2020/11/28(土)SMC
Hi everyone !
Here is the summary of the meeting held on Nov. 28. The weather was fine and clear with no wind and it was comfortable in the morning.
The meeting started with the Presidential Remarks, explaining that situations in which he feels nervous about speaking English ; 1）speaking to the high school students at his classes. 2）communication with assistant language teachers at his school 3）Speaking at SMC. For English speaking at SMC, he always aims for perfect English, which makes him very nervous, he said.
SM K. Narisawa and SM Kaneko served the Coordinator and the Lecturer respectively.
Lecturer
Blank filling questions focusing on the second sentence pattern were given.
.The snow lay deep on the mountain trails.
. Clouds are hanging low.
. The tool stood still[motionless], waiting.
. You need to act normal.
. The door banged[slammed]shut.
. The plaster will set hard.
. His eyes flashed open in surprise.
. I bent[crouched. stood] low to pick it up.
. Solar power ranks high on the research agenda.
. It worked out [turned out, proved]true.
. His skin feels smooth.
. The screw worked loose.
. I tried to wriggle free.
. He returned alive [intact]from the island.
. He gazed open-mouthed at the scene.
. Time hangs [weighs] heavy on me. 暇を余している
. She pledged guilty [innocent]. 罪を認めたか[認めなかった]
. He wound [ended] up broke. ついに一文無しになった
. His patience is wearing very thin. 彼も我慢の限界だ
Table Topic Speech
〝The popularity of junk food."（SM Takahata）
The speaker said she personally doesn't like junk food. However, she has a lot of memories associated with having meals with her family including her children during summer and winter vacations. She also talked about their tactic strategies such as giving gifts- cute dolls at restaurants along with eye-catching TV commercials. In connection with the topic, SM Yu. Narisawa expressed his love of junk food, saying "Junk food is my wife and my life !" SM Kaneko said that he hasn't been to McDonald's for a few years, but he loves snacks such as fried potatoes and rice crackers. In response to a question, the Coordinator said that the reason why the food is called "junk" is attributable to the fact that the food is unbalanced and generally lacking vitamins.
"A sense of humor is essential."（SM Yo. Narisawa）
The speaker usually enjoys humorous conversations with her husband, saying that with his good sense of humor she doesn't get tired of him. However, she said she feels a little bit lonely since these days the time spent on enjoying conversation with her husband has been getting less since he is more and more getting into YouTube. The Coordinator added some benefits of a sense of humor, saying humor works as a lubricant and it makes them closer to each other.
"Dogs are better than cats. "（SM Kaneko）
The speaker described that dogs are too friendly and cats look independent from humans. SM Yu. Narisawa added comments that definitely agrees with the statement but dogs have a disadvantage of being costly. The Coordinator added some vocabularies associated with dogs such as shaggyモジャモジャetc and dogs' characteristics of being persistent with humans.
"Talking to someone and talking with someone are two different activities."（SM Yu. Narisawa）
The speaker said the two activities have the same meaning.
"Plants have feelings"（SM Yamazaki）
The speaker said that he feels some empathy with the statement, saying that classical music can be used to better develop any grow plants. From this, he said that plants have feelings. The Coordinator added his comments, saying that he is dubious about the statement. SM Yo. Narisawa also added her comments, saying that she feels a little sympathy with the statement with the experiences of growing cyclamen.
Prepared Speech
"Getting used to the winter"（SM Takahata）
The speaker talked about her routine work that her family had during the winter in Hokkaido about 40 years ago. Of the hard work at that time, she stressed how her father worked hard for the preparation, making firewood for heating, making a coalhouse and cleaning chimney. The members enjoyed sharing the heart warming narration to their hearts' content.
〝My students" （SM Yo. Narisawa）
The speaker talked about the pleasure and trouble associated with English teaching at the elementary school she works for. She said that although she has some challenges around how to motivate her students, she emphasized her joy of teaching since she feels enthusiasm of learning English from her students. She also added some consideration to her students, saying that she changes speaking speed depending on their English levels for better understanding and teaching effect. In connection with the accuracy of word choice, the Coordinator raised a question of the accuracy between "see movies " and "watch movies". The speaker quoted her male assistant language teacher's comments from Canada saying that he would say "see the movie 100%". in response, there were some different opinions from the members, saying that with the original definition of the two words "watch movies" would be better.
"A few things I suffered"（SM Yu. Narisawa）
The speaker talked about a few bad experiences at his high school, email reception and trouble during his day train trip for Boso Peninsula. For an event he experienced at the school, he said that an assistant language teacher helped him save face with an idiom of "call it a day". Also he said he received some fraud emails attempting to deceive him for money. Also he added some trouble of inconvenience of no services of offering the access to shops outside the ticket gate ! He emphasized the pleasure of train travel with the use of the Seishun 18 ticket（railway ticket for 5 days on unlimited travel on non-Shinkansen JR train) at a very cheap cost.
"I'm out of the wood"（SM Yamazaki）
The speaker talked about his recent experience of having a skin disease seemingly caused by stress.
Next meeting
Dec.12
Oyama Community Center（Small room）
Coordinator: SM Takahata
Lecturer: SM Yamazaki
Dec.26
Oyama Community Center（Small room）