February 2023 archive

I will introduce my best friend who came from Italy. His name is Alessandro. I call him Ales. As I found out later, “Ales” means “wing” in Latin. As his name suggests, he is a cool and kind man. And I like his smile very much. However sadly, he is leaving Hirosaki in February. That is why I decided to try to write about him. One day, I asked Ales what bring him learning Japanese. He told me about his background. He originally studied biology at his university. But he found it difficult and went to US for three months to study English. And then, he worked as a waiter …

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Even as a non-native speaker, the English Language was always there, present for as long as I can remember. Not exactly there for me, yet not always a barrier. Sometimes, English was just… there, be it in the songs my mom listened to on the radio, or in the names of companies or stores, or even in the opening songs of my cartoons and children’s shows. So, when I started to pick up on the language, not only was I able to bridge the gap between me and the content I wanted to consume in English, but I also started to see lots of things –daily-life details, that I had …

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When learning English, you may come across pronunciations that are difficult for Japanese people. If our understanding of them is vague, we often face communication problems and gaps. Speaking of pronunciation problems, the biggest one is the difference in pronunciation between “l” and “r”. Distinguishing between these two sounds is a very difficult task for Japanese people who do not usually use their tongue to pronounce words. In Japanese junior high school English classes, we are often taught to pronounce “l” with the tip of the tongue touching the base of the front teeth and “r” with the tip of the tongue does not touch the mouth. It’s easy to …

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“Take it easy,” the bus driver briskly said to me, who had overslept until I found myself being at the last bus stop and was completely alone in the cold dark. He drove me home without any signs of reluctance, even though it was not his duty to do so. This memory is just a small part of my precious memories in New Zealand. My friends and I stayed there for two weeks to study English at AUT, enjoyed shopping after school and appreciated Māori cultures on a short trip to Rotorua. (See attached video to see how it looks.) Every time a sudden happening occurred, the “Kiwis”, the New …

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