EL本棚紹介(103) Say WhAt? The Weird and Mysterious Journey of the English Language, by Gena K. Gorrell

[Welcome to the EL Book Introductions series. These posts are all short (<180 words) introductions/reviews of books in the EL library. They focus on telling you what we think will be interesting for you, a college student and English learner, so use them to help you find the right book for you. You can also use the tags to find books about topics you might be interested in.]

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This book has a very boring cover, but we have a saying in English: “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” Say WhAt is a very easy to approach book about the history of the English language. It contains many pictures, maps, and short quizzes. It is also written in very friendly English, so despite the boring cover, it is actually easy to recommend this book to students studying English.

Most chapters are very short—about five pages, including pictures and diagrams. Each chapter introduces a stage in the history of English or a topic related to how the language has changed. This structure also makes it easy to start with any chapter you are interested in, instead of having to start with chapter 1. There are also many examples of how English is related to other languages. This can be helpful when studying new vocabulary.

My two cents: If you are interested in language or history, I can easily recommend this book. Because of the short chapters, it is also a good choice for close reading (精読) instead off extensive reading (多読).

EL本棚紹介(102) Scholastic Children’s Thesaurus

[Welcome to the EL Book Introductions series. These posts are all short (<180 words) introductions/reviews of books in the EL library. They focus on telling you what we think will be interesting for you, a college student and English learner, so use them to help you find the right book for you. You can also use the tags to find books about topics you might be interested in.]

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I do not like recommending “children’s books” on this blog, because most of you are in college. However, Scholastic’s Children’s Thesaurus is a really useful book for learning difficult vocabulary. A thesaurus (類語辞典) contains words like a dictionary; however, it organizes them by similar meanings. It also gives example sentences and uses pictures to help you create an image to remember.

You can use this for two different ways of studying vocabulary. First, you can learn groups of words with similar meanings. If you do this, you can remember that “new,” “fresh,” and “original” all have close definitions. Second, once you know which words have similar meanings, you can use the thesaurus to compare and understand how they have different nuances. For example, “new” emphasizes time, meaning “just made or begun.” On the other hand, “fresh” emphasizes how something is “not yet affected by time or use.” A “new vegetable” might be a variety that was recently invented, but a “fresh vegetable” is one that was just picked and has not gotten old, stale, or moldy.

My two cents: This is not a book to sit and read from cover to cover; instead, try using it to experiment with new ways of studying vocabulary.

EL本棚紹介(101) The Nocturnals: The Mysterious Abductions, by Tracey Hecht

[Welcome to the EL Book Introductions series. These posts are all short (<180 words) introductions/reviews of books in the EL library. They focus on telling you what we think will be interesting for you, a college student and English learner, so use them to help you find the right book for you. You can also use the tags to find books about topics you might be interested in.]

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When you think of stories about animals, what do you think of? Dogs and cats? Maybe birds, or even tanuki? Well, The Nocturnals is a very different book. The main characters are all animals, but interesting animals you may not have read about before. The main characters are a red fox, a pangolin, and a sugar glider; there is also a jerboa, sea cucumbers, a wombat, and more. All of these creatures are nocturnal, animals that are awake at night.

The Nocturnals tells the story of three friends who try to solve the mystery of missing animals. The story starts as a mystery, but something strange happens in the second half: it becomes a sports story. While the language can be a little challenging, and some of the characters use foreign words (French, Spanish, and Yiddish) to express their personalities, the story itself is not too complex to follow. In addition, it is part of a series of books, so if you like the first one, you can borrow the rest from the English Lounge after!

My two cents: This book has a lot of interesting variety. It is good for people who are interested in exotic animals, sports, and mysteries.

EL Game Series (09): “Visual Eyes”

[Welcome to the EL game series. These posts are all short introductions to games you can play in the EL. Because learning to play games in English can take a long time, some posts will explain how to play simple versions of games. Other posts tell you why you should use games to practice English. You can also use the tags to find other posts you might be interested in.]

