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In many countries, people often use hand gestures, such as “beat” gestures, to make communication easier. There is scientific research showing that “beat” gestures improve children's narrative discourse performance. Other studies illustrate that people can more easily realise the meanings of words when hand gestures are used during a conversation than during a conversation without gestures.

As there are different languages depending on cultures, different hand gestures are used from country to country. For example, Japanese people wave their hands when they want to call over somebody, or ask somebody to move forward. More specifically, they repeatedly drag their four fingers inwards to their palm, before then straightening them again. These beckoning gestures have an opposite meaning in Western culture. People in Western countries use similar gestures when they want to say goodbye.

Japanese people wave their hands left to right in front of their faces when they want to say 'no'. However, people in Western countries use a similar expression when something smells bad.

Not only hand gestures, but also physical behaviours are culturally different. At this point I would like to introduce my experience in the UK when I was a postgraduate student. When I was a college student in Japan, I thought it was okay to sniffle quietly when I had a runny nose. I did not care about other people's sniffling sounds, unless they were loud. However, when I was a postgraduate student in the UK, I realised that making a sniffling sound is very rude in Western cultures. When I was studying in a university library with my friend from Luxemburg, a male student next to us sniffled many times. I did not care about it so much, but suddenly my friend from Luxemburg stood up and whispered into my ear, 'I can't stand that sound, Chika. I'm gonna leave'. She looked very angry, and I was extremely surprised to learn the reason for this anger. I realised that it is better to blow one’s nose in Western countries even if it makes a sound. It may not be good to make a big noise, though.

Of course, it is very important to learn other languages. However, as we can see in the examples of this blog, physical movements or behaviours also have huge impacts on our communication. While learning foreign languages, it may be interesting to observe the physical movements or behaviours which are common in our own countries, and think about how these common behaviours are considered in other countries.

Questions:

Question 1: What kinds of hand gestures do Japanese people use when they want to call somebody over?

Question 2: What does the beckoning gesture of Japanese people mean in Western countries?

Question 3: What kinds of hand gestures do Japanese people use when they want to say 'no'?

Scroll down ↓ for the answers

Answers:

Answer 1: They drag their four fingers inwards to their palm, before then straightening them again and repeating the gesture.

Answer 2: It means 'goodbye'.

Answer 3: They repeatedly wave their hand left to right in front of their faces.

Photo Credit: マサコ アーント @ pixabay

One cheap way to get to the beach in Japan is to fly with Peach Airlines from Kansai International Airport to Ishigaki Island in Okinawa. In March, I flew round trip for ¥15,000, and with a bargain deal on a new hotel with a free breakfast for ¥6,000, the choice to see the ocean before school started was an easy one over a weekend stay in an urban setting in Tokyo.

After exiting the new airport on Ishigaki even with a Starbucks cafe, I took a city bus 15 minutes to my hotel in front of the new Intercontinental ANA Resort Hotel and walked to the beach in 5 minutes. Without a car, I had to take a bus around the island. The main gem of a beach is called Kabira with clear, clean water and star-shaped grains of sand. It was an undeveloped beach in a pure state, very peaceful and beautiful. That is in contrast to the downtown area with many izakayas serving Orion beer and souvenir shops selling ceramic shisa figurines. Almost all of the homes in Okinawa have a pair of shisa dragons on the roof or at the entrance. One of the shisa has an open mouth beckoning for good fortune to enter, while the other one has a closed mouth to expel bad fortune. These figures are seen everywhere as spiritual guardians.

The other lyrical touch that I appreciated was constantly hearing the music of the sanshin, I guess Hawaii’s counterpart being the ukulele.

The vibe down there is mellow, and it is a place that needs more tourists to survive economically. This is a great place for students since the costs are low and the warm weather will make it easy to pack a light carry-on suitcase.

Questions:

1) What musical instrument is heard on Ishigaki Island?  

A - ukulele

B – sanshin

C – guitar

2) What is special about the sand on Kabira Beach?

A – it has gold in it

B – it smells good

C – there are star-shaped grains of sand

3) What Okinawan figure/decoration/guardian is also connected with luck inside and outside the house?

