they go out of their way to help you out with a big smile and a respectful Japanese Language. Plus, as for product presentation, have you ever noticed how well thought and presented food, drink, souvenirs, and others are? It is just beautiful.

Food from all around the world

Even though Japanese food is the favorite food for Japanese and foreigners in Japan, this country has a wide variety of ethnic food in both its original and Japanese style. Here I tried all types of ethnic food from Japanese, Asian to western, and Latin American food.

Let’s try!

Questions

What isn’t mentioned in the passage?

a)　Ethnic food
b)　Bathroom
c)　Clean streets
d)　Customer service

What can you buy at night in Japan?

a)　Ice cream
b)　Food
c)　Green tea
d)　All the above

What kind of foods are mentioned by the author?

a)　Asian food
b)　Western food
c)　Japanese food
d)　All the above

What is the characteristic that the author mention about public restrooms in Japan?

a)　Clean
b)　Free
c)　Dirty
d)　Bad smell 

What does the word “underrated” mean?

a)　Doesn’t receive the recognition that deserves
b)　It is highly appreciated
c)　Someone famous
d)　Bad reviews

Answers

1. 1) c)

   2) d)

   3) d)

   4) a)

   5) a)

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How to chill out during a global pandemic【英語長文練習問題】
レベル：英検準1級レベル・TOEIC700点程度

After an eventful year, I have often found myself thinking about ways to stay calm when the world outside is so turbulent. Every morning when I turn on the news, my heart sinks to discover more disturbing information. I think it is so important to tune in every day to the world events, and also to do what we can to make the world better. However, sometimes in the middle of a global pandemic, you need to just tune out, and settle into the blissful mundanity of your little life.

So here are my tips to take the edge off. Firstly, I like to start my day by moving my body. Many of us are working from home during this time and should reap the benefits of this! Working from home has given me an extra hour in the morning to do some yoga or go for a walk. Sometimes I take a coffee or listen to a podcast, but usually I just move for the sake of moving.

Secondly, I carve out time in the day to listen to music. Depending on the day, this ranges from sad music to happy music, slow music to dance music. Either way, music has the ability to force us to listen inwards and has the uncanny ability to allow us to tune out from the craziness of the outside world.

Next, I like to cook as much as I can. Of course, some days are busier than others, and cooking isn’t always possible, but when I can I really notice the difference in my mood. Cooking is great for mental health because we are forced to focus on the task at hand, without looking at our phones or computers.

As well as this, I drink lots and lots of tea! Tea is a powerful thing. It can be drunk hot or cold, sweet or bitter. It hydrates you throughout the day and gives you an excuse to get up out of your chair. This one doesn’t need much explanation, because we all know tea is great.

Finally, I try to watch or listen to something that makes me laugh every day. I usually listen to a podcast in or watch YouTube in English. Whilst I study Japanese in the day, when I have finished work, I like to listen to something in my own language. Humans cannot be improving themselves 24/7, so listening to something because ‘it just makes you laugh’ is important too!

Let’s try!

Questions

1)　How many different activities does the writer suggest to relax in a pandemic?
2)　What are those activities?
3)　What 2 different types of exercise does the writer suggest doing in the morning?
4)　“The writer thinks it is important to listen to the news every day.” True or False?
5)　Why does the writer suggest listening to a podcast or watching YouTube?

 

Answers

1) 5

2) Exercise, Listening to Music, Cooking, Drinking Tea and watching or listening to something funny.

3) Walking or Yoga

4) True

5) Just because it makes you laugh.

Color differentiation in culture【英語長文練習問題】
レベル：英検準1級レベル・TOEIC700点程度

It has been a while since I last wrote a blog. Color is a crucial aspect of every culture. Colors can represent love, anger, sadness, infidelity, and religious affiliations, depending on the culture. In today’s reading, we will look at the different meanings of colors in cultures around the world.

Blue bears both positive and negative meanings. For example, in Western cultures (North America and Europe) The most popular color for bank logos is blue because it represents trust and authority. The color is also masculine and used to represent the birth of a boy. Meanwhile, in China, it is the symbol of femininity. Now imagine me, a guy whose wardrobe is 70% full with blue clothes visiting China looking all like girlish. Whereas, in India, blue represents immortality. in countries such as Turkey, Greece, and Albania citizens can be seen wearing blue amulets as they believe bleu repels evil. Interestingly in my country Uzbekistan, blue signifies peace and purity. Universally associated with the sea and sky, a natural phenomenon well-known the world over, blue instills a sense of inner stability. The reason being it is common to see historic buildings covered in blue tiles. However, In English and also probably in the Japanese language we can observe the word blue associated with phrases that have negative meanings. For example, to feel blue; once in a blue moon; out of the blue.

Green is a go color; it is the color of hope. It makes sense because we can associate it with springtime and a sense of flourishing. At the same time, it is the color of jealousy. Back in 1603, William Shakespeare referred to jealousy as a “green-eyed monster” in his tragic play Othello.

Red, although universally accepted as a stop sign,　can be seen as being a feminine or sexy color while it symbolizes happiness in China.
In China, yellow has strong historical and cultural associations. The first emperor was called the Yellow Emperor. After the Song Dynasty, which ended in 1279, only the emperor was allowed to wear bright yellow. in Japan, the color yellow is one of courage. in America, it is the exact opposite. Yellow is considered the color of cowardice.

The lovely color white plays an important role in religions around the world. in Christianity, children wear white when they’re baptized and first take communion. The Pope (head of the Roman Catholic Church), has worn white since 1566 to symbolize sacrifice. Muslim pilgrims wear Ihram, a simple white attire intended to signify that before God, all are equal.
The color white or Shiro in Japanese is considered a sacred color of the gods. It is the symbol of spiritual and physical purity. Since old times, the Emperor of Japan used to dress in white clothes for the main Shinto rituals.

Here, I would like to conclude the topic of colors and their meanings around the globe. Hope you found it interesting and feel free to share your thoughts with your instructor and take a short quiz below to check your comprehension.

Let’s try!

Questions

1)　What is the color of jealousy?
2)　What is the universally regarded peace color?
3)　Which color is frequently associated with phrases which have negative meanings?
4)　Which color symbolizes femininity universally?
5)　What is the sacred color of gods in Japan?

Answers

1) Green.

2) Blue.

3) Blue.

4) Red.

5) White.

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Sinking cities【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検準一級、TOEIC700点程度

Today, I would like to talk about global warming and its seeable effects on our daily lives.
I am from a southeastern country, Indonesia. Its capital is Jakarta, or I call it a sinking city. According to the research, Jakarta is the fastest sinking city in the world expected to be 95% submerged under the water by 2050 when a lot of you, hopefully, will be still alive. Every year, 10 centimeters of it is submerging in the water. The reasoning behind this incident is largely due to the excessive extraction of groundwater for drinking and the commercial use when water is pumped out of an underground aquifer, and the land above it sinks. And yet this is not the only factor behind it. Known as a romantic vocational spot, Maldives is also waiting for the same destiny by 2050. For the Maldives, we can without a doubt hold global warming responsible in a connotative way.

The abovementioned countries are far from us, Japan which on a second thought should not make us be alarmed about it and feel free from any harm. However, as Japan is an island country surrounded by only water on all sides, it is put in almost as severe a condition as those countries. Talking about the geography of Japan, the known fact is that it consists of 70% of mountains harshly habitable to us regarding infrastructure. Areas located in the sea are densely populated and they are also very prone to low-lying coastal flooding.

Urban areas in the low-elevation coastal zone in Japan, 2015.
Source: CUNY Institute for Demographic Research (CIDR), Institute for Development Studies (IDS), and the Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN).
In Climate Emergency, Urban Opportunity (2019). Map Credit: Hasim Engin, CIDR

If ice keeps melting in Antarctica at the same speed as today, sea levels rise by three meters by 2050, meaning that there is a huge threat to the urban centers of Japan, let alone the topic of taller Tsunami waves.

After the 2011 Fukushima incident, the Japanese government started building a 15-meter-tall, 400-kilometer-long wall.  Although it is the biggest infrastructure project in Japan, will it be able to save it from possible tsunamis in ten years? Shall this wall be built all around Japan? Or will Japan be a city like Venice, Italy?

This blog is solely about problems that we may face soon without any solutions as I wanted to leave it open for discussion between you and yourself or people around you.

Let’s try!

Questions

1)　How ma

ny centimeters of Jakarta is sinking every year?

2)　Which cities are the urban centers of Japan according to the picture provided above?
3)　How big is the wall being built in Japan?
4)　Which other city/country is also under the damage of flooding?
5)　What is the sea level prediction by 2050?

Answers

1)     10 centimeters per year.
2)     All the cities marked red.
3)     15 meters tall, 400 kilometers long.
4)     The Maldives.
5)     Increase by three meters.

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AN AUSSIE COOKING IN JAPAN

AN AUSSIE COOKING IN JAPAN【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検二級、TOEIC500点程度

When I was living in Australia, I used to experiment a lot with cooking because sometimes after paying the bills I wouldn’t have much money left over. When this situation arose, I would have to cook with whatever I had left in the cupboards and in the refrigerator. In the beginning most of the meals I made were pretty bad, but after a while it became really good, much to my surprise.

Once I arrived in Japan, I didn’t have much of an opportunity to do much cooking due to living in an apartment with my wife’s mother and sister. Once we finally moved out into a house of our own, I started to cook again, but had trouble sourcing ingredients for western style recipes (I’m not good at cooking Japanese food). Eventually, I ended up finding a few places that had the ingredients I needed, which was a relief as I was missing western food, but in Japan it is pretty expensive to purchase. It eing expensive didn’t deter my want to start cooking again.

After finally finding places to get ingredients, such as Seijo Ishii, Amica, Gyomu Super and the online store The Meat Guy, which supplies meat from Australia, New Zealand and other countries I started a cooking frenzy. I have cooked things like steak wrapped in bacon with garlic herb mashed potato, pasta bake, curry sausage pie, salmon steamed in lemon/lime juice with chilli, risotto and many others.  I have added some pictures of just some of things that I have cooked. One problem though is that I tend to be a bit overzealous with presentation, which was because of a chef friend of mine that wouldn’t try my food unless it looked well presented. I was always perplexed by this because I wasn’t working for a restaurant as a chef.

Let’s try!

Questions

1)   What does the word “arose” mean?

2)   What did I have trouble getting in Japan?

3)   How am I at cooking Japanese food?

4)   Where did I end up getting the ingredients, I needed to cook western food?

5)  Out of the meals I mentioned, which do you think took the least amount of time to cook?

Answers

1)   Arose ? Come up

2)   Ingredients for western food.

3)   Not good4)   Seijo Ishii, Amica, Gyomu Super and the online store The Meat Guy.

5)   Salmon steamed in lemon/lime juice with chilli

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More Than Learning a Language【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検二級、TOEIC500点程度

When we learn a language, we learn words or grammar; we also learn the culture of a different country and how those differ from ours, like habits, way of thinking, and others. Learning the most used vocabulary helps us understand people from different backgrounds and expand our view of the world from other angles.

During times like this, a pandemic due to COVID-19, it might seem challenging due to the human contact restriction that we are facing. As we get to spend more time at home, we have more time to watch TV shows and movies that show us a lot about cultures and human interaction in another culture. While studying English is essential, sometimes we do not pay much attention to this fantastic resource full of knowledge.

Until we wait for the borders to be open and experience this culture at first hand, we should take advantage of this resource. It does not matter if your goal is business or daily conversations; there is a plenty of genres that we can watch depending on our goals. We can find Vlogs on Youtube or TikTok from ordinary people, telling us about their real-life situations and challenges. Plus, we can practice our listening skills, and get used to hearing a variety of accents.

One of the most important things that you can experience doing this is challenging yourself while having fun, so it is highly recommended that you watch something interesting.

Footage, movies and TV shows on Youtube and TikTok are significant parts  of Pop culture, which can help you find topics when you get a chance to talk to people.

So I encourage you to use these resources, talk about them and create an opinion to share with your teachers and future friends.

たくさん英語に触れることで、英語は上達します。反対に、触れる時間が減ると、せっかく頑張ってあげてきた英語の能力が低下していきます。

英会話スクールmmm外国人講師の先生による、日本で住んで気づいたことや、海外との違いなどのエッセイを英語でまとめた英語長文練習問題を作りました。最後には、この英語長文のQ&Aとなる練習問題があります。英語レベル的には、英検二級?準１級、TOEIC500?600点を目標にしている方向け程度の英語長文練習問題となっています。

参考書や過去問にプラスして要約練習や模擬問題として、定期的に、英語長文練習問題をお届けします。

最初の英語長文練習問題は、カリスマ人気講師ケニー先生が日本に住んでみて気づいたこと、実際に住んでみて、また、観光で訪れた時に感じた日本とは少し違ったということ、その日本と外国とで違うと感じた風習・習慣・常識などについて英語長文練習問題を書いています。

What’s Bizarre about Japan? 【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検２級・TOEIC500点程度

When people talk about Japan, they would always think about how innovative and technological this country gets! Or how pretty and neat the country is! Last but not the least, fashion, Cosplay and hype beast were always a big thing in the city of Japan. Coming to Japan with the intention of tourism would have been a great experience. Different culture. You can find a lot of unique things they sell in Japan! But as you live in Japan, you interact with the locals and everything doesn’t seem the way you thought of Japan.

First thing I would like to discuss is how Japanese people are not flexible. They were taught to follow the rules and orders, which is good at some points but not so good at some points. There are always advantage and disadvantage. For example, when I crossed a small street, there were no cars at all, but people would choose to wait for the red lights to turn green. Since foreigners from all over the world start visiting Japan, Japanese people are much more open-minded. However, only certain elderly people would stare at you if you cross a small street with the red light. Not only about traffic light but customer services aren’t negotiable at times.  We, as a customer need a flexibility. For example, in some restaurants we have our own positions and we are not allowed to take others. It’s great that we could focus more on our own jobs, but as the customers are waiting in lines, we should help out our teammates, but some of the staffs wouldn’t care.

Second, everybody who has their part-time jobs in a restaurant would have found out by now that Japanese restaurants love wasting all the clean leftover food. For instance, in Japan, they have different kinds of set meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner. As a restaurant, we need to prepare for breakfast, lunch and dinner set meals. If the meal we prepare for lunch hasn’t been sold out yet, the kitchen would definitely throw away all the leftover food after the lunch time ends. Why? Because they would like to have fresh food for the next day, not leftover food. It’s great but why not let us (staffs) eat the leftover stored in the refrigerator? I still can’t figure that out. It’s a waste of food. I know, Japan took really good care of the people so they won’t get food poisoning, but this is too much of a waste.

Many foreigners/ International students protested but no action being made. Many of us foreigners come to Japan to work and study, not to make a change in the Japanese culture or the laws. Japan is considered as one of the top countries in the world, compared to the country I was born. As Japan has much better laws, and how successfully well-developed Japan is proven, so we might have to learn on how Japanese do their jobs done.

Let’s try

Questions

1. What are the two examples that the writer mentions as Japanese being not flexible?
2. What did elderly people do when foreigners crossed the street with the red light?
3. What does the writer suggest we do when your job at a restaurant doesn’t allow you to take orders from customers?
4. What surprised the writer about the leftover food when working at a restaurant in Japan?
5. Which of the following is the closest to the meaning of “bizarre”?
   a) amazing b) strange  c) surprising  d) interesting

Answers

1. People don’t cross the street with the red light even when there are no cars.
2. They stared at the foreigners.
3. They should help taking orders when customers are waiting.
4. The fact that some restaurants throw away the clean leftover food.
5. b)

次の英語長文読解問題は、人気講師ヤシンー先生からの英語長文です。

My first train ride【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検２級・TOEIC500点程度

My first train ride

Bicycles, motorcycles, personal cars, taxis, buses, donkeys and horses in the country side are the means of transportation I had ever used in Morocco before I moved to Japan. “Where are the trains, subways, tramways? ” is the question you might be asking yourself right now, right? Well, we do have some railway lines mostly connecting the big cities, so I didn’t have a chance to take a ride as I lived in a little town in the northeast of Morocco.

On the other hand, those trains were and still are so slow and not very punctual. That’s why I didn’t even think of trying them. Now we have the TGV (Train Grand Vitesse: High Speed train) though, so don’t worry if you’re planning to visit Morocco.

November the 2nd 2010 was the day I first stepped my foot in Japan. My wife met me at the airport. It was the time for me to take my first train ride since I was born. It was wonderful because it was my first ride and the scenery from the airport to our destination was astonishing, especially the Autumn colours. I still remember that like it happened yesterday.

A couple of years ago, I went back to Morocco and had a chance to ride a train for the first time, but this time in my home country. It was pretty comfortable but slow as hell.

Do you want to try trains in Morocco? As a Japanese you had better not unless you enjoy suffering hell.  I’m a bit exaggerating, but I seriously don’t like them.

Let’s try!

Questions

1. Why wasn’t he able to travel by train in Morocco?
2. What was bad about trains in Morocco?
3. What part of his train journey in Japan was so good?
4. What does the word “astonishing” mean?
5. What is TGV the abbreviation for?
   A) The Good Vehicle. B) To Go Vertical. C) Train Grand Vitesse. D) Trained Government Vehicle.

ANSWERS

1. He lived in a small town and trains mainly travelled to big cities.
2. Slow and not punctual.
3. The scenery with all the Autumn colours.
4. “Astonishing” means amazing, very surprising or impressive.
5. C)Train Grand Vitesse.

今回はオーストラリア人のデニー先生からの長文練習問題です。 Let’sTry！

FRIENDSHIP: AUSTRALIA vs JAPAN【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検準一級　TOEIC 700点

Since coming to Japan almost 2 years ago, I have noticed a large difference in interactions and socializing with friends, neighbours etc. There are many different aspects to this and to see how dissimilar the two cultures are in this subject is interesting to observe.

AUSTRALIA: In Australia, after work (usually around 5:30pm) I would call/message my friends and say that I will come over to visit for a few drinks, sometimes a meal with them and vice versa. Most of the time it was no problem and when it wasn’t ok, they would immediately ask if tomorrow is ok to visit them. There was barely any time during weeks where we wouldn’t see friends or neighbours and socialize. After having drinks and most often a meal as well, I would go home and go have drinks with my neighbours. Usually when I went to my neighbours they would have friends or other neighbours that we knew well and would drink and have a BBQ.

On the weekend there would always be the regular visiting friends, having drinks, BBQ and having the TV outside to watch while socializing. This was also the case with neighbours. You would walk to your neighbours, there would be a small to large gathering consisting of other neighbours or their friends and you would go there, start talking, drinking, BBQ, go to the pub together or watch sports on TV. The other thing we would do to each other is tease each other quite a lot but that’s what a normal thing to do as friends was.

JAPAN: I have always loved Japan, its people, food, culture and natural beauty as a country. As I started meeting people, it was a bit difficult being Australian as we are sometimes an overly friendly people in some cases (well maybe to Japanese people). I would meet people and greet them in the normal way I would greet people in Australia. This usually was saying “G’day mate! How are ya! Nice to meet you!” and because it was enthusiastically said, a lot of Japanese people were apprehensive about it. My wife advised me that I need to be not so overzealous with my approach. Anyway, when I contact my Japanese friends or speak to them face to face and say about meeting on the weekend or after work for a drink, they respond with I will message you or pull out their calendar. This happens a lot, then they go on to say how about in 3 weeks’ time or end of next month. It’s a bit like a restaurant but you make a reservation with friends for even an hour of time. It’s quite interesting. I have started forgetting what my friends here look like. I see them and think to myself you look vaguely familiar, do I know you from somewhere? Hahaha.

In finishing, I think that the differences between both Australia and Japan in this respect are quite opposite. I think that we underestimate the importance of friends and making time for them as they are a vital part of who we are and who we should be and I mean that for all people everywhere. Having friends you can see often is huge a benefit to us as people and helps you relax and reset from stresses in everyday life. Make time for your friends as you need them and they need you.

Let’s try!

Questions

1) What aspect is the writer discussing in this article?

2) How often would Australian friends and neighbors meet?

3) What do Australians usually do when they meet?

4) How often would Japanese friends and neighbors meet?

5)In your opinion, why don’t Japanese meet that often?

6)What’s another word for “overzealous?” A: Offensive B: Passionate C: Talkative D: Rude

Answers

1)The difference of how we meet friends between Australia and Japan

2)They meet quite often both during the week and on weekends.

3-They usually have a drink, have a meal or a BBQ, and sometimes They go to the pub and watch sports on TV.

4)They would meet once a month, with arranging in advance.

5)e.g.*) They are busy with work and need to prepare something in order to meet their friends.

6)B

Kenny先生からの英語長文読解練習問題です。 

Cultural Differences 【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検２級・TOEIC500点程度

Cultural Differences

Today I want to talk about the cultural differences between Indonesia and Japan. Since I’m an International student, as I arrived in Japan back in 2016, the first thing I should do was to apply for an Identification card and to create my own stamp with my name on it.  How cool is that to have your own ID card and your own stamp in Japan!  Foreign/International students in Indonesia don’t really have to bother getting these.  Cultural differences could be interesting and fun although sometimes it could be difficult for some people.  For instance, foreigner or International Students with darker skin would most probably get asked about a theft or ID verification.

First thing I’m going to talk about is how to write your “Signature” in a Japanese and Indonesian way.  As what I have said, it’s really new for me to use stamps.  Back in Indonesia,  only  a president of a company, high ranking officials or  a person in a position of authority  are the ones who usually use stamps.

In japan they call it ( Hanko / Inkan ) and there are 3 versions for different uses:

• Jitsuincarries the highest legal authority and is required for such dealings as purchasing real estate or automobiles, transferring titles or ownership, taking out a loan, and filing a will.
• Mitomeinserves for commonplace transactions such as filing application forms at City Hall and receiving packages from delivery services and post offices.
• Gink?inis used when opening an account.

In Indonesia, we use our own hand-written signature which is basically a form of our name as a legal mark for administration, bank use and verifying official papers.

Next thing I found quite interesting was at the theater.  When I went to the theater for the first time in Japan, I felt weird.   We all know that Japanese people are very respectful towards people. For instance, staying after the movie to watch all the cast names and crew member names in the movie.  It takes about 10 minutes or more. This does not happen in Indonesia. It may seem selfish but people usually leave the theater as soon as the movie ends.

There are many more cultural differences between the two countries, but I’m afraid I have to end it for now.  See you next month!  I hope you learned something from it!

Let’s try!

Questions

1) In Indonesia who would commonly use stamps for a signature?

2) What kind of signature do Indonesian people use?

3)What is MITOMEIN Inkan used for?

4)What does the writer think about Japanese people’s behavior at a theater?

5)Which do you prefer? Hand-written signature or stamps as your signature?

Why?

Answers (Example answer)

1)A president of a company, high ranking officials or person of authority.

2) Hand-written signature.

3) Mitomein is only for transaction use.

4)The writer felt weird

5)I prefer Stamps.  You don’t need to spend time and energy to write your signature. It is quite simple.

I hope my country will adopt it in the future.

TRAFFIC IN NAGOYA【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検準一級　TOEIC 700点

To begin, this may only be isolated to one area, as I frequent where I have noticed this happens on a daily basis. So this is just an observation on what I have seen in person. I am perplexed by how often it happens.

On my way to work each day, I frequently walk to the nearby train station. Before the station you cross a main road and walk down a side street towards the station. As you near the station, there is a backstreet that has three crosswalks in front of the underpass. Every time I go to cross, I have to wait for cars to go past before I can cross, none of which slow down even the slightest. On numerous occasions when I first arrived here, I was almost run down.

In Australia(not sure about in Japan) pedestrians have right of way and if you don’t allow pedestrians right of way or at least slow down, it can be considered by the law as attempted manslaughter by negligence. We have a monitoring system that has CCTV cameras monitoring the pedestrian crossings to catch people who do not stop if there are pedestrians present. If pedestrians are not present you are still required by law to slow down when approaching a crossing. When it comes to the said crossings that I am referring to here in Nagoya, you never see any police presence in that area to even monitor, if anything maybe once a month at least.

When writing this, it is to me a safety concern for all pedestrians who frequent the area as well as for my wife and myself. As I had mentioned in the beginning of this blog, I am merely making an observation on what takes place in this area. Unfortunately I have had this occur a few times in different areas of Nagoya but in this particular area it seems to be very common.

Let’s try!

Questions

1)  What is the main subject of this blog?

2)  What happens at these pedestrian crossings?

3)  What is a pedestrian?

4)  What is CCTV?

5)  How often does this happen at these crossings?

6)  Why is it a safety concern?

Answers

1)  Dangerous driving near pedestrian crossings.

2)  Vehicles don’t slow down or stop at the pedestrian crossings.

3)  A person walking.

4)  CCTV ? Closed Circuit Television

5)  The drivers could cause serious injury or even death.

6)  The drivers could cause serious injury or even death.

次は、ケニー先生からの問題です！チャレンジしてみましょう。

Cultural differences【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検２級・TOEIC500点程度

Back at it again with the cultural differences between Indonesia and Japan! Today I’m going to talk about the “Taste Preferences” between Japanese people and Indonesian people. Well, food is one of the greatest things about life. There is definitely some things that most of us Indonesian can’t eat while we are living in Japan due to the differences in culture.

To begin with, I will start with Indonesia’s history. Indonesia won the 4^th place for one of the many islands in a country, approximately 6,000 populated islands of the total 17,508 with more than 300 ethnic groups calling Indonesia home. Many regional cuisines exist, often based upon their original culture and foreign influences. Indonesia has around 5,350 traditional recipes, with 30 of them considered the most important. Indonesia’s cuisine may include rice, noodle and soup dishes to street-side snacks and expensive plates.  Indonesian cuisine often demonstrate complex ingredients and the rich flavors which most often describe as savory, hot spicy and also combination of basic tastes such as sweet, and salty, sour and bitter. Because I love food, I’m very excited to taste all kinds of Japanese food, including raw fish, famous natto(納豆) and etc. I love Japanese food. It’s just that after living here for over a year, I feel like there is less flavor in Japanese food, and everything tastes plain. Most Japanese people have low tolerant of spicy food, but they have two kinds of chilies, shichimi tougarashi and  wasabi.  Shichimi is a crushed dried chili and it’s not spicy for us Indonesian. We can finish a bottle of shichimi, but when it comes to wasabi, most of us can’t stand the strong effect that hit on our nose.

Whereas with Japanese cuisine and inherited tradition, they love to eat fresh food or some variant tastes such as salty, sweet and sour then again they would prefer the natural taste of the food. Keep it in mind too, that they dislike food that contain too much oil in it except for a deep fried food. I will take one of the traditional food in Japan washoku as an example. Washoku contains miso soup, pickles, rice and fish. It’s a complete set to charge up yourself, to start off your day with or even for lunch. The way they place dishes to make it easier for us to eat. This is the impression I get while I’m living in Japan.

There is no end towards food and taste , so before I finish this blog I would like you guys to answer some of my these questions below referred to the above blog.

Let’s try!

Questions

1)  Why are there 5350 traditional recipes all around Indonesia?

2)  Between 5350 traditional recipes, how many of them are being consider as the main recipes?

3)  There are 2 types of chili that are popular in Japan. Which one of them do Indonesian people dislike?

4)  What kind of flavor does the writer think Japanese people prefer?

5)  Do you agree about the taste preference that the writer wrote? Give out your reasons.

Answers

1)   Because there are 300 ethnic groups in Indonesia

2)  30

3)  Wasabi

4)  Natural taste

5) (Your Opinion)

次は、Denny先生　からの問題です！Let’sTry！

HOW I CAME TO LOVE JAPAN【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検準１級・TOEIC700点程度

It all began in Primary School (Elementary School) when we had an exchange teacher come to our tiny school from Japan. When I say tiny school, I mean that it is in a very small country town called Uraidla (means “Lots of rain” in Aboriginal language) in Adelaide, South Australia. Uraidla only had a population of 250 people at that time. She had come to Australia to learn to be a substitute teacher and see how things worked being a teacher in Australia. She taught us a lot about Japanese culture, people and food. We were able to try different Japanese food such as sweets and Okonomiyaki. I loved it. It was so interesting and amazing to me to see how different things are to Australia.

Soon after that I began learning Karate, where I was not only taught martial arts but also about different ceremonies, the cultural background of Japan and the many wonders of the country itself. This made me even more interested and excited about Japan as a whole. My parents also showed me a Japanese television program that they used to watch when they were young called The Samurai (Shintaro). I really loved watching that show.

After 3 years of doing Karate, I went on to High School where I started learning Judo. I learnt even more about Japan from my Judo instructor who wasn’t Japanese but he had trained in Japan for many years. He too was fascinated by Japan when he was younger. I trained in Judo for about 4 years before I stopped due to having to study so much. I really didn’t want to stop but time was a problem.

A year or so later I met a guy who I became really good friends with and he also loved Japan. He asked me if I would like to train with him in Ninja (Ninjutsu). I loved Ninja but I had no idea you could learn it. I always thought that it didn’t exist anymore. So I started training with him in Ninja. It was so good!

Let’s try!

Questions

1)   What does Uraidla mean in Aboriginal?

2)  How many people lived in Uraidla?

3)  When I was learning Karate, what other things did I learn?

4)  Where did I start learning Judo?

5)  What does “fascinated” mean?

6)  What did I love and think was so good?

Answers

1)   Lots of rain.

2)   Population 250 people.

3)  Different ceremonies, the cultural background of Japan and the many wonders of the country itself.

4)   In High School.

5)   Extremely interested in something.

6)   Ninja.

次は、Kenny先生が、日本とインドネシアの違い（お年寄りへの接し方）についての長文読解です。
ぜひチャレンジしてみましょう！！

Cultural Differences【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検2級・TOEIC500点程度

Have you ever looked at your parents and realized that as you grow older, they are getting older, too?  It depends on each family, how they teach their kids and how they approach their kids. But I’m going to explain it from my point of view on how Japanese people approach their parents and how most Indonesian do.  In my case, I’m being well taught on how to respect the elders, and have some affections to our parents.

Hug and kiss are the ways to show our affections towards the people we love; for instance, girlfriend, boyfriend, husband and wife. Well how about our parents? The people who have raised us and brought us into this world? I do think they deserve the same affections as what we give to our partner equally. I see, listen and talk to my Japanese friends, and they don’t treat the way I treated my parents, not all but most of them. And as I give out questions on their opinions about hugging our parents, their reactions were a bit disgusted. It would be quite unusual, awkward and weird for Japanese people if they have decided to hug their parents. As for my case, it’s the other way around. It would be pleasing to see my parents feel loved, and happy after my siblings and I hug and kiss them on their cheek.

It’s just sad to see a lot of old folks in Japan live on their own and even their kids don’t really care them. I’m pretty sure it’s because of how they treated and taught their children. In 2017, according to the newspaper “The Mainichi”,   20% of the nursing home refuse elderly people requiring level 3 care. In other words, for those elderly who cannot stand up or walk and need full support to go to the toilet, their availability is limited.

Well, from my point of view, we as children are responsible for taking good care of our parents regardless of how troublesome they might be, how annoying they could get, for example; asking the same questions over and over again. Before I end this blog I would like to list out some questions for you.

Let’s try!

Questions

1)   What did the writer find about the reaction he got from Japanese about hugging their parents?

2)   What did the writer find about the reaction he got from Japanese about hugging their parents?

3)   What is the main argument of this blog?

4)   According to “the mainichi” newspaper, what does the nursing home a level 3 care mean?

5)   What does the writer think about the responsibility of children after their parents get old?

Answers

1)   Unusual, awkward and weird.

2)   20%.

3)   Affection towards our parents.

4)   Elderly who cannot stand up or walk and need full support to go to the toilet.

5)   Taking good care of our parents regardless of how troublesome they might be and how annoying they could get.

次は、オーストラリア出身のDenny先生から「日本とオーストラリアのビール文化の違い」の長文読解問題です。

ぜひチャレンジしてみましょう！！

BEER【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検準1級・TOEIC700点程度

When it comes to beer, Australia is very patriotic. We always tend to think our beer is the best in the world and I must admit that I used to be the same. I have tried beers from many countries and Australian beer is good but so many other countries have better beer. I would have to say by far the best beer is from Belgium.

When I was on my way to Japan, I was a little worried about how the beer would be. In Australia we don’t have much opportunity to try Japanese beer and when we do, it is very expensive. The only Japanese beer we have in Australia is Asahi. I do really like Asahi. It’s a nice beer.

After being in Japan and having tried the different beers, I was very impressed at how good the beer is here. My favourite would have to be Suntory Premium Malt, but some of the cheaper beers are very nice as well. I really like the Suntory 8% as it has a sharp flavor to it and also the Kirin Strong 7%.

One thing that surprised me with beer in Japan is that a lot of it is seasonal, which I found a bit strange. We don’t have anything seasonal in Australia except clothing. It’s disappointing when you get to really like a certain beer, and then they stop selling it because of the time of year. If they did that in Australia, there would be a lot of very upset people. Hahaha.

To finish I would like to say that I am very impressed with the beer here in Japan. I think it’s much better than 90% of the beers in Australia and definitely is 100% better than American and British beer. I recommend, if you get a chance to try Kasteel Bier from Belgium (Such a beautiful beer), Coopers beer from Australia, Mythos beer from Greece and Chimay.

Let’s try!

Questions

1)  What was I worried about when coming to Japan?

2)  Where do I think the best beer is from?

3)  What is my impression of Japanese beer?

4)  What is disappointing about beer in Japan?

5)  How much better is Japanese beer compared to most Australian beer?

Answers

1)  What was I worried about when coming to Japan?

2)  Where do I think the best beer is from?

3)  What is my impression of Japanese beer?

4)  What is disappointing about beer in Japan?

5)  How much better is Japanese beer compared to most Australian beer?

次は、デニー先生の記事です！
オーストラリアではクリケットに次ぐ人気スポーツはオーストラリアンフットボールって知っていますか？
どんなスポーツなのか是非英語記事にチャレンジしてみてくださいね！

AUSTRALIAN RULES FOOTBALL
【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検準1級・TOEIC700点程度

In Australia we have a very unique game played during the winter months called AFL (Australian Football League). It’s not like Rugby and it’s not like Soccer. It originally started as a variation of Gaelic football.

Australian football is played on an oval shaped field with four posts at either end of the field. The two in the middle are the tallest posts which is the goals (6 points) and the shorter posts on either side of the goals are point posts (1 point). Each team has 18 players on the field and 4 on the bench. Each quarter is 20 minutes in length with a break between quarters 1 and quarter 2 of 10 mins also the same between quarters 3 and 4. Half time is a 20 minute break.

The game starts with an umpire bouncing the ball in the middle and the Ruckman (tallest players on the field) run, jump and tap the ball down to the small midfielders. Players can pass the ball to each other either by hand passing (ball on one hand and the other hand punches the ball to teammate) or by foot (hand directs the ball to the foot).

If the ball is kicked and it is caught without it touching the ground (referred to as a mark) the umpire will blow his whistle and the player who caught it can go back and kick or handball it without any player from the opposition allowed to tackle them until they dispose of the ball. Free kicks are given if you are pushed in the back, tackled without having the ball, holding the ball for too long while being tackled, tackled above the shoulders, tackled below the knees just to name a few ways to give away a free kick.

POSITIONS: Full Forward

Left and Right Forward Pockets

Centre Half Forward

Left and Right Half Forwards

Centre

Left and Right Wings

Centre Half Back

Left and Right Half Backs

Fullback

Left and Right Back Pockets

Ruck

Ruck Rover

Rover

Bench (x4 players)

If you get the opportunity to watch it I highly recommend doing so. It is exciting, acrobatic, action packed, high scoring and fast.

