英会話プライベートレッスン

Hello there everyone! Anand here as always. Golden Week is around the corner and I hope you have all made plans well in advance. ?I can never seem to get into the hotels that I want. Anyway, for once this blog isn’t about running! No, actually this week I have some pretty exciting news. I helped write a book! One of the parents at our international school is a science writer who has written several books on various topics and is also on television, hosting a television program called Science Zero. He decided to write about learning English, and how we can emulate children in order to pick up the language quicker. Since I work in an international preschool, he asked me to come up with phrases to help with his research. In addition, I helped apply the phrases we use in preschool to the “real” world. He also asked me to help record a CD to be included with the book. It was an interesting experience to say the least, and certainly one I wasn’t expecting in my time in Japan. And, to be honest, I didn’t know that he would take my suggestions so seriously, so some of the phrases I included as a sort of joke. The book should be pretty widely available, so if you ever see it in book stores, pick it up and tell me what you think.

Until next time,

Anand

Hello everyone, Anand here with the Awesome English update! And of course, as always, this is going to be yet another blog about running. This week, like almost every week, I participated in a half marathon. And like every run, I went into it without really having read the information as to where the run was, what kind of run it was and so on and so forth. However, I kind of like running that way. It means that there is always some kind of surprise waiting for me (for instance, one of my runs was me and 3 people running behind an old guy on a bicycle. Another was me hiking up 6 mountains, etc.). This week definitely held some surprises for me. The odd thing about this race was that when I got the package I also received a security clearance form from the US Government, which is pretty unusual to say the least. My friends (who were running with me and knew even less about the race than I did) thought they were in trouble with the government! However, everything made sense when we got to the race site. It turns out that the race was being held on a US Army base in Sagamihara. It was definitely an interesting feeling running among a bunch of bunkers and military equipment – not exactly the same as running through cherry blossoms or along a river that wraps around a mountain. But it was fun anyway. From a pure running standpoint it was a pretty simple race – run five laps through the base amounting to 21 kilometres. I am always struck by some of the things I see and hear and smell at a race. I can remember hundreds of tiny beeps as people set their watches before the race. I can remember that sharp menthol smell of freezing spray as I changed. I can remember absurd lines as people lined up by the food trucks outside of the race. Running is basically the same wherever you go, but there are always little things that make it both interesting and worth doing.

Until next time,

Anand

Hello everyone, I hope you guys had a great weekend. ?I had, yes, another run on the weekend, but this one was pretty special. ?This one was the longest run I have ever run at 50 kilometers. ?The location was around Hakone. ?And by around Hakone I mean I ran in a circle around the city of Hakone, much to my surprise. ?See, I have always kinda liked to go into runs without really reading what kind of race I am doing because it forces me to try new things. ?But this was was crazy even for me. ?It turns out that the run itself was for experienced hikers and runners and that we would have to run up 6 mountains during the course. ?So naturally when I showed up in my t-shirt and shorts with a bottle of water I seemed out of place. ?But thankfully after making it through the 30 kilometers of trail I had enough strength to run the last 20km of road. ?I will say that Hakone is a beautiful city and I was lucky to get some absolutely beautiful weather to run in. ?10 hours later I managed to stumble back to the starting point as tired as ever, having gotten lost several times and having to ask directions. ?However, I somehow found my way back to the course every time and live to write another day. ?I have a 60 km run coming up soon, so wish me luck!

Hello everyone! ?I hope you all got your cherry blossom viewing in, because I think the majority of the blossoms will be gone by the time next weekend rolls around. ?I didn’t get to do the official “get drunk under a tree” type of hanami, but I did get to enjoy running under a bunch of blossoms in Kohoku. ?After my run (and thankfully before the rain), I made my way to the akarenga to check out the African Festival. ?An African themed store next to our shop has been advertising it for about a month now, so I felt obligated to check it out. ?I am very glad I did. ?Not only is African culture very interesting, I find African people to be very friendly and alive. ?I also happen to love African food, which is almost always healthy and delicious. ?I bought a couple of different dishes (and quite a few African beers) and sat down in the main hall. ?Before I knew it I was surrounded by a series of large men from the Cote d’Ivoire (aka コートジボワール). ?But to my delight they were all really friendly. ?What was even better was that I had a chance to try out my French with them! ?I have been studying French for a few months now, but I have never had a good reason to use it. ?In the Cote d’Ivoire their official language is French, meaning they were more than willing to talk to me. ?And what was even nicer is that they helped me with my sentences and they also taught me a lot about their country.

It’s amazing, because after 6 (almost 7!) years in Japan I have kind of lost that sense of cluelessness that comes with being in a new country with a new language and a new way of life. ?But this was a ?great reminder of how language ties new people together and build bridges across different cultures.

Although we can’t discount the effect of the beer!