A few years ago, when my daughter was depressed because of a broken heart, I took her to a cat cafe for the first time to cheer her up. The cat cafe was located in Osaka in a two-story building with fancy decorations, such as a cat tower, cozy sofas, and toys that cats would enjoy. We stayed there for about an hour, playing with about 20 cats. She seemed healed and felt a little better on the way home.

What kind of people visits such animal cafes? People who want to have pets but cannot keep them at home, people who seek healing by playing with animals, and people who love animals. However, there is no doubt that these animal cafes are popular in Japan and will continue to increase in number.

Cats used to be the mainstream, but now there seem to be dogs, raccoons, hedgehogs, rabbits, reptiles, and owls. When I was in Kyoto the other day, I found a micro pig café. Several people were waiting in front of the shop. The admission fee for adults and elementary school students is 660 yen, and the first 30 minutes are 1,100 yen for adults and 550 yen for elementary school students. For every 30 minutes after that, an additional 550 yen for adults and 330 yen for elementary school students will be charged. In other words, an hour's stay will cost 2,310 yen for adults and 1,540 yen for elementary school students, which is quite expensive.

Historically, the oldest cat café was opened in Taiwan in 1998, and it is said that a Japanese tourist later brought the idea back to Japan and opened a dog café in Japan in 2004.

From the point of view of animal protection, there are many voices against these cafes. If they were kept as pets in some houses, they would receive a lot of affection as a family member. However, in these animal cafes, they are touched and held by an unspecified number of people and are treated as what is called a showpiece.
Amidst these voices, we have recently seen dog and cat cafes with different concepts. For example, they also play a role as animal shelters. In other words, if customers find their favorite dog or cat, they can apply to become a foster parent and take the animal home if the conditions are met.

In Japan, it is common practice to buy pets at pet shops, but many countries have banned the sale of pets as a form of animal welfare. People who want to keep pets are likely to buy them directly from breeders or receive them from animal shelters. Will this be the case in Japan shortly? Pets not only include dogs and cats but also tropical fish, insects, hamsters, ferrets, turtles, birds, and a wide variety of other animals, so they will continue to exist for some time.

Photo Credit: Amir Reza Setoudegan Ghasemi@pexels.com



Blog Quiz
Q1. Why did the writer go to the cat café in Osaka?
Q2. How much would it cost an adult to spend two hours in a mini pig cafe?
Q3. In your opinion, would you prefer to get a pet from a pet shop, an animal shelter, or a breeder? Why?



Scroll down ↓ for the answers to the quiz.




















Quiz Answers

Q1. To cheer her daughter up.
Q2. 3,410 yen.
Q3. Answers will vary.

Do you play computer games? If so, what difficulty setting do you prefer? The typical choices are easy, medium, and hard. Some people set their games to easy so that they can enjoy a stress-free experience. Others bump up the difficulty to medium to add a little bit of a challenge. But in my experience, medium difficulty hardly proves a challenge at all. So, do you like to be punished on hard difficulty? For me, when given a choice, my preferred difficulty is somewhere between hard and very hard, which is quite challenging. I need to feel like I can barely survive to get the maximum satisfaction.

Now, if I were to ask you the same question regarding your daily life, your real world, would your answer be the same? Are you someone who wants an easy daily experience that is as free of stress as possible? Or are you up for a challenge from time to time? Maybe some might enjoy the feeling of being totally overwhelmed, as if they are underwater, struggling to breathe. For me, when asked this question, my answer would most definitely be whatever is the easiest difficulty possible. The feeling of being overwhelmed brings me a sense of anxiety that I can’t stand. Indeed, I have had many nightmares about real-world deadlines but never about anxiety related to playing games. In other words, my choices don’t agree with each other at all.