These players play hard and tough and don’t wear any protection. Crazy Aussies we are!

Let’s try!

Questions

1)  Where did Australian football begin?

2)  If the ball goes between the 2 tallest posts, how many points are given?

3)  How long is each quarter?

4)  What’s the name given to the tallest players on each team?

5)  What protection do the players wear

Answers

1)  It originally started as a variation of Gaelic football.

2)  Points

3)  20 minutes each quarter.

4)  Ruckman

5)  No protection at all.

インドネシア出身のKenny先生による日本とインドネシアのお風呂事情の違いについてです！問題にもぜひチャレンジしてみましょう。

Cultural Differences
【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検2級・TOEIC700点程度

Up until today, Japan still surprised me with the uniqueness that you cannot find in any other countries. Hello guys! Back at it again with me, an Indonesian guy who is trying to adapt and currently on a learning stage in Japan! Today I’m going to share some of my experiences that up until now I still cannot get used to in Japan and vice versa with you.

The public bath in Japan. It’s a culture  in Japan which is quite sometimes unpleasant for foreigners. It is said that Japanese homes didn’t have bath tubs in the past ,which is why public bath houses were constructed to accommodate the locals who wanted to get soaked and relax in warm water. In modern Japan, where bath tubs are already usual in Japanese homes, public bath houses are still widely available. They are common in traditional houses, dormitories, inns and etc. Japanese public bath houses have also branched out into other varieties such as sauna for relaxation purpose. Not only that, Japanese people also love hot springs!

For Indonesian, a few people who live in a suburban area are still using wells to shower, or even rivers. But of course in urban area, generally we don’t really use bath tubs, but we have  a shower area, unless for some particularly wealthy people or even people who could afford to buy a bath tub. In Indonesia, we have a lot of active mountains which means, yes, we do have hot springs! The difference is that hot springs in Japan are being well taken care of, while in Indonesia it’s quite dirty. In fact, it’s a good business in Japan, while in Indonesia it is pretty cheap and there is not a single nice and beautiful resorts which is good enough to renovate the hot spring.

Let’s try!

Questions

1)  In Indonesia, which part of area do people still using well to take a shower?

2)  What was the first paragraph talking about?

3)  Why was public bath house constructed in Japan?

4)  What’s the name given to the tallest players on each team?

5) Which part of Indonesia are shower area and bath tubs available?

Answers

1)  Suburban Area

2)  About public bath in japan

3)  Hot spring in Japan is well taken care of and Indonesia’s one was quite dirty.

4)  To accommodate the locals who wanted to get soaked and relax in warm water

5)  Urban Area

次は、ＤＥＮＮＹ先生が日本で暮らして感じた日本とオーストラリアの文化の違いについての内容です。

CULTURE  AUSTRALIA VS JAPAN
【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検準1級レベル・TOEIC700点程度

I have noticed here in Japan a few differences in behaviours compared to Australia. I would say that they are interesting behaviours and situations more than anything.

First, in Australia when something breaks or isn’t working, most Australians will fix or repair it themselves or at least attempt to. I have noticed here that people just call someone to come and repair it even for the simplest things. In saying that though, Japanese think more about a situation than Australians which just don’t think and just do. Lol.

In Australia we have gas stations, which we call service stations that are like convenience stores here in Japan, but service stations have gas and a range of products like a convenience store here. Our gas stations also have either a Subway restaurant, Cafe, Bakery or a tobacco store.

One thing you have a lot of here in Japan, but we have very little of is festivals. I was amazed at how many festivals take place here. I haven’t had the chance to go to many, but I really do hope I get a chance to soon. In Australia we are lucky to even have one. I love it how there are so many festivals as it means more socialising. Where I come from in Adelaide, Australia we have 1 festival that goes for 2 weeks which is good, but I think we need more. This festival is an arts festival that involves food, art, stage shows, stand-up, comedians and music acts. Most of these acts are held in parks, bars and theatres. We do have other events, but most are mainly sporting events such as bicycle races, motorsports and horse racing.

Looking at all these differences from both cultures, to me shows that mixing with different cultures means that we all can improve in many different ways. One thing we need to be mindful of though is picking up the negative cultural behaviours, as they can sometimes be learnt too easily.

Let’s try!

Questions

1)  What do Japanese people do that Australians don’t do?

2)  What do gas stations in Australia have and what are they called?

3)  Japan has more what than Australia?

4)  How long does the festival in Adelaide go for?

5)  What do we be careful of when mixing with other cultures?

Answers

1) Think before they do something.

2) In Australia we have gas stations, which we call service stations that are like convenience stores here in Japan, but service stations have gas and a range of products like a convenience store here. Our gas stations also have either a Subway restaurant, Cafe, Bakery or a tobacco store.

3) Festivals

4) 2 weeks

5)  We need to be mindful of though is picking up the negative cultural behaviours, as they can sometimes be learnt too easily.

A glimpse to Uzbekistan’s secret underground
【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検準1級レベル・TOEIC700点程度

This year’s June has brought some surprise to the foreign tourists. After a long 40 years of photo ban of Tashkent metro was lifted, never-before-seen images urged many tourists to make their way to the capital city, Tashkent.

Tashkent metro was the seventh to be built in the former USSR, first in Central Asia opening in 1977 has three lines and twenty-nine stations (ten more under constructions). What makes it so special is to be among the most highly decorated in the world. It is also considered to be designated for military uses as a nuclear bomb shelter which demanded strict safety measures restricting civilians from taking pictures. Central Asia’s oldest metro is the masterpiece which platforms never repeat each other’s design. In the first millennium, Tashkent was one of the biggest cities along the Great Silk Road, a crucial port on the ancient trade route from East Asia to the Roman Empire. Its popularity triggered regime changes. The conquest of Arabs during the 7^thcenturies led vast amount of Islamic conversion whose influence lasted for more than a millennium but when Russia seized the city in the late 1800, country become more secular stance. Being controlled by various powers gave its fruits in the architecture of platforms. Soviet propaganda Uzbek culture and Islamic architecture are here in pictures.

Let’s try!

Questions

1) How many stations does the Tashkent metro have?

2) Why it used to be prohibited to take a photo of stations?

3) What is special about Tashkent metro?

4) When Tashkent metro opened to public?

5) Where is Tashkent?

Answers

1) It has twenty-nine stations.

2) It is designated for military uses which demanded strict measures.

3) It is one of the most highly decorated in the world.

4) In 1977.

5) Tashkent is the capital city of Uzbekistan in Central Asia

Home Sweet Home
【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検準1級レベル・TOEIC700点程度

No matter where you come from, there are always things you miss terribly when you live in another country. As I have mentioned before in a previous blog, I have loved Japan from a young age, but sometimes you can’t help but feel homesick in many ways. You start to crave food from your country, the lifestyle, friends and family. Even my wife says that she has moments where she really needs to have traditional Japanese food even when she is in Japan. Others here have also told me that they sometimes just must have Japanese food.

For me living in Japan, I really love Japanese food, especially Sushi, Ramen, Okonomiyaki, Shiitake Mushrooms stuffed with meat (so awesome!), Curry Udon, Yakisoba…………the list goes on. I also love Japanese beer and Sake. It’s so…….as we in Australia……. Bloody good! (Very, very good!).

The foods I miss the most from Australia are the huge hotdogs with huge long, thick sausages. They would have toppings on them such as egg, bacon, salami, cheese and onion. Then there were the sauces you could have on them such as Smokey BBQ, Honey Soy BBQ, Sweet Chilli, Mustard, or garlic butter. Next on my list is Fish and Chips. Back in Australia, we used to go to our local, privately owned Fish and Chip shop and for $4.00 AUD (about 450 JPY) you could get a huge amount of hot chips (thick French Fries in Japan) and 3 big pieces of fish in batter. It would be rolled up in paper and we used to tear a hole in the end of it, add vinegar and walk with it and eat. Also, the hot chips in gravy rolls were great from there as well.

In Australia, we also had the privately-owned Pizza Bars, which used to make some of the best pizzas. They always put so much topping on them and always had the best balance of herbs. The biggest size was 28 inches (approximately 70cm), which was awesome. We would invite all our friends over with a few boxes of beer and have a great night.

All in all, it’s just a strange thing that we get so used to our own ways, no matter where we are, and it takes so long to get used to different environments. In saying that, I love it here in Japan and really appreciate the opportunity that I have been given here in Japan. Thank you.

Let’s try!

Questions

1) What is the main topic of the Blog?

2) Which Japanese foods do I really love?

3) Which Japanese foods do I really love?

4) Which Japanese foods do I really love?

5) Which Japanese foods do I really love?

Answers

1) Missing Home

2) Sushi, Ramen, Okonomiyaki, Shiitake Mushrooms stuffed with meat (so awesome!), Curry Udon, Yakisoba.

3) Huge long, thick sausages. They would have toppings on them such as egg, bacon, salami, cheese and onion.

4) Tear a hole in the end of the bag and add vinegar.

5) They always put so much topping on them and always had the best balance of herbs.

Christmas in Japan【英語長文練習問題】
レベル：英検２級レベル・TOEIC500点程度

December is here! And everyone is waiting for 25^thDecember to come! Celebrating a wonderful Christmas here in Japan. It’s one of the widely held and biggest events for Japanese people.

Let’s look back to the tradition and history of Christmas. Christmas is both a sacred religious holiday and a worldwide cultural, commercial phenomenon. For two millennia, people around the world have been observing it with traditions and practices that are both religious and secular in nature. Christians celebrate Christmas Day as the anniversary of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, a spiritual leader whose teachings form the basis of their religion. Popular customs include exchanging gifts, decorating Christmas trees, attending church, sharing meals with family and friends and, of course, waiting for Santa Claus to arrive. December 25?Christmas Day?has been a federal holiday in the United States since 1870.

I came from one of the countries that lies on the equator line unless if you are a Christian, you won’t feel the Christmas atmosphere that much. However, Christmas day has been an essential festival in Japan where it’s being portrayed as followings.

1. Go on a date.

Christmas Eve in Japan is often thought of as a couples’ holiday, like Valentine’s Day in the West. Japanese couples ? especially young couples ? like to book dinners at a romantic restaurant, and it can often be hard to find a seatat any restaurant as the number of people spending time with their family has declined.

2. Admire Christmas Illuminations.

Illuminations are one of the Japan’s favorite ways to celebrate a winter season.

3. Exchange Gifts.

It has become commonplace for couples to exchange gifts on Christmas Eve, but rarely with anyone else. This may be because Japan has already a gift exchanging custom in December, the Japanese work-culture tradition of Oseibo, when co-workers exchange gifts. Presents are more commonly exchanged for the New Year, which is a much bigger deal in Japan

4. Eat Strawberry Shortcake

A Japanese strawberry shortcake is light and spongy with whipped cream filling and frosting, which is much less sweet than other cake toppers. This treat is sold as ‘Christmas Cake’ in Japan (although it’s also very popular for birthdays) and is a great way to celebrate the season with family and friends

5. Go Shopping

Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without a little holiday shopping, and Japanese malls are no stranger to Christmas decor. During this time of year, traditional trees, ornaments, and goods for sale aimed at the holiday shopper can be found at most major malls and department stores, especially in the big cities.

6. Visit A Christmas Market

From Hokkaido to Kyushu, Japan hosts European-style Christmas markets throughout the winter season. Find everything from delicate tree ornaments to hot cider.

7. Dine on Chicken

Kentucky Fried Chicken on Christmas has been a Japanese tradition since the 1970s, thanks to their catchy slogan and marketing campaign.

My own belief about Christmas is no more than a business game. In fact, as you can see, these centuries, cultural events have an impression of being monopolized by business all over the world and theytook advantages of giving gifts customs in this seasonin orderto make an extra profit. Some religious people protest against this “commercializing” of Christmas because they feel that a sacred, holy day is desecrated by it. If you did some research, you will find out that these events and how we celebrate it, have nothing to do with the historical believes.

Let’s try!

Questions

1) There are 13 countries lie on the equator line. can you mention 1 of them?

2) According to the article, why is that exchanging gifts in Japan are not uncommon?

3) What does the writer’s belief about Christmas?

4) The word desecrated in the passage above had the closest meaning to

(a) Honor
  (b) Misuse
(c)Save

5) According to the article, why is that exchanging gifts in Japan are not uncommon?

Answers

1)

? Sao Tome and Principe 

? Gabon

? Republic of the Congo

? the Democratic Republic of the Congo

? Uganda

? Kenya

? Somalia

? Maldives

? Indonesia

? Kiribati

? Ecuador

? Colombia

? Brazil 

all lie along the Equator Line

2) because Japan already has a December gift exchange of its own, the Japanese work-culture tradition of oseibo, when coworkers exchange gifts.

3) No more than a business game.

4)   (b) Misuse

5) Illumination

Australia Day【英語長文練習問題】
レベル：英検準1級レベル・TOEIC700点程度

On the 26^thof January every year we celebrate Australia day. It’s a day all of Australia gets together and celebrates with all people from all cultures living in Australia as one. It’s a celebration of Australia becoming a nation from the time of settlement.

As a tradition, we have a public holiday (national holiday). On the day everyone get’s together with friends, family, neighbours or goes to a local park with the rest of their Community. We have BBQ’s for breakfast, where we have bacon, eggs, sausages, mushrooms and baked beans. Between breakfast and lunch, a lot of the Australian men start drinking (usually alcohol) and talk while preparing for the food for the lunchtime BBQ and the traditional Australia Day cricket match on TV. While this is going on, the women will have coffee, talk, start preparing salads, cold meats and dips for lunch and get ready to watch the cricket. The children are usually running around together and causing trouble.

At lunch we start cooking the BBQ, where we cook sausages, steak, lamb chops (traditional Australian Day meat), kebabs, chicken and vegetables. While we are getting lunch ready, we start watching cricket on TV and continue drinking. Usually for Australia Day it’s very hot, usually between 35 ? 44 degrees Celsius, but we still stay outside.

Between lunch and dinner, we play a game of backyard cricket with all the family and continue drinking along with eating snacks. The grand parents usually take a nap before dinner starts.

When it comes to dinner, everyone starts to get the food ready to cook on the BBQ (usually the same food we cooked for lunch) and start getting dessert ready. As usual we continue drinking and watching the cricket.

After dinner a lot of Aussies get ready to go to the city to watch the traditional fireworks display which is almost as big as the New Years Eve fireworks display. Many thousands of people go to the main big parks in the city or to the beaches to watch because it’s still hot at this time of the day. The fireworks are designed to commemorate the foundation of Australia.

Australia Day originally was not a good day in Australian history, which I will explain in detail in my next blog. Recently people have been wanting it changed to the 8^thof May due to the nature of the history with the Aboriginal people in the past. Still though for a majority of Australians it’s about acknowledging the past, moving forward and coming together as one people and sharing a great day together.

Let’s try!

Questions

1) What’s a traditional Australian food to cook on Australia Day?

2) What date is Australia Day held on?

3) What do we watch on TV during Australia Day?

4) What game do we play with the family in the afternoon?

5) Where do we go in the evening to watch fireworks?

Answers

1) Lamb Chops

2) 26^th of January

3) Cricket

4) Cricket

5) The main big parks in the city or the beach.

次は、Ｂｅｋ先生による中央アジア～東ヨーロッパまで広範囲で話されているチュルク語についての記事からの問題です！ぜひチャレンジしてみてくださいね。

Turkic languages【英語長文練習問題】
レベル：英検2級レベル・TOEIC600点程度

Whenever the question arises about the dawn of human civilization, answers vary from person to person. But, for me, it was when early hominins [1] started gradually changing their primate communication systems, acquiring the ability to form a theory of other minds and a shared intentionality. It is believed that, around the world, there are 5000 to 7000 Human Languages. Estimates show that one language dies out every 14 days.

Turkic or commonly known Turkish languages are a language family of at least thirty-five documented languages, spoken by the Turkic people of Eurasia from Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and West Asia all the way to North Asia (particularly in Siberia) and East Asia.

(Turkic Languages-Wikipedia, n.d.)

Hominins a primate of a taxonomic tribe, which comprises those species regarded as human, directly ancestral to humans, or very closely related to humans.

●Southwestern (Oghuz)
●Southeastern (Karluk)
●Khalaj
●Northwestern (Kipchak)
●Chuvash (Oghur)
●Northeastern (Siberian)

[1]Hominins a primate of a taxonomic tribe, which comprises those species regarded as human, directly ancestral to humans, or very closely related to humans.

The number of Turkic speakers is over 200 million. According to one estimate, it is around 2500 years old.

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー
[1]The Japonic or Japanese-Ryukyuan language family includes the Japanese language spoken on the main islands of Japan as well as the Ryukyuan languages spoken in the Ryukyu Islands.

Turkic languages show some similarities with the Mongolic, Tungusic, Koreanic, and Japonic[2]languages. Having variety of sounds gives a privilege to Turkic speakers pronounce foreign language words accurately and easily.

Probably, for that reason, as a Turkic speaker, I really find Japanese language easy to learn. Of course, aside from Kanji. Whenever I think about Kanji, Mt Fuji comes to my mind. As Mt Fuji is hard to climb, Kanji is also a dream yet to come true.

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー
[2]The Japonic or Japanese-Ryukyuan language family includes the Japanese language spoken on the main islands of Japan as well as the Ryukyuan languages spoken in the Ryukyu Islands.

Let’s try

Questions

1. Why does the author feel Japanese language is easy to learn?
2. How many human languages are there?
3. How many languages are considered to be Turkic language?
4. According to the author, when is the start of Human civilization?

Answers

1) Having similarities with Japonic languages, the author feels, Japanese language makes it easy to learn

2) 5000 to 7000

3)  At least 35 documented languages

4)  The start of civilization when modern humans started to communicate with each other more verbally

Climate Change【英語長文練習問題】
レベル：英検準1級レベル・TOEIC700点程度

What is Climate change? Well, I’m pretty sure you guys have heard about it, for example, through human activity. Global warming is one measure of climate change, and is a rise in the average global temperature.Climate change (or global warming), is the process of our planet heating up. The Earth has been warmed by an average of 1°C in the last century, and although that might not sound like much, it means a big issue for people and wildlife around the globe.Unfortunately, rising temperatures don’t just mean that we’ll get nicer weather. The changing climate will actually make our weather more extreme and unpredictable. As the temperatures rise, some areas will get wetter and lots of animals (and humans!) could find they’re not able to adapt to their changing climate.

A lot of people are still unaware of these climate changes that could affect us in the near future. If we are lucky enough, we won’t have to see what will happen. What I can do best right now is to talk about it and share the knowledge of these battalions that are building a lot of foundations and constitutions in order to encourage people toward helping the environment, wild life and even human beings. One of the biggest constitutions the UN(United Nation) creates is an agenda designed for 2030 for Sustainable Development,adopted by all United Nations Member countries in 2015. This provides a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet now and into the future. At its heart there are 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which is an urgent call to action by all countries – developed and developing – in a global partnership.

They recognize that ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth ? all while tackling climate change and working towards world preservation.  Japan held its fifth meeting on June 15, 2018 with 3 following outcomes.

1. Promotion of society 5.0 that corresponds to SDGs
2. Regional vitalization driven by the SDGs
3. Empowerment of next generations and women

In addition, the government of Japan (Goj) headed by Vice Minister, Okamoto, in cooperation with Mr. Yoshimura, Mayor of Osaka, and other wide ranges of organizations including Japan Business Federation (Keidanren), private companies and civil societies, motioned in favor of the  Osaka-Kansai Japan EXPO 2025 and played up Japan’s initiative to promote SDGs.

Questions

Answers

1) It is a rise in the average global temperature.

2) The changing climate will actually make our weather more extreme and unpredictable.

3) Sustainable Development Goals.

4) 3(three)

5) Osaka-Kansai Japan EXPO 2025.

Work-Life Balance Part 1【英語長文練習問題】
レベル：英検準1級レベル・TOEIC700点程度

In today’s social constructs and day to day life, we seem to ignore the issues caused by our hectic lifestyles. These issues are caused by overworking and lack of social interaction outside the confines of the workplace. Having a life outside of work is essential for our physical and mental wellbeing. The instances of health issues due to over the top working hours are right in front of us, but we tend to ignore the harm it causes. When we do notice it, it’s usually too late, so we become reactive instead of proactive. We need to take notice and educate ourselves to be aware of these issues.

There are many issues, not just health related but also in the socioeconomic side of things that are detrimental to the population overall. What I am saying when it comes to socioeconomic effects is the time and cost to employers due to absence from illness. There is extra pressure on the health system from illnesses caused by excessive or increased work hours. There is then the problem of hospitals having patients that shouldn’t be there because the problem could have been avoided by being aware. It also means that the people that really need the hospital to find it difficult to get treated. The costs then rise and those costs are passed on to the taxpayer.

Next, we need to look at the issue of increased work hours and its effect on other areas of the economy. Increasing work hours means that the customer service and retail industry lose valuable revenue due to fewer hours to spend money from the customer. This not only affects the economy but also customer service and retail businesses. Consumers need to spend money to increase economic growth.

As we all know populations are getting older and the birth rate is dropping, that, in turn, causes major economic pressure. Without having more social interaction and increasing work hours, we are only adding to the trouble and it will only get worse if we ignore it. It can be fixed.

Questions

1. What does ‘Physical and Mental wellbeing’ mean?
2. What causes these problems?
3. What do consumers need to do to help the economy grow？
4. How is the aging population and the drop in the birth rate going affect the economy
5. What does ‘detrimental’ mean?

Answers

1) Safe, sheltered and overall good health.

2)  Increased work hours and little rest.

3) Spend more money.

4) Economic pressure will increase.

5) To cause harm.

Short briefing about Indonesia Election 2019 【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検準1級・TOEIC700点程度

In the early morning of Tuesday 21 May 2019, Indonesia’s General Elections Commission (KPU) declared, President Joko Widodo the winner of Indonesia’s 2019 presidential election. However, due to the ongoing tensions in the country, KPU apparently decided to make the announcement at a different d ate and time in order to take a precaution from a country that has been heavily divided by the latest elections.

It’s a battle between the current President Joko Widodo and Prabowo Subianto, a former military general. They also went face-to-face in the 2014 elections. Prabowo is closely related with the political elite. He was married to the daughter of former dictator General Suharto, who ruled Indonesia and named as an iron fist for three decades. He has been accused of complicity in human rights abuses committed under General Suharto, though he has maintained his innocence. After spending many years overseas, he made his political comeback in 2009. In the 2014 presidential election he campaigned on an anti-poverty program, saying he wanted to reduce unemployment and create new jobs. Joko Widodo – known generally as Jokowi – comes from humble beginnings but first became well known internationally when being assigned as the governor of Jakarta in 2012. In the 2014 presidential election he campaigned on a “man of the people” anti-corruption policy, promising to tackle poverty and to clear out bias and intolerance that has been happening up until now.

For the first time, presidential, parliamentary and regional elections are all taking place simultaneously on one day. It’s a massive democratic responsibility which will determine the future identity of a massive and diverse country. About 245,000 candidates will be running for more than 20,000 national and local legislative seats across Indonesia made up of around 18,000 islands and covering 1.9 million square km.

The Lowy Institute, an Australian think-tank, calls it “one of the most complicated single-day elections in global history”.

Questions

Answers

1. Joko Widodo and Prabowo Subianto
2. One of the most complicated single-day elections in a global history
3. Around 18,000
4. KPU
5. Joko Widodo and Prabowo Subianto

Work-Life Balance Part 2【英語長文練習問題】
レベル：英検準1級レベル・TOEIC700点程度

In this part of the blog, I will be addressing possible solutions to the issues with the current work-life balance situations. I will look at all sides of this topic from the social aspect and also from the economic aspect. No matter the situations that arise, there are always solutions that can benefit all that are involved. With the possible solutions that I am putting forward in this blog, they aren’t definite flawless solutions, hence why I said possible solutions.

When it comes to not just the physical but also the mental health side of things, we really don’t think about it too much as something to worry about. The way to get the best out of your employees as companies and employers is to have balance. We should be looking at the number of hours each employee is undertaking each month and spread it evenly throughout the workforce. This reduces exhaustion, stress, and situations of physical and mental burn out. Another thing that can be done is to pay attention to the employees, any changes in behavior and just simply asking them if they are ok. I also think that when having company physical examinations, they should also look at the mental aspects by asking if they are feeling good and also if there is anything that concerns them at work. 

There should be longer vacation leave like we have in Australia where most companies have up to 4 weeks per year available. By doing this, it not only gives more rest time but also can help with social interaction and economic stimulation. I will elaborate on what I mean. When you have a good rest, you feel more motivated, your mood and feeling is more positive and in turn encourages not only social interaction but also better work habits. The other thing that it does is allow more time to spend money, which then helps stimulate the economy. I also think that having campaigns to advertise and encourage socializing with others, as there is huge benefits health wise by doing so. Again, socializing more also encourages spending, relaxing and relationships, which helps not just the social side but also the economy.   

Overall, we really need to be looking into what we can do to help ourselves as a collective and look into being proactive and not reactive. If we do that, it means less work for us in the future and less to be worried about. If we think ahead and do the simple, preventative actions now, the positives for all will be huge. As I like to say “Work smarter not harder.”

Questions

1. What does ‘aspect’ mean?
2. Name 2 solutions that can help?
3. How can we improve the economy?
4. What do I like to say?
5. What does ‘Proactive’ and ‘Reactive’ mean?

Answers

1. It means one part of a situation, problem or subject.
2. More vacation time, evenly spread work hours, ask employees if they are ok.
3. Socialize more, encourage spending.
4. “Work smarter not harder.”
5. ‘Proactive’ ? Taking action by causing change and not only reacting to change when it happens. Act before something happens.
   ‘Reactive’ -React to events or situations after they have happened, rather than acting first to change or prevent something.

PetroYuan  A new English word or a new world order
【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検準1級レベル・TOEIC700点程度

About 800 years ago Marco Polo visited the ground of Genghis Khan’s grandson who was the first emperor of Yuan Chinese dynasty. For his surprise, he found most likely the first fiduciary currency of all time. Currency which was completely founded on government’s reputation and law enforcement which was inevitable punishment for those who refuse to use it. In recent centuries, world’s financial sectors has been substantially dominated by the west pound sterling, in the US, dollar becoming hegemonic for more than 200 years with its petrodollar, we seem to forget the fact that those were the Chinese back in the 7^thcentury who developed crucially important financial innovation, paper money. Now, China wants to reclaim that leadership.

So what exactly Petrodollar is? If you search the word definition, you may probably get this “a notional unit of currency earned by a country from the export of petroleum.” The petrodollar is a U.S. dollar paid to oil-exporting countries in exchange for oil. Since the dollar is a global currency, all international transactions are made in dollars. As a result, oil-exporting nations must receive dollars. Most of them own their oil industries. That makes their national income dependent on the dollar’s value. If it falls, so does their revenue.

As a result, most of these oil exporters also peg their currencies to the dollar. That way, if the dollar’s value falls, so does the price of all their domestic goods and services. That helps these countries avoid wide swings in inflation or deflation. At the same time, they become highly dependent on American dollars, economy, military and politics. But, everything is about to change, China, being the 2^ndlargest economy and largest exporter has surpassed US in oil imports.

What it means is now China can change petrodollar to its currency, Yuan.Saudi Arabia plays the major role in world economy being number one oil exporter has agreed to trade with China in Chinese Yuan. Second largest oil exporter, Russia tried the same approach in 2013 but after the sanctions followed by its occupation of Crimea, Russia realized its economy not ready yet financially.

What do you think will be? What is the effect on Japan? Should Japan be concerned about China becoming economically and militarily strong?

Questions

1. What is Petrodollar?
2. Whose grandson is the first emperor of Yuan dynasty?
3. Which country is the largest oil exporter?
4. What are the side effects of being dependent on US dollar?
5. Why Russia failed to establish PetroRuble?

Answers

1. The petrodollar is a U.S. dollar paid to oil-exporting countries in exchange for oil.
2. Genghis khan
3. Saudi Arabia
4. Oil-exporting nations must receive dollars. Most of them own their oil industries. That makes their national income dependent on the dollar’s value. If it falls, so does their revenue. Aside from that, they have to act according to US’s wills in the sector of politics, military and foreign policy.
5. Russia tried the same approach in 2013 but after the sanctions followed by its occupation of Crimea, Russia realized its economy not ready yet financially.

JAPAN AND FOOD
【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検準1級レベル・TOEIC700点程度

A few things that really stand out to me about Japan compared to Australia is the accessibility to food and drinks. As a foreigner to Japan, I was in awe of what you can have to eat and drink. To me being able to have all you can eat, and drink is amazing, especially when it’s so cheap. Some of my favourite places to go are Otto, Meitetsu Beer Garden and an all you can eat Yaki Niku place.

In Australia we used to have, a long time ago only a few all you can eat places were available, but they were expensive and all you can drink was only for sodas. Eventually they were forced to close due to being against health regulations. I was really upset about them closing because the food was so good. Unfortunately, we don’t have anything like Izakaya, which are great.

I would have to say that most of the all you can eat places are good, but some are to me falsely advertising all you can eat and drink. A couple of them that I have been to say all you can eat for 2 hours but after one and a half hours they call last order. They have great food, but I feel a bit ripped off when they call last order.

Overall, Japan has so many options available when it comes to food and drink. The other thing that surprised me was being able to eat and drink anywhere. In Australia you can only really do that in restaurants and bars. Japan always surprises me and continues to do so each and every day.

Questions

1. What are 2 of my favourite all you can eat places?
2. What really stands out to me in Japan?
3. Why were the all you can eat places closed down in Australia?
4. What do I think about Izakayas?
5. What amazes me about Japan?

Answers

1. Otto and Meitetsu Beer Garden.
2. The accessibility of food and drink in Japan.
3. Due to breaches in heath regulations.
4. They are great.
5. You can have food and drink almost anywhere.

“Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie (BJ Habibie)”
【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検2級、TOEIC 600レベル点程度

You guys might be wondering, who is this guy, and why is the writer so fond of writing an article about him? It was because he has passed away on the 11^thof September and was recognized as one of the smartest men in Indonesia.  Besides being known as the smartest person among flight experts, he is also the former President of the 3rd Republic of Indonesia. He had many accomplishments that Indonesian felt a great loss knowing, that he died at the age of 83 after suffering from a heart failure.

What’s interesting about BJ Habibie’s inspiring story is the discovery of a formula for calculating cracks or the multiplication of cracks randomly down to the atom by Habibie. To assess his intelligence and contribute to it, this equation is called the Habibie Factor. Not only that, he was also labelled as Mr. Crack by Aviation specialists. In 1967, he received the title of Honorary Professor or Professor at ITB (Bandung Institute of Technology).With all the intelligence he has, he gets a lot of recognition from international class institutions like.

• Gesselschaft fuer Luft und Raumfahrt (German Reform Institute)
• The Royal Aeronautical Society London from England
• Academie Nationale de l’Air and de l’Espace from Francis
• The Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering from Sweden
• Finally, from the US Academy of Engineering in the United States.

In addition to awards from many foreign institutions, Habibie also received several prestigious awards namely the Edward Warner Award and the von Karman Award where this award was most in line with the Nobel Prize award. In addition, Habibie also won the prestigious Theodore van Karman Award in Germany.

After studying for 10 years in Germany, Habibie returned to Indonesia to fulfill a call from the President of Indonesia, at that time the president was President Soeharto. In Indonesia, Habibie was appointed as Minister of Research and Technology / Head of BPPT (Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology)for 20 years. Not only that, he also led the BUMN (State owned enterprises of Indonesia) Strategic Industries company for 10 years.

In 1995 he succeeded in leading the aircraft manufacturing project which was named the N250 Gatot Kaca. The aircraft is the first aircraft made in Indonesia.

His fame, patriotic, historical act had a huge impact on the current Indonesia’s state, and thanks to his theory, he helps save many lives and the vast technology of the Aviation sector.

Questions

1. What huge impact did BJ Habibie brought to the Aviation Sector?
2. When did BJ Habibie Died?
3. After studying in German why did he decide to come back to Indonesia?
4. What is the name of the formula that he created?
5. What is the so special about the N250 Gatot Kaca Project?

Answers

1. He created a Formula
2. 11^thof September
3. to fulfill a call from the President of Indonesia
4. the Habibie Factor
5. It was the first aircraft made in Indonesia

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“Why are the Japanese Tech firms loosing global competitiveness?”
【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検2級、TOEIC 600レベル点程度

Good day everyone. It is great to be with all of you again. Today, I am delighted to have the opportunity to share some of my thoughts on a subject I am concerned about and why you should too: The future of Japanese Tech.

Japan, known as a country of magic for so many. Japan gave my father legendary Walkman which helped him to pick up girls as having Walkman at that time was like being on the height of coolness and to millennials including me, the PlayStation series. But there are far more crucial innovations than meets the naked eye of common consumers.  Japan dominated the world with its brands Sony, Toshiba, Shark, Panasonic and countless more and supplied the digital world with its semi-conductors but this shift is changing.

In order to understand the importance of today’s topic, let’s have a look at Japan’s top 10 export products in the below data provided by WorldsTopExports.com

1. Vehicles: US$154.1 billion (20.9% of total exports)
2. Machinery including computers: $148 billion (20.1%)
3. Electrical machinery, equipment: $109.4 billion (14.8%)
4. Optical, technical, medical apparatus: $41.3 billion (5.6%)
5. Iron, steel: $29.9 billion (4.1%)
6. Plastics, plastic articles: $26.1 billion (3.5%)
7. Organic chemicals: $18.9 billion (2.6%)
8. Mineral fuels including oil: $13.3 billion (1.8%)
9. Ships, boats: $12.6 billion (1.7%)
10. Gems, precious metals: $12 billion (1.6%)

Machinery including computers alone accounts for more than 20% of the total exports equivalent to 1,480億円 but one the other side, we have the news headlines like this:

Creditors urge Toshiba to consider bankruptcy.

Japanese electronics firms Eclipsed by Apple  etc.

Now, I am going to talk about the causes of these situations. First of all, I believe japan left behind from the globalization. Globalization is the process by which businesses or other organizations develop international influence or start operating on an international scale. But I would define Globalization as diversification of consumer needs around the world and the competitiveness of a company which depends on whether its products would be selected by the diverse consumers. Interestingly, the market value of Samsung Electronics alone rivals those of Japanese giants Sony, Panasonic and Toshiba combined, and South Korean makers today dominate electronics and electric equipment markets in emerging economies. When it comes to emerging economies, in Asia alone have a combined population of about 3 billion, Japan’s strategy about the consumer needs and market strategy wasn’t right.

Second cause is Brain drain and leak of knowhow. Software development cannot be automated and relies on human resources as the key to growth. According to the asia.nikkei.com from 1976 through the spring of 2015, 490 employees left Japanese electrical machinery makers for South Korean businesses, while 196 went to China. Another 350 went to smaller rivals like Taiwan and Thailand. I strongly believe numbers must be bigger and it keeps rising.

Thirdly, Senpai culture of Japan is one of the triggers. In a world developing with such a fast pace, creativity, fresh ideas and above all skills are crucial. Effort of a company must be put on different aspects rather training a new employee without technical skills.

The foremost reason is that Japan hasn’t taken the role of English seriously in this new digital world. English is considered as the language of information technology, called “Globalish,” and is learned as the second native language around the globe. While Japanese people have little to no inclination to learn English.

