2022/11/12(土)SMC
Hello everyone! In the President's remark, he intorduced an interesting word; Nowadays, new words are popping up every day. Especially young people like to use such words. One of them is 'taipa'. Can you guess what it means? It may be easier to guess the meaning, inferring from the word 'cospa' or cost performance. The answer is 'time performance'. I don't know if it is just another Japanese coinage or not. But still judging from the way of abbreviating words, it has to be a Japanese coinage, which means something is effective in terms of the time it takes. Now I know what I'm always doing proved to be 'time per'. Whenever I watch U-tube, I watch them at 1.2 to 2.0 times faster than the standard. In so doing, I can save some time at the same time it is reported that we can concentrate better.
Word of the day: SM Kei Narisawa
'along'
He took up the word 'along'. There are several meanings for the word, so here just a couple of them are listed.
A) from one part of a road, river, etc. to another
B) taking someone or something with someone else
Other than this, he gave some explanation to the idiom or phrasal verbs he chose like 'play along' or 'all along'.
Lecture: SM Takahata
She introduced a practice excersise using English translation of Tensei-jingo in Asahi Shinbun.
1. Hiroe Ohashi, 51, who was born deaf, is a dancer, actress and theater producer. (1) There are far more things [good at / that / she is / than / she struggles / that / to do / those]. “It is interesting to be different from others,” she said cheerfully, but she can hardly hear her own voice ( 2 ) she says the words. I was surprised to discover that she learned to speak words, one by one, through extremely intense training in her childhood.
2. Visitors to “Taiwano Mori” (Dialogue Diversity Museum) in Tokyo’s Takeshiba district can enjoy, until Aug. 10, a hands-on role-playing game Ohashi produced, dubbed (3) “Chizu wo Motanai Watashi” (I, who don’t have a map). It allows players to experience simulated space travel with members of minority groups, such as the hearing-impaired, the visually impaired, a wheelchair user and sexual minorities. Anybody can play the game by making a reservation and paying the fee. I tried it, myself.
3. I am not allowed to describe it in detail, but it is a 90-minute game in which a group of participants who meet each other for the first time engage in activities such as moving their bodies, drawing and solving problems while talking to each other. The only rule is that no participants should be left feeling they have been left behind. I’m not certain ( 4 ) I did well or not, but it doesn’t matter, according to Ohashi. “There is no answer in the first place. (5) I only hope the game gives people the incentive to wonder whether we take it for granted that people are similar to each other,” she said.
4. July 23 marked the first anniversary of the opening of the Tokyo Olympics, ( 6 ) was held under the slogan of “diversity and harmony”.” Have our mindsets changed in anyway? Has Japanese society, ( 7 ) one in every three members is either an elderly or disable person, become a little better place to live in? We need to stop and think about such questions concerning the aftermath of (8) the sporting extravaganza.
[Q.1] 下線部(1)が「苦手なことよりも得意なことの方がはるかに多い」という趣旨の英文になるように、[ ]内の語を並べ替えなさい。
[Q.2] 空所(2), (4), (6), (7)に入れるのに最も適するものを以下の語群から選びなさい。ただし、用いられない語が一つ含まれている。
which / when / whether / that / where
[Q.3] 下線部(3)はどのようなゲームですか？設定や決まり事が分かるように80字程度の日本語で説明しなさい。
(The rest is omitted.)
Table Topic Speech
1) What recent memory makes you smile the most?
2) If you had to be someone else for one day, who would you be and why?
3) What I've learned from cartoon?
4) How would you describe "freedom" in your own word?
5) What did you learn recently that changed the way you live?
Prepared Speech
1) Halloween Crowd Crush: SM Noro
On the night of 29 October, a crowd crush occurred during Halloween festivities in the Itaewon neighborhood of Seoul. At least 156 people were accidentally killed and 196 others were injured.
But, it is hard for us to believe that as many as 156 people died in a short time in Seoul. Why couldn’t Korean people have stopped the death toll before it escalated?