I’m not the only person who feels this way, as many people have brought up this discussion online, pointing out how our actions don’t make sense. Why would someone finish their stressful day at work only to go home and immediately play stressful games in their free time? Some believe the answer is about consequences, which are the outcomes of the actions that we make. In the real world, our actions have real consequences. If we miss a deadline, it could mean that we disappoint others or even get fired from our jobs. And thinking about the consequences makes us afraid of losing control. Games, on the other hand, have a restart button and unlimited chances. Therefore, a game can allow us to experience challenges without having to worry about heavy effects. This is just one theory, and we really don’t know why humans act in this way. But what would happen if we removed the fear of failure? Would we suddenly become more daring and passionate about pursuing difficult challenges? This is an interesting question in my opinion.

Now ask yourself, what type of person are you? What type of person are you in real life? Do you fall apart if you are not in control of your environment? Or do you get excited about the idea of barely managing to hold on?
And what type of person do you want to be? Does it match your preference of game difficulty? And if it doesn’t, why not?



Photo Credit: Ron Lach@pexels.com


Blog Quiz
Q1: Regarding the statement in the last sentence of paragraph #2, “… my choices don’t agree with each other at all,” what choices is the author referring to?

Q2: What preferred difficulty does the author prefer for games? For daily life?

Q3: Why would someone enjoy stressful computer games but hate having a stressful job?


Scroll down ↓ for the answers to the quiz.


















Quiz Answers

Q1. The author is referring to the choice of difficulty for games and real life.

Q2. The author prefers games to be significantly challenging while daily life to be as simple as possible.

Q3. Having or not having consequences may change how humans react to a challenge.

Do you know what the longest-running animated television series is? Do you think it’s The Simpsons? South Park? Family Guy? Well, it’s my favourite Japanese show–Sazae-san.

You all know that the Isono and Fuguta families never get old, that there’s no way Katsuo can fit his K T-shirts over his head, and that by the end of the credits we begin to feel down at the prospect of the end of the weekend.

But did you know the power of one TV show you love to help your understanding of a language? How many people in the world today have learned Dutch through Nijntje en haar vriendjes, French through La Famille Barbapapa, and Russian through Cheburashka? I can’t tell you which TV program is best for learning English—that you’ll have to do yourself. It’s really just as long as you love the program and want to watch it again and again like I like watching Sazae-san again and again.

Here are some tips. But first you’ll have to have Amazon Prime or Netflix or use your digital recorder. Next, you’ll need a friend. Nobody speaks a language by themselves.

List of tips:

--Watch for 10 minutes, then predict what you think will happen.
--Watch the entire episode, then summarize what happened.
--Freeze any random frame, then describe what is happening.
--Watch a scene with your eyes closed, describe what happened, then watch what really happened.
--Watch a scene with no sound and write down what you think was said, then check.
--Have your friend write down the English subtitles, then erase a few words.
　Next, you watch without the subtitles and try to fill in the blanks your friend made.
--Turn the sound off and practice reading the English subtitles aloud.
　Afterwards, with the sound on, check your pronunciation and intonation.
--Together write down an English-subtitled dialogue, then practice acting it out.
　You both may be better than some of the actors you find on TV these days.


I hope you will try one or two of these tips on your own beloved TV program. As for me, it’s time that I finally figure out what Ikura-chan is really saying. So, from now on I’m going to try to translate everything he says into perfect English.


Photo Credit: Taryn Elliott@pexels.com



Blog Quiz
Q1. What is the longest-running animated television series?
Q2. Which languages can you learn if you watch Nijntje en haar vriendjes,La Famille Barbapapa, and Cheburashka?
Q3. What is the best TV show to help you learn English?



Scroll down ↓ for the answers to the quiz.

















Quiz Answers

Q1. Sazae-san.
Q2. Dutch, French, and Russian.
Q3. The one that you love.

Could you live an isolated existence devoid of the Internet, television and radio reception, cars, telephones, streets, and stores? As a child, I did just that.
 
