“The valiant fighter” Marcus Túlio Tanaka

Marcus Túlio Tanaka is the former football player of Japan’s national team. Although he showed many brilliant activities on the pitch, he passed through many difficulties.

He was born in Palmeira d'Oeste, São Paulo, in 1981. His farter is a Japanese-Brazilian, and his mother is an Italian-Brazilian. He came to Japan for the first time when he was sixteen years old. Of course, he didn't know Japanese, and he suffered mentally.

He studied Japanese eagerly and had been a leading player on the football team of his senior high school. He joined Sanfrecce Hiroshima in 2001 after he graduated, and he launched his career as a professional football player. He became a naturalized as Japanese in 2003 and participated in 2010 FIFA World Cup as a player of Japan’s national team. He won many prizes until his retirement in 2019. He was one of the most dominant players in the football history of Japan.

What are people doing under extraordinary situation?

Due to COVID-19, people around the world are forced to stay home.

Under the extraordinary situation, people try to find how they can enjoy at home.  At the same time, there are new business opportunities which can offer solutions for people.

We couldn’t go out for dinner during lockdown.  As people tried to cook meals at home, the demand of kitchen appliance skyrocketed.  For those who don’t cook at home, online food delivery service becomes very popular.

As people couldn’t meet in person, people tried to meet on-line by using web camera.  Internet is the useful tool to enjoy the time with family and/or friends.

Animal crossing is a game soft which is well accepted around the world.  It is a peaceful game with no fighting.  The players have own island and do what they want, such as gathering fruits and fishing.  The players can meet their friends in the game.  People use this game as one of tools to meet their friends.  Here is an example.  In Japan, school was closed in March which is the month of school year end.  The graduation ceremony was canceled or conducted with the limited number of attendees.  I heard students got together and held a graduation party with friends in the game.

Under any circumstances, it is important to have good meals as well as connect with family or friends.

The End of the Phantom: Erik

After a long talk, Raoul and Christine took Erik with them to Norway. They built a large house beside a beautiful lake. Erik was a clever architect so he made their house nice and comfortable and kept their privacy quite well.

There was a small concert hall at their house and Christine sang her beautiful voice from time to time.

With her most generous and loving heart, Christine looked after Erik well, he had the happiest time of his life and passed away peacefully next year.

Raoul and Christine had three lovely daughters. They also had beautiful voices. The Raoul family became very popular for their musical talent, they were invited to the Opera house in Pairs. Their wonderful performance remained in the hearts of many Parisian and Parisienne for a long time.

Posted for Sayuri

Black Lives Matter

I saw Women’s Singles of the 2020 U.S. open tennis with interest because I could know in detail seven terrible cases for black victims printed on Naomi’s face mask for each of her matches. Everyone knows that these seven victims are just a little bit of past numerous cases/things that don’t make sense for black people. 

I saw two social issues for the seven victims. I personally think that people sometimes target at someone/people in specific area at the unconscious level to feel that they are taking a superior position to the targeted ones and to strengthen the relationship with other peoples except for the targeted person/people, and not to be left out of group/organization. The thinking at unconscious level will cause bullying as a familiar example and racial discrimination. 

We should understand completely that black, brown, yellow, and white are same human and have no advantage or disadvantage. Another issue is guns. In the USA, if a police officer gets close to a suspicious person, police may need to adopt the tightest security measures because suspicious person has a possibility of carrying a gun, otherwise police officer may get killed by one shot. If a citizen is not allowed to have a gun, police officer may not play as justifiable defense and may not force suspicious person down to the ground like Mr. George Floyd was. I hope that people who do not have any gun are increased in the future not to cause terrible cases like the seven black victims and gun shooting incident. 

I also hope that countries without guns, like Japan, are kept that way.

My most exciting journey

 

Our author in Carthage

The most exciting place I have ever travelled around is Tunisia. It is an Islamic country, located in northern Africa, on the coast the Mediterranean Sea, between Algeria and Libya.I have visited there in 2006.

The Phoenicians came to this land 2,000 years ago, then the country was under the control of the Romans, the Byzantines, Islam and the Ottoman Empire. After its turbulent history, precious ruins can be found everywhere.

First, I visited the ancient remains of Carthage, a world heritage site. A long time ago, the Phoenicians built up their city here, but it was later destroyed by the Romans. Now we can see the Roman ruins there.

Dougga is also one of the sites of an ancient city. I have ever seen such dynamic, beautiful remains. When I visited, it was very quiet. Nobody was there. I could feel the mysterious atmosphere.

Besides Carthage and Dougga, I also visited the Amphitheatre El Gem and the old city of Kairoian. All of them are UNESCO world heritage sites. I was fascinated by all the historical relics.