What do you think the causes are?

Let’s try!

Questions

1. How the author defines globalization?
2. How many people are in the Asian emerging economies?
3. What is the Japan’s top export item?
4. What is the third cause of the problem? How far do you agree?
5. Do you use foreign phone model? Why not Sony?

Answers

1. I would define Globalization as diversification of consumer needs around the world and the competitiveness of a company which depends on whether its products would be selected by the diverse consumers.
2. diverse consumers.
3. Estimated three billion.
4. Vehicles: US$154.1 billion (20.9% of total exports)
5. Senpai culture of Japan in tech firms.
6. -open question-

Disaster
【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検準1級レベル・TOEIC700点程度

Some may not be aware that currently there are wildfires (bush fires as called in Australia), but many are not aware of what is happening. Overseas many countries are unaware of what is happening in Australia currently.  At the moment there is a fire that is made of many other fires that have destroyed over two million hectares of Australian countryside. There have been expectations by the Australian citizens that other countries would come to our aid in hope of solidarity.

Only a few fellow countries have come to our aid. Canada and New Zealand being a part of those few. Our biggest allies are still sitting idly by while Australian people and animals are suffering in horrific proportions. Our appreciation of the support from both Canada and New Zealand have been nothing short of a great bond between nations. The Australian people had hoped that ally nations, such as England, America, Indonesia and Malaysia, would offer a helping hand. So far, there has been none forthcoming from each of these nations.

Unfortunately, the lack of support from around the world has weakened the Australian people’s faith in support in times of crisis. So far, many homes, people and animals are struggling to survive. Much of this has been caused by segments of government not being proactive and doing the exact opposite by restricting certain measures to prevent such a disaster.

The leading authority of firefighting in Australia approached the Prime Minister requesting the help of the military, air force and navy, but the Prime Minister refused any assistance.

In writing this, as a representative of the Australian people and animals, I hope that Japan assists Australia in its plight, as both nations have strong and friendly relations in both trade and friendship. Even with former disagreements in the past, Australians see Japan as one of our greatest friends.

Let’s try!

Questions

1. What kind of disaster is currently happening in Australia?
2. Which countries joined Australia to fight this natural disaster?
3. What hasn’t the government in Australia done in the past to prevent this from happening?
4. What has the authority of Firefighting asked the Prime Mister of Australia for?
5. What is the author hoping from Japan?

Answers

1. Bush fires (wildfires)
2. Canada and New Zealand
3. Being proactive
4. The help of the military, air force and navy
5. Assistance

Learning new thing【英語長文練習問題】
レベル：英検2級レベル・TOEIC600点程度

For a long time, I’ve wanted to practice snowboard. Finally, after a couple years in Japan

I finally got the chance to tried it for the first-time last year.

I would say that is probably the most challenging and scariest thing I’ve ever tried so far. So, I planned my trip to the Ski place called Takasu in Takayama, Gifu prefecture. I was very excited; I search for everything about snowboard on the internet and asking my friends about it. The day came, so I drive for hours to Takasu; as I arrived and look at the big mountain, I got terrified, I’m not too fond of high places, so the lift was one of my main concerns. After practicing some basics, it was time to face my fear “the lift”, after I got on it, I realize it wasn’t scary as I thought. The scariest part was looking down the hill and see how up on the mountain I was. Even this, I was scared I got on the snowboard and tried to stand up, it took me so many falls, but as the more the I tried, the better I was getting. By the end of the day I was tired, but I never felt so happy, I was able to go downhill better than I started, it might not be perfect but was a started.

This year I decided to get more serious about it and booked a snowboard lesson. I choose an indoor snowboarding place for it. I made a reservation for Japanese snowboarding lessons; I was concern about it, but at the same time, I said to myself that this is going to be an excellent chance to learn and use my Japanese. As I enter the place, I got scared to see how high it was. The instructor was helpful and patient with me, I understood everything he said, I was proud and surprised at the same time. The lesson began with some warm-up exercises, then we started in the middle of the slope. It was scary again do it even though I tried before; I couldn’t stand up quickly, so the instructor helped me a couple times. After some practice, he decided that I was ready to go on the top, I didn’t share the same thoughts as I wasn’t feeling confident, but I trust and followed him to the top. After a couple times trying, I realize that I was actually doing well even though I haven’t practiced for a year, and my instructor was right. After the lesson finished, I thank my instructor, and the real challenge began I decided to try again, but this time by myself, it was scary, but I could do it better than before.

Learning new things is scary at first and seemed that we can’t do it, but with practice, you gain confidence, and you started getting better and liking it.

It was a double challenge for me, but I decided to go for it. So, for new learners of the language, I would recommend taking a lesson in your target language that can be cooking or any sport. Practice, gain confidence, and love it.

Let’s try!

Questions

1. What does the writer suggest doing when we want to improve in our target language?
2. Where did the writer go snowboarding for the first time?
3. How does the writer is scare of?
4. Why did the writer decide to take lessons in Japanese?
5. When did the writer tried snowboarding for the first time?

Answers

1. Learn a new activity or sport in the target language.
2. Takasu, Takayama, Gifu prefecture.
3.  High places.
4. Because the writer wanted to use Japanese.
5. Last year.

Why are Japanese so slim?【英語長文練習問題】
レベル：英検2級レベル・TOEIC600点程度

Hello MMMers, I am Beck, and it’s great to be with you again. Probably some of you have read my previous blog about Petro Yuan. But this time, as you have already realized, I would love to talk about the physique of Japanese people. It has already passed more than three years since I moved to Japan (Time flies), and yet I can vividly remember me being surprised by how slim Japanese ladies are. The reason being, I wasn’t even attracted to slim girls until it passed three months after my arrival.

Today, I will be writing about what factors cause Japanese to stay slim and healthy, although they eat carbohydrates such as rice, ramen, and udon, which is supposed to make us gain weight. Although I never assumed to know the best about the culture I had never lived among nor spoken the language of, I simply accepted the commonly held presumption that it’s in their gene until I myself have lived and lost 10kg in the 1^st year of my life in Japan. So, what are the reasons?

Portion
The volume of food is way smaller than in western countries.

The size of the dinner plates has increased over the 20 years all over the world, but it’s not a considerable case in japan. They drink green tea, which has virtually 0 calories, whereas we drink soda a lot.

Dinnerware
Using chopsticks or a smaller spoon makes us feel full.

Slowing the speed at which you eat allows your brain to notice that you are full. Japanese people find it easier to see they are full because they use chopsticks, which is a more time-consuming way of eating. Imagine you eating a plate of burger with potato fries using your hands while a variety of food in small-sized dishes eating with chopsticks, which one takes a long time?

As an aside, I have realized that Japanese people tend not to eat while watching their Netflix. Because you can’t really control how much you are eating while enjoying your entertainment.

Infrastructure
Public transportation and active lifestyle

Japan has an extensive railway system enabling commuters to reach even remote areas; for that reason, most people don’t own a car.

It’s normal for an office worker in Tokyo to spend 2 hours a day just to commute to work. And they do so by walking to the station and from it to work or cycling.

Peer pressure/Inconvenience
Overweight people feel alienated

Having been surrounded by slim people around urges you to be slender as well. Another aspect could be having a hard time finding the bigger size of clothing since most stores don’t have it.

Dating culture
Japanese guys prefer slimmer girls

Contrary to the US, where masculinity is common or being praised, Japanese girls are expected to be more feminine and obedient. In an environment like this, girls prioritize their body shape strongly.

What have you seen as the cause of Japanese slenderness?

Let’s try!

Questions

1. What are the other ways of saying “Slim”?
2. How long has the author been living in Japan?
3. What does the author imply by “extensive railway system”?
4. Why Japanese fashion makes it inconvenient to be overweight?
5. Why does sing chopsticks help us prevent obesity?

Answers

1. slender, thin
2. More than three years
3. Japan has an excellent public transportation service, which allows accessing even rural areas.
4. Clothing stores don’t have big sizes for overweight people.
5. We know when we are full.

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SITUATIONAL CHANGE【英語長文練習問題】
レベル：準1級レベル・TOEIC700点程度

With the types of situations that occur in our lifetimes, for example the current situation with the Coronavirus, we tend to see it as a doomsday type scenario. This is usually because we are complacent in our attitudes towards these types of events. We get overly caught up with the here and now and are reactive rather than being proactive. In this kind of scenario, we end up becoming negative in our approach to everything, which is unproductive in the scheme of things.

During my life I have encountered many adversities, some of these were small in context and others much bigger. These occurrences at the time did bring me down, but once I got through them, I realised that I should have been more proactive during those times. Although I was feeling down during these periods, I would always pull myself up and use those times to better myself and plan and that is the key.

Currently all we hear from the media are providing misinformation, arguing with each other and continually changing their stories. This is causing a lot of unnecessary panic and people to do silly things. In this situation, instead of believing everything the media says, we should only listen to what all of them can confirm. They should be working together to help the collective good and stop thinking only of arguing with each other.

verall, we should not see this as a negative situation, but more as an opportunity to change our way of thinking. We need to use this time in a useful and productive way, such as planning for after this is over. This is where we need to look at learning new skills, setting goals and improving ourselves. We all need to be more proactive and prepare for our futures. Keep safe and let’s look after each other and support each other.

Let’s try!

Questions

1. What does ‘doomsday’ mean?
2. What should we do instead of being reactive?
3. I would always do what when I was feeling down?
4. The media are causing…….?
5. We should not see this as a negative situation, but…….

Answers

1. Last day of existence.
2. Be proactive.
3. I would pull myself up.
4. Unnecessary panic.
5. …..more as an opportunity to change our way of thinking.

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Is Japan Environmentally Friendly?【英語長文練習問題】
レベル：準1級レベル・TOEIC700点程度

What I have noticed in the differences between Australia and Japan regarding environmentally friendly practices has been quite eye opening.  Some areas are similar while others have been quite opposite. Actions taken in this area have been slow in some respects.  Awareness of the world around us on both sides has been lacking and honestly deplorable.

Firstly, when it comes to plastics, Japan seems to overuse plastics in many aspects of life. In Australia, we try constantly to reduce or refuse plastics unless we have no other options. As an example, in convenience stores in Japan, almost 75 to 80% of products have some sort of plastic in the packaging. On the other hand, Australia has reduced this to about 50 to 60%. Also, when it comes to convenience stores, they have a habit of giving out plastic bags for even the smallest products, which is unnecessary. In saying that, in Australia some people still have bad habits when it comes to plastics.

One big problem we have in Australia, which Japan has done better with, has been the transition from gasoline and diesel cars to hybrid cars. Australia tends to have this macho type attitude towards hybrid vehicles and wants big V8 powered cars or old-style diesel pickup trucks (4 x 4). I feel this is kind of a balance between the two countries when it comes to the impact being negative on their own environments.

One last aspect to look at would be the rubbish disposal system in each country. When I first came to Japan, I was surprised that there were no public trash cans and in Australia we also have not only public trash cans but separate trash cans one for bottles and one or cans.  One thing that did not make sense to me in Japan was with the drink container trash cans have two separate holes, one for plastic bottles and the other for cans. When I looked at them closely, they all go in the same container together. It should be separated in two halves, otherwise it does not make sense to have one hole for cans and one for bottles. When it comes to household trash cans, we have large plastic trash cans, one for general rubbish, one for recyclables, and one for green waste. (e.g. garden waste, vegetable scraps) These trash cans have wheels on them, and we put them at the top of the driveway. For collection, this made it much easier for collection, kept pests out and was less work for collectors. In Japan, they have plastic bags and the collection is irregular and you can not put the rubbish out the night before for fear of birds, rats and other pests getting into the rubbish.

In conclusion, overall, both need to really look at the way they deal with the efficiency and ultimately make a difference. I would say that if both Japan and Australia integrated ideas, it would be a far more effective start to improving our situations. It just shows you that both of our cultures are really missing the point and are really being counterproductive even with our improvements. We could all make this work by working together.

Let’s try!

Questions

1. How is the macho attitude reflected in Australian culture?
2. What did not make sense to the writer in Japan?
3. What percentage of packaging in convenience stores in Japan have plastic in them?
4. What are the three types of trash cans in Australia?
5. What does the write suggest each country do to improve?

Answers

1. They want big V8 powered cars or old-style diesel pickup       trucks (4 x 4).
2. How public trash cans for drink containers in Japan are structured.
3. 75 to 80%
4. General rubbish, recyclables, and green waste.
5.  Japan and Australia to integrate ideas.

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Racism in Indonesia【英語長文練習問題】
レベル：英検2級レベル・TOEIC600点程度

Racism is an idea created by humans to differentiate between people seen from their skin color, ethnicity, and the area of their residence. Usually, racism is always attached to the superiority of certain groups. They can do anything because they feel superior. Finally, the rights of different people are violated. Even leads to criminal-ism.

Racism has existed in this world for a long time. In fact, it has very strong roots. In almost every country, cases of racism always arise and create social inequalities. The tragedy of the death of George Floyd in the United States brought back the issue of racism in black #BlackLivesMatter in various regions of the world. In Indonesia, the issue of racism that emerged was in the form of the #PapuaLivesMatter campaign, which raised the issue of discrimination against Indonesians against Papuans.

Dutch colonize Indonesia in 1595. Racism is inseparable from colonial heritage how the Netherlands used to make social stratification in the colonies. In Indonesia, stratification is divided into three. Namely, the European group, the Eastern group, which at that time was dominated by Chinese and Arabic descent, as well as the indigenous group. From there, we can see the roots of racism. Then racism was increasingly formed during the New Order when the government carried out repression against ethnic Chinese.

Regarding #PapuaLivesMatter, that the tribes in Papua are indeed biologically different from other regions in Indonesia. Racism towards Papuans also formed during the New Order era. I think that racism in Papua also cannot be separated from the New Order when the area became the location of military operations in 1974. In my opinion, there is a share of history in current discrimination; however, both anthropologists stress the issue of racism in Papua in contrast to the US. That discrimination in Papua was different from black slavery that had occurred in the United States. Black people have become slaves in the US with a very long history. While here, the problem is the treatment of the region (Papua), which is not good. There was attention to the eastern parts of Indonesia that were left behind. Maybe there are still feelings of anger, heartache felt by the Papuan people in the past.

One of the most significant issues that have occurred in Indonesia since the past is racism against Chinese descendants. In 1998 The past government carried out repression in such a way (against the descendants of Chinese) so that the effect is felt up until now. In Papua itself, racism exists, some of Papuan are getting names as ‘straight hair’ and ‘curly hair.’ Racism is strong; it differs according to the location. But not strong in others. Malay Batak ethnic groups refer to Indian descent as ‘keling’ which means dark skin person from India. This is because biologically, their physical form is different. But it is different with the descendants of Chinese in Kalimantan, which is more likely not a problem because they are biologically similar.

Let’s try!

Questions

1. Which Country that Colonized Indonesia and affected their culture into the current “racism” happening in Indonesia?
2. What did “Racism” create in our society?
3. What campaign did Indonesia create when #blacklivesmatter campaign was happening in America?
4. What happened in Indonesia in 1998?
5. What name do other ethnic groups call Indian descendants with?

Answers

1. Dutch/Netherlands
2. Social Inequalities
3. #papualivesmatter
4. The past government carried out repression against the Chinese descendants
5. Keling

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The way we learn【英語長文練習問題】
レベル：英検2級レベル・TOEIC600点程度

Growing up, I didn’t have much contact with kids even though I have a brother, and he is about my age. I was always interested in what it would be like to be around kids or have a baby brother. It wasn’t until recently that I had the opportunity to be around kids but not only one but many of them. I started teaching English and Spanish to little kids with different nationalities like Japanese and Brazilian.

I was in Peru when I was their age, so it is very interesting to see the difference in how they are learning. And because of the generation gap, the teaching methods differ from the ones been taught now, and also, the difference of the culture they are born and raised in. I found that, in Japan, teaching a new language to kids has to be through very fun activities, as they use playtime as a learning method. Kids absorb new languages better if it is taught dynamically with a lot of games and movement. It is a slow process as learning a language is new for them. Still, repetition with physical movements helps them learn words by relating it with the target word.

It is quite interesting how kids interiorize language learning, as this sometimes can bring emotions like boredom, frustration, or happiness. Kids show these emotions at the moment and let you know about it by saying “I don’t want to do this,” “I am so happy, look at what I learned today” or “teacher, I am hungry, I want to go home.” Showing emotions and speaking about them is quite helpful as some kids will show if they understand it or not and speak out. However, for some, doing this can be difficult, so they just sit back without any interaction, or they show that they don’t understand because they are afraid of what other peers could say.

Through teaching, I learned some interesting differences between not only adults and kids but nationalities as well. For some, foreign pronunciation and vocabulary can be easier as some can be similar between countries. The tricky part is that these words might have a different meaning (this is called false cognate). On the other side for Japanese, vocabulary and pronunciation can be difficult as their language is very different from English, but some vocabulary might be easier as the Japanese used a good amount of English words on an everyday basis, just with a change in pronunciation.

Another thing that I found interesting is the way they interact with me. For example, when I interact with foreign kids, there is kind of a feeling of an age gap like they treat me as an adult. On the other hand, Japanese kids treat me more like I am equal to them, expressing themselves more freely from frustration to happiness.

Teaching kids has shown me how different the way we learn is and how our different backgrounds shape how we learn and interact with the world around us.

Let’s try!

Questions

1. Where is the author from?
   a) Peru
   b) Japan
   c) Brazil
   d) America
2. What does the author do?
   a) Teach Japanese
   b) Teach English
   c) Teach Spanish
   d) B and C
3. How does kids learn better?
   a) Tongue twisters.
   b) Talking to the teacher.
   c) Playing games
   d) All above
4.  Where is the author teaching?
   a) Japan
   b) Brazil
   c) Peru
   d) Spain
5. Is the teacher teaching only kids?
   a) True
   b) False

Answers

1. 1) a) 2) d) 3) c) 4) a) 5) b)

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Five underrated things in Japan【英語長文練習問題】
レベル：英検準2級レベル・TOEIC500点程度

If you have been living in Japan for a long time, things become usual for you and sometimes don’t even realize how you will miss these things if one day you traveled abroad or maybe move to another country.

Public bathroom

One of the things I love in Japan is clean, beautiful, and efficient Japanese toilets. While traveling, finding a bathroom was not an easy task; public restrooms were challenging to find, so mostly, I’ve had to eat or drink at a restaurant or cafe to buy something to use the toilet. Coming back from Europe made me appreciate this even more, as it is so comfortable in Japan to access public restrooms everywhere.

24 hours convenience store

Have you ever wanted to eat ice cream at night? Well, you can crave anything at any time it will be plenty of options to fulfill your cravings; when I was in Europe, I sometimes walked at night, but most of the stores where closed, so I had to think in advance and get all those things I need at the supermarket before closing time. Have you ever been on a long road trip? You can take a rest at any convenience store to eat, drink, go to the toilet and rest in any connivance store along your way.

Security

I could say that I feel safer in Japan most of the time; I can look at my phone while walking, have money in my hands, go to the convenience store at night and drive without locking my car doors, without being scared that something bad is going to happen. While caution is always advisable, I feel more freedom, and I don’t need to be in a fear mode all the time.

Omotemashi

Japanese customer service is the best in the world although I encountered some that were not so good. In general, they go out of their way to help you out with a big smile and a respectful Japanese Language. Plus, as for product presentation, have you ever noticed how well thought and presented food, drink, souvenirs, and others are? It is just beautiful.

Food from all around the world

Even though Japanese food is the favorite food for Japanese and foreigners in Japan, this country has a wide variety of ethnic food in both its original and Japanese style. Here I tried all types of ethnic food from Japanese, Asian to western, and Latin American food.

Let’s try!

Questions

What isn’t mentioned in the passage?

a)　Ethnic food
b)　Bathroom
c)　Clean streets
d)　Customer service

What can you buy at night in Japan?

a)　Ice cream
b)　Food
c)　Green tea
d)　All the above

What kind of foods are mentioned by the author?

a)　Asian food
b)　Western food
c)　Japanese food
d)　All the above

What is the characteristic that the author mention about public restrooms in Japan?

a)　Clean
b)　Free
c)　Dirty
d)　Bad smell 

What does the word “underrated” mean?

a)　Doesn’t receive the recognition that deserves
b)　It is highly appreciated
c)　Someone famous
d)　Bad reviews

Answers

1. 1) c) 2) d) 3) d) 4) a) 5) a)

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How to chill out during a global pandemic【英語長文練習問題】
レベル：英検準1級レベル・TOEIC700点程度

After an eventful year, I have often found myself thinking about ways to stay calm when the world outside is so turbulent. Every morning when I turn on the news, my heart sinks to discover more disturbing information. I think it is so important to tune in every day to the world events, and also to do what we can to make the world better. However, sometimes in the middle of a global pandemic, you need to just tune out, and settle into the blissful mundanity of your little life.

So here are my tips to take the edge off. Firstly, I like to start my day by moving my body. Many of us are working from home during this time and should reap the benefits of this! Working from home has given me an extra hour in the morning to do some yoga or go for a walk. Sometimes I take a coffee or listen to a podcast, but usually I just move for the sake of moving.

Secondly, I carve out time in the day to listen to music. Depending on the day, this ranges from sad music to happy music, slow music to dance music. Either way, music has the ability to force us to listen inwards and has the uncanny ability to allow us to tune out from the craziness of the outside world.

Next, I like to cook as much as I can. Of course, some days are busier than others, and cooking isn’t always possible, but when I can I really notice the difference in my mood. Cooking is great for mental health because we are forced to focus on the task at hand, without looking at our phones or computers.

As well as this, I drink lots and lots of tea! Tea is a powerful thing. It can be drunk hot or cold, sweet or bitter. It hydrates you throughout the day and gives you an excuse to get up out of your chair. This one doesn’t need much explanation, because we all know tea is great.

Finally, I try to watch or listen to something that makes me laugh every day. I usually listen to a podcast in or watch YouTube in English. Whilst I study Japanese in the day, when I have finished work, I like to listen to something in my own language. Humans cannot be improving themselves 24/7, so listening to something because ‘it just makes you laugh’ is important too!

Let’s try!

Questions

1)　How many different activities does the writer suggest to relax in a pandemic?
2)　What are those activities?
3)　What 2 different types of exercise does the writer suggest doing in the morning?
4)　“The writer thinks it is important to listen to the news every day.” True or False?
5)　Why does the writer suggest listening to a podcast or watching YouTube?

Answers

1) 5

2) Exercise, Listening to Music, Cooking, Drinking Tea and watching or listening to something funny.

3) Walking or Yoga

4) True

5) Just because it makes you laugh.

Color differentiation in culture【英語長文練習問題】
レベル：英検準1級レベル・TOEIC700点程度

It has been a while since I last wrote a blog. Color is a crucial aspect of every culture. Colors can represent love, anger, sadness, infidelity, and religious affiliations, depending on the culture. In today’s reading, we will look at the different meanings of colors in cultures around the world.

Blue bears both positive and negative meanings. For example, in Western cultures (North America and Europe) The most popular color for bank logos is blue because it represents trust and authority. The color is also masculine and used to represent the birth of a boy. Meanwhile, in China, it is the symbol of femininity. Now imagine me, a guy whose wardrobe is 70% full with blue clothes visiting China looking all like girlish. Whereas, in India, blue represents immortality. in countries such as Turkey, Greece, and Albania citizens can be seen wearing blue amulets as they believe bleu repels evil. Interestingly in my country Uzbekistan, blue signifies peace and purity. Universally associated with the sea and sky, a natural phenomenon well-known the world over, blue instills a sense of inner stability. The reason being it is common to see historic buildings covered in blue tiles. However, In English and also probably in the Japanese language we can observe the word blue associated with phrases that have negative meanings. For example, to feel blue; once in a blue moon; out of the blue.

Green is a go color; it is the color of hope. It makes sense because we can associate it with springtime and a sense of flourishing. At the same time, it is the color of jealousy. Back in 1603, William Shakespeare referred to jealousy as a “green-eyed monster” in his tragic play Othello.

Red, although universally accepted as a stop sign,　can be seen as being a feminine or sexy color while it symbolizes happiness in China.
In China, yellow has strong historical and cultural associations. The first emperor was called the Yellow Emperor. After the Song Dynasty, which ended in 1279, only the emperor was allowed to wear bright yellow. in Japan, the color yellow is one of courage. in America, it is the exact opposite. Yellow is considered the color of cowardice.

The lovely color white plays an important role in religions around the world. in Christianity, children wear white when they’re baptized and first take communion. The Pope (head of the Roman Catholic Church), has worn white since 1566 to symbolize sacrifice. Muslim pilgrims wear Ihram, a simple white attire intended to signify that before God, all are equal.
The color white or Shiro in Japanese is considered a sacred color of the gods. It is the symbol of spiritual and physical purity. Since old times, the Emperor of Japan used to dress in white clothes for the main Shinto rituals.

Here, I would like to conclude the topic of colors and their meanings around the globe. Hope you found it interesting and feel free to share your thoughts with your instructor and take a short quiz below to check your comprehension.

Let’s try!

Questions

1)　What is the color of jealousy?
2)　What is the universally regarded peace color?
3)　Which color is frequently associated with phrases which have negative meanings?
4)　Which color symbolizes femininity universally?
5)　What is the sacred color of gods in Japan?

Answers

1) Green.

2) Blue.

3) Blue.

4) Red.

5) White.

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Sinking cities【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検準一級、TOEIC700点程度

Today, I would like to talk about global warming and its seeable effects on our daily lives.
I am from a southeastern country, Indonesia. Its capital is Jakarta, or I call it a sinking city. According to the research, Jakarta is the fastest sinking city in the world expected to be 95% submerged under the water by 2050 when a lot of you, hopefully, will be still alive. Every year, 10 centimeters of it is submerging in the water. The reasoning behind this incident is largely due to the excessive extraction of groundwater for drinking and the commercial use when water is pumped out of an underground aquifer, and the land above it sinks. And yet this is not the only factor behind it. Known as a romantic vocational spot, Maldives is also waiting for the same destiny by 2050. For the Maldives, we can without a doubt hold global warming responsible in a connotative way.

The abovementioned countries are far from us, Japan which on a second thought should not make us be alarmed about it and feel free from any harm. However, as Japan is an island country surrounded by only water on all sides, it is put in almost as severe a condition as those countries. Talking about the geography of Japan, the known fact is that it consists of 70% of mountains harshly habitable to us regarding infrastructure. Areas located in the sea are densely populated and they are also very prone to low-lying coastal flooding.

Urban areas in the low-elevation coastal zone in Japan, 2015.
Source: CUNY Institute for Demographic Research (CIDR), Institute for Development Studies (IDS), and the Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN).
In Climate Emergency, Urban Opportunity (2019). Map Credit: Hasim Engin, CIDR

If ice keeps melting in Antarctica at the same speed as today, sea levels rise by three meters by 2050, meaning that there is a huge threat to the urban centers of Japan, let alone the topic of taller Tsunami waves.

After the 2011 Fukushima incident, the Japanese government started building a 15-meter-tall, 400-kilometer-long wall.  Although it is the biggest infrastructure project in Japan, will it be able to save it from possible tsunamis in ten years? Shall this wall be built all around Japan? Or will Japan be a city like Venice, Italy?

This blog is solely about problems that we may face soon without any solutions as I wanted to leave it open for discussion between you and yourself or people around you.

Let’s try!

Questions

1)　How ma

ny centimeters of Jakarta is sinking every year?

2)　Which cities are the urban centers of Japan according to the picture provided above?
3)　How big is the wall being built in Japan?
4)　Which other city/country is also under the damage of flooding?
5)　What is the sea level prediction by 2050?

Answers

1)     10 centimeters per year.
2)     All the cities marked red.
3)     15 meters tall, 400 kilometers long.
4)     The Maldives.
5)     Increase by three meters.

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AN AUSSIE COOKING IN JAPAN

AN AUSSIE COOKING IN JAPAN【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検二級、TOEIC500点程度

When I was living in Australia, I used to experiment a lot with cooking because sometimes after paying the bills I wouldn’t have much money left over. When this situation arose, I would have to cook with whatever I had left in the cupboards and in the refrigerator. In the beginning most of the meals I made were pretty bad, but after a while it became really good, much to my surprise.

Once I arrived in Japan, I didn’t have much of an opportunity to do much cooking due to living in an apartment with my wife’s mother and sister. Once we finally moved out into a house of our own, I started to cook again, but had trouble sourcing ingredients for western style recipes (I’m not good at cooking Japanese food). Eventually, I ended up finding a few places that had the ingredients I needed, which was a relief as I was missing western food, but in Japan it is pretty expensive to purchase. It eing expensive didn’t deter my want to start cooking again.

After finally finding places to get ingredients, such as Seijo Ishii, Amica, Gyomu Super and the online store The Meat Guy, which supplies meat from Australia, New Zealand and other countries I started a cooking frenzy. I have cooked things like steak wrapped in bacon with garlic herb mashed potato, pasta bake, curry sausage pie, salmon steamed in lemon/lime juice with chilli, risotto and many others.  I have added some pictures of just some of things that I have cooked. One problem though is that I tend to be a bit overzealous with presentation, which was because of a chef friend of mine that wouldn’t try my food unless it looked well presented. I was always perplexed by this because I wasn’t working for a restaurant as a chef.

Let’s try!

Questions

1)   What does the word “arose” mean?

2)   What did I have trouble getting in Japan?

3)   How am I at cooking Japanese food?

4)   Where did I end up getting the ingredients, I needed to cook western food?

5)  Out of the meals I mentioned, which do you think took the least amount of time to cook?

Answers

1)   Arose ? Come up

2)   Ingredients for western food.

3)   Not good4)   Seijo Ishii, Amica, Gyomu Super and the online store The Meat Guy.

5)   Salmon steamed in lemon/lime juice with chilli

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More Than Learning a Language【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検二級、TOEIC500点程度

When we learn a language, we learn words or grammar; we also learn the culture of a different country and how those differ from ours, like habits, way of thinking, and others. Learning the most used vocabulary helps us understand people from different backgrounds and expand our view of the world from other angles.

During times like this, a pandemic due to COVID-19, it might seem challenging due to the human contact restriction that we are facing. As we get to spend more time at home, we have more time to watch TV shows and movies that show us a lot about cultures and human interaction in another culture. While studying English is essential, sometimes we do not pay much attention to this fantastic resource full of knowledge.

Until we wait for the borders to be open and experience this culture at first hand, we should take advantage of this resource. It does not matter if your goal is business or daily conversations; there is a plenty of genres that we can watch depending on our goals. We can find Vlogs on Youtube or TikTok from ordinary people, telling us about their real-life situations and challenges. Plus, we can practice our listening skills, and get used to hearing a variety of accents.

One of the most important things that you can experience doing this is challenging yourself while having fun, so it is highly recommended that you watch something interesting.

Footage, movies and TV shows on Youtube and TikTok are significant parts  of Pop culture, which can help you find topics when you get a chance to talk to people.

So I encourage you to use these resources, talk about them and create an opinion to share with your teachers and future friends.

たくさん英語に触れることで、英語は上達します。反対に、触れる時間が減ると、せっかく頑張ってあげてきた英語の能力が低下していきます。

英会話スクールmmm外国人講師の先生による、日本で住んで気づいたことや、海外との違いなどのエッセイを英語でまとめた英語長文練習問題を作りました。最後には、この英語長文のQ&Aとなる練習問題があります。英語レベル的には、英検二級?準１級、TOEIC500?600点を目標にしている方向け程度の英語長文練習問題となっています。

参考書や過去問にプラスして要約練習や模擬問題として、定期的に、英語長文練習問題をお届けします。

最初の英語長文練習問題は、カリスマ人気講師ケニー先生が日本に住んでみて気づいたこと、実際に住んでみて、また、観光で訪れた時に感じた日本とは少し違ったということ、その日本と外国とで違うと感じた風習・習慣・常識などについて英語長文練習問題を書いています。

What’s Bizarre about Japan? 【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検２級・TOEIC500点程度

When people talk about Japan, they would always think about how innovative and technological this country gets! Or how pretty and neat the country is! Last but not the least, fashion, Cosplay and hype beast were always a big thing in the city of Japan. Coming to Japan with the intention of tourism would have been a great experience. Different culture. You can find a lot of unique things they sell in Japan! But as you live in Japan, you interact with the locals and everything doesn’t seem the way you thought of Japan.

First thing I would like to discuss is how Japanese people are not flexible. They were taught to follow the rules and orders, which is good at some points but not so good at some points. There are always advantage and disadvantage. For example, when I crossed a small street, there were no cars at all, but people would choose to wait for the red lights to turn green. Since foreigners from all over the world start visiting Japan, Japanese people are much more open-minded. However, only certain elderly people would stare at you if you cross a small street with the red light. Not only about traffic light but customer services aren’t negotiable at times.  We, as a customer need a flexibility. For example, in some restaurants we have our own positions and we are not allowed to take others. It’s great that we could focus more on our own jobs, but as the customers are waiting in lines, we should help out our teammates, but some of the staffs wouldn’t care.

Second, everybody who has their part-time jobs in a restaurant would have found out by now that Japanese restaurants love wasting all the clean leftover food. For instance, in Japan, they have different kinds of set meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner. As a restaurant, we need to prepare for breakfast, lunch and dinner set meals. If the meal we prepare for lunch hasn’t been sold out yet, the kitchen would definitely throw away all the leftover food after the lunch time ends. Why? Because they would like to have fresh food for the next day, not leftover food. It’s great but why not let us (staffs) eat the leftover stored in the refrigerator? I still can’t figure that out. It’s a waste of food. I know, Japan took really good care of the people so they won’t get food poisoning, but this is too much of a waste.

Many foreigners/ International students protested but no action being made. Many of us foreigners come to Japan to work and study, not to make a change in the Japanese culture or the laws. Japan is considered as one of the top countries in the world, compared to the country I was born. As Japan has much better laws, and how successfully well-developed Japan is proven, so we might have to learn on how Japanese do their jobs done.

Let’s try

Questions

1. What are the two examples that the writer mentions as Japanese being not flexible?
2. What did elderly people do when foreigners crossed the street with the red light?
3. What does the writer suggest we do when your job at a restaurant doesn’t allow you to take orders from customers?
4. What surprised the writer about the leftover food when working at a restaurant in Japan?
5. Which of the following is the closest to the meaning of “bizarre”?
   a) amazing b) strange  c) surprising  d) interesting

Answers

1. People don’t cross the street with the red light even when there are no cars.
2. They stared at the foreigners.
3. They should help taking orders when customers are waiting.
4. The fact that some restaurants throw away the clean leftover food.
5. b)

次の英語長文読解問題は、人気講師ヤシンー先生からの英語長文です。

My first train ride【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検２級・TOEIC500点程度

My first train ride

Bicycles, motorcycles, personal cars, taxis, buses, donkeys and horses in the country side are the means of transportation I had ever used in Morocco before I moved to Japan. “Where are the trains, subways, tramways? ” is the question you might be asking yourself right now, right? Well, we do have some railway lines mostly connecting the big cities, so I didn’t have a chance to take a ride as I lived in a little town in the northeast of Morocco.

On the other hand, those trains were and still are so slow and not very punctual. That’s why I didn’t even think of trying them. Now we have the TGV (Train Grand Vitesse: High Speed train) though, so don’t worry if you’re planning to visit Morocco.