Half a century ago, when I was nine and ten years old, I lived in a remote part of Alaska called Coffman Cove, which had a population of less than one-hundred people. Coffman Cove was a logging camp and the only way to get there was either by boat or by seaplane. Most people who inhabited Coffman Cove were either loggers or the family of loggers. I lived there with my mother, who was the schoolteacher, and my four siblings.
 
It would be easy to think that a place like Coffman Cove would be a boring place to live. Indeed, when my mother first announced that we would be moving there, I was sad because I knew I would no longer be able to watch reruns of Star Trek, which was a popular science fiction television show. However, life in Coffman Cove proved to be amazing.
 
Every Sunday morning, a barge brought supplies and food to the various logging camps that dotted the island, including my town. People would gather at the dock to pick up what they had ordered. Often the grocery store that sent us our food would rip off the covers of various comic books and pack the comics in with our goods. At the time, nothing seemed better than free comic books.
 
I would often go into the woods to play. My friends and I would build forts and set up our own kingdoms. We would make wooden swords and defend our land.
 
In the summer months, I picked wild blueberries and raspberries from the numerous bushes found in the woods. My dog would often accompany me and eat the blueberries right off the bushes. After picking berries for an hour or two, I would bring a bucket of them back home and my mother would use them to make pies and pancakes.
 
Fishing was another activity I enjoyed. Most families in Coffman Cove owned small boats. We would take the boats several miles from shore and fish for salmon and halibut. Every year, there was a contest to see who could catch the largest salmon.
 
In the summer, my brother and I would sit on the dock and watch the sun set at midnight over the inlet, which was framed by mountains. Memories of those sunsets still make me smile.
 
The quiet life also afforded much time alone. I would often read books to entertain myself, which made me into an avid reader. My love of reading persists to this day.
 
Unfortunately, with modern technology, life in Coffman Cove has changed. All the logging camps have been connected by roads, and now there are satellite dishes so people can watch TV. However, I still look back on those years and realize that my generation was the last one to experience a way of life in Alaska that doesn’t exist anymore.
 
 
Photo Credit: Chris Newsom@pexels.com
 
 
Blog Quiz
Q1: What was unusual about Coffman Cove?
Q2: How did food and supplies get to the camp?
Q3: Name four activities the author enjoyed doing.
 
Scroll down ↓ for the answers to the quiz.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Quiz Answers
Q1. It was a remote logging camp that did not have television or radio reception, cars, telephones, streets, and stores
Q2. By barge
Q3. Playing in the woods; picking berries; fishing; and reading

Unfortunately, the last three that I mentioned aired really late at night, so not too many people were able to watch them. This is why I was so glad to have gotten this most recent chance.

 

October 7: MBS Yonchan. This news program showed my feature at 6:40 p.m., which means more people had a chance to watch. It was the longest corner yet, at roughly 12.5 minutes, and the TV crew even came and filmed me at Ritsumeikan University! By then, I had been filmed so many times that I was not too nervous, but I did sense that students and other teachers were a little shy. Anyhow, I learned something about TV on this day, and it is unfortunate. They are not always accurate and do not always want to portray the truth. They want to tell the story that they think will get them the biggest audience. They also do not always allow the subject of the feature to check it ahead of time and make corrections. There were no fewer than six errors or fabrications on the program, including my age, which they got wrong by 5 years.

 

All in all, I am happy to be getting recognition for the work I am doing to promote the Hanshin Tigers in English to people all over the world. If you want to study English by reading (and hearing) about the Tigers, why not check out my website [www.thehanshintigers.com]?

 

 

Photo Credit: Martin Péchy@pexels.com

 

 

Blog Quiz

Q1. According to the writer, why did more people watch MBS Yonchan than several other programs he appeared on?

 

Q2. What mistake did the most recent TV program make about the writer?

a) Six

b) His age

c) His family members

 

Q3. Overall, is the writer satisfied with his experiences appearing on television?

