I've applied for Eiken 2st Grade. It will held in January 2017. I took the test once and failed it. I should prepare for the test seriously, but I'm too lazy to do so. I joined a Eiken taker group called Ikkyu-san Club. The members share t…

I started to listen to The Eyes of the Needle this morning. It was a spy novel written by Ken Follett. I like spy novels. I tried listening to it carefully, but it was hard to understand the plot. I was disappointed at my listening compreh…

Japanese pop singer ASKA, who received a three-year jail sentence, suspended for four years for possession and usage of illegal drugs, was about to arrested for drug usage again. He said that he was innocent on his website. Once you trappe…

Learning English is fun, but not easy for me. I have to do lots of things for it. English skills are conveniently divided into four categories: reading, listening, writing and speaking. I have only limited time and life is short. I should …

I'm a little bit interested in religious things, especially Buddhism. Most Japanese might think they themselves are Buddhist. Many of Japanese Buddhist sects are Mahayana Buddhism. My family also belongs to Shingon-shu. But Hinayana or The…

I'm listening to "Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less" in English with Audible app. I read the original novel in Japanese some decades ago. I really liked it. I also read some Jeffery Archer's books. Recently, I listened to his latest serie…

According to CNN news, Hillary Clinton leads Donald Trump by nearly 2,000,000 votes for now. I knew her lead was around 1,000,000 votes the other day, but the distance has been increasing. The counting of the presidential election seems st…

American film director Martin Scorsese has made a new movie, Silence. The original story was written by Japanese writer Shusaku Endo. I'm a big fan of Endo and Scorsese. I've read all of Endo's works, novels and essays. I like Scorsesse di…

A 7.4-magnitude earthquake hit off the coast of Fukushima prefecture in Japan. The quake prompted tsunami warnings for the people living in the coast area. This quake didn't provide big tsunami and no big damage there. I was relieved to he…

Korean President Park administration suddenly explained her record of the controversial 7 hours at the ferry disaster. She didn't appear while the Sewo ferry was sinking with the loss of 304 lives. That was an excuse for a Korean media's r…

I went to Matsue Castle today. I was there as a volunteer guide for English speakers. I'm a member of the guiding group there. It was cloudy, little bit chilly and looked like rain. Despite the weather, many tourists visited the castle. Vi…

Many advanced English learners say that talk to ownself is an efficient way to improve speaking skill. I thought it would be worth and tried that several times, but soon I got stuck. I don't have a habit of talking to myself in Japanese. I…

Sending New Year's cards is a Japanese tradition even though the number of tha cars have been decreasing. Unfortunately, some people can't send New Year's cards because they are in mourning. They send Motyu-hagaki, mourning cards, instead.…

President Park's administration in Korea looks nearly collapsing as a poll showed 5% of its approval ratings. She has over one year for her presidency term left. Almost every Korean presidents followed the same way. Eleven presidents have …

I finished an audiobook " Only Time Will Tell" written by Jeffery Archer with Audible app. The novel was the first book in seven volumes. To tell the truth, I thought the first issue was enough for me. But since he was a quite successful w…

I once promised that I would learn new English words using the New York Times editorials. It went well at first, but I was stuck to do that only two weeks later. So soon. I promise to do that again. This time, I'm serious because I decided…

I joined a secret, but open membership, club called Ikkyusan Club. The members should take Eiken 1st Grade, a Japanese origin English test, and try to get the score of 3400. That's impossible for me, though. I don't really like taking Engl…

My son took part in the 2016 Autumn Prefectural High School Table Taurnament. His school won the team Taurnament and he himself reached to the top eight in the men's single competition. Many private schools in my prefecture are trying to s…

I've heard lots of news about car accidents by elderly drivers in recent years. Today's one was so painful. An 83-year-old woman killed two people while driving her car in a hospital parking lot. She reportedly said to the police that the …

I'm listening to Jeffery Archer's Only Time Will Tell on Audible. I didn't expect the book was that interesting. I downloaded the novel just because it was free on Audible site. It might be their plan. Once you begin to listen to the story…

As Donald Trump has been elected the 45th American President, many countries including Japan have to consider how to make new international relationships. The US policy might change dramatically under Trump administration, yet no one knows…

Donald Trump won the 2016 American Presidential Election. Media and even republican politicians supported Clinton, he won the election. Many Americans seemed to look Washington politicians were rotten. Anyway, no one knows what happens nex…

Someone said that Japanese English learners or teachers seemed to have stronger interest in other learners' English ability. I have no interest in their abilities, but I have stronger interest in others' passions to read. That includes aud…

I've just started to listen to an audiobook titled "Only Time Will Tell" written by Jeffery Archer. I didn't know the novel, but I was once a big fan of Jeffery Archer, so I caught the name while I was browsing Audible site and clicked the…

I read an article about a Japanese Zen monk Kobun Otogawa. He was invited in the US by Masrer Shunryu Suzuki and taught Zen to American people. He was also well known as a teacher of Steve Jobs. Kobun was born as a child in a temple and st…

I bought a book titled "英語でブッダ" , Buddha in English. It shows how to discribe Buddhism in English. I'm trying to read and listen to books about Buddhism in English, so the book would help my understanding for these books.

Thanks to YouTube, you can watch many kinds of videos for free. The other day, I found some videos of Japanese Zen legends in the US. Two Suzukis were famous for Zen evangelists in the US. They were Daisetz Suzuki and Shunryu Suzuki. Daise…

My older son came home today. He works for prefectural government and lives apart from us. He is really hooked on riding mortorbike. He spends lots of money for mortorbike. He has been buying many accessories and equipment for bike. He tra…

Many advanced English learners say that don't study English, but doing something interests you in English. If you like cooking, learn it in English, for example. Table tennis and Buddhism attract me so far. I'm not a serious table tennis p…

The Hiroshima Carp announced on Oct. 30 they will retire veteran pitcher Hiroki Kuroda's uniform number. Kuroda will retire from baseball at the end of the 2016 season. Kuroda's number 15 will be the third Hiroshima Carp retired number. Ko…