November the 2nd 2010 was the day I first stepped my foot in Japan. My wife met me at the airport. It was the time for me to take my first train ride since I was born. It was wonderful because it was my first ride and the scenery from the airport to our destination was astonishing, especially the Autumn colours. I still remember that like it happened yesterday.

A couple of years ago, I went back to Morocco and had a chance to ride a train for the first time, but this time in my home country. It was pretty comfortable but slow as hell.

Do you want to try trains in Morocco? As a Japanese you had better not unless you enjoy suffering hell.  I’m a bit exaggerating, but I seriously don’t like them.

Let’s try!

Questions

1. Why wasn’t he able to travel by train in Morocco?
2. What was bad about trains in Morocco?
3. What part of his train journey in Japan was so good?
4. What does the word “astonishing” mean?
5. What is TGV the abbreviation for?
   A) The Good Vehicle. B) To Go Vertical. C) Train Grand Vitesse. D) Trained Government Vehicle.

ANSWERS

1. He lived in a small town and trains mainly travelled to big cities.
2. Slow and not punctual.
3. The scenery with all the Autumn colours.
4. “Astonishing” means amazing, very surprising or impressive.
5. C)Train Grand Vitesse.

今回はオーストラリア人のデニー先生からの長文練習問題です。 Let’sTry！

FRIENDSHIP: AUSTRALIA vs JAPAN【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検準一級　TOEIC 700点

Since coming to Japan almost 2 years ago, I have noticed a large difference in interactions and socializing with friends, neighbours etc. There are many different aspects to this and to see how dissimilar the two cultures are in this subject is interesting to observe.

AUSTRALIA: In Australia, after work (usually around 5:30pm) I would call/message my friends and say that I will come over to visit for a few drinks, sometimes a meal with them and vice versa. Most of the time it was no problem and when it wasn’t ok, they would immediately ask if tomorrow is ok to visit them. There was barely any time during weeks where we wouldn’t see friends or neighbours and socialize. After having drinks and most often a meal as well, I would go home and go have drinks with my neighbours. Usually when I went to my neighbours they would have friends or other neighbours that we knew well and would drink and have a BBQ.

On the weekend there would always be the regular visiting friends, having drinks, BBQ and having the TV outside to watch while socializing. This was also the case with neighbours. You would walk to your neighbours, there would be a small to large gathering consisting of other neighbours or their friends and you would go there, start talking, drinking, BBQ, go to the pub together or watch sports on TV. The other thing we would do to each other is tease each other quite a lot but that’s what a normal thing to do as friends was.

JAPAN: I have always loved Japan, its people, food, culture and natural beauty as a country. As I started meeting people, it was a bit difficult being Australian as we are sometimes an overly friendly people in some cases (well maybe to Japanese people). I would meet people and greet them in the normal way I would greet people in Australia. This usually was saying “G’day mate! How are ya! Nice to meet you!” and because it was enthusiastically said, a lot of Japanese people were apprehensive about it. My wife advised me that I need to be not so overzealous with my approach. Anyway, when I contact my Japanese friends or speak to them face to face and say about meeting on the weekend or after work for a drink, they respond with I will message you or pull out their calendar. This happens a lot, then they go on to say how about in 3 weeks’ time or end of next month. It’s a bit like a restaurant but you make a reservation with friends for even an hour of time. It’s quite interesting. I have started forgetting what my friends here look like. I see them and think to myself you look vaguely familiar, do I know you from somewhere? Hahaha.

In finishing, I think that the differences between both Australia and Japan in this respect are quite opposite. I think that we underestimate the importance of friends and making time for them as they are a vital part of who we are and who we should be and I mean that for all people everywhere. Having friends you can see often is huge a benefit to us as people and helps you relax and reset from stresses in everyday life. Make time for your friends as you need them and they need you.

Let’s try!

Questions

1) What aspect is the writer discussing in this article?

2) How often would Australian friends and neighbors meet?

3) What do Australians usually do when they meet?

4) How often would Japanese friends and neighbors meet?

5)In your opinion, why don’t Japanese meet that often?

6)What’s another word for “overzealous?” A: Offensive B: Passionate C: Talkative D: Rude

Answers

1)The difference of how we meet friends between Australia and Japan

2)They meet quite often both during the week and on weekends.

3-They usually have a drink, have a meal or a BBQ, and sometimes They go to the pub and watch sports on TV.

4)They would meet once a month, with arranging in advance.

5)e.g.*) They are busy with work and need to prepare something in order to meet their friends.

6)B

Kenny先生からの英語長文読解練習問題です。 

Cultural Differences 【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検２級・TOEIC500点程度

Cultural Differences

Today I want to talk about the cultural differences between Indonesia and Japan. Since I’m an International student, as I arrived in Japan back in 2016, the first thing I should do was to apply for an Identification card and to create my own stamp with my name on it.  How cool is that to have your own ID card and your own stamp in Japan!  Foreign/International students in Indonesia don’t really have to bother getting these.  Cultural differences could be interesting and fun although sometimes it could be difficult for some people.  For instance, foreigner or International Students with darker skin would most probably get asked about a theft or ID verification.

First thing I’m going to talk about is how to write your “Signature” in a Japanese and Indonesian way.  As what I have said, it’s really new for me to use stamps.  Back in Indonesia,  only  a president of a company, high ranking officials or  a person in a position of authority  are the ones who usually use stamps.

In japan they call it ( Hanko / Inkan ) and there are 3 versions for different uses:

• Jitsuincarries the highest legal authority and is required for such dealings as purchasing real estate or automobiles, transferring titles or ownership, taking out a loan, and filing a will.
• Mitomeinserves for commonplace transactions such as filing application forms at City Hall and receiving packages from delivery services and post offices.
• Gink?inis used when opening an account.

In Indonesia, we use our own hand-written signature which is basically a form of our name as a legal mark for administration, bank use and verifying official papers.

Next thing I found quite interesting was at the theater.  When I went to the theater for the first time in Japan, I felt weird.   We all know that Japanese people are very respectful towards people. For instance, staying after the movie to watch all the cast names and crew member names in the movie.  It takes about 10 minutes or more. This does not happen in Indonesia. It may seem selfish but people usually leave the theater as soon as the movie ends.

There are many more cultural differences between the two countries, but I’m afraid I have to end it for now.  See you next month!  I hope you learned something from it!

Let’s try!

Questions

1) In Indonesia who would commonly use stamps for a signature?

2) What kind of signature do Indonesian people use?

3)What is MITOMEIN Inkan used for?

4)What does the writer think about Japanese people’s behavior at a theater?

5)Which do you prefer? Hand-written signature or stamps as your signature?

Why?

Answers (Example answer)

1)A president of a company, high ranking officials or person of authority.

2) Hand-written signature.

3) Mitomein is only for transaction use.

4)The writer felt weird

5)I prefer Stamps.  You don’t need to spend time and energy to write your signature. It is quite simple.

I hope my country will adopt it in the future.

TRAFFIC IN NAGOYA【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検準一級　TOEIC 700点

To begin, this may only be isolated to one area, as I frequent where I have noticed this happens on a daily basis. So this is just an observation on what I have seen in person. I am perplexed by how often it happens.

On my way to work each day, I frequently walk to the nearby train station. Before the station you cross a main road and walk down a side street towards the station. As you near the station, there is a backstreet that has three crosswalks in front of the underpass. Every time I go to cross, I have to wait for cars to go past before I can cross, none of which slow down even the slightest. On numerous occasions when I first arrived here, I was almost run down.

In Australia(not sure about in Japan) pedestrians have right of way and if you don’t allow pedestrians right of way or at least slow down, it can be considered by the law as attempted manslaughter by negligence. We have a monitoring system that has CCTV cameras monitoring the pedestrian crossings to catch people who do not stop if there are pedestrians present. If pedestrians are not present you are still required by law to slow down when approaching a crossing. When it comes to the said crossings that I am referring to here in Nagoya, you never see any police presence in that area to even monitor, if anything maybe once a month at least.

When writing this, it is to me a safety concern for all pedestrians who frequent the area as well as for my wife and myself. As I had mentioned in the beginning of this blog, I am merely making an observation on what takes place in this area. Unfortunately I have had this occur a few times in different areas of Nagoya but in this particular area it seems to be very common.

Let’s try!

Questions

1)  What is the main subject of this blog?

2)  What happens at these pedestrian crossings?

3)  What is a pedestrian?

4)  What is CCTV?

5)  How often does this happen at these crossings?

6)  Why is it a safety concern?

Answers

1)  Dangerous driving near pedestrian crossings.

2)  Vehicles don’t slow down or stop at the pedestrian crossings.

3)  A person walking.

4)  CCTV ? Closed Circuit Television

5)  The drivers could cause serious injury or even death.

6)  The drivers could cause serious injury or even death.

次は、ケニー先生からの問題です！チャレンジしてみましょう。

Cultural differences【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検２級・TOEIC500点程度

Back at it again with the cultural differences between Indonesia and Japan! Today I’m going to talk about the “Taste Preferences” between Japanese people and Indonesian people. Well, food is one of the greatest things about life. There is definitely some things that most of us Indonesian can’t eat while we are living in Japan due to the differences in culture.

To begin with, I will start with Indonesia’s history. Indonesia won the 4^th place for one of the many islands in a country, approximately 6,000 populated islands of the total 17,508 with more than 300 ethnic groups calling Indonesia home. Many regional cuisines exist, often based upon their original culture and foreign influences. Indonesia has around 5,350 traditional recipes, with 30 of them considered the most important. Indonesia’s cuisine may include rice, noodle and soup dishes to street-side snacks and expensive plates.  Indonesian cuisine often demonstrate complex ingredients and the rich flavors which most often describe as savory, hot spicy and also combination of basic tastes such as sweet, and salty, sour and bitter. Because I love food, I’m very excited to taste all kinds of Japanese food, including raw fish, famous natto(納豆) and etc. I love Japanese food. It’s just that after living here for over a year, I feel like there is less flavor in Japanese food, and everything tastes plain. Most Japanese people have low tolerant of spicy food, but they have two kinds of chilies, shichimi tougarashi and  wasabi.  Shichimi is a crushed dried chili and it’s not spicy for us Indonesian. We can finish a bottle of shichimi, but when it comes to wasabi, most of us can’t stand the strong effect that hit on our nose.

Whereas with Japanese cuisine and inherited tradition, they love to eat fresh food or some variant tastes such as salty, sweet and sour then again they would prefer the natural taste of the food. Keep it in mind too, that they dislike food that contain too much oil in it except for a deep fried food. I will take one of the traditional food in Japan washoku as an example. Washoku contains miso soup, pickles, rice and fish. It’s a complete set to charge up yourself, to start off your day with or even for lunch. The way they place dishes to make it easier for us to eat. This is the impression I get while I’m living in Japan.

There is no end towards food and taste , so before I finish this blog I would like you guys to answer some of my these questions below referred to the above blog.

Let’s try!

Questions

1)  Why are there 5350 traditional recipes all around Indonesia?

2)  Between 5350 traditional recipes, how many of them are being consider as the main recipes?

3)  There are 2 types of chili that are popular in Japan. Which one of them do Indonesian people dislike?

4)  What kind of flavor does the writer think Japanese people prefer?

5)  Do you agree about the taste preference that the writer wrote? Give out your reasons.

Answers

1)   Because there are 300 ethnic groups in Indonesia

2)  30

3)  Wasabi

4)  Natural taste

5) (Your Opinion)

次は、Denny先生　からの問題です！Let’sTry！

HOW I CAME TO LOVE JAPAN【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検準１級・TOEIC700点程度

It all began in Primary School (Elementary School) when we had an exchange teacher come to our tiny school from Japan. When I say tiny school, I mean that it is in a very small country town called Uraidla (means “Lots of rain” in Aboriginal language) in Adelaide, South Australia. Uraidla only had a population of 250 people at that time. She had come to Australia to learn to be a substitute teacher and see how things worked being a teacher in Australia. She taught us a lot about Japanese culture, people and food. We were able to try different Japanese food such as sweets and Okonomiyaki. I loved it. It was so interesting and amazing to me to see how different things are to Australia.

Soon after that I began learning Karate, where I was not only taught martial arts but also about different ceremonies, the cultural background of Japan and the many wonders of the country itself. This made me even more interested and excited about Japan as a whole. My parents also showed me a Japanese television program that they used to watch when they were young called The Samurai (Shintaro). I really loved watching that show.

After 3 years of doing Karate, I went on to High School where I started learning Judo. I learnt even more about Japan from my Judo instructor who wasn’t Japanese but he had trained in Japan for many years. He too was fascinated by Japan when he was younger. I trained in Judo for about 4 years before I stopped due to having to study so much. I really didn’t want to stop but time was a problem.

A year or so later I met a guy who I became really good friends with and he also loved Japan. He asked me if I would like to train with him in Ninja (Ninjutsu). I loved Ninja but I had no idea you could learn it. I always thought that it didn’t exist anymore. So I started training with him in Ninja. It was so good!

Let’s try!

Questions

1)   What does Uraidla mean in Aboriginal?

2)  How many people lived in Uraidla?

3)  When I was learning Karate, what other things did I learn?

4)  Where did I start learning Judo?

5)  What does “fascinated” mean?

6)  What did I love and think was so good?

Answers

1)   Lots of rain.

2)   Population 250 people.

3)  Different ceremonies, the cultural background of Japan and the many wonders of the country itself.

4)   In High School.

5)   Extremely interested in something.

6)   Ninja.

次は、Kenny先生が、日本とインドネシアの違い（お年寄りへの接し方）についての長文読解です。
ぜひチャレンジしてみましょう！！

Cultural Differences【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検2級・TOEIC500点程度

Have you ever looked at your parents and realized that as you grow older, they are getting older, too?  It depends on each family, how they teach their kids and how they approach their kids. But I’m going to explain it from my point of view on how Japanese people approach their parents and how most Indonesian do.  In my case, I’m being well taught on how to respect the elders, and have some affections to our parents.

Hug and kiss are the ways to show our affections towards the people we love; for instance, girlfriend, boyfriend, husband and wife. Well how about our parents? The people who have raised us and brought us into this world? I do think they deserve the same affections as what we give to our partner equally. I see, listen and talk to my Japanese friends, and they don’t treat the way I treated my parents, not all but most of them. And as I give out questions on their opinions about hugging our parents, their reactions were a bit disgusted. It would be quite unusual, awkward and weird for Japanese people if they have decided to hug their parents. As for my case, it’s the other way around. It would be pleasing to see my parents feel loved, and happy after my siblings and I hug and kiss them on their cheek.

It’s just sad to see a lot of old folks in Japan live on their own and even their kids don’t really care them. I’m pretty sure it’s because of how they treated and taught their children. In 2017, according to the newspaper “The Mainichi”,   20% of the nursing home refuse elderly people requiring level 3 care. In other words, for those elderly who cannot stand up or walk and need full support to go to the toilet, their availability is limited.

Well, from my point of view, we as children are responsible for taking good care of our parents regardless of how troublesome they might be, how annoying they could get, for example; asking the same questions over and over again. Before I end this blog I would like to list out some questions for you.

Let’s try!

Questions

1)   What did the writer find about the reaction he got from Japanese about hugging their parents?

2)   What did the writer find about the reaction he got from Japanese about hugging their parents?

3)   What is the main argument of this blog?

4)   According to “the mainichi” newspaper, what does the nursing home a level 3 care mean?

5)   What does the writer think about the responsibility of children after their parents get old?

Answers

1)   Unusual, awkward and weird.

2)   20%.

3)   Affection towards our parents.

4)   Elderly who cannot stand up or walk and need full support to go to the toilet.

5)   Taking good care of our parents regardless of how troublesome they might be and how annoying they could get.

次は、オーストラリア出身のDenny先生から「日本とオーストラリアのビール文化の違い」の長文読解問題です。

ぜひチャレンジしてみましょう！！

BEER【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検準1級・TOEIC700点程度

When it comes to beer, Australia is very patriotic. We always tend to think our beer is the best in the world and I must admit that I used to be the same. I have tried beers from many countries and Australian beer is good but so many other countries have better beer. I would have to say by far the best beer is from Belgium.

When I was on my way to Japan, I was a little worried about how the beer would be. In Australia we don’t have much opportunity to try Japanese beer and when we do, it is very expensive. The only Japanese beer we have in Australia is Asahi. I do really like Asahi. It’s a nice beer.

After being in Japan and having tried the different beers, I was very impressed at how good the beer is here. My favourite would have to be Suntory Premium Malt, but some of the cheaper beers are very nice as well. I really like the Suntory 8% as it has a sharp flavor to it and also the Kirin Strong 7%.

One thing that surprised me with beer in Japan is that a lot of it is seasonal, which I found a bit strange. We don’t have anything seasonal in Australia except clothing. It’s disappointing when you get to really like a certain beer, and then they stop selling it because of the time of year. If they did that in Australia, there would be a lot of very upset people. Hahaha.

To finish I would like to say that I am very impressed with the beer here in Japan. I think it’s much better than 90% of the beers in Australia and definitely is 100% better than American and British beer. I recommend, if you get a chance to try Kasteel Bier from Belgium (Such a beautiful beer), Coopers beer from Australia, Mythos beer from Greece and Chimay.

Let’s try!

Questions

1)  What was I worried about when coming to Japan?

2)  Where do I think the best beer is from?

3)  What is my impression of Japanese beer?

4)  What is disappointing about beer in Japan?

5)  How much better is Japanese beer compared to most Australian beer?

Answers

1)  What was I worried about when coming to Japan?

2)  Where do I think the best beer is from?

3)  What is my impression of Japanese beer?

4)  What is disappointing about beer in Japan?

5)  How much better is Japanese beer compared to most Australian beer?

次は、デニー先生の記事です！
オーストラリアではクリケットに次ぐ人気スポーツはオーストラリアンフットボールって知っていますか？
どんなスポーツなのか是非英語記事にチャレンジしてみてくださいね！

AUSTRALIAN RULES FOOTBALL
【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検準1級・TOEIC700点程度

In Australia we have a very unique game played during the winter months called AFL (Australian Football League). It’s not like Rugby and it’s not like Soccer. It originally started as a variation of Gaelic football.

Australian football is played on an oval shaped field with four posts at either end of the field. The two in the middle are the tallest posts which is the goals (6 points) and the shorter posts on either side of the goals are point posts (1 point). Each team has 18 players on the field and 4 on the bench. Each quarter is 20 minutes in length with a break between quarters 1 and quarter 2 of 10 mins also the same between quarters 3 and 4. Half time is a 20 minute break.

The game starts with an umpire bouncing the ball in the middle and the Ruckman (tallest players on the field) run, jump and tap the ball down to the small midfielders. Players can pass the ball to each other either by hand passing (ball on one hand and the other hand punches the ball to teammate) or by foot (hand directs the ball to the foot).

If the ball is kicked and it is caught without it touching the ground (referred to as a mark) the umpire will blow his whistle and the player who caught it can go back and kick or handball it without any player from the opposition allowed to tackle them until they dispose of the ball. Free kicks are given if you are pushed in the back, tackled without having the ball, holding the ball for too long while being tackled, tackled above the shoulders, tackled below the knees just to name a few ways to give away a free kick.

POSITIONS: Full Forward

Left and Right Forward Pockets

Centre Half Forward

Left and Right Half Forwards

Centre

Left and Right Wings

Centre Half Back

Left and Right Half Backs

Fullback

Left and Right Back Pockets

Ruck

Ruck Rover

Rover

Bench (x4 players)

If you get the opportunity to watch it I highly recommend doing so. It is exciting, acrobatic, action packed, high scoring and fast.

These players play hard and tough and don’t wear any protection. Crazy Aussies we are!

Let’s try!

Questions

1)  Where did Australian football begin?

2)  If the ball goes between the 2 tallest posts, how many points are given?

3)  How long is each quarter?

4)  What’s the name given to the tallest players on each team?

5)  What protection do the players wear

Answers

1)  It originally started as a variation of Gaelic football.

2)  Points

3)  20 minutes each quarter.

4)  Ruckman

5)  No protection at all.

インドネシア出身のKenny先生による日本とインドネシアのお風呂事情の違いについてです！問題にもぜひチャレンジしてみましょう。

Cultural Differences
【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検2級・TOEIC700点程度

Up until today, Japan still surprised me with the uniqueness that you cannot find in any other countries. Hello guys! Back at it again with me, an Indonesian guy who is trying to adapt and currently on a learning stage in Japan! Today I’m going to share some of my experiences that up until now I still cannot get used to in Japan and vice versa with you.

The public bath in Japan. It’s a culture  in Japan which is quite sometimes unpleasant for foreigners. It is said that Japanese homes didn’t have bath tubs in the past ,which is why public bath houses were constructed to accommodate the locals who wanted to get soaked and relax in warm water. In modern Japan, where bath tubs are already usual in Japanese homes, public bath houses are still widely available. They are common in traditional houses, dormitories, inns and etc. Japanese public bath houses have also branched out into other varieties such as sauna for relaxation purpose. Not only that, Japanese people also love hot springs!

For Indonesian, a few people who live in a suburban area are still using wells to shower, or even rivers. But of course in urban area, generally we don’t really use bath tubs, but we have  a shower area, unless for some particularly wealthy people or even people who could afford to buy a bath tub. In Indonesia, we have a lot of active mountains which means, yes, we do have hot springs! The difference is that hot springs in Japan are being well taken care of, while in Indonesia it’s quite dirty. In fact, it’s a good business in Japan, while in Indonesia it is pretty cheap and there is not a single nice and beautiful resorts which is good enough to renovate the hot spring.

Let’s try!

Questions

1)  In Indonesia, which part of area do people still using well to take a shower?

2)  What was the first paragraph talking about?

3)  Why was public bath house constructed in Japan?

4)  What’s the name given to the tallest players on each team?

5) Which part of Indonesia are shower area and bath tubs available?

Answers

1)  Suburban Area

2)  About public bath in japan

3)  Hot spring in Japan is well taken care of and Indonesia’s one was quite dirty.

4)  To accommodate the locals who wanted to get soaked and relax in warm water

5)  Urban Area

次は、ＤＥＮＮＹ先生が日本で暮らして感じた日本とオーストラリアの文化の違いについての内容です。

CULTURE  AUSTRALIA VS JAPAN
【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検準1級レベル・TOEIC700点程度

I have noticed here in Japan a few differences in behaviours compared to Australia. I would say that they are interesting behaviours and situations more than anything.

First, in Australia when something breaks or isn’t working, most Australians will fix or repair it themselves or at least attempt to. I have noticed here that people just call someone to come and repair it even for the simplest things. In saying that though, Japanese think more about a situation than Australians which just don’t think and just do. Lol.

In Australia we have gas stations, which we call service stations that are like convenience stores here in Japan, but service stations have gas and a range of products like a convenience store here. Our gas stations also have either a Subway restaurant, Cafe, Bakery or a tobacco store.

One thing you have a lot of here in Japan, but we have very little of is festivals. I was amazed at how many festivals take place here. I haven’t had the chance to go to many, but I really do hope I get a chance to soon. In Australia we are lucky to even have one. I love it how there are so many festivals as it means more socialising. Where I come from in Adelaide, Australia we have 1 festival that goes for 2 weeks which is good, but I think we need more. This festival is an arts festival that involves food, art, stage shows, stand-up, comedians and music acts. Most of these acts are held in parks, bars and theatres. We do have other events, but most are mainly sporting events such as bicycle races, motorsports and horse racing.

Looking at all these differences from both cultures, to me shows that mixing with different cultures means that we all can improve in many different ways. One thing we need to be mindful of though is picking up the negative cultural behaviours, as they can sometimes be learnt too easily.

Let’s try!

Questions

1)  What do Japanese people do that Australians don’t do?

2)  What do gas stations in Australia have and what are they called?

3)  Japan has more what than Australia?

4)  How long does the festival in Adelaide go for?

5)  What do we be careful of when mixing with other cultures?

Answers

1) Think before they do something.

2) In Australia we have gas stations, which we call service stations that are like convenience stores here in Japan, but service stations have gas and a range of products like a convenience store here. Our gas stations also have either a Subway restaurant, Cafe, Bakery or a tobacco store.

3) Festivals

4) 2 weeks

5)  We need to be mindful of though is picking up the negative cultural behaviours, as they can sometimes be learnt too easily.

A glimpse to Uzbekistan’s secret underground
【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検準1級レベル・TOEIC700点程度

This year’s June has brought some surprise to the foreign tourists. After a long 40 years of photo ban of Tashkent metro was lifted, never-before-seen images urged many tourists to make their way to the capital city, Tashkent.

Tashkent metro was the seventh to be built in the former USSR, first in Central Asia opening in 1977 has three lines and twenty-nine stations (ten more under constructions). What makes it so special is to be among the most highly decorated in the world. It is also considered to be designated for military uses as a nuclear bomb shelter which demanded strict safety measures restricting civilians from taking pictures. Central Asia’s oldest metro is the masterpiece which platforms never repeat each other’s design. In the first millennium, Tashkent was one of the biggest cities along the Great Silk Road, a crucial port on the ancient trade route from East Asia to the Roman Empire. Its popularity triggered regime changes. The conquest of Arabs during the 7^thcenturies led vast amount of Islamic conversion whose influence lasted for more than a millennium but when Russia seized the city in the late 1800, country become more secular stance. Being controlled by various powers gave its fruits in the architecture of platforms. Soviet propaganda Uzbek culture and Islamic architecture are here in pictures.

Let’s try!

Questions

1) How many stations does the Tashkent metro have?

2) Why it used to be prohibited to take a photo of stations?

3) What is special about Tashkent metro?

4) When Tashkent metro opened to public?

5) Where is Tashkent?

Answers

1) It has twenty-nine stations.

2) It is designated for military uses which demanded strict measures.

3) It is one of the most highly decorated in the world.

4) In 1977.

5) Tashkent is the capital city of Uzbekistan in Central Asia

Home Sweet Home
【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検準1級レベル・TOEIC700点程度

No matter where you come from, there are always things you miss terribly when you live in another country. As I have mentioned before in a previous blog, I have loved Japan from a young age, but sometimes you can’t help but feel homesick in many ways. You start to crave food from your country, the lifestyle, friends and family. Even my wife says that she has moments where she really needs to have traditional Japanese food even when she is in Japan. Others here have also told me that they sometimes just must have Japanese food.

For me living in Japan, I really love Japanese food, especially Sushi, Ramen, Okonomiyaki, Shiitake Mushrooms stuffed with meat (so awesome!), Curry Udon, Yakisoba…………the list goes on. I also love Japanese beer and Sake. It’s so…….as we in Australia……. Bloody good! (Very, very good!).

The foods I miss the most from Australia are the huge hotdogs with huge long, thick sausages. They would have toppings on them such as egg, bacon, salami, cheese and onion. Then there were the sauces you could have on them such as Smokey BBQ, Honey Soy BBQ, Sweet Chilli, Mustard, or garlic butter. Next on my list is Fish and Chips. Back in Australia, we used to go to our local, privately owned Fish and Chip shop and for $4.00 AUD (about 450 JPY) you could get a huge amount of hot chips (thick French Fries in Japan) and 3 big pieces of fish in batter. It would be rolled up in paper and we used to tear a hole in the end of it, add vinegar and walk with it and eat. Also, the hot chips in gravy rolls were great from there as well.

In Australia, we also had the privately-owned Pizza Bars, which used to make some of the best pizzas. They always put so much topping on them and always had the best balance of herbs. The biggest size was 28 inches (approximately 70cm), which was awesome. We would invite all our friends over with a few boxes of beer and have a great night.

All in all, it’s just a strange thing that we get so used to our own ways, no matter where we are, and it takes so long to get used to different environments. In saying that, I love it here in Japan and really appreciate the opportunity that I have been given here in Japan. Thank you.

Let’s try!

Questions

1) What is the main topic of the Blog?

2) Which Japanese foods do I really love?

3) Which Japanese foods do I really love?

4) Which Japanese foods do I really love?

5) Which Japanese foods do I really love?

Answers

1) Missing Home

2) Sushi, Ramen, Okonomiyaki, Shiitake Mushrooms stuffed with meat (so awesome!), Curry Udon, Yakisoba.

3) Huge long, thick sausages. They would have toppings on them such as egg, bacon, salami, cheese and onion.

4) Tear a hole in the end of the bag and add vinegar.

5) They always put so much topping on them and always had the best balance of herbs.

Christmas in Japan【英語長文練習問題】
レベル：英検２級レベル・TOEIC500点程度

December is here! And everyone is waiting for 25^thDecember to come! Celebrating a wonderful Christmas here in Japan. It’s one of the widely held and biggest events for Japanese people.

Let’s look back to the tradition and history of Christmas. Christmas is both a sacred religious holiday and a worldwide cultural, commercial phenomenon. For two millennia, people around the world have been observing it with traditions and practices that are both religious and secular in nature. Christians celebrate Christmas Day as the anniversary of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, a spiritual leader whose teachings form the basis of their religion. Popular customs include exchanging gifts, decorating Christmas trees, attending church, sharing meals with family and friends and, of course, waiting for Santa Claus to arrive. December 25?Christmas Day?has been a federal holiday in the United States since 1870.

I came from one of the countries that lies on the equator line unless if you are a Christian, you won’t feel the Christmas atmosphere that much. However, Christmas day has been an essential festival in Japan where it’s being portrayed as followings.

1. Go on a date.

Christmas Eve in Japan is often thought of as a couples’ holiday, like Valentine’s Day in the West. Japanese couples ? especially young couples ? like to book dinners at a romantic restaurant, and it can often be hard to find a seatat any restaurant as the number of people spending time with their family has declined.

2. Admire Christmas Illuminations.

Illuminations are one of the Japan’s favorite ways to celebrate a winter season.

3. Exchange Gifts.

It has become commonplace for couples to exchange gifts on Christmas Eve, but rarely with anyone else. This may be because Japan has already a gift exchanging custom in December, the Japanese work-culture tradition of Oseibo, when co-workers exchange gifts. Presents are more commonly exchanged for the New Year, which is a much bigger deal in Japan

4. Eat Strawberry Shortcake

A Japanese strawberry shortcake is light and spongy with whipped cream filling and frosting, which is much less sweet than other cake toppers. This treat is sold as ‘Christmas Cake’ in Japan (although it’s also very popular for birthdays) and is a great way to celebrate the season with family and friends

5. Go Shopping

Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without a little holiday shopping, and Japanese malls are no stranger to Christmas decor. During this time of year, traditional trees, ornaments, and goods for sale aimed at the holiday shopper can be found at most major malls and department stores, especially in the big cities.

6. Visit A Christmas Market

From Hokkaido to Kyushu, Japan hosts European-style Christmas markets throughout the winter season. Find everything from delicate tree ornaments to hot cider.

7. Dine on Chicken

Kentucky Fried Chicken on Christmas has been a Japanese tradition since the 1970s, thanks to their catchy slogan and marketing campaign.

My own belief about Christmas is no more than a business game. In fact, as you can see, these centuries, cultural events have an impression of being monopolized by business all over the world and theytook advantages of giving gifts customs in this seasonin orderto make an extra profit. Some religious people protest against this “commercializing” of Christmas because they feel that a sacred, holy day is desecrated by it. If you did some research, you will find out that these events and how we celebrate it, have nothing to do with the historical believes.

Let’s try!

Questions

1) There are 13 countries lie on the equator line. can you mention 1 of them?

2) According to the article, why is that exchanging gifts in Japan are not uncommon?

3) What does the writer’s belief about Christmas?

4) The word desecrated in the passage above had the closest meaning to

(a) Honor
  (b) Misuse
(c)Save

5) According to the article, why is that exchanging gifts in Japan are not uncommon?

Answers

1)

? Sao Tome and Principe 

? Gabon

? Republic of the Congo

? the Democratic Republic of the Congo

? Uganda

? Kenya

? Somalia

? Maldives

? Indonesia

? Kiribati

? Ecuador

? Colombia

? Brazil 

all lie along the Equator Line

2) because Japan already has a December gift exchange of its own, the Japanese work-culture tradition of oseibo, when coworkers exchange gifts.

3) No more than a business game.

4)   (b) Misuse

5) Illumination

Australia Day【英語長文練習問題】
レベル：英検準1級レベル・TOEIC700点程度

On the 26^thof January every year we celebrate Australia day. It’s a day all of Australia gets together and celebrates with all people from all cultures living in Australia as one. It’s a celebration of Australia becoming a nation from the time of settlement.

As a tradition, we have a public holiday (national holiday). On the day everyone get’s together with friends, family, neighbours or goes to a local park with the rest of their Community. We have BBQ’s for breakfast, where we have bacon, eggs, sausages, mushrooms and baked beans. Between breakfast and lunch, a lot of the Australian men start drinking (usually alcohol) and talk while preparing for the food for the lunchtime BBQ and the traditional Australia Day cricket match on TV. While this is going on, the women will have coffee, talk, start preparing salads, cold meats and dips for lunch and get ready to watch the cricket. The children are usually running around together and causing trouble.

At lunch we start cooking the BBQ, where we cook sausages, steak, lamb chops (traditional Australian Day meat), kebabs, chicken and vegetables. While we are getting lunch ready, we start watching cricket on TV and continue drinking. Usually for Australia Day it’s very hot, usually between 35 ? 44 degrees Celsius, but we still stay outside.

Between lunch and dinner, we play a game of backyard cricket with all the family and continue drinking along with eating snacks. The grand parents usually take a nap before dinner starts.

When it comes to dinner, everyone starts to get the food ready to cook on the BBQ (usually the same food we cooked for lunch) and start getting dessert ready. As usual we continue drinking and watching the cricket.

After dinner a lot of Aussies get ready to go to the city to watch the traditional fireworks display which is almost as big as the New Years Eve fireworks display. Many thousands of people go to the main big parks in the city or to the beaches to watch because it’s still hot at this time of the day. The fireworks are designed to commemorate the foundation of Australia.

Australia Day originally was not a good day in Australian history, which I will explain in detail in my next blog. Recently people have been wanting it changed to the 8^thof May due to the nature of the history with the Aboriginal people in the past. Still though for a majority of Australians it’s about acknowledging the past, moving forward and coming together as one people and sharing a great day together.

Let’s try!

Questions

1) What’s a traditional Australian food to cook on Australia Day?

2) What date is Australia Day held on?

3) What do we watch on TV during Australia Day?

4) What game do we play with the family in the afternoon?

5) Where do we go in the evening to watch fireworks?

Answers

1) Lamb Chops

2) 26^th of January

3) Cricket

4) Cricket

5) The main big parks in the city or the beach.

次は、Ｂｅｋ先生による中央アジア～東ヨーロッパまで広範囲で話されているチュルク語についての記事からの問題です！ぜひチャレンジしてみてくださいね。

Turkic languages【英語長文練習問題】
レベル：英検2級レベル・TOEIC600点程度

Whenever the question arises about the dawn of human civilization, answers vary from person to person. But, for me, it was when early hominins [1] started gradually changing their primate communication systems, acquiring the ability to form a theory of other minds and a shared intentionality. It is believed that, around the world, there are 5000 to 7000 Human Languages. Estimates show that one language dies out every 14 days.

Turkic or commonly known Turkish languages are a language family of at least thirty-five documented languages, spoken by the Turkic people of Eurasia from Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and West Asia all the way to North Asia (particularly in Siberia) and East Asia.

(Turkic Languages-Wikipedia, n.d.)

Hominins a primate of a taxonomic tribe, which comprises those species regarded as human, directly ancestral to humans, or very closely related to humans.

