英会話教室Pure English（旧ファングリッシュ）

Good afternoon everyone!

Today I went to a sports festival at Hamatake Junior High School. The event was actually for students of Hanamizu elementary school, but the school grounds at Hanamizu are under construction right now. So they used the Jr. High instead.

My son was participating in some running events so I went to watch, take pictures and cheer him on. It looks like all the children were having a lot of fun, and all the families were enjoying the day out also. It’s a little bit hot out today though and I might have gotten a bit of sunburn on my neck, but it was still very enjoyable and a good experience for me. There is some serious competition to get a good position to take pictures sometimes, which I thought was amusing to watch.

We have a similar event at elementary schools in Canada, although some things are different. It’s also held on a Saturday so all the families of the students can attend, but it’s called ‘Track and field day’.

One difference is that there are no dance routines in Canada, and they do many of the track events that are held in the summer Olympics. For example; 100m dash, 500m dash, a 1 KM run, high jump, running long jump, standing broad jump, shot-put, javelin (maybe not anymore), discus, and… a couple more that I can’t remember right now.

There is usually also a couple of food stands with drinks and some hotdogs, burgers or salad. At my elementary school the lunch was very cheap and everything was made by volunteers. The money made by the food stands was used to budget for the next track and field day.

I hope everyone has a good day today. Have fun outdoors but be careful of the sun!
-Paul

Hi everyone!

Happy Thursday, I hope you had a great day. I enjoyed some lessons tonight at the Mishima culture center. All the Funglish students were great and we had some good conversation and learning together. I have included a few pictures in today’s blog of the Funglish location at Mishima. The first is the sign at the entrance and it is just across the street from the West gate (South-side exit) of Hiratsuka station. The second is the door (on the left) to the classroom and finally one shot of part of the inside of the classroom.

It also wasn’t raining tonight which was very nice. Maybe my luck with the weather is changing. It feels like it’s getting more humid everyday though. Maybe it’s just me, but I’m sure I can feel it. Be careful everyone!

I’m looking forward to teaching some Kid’s classes at Bois Colombes tomorrow. It’s always an adventure and you’re never sure what children will say. I hope you all have a great weekend and have some time to relax and enjoy the weather.

Take care and thanks for reading,
-Paul

Hello everyone!

So we had a special event yesterday morning (here in Japan). There was an eclipse. Unfortunately it was cloudy and I couldn’t really see it. But there are many amazing photos on the internet, such as this one over here.

For all the science nerds out there, here is some new English for you. There are actually two types of eclipse that can occur, a solar or a lunar eclipse. Yesterday’s event was a solar eclipse, when the moon passes between the earth and the sun. A solar eclipse can only occur at new moon and can only last for 7 minutes and 40 seconds. A lunar eclipse is when the earth passes between the sun and the moon and can only occur at a full moon. The total phase of a lunar eclipse can last for a maximum of 1 hour and 40 minutes. Ok? The 2nd picture on the left is a solar eclipse, and the 3rd is a lunar eclipse.

Anyways, tonight it was raining quite hard. It was raining the hardest while I was riding my bicycle to go to Funglish class, which isn’t very convenient for me. However, I had some really good classes today and hope the students also enjoyed it! I appreciate them coming to class even though it was raining so much.

That’s all I have to say for now. Take care and have a good night.
-Paul

Greetings and salutations! How are you on this fine Sunday?

Today was a day unlike any other… I wish. Actually it was a pretty average Sunday but I wanted to make it sound more exciting. Just joking around!

I went to Bois Colombes today to teach some Adult classes, and everything went well. As usual I enjoyed talking with my students and answering questions. If you have any questions about English just ask me in class. There is no such thing as a bad question there, so don’t be shy!

I did go apartment hunting in the late morning/early afternoon however. We checked out a new place in Hiratsuka and hopefully will be able to move in very soon. The real estate representative was very helpful and patient and I tried to speak a little English with him. There is a lot more paperwork to fill out in Japan when you move than there is in Canada. I was a little surprised by it. Moving to a new place is always strange because it’s exciting and a pain in the butt (めんどくさい) at the same time. But mostly I’m excited!

That’s all for today, hope you have a great Sunday evening. Bye-bye!
-Paul

How’s it going today?

It was a very nice day and there was a deliciously cool breeze which kept it from getting too hot. What a great day for a walk outside! I was able to finish off a large portion of my posting quota but it seems there’s always just a bit left to do.

Today I ate some chinsukou cookies from Okinawa. They were given to me as a souvenir (おみやげ) from a student. There were three flavors in the package; vanilla, lightly salted and yam (purple sweet potato), and they were very tasty!
So thank you for those! I’d love to visit Okinawa someday as some of my family came from there.

I hope you are all having a good weekend. Thanks for reading this and take care ‘til next time!
-Paul