 

 

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Quiz Answers

Q1. Because it was shown at 6:40 p.m.

Q2. B

Q3. Yes

I cannot believe how lucky I am. I would have never imagined that I would be featured on television in Japan FIVE times in a single year! Let me quickly mention the first four, and then focus on what I learned from the fifth one.

 

January 4: Ikegami Akira no Kansaijin ga Shiranai Kansai. This new year’s special showed me covering the Hanshin Tigers in a special way for English-speaking fans all around the world. Famous panelists that I met in the studio included Black Mayonnaise, High Heel Ringo, Miyu Honda, and Joichiro Fujiwara from Naniwa Danshi.

 

June 17: News Zero. This late-night nationally broadcast news program, hosted by famous anchor Yumiko Udo, was similar to Mr. Ikegami’s program, but I did not go to a studio to talk to famous people. Instead, TV directors recorded me at a separate studio and at a restaurant. Ms. Udo is a huge Hanshin Tigers fan, and she said she wants to meet and go to a Tigers game at Koshien with me. (I would love that!)

 

June 28: Sekai wo Chotto Dake Kaeru Summit. For this one, I had to go to the studio for a recording, and sitting right next to me was fellow guest Takeshi Tsuruno. We talked before the recording started, and he was a really nice guy! This program had nothing to do with my areas of expertise (English education and Hanshin Tigers), so I was nervous throughout.

 

July 7: MBS Ballpark. This was the first time a TV program visited my home, which made me (and my whole family) a little nervous. Still, it was interesting to watch the program and hear Tomonori Jinnai and Reni Takagi (Momoiro Clover Z) say that “Hanshin should acquire Trevor-san.” (I would love that!)

 

 

Q1. How many times was the writer featured on Japanese TV in 2022?

 

Q2. Who said she wanted to go to a Hanshin Tigers game with the writer?

a) Reni Takagi

b) High Heel Ringo

c) Yumiko Udo

 

Q3. On which two dates did the writer mention feeling nervous during the recording session?

 

Scroll down ↓ for the answers to the quiz.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quiz Answers

Q1. 5

Q2. C

Q3. June 28 & July 7

In the past, how we listened to music was fairly simple. Personally, I listened to the radio, watched music TV channels, and bought music in stores to listen to on cassette players or CD players. Then came the technological changes of MP3 players, such as the iPod by Apple. The rest is history. But has this changed how we consume music?

 

Growing up in the United States, a big emphasis was put on listening to the radio. Radio was simple, and each radio station had its own themes: top 20 music, country, hip-hop, classic rock, classical, and so on. People listened to what they were interested in, and this was the best way to listen to the newest music. Now people listen to playlists online that are curated by the music apps or services to listen to the latest music. Now listening to specific artists is easier than ever. However, listening to a new playlist is not so different from what I did when I was younger, listening to the radio. Each playlist is like a different radio station with its own music genres and music selection that brings the same excitement as when I was young.

 

I’ve recently found new types of music I like and found songs that I’d never imagined I would enjoy. For example, I’ve been enjoying country music for the last few months. As a young boy, I’d never have imagined enjoying country music, but listening to a “New Music” playlist, sometimes country music is played, which has caught my ear. So maybe you can even find something new you might like, or there might be a genre of music you thought you didn’t like that might grow on you.

 

From listening to playlists for studying, top music, or even new genre playlists, there are so many new and old types of music that are more easily accessible. Instead of listening to the radio in the car or using a radio at home, we can listen to the newest music on our PCs or on our phones. However, the joys of hearing new music have never been more easily accessible. Even though the radio has lost popularity, finding new music will continue to be something that excites all people. The next time you open up your music app, try a new playlist. Listen to something new or something different. Give it a try. You never know what you might enjoy.