●Southwestern (Oghuz)
●Southeastern (Karluk)
●Khalaj
●Northwestern (Kipchak)
●Chuvash (Oghur)
●Northeastern (Siberian)

[1]Hominins a primate of a taxonomic tribe, which comprises those species regarded as human, directly ancestral to humans, or very closely related to humans.

The number of Turkic speakers is over 200 million. According to one estimate, it is around 2500 years old.

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー
[1]The Japonic or Japanese-Ryukyuan language family includes the Japanese language spoken on the main islands of Japan as well as the Ryukyuan languages spoken in the Ryukyu Islands.

Turkic languages show some similarities with the Mongolic, Tungusic, Koreanic, and Japonic[2]languages. Having variety of sounds gives a privilege to Turkic speakers pronounce foreign language words accurately and easily.

Probably, for that reason, as a Turkic speaker, I really find Japanese language easy to learn. Of course, aside from Kanji. Whenever I think about Kanji, Mt Fuji comes to my mind. As Mt Fuji is hard to climb, Kanji is also a dream yet to come true.

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー
[2]The Japonic or Japanese-Ryukyuan language family includes the Japanese language spoken on the main islands of Japan as well as the Ryukyuan languages spoken in the Ryukyu Islands.

Let’s try

Questions

1. Why does the author feel Japanese language is easy to learn?
2. How many human languages are there?
3. How many languages are considered to be Turkic language?
4. According to the author, when is the start of Human civilization?

Answers

1) Having similarities with Japonic languages, the author feels, Japanese language makes it easy to learn

2) 5000 to 7000

3)  At least 35 documented languages

4)  The start of civilization when modern humans started to communicate with each other more verbally

Climate Change【英語長文練習問題】
レベル：英検準1級レベル・TOEIC700点程度

What is Climate change? Well, I’m pretty sure you guys have heard about it, for example, through human activity. Global warming is one measure of climate change, and is a rise in the average global temperature.Climate change (or global warming), is the process of our planet heating up. The Earth has been warmed by an average of 1°C in the last century, and although that might not sound like much, it means a big issue for people and wildlife around the globe.Unfortunately, rising temperatures don’t just mean that we’ll get nicer weather. The changing climate will actually make our weather more extreme and unpredictable. As the temperatures rise, some areas will get wetter and lots of animals (and humans!) could find they’re not able to adapt to their changing climate.

A lot of people are still unaware of these climate changes that could affect us in the near future. If we are lucky enough, we won’t have to see what will happen. What I can do best right now is to talk about it and share the knowledge of these battalions that are building a lot of foundations and constitutions in order to encourage people toward helping the environment, wild life and even human beings. One of the biggest constitutions the UN(United Nation) creates is an agenda designed for 2030 for Sustainable Development,adopted by all United Nations Member countries in 2015. This provides a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet now and into the future. At its heart there are 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which is an urgent call to action by all countries – developed and developing – in a global partnership.

They recognize that ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth ? all while tackling climate change and working towards world preservation.  Japan held its fifth meeting on June 15, 2018 with 3 following outcomes.

1. Promotion of society 5.0 that corresponds to SDGs
2. Regional vitalization driven by the SDGs
3. Empowerment of next generations and women

In addition, the government of Japan (Goj) headed by Vice Minister, Okamoto, in cooperation with Mr. Yoshimura, Mayor of Osaka, and other wide ranges of organizations including Japan Business Federation (Keidanren), private companies and civil societies, motioned in favor of the  Osaka-Kansai Japan EXPO 2025 and played up Japan’s initiative to promote SDGs.

Questions

1. What is climate change?
2. How will  climate change affect us as humans?
3. What does  SDGs stand for?
4. How many conclusions or outcomes did Japan come to at the 2018 meeting session?
5. Where is the Goj going to promote SDGs?

Answers

1) It is a rise in the average global temperature.

2) The changing climate will actually make our weather more extreme and unpredictable.

3) Sustainable Development Goals.

4) 3(three)

5) Osaka-Kansai Japan EXPO 2025.

Work-Life Balance Part 1【英語長文練習問題】
レベル：英検準1級レベル・TOEIC700点程度

In today’s social constructs and day to day life, we seem to ignore the issues caused by our hectic lifestyles. These issues are caused by overworking and lack of social interaction outside the confines of the workplace. Having a life outside of work is essential for our physical and mental wellbeing. The instances of health issues due to over the top working hours are right in front of us, but we tend to ignore the harm it causes. When we do notice it, it’s usually too late, so we become reactive instead of proactive. We need to take notice and educate ourselves to be aware of these issues.

There are many issues, not just health related but also in the socioeconomic side of things that are detrimental to the population overall. What I am saying when it comes to socioeconomic effects is the time and cost to employers due to absence from illness. There is extra pressure on the health system from illnesses caused by excessive or increased work hours. There is then the problem of hospitals having patients that shouldn’t be there because the problem could have been avoided by being aware. It also means that the people that really need the hospital to find it difficult to get treated. The costs then rise and those costs are passed on to the taxpayer.

Next, we need to look at the issue of increased work hours and its effect on other areas of the economy. Increasing work hours means that the customer service and retail industry lose valuable revenue due to fewer hours to spend money from the customer. This not only affects the economy but also customer service and retail businesses. Consumers need to spend money to increase economic growth.

As we all know populations are getting older and the birth rate is dropping, that, in turn, causes major economic pressure. Without having more social interaction and increasing work hours, we are only adding to the trouble and it will only get worse if we ignore it. It can be fixed.

Questions

1. What does ‘Physical and Mental wellbeing’ mean?
2. What causes these problems?
3. What do consumers need to do to help the economy grow？
4. How is the aging population and the drop in the birth rate going affect the economy
5. What does ‘detrimental’ mean?

Answers

1) Safe, sheltered and overall good health.

2)  Increased work hours and little rest.

3) Spend more money.

4) Economic pressure will increase.

5) To cause harm.

Short briefing about Indonesia Election 2019 【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検準1級・TOEIC700点程度

In the early morning of Tuesday 21 May 2019, Indonesia’s General Elections Commission (KPU) declared, President Joko Widodo the winner of Indonesia’s 2019 presidential election. However, due to the ongoing tensions in the country, KPU apparently decided to make the announcement at a different d ate and time in order to take a precaution from a country that has been heavily divided by the latest elections.

It’s a battle between the current President Joko Widodo and Prabowo Subianto, a former military general. They also went face-to-face in the 2014 elections. Prabowo is closely related with the political elite. He was married to the daughter of former dictator General Suharto, who ruled Indonesia and named as an iron fist for three decades. He has been accused of complicity in human rights abuses committed under General Suharto, though he has maintained his innocence. After spending many years overseas, he made his political comeback in 2009. In the 2014 presidential election he campaigned on an anti-poverty program, saying he wanted to reduce unemployment and create new jobs. Joko Widodo – known generally as Jokowi – comes from humble beginnings but first became well known internationally when being assigned as the governor of Jakarta in 2012. In the 2014 presidential election he campaigned on a “man of the people” anti-corruption policy, promising to tackle poverty and to clear out bias and intolerance that has been happening up until now.

For the first time, presidential, parliamentary and regional elections are all taking place simultaneously on one day. It’s a massive democratic responsibility which will determine the future identity of a massive and diverse country. About 245,000 candidates will be running for more than 20,000 national and local legislative seats across Indonesia made up of around 18,000 islands and covering 1.9 million square km.

The Lowy Institute, an Australian think-tank, calls it “one of the most complicated single-day elections in global history”.

Questions

Answers

1. Joko Widodo and Prabowo Subianto
2. One of the most complicated single-day elections in a global history
3. Around 18,000
4. KPU
5. Joko Widodo and Prabowo Subianto

Work-Life Balance Part 2【英語長文練習問題】
レベル：英検準1級レベル・TOEIC700点程度

In this part of the blog, I will be addressing possible solutions to the issues with the current work-life balance situations. I will look at all sides of this topic from the social aspect and also from the economic aspect. No matter the situations that arise, there are always solutions that can benefit all that are involved. With the possible solutions that I am putting forward in this blog, they aren’t definite flawless solutions, hence why I said possible solutions.

When it comes to not just the physical but also the mental health side of things, we really don’t think about it too much as something to worry about. The way to get the best out of your employees as companies and employers is to have balance. We should be looking at the number of hours each employee is undertaking each month and spread it evenly throughout the workforce. This reduces exhaustion, stress, and situations of physical and mental burn out. Another thing that can be done is to pay attention to the employees, any changes in behavior and just simply asking them if they are ok. I also think that when having company physical examinations, they should also look at the mental aspects by asking if they are feeling good and also if there is anything that concerns them at work. 

There should be longer vacation leave like we have in Australia where most companies have up to 4 weeks per year available. By doing this, it not only gives more rest time but also can help with social interaction and economic stimulation. I will elaborate on what I mean. When you have a good rest, you feel more motivated, your mood and feeling is more positive and in turn encourages not only social interaction but also better work habits. The other thing that it does is allow more time to spend money, which then helps stimulate the economy. I also think that having campaigns to advertise and encourage socializing with others, as there is huge benefits health wise by doing so. Again, socializing more also encourages spending, relaxing and relationships, which helps not just the social side but also the economy.   

Overall, we really need to be looking into what we can do to help ourselves as a collective and look into being proactive and not reactive. If we do that, it means less work for us in the future and less to be worried about. If we think ahead and do the simple, preventative actions now, the positives for all will be huge. As I like to say “Work smarter not harder.”

Questions

1. What does ‘aspect’ mean?
2. Name 2 solutions that can help?
3. How can we improve the economy?
4. What do I like to say?
5. What does ‘Proactive’ and ‘Reactive’ mean?

Answers

1. It means one part of a situation, problem or subject.
2. More vacation time, evenly spread work hours, ask employees if they are ok.
3. Socialize more, encourage spending.
4. “Work smarter not harder.”
5. ‘Proactive’ ? Taking action by causing change and not only reacting to change when it happens. Act before something happens.
   ‘Reactive’ -React to events or situations after they have happened, rather than acting first to change or prevent something.

PetroYuan  A new English word or a new world order
【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検準1級レベル・TOEIC700点程度

About 800 years ago Marco Polo visited the ground of Genghis Khan’s grandson who was the first emperor of Yuan Chinese dynasty. For his surprise, he found most likely the first fiduciary currency of all time. Currency which was completely founded on government’s reputation and law enforcement which was inevitable punishment for those who refuse to use it. In recent centuries, world’s financial sectors has been substantially dominated by the west pound sterling, in the US, dollar becoming hegemonic for more than 200 years with its petrodollar, we seem to forget the fact that those were the Chinese back in the 7^thcentury who developed crucially important financial innovation, paper money. Now, China wants to reclaim that leadership.

So what exactly Petrodollar is? If you search the word definition, you may probably get this “a notional unit of currency earned by a country from the export of petroleum.” The petrodollar is a U.S. dollar paid to oil-exporting countries in exchange for oil. Since the dollar is a global currency, all international transactions are made in dollars. As a result, oil-exporting nations must receive dollars. Most of them own their oil industries. That makes their national income dependent on the dollar’s value. If it falls, so does their revenue.

As a result, most of these oil exporters also peg their currencies to the dollar. That way, if the dollar’s value falls, so does the price of all their domestic goods and services. That helps these countries avoid wide swings in inflation or deflation. At the same time, they become highly dependent on American dollars, economy, military and politics. But, everything is about to change, China, being the 2^ndlargest economy and largest exporter has surpassed US in oil imports.

What it means is now China can change petrodollar to its currency, Yuan.Saudi Arabia plays the major role in world economy being number one oil exporter has agreed to trade with China in Chinese Yuan. Second largest oil exporter, Russia tried the same approach in 2013 but after the sanctions followed by its occupation of Crimea, Russia realized its economy not ready yet financially.

What do you think will be? What is the effect on Japan? Should Japan be concerned about China becoming economically and militarily strong?

Questions

1. What is Petrodollar?
2. Whose grandson is the first emperor of Yuan dynasty?
3. Which country is the largest oil exporter?
4. What are the side effects of being dependent on US dollar?
5. Why Russia failed to establish PetroRuble?

Answers

1. The petrodollar is a U.S. dollar paid to oil-exporting countries in exchange for oil.
2. Genghis khan
3. Saudi Arabia
4. Oil-exporting nations must receive dollars. Most of them own their oil industries. That makes their national income dependent on the dollar’s value. If it falls, so does their revenue. Aside from that, they have to act according to US’s wills in the sector of politics, military and foreign policy.
5. Russia tried the same approach in 2013 but after the sanctions followed by its occupation of Crimea, Russia realized its economy not ready yet financially.

JAPAN AND FOOD
【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検準1級レベル・TOEIC700点程度

A few things that really stand out to me about Japan compared to Australia is the accessibility to food and drinks. As a foreigner to Japan, I was in awe of what you can have to eat and drink. To me being able to have all you can eat, and drink is amazing, especially when it’s so cheap. Some of my favourite places to go are Otto, Meitetsu Beer Garden and an all you can eat Yaki Niku place.

In Australia we used to have, a long time ago only a few all you can eat places were available, but they were expensive and all you can drink was only for sodas. Eventually they were forced to close due to being against health regulations. I was really upset about them closing because the food was so good. Unfortunately, we don’t have anything like Izakaya, which are great.

I would have to say that most of the all you can eat places are good, but some are to me falsely advertising all you can eat and drink. A couple of them that I have been to say all you can eat for 2 hours but after one and a half hours they call last order. They have great food, but I feel a bit ripped off when they call last order.

Overall, Japan has so many options available when it comes to food and drink. The other thing that surprised me was being able to eat and drink anywhere. In Australia you can only really do that in restaurants and bars. Japan always surprises me and continues to do so each and every day.

Questions

1. What are 2 of my favourite all you can eat places?
2. What really stands out to me in Japan?
3. Why were the all you can eat places closed down in Australia?
4. What do I think about Izakayas?
5. What amazes me about Japan?

Answers

1. Otto and Meitetsu Beer Garden.
2. The accessibility of food and drink in Japan.
3. Due to breaches in heath regulations.
4. They are great.
5. You can have food and drink almost anywhere.

“Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie (BJ Habibie)”
【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検2級、TOEIC 600レベル点程度

You guys might be wondering, who is this guy, and why is the writer so fond of writing an article about him? It was because he has passed away on the 11^thof September and was recognized as one of the smartest men in Indonesia.  Besides being known as the smartest person among flight experts, he is also the former President of the 3rd Republic of Indonesia. He had many accomplishments that Indonesian felt a great loss knowing, that he died at the age of 83 after suffering from a heart failure.

What’s interesting about BJ Habibie’s inspiring story is the discovery of a formula for calculating cracks or the multiplication of cracks randomly down to the atom by Habibie. To assess his intelligence and contribute to it, this equation is called the Habibie Factor. Not only that, he was also labelled as Mr. Crack by Aviation specialists. In 1967, he received the title of Honorary Professor or Professor at ITB (Bandung Institute of Technology).With all the intelligence he has, he gets a lot of recognition from international class institutions like.

• Gesselschaft fuer Luft und Raumfahrt (German Reform Institute)
• The Royal Aeronautical Society London from England
• Academie Nationale de l’Air and de l’Espace from Francis
• The Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering from Sweden
• Finally, from the US Academy of Engineering in the United States.

In addition to awards from many foreign institutions, Habibie also received several prestigious awards namely the Edward Warner Award and the von Karman Award where this award was most in line with the Nobel Prize award. In addition, Habibie also won the prestigious Theodore van Karman Award in Germany.

After studying for 10 years in Germany, Habibie returned to Indonesia to fulfill a call from the President of Indonesia, at that time the president was President Soeharto. In Indonesia, Habibie was appointed as Minister of Research and Technology / Head of BPPT (Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology)for 20 years. Not only that, he also led the BUMN (State owned enterprises of Indonesia) Strategic Industries company for 10 years.

In 1995 he succeeded in leading the aircraft manufacturing project which was named the N250 Gatot Kaca. The aircraft is the first aircraft made in Indonesia.

His fame, patriotic, historical act had a huge impact on the current Indonesia’s state, and thanks to his theory, he helps save many lives and the vast technology of the Aviation sector.

Questions

1. What huge impact did BJ Habibie brought to the Aviation Sector?
2. When did BJ Habibie Died?
3. After studying in German why did he decide to come back to Indonesia?
4. What is the name of the formula that he created?
5. What is the so special about the N250 Gatot Kaca Project?

Answers

1. He created a Formula
2. 11^thof September
3. to fulfill a call from the President of Indonesia
4. the Habibie Factor
5. It was the first aircraft made in Indonesia

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“Why are the Japanese Tech firms loosing global competitiveness?”
【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検2級、TOEIC 600レベル点程度

Good day everyone. It is great to be with all of you again. Today, I am delighted to have the opportunity to share some of my thoughts on a subject I am concerned about and why you should too: The future of Japanese Tech.

Japan, known as a country of magic for so many. Japan gave my father legendary Walkman which helped him to pick up girls as having Walkman at that time was like being on the height of coolness and to millennials including me, the PlayStation series. But there are far more crucial innovations than meets the naked eye of common consumers.  Japan dominated the world with its brands Sony, Toshiba, Shark, Panasonic and countless more and supplied the digital world with its semi-conductors but this shift is changing.

In order to understand the importance of today’s topic, let’s have a look at Japan’s top 10 export products in the below data provided by WorldsTopExports.com

1. Vehicles: US$154.1 billion (20.9% of total exports)
2. Machinery including computers: $148 billion (20.1%)
3. Electrical machinery, equipment: $109.4 billion (14.8%)
4. Optical, technical, medical apparatus: $41.3 billion (5.6%)
5. Iron, steel: $29.9 billion (4.1%)
6. Plastics, plastic articles: $26.1 billion (3.5%)
7. Organic chemicals: $18.9 billion (2.6%)
8. Mineral fuels including oil: $13.3 billion (1.8%)
9. Ships, boats: $12.6 billion (1.7%)
10. Gems, precious metals: $12 billion (1.6%)

Machinery including computers alone accounts for more than 20% of the total exports equivalent to 1,480億円 but one the other side, we have the news headlines like this:

Creditors urge Toshiba to consider bankruptcy.

Japanese electronics firms Eclipsed by Apple  etc.

Now, I am going to talk about the causes of these situations. First of all, I believe japan left behind from the globalization. Globalization is the process by which businesses or other organizations develop international influence or start operating on an international scale. But I would define Globalization as diversification of consumer needs around the world and the competitiveness of a company which depends on whether its products would be selected by the diverse consumers. Interestingly, the market value of Samsung Electronics alone rivals those of Japanese giants Sony, Panasonic and Toshiba combined, and South Korean makers today dominate electronics and electric equipment markets in emerging economies. When it comes to emerging economies, in Asia alone have a combined population of about 3 billion, Japan’s strategy about the consumer needs and market strategy wasn’t right.

Second cause is Brain drain and leak of knowhow. Software development cannot be automated and relies on human resources as the key to growth. According to the asia.nikkei.com from 1976 through the spring of 2015, 490 employees left Japanese electrical machinery makers for South Korean businesses, while 196 went to China. Another 350 went to smaller rivals like Taiwan and Thailand. I strongly believe numbers must be bigger and it keeps rising.

Thirdly, Senpai culture of Japan is one of the triggers. In a world developing with such a fast pace, creativity, fresh ideas and above all skills are crucial. Effort of a company must be put on different aspects rather training a new employee without technical skills.

The foremost reason is that Japan hasn’t taken the role of English seriously in this new digital world. English is considered as the language of information technology, called “Globalish,” and is learned as the second native language around the globe. While Japanese people have little to no inclination to learn English.

What do you think the causes are?

Let’s try!

Questions

1. How the author defines globalization?
2. How many people are in the Asian emerging economies?
3. What is the Japan’s top export item?
4. What is the third cause of the problem? How far do you agree?
5. Do you use foreign phone model? Why not Sony?

Answers

1. I would define Globalization as diversification of consumer needs around the world and the competitiveness of a company which depends on whether its products would be selected by the diverse consumers.
2. diverse consumers.
3. Estimated three billion.
4. Vehicles: US$154.1 billion (20.9% of total exports)
5. Senpai culture of Japan in tech firms.
6. -open question-

Disaster
【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検準1級レベル・TOEIC700点程度

Some may not be aware that currently there are wildfires (bush fires as called in Australia), but many are not aware of what is happening. Overseas many countries are unaware of what is happening in Australia currently.  At the moment there is a fire that is made of many other fires that have destroyed over two million hectares of Australian countryside. There have been expectations by the Australian citizens that other countries would come to our aid in hope of solidarity.

Only a few fellow countries have come to our aid. Canada and New Zealand being a part of those few. Our biggest allies are still sitting idly by while Australian people and animals are suffering in horrific proportions. Our appreciation of the support from both Canada and New Zealand have been nothing short of a great bond between nations. The Australian people had hoped that ally nations, such as England, America, Indonesia and Malaysia, would offer a helping hand. So far, there has been none forthcoming from each of these nations.

Unfortunately, the lack of support from around the world has weakened the Australian people’s faith in support in times of crisis. So far, many homes, people and animals are struggling to survive. Much of this has been caused by segments of government not being proactive and doing the exact opposite by restricting certain measures to prevent such a disaster.

The leading authority of firefighting in Australia approached the Prime Minister requesting the help of the military, air force and navy, but the Prime Minister refused any assistance.

In writing this, as a representative of the Australian people and animals, I hope that Japan assists Australia in its plight, as both nations have strong and friendly relations in both trade and friendship. Even with former disagreements in the past, Australians see Japan as one of our greatest friends.

Let’s try!

Questions

1. What kind of disaster is currently happening in Australia?
2. Which countries joined Australia to fight this natural disaster?
3. What hasn’t the government in Australia done in the past to prevent this from happening?
4. What has the authority of Firefighting asked the Prime Mister of Australia for?
5. What is the author hoping from Japan?

Answers

1. Bush fires (wildfires)
2. Canada and New Zealand
3. Being proactive
4. The help of the military, air force and navy
5. Assistance

Learning new thing【英語長文練習問題】
レベル：英検2級レベル・TOEIC600点程度

For a long time, I’ve wanted to practice snowboard. Finally, after a couple years in Japan

I finally got the chance to tried it for the first-time last year.

I would say that is probably the most challenging and scariest thing I’ve ever tried so far. So, I planned my trip to the Ski place called Takasu in Takayama, Gifu prefecture. I was very excited; I search for everything about snowboard on the internet and asking my friends about it. The day came, so I drive for hours to Takasu; as I arrived and look at the big mountain, I got terrified, I’m not too fond of high places, so the lift was one of my main concerns. After practicing some basics, it was time to face my fear “the lift”, after I got on it, I realize it wasn’t scary as I thought. The scariest part was looking down the hill and see how up on the mountain I was. Even this, I was scared I got on the snowboard and tried to stand up, it took me so many falls, but as the more the I tried, the better I was getting. By the end of the day I was tired, but I never felt so happy, I was able to go downhill better than I started, it might not be perfect but was a started.

This year I decided to get more serious about it and booked a snowboard lesson. I choose an indoor snowboarding place for it. I made a reservation for Japanese snowboarding lessons; I was concern about it, but at the same time, I said to myself that this is going to be an excellent chance to learn and use my Japanese. As I enter the place, I got scared to see how high it was. The instructor was helpful and patient with me, I understood everything he said, I was proud and surprised at the same time. The lesson began with some warm-up exercises, then we started in the middle of the slope. It was scary again do it even though I tried before; I couldn’t stand up quickly, so the instructor helped me a couple times. After some practice, he decided that I was ready to go on the top, I didn’t share the same thoughts as I wasn’t feeling confident, but I trust and followed him to the top. After a couple times trying, I realize that I was actually doing well even though I haven’t practiced for a year, and my instructor was right. After the lesson finished, I thank my instructor, and the real challenge began I decided to try again, but this time by myself, it was scary, but I could do it better than before.

Learning new things is scary at first and seemed that we can’t do it, but with practice, you gain confidence, and you started getting better and liking it.

It was a double challenge for me, but I decided to go for it. So, for new learners of the language, I would recommend taking a lesson in your target language that can be cooking or any sport. Practice, gain confidence, and love it.

Let’s try!

Questions

1. What does the writer suggest doing when we want to improve in our target language?
2. Where did the writer go snowboarding for the first time?
3. How does the writer is scare of?
4. Why did the writer decide to take lessons in Japanese?
5. When did the writer tried snowboarding for the first time?

Answers

1. Learn a new activity or sport in the target language.
2. Takasu, Takayama, Gifu prefecture.
3.  High places.
4. Because the writer wanted to use Japanese.
5. Last year.

Why are Japanese so slim?【英語長文練習問題】
レベル：英検2級レベル・TOEIC600点程度

Hello MMMers, I am Beck, and it’s great to be with you again. Probably some of you have read my previous blog about Petro Yuan. But this time, as you have already realized, I would love to talk about the physique of Japanese people. It has already passed more than three years since I moved to Japan (Time flies), and yet I can vividly remember me being surprised by how slim Japanese ladies are. The reason being, I wasn’t even attracted to slim girls until it passed three months after my arrival.

Today, I will be writing about what factors cause Japanese to stay slim and healthy, although they eat carbohydrates such as rice, ramen, and udon, which is supposed to make us gain weight. Although I never assumed to know the best about the culture I had never lived among nor spoken the language of, I simply accepted the commonly held presumption that it’s in their gene until I myself have lived and lost 10kg in the 1^st year of my life in Japan. So, what are the reasons?

Portion
The volume of food is way smaller than in western countries.

The size of the dinner plates has increased over the 20 years all over the world, but it’s not a considerable case in japan. They drink green tea, which has virtually 0 calories, whereas we drink soda a lot.

Dinnerware
Using chopsticks or a smaller spoon makes us feel full.

Slowing the speed at which you eat allows your brain to notice that you are full. Japanese people find it easier to see they are full because they use chopsticks, which is a more time-consuming way of eating. Imagine you eating a plate of burger with potato fries using your hands while a variety of food in small-sized dishes eating with chopsticks, which one takes a long time?

As an aside, I have realized that Japanese people tend not to eat while watching their Netflix. Because you can’t really control how much you are eating while enjoying your entertainment.

Infrastructure
Public transportation and active lifestyle

Japan has an extensive railway system enabling commuters to reach even remote areas; for that reason, most people don’t own a car.

It’s normal for an office worker in Tokyo to spend 2 hours a day just to commute to work. And they do so by walking to the station and from it to work or cycling.

Peer pressure/Inconvenience
Overweight people feel alienated

Having been surrounded by slim people around urges you to be slender as well. Another aspect could be having a hard time finding the bigger size of clothing since most stores don’t have it.

Dating culture
Japanese guys prefer slimmer girls

Contrary to the US, where masculinity is common or being praised, Japanese girls are expected to be more feminine and obedient. In an environment like this, girls prioritize their body shape strongly.

What have you seen as the cause of Japanese slenderness?

Let’s try!

Questions

1. What are the other ways of saying “Slim”?
2. How long has the author been living in Japan?
3. What does the author imply by “extensive railway system”?
4. Why Japanese fashion makes it inconvenient to be overweight?
5. Why does sing chopsticks help us prevent obesity?

Answers

1. slender, thin
2. More than three years
3. Japan has an excellent public transportation service, which allows accessing even rural areas.
4. Clothing stores don’t have big sizes for overweight people.
5. We know when we are full.

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SITUATIONAL CHANGE【英語長文練習問題】
レベル：準1級レベル・TOEIC700点程度

With the types of situations that occur in our lifetimes, for example the current situation with the Coronavirus, we tend to see it as a doomsday type scenario. This is usually because we are complacent in our attitudes towards these types of events. We get overly caught up with the here and now and are reactive rather than being proactive. In this kind of scenario, we end up becoming negative in our approach to everything, which is unproductive in the scheme of things.

During my life I have encountered many adversities, some of these were small in context and others much bigger. These occurrences at the time did bring me down, but once I got through them, I realised that I should have been more proactive during those times. Although I was feeling down during these periods, I would always pull myself up and use those times to better myself and plan and that is the key.

Currently all we hear from the media are providing misinformation, arguing with each other and continually changing their stories. This is causing a lot of unnecessary panic and people to do silly things. In this situation, instead of believing everything the media says, we should only listen to what all of them can confirm. They should be working together to help the collective good and stop thinking only of arguing with each other.

verall, we should not see this as a negative situation, but more as an opportunity to change our way of thinking. We need to use this time in a useful and productive way, such as planning for after this is over. This is where we need to look at learning new skills, setting goals and improving ourselves. We all need to be more proactive and prepare for our futures. Keep safe and let’s look after each other and support each other.

Let’s try!

Questions

1. What does ‘doomsday’ mean?
2. What should we do instead of being reactive?
3. I would always do what when I was feeling down?
4. The media are causing…….?
5. We should not see this as a negative situation, but…….

Answers

1. Last day of existence.
2. Be proactive.
3. I would pull myself up.
4. Unnecessary panic.
5. …..more as an opportunity to change our way of thinking.

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Is Japan Environmentally Friendly?【英語長文練習問題】
レベル：準1級レベル・TOEIC700点程度

What I have noticed in the differences between Australia and Japan regarding environmentally friendly practices has been quite eye opening.  Some areas are similar while others have been quite opposite. Actions taken in this area have been slow in some respects.  Awareness of the world around us on both sides has been lacking and honestly deplorable.

Firstly, when it comes to plastics, Japan seems to overuse plastics in many aspects of life. In Australia, we try constantly to reduce or refuse plastics unless we have no other options. As an example, in convenience stores in Japan, almost 75 to 80% of products have some sort of plastic in the packaging. On the other hand, Australia has reduced this to about 50 to 60%. Also, when it comes to convenience stores, they have a habit of giving out plastic bags for even the smallest products, which is unnecessary. In saying that, in Australia some people still have bad habits when it comes to plastics.

One big problem we have in Australia, which Japan has done better with, has been the transition from gasoline and diesel cars to hybrid cars. Australia tends to have this macho type attitude towards hybrid vehicles and wants big V8 powered cars or old-style diesel pickup trucks (4 x 4). I feel this is kind of a balance between the two countries when it comes to the impact being negative on their own environments.

One last aspect to look at would be the rubbish disposal system in each country. When I first came to Japan, I was surprised that there were no public trash cans and in Australia we also have not only public trash cans but separate trash cans one for bottles and one or cans.  One thing that did not make sense to me in Japan was with the drink container trash cans have two separate holes, one for plastic bottles and the other for cans. When I looked at them closely, they all go in the same container together. It should be separated in two halves, otherwise it does not make sense to have one hole for cans and one for bottles. When it comes to household trash cans, we have large plastic trash cans, one for general rubbish, one for recyclables, and one for green waste. (e.g. garden waste, vegetable scraps) These trash cans have wheels on them, and we put them at the top of the driveway. For collection, this made it much easier for collection, kept pests out and was less work for collectors. In Japan, they have plastic bags and the collection is irregular and you can not put the rubbish out the night before for fear of birds, rats and other pests getting into the rubbish.

In conclusion, overall, both need to really look at the way they deal with the efficiency and ultimately make a difference. I would say that if both Japan and Australia integrated ideas, it would be a far more effective start to improving our situations. It just shows you that both of our cultures are really missing the point and are really being counterproductive even with our improvements. We could all make this work by working together.

Let’s try!

Questions

1. How is the macho attitude reflected in Australian culture?
2. What did not make sense to the writer in Japan?
3. What percentage of packaging in convenience stores in Japan have plastic in them?
4. What are the three types of trash cans in Australia?
5. What does the write suggest each country do to improve?

Answers

1. They want big V8 powered cars or old-style diesel pickup       trucks (4 x 4).
2. How public trash cans for drink containers in Japan are structured.
3. 75 to 80%
4. General rubbish, recyclables, and green waste.
5.  Japan and Australia to integrate ideas.

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Racism in Indonesia【英語長文練習問題】
レベル：英検2級レベル・TOEIC600点程度

Racism is an idea created by humans to differentiate between people seen from their skin color, ethnicity, and the area of their residence. Usually, racism is always attached to the superiority of certain groups. They can do anything because they feel superior. Finally, the rights of different people are violated. Even leads to criminal-ism.

Racism has existed in this world for a long time. In fact, it has very strong roots. In almost every country, cases of racism always arise and create social inequalities. The tragedy of the death of George Floyd in the United States brought back the issue of racism in black #BlackLivesMatter in various regions of the world. In Indonesia, the issue of racism that emerged was in the form of the #PapuaLivesMatter campaign, which raised the issue of discrimination against Indonesians against Papuans.

Dutch colonize Indonesia in 1595. Racism is inseparable from colonial heritage how the Netherlands used to make social stratification in the colonies. In Indonesia, stratification is divided into three. Namely, the European group, the Eastern group, which at that time was dominated by Chinese and Arabic descent, as well as the indigenous group. From there, we can see the roots of racism. Then racism was increasingly formed during the New Order when the government carried out repression against ethnic Chinese.

Regarding #PapuaLivesMatter, that the tribes in Papua are indeed biologically different from other regions in Indonesia. Racism towards Papuans also formed during the New Order era. I think that racism in Papua also cannot be separated from the New Order when the area became the location of military operations in 1974. In my opinion, there is a share of history in current discrimination; however, both anthropologists stress the issue of racism in Papua in contrast to the US. That discrimination in Papua was different from black slavery that had occurred in the United States. Black people have become slaves in the US with a very long history. While here, the problem is the treatment of the region (Papua), which is not good. There was attention to the eastern parts of Indonesia that were left behind. Maybe there are still feelings of anger, heartache felt by the Papuan people in the past.

One of the most significant issues that have occurred in Indonesia since the past is racism against Chinese descendants. In 1998 The past government carried out repression in such a way (against the descendants of Chinese) so that the effect is felt up until now. In Papua itself, racism exists, some of Papuan are getting names as ‘straight hair’ and ‘curly hair.’ Racism is strong; it differs according to the location. But not strong in others. Malay Batak ethnic groups refer to Indian descent as ‘keling’ which means dark skin person from India. This is because biologically, their physical form is different. But it is different with the descendants of Chinese in Kalimantan, which is more likely not a problem because they are biologically similar.

Let’s try!

Questions

1. Which Country that Colonized Indonesia and affected their culture into the current “racism” happening in Indonesia?
2. What did “Racism” create in our society?
3. What campaign did Indonesia create when #blacklivesmatter campaign was happening in America?
4. What happened in Indonesia in 1998?
5. What name do other ethnic groups call Indian descendants with?

Answers

1. Dutch/Netherlands
2. Social Inequalities
3. #papualivesmatter
4. The past government carried out repression against the Chinese descendants
5. Keling

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The way we learn【英語長文練習問題】
レベル：英検2級レベル・TOEIC600点程度

Growing up, I didn’t have much contact with kids even though I have a brother, and he is about my age. I was always interested in what it would be like to be around kids or have a baby brother. It wasn’t until recently that I had the opportunity to be around kids but not only one but many of them. I started teaching English and Spanish to little kids with different nationalities like Japanese and Brazilian.

I was in Peru when I was their age, so it is very interesting to see the difference in how they are learning. And because of the generation gap, the teaching methods differ from the ones been taught now, and also, the difference of the culture they are born and raised in. I found that, in Japan, teaching a new language to kids has to be through very fun activities, as they use playtime as a learning method. Kids absorb new languages better if it is taught dynamically with a lot of games and movement. It is a slow process as learning a language is new for them. Still, repetition with physical movements helps them learn words by relating it with the target word.

