2024/2/10(土)SMC

Spring is just around the corner. We had a fruitfull meeting as always.

Word of the Day: SM Yoko Narisawa

[ shoulder ]

< noun >

1.one of the two parts of the body at each side of the neck where the arm is connected

Ex.) She tapped the driver on the shoulder.

2.the part of a piece of clothing that covers your shoulders

Ex.) She wears a jacket with padded shoulders.

3.the upper part of the front leg of an animal that is used for meat

Ex.) a shoulder of pork

4.if blame or a difficult job falls on someone’s shoulders, they have to take responsibility for it.

Ex.) Don’t place the blame to other shoulders.

5.an area of ground beside a road where drivers can stop their cars if they are having trouble

Ex.) soft shoulder : the edge of a road, when this edge is made of dirt

< transitive verb >

1.to accept a difficult or unpleasant responsibility

Ex.) The residents are being asked to shoulder the costs of the repairs.

2.to lift something onto your shoulder to carry it

Ex.) They shouldered the boat and took it down to the river.

3.to move through a large crowd of people by pushing with your shoulder

Ex.) He ran after her, shouldering his way through the crowd.

[ idioms and expressions with shoulder ]

Fill in the blank.

1.Ben is always there when I need a shoulder to ( cry ) on.

     = someone who gives you sympathy

2.We are working shoulder to ( shoulder ) with local residents.

 = having the same aims and wanting to achieve the same thing

3.You were looking ( over ) your shoulder waiting for the knock on the door. = felt worried that something unpleasant was going to happen to you

4.She was so upset that she gave him the ( cold ) shoulder for the whole weekend.  = intentionally ignored him

5.My boss has a ( chip ) on his shoulder and gets angry at the slightest criticism. = seems angry all the time because he thinks he has been treated unfairly

6.In intelligence he was ( head ) and shoulders above the others in his class.               = outstandingly superior to

7.She is eager to ( rub ) shoulders with rich and famous people.

            = meet and spend time with

8.Give it to me ( straight ) from the shoulder.

          = directly / frankly

Lecture: SM Kei Narisawa

The following sentence or sentences were taken from a love story book entitled ‘Peace’. Each of the sentence I read more than twice until I understood, because they were hard to understand. Try to describe the situation in which each of the sentence was spoken and its meaning.

1) I gave her a key that I had had made 3 days before. 

I have a key made (by someone). Turn it into a past perfect form→I had had a key made. Make a relative pronoun sentence with ‘a key’ an antecedent. So he was not a person who made the key and he had asked someone to make the key and gave it to her.

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2) There were several instances the past couple of times they were together that made her think he might feel the same way about her. If only she knew whether she was imagining the whole thing or not.

This is a sentence with relative pronoun in it with an antecedent being instances.

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3) Tuck was in the station, going over some paperwork, when Lance walked up to his desk and slapped his hand on the surface.

Is it that Lance slapped Tuck’s hand or he slapped his own hand on something?

What did Lance slap his hand on the surface of? The answers are that Lance slapped his own hand on the surface of the Tuck’s desk.

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4) ”Are you hungry?“Not yet, thank you.”Serenity put the milk away and brought out a carton of orange juice. “How about something to drink?”“Now that I won’t say no to.”

     The original sentence should be ‘Now I won’t say no to that. (inversion)

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5) At the store, Tuck waited as she filled out the paperwork. He was going to feel a lot more comfortable once she had a firearm at her apartment. The next step was to make sure she got some practice with it so that she was feeling confident about her abilities should she have to use it. A situation he truly hoped she was never faced with.

The underlined sentence is a sentence in subjunctive mood. And ‘should she have to use it’ part is an inversion.

Table Topic Speech

1 What is your favorite fictional story? (novel, movie, fairytale. etc.)

2 What do you think is worth waiting for?

3 What have you lost interest in recently?

4 What could society do without?

5 What job would you never do no matter how much it paid?

6 Where or who do you turn to when you need good advice?

Prepared Speech

1 Izu Peninsula – Geological Peculiarities: SM Noro

Did you know that the Izu Peninsula was not part of Japan in the past? Japan was attached to the eastern edge of the Eurasian continent during the Cretaceous Period, about 100 million years ago, when dinosaurs were still alive. But then, 25 million years ago, the subduction of the oceanic plate caused volcanic eruptions to intensify, and the continental margin began to break apart.

On the other hand, the history of Izu Peninsula can be traced back to about 20 million years ago based on geological evidence. Izu was located a few hundred kilometers south of Honshu. And at that time, Izu was a group of underwater volcanoes active at the bottom of the deep sea on the Philippine Sea plate. By the way, the Philippine Sea plate, on which Izu volcanoes is located, has been subducting toward the Eurasian plate, on which Honshu is located. As a result, the volcano group continued to move northward on the Philippine Plate over time. And about 1 million years ago, it collided with Honshu. The land masses filled the sea and formed the peninsula as we know it today.

Surprisingly, the Izu Peninsula is still pushing and sinking, hitting Honshu by three centimeters every year. In addition, the Pacific Plate, which caused the Great East Japan Earthquake in March 2011, is subducting under the Philippine Sea Plate, and provides the magma that is the source of the land that makes up the Izu Peninsula. It can be said that these double and triple geological peculiarities have formed the present Izu Peninsula with its many beautiful landscapes and hot springs. 

2 Diamond Princess: SM Ishimura

In May 2018, I volunteered as an English speaker on the Diamond Princess cruise ship when it visited Matsuyama port in Shikoku. Later that year, there was a well-known incident where the ship docked at Yokohama port due to numerous passengers contracted the Coronavirus.

During my time as a volunteer, I helped passengers and crew at Mitsuhama Station with purchasing transportation tickets and provided guidance for visiting tourist spots in Matsuyama City.

I assisted a couple from Israel in converting dollars to Japanese yen by taking them to a local bank near the station. They had to wait for about 30 minutes for the conversion, expressing a desire for quicker process. The ticket sales for the train to the city were done with cash, causing long queues when multiple customers arrived simultaneously. Simplifying ticket purchases by allowing more card usage (Cashless) could be an improvement, similar to practices in South Korea. I’m pleased to hear that many passengers expressed satisfaction with the well-organized preparations for their reception.

During this volunteer activity, I enjoyed conversing with people from around the world, including the United States, The United Kingdom, Australia, and various Asian countries.

This experience fueled my enthusiasm for studying English. Although I’ve never lived or studied abroad, I believe it’s possible to speak English fluently, even in Japan. I consider grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation as the three most important aspects of learning a foreign language, and I aim to practice them every day. Specifically, I strive to improve my pronunciation to sound as close to a native speaker as possible. I listen to BBC Radio five live daily as part of my enjoyable journey to fluency in English, which I plan to continue for the rest of my life.

3 Growing popularity of men’s cosmetics: SM Takahata

The speaker talked about the expansion of the market size of men's skincare products. She said a significant factior is the change in societal attitudes to male beauty. In the past, the typical male beaty was often associated with a rugged and sun-tanned appearance. Now, men with refined skin and androgynous beauty are popular. She really felt the changes of the times.

4 The spring will come: SM Eda

Meeting Schedule

In-person: 9:30 AM on Feb. 24 at Oyama Community Center (small room)

(Coordinator: SM Noro, Word of the Day: SM Yu. Narisawa, Lecturer: SM Eda)

Zoom: 7:30 PM on Feb. 12 and 19