The area is characterized by very narrow streets and alleys without escape routes. The street in which the crush happened is only about 45 meters long and 3.2 meters wide. An important part of street security is to make sure that one-way rules are followed, but it seems that no such security plan was prepared in Itaewon.
He supposes there are little neighborhood associations in Korea that worry about accidents or criminals at major events. Because the local police should be guarding the area on the request of the neighborhood association. On the other hand, as you can see from the Halloween event in Shibuya, we had people who cared for the risks and who responded to that concern in Japan.
2) The Japan Three-Days March: SM Kakisu
Last weekend he participated in The Japan Three-Day March which was held in Higashimatsuyama-city, Saitama prefecture. This walking event is the biggest in Japan and second in the world after Nijmegen-city, Netherland. The walking event is not competition but just enjoy walking in the nature.The participants gathered from all over Japan and many from foreign countries mainly Europe.
Number of participants was more than 100,000 total so far but this year was half due to Covid-19.
There are different four distance courses 5 Km,10,20,30,40, and 50 Km, they choose the course with thier own walking abilities. Every day they enjoy different course in the HIKI Hilly(比企丘陵) along the river, in the woods, and on the path of rice fields.
He didn’t brought nobody along because he wanted walk with his own pace.
While he was walking, he enjoyed conversations with many participants especially foreigners.
This was his first participation in seven years because he was in Pakistan four years and this event was suspended last two years due to pandemic. To tell the truth, he was thinking that this year would be the last chance to participate due to his age. He said he was not so old but far from young.
But he could enjoy the long distance walking same as before, so he changed in his mind.
If his health condition is good, he will participate in next year again and until die.
The records of his walking were 150 Km distance walk, 210,000 steps, and 24 hours walking time.
3) MODERN ART PHOBIA: SM Yoshikawa
Before starting, please take a quick look at these works?
Pumpkin ; KUSAMA, Yayoi
Flower・Kaikaikiki ; MURAKAMI, Takashi
A Thousand Years ; Damien Hurst
Fountain ; Marcel Duchamp
Do you like modern art? Me? No way! I have never ever felt I can appreciate it.
These works are provocative and challenge me. They question me and require interpretation. It seems as if they were saying, “Interpret me if you can.” What matters here is my sense of beauty, sense of value and my awareness on life and society, all of which I am less confident of. In short, my philosophy is tested.
Even if I successfully have some idea on it, all interpretation can be equally accepted but there is no correct answer. This makes me uncomfortable. Why?
The answer is simple. In 1970’s post-war reconstruction of Japanese economy completed. Until then, Japanese people worked obsessively to live and could not afford to enjoy art. Instead of art, we enjoyed quick, easy, cheap, and approachable subculture. When I was a kid, my parents and teachers repeatedly warned me not to watch a lot of TV shows, not to read comics only, saying that kids would fail to develop their ability to think, because they explain everything in a simple way. They answer every single question you ask. Just follow, and you will understand everything. You don’t have to think. There is no room for interpretation. I have grown up in that environment and I have been conditioned to be passive when appreciating something.
I have good reasons to be allergic to modern art. Personally, I prefer romantic pictures of Rosetti. How about you? What do you think in front of a signed urinal of Marcel Duchamp?
4) A rookie grandmother: SM Yoko Narisawa
Her grandchild was born last year. She's just started to feel hse is a grandmother. She met her son's family last month. It took a little time for her grandson to become attached to her. When hse tried to pick
him up, he struggled to get free from her. Once he was picked up in her son's arms, he seemed to be relieved to see that he was safe. He ate almost all of food she cooked for him. She thought it was a sign
that he had been growing up healthfully. He was full of energy. He move freely as he liked. But strangely enough, while eating, he was able to sit still in the chair. It amazed her how well-behaved he was. She is looking forward to seeing her grandson next.
Meeting Schedule
In-person: 9:30 AM on Nov. 26 at Oyama Community Center
(Coordinator: SM Eda, Word of the day: SM Yoko Narisawa, Lecturer: SM Kei Narisawa)
Zoom: 7:30 PM on Nov. 14, 21 and 28