It is quite interesting how kids interiorize language learning, as this sometimes can bring emotions like boredom, frustration, or happiness. Kids show these emotions at the moment and let you know about it by saying “I don’t want to do this,” “I am so happy, look at what I learned today” or “teacher, I am hungry, I want to go home.” Showing emotions and speaking about them is quite helpful as some kids will show if they understand it or not and speak out. However, for some, doing this can be difficult, so they just sit back without any interaction, or they show that they don’t understand because they are afraid of what other peers could say.

Through teaching, I learned some interesting differences between not only adults and kids but nationalities as well. For some, foreign pronunciation and vocabulary can be easier as some can be similar between countries. The tricky part is that these words might have a different meaning (this is called false cognate). On the other side for Japanese, vocabulary and pronunciation can be difficult as their language is very different from English, but some vocabulary might be easier as the Japanese used a good amount of English words on an everyday basis, just with a change in pronunciation.

Another thing that I found interesting is the way they interact with me. For example, when I interact with foreign kids, there is kind of a feeling of an age gap like they treat me as an adult. On the other hand, Japanese kids treat me more like I am equal to them, expressing themselves more freely from frustration to happiness.

Teaching kids has shown me how different the way we learn is and how our different backgrounds shape how we learn and interact with the world around us.

Let’s try!

Questions

1. Where is the author from?
   a) Peru
   b) Japan
   c) Brazil
   d) America
2. What does the author do?
   a) Teach Japanese
   b) Teach English
   c) Teach Spanish
   d) B and C
3. How does kids learn better?
   a) Tongue twisters.
   b) Talking to the teacher.
   c) Playing games
   d) All above
4.  Where is the author teaching?
   a) Japan
   b) Brazil
   c) Peru
   d) Spain
5. Is the teacher teaching only kids?
   a) True
   b) False

Answers

1. 1) a) 2) d) 3) c) 4) a) 5) b)

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Five underrated things in Japan【英語長文練習問題】
レベル：英検準2級レベル・TOEIC500点程度

If you have been living in Japan for a long time, things become usual for you and sometimes don’t even realize how you will miss these things if one day you traveled abroad or maybe move to another country.

Public bathroom

One of the things I love in Japan is clean, beautiful, and efficient Japanese toilets. While traveling, finding a bathroom was not an easy task; public restrooms were challenging to find, so mostly, I’ve had to eat or drink at a restaurant or cafe to buy something to use the toilet. Coming back from Europe made me appreciate this even more, as it is so comfortable in Japan to access public restrooms everywhere.

24 hours convenience store

Have you ever wanted to eat ice cream at night? Well, you can crave anything at any time it will be plenty of options to fulfill your cravings; when I was in Europe, I sometimes walked at night, but most of the stores where closed, so I had to think in advance and get all those things I need at the supermarket before closing time. Have you ever been on a long road trip? You can take a rest at any convenience store to eat, drink, go to the toilet and rest in any connivance store along your way.

Security

I could say that I feel safer in Japan most of the time; I can look at my phone while walking, have money in my hands, go to the convenience store at night and drive without locking my car doors, without being scared that something bad is going to happen. While caution is always advisable, I feel more freedom, and I don’t need to be in a fear mode all the time.

Omotemashi

Japanese customer service is the best in the world although I encountered some that were not so good. In general, they go out of their way to help you out with a big smile and a respectful Japanese Language. Plus, as for product presentation, have you ever noticed how well thought and presented food, drink, souvenirs, and others are? It is just beautiful.

Food from all around the world

Even though Japanese food is the favorite food for Japanese and foreigners in Japan, this country has a wide variety of ethnic food in both its original and Japanese style. Here I tried all types of ethnic food from Japanese, Asian to western, and Latin American food.

Let’s try!

Questions

What isn’t mentioned in the passage?

a)　Ethnic food
b)　Bathroom
c)　Clean streets
d)　Customer service

What can you buy at night in Japan?

a)　Ice cream
b)　Food
c)　Green tea
d)　All the above

What kind of foods are mentioned by the author?

a)　Asian food
b)　Western food
c)　Japanese food
d)　All the above

What is the characteristic that the author mention about public restrooms in Japan?

a)　Clean
b)　Free
c)　Dirty
d)　Bad smell 

What does the word “underrated” mean?

a)　Doesn’t receive the recognition that deserves
b)　It is highly appreciated
c)　Someone famous
d)　Bad reviews

Answers

1. 1) c) 2) d) 3) d) 4) a) 5) a)

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How to chill out during a global pandemic【英語長文練習問題】
レベル：英検準1級レベル・TOEIC700点程度

After an eventful year, I have often found myself thinking about ways to stay calm when the world outside is so turbulent. Every morning when I turn on the news, my heart sinks to discover more disturbing information. I think it is so important to tune in every day to the world events, and also to do what we can to make the world better. However, sometimes in the middle of a global pandemic, you need to just tune out, and settle into the blissful mundanity of your little life.

So here are my tips to take the edge off. Firstly, I like to start my day by moving my body. Many of us are working from home during this time and should reap the benefits of this! Working from home has given me an extra hour in the morning to do some yoga or go for a walk. Sometimes I take a coffee or listen to a podcast, but usually I just move for the sake of moving.

Secondly, I carve out time in the day to listen to music. Depending on the day, this ranges from sad music to happy music, slow music to dance music. Either way, music has the ability to force us to listen inwards and has the uncanny ability to allow us to tune out from the craziness of the outside world.

Next, I like to cook as much as I can. Of course, some days are busier than others, and cooking isn’t always possible, but when I can I really notice the difference in my mood. Cooking is great for mental health because we are forced to focus on the task at hand, without looking at our phones or computers.

As well as this, I drink lots and lots of tea! Tea is a powerful thing. It can be drunk hot or cold, sweet or bitter. It hydrates you throughout the day and gives you an excuse to get up out of your chair. This one doesn’t need much explanation, because we all know tea is great.

Finally, I try to watch or listen to something that makes me laugh every day. I usually listen to a podcast in or watch YouTube in English. Whilst I study Japanese in the day, when I have finished work, I like to listen to something in my own language. Humans cannot be improving themselves 24/7, so listening to something because ‘it just makes you laugh’ is important too!

Let’s try!

Questions

1)　How many different activities does the writer suggest to relax in a pandemic?
2)　What are those activities?
3)　What 2 different types of exercise does the writer suggest doing in the morning?
4)　“The writer thinks it is important to listen to the news every day.” True or False?
5)　Why does the writer suggest listening to a podcast or watching YouTube?

Answers

1) 5

2) Exercise, Listening to Music, Cooking, Drinking Tea and watching or listening to something funny.

3) Walking or Yoga

4) True

5) Just because it makes you laugh.

Color differentiation in culture【英語長文練習問題】
レベル：英検準1級レベル・TOEIC700点程度

It has been a while since I last wrote a blog. Color is a crucial aspect of every culture. Colors can represent love, anger, sadness, infidelity, and religious affiliations, depending on the culture. In today’s reading, we will look at the different meanings of colors in cultures around the world.

Blue bears both positive and negative meanings. For example, in Western cultures (North America and Europe) The most popular color for bank logos is blue because it represents trust and authority. The color is also masculine and used to represent the birth of a boy. Meanwhile, in China, it is the symbol of femininity. Now imagine me, a guy whose wardrobe is 70% full with blue clothes visiting China looking all like girlish. Whereas, in India, blue represents immortality. in countries such as Turkey, Greece, and Albania citizens can be seen wearing blue amulets as they believe bleu repels evil. Interestingly in my country Uzbekistan, blue signifies peace and purity. Universally associated with the sea and sky, a natural phenomenon well-known the world over, blue instills a sense of inner stability. The reason being it is common to see historic buildings covered in blue tiles. However, In English and also probably in the Japanese language we can observe the word blue associated with phrases that have negative meanings. For example, to feel blue; once in a blue moon; out of the blue.

Green is a go color; it is the color of hope. It makes sense because we can associate it with springtime and a sense of flourishing. At the same time, it is the color of jealousy. Back in 1603, William Shakespeare referred to jealousy as a “green-eyed monster” in his tragic play Othello.

Red, although universally accepted as a stop sign,　can be seen as being a feminine or sexy color while it symbolizes happiness in China.
In China, yellow has strong historical and cultural associations. The first emperor was called the Yellow Emperor. After the Song Dynasty, which ended in 1279, only the emperor was allowed to wear bright yellow. in Japan, the color yellow is one of courage. in America, it is the exact opposite. Yellow is considered the color of cowardice.

The lovely color white plays an important role in religions around the world. in Christianity, children wear white when they’re baptized and first take communion. The Pope (head of the Roman Catholic Church), has worn white since 1566 to symbolize sacrifice. Muslim pilgrims wear Ihram, a simple white attire intended to signify that before God, all are equal.
The color white or Shiro in Japanese is considered a sacred color of the gods. It is the symbol of spiritual and physical purity. Since old times, the Emperor of Japan used to dress in white clothes for the main Shinto rituals.

Here, I would like to conclude the topic of colors and their meanings around the globe. Hope you found it interesting and feel free to share your thoughts with your instructor and take a short quiz below to check your comprehension.

Let’s try!

Questions

1)　What is the color of jealousy?
2)　What is the universally regarded peace color?
3)　Which color is frequently associated with phrases which have negative meanings?
4)　Which color symbolizes femininity universally?
5)　What is the sacred color of gods in Japan?

Answers

1) Green.

2) Blue.

3) Blue.

4) Red.

5) White.

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Sinking cities【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検準一級、TOEIC700点程度

Today, I would like to talk about global warming and its seeable effects on our daily lives.
I am from a southeastern country, Indonesia. Its capital is Jakarta, or I call it a sinking city. According to the research, Jakarta is the fastest sinking city in the world expected to be 95% submerged under the water by 2050 when a lot of you, hopefully, will be still alive. Every year, 10 centimeters of it is submerging in the water. The reasoning behind this incident is largely due to the excessive extraction of groundwater for drinking and the commercial use when water is pumped out of an underground aquifer, and the land above it sinks. And yet this is not the only factor behind it. Known as a romantic vocational spot, Maldives is also waiting for the same destiny by 2050. For the Maldives, we can without a doubt hold global warming responsible in a connotative way.

The abovementioned countries are far from us, Japan which on a second thought should not make us be alarmed about it and feel free from any harm. However, as Japan is an island country surrounded by only water on all sides, it is put in almost as severe a condition as those countries. Talking about the geography of Japan, the known fact is that it consists of 70% of mountains harshly habitable to us regarding infrastructure. Areas located in the sea are densely populated and they are also very prone to low-lying coastal flooding.

Urban areas in the low-elevation coastal zone in Japan, 2015.
Source: CUNY Institute for Demographic Research (CIDR), Institute for Development Studies (IDS), and the Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN).
In Climate Emergency, Urban Opportunity (2019). Map Credit: Hasim Engin, CIDR

If ice keeps melting in Antarctica at the same speed as today, sea levels rise by three meters by 2050, meaning that there is a huge threat to the urban centers of Japan, let alone the topic of taller Tsunami waves.

After the 2011 Fukushima incident, the Japanese government started building a 15-meter-tall, 400-kilometer-long wall.  Although it is the biggest infrastructure project in Japan, will it be able to save it from possible tsunamis in ten years? Shall this wall be built all around Japan? Or will Japan be a city like Venice, Italy?

This blog is solely about problems that we may face soon without any solutions as I wanted to leave it open for discussion between you and yourself or people around you.

Let’s try!

Questions

1)　How ma

ny centimeters of Jakarta is sinking every year?

2)　Which cities are the urban centers of Japan according to the picture provided above?
3)　How big is the wall being built in Japan?
4)　Which other city/country is also under the damage of flooding?
5)　What is the sea level prediction by 2050?

Answers

1)     10 centimeters per year.
2)     All the cities marked red.
3)     15 meters tall, 400 kilometers long.
4)     The Maldives.
5)     Increase by three meters.

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AN AUSSIE COOKING IN JAPAN

AN AUSSIE COOKING IN JAPAN【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検二級、TOEIC500点程度

When I was living in Australia, I used to experiment a lot with cooking because sometimes after paying the bills I wouldn’t have much money left over. When this situation arose, I would have to cook with whatever I had left in the cupboards and in the refrigerator. In the beginning most of the meals I made were pretty bad, but after a while it became really good, much to my surprise.

Once I arrived in Japan, I didn’t have much of an opportunity to do much cooking due to living in an apartment with my wife’s mother and sister. Once we finally moved out into a house of our own, I started to cook again, but had trouble sourcing ingredients for western style recipes (I’m not good at cooking Japanese food). Eventually, I ended up finding a few places that had the ingredients I needed, which was a relief as I was missing western food, but in Japan it is pretty expensive to purchase. It eing expensive didn’t deter my want to start cooking again.

After finally finding places to get ingredients, such as Seijo Ishii, Amica, Gyomu Super and the online store The Meat Guy, which supplies meat from Australia, New Zealand and other countries I started a cooking frenzy. I have cooked things like steak wrapped in bacon with garlic herb mashed potato, pasta bake, curry sausage pie, salmon steamed in lemon/lime juice with chilli, risotto and many others.  I have added some pictures of just some of things that I have cooked. One problem though is that I tend to be a bit overzealous with presentation, which was because of a chef friend of mine that wouldn’t try my food unless it looked well presented. I was always perplexed by this because I wasn’t working for a restaurant as a chef.

Let’s try!

Questions

1)   What does the word “arose” mean?

2)   What did I have trouble getting in Japan?

3)   How am I at cooking Japanese food?

4)   Where did I end up getting the ingredients, I needed to cook western food?

5)  Out of the meals I mentioned, which do you think took the least amount of time to cook?

Answers

1)   Arose ? Come up

2)   Ingredients for western food.

3)   Not good4)   Seijo Ishii, Amica, Gyomu Super and the online store The Meat Guy.

5)   Salmon steamed in lemon/lime juice with chilli

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More Than Learning a Language【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検二級、TOEIC500点程度

When we learn a language, we learn words or grammar; we also learn the culture of a different country and how those differ from ours, like habits, way of thinking, and others. Learning the most used vocabulary helps us understand people from different backgrounds and expand our view of the world from other angles.

During times like this, a pandemic due to COVID-19, it might seem challenging due to the human contact restriction that we are facing. As we get to spend more time at home, we have more time to watch TV shows and movies that show us a lot about cultures and human interaction in another culture. While studying English is essential, sometimes we do not pay much attention to this fantastic resource full of knowledge.

Until we wait for the borders to be open and experience this culture at first hand, we should take advantage of this resource. It does not matter if your goal is business or daily conversations; there is a plenty of genres that we can watch depending on our goals. We can find Vlogs on Youtube or TikTok from ordinary people, telling us about their real-life situations and challenges. Plus, we can practice our listening skills, and get used to hearing a variety of accents.

One of the most important things that you can experience doing this is challenging yourself while having fun, so it is highly recommended that you watch something interesting.

Footage, movies and TV shows on Youtube and TikTok are significant parts  of Pop culture, which can help you find topics when you get a chance to talk to people.

So I encourage you to use these resources, talk about them and create an opinion to share with your teachers and future friends.

たくさん英語に触れることで、英語は上達します。反対に、触れる時間が減ると、せっかく頑張ってあげてきた英語の能力が低下していきます。

英会話スクールmmm外国人講師の先生による、日本で住んで気づいたことや、海外との違いなどのエッセイを英語でまとめた英語長文練習問題を作りました。最後には、この英語長文のQ&Aとなる練習問題があります。英語レベル的には、英検二級?準１級、TOEIC500?600点を目標にしている方向け程度の英語長文練習問題となっています。

参考書や過去問にプラスして要約練習や模擬問題として、定期的に、英語長文練習問題をお届けします。

最初の英語長文練習問題は、カリスマ人気講師ケニー先生が日本に住んでみて気づいたこと、実際に住んでみて、また、観光で訪れた時に感じた日本とは少し違ったということ、その日本と外国とで違うと感じた風習・習慣・常識などについて英語長文練習問題を書いています。

What’s Bizarre about Japan? 【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検２級・TOEIC500点程度

When people talk about Japan, they would always think about how innovative and technological this country gets! Or how pretty and neat the country is! Last but not the least, fashion, Cosplay and hype beast were always a big thing in the city of Japan. Coming to Japan with the intention of tourism would have been a great experience. Different culture. You can find a lot of unique things they sell in Japan! But as you live in Japan, you interact with the locals and everything doesn’t seem the way you thought of Japan.

First thing I would like to discuss is how Japanese people are not flexible. They were taught to follow the rules and orders, which is good at some points but not so good at some points. There are always advantage and disadvantage. For example, when I crossed a small street, there were no cars at all, but people would choose to wait for the red lights to turn green. Since foreigners from all over the world start visiting Japan, Japanese people are much more open-minded. However, only certain elderly people would stare at you if you cross a small street with the red light. Not only about traffic light but customer services aren’t negotiable at times.  We, as a customer need a flexibility. For example, in some restaurants we have our own positions and we are not allowed to take others. It’s great that we could focus more on our own jobs, but as the customers are waiting in lines, we should help out our teammates, but some of the staffs wouldn’t care.

Second, everybody who has their part-time jobs in a restaurant would have found out by now that Japanese restaurants love wasting all the clean leftover food. For instance, in Japan, they have different kinds of set meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner. As a restaurant, we need to prepare for breakfast, lunch and dinner set meals. If the meal we prepare for lunch hasn’t been sold out yet, the kitchen would definitely throw away all the leftover food after the lunch time ends. Why? Because they would like to have fresh food for the next day, not leftover food. It’s great but why not let us (staffs) eat the leftover stored in the refrigerator? I still can’t figure that out. It’s a waste of food. I know, Japan took really good care of the people so they won’t get food poisoning, but this is too much of a waste.

Many foreigners/ International students protested but no action being made. Many of us foreigners come to Japan to work and study, not to make a change in the Japanese culture or the laws. Japan is considered as one of the top countries in the world, compared to the country I was born. As Japan has much better laws, and how successfully well-developed Japan is proven, so we might have to learn on how Japanese do their jobs done.

Let’s try

Questions

1. What are the two examples that the writer mentions as Japanese being not flexible?
2. What did elderly people do when foreigners crossed the street with the red light?
3. What does the writer suggest we do when your job at a restaurant doesn’t allow you to take orders from customers?
4. What surprised the writer about the leftover food when working at a restaurant in Japan?
5. Which of the following is the closest to the meaning of “bizarre”?
   a) amazing b) strange  c) surprising  d) interesting

Answers

1. People don’t cross the street with the red light even when there are no cars.
2. They stared at the foreigners.
3. They should help taking orders when customers are waiting.
4. The fact that some restaurants throw away the clean leftover food.
5. b)

次の英語長文読解問題は、人気講師ヤシンー先生からの英語長文です。

My first train ride【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検２級・TOEIC500点程度

My first train ride

Bicycles, motorcycles, personal cars, taxis, buses, donkeys and horses in the country side are the means of transportation I had ever used in Morocco before I moved to Japan. “Where are the trains, subways, tramways? ” is the question you might be asking yourself right now, right? Well, we do have some railway lines mostly connecting the big cities, so I didn’t have a chance to take a ride as I lived in a little town in the northeast of Morocco.

On the other hand, those trains were and still are so slow and not very punctual. That’s why I didn’t even think of trying them. Now we have the TGV (Train Grand Vitesse: High Speed train) though, so don’t worry if you’re planning to visit Morocco.

November the 2nd 2010 was the day I first stepped my foot in Japan. My wife met me at the airport. It was the time for me to take my first train ride since I was born. It was wonderful because it was my first ride and the scenery from the airport to our destination was astonishing, especially the Autumn colours. I still remember that like it happened yesterday.

A couple of years ago, I went back to Morocco and had a chance to ride a train for the first time, but this time in my home country. It was pretty comfortable but slow as hell.

Do you want to try trains in Morocco? As a Japanese you had better not unless you enjoy suffering hell.  I’m a bit exaggerating, but I seriously don’t like them.

Let’s try!

Questions

1. Why wasn’t he able to travel by train in Morocco?
2. What was bad about trains in Morocco?
3. What part of his train journey in Japan was so good?
4. What does the word “astonishing” mean?
5. What is TGV the abbreviation for?
   A) The Good Vehicle. B) To Go Vertical. C) Train Grand Vitesse. D) Trained Government Vehicle.

ANSWERS

1. He lived in a small town and trains mainly travelled to big cities.
2. Slow and not punctual.
3. The scenery with all the Autumn colours.
4. “Astonishing” means amazing, very surprising or impressive.
5. C)Train Grand Vitesse.

今回はオーストラリア人のデニー先生からの長文練習問題です。 Let’sTry！

FRIENDSHIP: AUSTRALIA vs JAPAN【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検準一級　TOEIC 700点

Since coming to Japan almost 2 years ago, I have noticed a large difference in interactions and socializing with friends, neighbours etc. There are many different aspects to this and to see how dissimilar the two cultures are in this subject is interesting to observe.

AUSTRALIA: In Australia, after work (usually around 5:30pm) I would call/message my friends and say that I will come over to visit for a few drinks, sometimes a meal with them and vice versa. Most of the time it was no problem and when it wasn’t ok, they would immediately ask if tomorrow is ok to visit them. There was barely any time during weeks where we wouldn’t see friends or neighbours and socialize. After having drinks and most often a meal as well, I would go home and go have drinks with my neighbours. Usually when I went to my neighbours they would have friends or other neighbours that we knew well and would drink and have a BBQ.

On the weekend there would always be the regular visiting friends, having drinks, BBQ and having the TV outside to watch while socializing. This was also the case with neighbours. You would walk to your neighbours, there would be a small to large gathering consisting of other neighbours or their friends and you would go there, start talking, drinking, BBQ, go to the pub together or watch sports on TV. The other thing we would do to each other is tease each other quite a lot but that’s what a normal thing to do as friends was.

JAPAN: I have always loved Japan, its people, food, culture and natural beauty as a country. As I started meeting people, it was a bit difficult being Australian as we are sometimes an overly friendly people in some cases (well maybe to Japanese people). I would meet people and greet them in the normal way I would greet people in Australia. This usually was saying “G’day mate! How are ya! Nice to meet you!” and because it was enthusiastically said, a lot of Japanese people were apprehensive about it. My wife advised me that I need to be not so overzealous with my approach. Anyway, when I contact my Japanese friends or speak to them face to face and say about meeting on the weekend or after work for a drink, they respond with I will message you or pull out their calendar. This happens a lot, then they go on to say how about in 3 weeks’ time or end of next month. It’s a bit like a restaurant but you make a reservation with friends for even an hour of time. It’s quite interesting. I have started forgetting what my friends here look like. I see them and think to myself you look vaguely familiar, do I know you from somewhere? Hahaha.

In finishing, I think that the differences between both Australia and Japan in this respect are quite opposite. I think that we underestimate the importance of friends and making time for them as they are a vital part of who we are and who we should be and I mean that for all people everywhere. Having friends you can see often is huge a benefit to us as people and helps you relax and reset from stresses in everyday life. Make time for your friends as you need them and they need you.

Let’s try!

Questions

1) What aspect is the writer discussing in this article?

2) How often would Australian friends and neighbors meet?

3) What do Australians usually do when they meet?

4) How often would Japanese friends and neighbors meet?

5)In your opinion, why don’t Japanese meet that often?

6)What’s another word for “overzealous?” A: Offensive B: Passionate C: Talkative D: Rude

Answers

1)The difference of how we meet friends between Australia and Japan

2)They meet quite often both during the week and on weekends.

3-They usually have a drink, have a meal or a BBQ, and sometimes They go to the pub and watch sports on TV.

4)They would meet once a month, with arranging in advance.

5)e.g.*) They are busy with work and need to prepare something in order to meet their friends.

6)B

Kenny先生からの英語長文読解練習問題です。 

Cultural Differences 【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検２級・TOEIC500点程度

Cultural Differences

Today I want to talk about the cultural differences between Indonesia and Japan. Since I’m an International student, as I arrived in Japan back in 2016, the first thing I should do was to apply for an Identification card and to create my own stamp with my name on it.  How cool is that to have your own ID card and your own stamp in Japan!  Foreign/International students in Indonesia don’t really have to bother getting these.  Cultural differences could be interesting and fun although sometimes it could be difficult for some people.  For instance, foreigner or International Students with darker skin would most probably get asked about a theft or ID verification.

First thing I’m going to talk about is how to write your “Signature” in a Japanese and Indonesian way.  As what I have said, it’s really new for me to use stamps.  Back in Indonesia,  only  a president of a company, high ranking officials or  a person in a position of authority  are the ones who usually use stamps.

In japan they call it ( Hanko / Inkan ) and there are 3 versions for different uses:

• Jitsuincarries the highest legal authority and is required for such dealings as purchasing real estate or automobiles, transferring titles or ownership, taking out a loan, and filing a will.
• Mitomeinserves for commonplace transactions such as filing application forms at City Hall and receiving packages from delivery services and post offices.
• Gink?inis used when opening an account.

In Indonesia, we use our own hand-written signature which is basically a form of our name as a legal mark for administration, bank use and verifying official papers.

Next thing I found quite interesting was at the theater.  When I went to the theater for the first time in Japan, I felt weird.   We all know that Japanese people are very respectful towards people. For instance, staying after the movie to watch all the cast names and crew member names in the movie.  It takes about 10 minutes or more. This does not happen in Indonesia. It may seem selfish but people usually leave the theater as soon as the movie ends.

There are many more cultural differences between the two countries, but I’m afraid I have to end it for now.  See you next month!  I hope you learned something from it!

Let’s try!

Questions

1) In Indonesia who would commonly use stamps for a signature?

2) What kind of signature do Indonesian people use?

3)What is MITOMEIN Inkan used for?

4)What does the writer think about Japanese people’s behavior at a theater?

5)Which do you prefer? Hand-written signature or stamps as your signature?

Why?

Answers (Example answer)

1)A president of a company, high ranking officials or person of authority.

2) Hand-written signature.

3) Mitomein is only for transaction use.

4)The writer felt weird

5)I prefer Stamps.  You don’t need to spend time and energy to write your signature. It is quite simple.

I hope my country will adopt it in the future.

TRAFFIC IN NAGOYA【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検準一級　TOEIC 700点

To begin, this may only be isolated to one area, as I frequent where I have noticed this happens on a daily basis. So this is just an observation on what I have seen in person. I am perplexed by how often it happens.

On my way to work each day, I frequently walk to the nearby train station. Before the station you cross a main road and walk down a side street towards the station. As you near the station, there is a backstreet that has three crosswalks in front of the underpass. Every time I go to cross, I have to wait for cars to go past before I can cross, none of which slow down even the slightest. On numerous occasions when I first arrived here, I was almost run down.

In Australia(not sure about in Japan) pedestrians have right of way and if you don’t allow pedestrians right of way or at least slow down, it can be considered by the law as attempted manslaughter by negligence. We have a monitoring system that has CCTV cameras monitoring the pedestrian crossings to catch people who do not stop if there are pedestrians present. If pedestrians are not present you are still required by law to slow down when approaching a crossing. When it comes to the said crossings that I am referring to here in Nagoya, you never see any police presence in that area to even monitor, if anything maybe once a month at least.

When writing this, it is to me a safety concern for all pedestrians who frequent the area as well as for my wife and myself. As I had mentioned in the beginning of this blog, I am merely making an observation on what takes place in this area. Unfortunately I have had this occur a few times in different areas of Nagoya but in this particular area it seems to be very common.

Let’s try!

Questions

1)  What is the main subject of this blog?

2)  What happens at these pedestrian crossings?

3)  What is a pedestrian?

4)  What is CCTV?

5)  How often does this happen at these crossings?

6)  Why is it a safety concern?

Answers

1)  Dangerous driving near pedestrian crossings.

2)  Vehicles don’t slow down or stop at the pedestrian crossings.

3)  A person walking.

4)  CCTV ? Closed Circuit Television

5)  The drivers could cause serious injury or even death.

6)  The drivers could cause serious injury or even death.

次は、ケニー先生からの問題です！チャレンジしてみましょう。

Cultural differences【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検２級・TOEIC500点程度

Back at it again with the cultural differences between Indonesia and Japan! Today I’m going to talk about the “Taste Preferences” between Japanese people and Indonesian people. Well, food is one of the greatest things about life. There is definitely some things that most of us Indonesian can’t eat while we are living in Japan due to the differences in culture.

To begin with, I will start with Indonesia’s history. Indonesia won the 4^th place for one of the many islands in a country, approximately 6,000 populated islands of the total 17,508 with more than 300 ethnic groups calling Indonesia home. Many regional cuisines exist, often based upon their original culture and foreign influences. Indonesia has around 5,350 traditional recipes, with 30 of them considered the most important. Indonesia’s cuisine may include rice, noodle and soup dishes to street-side snacks and expensive plates.  Indonesian cuisine often demonstrate complex ingredients and the rich flavors which most often describe as savory, hot spicy and also combination of basic tastes such as sweet, and salty, sour and bitter. Because I love food, I’m very excited to taste all kinds of Japanese food, including raw fish, famous natto(納豆) and etc. I love Japanese food. It’s just that after living here for over a year, I feel like there is less flavor in Japanese food, and everything tastes plain. Most Japanese people have low tolerant of spicy food, but they have two kinds of chilies, shichimi tougarashi and  wasabi.  Shichimi is a crushed dried chili and it’s not spicy for us Indonesian. We can finish a bottle of shichimi, but when it comes to wasabi, most of us can’t stand the strong effect that hit on our nose.

Whereas with Japanese cuisine and inherited tradition, they love to eat fresh food or some variant tastes such as salty, sweet and sour then again they would prefer the natural taste of the food. Keep it in mind too, that they dislike food that contain too much oil in it except for a deep fried food. I will take one of the traditional food in Japan washoku as an example. Washoku contains miso soup, pickles, rice and fish. It’s a complete set to charge up yourself, to start off your day with or even for lunch. The way they place dishes to make it easier for us to eat. This is the impression I get while I’m living in Japan.

There is no end towards food and taste , so before I finish this blog I would like you guys to answer some of my these questions below referred to the above blog.

Let’s try!

Questions

1)  Why are there 5350 traditional recipes all around Indonesia?

2)  Between 5350 traditional recipes, how many of them are being consider as the main recipes?

3)  There are 2 types of chili that are popular in Japan. Which one of them do Indonesian people dislike?

4)  What kind of flavor does the writer think Japanese people prefer?

5)  Do you agree about the taste preference that the writer wrote? Give out your reasons.

Answers

1)   Because there are 300 ethnic groups in Indonesia

2)  30

3)  Wasabi

4)  Natural taste

5) (Your Opinion)

次は、Denny先生　からの問題です！Let’sTry！

HOW I CAME TO LOVE JAPAN【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検準１級・TOEIC700点程度

It all began in Primary School (Elementary School) when we had an exchange teacher come to our tiny school from Japan. When I say tiny school, I mean that it is in a very small country town called Uraidla (means “Lots of rain” in Aboriginal language) in Adelaide, South Australia. Uraidla only had a population of 250 people at that time. She had come to Australia to learn to be a substitute teacher and see how things worked being a teacher in Australia. She taught us a lot about Japanese culture, people and food. We were able to try different Japanese food such as sweets and Okonomiyaki. I loved it. It was so interesting and amazing to me to see how different things are to Australia.

Soon after that I began learning Karate, where I was not only taught martial arts but also about different ceremonies, the cultural background of Japan and the many wonders of the country itself. This made me even more interested and excited about Japan as a whole. My parents also showed me a Japanese television program that they used to watch when they were young called The Samurai (Shintaro). I really loved watching that show.

After 3 years of doing Karate, I went on to High School where I started learning Judo. I learnt even more about Japan from my Judo instructor who wasn’t Japanese but he had trained in Japan for many years. He too was fascinated by Japan when he was younger. I trained in Judo for about 4 years before I stopped due to having to study so much. I really didn’t want to stop but time was a problem.

A year or so later I met a guy who I became really good friends with and he also loved Japan. He asked me if I would like to train with him in Ninja (Ninjutsu). I loved Ninja but I had no idea you could learn it. I always thought that it didn’t exist anymore. So I started training with him in Ninja. It was so good!

Let’s try!

Questions

1)   What does Uraidla mean in Aboriginal?

2)  How many people lived in Uraidla?

3)  When I was learning Karate, what other things did I learn?

4)  Where did I start learning Judo?

5)  What does “fascinated” mean?

6)  What did I love and think was so good?

Answers

1)   Lots of rain.

2)   Population 250 people.

3)  Different ceremonies, the cultural background of Japan and the many wonders of the country itself.

4)   In High School.

5)   Extremely interested in something.

6)   Ninja.

次は、Kenny先生が、日本とインドネシアの違い（お年寄りへの接し方）についての長文読解です。
ぜひチャレンジしてみましょう！！

Cultural Differences【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検2級・TOEIC500点程度

Have you ever looked at your parents and realized that as you grow older, they are getting older, too?  It depends on each family, how they teach their kids and how they approach their kids. But I’m going to explain it from my point of view on how Japanese people approach their parents and how most Indonesian do.  In my case, I’m being well taught on how to respect the elders, and have some affections to our parents.

Hug and kiss are the ways to show our affections towards the people we love; for instance, girlfriend, boyfriend, husband and wife. Well how about our parents? The people who have raised us and brought us into this world? I do think they deserve the same affections as what we give to our partner equally. I see, listen and talk to my Japanese friends, and they don’t treat the way I treated my parents, not all but most of them. And as I give out questions on their opinions about hugging our parents, their reactions were a bit disgusted. It would be quite unusual, awkward and weird for Japanese people if they have decided to hug their parents. As for my case, it’s the other way around. It would be pleasing to see my parents feel loved, and happy after my siblings and I hug and kiss them on their cheek.

It’s just sad to see a lot of old folks in Japan live on their own and even their kids don’t really care them. I’m pretty sure it’s because of how they treated and taught their children. In 2017, according to the newspaper “The Mainichi”,   20% of the nursing home refuse elderly people requiring level 3 care. In other words, for those elderly who cannot stand up or walk and need full support to go to the toilet, their availability is limited.

Well, from my point of view, we as children are responsible for taking good care of our parents regardless of how troublesome they might be, how annoying they could get, for example; asking the same questions over and over again. Before I end this blog I would like to list out some questions for you.

Let’s try!

Questions

1)   What did the writer find about the reaction he got from Japanese about hugging their parents?

2)   What did the writer find about the reaction he got from Japanese about hugging their parents?

3)   What is the main argument of this blog?

4)   According to “the mainichi” newspaper, what does the nursing home a level 3 care mean?

5)   What does the writer think about the responsibility of children after their parents get old?

Answers

1)   Unusual, awkward and weird.

2)   20%.

3)   Affection towards our parents.

4)   Elderly who cannot stand up or walk and need full support to go to the toilet.

5)   Taking good care of our parents regardless of how troublesome they might be and how annoying they could get.

次は、オーストラリア出身のDenny先生から「日本とオーストラリアのビール文化の違い」の長文読解問題です。

ぜひチャレンジしてみましょう！！

BEER【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検準1級・TOEIC700点程度

When it comes to beer, Australia is very patriotic. We always tend to think our beer is the best in the world and I must admit that I used to be the same. I have tried beers from many countries and Australian beer is good but so many other countries have better beer. I would have to say by far the best beer is from Belgium.

