I visited Japan with my father last summer. I liked the people and the food.
But I didn’t like one thing. Sometimes, people looked at me and shouted, “Gaijin, Gaijin.”
I didn’t feel at home. Are we so different or strange?
3) 次に、アメリカ人中学生の日本人についての感想です
I lived in Japan for three years. I went to school by train. I noticed two interesting things.
People often slept on the trains. We usually don’t do that in the States.
People read comic books on the trains, too. It’s strange.
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4) 家族旅行の話:
I visited Ehime with my family during the spring vacation.
We rode the Botchan Train and went to Matsuyama Castle.
We also enjoyed the hot springs in Dogo. Thank you.
5) 風呂敷の話:
It is square. It is a Japanese traditional cloth. You can wrap things with it.
You can carry things in it, too. What is it? It is a furoshiki.
A furoshiki is useful for shopping. You can use it as a shopping bag.
You can use it many times, so you don’t need new plastic bags.
Also, you can fold it into a small square and carry it everywhere.
You can use a furoshiki in many ways. You can wrap many kinds of things with a furoshiki,
even watermelons or bottles. A big one can be a mat or a cushion cover. A small one can be a scarf or a handkerchief. A furoshiki is an all-purpose cloth.
6) 父ちゃんと魚釣り:
One day last summer, Tom and his father went fishing. When they came to a river, Tom's father showed him how to fish and said, "We mustn't talk. Fish can hear." They sat and fished without talking.
Tom caught only one fish, but he had a great time with his father.
7) ○海外青年協力隊の説明文 (高校生以上向け)
Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers is
a national project
launched in 1965
to help nation building in developing countries
by personal contacts.
Young volunteers are selected from among those who have knowledge and skills in particular vocational fields. They will live and work together with local people, and help them to acquire vocational skills to sustain themselves.
8) 実話:若いころ文盲だった方の話
I always had a dream. I wanted to be able to read. I never told anyone that I couldn’t read.
It was my secret. But I could do most things. My mind was as good as anyone’s.
9)○ウミガメの話
The number of sea turtles is decreasing.
Do you know why? Many people take sea turtles and their eggs every year.
Some people eat the eggs. Other people buy and sell sea turtles as food.
Sometimes, balloons and plastic bags kill sea turtles.
Balloons and bags fall into the sea, and then their color comes off. Sea turtles love jellyfish, so they eat the balloons and bags! Every year, hundreds of sea turtles die from balloons and bags. Help the world's sea turtles! Please hold on to your balloons and don't throw away plastic bags
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9) 鹿児島の友達からの手紙:
Dear Lisa,
Hi! I have been very busy since we moved here. Kagoshima is a good place to live. It’s nicer than I thought.
There are a lot of sightseeing spots, and I like Sakurajima the best. Have you ever seen a volcano? Sakurajima has three active volcanoes: Kita-dake, Naka-dake, and Minami-dake. I know you have never been to this city, So, if you come here, I will be happy to show you around
・リズムのある名文で、 ・常に、覚えておく様にしますと、 逆に英語で発信する場合に役に立つ表現が色々とあります 〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜 If I Had Three Days to See
I have often thought it would be a blessing if each human being were stricken blind and deaf for a few days at some time during his early adult life. Darkness would make him more appreciative of sight, silence would teach him the joys of sound.
Now and then I have tested my seeing friends to discover what they see. Recently I was visited by a very good friend, who had just returned from a long walk in the woods, and I asked her what she had observed. “Nothing in particular,” she replied. I might have been incredulous, had I not been accustomed to such responses, for long ago I became convinced that the seeing see little.
How was it possible, I asked myself, to walk for an hour through the woods and see nothing worthy of note? I, who cannot see, find hundreds of things to interest me through mere touch. I feel the delicate symmetry of a leaf. I pass my hands lovingly about the smooth skin of a silver birch, or the rough, shaggy bark of a pine. In spring I touch the branches of trees hopefully in search of a bud, the first sign of awakening Nature after the winter’s sleep.
I feel the delightful velvety texture of a flower, and discover its remarkable convolutions; and something of the miracle of the nature is revealed to me.
Occasionally, if I am very fortunate, I place my hands gently on a small tree and feel the happy quiver of a bird in full song. I am delighted to have the cool waters of a brook rush through my open fingers. To me a lush carpet of pine needles or spongy grass is more welcome than the most luxurious Persian rug. To me the pageant of season is a thrilling and unending drama, the action of which streams through my finger tips.
At time my heart cries out with longing to see all these things. If I can get so much pleasure from mere touch, how much more beauty must be revealed by sight. Yet, those who have eyes apparently see little.
The panorama of color and action which fills the world is taken for granted.
It is human, perhaps, to appreciate little that which we have and to long for that which we have not, but it is a great pity that, in the world of light, the gift of sight is used only as mere convenience rather than as a means of adding fullness to life.
If I were the president of a university, I should establish a compulsory course in how to use your eyes. The professor would try to show his pupils how they could add joy to their lives by really seeing what passes unnoticed before them. He would try to awake their dormant and sluggish faculties.