A – Setsubun

B – Maneki Neko

C – Shisa

Scroll down ↓ for the answers

Answers:

1) B

2) C

3) C

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Have you been looking for something different to do while staying at home? How about learning to play a board game or having a game night? There are many types of games that can be played by yourself or with a group. Although you might think games are just for children, they can be enjoyed by adults too: from strategy games to family games to word games, there are many to choose from.

The game of chess has been growing in popularity, especially since The Queen’s Gambit was released on Netflix last year. The show is based on a book with the same title, and it refers to the name of an opening move in the game of chess. This fictional story follows chess prodigy Beth Harmon as she struggles with personal problems and strives to become the best chess player in the world. Because of this series, more and more people are buying chess sets, learning the rules, and following famous chess players online, like grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura. These new members of the chess community are practicing at home with their friends or family members, or they are playing online. Although the rules of chess are easy to understand, the strategy is difficult to master, so it can be enjoyed by people of all ages and abilities. In fact, my father taught me to play chess when I was an elementary school student, and although I don’t play it now, I remember the time we spent playing chess together.

During the stay-at-home period, some families have started a new tradition—game night. Game nights are a fun way to spend time together and not only play games but also talk. Over the past year, my family often played board games, and the one we have played the most is called Ticket to Ride. Two to five people are needed to play the game, so it is ideal for a game night with friends or family; however, there is also an app version if you want to play alone. The object of the game is to collect colored cards and then build train routes to connect cities across the board. There are various versions of the game, each based on a different map: The United States, Europe, and so on. Players earn points based on the length and point value of the train routes, and the winner is the person with the most points at the end of the game. Therefore, this game is a mixture of luck and strategy, so it is very fun to play on game night.

Games are good for the brain, and they can be a fun way to practice language skills too. Classic word games like Scrabble, Boggle, Scattergories, and Taboo are sure to challenge your English vocabulary skills, and most of them are available in both tabletop and online versions. No matter which one you choose, playing a game can be an excellent way to spend your leisure time.Questions:

Q1. According to the article, why has chess become popular recently?

A. It is easy to master the game of chess

B. There was a popular show about chess

C. A game of chess can be played quickly

Q2. What kind of game is Ticket to Ride?

A. A word game

B. A card game

C. A board game

Q3. Which benefits of game night are mentioned in the article? (Choose all correct answers.)

A. Competition

B. Communication

C. Tradition

D. Imagination

Scroll down ↓ for the answers

Answers:

1 – B

2 – C

3 – B & C

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Have you ever done any volunteering work before? If not, what kind of image do you have of them? My image toward volunteering work was something special and for only special people. However, my image was changed after I did some volunteer work in a Japanese class as a language facilitator when I was studying in the UK as a postgraduate student. 

Volunteer work became more familiar to me and made me realize that it can be a good way to deepen my interest or knowledge, especially when the volunteering work that I chose related to what I wanted to do in the future. As far as volunteering work in the UK, it seems normal for university students to do it before they start job hunting, and to write about volunteering work experience on their CV.

According to a survey conducted in 2019 by the Japanese Cabinet Office, 33.3 % of Japanese young people aged between 13 and 29 answered that they are interested in volunteer work. However, this was the lowest rank compared to other countries such as USA (65.4%), UK (52.7%), South Korea (52.6%), France (51.7%), Germany (49.6%) and Sweden (45.8%). In fact, 48.1 % of Japanese young people answered that they are not interested in volunteer work, which is 6.2 % higher than a previous survey in 2013.

In terms of the word “volunteer”, Cambridge Dictionary says that volunteer means: a person who does something, especially helping other people, willingly and without being forced or paid to do it. What’s more, PATIMES.ORG [https://patimes.org/the-origins-of-the-word-volunteer/] explains that the origin of the word volunteer comes from the Latin word voluntaries, which has the meaning of willing or of one’s own choice. With reference to the benefits of volunteer work, [https://www.helpguide.org/articles/healthy-living/volunteering-and-its-surprising-benefits.htm] it explains that there are four good reasons to do such work;

1. Volunteering connects you to others. This means that volunteering can give you a chance to make new friends and expand your network.