When I was on my way to Japan, I was a little worried about how the beer would be. In Australia we don’t have much opportunity to try Japanese beer and when we do, it is very expensive. The only Japanese beer we have in Australia is Asahi. I do really like Asahi. It’s a nice beer.

After being in Japan and having tried the different beers, I was very impressed at how good the beer is here. My favourite would have to be Suntory Premium Malt, but some of the cheaper beers are very nice as well. I really like the Suntory 8% as it has a sharp flavor to it and also the Kirin Strong 7%.

One thing that surprised me with beer in Japan is that a lot of it is seasonal, which I found a bit strange. We don’t have anything seasonal in Australia except clothing. It’s disappointing when you get to really like a certain beer, and then they stop selling it because of the time of year. If they did that in Australia, there would be a lot of very upset people. Hahaha.

To finish I would like to say that I am very impressed with the beer here in Japan. I think it’s much better than 90% of the beers in Australia and definitely is 100% better than American and British beer. I recommend, if you get a chance to try Kasteel Bier from Belgium (Such a beautiful beer), Coopers beer from Australia, Mythos beer from Greece and Chimay.

Let’s try!

Questions

1)  What was I worried about when coming to Japan?

2)  Where do I think the best beer is from?

3)  What is my impression of Japanese beer?

4)  What is disappointing about beer in Japan?

5)  How much better is Japanese beer compared to most Australian beer?

Answers

1)  What was I worried about when coming to Japan?

2)  Where do I think the best beer is from?

3)  What is my impression of Japanese beer?

4)  What is disappointing about beer in Japan?

5)  How much better is Japanese beer compared to most Australian beer?

次は、デニー先生の記事です！
オーストラリアではクリケットに次ぐ人気スポーツはオーストラリアンフットボールって知っていますか？
どんなスポーツなのか是非英語記事にチャレンジしてみてくださいね！

AUSTRALIAN RULES FOOTBALL
【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検準1級・TOEIC700点程度

In Australia we have a very unique game played during the winter months called AFL (Australian Football League). It’s not like Rugby and it’s not like Soccer. It originally started as a variation of Gaelic football.

Australian football is played on an oval shaped field with four posts at either end of the field. The two in the middle are the tallest posts which is the goals (6 points) and the shorter posts on either side of the goals are point posts (1 point). Each team has 18 players on the field and 4 on the bench. Each quarter is 20 minutes in length with a break between quarters 1 and quarter 2 of 10 mins also the same between quarters 3 and 4. Half time is a 20 minute break.

The game starts with an umpire bouncing the ball in the middle and the Ruckman (tallest players on the field) run, jump and tap the ball down to the small midfielders. Players can pass the ball to each other either by hand passing (ball on one hand and the other hand punches the ball to teammate) or by foot (hand directs the ball to the foot).

If the ball is kicked and it is caught without it touching the ground (referred to as a mark) the umpire will blow his whistle and the player who caught it can go back and kick or handball it without any player from the opposition allowed to tackle them until they dispose of the ball. Free kicks are given if you are pushed in the back, tackled without having the ball, holding the ball for too long while being tackled, tackled above the shoulders, tackled below the knees just to name a few ways to give away a free kick.

POSITIONS: Full Forward

Left and Right Forward Pockets

Centre Half Forward

Left and Right Half Forwards

Centre

Left and Right Wings

Centre Half Back

Left and Right Half Backs

Fullback

Left and Right Back Pockets

Ruck

Ruck Rover

Rover

Bench (x4 players)

If you get the opportunity to watch it I highly recommend doing so. It is exciting, acrobatic, action packed, high scoring and fast.

These players play hard and tough and don’t wear any protection. Crazy Aussies we are!

Let’s try!

Questions

1)  Where did Australian football begin?

2)  If the ball goes between the 2 tallest posts, how many points are given?

3)  How long is each quarter?

4)  What’s the name given to the tallest players on each team?

5)  What protection do the players wear

Answers

1)  It originally started as a variation of Gaelic football.

2)  Points

3)  20 minutes each quarter.

4)  Ruckman

5)  No protection at all.

インドネシア出身のKenny先生による日本とインドネシアのお風呂事情の違いについてです！問題にもぜひチャレンジしてみましょう。

Cultural Differences
【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検2級・TOEIC700点程度

Up until today, Japan still surprised me with the uniqueness that you cannot find in any other countries. Hello guys! Back at it again with me, an Indonesian guy who is trying to adapt and currently on a learning stage in Japan! Today I’m going to share some of my experiences that up until now I still cannot get used to in Japan and vice versa with you.

The public bath in Japan. It’s a culture  in Japan which is quite sometimes unpleasant for foreigners. It is said that Japanese homes didn’t have bath tubs in the past ,which is why public bath houses were constructed to accommodate the locals who wanted to get soaked and relax in warm water. In modern Japan, where bath tubs are already usual in Japanese homes, public bath houses are still widely available. They are common in traditional houses, dormitories, inns and etc. Japanese public bath houses have also branched out into other varieties such as sauna for relaxation purpose. Not only that, Japanese people also love hot springs!

For Indonesian, a few people who live in a suburban area are still using wells to shower, or even rivers. But of course in urban area, generally we don’t really use bath tubs, but we have  a shower area, unless for some particularly wealthy people or even people who could afford to buy a bath tub. In Indonesia, we have a lot of active mountains which means, yes, we do have hot springs! The difference is that hot springs in Japan are being well taken care of, while in Indonesia it’s quite dirty. In fact, it’s a good business in Japan, while in Indonesia it is pretty cheap and there is not a single nice and beautiful resorts which is good enough to renovate the hot spring.

Let’s try!

Questions

1)  In Indonesia, which part of area do people still using well to take a shower?

2)  What was the first paragraph talking about?

3)  Why was public bath house constructed in Japan?

4)  What’s the name given to the tallest players on each team?

5) Which part of Indonesia are shower area and bath tubs available?

Answers

1)  Suburban Area

2)  About public bath in japan

3)  Hot spring in Japan is well taken care of and Indonesia’s one was quite dirty.

4)  To accommodate the locals who wanted to get soaked and relax in warm water

5)  Urban Area

次は、ＤＥＮＮＹ先生が日本で暮らして感じた日本とオーストラリアの文化の違いについての内容です。

CULTURE  AUSTRALIA VS JAPAN
【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検準1級レベル・TOEIC700点程度

I have noticed here in Japan a few differences in behaviours compared to Australia. I would say that they are interesting behaviours and situations more than anything.

First, in Australia when something breaks or isn’t working, most Australians will fix or repair it themselves or at least attempt to. I have noticed here that people just call someone to come and repair it even for the simplest things. In saying that though, Japanese think more about a situation than Australians which just don’t think and just do. Lol.

In Australia we have gas stations, which we call service stations that are like convenience stores here in Japan, but service stations have gas and a range of products like a convenience store here. Our gas stations also have either a Subway restaurant, Cafe, Bakery or a tobacco store.

One thing you have a lot of here in Japan, but we have very little of is festivals. I was amazed at how many festivals take place here. I haven’t had the chance to go to many, but I really do hope I get a chance to soon. In Australia we are lucky to even have one. I love it how there are so many festivals as it means more socialising. Where I come from in Adelaide, Australia we have 1 festival that goes for 2 weeks which is good, but I think we need more. This festival is an arts festival that involves food, art, stage shows, stand-up, comedians and music acts. Most of these acts are held in parks, bars and theatres. We do have other events, but most are mainly sporting events such as bicycle races, motorsports and horse racing.

Looking at all these differences from both cultures, to me shows that mixing with different cultures means that we all can improve in many different ways. One thing we need to be mindful of though is picking up the negative cultural behaviours, as they can sometimes be learnt too easily.

Let’s try!

Questions

1)  What do Japanese people do that Australians don’t do?

2)  What do gas stations in Australia have and what are they called?

3)  Japan has more what than Australia?

4)  How long does the festival in Adelaide go for?

5)  What do we be careful of when mixing with other cultures?

Answers

1) Think before they do something.

2) In Australia we have gas stations, which we call service stations that are like convenience stores here in Japan, but service stations have gas and a range of products like a convenience store here. Our gas stations also have either a Subway restaurant, Cafe, Bakery or a tobacco store.

3) Festivals

4) 2 weeks

5)  We need to be mindful of though is picking up the negative cultural behaviours, as they can sometimes be learnt too easily.

A glimpse to Uzbekistan’s secret underground
【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検準1級レベル・TOEIC700点程度

This year’s June has brought some surprise to the foreign tourists. After a long 40 years of photo ban of Tashkent metro was lifted, never-before-seen images urged many tourists to make their way to the capital city, Tashkent.

Tashkent metro was the seventh to be built in the former USSR, first in Central Asia opening in 1977 has three lines and twenty-nine stations (ten more under constructions). What makes it so special is to be among the most highly decorated in the world. It is also considered to be designated for military uses as a nuclear bomb shelter which demanded strict safety measures restricting civilians from taking pictures. Central Asia’s oldest metro is the masterpiece which platforms never repeat each other’s design. In the first millennium, Tashkent was one of the biggest cities along the Great Silk Road, a crucial port on the ancient trade route from East Asia to the Roman Empire. Its popularity triggered regime changes. The conquest of Arabs during the 7^thcenturies led vast amount of Islamic conversion whose influence lasted for more than a millennium but when Russia seized the city in the late 1800, country become more secular stance. Being controlled by various powers gave its fruits in the architecture of platforms. Soviet propaganda Uzbek culture and Islamic architecture are here in pictures.

Let’s try!

Questions

1) How many stations does the Tashkent metro have?

2) Why it used to be prohibited to take a photo of stations?

3) What is special about Tashkent metro?

4) When Tashkent metro opened to public?

5) Where is Tashkent?

Answers

1) It has twenty-nine stations.

2) It is designated for military uses which demanded strict measures.

3) It is one of the most highly decorated in the world.

4) In 1977.

5) Tashkent is the capital city of Uzbekistan in Central Asia

Home Sweet Home
【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検準1級レベル・TOEIC700点程度

No matter where you come from, there are always things you miss terribly when you live in another country. As I have mentioned before in a previous blog, I have loved Japan from a young age, but sometimes you can’t help but feel homesick in many ways. You start to crave food from your country, the lifestyle, friends and family. Even my wife says that she has moments where she really needs to have traditional Japanese food even when she is in Japan. Others here have also told me that they sometimes just must have Japanese food.

For me living in Japan, I really love Japanese food, especially Sushi, Ramen, Okonomiyaki, Shiitake Mushrooms stuffed with meat (so awesome!), Curry Udon, Yakisoba…………the list goes on. I also love Japanese beer and Sake. It’s so…….as we in Australia……. Bloody good! (Very, very good!).

The foods I miss the most from Australia are the huge hotdogs with huge long, thick sausages. They would have toppings on them such as egg, bacon, salami, cheese and onion. Then there were the sauces you could have on them such as Smokey BBQ, Honey Soy BBQ, Sweet Chilli, Mustard, or garlic butter. Next on my list is Fish and Chips. Back in Australia, we used to go to our local, privately owned Fish and Chip shop and for $4.00 AUD (about 450 JPY) you could get a huge amount of hot chips (thick French Fries in Japan) and 3 big pieces of fish in batter. It would be rolled up in paper and we used to tear a hole in the end of it, add vinegar and walk with it and eat. Also, the hot chips in gravy rolls were great from there as well.

In Australia, we also had the privately-owned Pizza Bars, which used to make some of the best pizzas. They always put so much topping on them and always had the best balance of herbs. The biggest size was 28 inches (approximately 70cm), which was awesome. We would invite all our friends over with a few boxes of beer and have a great night.

All in all, it’s just a strange thing that we get so used to our own ways, no matter where we are, and it takes so long to get used to different environments. In saying that, I love it here in Japan and really appreciate the opportunity that I have been given here in Japan. Thank you.

Let’s try!

Questions

1) What is the main topic of the Blog?

2) Which Japanese foods do I really love?

3) Which Japanese foods do I really love?

4) Which Japanese foods do I really love?

5) Which Japanese foods do I really love?

Answers

1) Missing Home

2) Sushi, Ramen, Okonomiyaki, Shiitake Mushrooms stuffed with meat (so awesome!), Curry Udon, Yakisoba.

3) Huge long, thick sausages. They would have toppings on them such as egg, bacon, salami, cheese and onion.

4) Tear a hole in the end of the bag and add vinegar.

5) They always put so much topping on them and always had the best balance of herbs.

Christmas in Japan【英語長文練習問題】
レベル：英検２級レベル・TOEIC500点程度

December is here! And everyone is waiting for 25^thDecember to come! Celebrating a wonderful Christmas here in Japan. It’s one of the widely held and biggest events for Japanese people.

Let’s look back to the tradition and history of Christmas. Christmas is both a sacred religious holiday and a worldwide cultural, commercial phenomenon. For two millennia, people around the world have been observing it with traditions and practices that are both religious and secular in nature. Christians celebrate Christmas Day as the anniversary of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, a spiritual leader whose teachings form the basis of their religion. Popular customs include exchanging gifts, decorating Christmas trees, attending church, sharing meals with family and friends and, of course, waiting for Santa Claus to arrive. December 25?Christmas Day?has been a federal holiday in the United States since 1870.

I came from one of the countries that lies on the equator line unless if you are a Christian, you won’t feel the Christmas atmosphere that much. However, Christmas day has been an essential festival in Japan where it’s being portrayed as followings.

1. Go on a date.

Christmas Eve in Japan is often thought of as a couples’ holiday, like Valentine’s Day in the West. Japanese couples ? especially young couples ? like to book dinners at a romantic restaurant, and it can often be hard to find a seatat any restaurant as the number of people spending time with their family has declined.

2. Admire Christmas Illuminations.

Illuminations are one of the Japan’s favorite ways to celebrate a winter season.

3. Exchange Gifts.

It has become commonplace for couples to exchange gifts on Christmas Eve, but rarely with anyone else. This may be because Japan has already a gift exchanging custom in December, the Japanese work-culture tradition of Oseibo, when co-workers exchange gifts. Presents are more commonly exchanged for the New Year, which is a much bigger deal in Japan

4. Eat Strawberry Shortcake

A Japanese strawberry shortcake is light and spongy with whipped cream filling and frosting, which is much less sweet than other cake toppers. This treat is sold as ‘Christmas Cake’ in Japan (although it’s also very popular for birthdays) and is a great way to celebrate the season with family and friends

5. Go Shopping

Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without a little holiday shopping, and Japanese malls are no stranger to Christmas decor. During this time of year, traditional trees, ornaments, and goods for sale aimed at the holiday shopper can be found at most major malls and department stores, especially in the big cities.

6. Visit A Christmas Market

From Hokkaido to Kyushu, Japan hosts European-style Christmas markets throughout the winter season. Find everything from delicate tree ornaments to hot cider.

7. Dine on Chicken

Kentucky Fried Chicken on Christmas has been a Japanese tradition since the 1970s, thanks to their catchy slogan and marketing campaign.

My own belief about Christmas is no more than a business game. In fact, as you can see, these centuries, cultural events have an impression of being monopolized by business all over the world and theytook advantages of giving gifts customs in this seasonin orderto make an extra profit. Some religious people protest against this “commercializing” of Christmas because they feel that a sacred, holy day is desecrated by it. If you did some research, you will find out that these events and how we celebrate it, have nothing to do with the historical believes.

Let’s try!

Questions

1) There are 13 countries lie on the equator line. can you mention 1 of them?

2) According to the article, why is that exchanging gifts in Japan are not uncommon?

3) What does the writer’s belief about Christmas?

4) The word desecrated in the passage above had the closest meaning to

(a) Honor
  (b) Misuse
(c)Save

5) According to the article, why is that exchanging gifts in Japan are not uncommon?

Answers

1)

? Sao Tome and Principe 

? Gabon

? Republic of the Congo

? the Democratic Republic of the Congo

? Uganda

? Kenya

? Somalia

? Maldives

? Indonesia

? Kiribati

? Ecuador

? Colombia

? Brazil 

all lie along the Equator Line

2) because Japan already has a December gift exchange of its own, the Japanese work-culture tradition of oseibo, when coworkers exchange gifts.

3) No more than a business game.

4)   (b) Misuse

5) Illumination

Australia Day【英語長文練習問題】
レベル：英検準1級レベル・TOEIC700点程度

On the 26^thof January every year we celebrate Australia day. It’s a day all of Australia gets together and celebrates with all people from all cultures living in Australia as one. It’s a celebration of Australia becoming a nation from the time of settlement.

As a tradition, we have a public holiday (national holiday). On the day everyone get’s together with friends, family, neighbours or goes to a local park with the rest of their Community. We have BBQ’s for breakfast, where we have bacon, eggs, sausages, mushrooms and baked beans. Between breakfast and lunch, a lot of the Australian men start drinking (usually alcohol) and talk while preparing for the food for the lunchtime BBQ and the traditional Australia Day cricket match on TV. While this is going on, the women will have coffee, talk, start preparing salads, cold meats and dips for lunch and get ready to watch the cricket. The children are usually running around together and causing trouble.

At lunch we start cooking the BBQ, where we cook sausages, steak, lamb chops (traditional Australian Day meat), kebabs, chicken and vegetables. While we are getting lunch ready, we start watching cricket on TV and continue drinking. Usually for Australia Day it’s very hot, usually between 35 ? 44 degrees Celsius, but we still stay outside.

Between lunch and dinner, we play a game of backyard cricket with all the family and continue drinking along with eating snacks. The grand parents usually take a nap before dinner starts.

When it comes to dinner, everyone starts to get the food ready to cook on the BBQ (usually the same food we cooked for lunch) and start getting dessert ready. As usual we continue drinking and watching the cricket.

After dinner a lot of Aussies get ready to go to the city to watch the traditional fireworks display which is almost as big as the New Years Eve fireworks display. Many thousands of people go to the main big parks in the city or to the beaches to watch because it’s still hot at this time of the day. The fireworks are designed to commemorate the foundation of Australia.

Australia Day originally was not a good day in Australian history, which I will explain in detail in my next blog. Recently people have been wanting it changed to the 8^thof May due to the nature of the history with the Aboriginal people in the past. Still though for a majority of Australians it’s about acknowledging the past, moving forward and coming together as one people and sharing a great day together.

Let’s try!

Questions

1) What’s a traditional Australian food to cook on Australia Day?

2) What date is Australia Day held on?

3) What do we watch on TV during Australia Day?

4) What game do we play with the family in the afternoon?

5) Where do we go in the evening to watch fireworks?

Answers

1) Lamb Chops

2) 26^th of January

3) Cricket

4) Cricket

5) The main big parks in the city or the beach.

次は、Ｂｅｋ先生による中央アジア～東ヨーロッパまで広範囲で話されているチュルク語についての記事からの問題です！ぜひチャレンジしてみてくださいね。

Turkic languages【英語長文練習問題】
レベル：英検2級レベル・TOEIC600点程度

Whenever the question arises about the dawn of human civilization, answers vary from person to person. But, for me, it was when early hominins [1] started gradually changing their primate communication systems, acquiring the ability to form a theory of other minds and a shared intentionality. It is believed that, around the world, there are 5000 to 7000 Human Languages. Estimates show that one language dies out every 14 days.

Turkic or commonly known Turkish languages are a language family of at least thirty-five documented languages, spoken by the Turkic people of Eurasia from Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and West Asia all the way to North Asia (particularly in Siberia) and East Asia.

(Turkic Languages-Wikipedia, n.d.)

Hominins a primate of a taxonomic tribe, which comprises those species regarded as human, directly ancestral to humans, or very closely related to humans.

●Southwestern (Oghuz)
●Southeastern (Karluk)
●Khalaj
●Northwestern (Kipchak)
●Chuvash (Oghur)
●Northeastern (Siberian)

[1]Hominins a primate of a taxonomic tribe, which comprises those species regarded as human, directly ancestral to humans, or very closely related to humans.

The number of Turkic speakers is over 200 million. According to one estimate, it is around 2500 years old.

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー
[1]The Japonic or Japanese-Ryukyuan language family includes the Japanese language spoken on the main islands of Japan as well as the Ryukyuan languages spoken in the Ryukyu Islands.

Turkic languages show some similarities with the Mongolic, Tungusic, Koreanic, and Japonic[2]languages. Having variety of sounds gives a privilege to Turkic speakers pronounce foreign language words accurately and easily.

Probably, for that reason, as a Turkic speaker, I really find Japanese language easy to learn. Of course, aside from Kanji. Whenever I think about Kanji, Mt Fuji comes to my mind. As Mt Fuji is hard to climb, Kanji is also a dream yet to come true.

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー
[2]The Japonic or Japanese-Ryukyuan language family includes the Japanese language spoken on the main islands of Japan as well as the Ryukyuan languages spoken in the Ryukyu Islands.

Let’s try

Questions

1. Why does the author feel Japanese language is easy to learn?
2. How many human languages are there?
3. How many languages are considered to be Turkic language?
4. According to the author, when is the start of Human civilization?

Answers

1) Having similarities with Japonic languages, the author feels, Japanese language makes it easy to learn

2) 5000 to 7000

3)  At least 35 documented languages

4)  The start of civilization when modern humans started to communicate with each other more verbally

Climate Change【英語長文練習問題】
レベル：英検準1級レベル・TOEIC700点程度

What is Climate change? Well, I’m pretty sure you guys have heard about it, for example, through human activity. Global warming is one measure of climate change, and is a rise in the average global temperature.Climate change (or global warming), is the process of our planet heating up. The Earth has been warmed by an average of 1°C in the last century, and although that might not sound like much, it means a big issue for people and wildlife around the globe.Unfortunately, rising temperatures don’t just mean that we’ll get nicer weather. The changing climate will actually make our weather more extreme and unpredictable. As the temperatures rise, some areas will get wetter and lots of animals (and humans!) could find they’re not able to adapt to their changing climate.

A lot of people are still unaware of these climate changes that could affect us in the near future. If we are lucky enough, we won’t have to see what will happen. What I can do best right now is to talk about it and share the knowledge of these battalions that are building a lot of foundations and constitutions in order to encourage people toward helping the environment, wild life and even human beings. One of the biggest constitutions the UN(United Nation) creates is an agenda designed for 2030 for Sustainable Development,adopted by all United Nations Member countries in 2015. This provides a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet now and into the future. At its heart there are 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which is an urgent call to action by all countries – developed and developing – in a global partnership.

They recognize that ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth ? all while tackling climate change and working towards world preservation.  Japan held its fifth meeting on June 15, 2018 with 3 following outcomes.

1. Promotion of society 5.0 that corresponds to SDGs
2. Regional vitalization driven by the SDGs
3. Empowerment of next generations and women

In addition, the government of Japan (Goj) headed by Vice Minister, Okamoto, in cooperation with Mr. Yoshimura, Mayor of Osaka, and other wide ranges of organizations including Japan Business Federation (Keidanren), private companies and civil societies, motioned in favor of the  Osaka-Kansai Japan EXPO 2025 and played up Japan’s initiative to promote SDGs.

Questions

1. What is climate change?
2. How will  climate change affect us as humans?
3. What does  SDGs stand for?
4. How many conclusions or outcomes did Japan come to at the 2018 meeting session?
5. Where is the Goj going to promote SDGs?

Answers

1) It is a rise in the average global temperature.

2) The changing climate will actually make our weather more extreme and unpredictable.

3) Sustainable Development Goals.

4) 3(three)

5) Osaka-Kansai Japan EXPO 2025.

Work-Life Balance Part 1【英語長文練習問題】
レベル：英検準1級レベル・TOEIC700点程度

In today’s social constructs and day to day life, we seem to ignore the issues caused by our hectic lifestyles. These issues are caused by overworking and lack of social interaction outside the confines of the workplace. Having a life outside of work is essential for our physical and mental wellbeing. The instances of health issues due to over the top working hours are right in front of us, but we tend to ignore the harm it causes. When we do notice it, it’s usually too late, so we become reactive instead of proactive. We need to take notice and educate ourselves to be aware of these issues.

There are many issues, not just health related but also in the socioeconomic side of things that are detrimental to the population overall. What I am saying when it comes to socioeconomic effects is the time and cost to employers due to absence from illness. There is extra pressure on the health system from illnesses caused by excessive or increased work hours. There is then the problem of hospitals having patients that shouldn’t be there because the problem could have been avoided by being aware. It also means that the people that really need the hospital to find it difficult to get treated. The costs then rise and those costs are passed on to the taxpayer.

Next, we need to look at the issue of increased work hours and its effect on other areas of the economy. Increasing work hours means that the customer service and retail industry lose valuable revenue due to fewer hours to spend money from the customer. This not only affects the economy but also customer service and retail businesses. Consumers need to spend money to increase economic growth.

As we all know populations are getting older and the birth rate is dropping, that, in turn, causes major economic pressure. Without having more social interaction and increasing work hours, we are only adding to the trouble and it will only get worse if we ignore it. It can be fixed.

Questions

1. What does ‘Physical and Mental wellbeing’ mean?
2. What causes these problems?
3. What do consumers need to do to help the economy grow？
4. How is the aging population and the drop in the birth rate going affect the economy
5. What does ‘detrimental’ mean?

Answers

1) Safe, sheltered and overall good health.

2)  Increased work hours and little rest.

3) Spend more money.

4) Economic pressure will increase.

5) To cause harm.

Short briefing about Indonesia Election 2019 【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検準1級・TOEIC700点程度

In the early morning of Tuesday 21 May 2019, Indonesia’s General Elections Commission (KPU) declared, President Joko Widodo the winner of Indonesia’s 2019 presidential election. However, due to the ongoing tensions in the country, KPU apparently decided to make the announcement at a different d ate and time in order to take a precaution from a country that has been heavily divided by the latest elections.

It’s a battle between the current President Joko Widodo and Prabowo Subianto, a former military general. They also went face-to-face in the 2014 elections. Prabowo is closely related with the political elite. He was married to the daughter of former dictator General Suharto, who ruled Indonesia and named as an iron fist for three decades. He has been accused of complicity in human rights abuses committed under General Suharto, though he has maintained his innocence. After spending many years overseas, he made his political comeback in 2009. In the 2014 presidential election he campaigned on an anti-poverty program, saying he wanted to reduce unemployment and create new jobs. Joko Widodo – known generally as Jokowi – comes from humble beginnings but first became well known internationally when being assigned as the governor of Jakarta in 2012. In the 2014 presidential election he campaigned on a “man of the people” anti-corruption policy, promising to tackle poverty and to clear out bias and intolerance that has been happening up until now.

For the first time, presidential, parliamentary and regional elections are all taking place simultaneously on one day. It’s a massive democratic responsibility which will determine the future identity of a massive and diverse country. About 245,000 candidates will be running for more than 20,000 national and local legislative seats across Indonesia made up of around 18,000 islands and covering 1.9 million square km.

The Lowy Institute, an Australian think-tank, calls it “one of the most complicated single-day elections in global history”.

Questions

1. Who is against who in the 2019 Indonesia Election?
2. What did the Australian think tank say about Indonesia parliamentary and regional elections?
3. How many Islands are there in Indonesia?
4. What is the short form of Indonesia’s General Elections Commission name?
5. Who went on face to face in the 2014 elections?

Answers

1. Joko Widodo and Prabowo Subianto
2. One of the most complicated single-day elections in a global history
3. Around 18,000
4. KPU
5. Joko Widodo and Prabowo Subianto

Work-Life Balance Part 2【英語長文練習問題】
レベル：英検準1級レベル・TOEIC700点程度

In this part of the blog, I will be addressing possible solutions to the issues with the current work-life balance situations. I will look at all sides of this topic from the social aspect and also from the economic aspect. No matter the situations that arise, there are always solutions that can benefit all that are involved. With the possible solutions that I am putting forward in this blog, they aren’t definite flawless solutions, hence why I said possible solutions.

When it comes to not just the physical but also the mental health side of things, we really don’t think about it too much as something to worry about. The way to get the best out of your employees as companies and employers is to have balance. We should be looking at the number of hours each employee is undertaking each month and spread it evenly throughout the workforce. This reduces exhaustion, stress, and situations of physical and mental burn out. Another thing that can be done is to pay attention to the employees, any changes in behavior and just simply asking them if they are ok. I also think that when having company physical examinations, they should also look at the mental aspects by asking if they are feeling good and also if there is anything that concerns them at work. 

There should be longer vacation leave like we have in Australia where most companies have up to 4 weeks per year available. By doing this, it not only gives more rest time but also can help with social interaction and economic stimulation. I will elaborate on what I mean. When you have a good rest, you feel more motivated, your mood and feeling is more positive and in turn encourages not only social interaction but also better work habits. The other thing that it does is allow more time to spend money, which then helps stimulate the economy. I also think that having campaigns to advertise and encourage socializing with others, as there is huge benefits health wise by doing so. Again, socializing more also encourages spending, relaxing and relationships, which helps not just the social side but also the economy.   

Overall, we really need to be looking into what we can do to help ourselves as a collective and look into being proactive and not reactive. If we do that, it means less work for us in the future and less to be worried about. If we think ahead and do the simple, preventative actions now, the positives for all will be huge. As I like to say “Work smarter not harder.”

Questions

1. What does ‘aspect’ mean?
2. Name 2 solutions that can help?
3. How can we improve the economy?
4. What do I like to say?
5. What does ‘Proactive’ and ‘Reactive’ mean?

Answers

1. It means one part of a situation, problem or subject.
2. More vacation time, evenly spread work hours, ask employees if they are ok.
3. Socialize more, encourage spending.
4. “Work smarter not harder.”
5. ‘Proactive’ ? Taking action by causing change and not only reacting to change when it happens. Act before something happens.
   ‘Reactive’ -React to events or situations after they have happened, rather than acting first to change or prevent something.

PetroYuan  A new English word or a new world order
【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検準1級レベル・TOEIC700点程度

About 800 years ago Marco Polo visited the ground of Genghis Khan’s grandson who was the first emperor of Yuan Chinese dynasty. For his surprise, he found most likely the first fiduciary currency of all time. Currency which was completely founded on government’s reputation and law enforcement which was inevitable punishment for those who refuse to use it. In recent centuries, world’s financial sectors has been substantially dominated by the west pound sterling, in the US, dollar becoming hegemonic for more than 200 years with its petrodollar, we seem to forget the fact that those were the Chinese back in the 7^thcentury who developed crucially important financial innovation, paper money. Now, China wants to reclaim that leadership.

So what exactly Petrodollar is? If you search the word definition, you may probably get this “a notional unit of currency earned by a country from the export of petroleum.” The petrodollar is a U.S. dollar paid to oil-exporting countries in exchange for oil. Since the dollar is a global currency, all international transactions are made in dollars. As a result, oil-exporting nations must receive dollars. Most of them own their oil industries. That makes their national income dependent on the dollar’s value. If it falls, so does their revenue.

As a result, most of these oil exporters also peg their currencies to the dollar. That way, if the dollar’s value falls, so does the price of all their domestic goods and services. That helps these countries avoid wide swings in inflation or deflation. At the same time, they become highly dependent on American dollars, economy, military and politics. But, everything is about to change, China, being the 2^ndlargest economy and largest exporter has surpassed US in oil imports.

What it means is now China can change petrodollar to its currency, Yuan.Saudi Arabia plays the major role in world economy being number one oil exporter has agreed to trade with China in Chinese Yuan. Second largest oil exporter, Russia tried the same approach in 2013 but after the sanctions followed by its occupation of Crimea, Russia realized its economy not ready yet financially.

What do you think will be? What is the effect on Japan? Should Japan be concerned about China becoming economically and militarily strong?

Questions

1. What is Petrodollar?
2. Whose grandson is the first emperor of Yuan dynasty?
3. Which country is the largest oil exporter?
4. What are the side effects of being dependent on US dollar?
5. Why Russia failed to establish PetroRuble?

Answers

1. The petrodollar is a U.S. dollar paid to oil-exporting countries in exchange for oil.
2. Genghis khan
3. Saudi Arabia
4. Oil-exporting nations must receive dollars. Most of them own their oil industries. That makes their national income dependent on the dollar’s value. If it falls, so does their revenue. Aside from that, they have to act according to US’s wills in the sector of politics, military and foreign policy.
5. Russia tried the same approach in 2013 but after the sanctions followed by its occupation of Crimea, Russia realized its economy not ready yet financially.

JAPAN AND FOOD
【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検準1級レベル・TOEIC700点程度

A few things that really stand out to me about Japan compared to Australia is the accessibility to food and drinks. As a foreigner to Japan, I was in awe of what you can have to eat and drink. To me being able to have all you can eat, and drink is amazing, especially when it’s so cheap. Some of my favourite places to go are Otto, Meitetsu Beer Garden and an all you can eat Yaki Niku place.

In Australia we used to have, a long time ago only a few all you can eat places were available, but they were expensive and all you can drink was only for sodas. Eventually they were forced to close due to being against health regulations. I was really upset about them closing because the food was so good. Unfortunately, we don’t have anything like Izakaya, which are great.

I would have to say that most of the all you can eat places are good, but some are to me falsely advertising all you can eat and drink. A couple of them that I have been to say all you can eat for 2 hours but after one and a half hours they call last order. They have great food, but I feel a bit ripped off when they call last order.

Overall, Japan has so many options available when it comes to food and drink. The other thing that surprised me was being able to eat and drink anywhere. In Australia you can only really do that in restaurants and bars. Japan always surprises me and continues to do so each and every day.

Questions

1. What are 2 of my favourite all you can eat places?
2. What really stands out to me in Japan?
3. Why were the all you can eat places closed down in Australia?
4. What do I think about Izakayas?
5. What amazes me about Japan?

Answers

1. Otto and Meitetsu Beer Garden.
2. The accessibility of food and drink in Japan.
3. Due to breaches in heath regulations.
4. They are great.
5. You can have food and drink almost anywhere.

“Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie (BJ Habibie)”
【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検2級、TOEIC 600レベル点程度

You guys might be wondering, who is this guy, and why is the writer so fond of writing an article about him? It was because he has passed away on the 11^thof September and was recognized as one of the smartest men in Indonesia.  Besides being known as the smartest person among flight experts, he is also the former President of the 3rd Republic of Indonesia. He had many accomplishments that Indonesian felt a great loss knowing, that he died at the age of 83 after suffering from a heart failure.

What’s interesting about BJ Habibie’s inspiring story is the discovery of a formula for calculating cracks or the multiplication of cracks randomly down to the atom by Habibie. To assess his intelligence and contribute to it, this equation is called the Habibie Factor. Not only that, he was also labelled as Mr. Crack by Aviation specialists. In 1967, he received the title of Honorary Professor or Professor at ITB (Bandung Institute of Technology).With all the intelligence he has, he gets a lot of recognition from international class institutions like.

• Gesselschaft fuer Luft und Raumfahrt (German Reform Institute)
• The Royal Aeronautical Society London from England
• Academie Nationale de l’Air and de l’Espace from Francis
• The Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering from Sweden
• Finally, from the US Academy of Engineering in the United States.

In addition to awards from many foreign institutions, Habibie also received several prestigious awards namely the Edward Warner Award and the von Karman Award where this award was most in line with the Nobel Prize award. In addition, Habibie also won the prestigious Theodore van Karman Award in Germany.

After studying for 10 years in Germany, Habibie returned to Indonesia to fulfill a call from the President of Indonesia, at that time the president was President Soeharto. In Indonesia, Habibie was appointed as Minister of Research and Technology / Head of BPPT (Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology)for 20 years. Not only that, he also led the BUMN (State owned enterprises of Indonesia) Strategic Industries company for 10 years.

