2023/12/9(土)SMC

President's remark: SM Kei Narisawa

We talked a little bit about ’Note’.

Word of the Day: SM Yu. Narisawa

"PLUS"

<noun>

Knowledge of English is a plus in your job.

You wrote a plus instead of a minus.

There were a lot of unexpected pluses in the drama.

<preposotion>

Two plus five is seven.

The cost is \20 plus \434 for postage.

We have to fit five of us plus all our gear in the car.

Membership is 350 dollars per year plus tax.

The margin of error was plus or minus three percent.

<ajective>

The work will cost \20,000 plus.

The temperature is plus five degrees.

The plus point of the hotel is that it is near the station.

On the plus side, the house is big.

The plus side of working at home is that you can be more flexible.

<conjunction>

I’ve got too much on at work. Plus my wife is not well.

<Let's play with English words>

Fill in the blank with an adjective you like based on your sense of English.

     The falling cost of renewables is a (             ) plus.

       Ex. The falling cost of renewables is a ( clear ) plus.

＜参考＞　考えられる形容詞（会合で出た形容詞を含む）

monetary,  financial,  environmental,  good,  bad,  unexpected,  quality,  quantity,  little,  big,  small,  significant,  welcome,  positive,  considerable,  beneficial,  advantageous,  favorable,  valuable,  helpful,  advantageous など何でもOKです

Lecture: SM Kei Narisawa

The lecturer provided several sets of three sentences with a blank. They are not just sentences but ordinary sentences as well. So, whether you can solve the following quizzes depends on how used to you are English. Give it a whirl.

1)**

"Taking precautionary (measure)s, she locked the doors and windows before leaving for vacation."

"His patience was wearing thin, so he decided to take drastic (measure)s to resolve the issue."

"In order to succeed, it's essential to take strategic (measure)s and adapt to changing circumstances."

2)*

"She's always willing to lend a (hand) whenever her friends need help with their projects."

"He won the game thanks to his quick thinking and having the upper (hand) in negotiations."

"By working (hand) in (hand), the team completed the project ahead of schedule."

3)*

"After a long day at work, she loves to relax by lying on her (back) and reading a good book."

"He promised to have her (back) no matter the circumstances, showing unwavering loyalty."

"The company decided to bring (back) the old logo after receiving overwhelming feedback from customers."

*************************Today I just took 3 questions out of 12 for the lack of space************************

Table Topic Speech

1)When you look into the past, what do you miss the most?

2)What's your favorite true story that you enjoy sharing with others?

3)What do you do to relieve stress?

4)What are your favorite simple pleasures?

5)What are you looking forward to in the upcoming week?

6)What is the most spontaneous thing you've ever done?

Prepared Speech

1 Fortune: SM Noro

人間万事塞翁が馬(塞翁失馬)

There are so many people whose lives have been turned upside down after winning the lottery. Maybe we should think about whether winning the lottery should be good luck. Here I would like to talk about the famous saying.

Do you know the story behind this proverb?

Once upon a time in China, there was a wise old man. He lived in a fortress. And he was a fortune teller. One day, his horse ran away. All the villagers tried to console him for his loss. But he didn't care. "This will turn into something good," he repeated confidently. A short time later, the horse returned with another horse that was younger, faster, and stronger.

The villagers all congratulated him on his good fortune in getting a free second horse. But he felt the opposite. "This will turn into something bad. Nevertheless, he let his son ride the new stallion. One day his son was thrown from the horse and broke his leg. The villagers returned to console the old man for his son's injury. Again, he reassures them, "This will turn into something good. A short time later, war broke out with a neighboring country and all the young men were sent to the battlefield. Almost everyone was killed. But his son did not have to go to war because of his injury.

From this story, we can say, that good things and bad things, no one knows what will come from them.

How would you translate this proverb into English? I will give you some candidates for English translations, and you can consider which one is appropriate.

1.      Inscrutable are the ways of heaven. (天の道は不可解)

2.      Fortune is unpredictable and changeable. (運命は予測不可能で変わりやすい)

3.      Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're going to get. (Forrest Gump)

4.      Whatever will be, will be. (Spanish - que será, será)　（人生なるようになるさ）

5.      Every cloud has a silver lining. （どんな雲にも光の部分はある）

6.      Joy and sorrow are today and tomorrow.　（今日のよろこびは明日の悲しみ）

7.      A joyful evening may follow a sorrowful morning.（悲しみの朝に喜びの夕べが続く）

8.      People should not be easily pleased or grieved.（人は安易に喜び、悲しむべきでない）

2 Time-Noodles: SM Ishimura

(時そば)

It was a cold winter evening, and the cries of a soba noodle vendor could be heard.

"Hey, Mr. Noodle-man, what can you offer me?" said a customer as he stopped by.

The customer began to make all kinds of compliments. First, he said how much he liked the vendor's sign that showed an arrow hitting the bull's-eye. Then he spoke about how comfortable the wooden chopsticks were to hold and how attractive the bowl was. And finally he praised the thin and sturdy buckwheat noodles and the thick slices of kamaboko fish cake.

"Delicious!"

He interrupted his stream of compliments to ask the soba vendor,

"How much is it?"

"Sixteen mon, please."

"Sixteen? OK, well, I have small change, so hold out your hand so there'll be no mistake."

"OK, sure.""Are you ready? All right, 1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...what time is it now?"

"It's 9:00, sir."

"10...11...12...13...14...15...16. I'll leave it here."

So saying, he cheated the vendor of one mon and left.Now, a simple man was watching from the roadside. After counting on his fingers several times, he finally figured out how the trick worked. He decided to try it himself. So the next day he collected small change and went to the soba shop. He attempted to praise the soba, but it tasted terrible and the bowl was unclean, so he had nothing to offer compliments about.

"How much is it?"

"Sixteen mon, please."

"He-he-he, sixteen mon? All right. I only have small change, so put your hand out."

"OK."

"Let's see, 1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...what time is it now?"

"It's 4:00, sir."

"5...6...7...8..."

3 Local dialect: SM Yoko Narisawa

 I’m from Ibaraki Prefecture. In my child hood, I would often speak in Ibaraki dialect. However, I can understand Ibaraki dialect but can’t speak it at all now.

 The other day, I talked with my friend who is from Yamagata Prefecture. It has been half a century since she left and even now she could speak Yamagata dialect perfectly. I realized that she was proud of Yamagata dialect.

 People in Ibaraki don’t pronounce homophone differently. For example, 橋( bridge ) and　箸 (chopsticks ),　雨 ( rain ) and　飴 ( candy ). I can’t distinguish those words. I can’t always speak standard Japanese correctly.

 On the other hand, my husband wants to use Ibaraki dialect. But he doesn’t know it at all. He thinks adding a ぺ at the end of the sentence magically transforms him into an Ibaraki native. And here is one interesting story about my husband. 

 A long time ago, a friend from Ibaraki called my place and my husband answered the phone. 

She greeted my husband by saying おばんですwhich means good evening. He didn’t know the meaning, so he replied by saying おじんですI nearly fell off my chair laughing.

 There are a lot of local dialects in Japan. They sometimes spice up our conversations. I think people who speak a local dialect are bilinguals. I’m ready to dust off my Ibaraki dialect now and then. 

4 Mottainai Spirit: SM Eda

Meeting Schedule

In-person: 9:30 AM on Dec. 23 at Oyama Community Center (tea room)

(Coordinator: Sm Eda, Presenter of Word of the Day: SM Kei Narisawa, Lecturer: SM Yoko Narisawa)

Zoom: 7:30 PM on Dec. 11 and 25