2021/03/13(土)SMC

Hello everyone !

Let me report the minutes of the online meeting held on Mar 13.

For the opening remarks, the President talked about a get-together at his school in which Japanese teachers and an ALT attended. In the social event, there was not so much conversation with the ALT in English, which made him feel a little awkward, he said.

He put emphasis on the importance of enjoying different kinds of English. He used some useful words and phrases such as “greasy spoon”, “encroaching on one’s time” and “see you around”.

SM Yamazaki and SM Yo. Narisawa served as the Coordinator and Lecturer respectively.

Lecturer

1. A change in management seems to be in the ( ).= seem likely to happen

2. An old friend came to see me out of the ( ). = unexpectedly

3. He bought the house for a ( ). = very cheaply

4. The painkillers ( ed ) in and he became sleepy. = to start to have an effect

5. The effects of the drug were ( ing ) off. = to stop gradually

6. He is an Englishman to the ( ). = extremely, completely

7. Before anyone could say a word, he turned on his ( ) and walked out of the room.= to suddenly turn away from someone, especially in an angry way

8. They had to use part of their retirement nest ( ) to pay their son’s college fees. = money they saved for the future

9. Your efforts will be rewarded in the long ( ). = eventually, in the end

10 She was covered with dust from head to ( ). = the whole body

11 It rained for days on ( ). = for many days without stopping

12 Your question is ( ) the point. = off the mark, irrelevant

13 We were ( ) of majority. = to have less than a particular amount of something

14 The beauty of the scenery on the island was ( ) description.= to be too good to be described easily

15 At first I thought I liked the plan, but on ( ) thought, I decided to oppose it.= to say that I have changed my mind about something, to think twice

16 ( ) of now, the world’s population is over 7 billion.= right now, at present

17 Your opinions are ( ) to mine. = very similar

18 I have two meetings back to ( ) today. =successively

< Answer>

1. cards 2. blue 3. song 4. kick 5. Wear 6. core 7. heel 8. egg 9. run 10. toe / foot / heel 11. end 12. beside 13. shy 14. beyond 15. second

16. As 17. akin 18. Back

Table Topic Speech

“What word best describes the way you’ve spent the last month of your life?” (SM Kaneko)

The speaker said what came on his mind was just being very cold as last month is the coldest of year. And then he talked about his English study activities with people other than SMC. In response to a question, he elaborated on some differences in the contents of English study activities, pointing to the fact communications are entirely made in English for SMC.

“If happiness was the national currency, what kind of work would make you rich?” (SM Koizumi)

At the beginning of the speech, the speaker was trying to figure out the meaning of “national currency” in this context, and then he began to talk about a job of dealing with stock market. (stock dealers) SM Noro took up a profession of a comedian that would make people happy as well as becoming rich. SM Yamazaki quoted Butane Gross National Happiness (GNH) indicating that the country formulates policies based on the indicator.

“What would you regret not fully doing, being or having in your life?” (SM. K. Narisawa)

The speaker said that overall he is satisfied with his life, saying that he is blessed with a good wife and has enough money to lead a comfortable life. However, he said hopefully he wants to have more opportunities to enjoy conversations with people in English including non-native speakers.

In connection with chances of speaking English, the attendees discussed increasing the number of SMC meeting times.

“What is the most valuable life lesson you learned from your parents?” (SM Yo. Narisawa)

The speaker talked about recollections about her father in particular, saying that he bought her some books about adventure stories instead of something like romantic stories that most girls would like. So she rejected those gifts, asking for replacement. Her father accepted such request with no words of complaint. From those experiences, the speaker feels deep love from her father, she said. In the past, the speaker happened to work on the same speech title.

“What can you do today that you were not capable of a year ago?” (SM Noro)

The speaker talked about online meetings that are being held at his company. He said that a Zoom meeting was new for him until last year. With the outbreak of the pandemic, he has undergone a lot of new business styles, he said. Nowadays, he needs to visit the office once a week to do some tasks including giving approval by sealing a stamp as a manager. In response to a question, he usually strictly concentrates on his work with no interruption including background music, he insisted !

Next meeting

3/ 27 (sat.) Oyama Community Center (Small room)

Coordinator: SM Yo. Narisawa, Lecturer: SM Yamazaki

The venue is expected to be used with lifting the state of emergency declaration after March 21.

However, please check the notice on the SMC website since the declaration might be extended. Some kinds of variant that are thought to be more infectious and dangerous are spread in the community. So please do not let our guard down !

Reported by YAMAZAKI