In 1995 he succeeded in leading the aircraft manufacturing project which was named the N250 Gatot Kaca. The aircraft is the first aircraft made in Indonesia.

His fame, patriotic, historical act had a huge impact on the current Indonesia’s state, and thanks to his theory, he helps save many lives and the vast technology of the Aviation sector.

Questions

1. What huge impact did BJ Habibie brought to the Aviation Sector?
2. When did BJ Habibie Died?
3. After studying in German why did he decide to come back to Indonesia?
4. What is the name of the formula that he created?
5. What is the so special about the N250 Gatot Kaca Project?

Answers

1. He created a Formula
2. 11^thof September
3. to fulfill a call from the President of Indonesia
4. the Habibie Factor
5. It was the first aircraft made in Indonesia

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“Why are the Japanese Tech firms loosing global competitiveness?”
【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検2級、TOEIC 600レベル点程度

Good day everyone. It is great to be with all of you again. Today, I am delighted to have the opportunity to share some of my thoughts on a subject I am concerned about and why you should too: The future of Japanese Tech.

Japan, known as a country of magic for so many. Japan gave my father legendary Walkman which helped him to pick up girls as having Walkman at that time was like being on the height of coolness and to millennials including me, the PlayStation series. But there are far more crucial innovations than meets the naked eye of common consumers.  Japan dominated the world with its brands Sony, Toshiba, Shark, Panasonic and countless more and supplied the digital world with its semi-conductors but this shift is changing.

In order to understand the importance of today’s topic, let’s have a look at Japan’s top 10 export products in the below data provided by WorldsTopExports.com

1. Vehicles: US$154.1 billion (20.9% of total exports)
2. Machinery including computers: $148 billion (20.1%)
3. Electrical machinery, equipment: $109.4 billion (14.8%)
4. Optical, technical, medical apparatus: $41.3 billion (5.6%)
5. Iron, steel: $29.9 billion (4.1%)
6. Plastics, plastic articles: $26.1 billion (3.5%)
7. Organic chemicals: $18.9 billion (2.6%)
8. Mineral fuels including oil: $13.3 billion (1.8%)
9. Ships, boats: $12.6 billion (1.7%)
10. Gems, precious metals: $12 billion (1.6%)

Machinery including computers alone accounts for more than 20% of the total exports equivalent to 1,480億円 but one the other side, we have the news headlines like this:

Creditors urge Toshiba to consider bankruptcy.

Japanese electronics firms Eclipsed by Apple  etc.

Now, I am going to talk about the causes of these situations. First of all, I believe japan left behind from the globalization. Globalization is the process by which businesses or other organizations develop international influence or start operating on an international scale. But I would define Globalization as diversification of consumer needs around the world and the competitiveness of a company which depends on whether its products would be selected by the diverse consumers. Interestingly, the market value of Samsung Electronics alone rivals those of Japanese giants Sony, Panasonic and Toshiba combined, and South Korean makers today dominate electronics and electric equipment markets in emerging economies. When it comes to emerging economies, in Asia alone have a combined population of about 3 billion, Japan’s strategy about the consumer needs and market strategy wasn’t right.

Second cause is Brain drain and leak of knowhow. Software development cannot be automated and relies on human resources as the key to growth. According to the asia.nikkei.com from 1976 through the spring of 2015, 490 employees left Japanese electrical machinery makers for South Korean businesses, while 196 went to China. Another 350 went to smaller rivals like Taiwan and Thailand. I strongly believe numbers must be bigger and it keeps rising.

Thirdly, Senpai culture of Japan is one of the triggers. In a world developing with such a fast pace, creativity, fresh ideas and above all skills are crucial. Effort of a company must be put on different aspects rather training a new employee without technical skills.

The foremost reason is that Japan hasn’t taken the role of English seriously in this new digital world. English is considered as the language of information technology, called “Globalish,” and is learned as the second native language around the globe. While Japanese people have little to no inclination to learn English.

What do you think the causes are?

Let’s try!

Questions

1. How the author defines globalization?
2. How many people are in the Asian emerging economies?
3. What is the Japan’s top export item?
4. What is the third cause of the problem? How far do you agree?
5. Do you use foreign phone model? Why not Sony?

Answers

1. I would define Globalization as diversification of consumer needs around the world and the competitiveness of a company which depends on whether its products would be selected by the diverse consumers.
2. diverse consumers.
3. Estimated three billion.
4. Vehicles: US$154.1 billion (20.9% of total exports)
5. Senpai culture of Japan in tech firms.
6. -open question-

Disaster
【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検準1級レベル・TOEIC700点程度

Some may not be aware that currently there are wildfires (bush fires as called in Australia), but many are not aware of what is happening. Overseas many countries are unaware of what is happening in Australia currently.  At the moment there is a fire that is made of many other fires that have destroyed over two million hectares of Australian countryside. There have been expectations by the Australian citizens that other countries would come to our aid in hope of solidarity.

Only a few fellow countries have come to our aid. Canada and New Zealand being a part of those few. Our biggest allies are still sitting idly by while Australian people and animals are suffering in horrific proportions. Our appreciation of the support from both Canada and New Zealand have been nothing short of a great bond between nations. The Australian people had hoped that ally nations, such as England, America, Indonesia and Malaysia, would offer a helping hand. So far, there has been none forthcoming from each of these nations.

Unfortunately, the lack of support from around the world has weakened the Australian people’s faith in support in times of crisis. So far, many homes, people and animals are struggling to survive. Much of this has been caused by segments of government not being proactive and doing the exact opposite by restricting certain measures to prevent such a disaster.

The leading authority of firefighting in Australia approached the Prime Minister requesting the help of the military, air force and navy, but the Prime Minister refused any assistance.

In writing this, as a representative of the Australian people and animals, I hope that Japan assists Australia in its plight, as both nations have strong and friendly relations in both trade and friendship. Even with former disagreements in the past, Australians see Japan as one of our greatest friends.

Let’s try!

Questions

1. What kind of disaster is currently happening in Australia?
2. Which countries joined Australia to fight this natural disaster?
3. What hasn’t the government in Australia done in the past to prevent this from happening?
4. What has the authority of Firefighting asked the Prime Mister of Australia for?
5. What is the author hoping from Japan?

Answers

1. Bush fires (wildfires)
2. Canada and New Zealand
3. Being proactive
4. The help of the military, air force and navy
5. Assistance

Learning new thing【英語長文練習問題】
レベル：英検2級レベル・TOEIC600点程度

For a long time, I’ve wanted to practice snowboard. Finally, after a couple years in Japan

I finally got the chance to tried it for the first-time last year.

I would say that is probably the most challenging and scariest thing I’ve ever tried so far. So, I planned my trip to the Ski place called Takasu in Takayama, Gifu prefecture. I was very excited; I search for everything about snowboard on the internet and asking my friends about it. The day came, so I drive for hours to Takasu; as I arrived and look at the big mountain, I got terrified, I’m not too fond of high places, so the lift was one of my main concerns. After practicing some basics, it was time to face my fear “the lift”, after I got on it, I realize it wasn’t scary as I thought. The scariest part was looking down the hill and see how up on the mountain I was. Even this, I was scared I got on the snowboard and tried to stand up, it took me so many falls, but as the more the I tried, the better I was getting. By the end of the day I was tired, but I never felt so happy, I was able to go downhill better than I started, it might not be perfect but was a started.

This year I decided to get more serious about it and booked a snowboard lesson. I choose an indoor snowboarding place for it. I made a reservation for Japanese snowboarding lessons; I was concern about it, but at the same time, I said to myself that this is going to be an excellent chance to learn and use my Japanese. As I enter the place, I got scared to see how high it was. The instructor was helpful and patient with me, I understood everything he said, I was proud and surprised at the same time. The lesson began with some warm-up exercises, then we started in the middle of the slope. It was scary again do it even though I tried before; I couldn’t stand up quickly, so the instructor helped me a couple times. After some practice, he decided that I was ready to go on the top, I didn’t share the same thoughts as I wasn’t feeling confident, but I trust and followed him to the top. After a couple times trying, I realize that I was actually doing well even though I haven’t practiced for a year, and my instructor was right. After the lesson finished, I thank my instructor, and the real challenge began I decided to try again, but this time by myself, it was scary, but I could do it better than before.

Learning new things is scary at first and seemed that we can’t do it, but with practice, you gain confidence, and you started getting better and liking it.

It was a double challenge for me, but I decided to go for it. So, for new learners of the language, I would recommend taking a lesson in your target language that can be cooking or any sport. Practice, gain confidence, and love it.

Let’s try!

Questions

1. What does the writer suggest doing when we want to improve in our target language?
2. Where did the writer go snowboarding for the first time?
3. How does the writer is scare of?
4. Why did the writer decide to take lessons in Japanese?
5. When did the writer tried snowboarding for the first time?

Answers

1. Learn a new activity or sport in the target language.
2. Takasu, Takayama, Gifu prefecture.
3.  High places.
4. Because the writer wanted to use Japanese.
5. Last year.

Why are Japanese so slim?【英語長文練習問題】
レベル：英検2級レベル・TOEIC600点程度

Hello MMMers, I am Beck, and it’s great to be with you again. Probably some of you have read my previous blog about Petro Yuan. But this time, as you have already realized, I would love to talk about the physique of Japanese people. It has already passed more than three years since I moved to Japan (Time flies), and yet I can vividly remember me being surprised by how slim Japanese ladies are. The reason being, I wasn’t even attracted to slim girls until it passed three months after my arrival.

Today, I will be writing about what factors cause Japanese to stay slim and healthy, although they eat carbohydrates such as rice, ramen, and udon, which is supposed to make us gain weight. Although I never assumed to know the best about the culture I had never lived among nor spoken the language of, I simply accepted the commonly held presumption that it’s in their gene until I myself have lived and lost 10kg in the 1^st year of my life in Japan. So, what are the reasons?

Portion
The volume of food is way smaller than in western countries.

The size of the dinner plates has increased over the 20 years all over the world, but it’s not a considerable case in japan. They drink green tea, which has virtually 0 calories, whereas we drink soda a lot.

Dinnerware
Using chopsticks or a smaller spoon makes us feel full.

Slowing the speed at which you eat allows your brain to notice that you are full. Japanese people find it easier to see they are full because they use chopsticks, which is a more time-consuming way of eating. Imagine you eating a plate of burger with potato fries using your hands while a variety of food in small-sized dishes eating with chopsticks, which one takes a long time?

As an aside, I have realized that Japanese people tend not to eat while watching their Netflix. Because you can’t really control how much you are eating while enjoying your entertainment.

Infrastructure
Public transportation and active lifestyle

Japan has an extensive railway system enabling commuters to reach even remote areas; for that reason, most people don’t own a car.

It’s normal for an office worker in Tokyo to spend 2 hours a day just to commute to work. And they do so by walking to the station and from it to work or cycling.

Peer pressure/Inconvenience
Overweight people feel alienated

Having been surrounded by slim people around urges you to be slender as well. Another aspect could be having a hard time finding the bigger size of clothing since most stores don’t have it.

Dating culture
Japanese guys prefer slimmer girls

Contrary to the US, where masculinity is common or being praised, Japanese girls are expected to be more feminine and obedient. In an environment like this, girls prioritize their body shape strongly.

What have you seen as the cause of Japanese slenderness?

Let’s try!

Questions

1. What are the other ways of saying “Slim”?
2. How long has the author been living in Japan?
3. What does the author imply by “extensive railway system”?
4. Why Japanese fashion makes it inconvenient to be overweight?
5. Why does sing chopsticks help us prevent obesity?

Answers

1. slender, thin
2. More than three years
3. Japan has an excellent public transportation service, which allows accessing even rural areas.
4. Clothing stores don’t have big sizes for overweight people.
5. We know when we are full.

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SITUATIONAL CHANGE【英語長文練習問題】
レベル：準1級レベル・TOEIC700点程度

With the types of situations that occur in our lifetimes, for example the current situation with the Coronavirus, we tend to see it as a doomsday type scenario. This is usually because we are complacent in our attitudes towards these types of events. We get overly caught up with the here and now and are reactive rather than being proactive. In this kind of scenario, we end up becoming negative in our approach to everything, which is unproductive in the scheme of things.

During my life I have encountered many adversities, some of these were small in context and others much bigger. These occurrences at the time did bring me down, but once I got through them, I realised that I should have been more proactive during those times. Although I was feeling down during these periods, I would always pull myself up and use those times to better myself and plan and that is the key.

Currently all we hear from the media are providing misinformation, arguing with each other and continually changing their stories. This is causing a lot of unnecessary panic and people to do silly things. In this situation, instead of believing everything the media says, we should only listen to what all of them can confirm. They should be working together to help the collective good and stop thinking only of arguing with each other.

verall, we should not see this as a negative situation, but more as an opportunity to change our way of thinking. We need to use this time in a useful and productive way, such as planning for after this is over. This is where we need to look at learning new skills, setting goals and improving ourselves. We all need to be more proactive and prepare for our futures. Keep safe and let’s look after each other and support each other.

Let’s try!

Questions

1. What does ‘doomsday’ mean?
2. What should we do instead of being reactive?
3. I would always do what when I was feeling down?
4. The media are causing…….?
5. We should not see this as a negative situation, but…….

Answers

1. Last day of existence.
2. Be proactive.
3. I would pull myself up.
4. Unnecessary panic.
5. …..more as an opportunity to change our way of thinking.

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Is Japan Environmentally Friendly?【英語長文練習問題】
レベル：準1級レベル・TOEIC700点程度

What I have noticed in the differences between Australia and Japan regarding environmentally friendly practices has been quite eye opening.  Some areas are similar while others have been quite opposite. Actions taken in this area have been slow in some respects.  Awareness of the world around us on both sides has been lacking and honestly deplorable.

Firstly, when it comes to plastics, Japan seems to overuse plastics in many aspects of life. In Australia, we try constantly to reduce or refuse plastics unless we have no other options. As an example, in convenience stores in Japan, almost 75 to 80% of products have some sort of plastic in the packaging. On the other hand, Australia has reduced this to about 50 to 60%. Also, when it comes to convenience stores, they have a habit of giving out plastic bags for even the smallest products, which is unnecessary. In saying that, in Australia some people still have bad habits when it comes to plastics.

One big problem we have in Australia, which Japan has done better with, has been the transition from gasoline and diesel cars to hybrid cars. Australia tends to have this macho type attitude towards hybrid vehicles and wants big V8 powered cars or old-style diesel pickup trucks (4 x 4). I feel this is kind of a balance between the two countries when it comes to the impact being negative on their own environments.

One last aspect to look at would be the rubbish disposal system in each country. When I first came to Japan, I was surprised that there were no public trash cans and in Australia we also have not only public trash cans but separate trash cans one for bottles and one or cans.  One thing that did not make sense to me in Japan was with the drink container trash cans have two separate holes, one for plastic bottles and the other for cans. When I looked at them closely, they all go in the same container together. It should be separated in two halves, otherwise it does not make sense to have one hole for cans and one for bottles. When it comes to household trash cans, we have large plastic trash cans, one for general rubbish, one for recyclables, and one for green waste. (e.g. garden waste, vegetable scraps) These trash cans have wheels on them, and we put them at the top of the driveway. For collection, this made it much easier for collection, kept pests out and was less work for collectors. In Japan, they have plastic bags and the collection is irregular and you can not put the rubbish out the night before for fear of birds, rats and other pests getting into the rubbish.

In conclusion, overall, both need to really look at the way they deal with the efficiency and ultimately make a difference. I would say that if both Japan and Australia integrated ideas, it would be a far more effective start to improving our situations. It just shows you that both of our cultures are really missing the point and are really being counterproductive even with our improvements. We could all make this work by working together.

Let’s try!

Questions

1. How is the macho attitude reflected in Australian culture?
2. What did not make sense to the writer in Japan?
3. What percentage of packaging in convenience stores in Japan have plastic in them?
4. What are the three types of trash cans in Australia?
5. What does the write suggest each country do to improve?

Answers

1. They want big V8 powered cars or old-style diesel pickup       trucks (4 x 4).
2. How public trash cans for drink containers in Japan are structured.
3. 75 to 80%
4. General rubbish, recyclables, and green waste.
5.  Japan and Australia to integrate ideas.

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Racism in Indonesia【英語長文練習問題】
レベル：英検2級レベル・TOEIC600点程度

Racism is an idea created by humans to differentiate between people seen from their skin color, ethnicity, and the area of their residence. Usually, racism is always attached to the superiority of certain groups. They can do anything because they feel superior. Finally, the rights of different people are violated. Even leads to criminal-ism.

Racism has existed in this world for a long time. In fact, it has very strong roots. In almost every country, cases of racism always arise and create social inequalities. The tragedy of the death of George Floyd in the United States brought back the issue of racism in black #BlackLivesMatter in various regions of the world. In Indonesia, the issue of racism that emerged was in the form of the #PapuaLivesMatter campaign, which raised the issue of discrimination against Indonesians against Papuans.

Dutch colonize Indonesia in 1595. Racism is inseparable from colonial heritage how the Netherlands used to make social stratification in the colonies. In Indonesia, stratification is divided into three. Namely, the European group, the Eastern group, which at that time was dominated by Chinese and Arabic descent, as well as the indigenous group. From there, we can see the roots of racism. Then racism was increasingly formed during the New Order when the government carried out repression against ethnic Chinese.

Regarding #PapuaLivesMatter, that the tribes in Papua are indeed biologically different from other regions in Indonesia. Racism towards Papuans also formed during the New Order era. I think that racism in Papua also cannot be separated from the New Order when the area became the location of military operations in 1974. In my opinion, there is a share of history in current discrimination; however, both anthropologists stress the issue of racism in Papua in contrast to the US. That discrimination in Papua was different from black slavery that had occurred in the United States. Black people have become slaves in the US with a very long history. While here, the problem is the treatment of the region (Papua), which is not good. There was attention to the eastern parts of Indonesia that were left behind. Maybe there are still feelings of anger, heartache felt by the Papuan people in the past.

One of the most significant issues that have occurred in Indonesia since the past is racism against Chinese descendants. In 1998 The past government carried out repression in such a way (against the descendants of Chinese) so that the effect is felt up until now. In Papua itself, racism exists, some of Papuan are getting names as ‘straight hair’ and ‘curly hair.’ Racism is strong; it differs according to the location. But not strong in others. Malay Batak ethnic groups refer to Indian descent as ‘keling’ which means dark skin person from India. This is because biologically, their physical form is different. But it is different with the descendants of Chinese in Kalimantan, which is more likely not a problem because they are biologically similar.

Let’s try!

Questions

1. Which Country that Colonized Indonesia and affected their culture into the current “racism” happening in Indonesia?
2. What did “Racism” create in our society?
3. What campaign did Indonesia create when #blacklivesmatter campaign was happening in America?
4. What happened in Indonesia in 1998?
5. What name do other ethnic groups call Indian descendants with?

Answers

1. Dutch/Netherlands
2. Social Inequalities
3. #papualivesmatter
4. The past government carried out repression against the Chinese descendants
5. Keling

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The way we learn【英語長文練習問題】
レベル：英検2級レベル・TOEIC600点程度

Growing up, I didn’t have much contact with kids even though I have a brother, and he is about my age. I was always interested in what it would be like to be around kids or have a baby brother. It wasn’t until recently that I had the opportunity to be around kids but not only one but many of them. I started teaching English and Spanish to little kids with different nationalities like Japanese and Brazilian.

I was in Peru when I was their age, so it is very interesting to see the difference in how they are learning. And because of the generation gap, the teaching methods differ from the ones been taught now, and also, the difference of the culture they are born and raised in. I found that, in Japan, teaching a new language to kids has to be through very fun activities, as they use playtime as a learning method. Kids absorb new languages better if it is taught dynamically with a lot of games and movement. It is a slow process as learning a language is new for them. Still, repetition with physical movements helps them learn words by relating it with the target word.

It is quite interesting how kids interiorize language learning, as this sometimes can bring emotions like boredom, frustration, or happiness. Kids show these emotions at the moment and let you know about it by saying “I don’t want to do this,” “I am so happy, look at what I learned today” or “teacher, I am hungry, I want to go home.” Showing emotions and speaking about them is quite helpful as some kids will show if they understand it or not and speak out. However, for some, doing this can be difficult, so they just sit back without any interaction, or they show that they don’t understand because they are afraid of what other peers could say.

Through teaching, I learned some interesting differences between not only adults and kids but nationalities as well. For some, foreign pronunciation and vocabulary can be easier as some can be similar between countries. The tricky part is that these words might have a different meaning (this is called false cognate). On the other side for Japanese, vocabulary and pronunciation can be difficult as their language is very different from English, but some vocabulary might be easier as the Japanese used a good amount of English words on an everyday basis, just with a change in pronunciation.

Another thing that I found interesting is the way they interact with me. For example, when I interact with foreign kids, there is kind of a feeling of an age gap like they treat me as an adult. On the other hand, Japanese kids treat me more like I am equal to them, expressing themselves more freely from frustration to happiness.

Teaching kids has shown me how different the way we learn is and how our different backgrounds shape how we learn and interact with the world around us.

Let’s try!

Questions

1. Where is the author from?
   a) Peru
   b) Japan
   c) Brazil
   d) America
2. What does the author do?
   a) Teach Japanese
   b) Teach English
   c) Teach Spanish
   d) B and C
3. How does kids learn better?
   a) Tongue twisters.
   b) Talking to the teacher.
   c) Playing games
   d) All above
4.  Where is the author teaching?
   a) Japan
   b) Brazil
   c) Peru
   d) Spain
5. Is the teacher teaching only kids?
   a) True
   b) False

Answers

1. 1) a) 2) d) 3) c) 4) a) 5) b)

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Five underrated things in Japan【英語長文練習問題】
レベル：英検準2級レベル・TOEIC500点程度

If you have been living in Japan for a long time, things become usual for you and sometimes don’t even realize how you will miss these things if one day you traveled abroad or maybe move to another country.

Public bathroom

One of the things I love in Japan is clean, beautiful, and efficient Japanese toilets. While traveling, finding a bathroom was not an easy task; public restrooms were challenging to find, so mostly, I’ve had to eat or drink at a restaurant or cafe to buy something to use the toilet. Coming back from Europe made me appreciate this even more, as it is so comfortable in Japan to access public restrooms everywhere.

24 hours convenience store

Have you ever wanted to eat ice cream at night? Well, you can crave anything at any time it will be plenty of options to fulfill your cravings; when I was in Europe, I sometimes walked at night, but most of the stores where closed, so I had to think in advance and get all those things I need at the supermarket before closing time. Have you ever been on a long road trip? You can take a rest at any convenience store to eat, drink, go to the toilet and rest in any connivance store along your way.

Security

I could say that I feel safer in Japan most of the time; I can look at my phone while walking, have money in my hands, go to the convenience store at night and drive without locking my car doors, without being scared that something bad is going to happen. While caution is always advisable, I feel more freedom, and I don’t need to be in a fear mode all the time.

Omotemashi

Japanese customer service is the best in the world although I encountered some that were not so good. In general, they go out of their way to help you out with a big smile and a respectful Japanese Language. Plus, as for product presentation, have you ever noticed how well thought and presented food, drink, souvenirs, and others are? It is just beautiful.

Food from all around the world

Even though Japanese food is the favorite food for Japanese and foreigners in Japan, this country has a wide variety of ethnic food in both its original and Japanese style. Here I tried all types of ethnic food from Japanese, Asian to western, and Latin American food.

Let’s try!

Questions

What isn’t mentioned in the passage?

a)　Ethnic food
b)　Bathroom
c)　Clean streets
d)　Customer service

What can you buy at night in Japan?

a)　Ice cream
b)　Food
c)　Green tea
d)　All the above

What kind of foods are mentioned by the author?

a)　Asian food
b)　Western food
c)　Japanese food
d)　All the above

What is the characteristic that the author mention about public restrooms in Japan?

a)　Clean
b)　Free
c)　Dirty
d)　Bad smell 

What does the word “underrated” mean?

a)　Doesn’t receive the recognition that deserves
b)　It is highly appreciated
c)　Someone famous
d)　Bad reviews

Answers

1. 1) c) 2) d) 3) d) 4) a) 5) a)

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How to chill out during a global pandemic【英語長文練習問題】
レベル：英検準1級レベル・TOEIC700点程度

After an eventful year, I have often found myself thinking about ways to stay calm when the world outside is so turbulent. Every morning when I turn on the news, my heart sinks to discover more disturbing information. I think it is so important to tune in every day to the world events, and also to do what we can to make the world better. However, sometimes in the middle of a global pandemic, you need to just tune out, and settle into the blissful mundanity of your little life.

So here are my tips to take the edge off. Firstly, I like to start my day by moving my body. Many of us are working from home during this time and should reap the benefits of this! Working from home has given me an extra hour in the morning to do some yoga or go for a walk. Sometimes I take a coffee or listen to a podcast, but usually I just move for the sake of moving.

Secondly, I carve out time in the day to listen to music. Depending on the day, this ranges from sad music to happy music, slow music to dance music. Either way, music has the ability to force us to listen inwards and has the uncanny ability to allow us to tune out from the craziness of the outside world.

Next, I like to cook as much as I can. Of course, some days are busier than others, and cooking isn’t always possible, but when I can I really notice the difference in my mood. Cooking is great for mental health because we are forced to focus on the task at hand, without looking at our phones or computers.

As well as this, I drink lots and lots of tea! Tea is a powerful thing. It can be drunk hot or cold, sweet or bitter. It hydrates you throughout the day and gives you an excuse to get up out of your chair. This one doesn’t need much explanation, because we all know tea is great.

Finally, I try to watch or listen to something that makes me laugh every day. I usually listen to a podcast in or watch YouTube in English. Whilst I study Japanese in the day, when I have finished work, I like to listen to something in my own language. Humans cannot be improving themselves 24/7, so listening to something because ‘it just makes you laugh’ is important too!

Let’s try!

Questions

1)　How many different activities does the writer suggest to relax in a pandemic?
2)　What are those activities?
3)　What 2 different types of exercise does the writer suggest doing in the morning?
4)　“The writer thinks it is important to listen to the news every day.” True or False?
5)　Why does the writer suggest listening to a podcast or watching YouTube?

Answers

1) 5

2) Exercise, Listening to Music, Cooking, Drinking Tea and watching or listening to something funny.

3) Walking or Yoga

4) True

5) Just because it makes you laugh.

Color differentiation in culture【英語長文練習問題】
レベル：英検準1級レベル・TOEIC700点程度

It has been a while since I last wrote a blog. Color is a crucial aspect of every culture. Colors can represent love, anger, sadness, infidelity, and religious affiliations, depending on the culture. In today’s reading, we will look at the different meanings of colors in cultures around the world.

Blue bears both positive and negative meanings. For example, in Western cultures (North America and Europe) The most popular color for bank logos is blue because it represents trust and authority. The color is also masculine and used to represent the birth of a boy. Meanwhile, in China, it is the symbol of femininity. Now imagine me, a guy whose wardrobe is 70% full with blue clothes visiting China looking all like girlish. Whereas, in India, blue represents immortality. in countries such as Turkey, Greece, and Albania citizens can be seen wearing blue amulets as they believe bleu repels evil. Interestingly in my country Uzbekistan, blue signifies peace and purity. Universally associated with the sea and sky, a natural phenomenon well-known the world over, blue instills a sense of inner stability. The reason being it is common to see historic buildings covered in blue tiles. However, In English and also probably in the Japanese language we can observe the word blue associated with phrases that have negative meanings. For example, to feel blue; once in a blue moon; out of the blue.

Green is a go color; it is the color of hope. It makes sense because we can associate it with springtime and a sense of flourishing. At the same time, it is the color of jealousy. Back in 1603, William Shakespeare referred to jealousy as a “green-eyed monster” in his tragic play Othello.

Red, although universally accepted as a stop sign,　can be seen as being a feminine or sexy color while it symbolizes happiness in China.
In China, yellow has strong historical and cultural associations. The first emperor was called the Yellow Emperor. After the Song Dynasty, which ended in 1279, only the emperor was allowed to wear bright yellow. in Japan, the color yellow is one of courage. in America, it is the exact opposite. Yellow is considered the color of cowardice.

The lovely color white plays an important role in religions around the world. in Christianity, children wear white when they’re baptized and first take communion. The Pope (head of the Roman Catholic Church), has worn white since 1566 to symbolize sacrifice. Muslim pilgrims wear Ihram, a simple white attire intended to signify that before God, all are equal.
The color white or Shiro in Japanese is considered a sacred color of the gods. It is the symbol of spiritual and physical purity. Since old times, the Emperor of Japan used to dress in white clothes for the main Shinto rituals.

Here, I would like to conclude the topic of colors and their meanings around the globe. Hope you found it interesting and feel free to share your thoughts with your instructor and take a short quiz below to check your comprehension.

Let’s try!

Questions

1)　What is the color of jealousy?
2)　What is the universally regarded peace color?
3)　Which color is frequently associated with phrases which have negative meanings?
4)　Which color symbolizes femininity universally?
5)　What is the sacred color of gods in Japan?

Answers

1) Green.

2) Blue.

3) Blue.

4) Red.

5) White.

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Sinking cities【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検準一級、TOEIC700点程度

Today, I would like to talk about global warming and its seeable effects on our daily lives.
I am from a southeastern country, Indonesia. Its capital is Jakarta, or I call it a sinking city. According to the research, Jakarta is the fastest sinking city in the world expected to be 95% submerged under the water by 2050 when a lot of you, hopefully, will be still alive. Every year, 10 centimeters of it is submerging in the water. The reasoning behind this incident is largely due to the excessive extraction of groundwater for drinking and the commercial use when water is pumped out of an underground aquifer, and the land above it sinks. And yet this is not the only factor behind it. Known as a romantic vocational spot, Maldives is also waiting for the same destiny by 2050. For the Maldives, we can without a doubt hold global warming responsible in a connotative way.

The abovementioned countries are far from us, Japan which on a second thought should not make us be alarmed about it and feel free from any harm. However, as Japan is an island country surrounded by only water on all sides, it is put in almost as severe a condition as those countries. Talking about the geography of Japan, the known fact is that it consists of 70% of mountains harshly habitable to us regarding infrastructure. Areas located in the sea are densely populated and they are also very prone to low-lying coastal flooding.

Urban areas in the low-elevation coastal zone in Japan, 2015.
Source: CUNY Institute for Demographic Research (CIDR), Institute for Development Studies (IDS), and the Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN).
In Climate Emergency, Urban Opportunity (2019). Map Credit: Hasim Engin, CIDR

If ice keeps melting in Antarctica at the same speed as today, sea levels rise by three meters by 2050, meaning that there is a huge threat to the urban centers of Japan, let alone the topic of taller Tsunami waves.

After the 2011 Fukushima incident, the Japanese government started building a 15-meter-tall, 400-kilometer-long wall.  Although it is the biggest infrastructure project in Japan, will it be able to save it from possible tsunamis in ten years? Shall this wall be built all around Japan? Or will Japan be a city like Venice, Italy?

This blog is solely about problems that we may face soon without any solutions as I wanted to leave it open for discussion between you and yourself or people around you.

Let’s try!

Questions

1)　How ma

ny centimeters of Jakarta is sinking every year?

2)　Which cities are the urban centers of Japan according to the picture provided above?
3)　How big is the wall being built in Japan?
4)　Which other city/country is also under the damage of flooding?
5)　What is the sea level prediction by 2050?

Answers

1)     10 centimeters per year.
2)     All the cities marked red.
3)     15 meters tall, 400 kilometers long.
4)     The Maldives.
5)     Increase by three meters.

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AN AUSSIE COOKING IN JAPAN

AN AUSSIE COOKING IN JAPAN【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検二級、TOEIC500点程度

When I was living in Australia, I used to experiment a lot with cooking because sometimes after paying the bills I wouldn’t have much money left over. When this situation arose, I would have to cook with whatever I had left in the cupboards and in the refrigerator. In the beginning most of the meals I made were pretty bad, but after a while it became really good, much to my surprise.

Once I arrived in Japan, I didn’t have much of an opportunity to do much cooking due to living in an apartment with my wife’s mother and sister. Once we finally moved out into a house of our own, I started to cook again, but had trouble sourcing ingredients for western style recipes (I’m not good at cooking Japanese food). Eventually, I ended up finding a few places that had the ingredients I needed, which was a relief as I was missing western food, but in Japan it is pretty expensive to purchase. It eing expensive didn’t deter my want to start cooking again.

After finally finding places to get ingredients, such as Seijo Ishii, Amica, Gyomu Super and the online store The Meat Guy, which supplies meat from Australia, New Zealand and other countries I started a cooking frenzy. I have cooked things like steak wrapped in bacon with garlic herb mashed potato, pasta bake, curry sausage pie, salmon steamed in lemon/lime juice with chilli, risotto and many others.  I have added some pictures of just some of things that I have cooked. One problem though is that I tend to be a bit overzealous with presentation, which was because of a chef friend of mine that wouldn’t try my food unless it looked well presented. I was always perplexed by this because I wasn’t working for a restaurant as a chef.

Let’s try!

Questions

1)   What does the word “arose” mean?

2)   What did I have trouble getting in Japan?

3)   How am I at cooking Japanese food?

4)   Where did I end up getting the ingredients, I needed to cook western food?

5)  Out of the meals I mentioned, which do you think took the least amount of time to cook?

Answers

1)   Arose ? Come up

2)   Ingredients for western food.

3)   Not good4)   Seijo Ishii, Amica, Gyomu Super and the online store The Meat Guy.

5)   Salmon steamed in lemon/lime juice with chilli

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More Than Learning a Language【英語長文練習問題】レベル：英検二級、TOEIC500点程度

When we learn a language, we learn words or grammar; we also learn the culture of a different country and how those differ from ours, like habits, way of thinking, and others. Learning the most used vocabulary helps us understand people from different backgrounds and expand our view of the world from other angles.

During times like this, a pandemic due to COVID-19, it might seem challenging due to the human contact restriction that we are facing. As we get to spend more time at home, we have more time to watch TV shows and movies that show us a lot about cultures and human interaction in another culture. While studying English is essential, sometimes we do not pay much attention to this fantastic resource full of knowledge.

Until we wait for the borders to be open and experience this culture at first hand, we should take advantage of this resource. It does not matter if your goal is business or daily conversations; there is a plenty of genres that we can watch depending on our goals. We can find Vlogs on Youtube or TikTok from ordinary people, telling us about their real-life situations and challenges. Plus, we can practice our listening skills, and get used to hearing a variety of accents.

One of the most important things that you can experience doing this is challenging yourself while having fun, so it is highly recommended that you watch something interesting.

Footage, movies and TV shows on Youtube and TikTok are significant parts  of Pop culture, which can help you find topics when you get a chance to talk to people.

So I encourage you to use these resources, talk about them and create an opinion to share with your teachers and future friends.

Let’s try!

Questions

1. What recommendations does the author give?

a) Watch TV shows

b) Watch Movies

c) Watch Youtube videos

d) All the above

2)   Why should we learn about cultures?

a) Understand other cultures

b) Make friends

C) Expand our vision

d) a and b

3) What is challenging now?

1. Watch movies
2. Watch TV
3. Watch youtube
4. Travel outside Japan

4) What does the author recommend doing when watching movies?

1. Learning  habits
2. Learning about other culture
3. Seeing how people interact
4. All above

5) What kind of movies should you watch according to the author?

1. Business related movies
2. Boring movies
3. It is not mentioned
4. The movies that interest you

Answers

1. d
2. d
3. d
4. d
5. d