The landscape in Tunisia is also fascinating. Visiting the Sahara Desert has been one of my dreams. I was able to enjoy camel riding there. It was exciting, but sometimes I felt afraid, because I didn’t know which way to go in a world of sand. Anyway, it was an unforgettable experience. The scenery of the salt lake “Chotto el Djerid” was also amazing. It is a white land, as far as you can see. The Tanerza Canyon is one of the viewpoints you should visit. The characteristic topography is so beautiful. These unique landscapes were used for the impressive scenes in films such as “Star Wars” and “The English Patient “. 

Our author in a camel train - in blue

The most interesting moment for me was walking in the local market, in a desert city. The people who live in the desert, wearing traditional outfits, get together and exchange things like food, information and news of their daily life. It was exactly like a scene of “Star Wars”.

In my impression, traveling in Tunisia is like visiting another planet. It is totally exotic, exciting, amazing. There are so many treasures in their mysterious country. I believe it is one of the most beautiful places in the world.

 Teruki

 

 

I have always liked learning English...a dreamer writes

My first pen friend was an English boy in Portsmouth.  It was so much fun to get a letter from overseas and his European life amazed me.  We both became busy studying for the examinations (O-level for him and high school entrance exams for me), it ended shortly.  Then I was fascinated by the Bay City Rollers: when I spell Saturday, I'm still mumbling their famous song (clever readers could guess my age).   

I dreamed of English hills covered with daffodils as Wordsworth said and heather, footpath, hedge, afternoon tea, scones, clotted cream, victorian sandwiches, mincemeat, pubs, beers, fish 'n' chips, movies, TV dramas, etc…  Those never ending interests have made my heart wide open and I had a lot of opportunities to see and talk to people from over sea and people who have the same interests, those who were amazing.

At the Nagano Olympics, my American friends introduced me to the US Olympic Committee and luckily I had an incredible chance to work there as a receptionist.  Whole the Olympic time I was in the Americans, I felt as if I were in the US, which I had never been before.  They were very friendly and efficient.  They rented a big building out as their offices and some residences for the senior officers.  There were free Coke machines and free McDonalds, lots of stationery, and their own overseas telephone service in the building.  They also even gave us free tickets for some Olympic games.  I thought I had used all of my good luck for my whole life.

English gives me such great experiences, it makes my world no limit, it frees my heart from a tiny and unpleasant real life. Reading English books brings me extra knowledge and that makes English more interesting: ex found out the original meanings of some rather strange characters' names in Harry Potter's…

So, you young learners, read lots of English books and see a lot of movies,and make lots of friends!  Open seas spread before you!

Posted for Sayuri 

The Fugitive

This is the story from these film The fugitive (1993), a big Hollywood film with Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones. The film came from the famous 1960s American TV program, The Fugitive. In this story, Dr. Kimble found his wife was killed when he came home, and tried to find the murder even though he was suspected. Gerard who was chasing Kimble as a detective while he wondered if he was a real criminal or not.

The plot is well organized. It makes us surprised when we reach a final chapter. It isn’t just a story of running away but contains action, suspense and mystery. The story is nail-biter. After Kimble decided to find out a murder, he continues to keep moving around and finding clues in different places. The detective Gerard was kept chasing him and starts thinking about a real culprit. As readers know Kimble is not a murder, we may want Gerard to know it and can feel like we are finding the real criminals together with Gerard.

How Kimble found the murder of his wife, and how he got back his normal life, you must enjoy the whole story without stopping.

Talking about chores - YLE speaking activity

Something to play with for the weekend!

Our teachers have been using Wordwall quite a lot lately, as it's provides a superbly flexible collection of easily created games/quizzes/activities. These can be played in class collaboratively, or at home...or together online - WIN WIN WIN!

This version from a class today, talking about chores. I wanted my students to get their heads up and 'fill in the blanks' ie stop mundanely reading with flat/non-existent intonation, and frequently not getting to the end of a question 'in one go'.

What do you think?

https://wordwall.net/resource/4086244

Memo to Leonardo da Vinci

Dear Da Vinci,

As you know, you have not finished a lot of paintings yet. I know you are so busy, but it is better for you to finish your painting. So, let me share my tips to improve your work performance.

1. Grasp your whole work:
To recognize how many works that you should finish.

2. Put priority:
Maybe, a lot of orders come in because you are the famous painter. You should consider a priority as it takes time to complete your painting.

3. Make a check list:
Even if you are a genius, your brain has a limit to memory. If you could have the check list, you don’t need to remember how many works are unfinished. Then you can focus on painting in front of you.

4. Hire some staff:
As a paper is expensive , so it might be difficult to prepare a check list. I recommend you to arrange person in order to organize your works.

I hope the above would be help your work. Please kindly image or invest how to arrange human task easily.

Best regards,
Miyuki