ELゲーム連載へようこそ。このコラムはELで遊べるボードゲームやカードゲームを紹介します。本来のやり方通りにやってしまうと、遊ぶまでの時間が大変かかるかもしれないので、ある投稿では簡単な遊びの工夫が紹介されます。ほかの投稿ではなぜゲームで英語を勉強するのがよいかが説明されます。投稿のタグを使ってほかに興味ありそうなポストを見つけられます。)

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This game is all about being creative with English. The box is full of dice with strange pictures on each side. It’s your job to use the pictures to make words.

The basics: Roll all of the dice (or shake the box with them inside). Then, each player or team must write down all of the “words” or phrases that they see. For example, if you see a picture of “fire” and of a “dog,” you could write “hot dog.” Each word is worth a point.

For English Learners:

  • Don’t play with the timer. This game is hard enough for native speakers.
  • Think about the pictures like emoji. How do you use emoji when you text? That may help you be creative.
  • Before you start playing, look at the pictures and talk about what they are. Can the picture of an “x” mean “no” or “not” or “bad”? Can the picture of the ocean mean “sea,” and therefore also mean “see”? Can the “pencil and paper” mean “write,” “draw,” or “letter”? I think so. It can be interesting even just to talk about the different pictures.
  • After you roll the dice, look for a word or phrase. Instead of writing it down, put the dice together and show the group. If someone can guess the word, you both get a point.

Final Thoughts: Like “Password,” I think this is a better activity than a game. Don’t worry about points. Just try to make words and guess with your group.

EL Forum#2 Where You Learn is Where You Live 2026/5/15 Fri. 12:40-13:40

大学生活のスタートは、まず街を知ることから。弘前城、ねぷた、りんご“ではない”弘前の魅力を先輩とEnglish Lounge教員が英語で教えます。
Starting university life means getting to know your new city first. Hirosaki Castle, Nepeta Festival, apple are not the only attractions. Senior students and EL teachers will guide you to show their favorite hidden spots in this town.

 

【講師:齊藤 凜璃(人文社会科学部), English Lounge Teachers】

〇場所 English Lounge Seminar Room, English Lounge Team同時視聴, 後日視聴可

〇日程 5月15日(金)12:40―13:40 (30分の講演、30分の質疑応答)

EL本棚紹介(100) Diary of a Wimpy Kid, by Jeff Kinney

[Welcome to the EL Book Introductions series. These posts are all short (<180 words) introductions/reviews of books in the EL library. They focus on telling you what we think will be interesting for you, a college student and English learner, so use them to help you find the right book for you. You can also use the tags to find books about topics you might be interested in.]

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Were you a wimpy kid in middle school? Wimpy kids are not the strongest, smartest, or most popular…they are just “normal.” That is what makes Diary of a Wimpy Kid (グレッグのダメ日記) so interesting. Greg, the main character, is not a hero; he is a regular kid who makes mistakes, acts selfishly, and is also pretty funny. This book is actually really funny.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid looks like a handwritten diary (日記), including lots of funny pictures. It tells the story of Greg’s life in middle school. Because the narrator (Greg) is in middle school, and there are pictures, it is not very difficult to read. The book includes a lot of short stories about Greg’s family, best friend, and classmates. And, I repeat, it is actually quite funny. This is the British-English version of the book, but very little is changed from the original American English.

My two cents: I was surprised by how fun this book was. If you read carefully, you can also learn about some American culture from a middle-school student’s perspective. For example, I think you may be surprised by the part about Christmas.

EL Game Series (08): “Password”

[Welcome to the EL game series. These posts are all short introductions to games you can play in the EL. Because learning to play games in English can take a long time, some posts will explain how to play simple versions of games. Other posts tell you why you should use games to practice English. You can also use the tags to find other posts you might be interested in.]