2. Volunteering is good for your mind and body. According to the researchers, helping other people can make you feel happy and increase self-confidence.

3. Volunteering can advance your career. Volunteering can teach you some important skills such as teamwork, communication, problem solving, project planning, task management and organization.

4. Volunteering brings fun and fulfillment to your life.

It is said that volunteering can be an easy way to discover your interests and passions. Why don’t you learn not only from the textbooks but also from doing some volunteer work?

Questions:

Q1.What percent of young Japanese people are interested in volunteer work?

A. 49.6%

B. 45.8%

C. 33.3%

Q2. What does the Latin word "voluntaries" mean?

A. Explosions.

B. Willing or of one’s own choice.

C. Giving things away free

Q3. What can people receive by doing volunteer work?

A. More Self-confidence.

B. Bigger pay

C. Free lunch

Scroll down ↓ for the answers

Answers:

1 C

2 B

3 A

Photo credit: Miguel Bruna unsplash.com

I have been reading a lot recently, now that I have more time stuck at home… I have been wanting to be a better person and make good use of the time I have now. I am sure my old self would have been stuck in front of the TV watching Netflix or locked on the computer screen, stuck on the latest YouTube videos. A book that is changing my life is “Atomic Habits” by James Clear. I recommend you pick it up, it is an easy read, but it can change your life. {Jamesclear.com[https://jamesclear.com/]}

Here are a few of the many good ideas in the first chapter, but that is just the beginning… Everyone has habits, and did you know that the habits that you have now, whether they are getting up early, or turning off the lights when you leave a room, came to you without effort? Of course, your bad habits, like procrastinating or eating an unhealthy meal come very easy too, but did you know that those little decisions make up who we are? These little decisions, good or bad, add up. These “1% decisions” are not noticeable but are very meaningful. As you repeat and do small things, day by day, those habits will have an impact on the way your life will be heading. If you stay up late and finish up work you were putting off, sure you can survive on three or four hours of sleep that next day, but one day in the future, you will wake up late and miss something important or make a mistake because you were sleepy.

The author says, “Success is the product of daily habits – not once-in-a-life-time transformations.” You might be thinking that you need to change every little thing in your life… no… start with one thing that will make your actions successful. Just like when you chop a tree down, you pick up your axe, and start swinging, you cannot cut down a tree with one blow, it takes many strikes at the tree to bring it down. Just like starting a new habit, it takes many times of doing something to start a new habit, or stop a bad one. At first, it is exciting to start something new and you can see wood chips flying, but after a while you get tired and you hit and hit but you do not see change. When you finally fell that tree, the whole world will look at you and say how great your achievement was, but you know it was the work that you did when you did not see any results was the work that made things possible. Fighting on through hard times will make future success.

“All big things come from small beginnings. The seed of every habit is a single, tiny decision.” It is a new year now and people talk about “New Year’s Resolutions” (新年の抱負) . More than making a goal this school year, plan on making a “system” that will make your goals a reality. Just like every Olympic athlete has the goal to win the gold medal, if you improve the way you train and make the environment easy for you to get better, improve your training system… you will have a better outcome. Also, achieving that goal will be good, but the result of meeting that goal is nothing if your life is not changed. If you diet and lose those kilograms you wanted to lose but go back to eating as you did before the diet, you will just rebound back. You need to change your eating and exercise system so you will have those great results (lost weight and fitting into those jeans) for the rest of your life.

These are just some of the great ideas waiting for you in the book. Please read it and come to the BBP and let’s talk about it. Everything counts.

Reference: Clear, J. (2018) Atomic Habits. Penguin Random House LLC, New York.

 Questions:

1. What did the author do this past year?

A. watch a lot of TV and YouTube videos

B. sleep a lot

C. read books

2. What is the book "Atomic Habits" about?

A. making good habits

B. studying atoms

C. a boy named "Tom"

3. The book's author said, "All big things come from ___________"

A. big things

B. small beginnings

C. once in a lifetime events

Scroll down ↓ for the answers

Answers:

1 C

2 A

3 B