Monday, December 25th “Organizer”
Last week I finally got an organizer for 2018. I thought about what kind of system I should have for about two weeks. A student of mine recommended A5 size organization. I took the student’s advice and I’m glad I did.
The organizational problem I had before was keeping the schedule and notes of every day in a different place. I would often forget my notebook somewhere. Also, since I had multiple notebooks, I often forgot where I wrote my notes. Now I won’t have those problems. It is neatly organized in one place. I’ve already used the new organizer for one week at school. It works well so I’m very pleased with it.
With the new organizer, I can write out my New Year’s resolution. The bigger challenge is if I can carry them out. I know that a nice organizer is not going to change your life. However, coming up with ideas and taking action is the key to life changes. I hope I can write a lot of good ideas and make those ideas come to life. I’m excited what I can do in 2018!
organizer 「手帳」
I finally got an organizer for 2018. (ようやく手帳を手に入れた。)
carry out 「実行する」
The bigger challenge is if I can carry them out. (より大きなチャレンジは実行できるかどうかだ。)
come up with 「思いつく」take action 「行動に移す」
Coming up with ideas and taking action is the key to life changes. (アイディアを思いつき、行動をとることが人生を変える鍵だ。)
Make the ideas come to life. 「アイディアを活かす」
Wednesday, December 27th “Stretchy Pants”
Today I put on leggings to go jogging. I call them stretchy pants. They feel tight when I put them on but it’s supposed to be good for running. Every time, I see these stretchy pants, they make me think of a movie called “Nacho Libre”. This is actually my favorite comedy movie. I love Jack Black. He’s hilarious!!
Nacho Libre is a man who is a priest but there are two things he loves more than anything. One is the orphans and the other is wrestling. However, since he is a priest, he is not allowed to wrestle. He cannot give up on his dream so he decides to secretly wrestle for money so he can give a better life to the orphans. His friend makes him the wrestling outfit and he puts it on in his room. While he’s putting it on, one of the orphans is watching him. Nacho is surprised and embarrassed that he’s caught wearing a wrestling outfit. His excuse is
Nacho: “Chanco, when you are a man, sometimes you wear stretchy pants in your room. It’s for fun.”
Chancho (the boy): “Don’t worry, I won’t tell nobody”
I love this scene. It makes me laugh every time so when I go running and put stretchy pants on, I say this line every time.
“Chancho, when you are a man, sometimes you wear stretchy pants in your room. It’s for fun.”
Stretchy Pants 「のびのびパンツ」
Hilarious 「爆笑」
Orphans 「孤児」
Not allowed 「許可されていない」
excuse 「言い訳」
Thursday, December 28th
For many people, winter vacation is about to start. I think it will be a good time for you to study English but you might not feel like writing journals or studying grammar points. I have a suggestion. How about trying to read one English book. I know it will be a challenge.
There are some books that I can recommend you. First, if you are an absolute beginner, you should try the Penguin Readers. These series are for English learners and they are divided from Level 0 to 6. For beginners, you should try level 0 or its called Easystarts. The book only uses 200 words so I’m sure you can read it. If you go to the big Maruzen in Sakae you’ll be able to find it.(Or you can get it on Amazon) If you feel, you can handle more words, you should read level 1 which has 300 words. They have many selections in both levels. They look like these.
suggestion 「提案」
absolute 「全くの」
If you are an absolute beginner, you should try the Penguin Reader. (もしあなたが全くの初心者である場合、Penguin Readerから初めましょう。)
The next level book I recommend is the NHK Enjoy simple English. I’ve recommended this before so many of my students know about it. The content is really good so I strongly recommend you keep reading that.
The next level book I recommend is by Kay Hetherly. She has many books out but why don’t you try American Pie or Kitchen Table Talk. They are really good. The topics are usually about the cultural differences between Japan and the West. It’s really fun to read and you can also learn about Western culture. I feel that reading is an important part of language learning. When you are reading, you are thinking in English while you read. The more you read the more you think in English. Your brain will start to become an English brain. You will start to process English faster in your head. That’s one of the main reason I keep a journal for students so they read something as much as possible.
Process 「処理」
You will start to process English faster in your head. (英語を頭の中で処理スピードが上がる。)
Anyhow, maybe you just want to take it easy during a break but if you get used to reading, reading will become relaxing. You can enjoy it like you enjoy watching movies or dramas. Plus, your English will start to improve. I guarantee it! So turn off Netflix and let’s read!!!
take it easy 「ゆっくりする」
improve 「上達する」
guarantee 「保証する」