ELゲーム連載へようこそ。このコラムはELで遊べるボードゲームやカードゲームを紹介します。本来のやり方通りにやってしまうと、遊ぶまでの時間が大変かかるかもしれないので、ある投稿では簡単な遊びの工夫が紹介されます。ほかの投稿ではなぜゲームで英語を勉強するのがよいかが説明されます。投稿のタグを使ってほかに興味ありそうなポストを見つけられます。)

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This is about as simple as a word game can get: I’m thinking of a word, and you have to guess it. That’s really almost all there is to it.

The basics: One person takes a word card and puts it in the “decoder” envelope (you will understand when you open the box). Choose one word on the card and set the score to 10. The person with the word gives a clue and their teammates guess. If they are wrong, the score goes down 1 point, and they get another clue.

For English Learners:

  • The clues in the original game are just one word. For English learners, it is much better to say a sentence. For example, not “Fruit,” but “It is a kind of fruit.” This will make the game easier, too.
  • Skip words that you think are too difficult for the group to guess.
  • You can play with two teams guessing two different words, or play as one group. If you play as a group with scoring, only one person can guess at a time. The person who guesses correctly and the person giving the clues both get the points.

Final Thoughts: I think this is good as an activity more than a game. Using the “decoder” envelope is also kind of fun, so give it a try!

Welcome to the English Lounge 2026

新入生の皆さん、お馴染みの皆さん ようこそEnglish Loungeへ
English Lounge は総合教育棟2階にある、自律学習施設です。
弘前大学の学生であれば、誰でも利用することができる場所です。
さまざまな学習機会が提供されていますので、まずはどんな施設か覗いてみてください!

 

Hello everyone,
We hope you’ve had a great start to the new semester. Hopefully, you’re settling in well, finding your rhythm, and making new friends along the way.
For those of you who’ve been with us for a while, we hope you had a relaxing break and came back feeling refreshed.
Next week we have the Opening Week. Drop by to see what the Lounge is, what changed, or just start again on your language learning journey. Furthermore, we want  to invite you to our Opening Event, April 17th:


EL本棚紹介(99) The Anthropocene Reviewed, by John Green

[Welcome to the EL Book Introductions series. These posts are all short (<180 words) introductions/reviews of books in the EL library. They focus on telling you what we think will be interesting for you, a college student and English learner, so use them to help you find the right book for you. You can also use the tags to find books about topics you might be interested in.]

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Don’t be scared by this book’s title. “Anthropocene” just means the “human-centered historical age.” In this book, John Green gives 5-star reviews to all kinds of things: soda and supermarkets, the internet and pandemics, his favorite songs and a hotdog restaurant in Iceland. The “reviews” are essays which think about history, relationships, his struggles with mental illness and other diseases, science, technology, and more. The fact that each review ends with a rating from 1-5 is clearly a joke.

John Green has several successful educational Youtube channels, does podcasts, runs a few charity organizations, and writes a lot. His novels like The Fault in Our Stars and Turtles All the Way Down were written for young adults, but have been widely appreciated by audiences around the world. He cares a lot about young people and he is very creative and very hopeful, despite it all—which makes it a joy to read his writing.

My two cents: This is not a book for you to read cover-to-cover. Each essay is short, and many contain small jokes or cultural information that may be a little hard to understand. I recommend choosing just one or two chapters to read slowly and enjoy. I think “Scratch ‘n’ Sniff Stickers,” “Diet Dr Pepper,” “Canada Geese,” and “Piggly Wiggly” are comparatively easy to read and enjoy.

Opening Times March 2026

Hello everyone,

We hope you are having a wonderful vacation and are still enjoying the snow.

The English Lounge will be open every Wednesday in March from 13:00 to 15:00. The opening hours may be extended depending on demand.

We offer book rental, academic advising, and conversation practice. If you are in Hirosaki and would like to use your English, please feel free to visit us.

Opening Dates

3/4
3/11
3/18
3/25

Opening Hours: 13:00–15:00