2021/05/22(土)SMC

Hello, everyone!

Here are the minutes of the SMC in-person meeting on May 22. Under the circumstances of COVID-19 pandemic, we had a valuable opportunity to have face-to-face exchanges.

SM. Noro and SM. K. Narisawa served as the Coordinator and the Lecturer respectively.

Before starting the meeting, the Coordinator introduced the news of the death of Tamura Masakazu, a famous actor, that interested him. Then, we gave our impressions of his main work, Furuhata Ninzaburou, in which he acted as a unique detector.

Lecture

The Lecturer presented us with several idioms. The job is to explain the meetings of the idioms if we know, and if we don’t, make a guess and discuss the meaning of the idioms we don’t know. The idioms presented are as follows. (Important idioms are indicated by boldface.)

1. Hell broke loose.

2. I was put out to pasture.

3. I was thrown to the lions.

4. Let’s set the world on fire.

5. Bad guys prey upon uncredulous old people.

6. You can take a walk if you’d rather.

7. The plan is still up in the air.

8. She went off at (on) me.

9. He rained my parade.

10. I set the tone for (of) the meeting.

11. Nothing could be further from the truth.

12. I know the city like the back of my hand.

13. The rest is fall into place.

14. For what it is worth, let me say this.

15. His effort put me to shame.

16. It is very close to the station as the crow flies.

17. I’ll visit your home when pigs fly.

18. Sorry. I’m in the middle of something.

19. Your guess is as good as mine.

20. I’ll get back to him for what he died to me.

Table Topic Speech

1. <Which activities make you lose track of time?> (SM. Takahata)

Practicing the piano is like my dream comes true, the speaker said. She tends to forget about time when playing the piano. She was funny when she said no neighbors are complaining about her practice because her piano is electrical, and she can turn down the volume.

2. <Who in your family does the wackiest things?> (SM. K. Narisawa)

The speaker took up two episodes in which his brother did wacky things. No.1: once he tried to go into hibernation, and No.2: he gave a big hug to his brother who had contracted measles, because he also wanted to stay away from school.

3. <What are you most grateful for?> (SM. Kaneko)

The speaker talked about his mother. He said that his mother didn’t do anything special, but he was really thankful for all his mother had done for him. And he talked about the leaders of the clubs to which he belongs. He expressed his appreciation for them because they give the club members instructions and show in what direction to go.

4. <Do pets make people happy?> (SM. Y. Narisawa)

The speaker talked about the pet dog her sister has. Her daughter can’t take her for a trip, so naturally the dog has to stay with her. Every time when the dog stays at her home, she always feels relaxed and really happy.

5. <What do you love to practice?> (SM. Kitamura)

The speaker was once praised by her teacher that she respected for her English pronunciation. It motivated her to further practice English pronunciation. Although hard to believe now, she was a glutton when she was a student. She surprised us how large amount of food she could eat at one time.

Prepared Speech

1. <Positive and negative aspects of “solitary”> (SM. Kaneko)

The speaker talked about the positive and negative aspects of a word “solitary.”

Negative 　　　　Neutral 　　　　Positive

　lonely 　　　　　solitary 　　　　　free

　isolated　　　　　alone 　　　　　independent

　desolated 　　　by oneself　　　　 individual

　forlorn(= poetic word) 　　　　　　original

SM. Takahata made a nice comment on “being alone.” She said she enjoys being alone when she is in good health, on the other hand, she feels cut off and lonely when she is sick in bed. She really feels that things have both positive and negative sides.

2. <What a nice surprise!> (SM. Y. Narisawa)

The speaker talked about the present her friend was given, a car. She got it for a birthday present from her husband. She also talked about heartfelt presents she got when she said “Goodbye” to her students. Last of all, she talked about getting points of a coin laundry as a present. Since she doesn’t have a smartphone, she didn’t get the loyalty points. However, she was a regular customer, so the shop clerk negotiated with the shop owner to give loyalty points to their customers who don’t have smartphones like her.

3. <Popular city to live in> (SM. Takahata)

The speaker introduced that Atsugi was selected as the most popular city to live in in the Tokyo metropolitan area in the survey conducted for the people who were looking for rented accommodation. She listed some attracting points of Atsugi. She also talked about complaints about living in Atsugi, heavy traffic congestion and poor attractive commercial facility. The city government is planning to redevelop the Hon-Atsugi station area, so she said she hopes Atsugi will be more comfortable to live in.

4. <Meaning of working at a cram school> (SM. Kitamuta)

The speaker worked and still works at a cram school, teaching English and Japanese. She didn’t like kids and felt unsure about teaching. Though, last year, she was in charge of a third-year high- school student who didn’t know anything about Japanese grammar. The more she taught, the better score the student got. Finally the student’s deviation value increased by almost 30 points. She was appreciated by the student and she found joy in teaching.

Nest meeting

May 29 Zoom meeting 9:30 to 11:30

June 12 In-person meeting

Seishin Community Center 9:30 to 12:00

Coordinator: SM. Yamazaki

Lecturer: SM. Y. Narisawa