maiko-san

Last Thursday I met an Indonesian group at the cross-section in front of City Hall. The group consisted of about 10 people, most of them were men. I asked a friendly-looking young woman who wore a scarf. I hesitated for the moment, because the Germans criticize Islamic people who wear a scarf. Moreover I haven't spoken to  foreigners in English for years. But I took the plunge. I said to her, "Excuse me.Where are you from?" She answered,"From Indonesia." I replied, "Great!" The purpose of their visiting Japan was to learn an excellent Japanese railway system. They had already stayed one week. They were going to stay another one week. I said, "It's a shame that you Indonesians adopted Bullet Train ( "Shinkansen") system from China at the last minute." She said, "Sorry, I know that Japan is better when it comes to building a railway. That's why we are here." I was surprised to hear such humble words. It seemed th...

In written English,the ending - ed forms the past tense of regular verbs. However, in spoken English, the - ed ending can have three different pronunciations. It can sound like t (as in stopped); it can sound like (d) (as in lived) or it can sound like (id) (as in loaded). Excercise A : The ending - ed sounds like (t) when the last sound in the present tense verb is voiceless. The sounds (p), (k), (f), (s), (sh) (as in wash), and (tsch) (as in watch) are voiceless. Examples: talk ed cross ed laugh ed Read the following words and sentences aloud. Be sure to pronounce the -ed in the past. 1. look ed 2. miss ed 3, stopp ed 4, pick ed 5. wish ed 6. Mom bak ed a pie 7. He finish ed early. 8. Tara stopp ed singing. (sample sentence) On the 11th of January I was waiting for Hidechen at the shuttle bus station by Imperial Hotel. I look ed at  my watch. He was 10 minutes late. But I finally pick ed him up. I was glad to see him again. The moment I saw him, he apol...

In December I sent almost 30 New year Cards to my relatives, former colleagues, bosses and school friends. Most of them are living far away from Osaka. Since writing New Years Cards each year is getting kind of formality, I find it a little sick and tired. Therefore I made up my mind to skip them at the age of 70. Three years to go. So I wrote this time rather politely in favor of receivers' taste. For instance, Tanaka-kun, my best friend at elementary school. "Please take a good picture and upload it on Facebook and let me enjoy it." Mr. Takahashi, my former boss at Teijin. "Come to think of it, you were the coolest boss and best boss I reported to." Ms.Muto, a female employee at Teijin and used to sit beside me in the office. "The reason I take part in English Class is to prevent me from getting senile." I wrote all the cards with my hand on the front side and the flip side as well. On the 1st of January I receive 10 New Year Cards. I was ...