For the month of October, I will be talking about different aspects of Halloween each week.  So, for the first week.  I want to talk about fear. There are a few main words we use to talk about fear, but their uses are a little different, so be careful. The most basic is "afraid". I'm afraid of snakes.   What are you afraid of? Are you afraid of English? Next is "fear". I have a fear of heights.   I have a fear of small spaces.   and finally, "scared, scary". I am scared of the dark.   I am not scared by your tactics. I'm sorry, did I scare you? I don't scare easily. or as an adjective, Trump is soooo scary!   That's really a scary house.   I love a good scary movie. I personally love scary stories, movies, etc.   I love Halloween, how can I not, it's my wedding anniversary. Here is a picture of my new Halloween decoration idea.  What do you think? Next week, phobias, rational or irrational fear.

Yesterday was such a cool and beautiful day, I decided to take my grandson for his first visit to Omoriyama Zoo. We had a really good time, but he went to sleep about halfway through. Anyway, I was thinking about the differences in talking about animals in English and Japanese, so today I'm going to give you a few animal quizzes.  Good luck! First quiz;  In Japanese, almost all baby animals are called ”子”.  子犬、子猫、子豚 etc.  In English, most of the babies have a unique name.  Some are easy, and some are really hard to guess.  Can you match the animals with their babies? The answers are at the bottom of this page.   Second quiz, groups of animals.  In Japanese groups of animals are usually called 群れ.  (牛の群れ）．In English, we have different names for different animals.  Can you match the animals to their groups?  The answers are at the bottom.

1. cows                         a.   gaggle

2. lions                          b.  school

3. dogs                          c.  tower

4. whales                     d.  herd

5. monkeys                e.  pride

6. snakes                     f.  hive

7. fish                            g.   troop

8. geese                       h.  nest

9. giraffes                   i.  pod

10. bees                         j.  pack

A group of people.

I'm back!  I hope you had a wonderful summer.  I'm enjoying the cool nights we've had the last few days.  My favorite season is finally starting. I finished my snow fence for my azalea bushes.  It came out okay I think.  I'll have to wait for snow to see if it really works like I want it too. So. I've been thinking about fences this week.  Do you have a fence around your house?  This is my fence. There are many interesting English phrases about fences: I'm still on the fence about President Trump. (I haven't decided about him).まだ判断しかねている。 It's never too late to mend your fences. (you can always apologize or fix bad relationships)いつでも謝罪出来る。 Good fences make good neighbors. (privacy is important for neighbors)適度な距離感は良い関係を作る。 I feel fenced in. (I can't escape from this situation in my life)四面楚歌 I feel fenced out. (I feel excluded from the group)仲間外れにされている。 Sit on the fence. (Don't take a position one way or another, like Switzerland).中立 Straddle the fence. (agree with both sides of an issue).どっちつかず。    

I don't really like summer, but I love summer vacation!  Do you have a summer vacation?  I have a "half" summer vacation.  I'm free most mornings, but work in the afternoon and evening. When I'm teaching at schools here, I like to compare summer vacation in Japan and America.  Japan has vacation for about one month in July and August.  but many schools in the USA have nearly 3 months of summer vacation. for example my old school, Mapleton Elementary finished school on May 26th, and will begin on August 22nd. Another big difference is homework.  While Japanese students have a big load of homework and projects to finish, American students usually don't have any.  Summer vacation comes at the end of the school year, so students are between grades. At this point most Japanese students say ”いいなー” But then I continue to tell them about all the work that kids often do in America.  As a child I was busy every vacation, picking cherries, mowing lawns, weeding gardens, etc.  It was a very good eduction in economics, and taught me a lot about how to handle money. As an adult, I always have a list of things I need to get finished during my summer vacation, and this year is no different.  I've been working on painting and rebuilding a snow fence, I have to do some brick and mortar work in my yard, and the list goes on and on. I did have time to enjoy myself a little.  Friday night, I took my grandson to his first Kanto Festival. Then Saturday, I went to Oga.  It was beautiful as usual. I hope you're enjoying your vacation.  By the way, this "Mark's Phrase will be on summer vacation also.  See you in September.

I hope your houses were all okay yesterday.  I took a walk around the area to see the damage.  Here are a few photos from my neighborhood. Thankfully, the water didn't reach to my house, but I feel so sorry for the families that were effected.

  Are you feeling a little tired and drowsy in this terrible summer heat?  Me too!  I decided to try a few English tongue twisters (早口言葉）, to wake up your mind and your mouth.  When I first learned Japanese tongue twisters, they were really good for practicing pronunciation, and learning about similar sounding Japanese.  For example: 庭には二羽鶏がいる。 (niwa ni wa niwa niwatori ga iru)  “There are two chickens in the garden.” or even better, にわの庭には二羽の鶏は俄に鰐を食べた。 ( Niwa no niwa ni wa niwa no niwatori wa niwaka ni wani wo tabeta.)  "In (Mr.) Niwa’s garden, two chickens suddenly ate a crocodile." バスガス爆発。　(Basu gasu bakuhatsu)　”Bus gas explosion.” となりの客はよく柿食う客だ.。 (Tonari no kyaku wa yoku kaki kuu kyaku da)  The guest next door is a guest who eats a lot of persimmons. So today. here are a few English tongue twisters for you to try.  Next time we meet, show me how well you can say them!

1. Rubber baby buggy bumpers.
2. Silly Sally sells seashells by the seashore. (good for practicing "S")
3. He threw three free throws. (for practicing "th") also,
4. Thirty-three thin thermometers.
5. Free fried fish at Friday's fish fry.

After years of work to get my yard looking like I wanted.   I think I can finally sit back and enjoy the fruits of my labor.  I took my grandson out in the afternoon, and just played on the grass.  It was so cool and soft. Then last week I had three of my children's English classes outside on the lawn.  I told the kids, take off your shoes and socks, just walk bare feet on the grass.  I think it was the first experience for many of them.  We sat down, had a lesson and then played some games.  I'm looking forward to more "outdoor classes", and introducing them to some American games I played outside as a child. Also, I'm really looking forward to having a lot of barbecues in my yard this summer.  Sitting outside on my lawn with a cold beer, cooking steaks, aah!  What could be better?   I hope you can enjoy the fruits of your labors, in your garden, in your family, in your job, IN YOUR LIFE! See you soon.