Photo Credit: Charlotte May@pexels.com

Blog Quiz

 

Q1. How did people listen to new music in the past?

a. Music applications

b. Concerts

c. Radios

 

Q2. In the past, what device did the author use to listen to music?

a. Smart phone

b. CD player

c. MP3 Player

 

Q3. What genre of music did the author like after listening to a new music playlist?

a. Top 20 music

b. Rock music

c. Country music

 

Scroll down ↓ for the answers to the quiz.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quiz Answers

Q1. C

Q2. B

Q3. C

If you like watching and listening to authentic spoken World Englishes or first language content with English subtitles, you’ll love the YouTube channel Great Big Story (GBS). It’s a great archive for discovering a diverse variety of people, places, and things all over the world. Each short video allows the viewer to experience new perspectives and widen their understanding and imagination, not only about what occurs on this planet daily, but also the new possibilities they may adopt in their own lives.

 

GBS had described itself as “a global media company devoted to cinematic storytelling”. Based in New York with an office in London, GBS was creating micro-documentaries (about 5 minutes long) and short films and releasing them on YouTube. This came to an end after five years in October, 2020, when the parent company CNN shut them down, citing dwindling advertising revenues due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Sadly, the weekly YouTube uploads stopped. Despite this, GBS still has an amazing 6.03 million subscribers, demonstrating that the available content continues to maintain popularity. The topics featured in the videos are mostly obscure, niche vignettes which are compelling and fascinating to watch.

 

I first heard about GBS from a former English teaching colleague way back in 2016, about a year after the channel had been launched. I realized immediately it was a gold mine of content for English lessons and wasted no time hitting the subscribe button. In no time, I’d binge-watched at least half a dozen videos and was well and truly hooked! Very quickly it became much more than a go-to-site for English language lesson content. I was watching every upload as soon as it was available. I still remember my first Great Big Story with its punchy title, “I live in a plane.” This particular two-minute documentary tells the story of a Portland-based aeronautics enthusiast, Bruce Campbell, who lives in a converted 1960s Boeing 727 jet deep in a forest. It was mind-blowing to see how spacious the plane’s interior was when all the seats and fixtures had been removed. Campbell had installed basic living necessities and improved on existing features to make a home out of something that had been destined for the scrap heap. In just two minutes, I had a concrete understanding of the idea of “repurposing” which as we move forward into our climate-challenged future is something we need to take heed of. Watch a Great Big Story video today, and have your eyes opened!

 

 

 

Photo Credit: Joyce Busola@unsplash.com

 

 

 

Blog Quiz

 

Select the meaning of the word or phrase as it is used in the text.

 

Q1. dwindling

a. increasing

b. decreasing

c. neither increasing or decreasing

 

Q2. a gold mine

a. a good source of something

b. a money maker

c. an underground place where gold is found

 

Q3. go-to-site

a. travel website

b. preferred and often used website

c. English learning website

 

 

Scroll down ↓ for the answers to the quiz.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quiz Answers

Q1. B

Q2. A

Q3. B

Lately, a word game called ‘Wordle’ has taken the Internet by storm. The American newspaper, The New York Times, bought the game from a developer named Josh Wardle. Wardle made the game for his partner who loves word games. Now, over 300,000 people play it every day (Serrels, 2022). One game is posted every day, so once you guess the answer, you cannot play again until the next day. It’s exciting to try and guess the word quickly. You get six tries to guess the answer, and I’ve guessed the word in three tries, but some of my friends guess it in TWO! I wonder if anyone has ever gotten it in one try. My friends and I post our scores on social media and compete. In these pandemic times, it has been a fun way to generate a sense of community online.

 

The rules are easy. The game generates a five-letter word, and you must try and guess it within six tries. If you guess a letter in the correct position, the tile turns green, but if you guess a letter in the word but in the wrong position, the tile turns yellow. If you guess a letter that is NOT in the word, the tile stays white. It’s a challenge to beat the computer every day, but it’s a good chance to train your mind and keep it active. It’s also a bit addicting! I enjoy playing Wordle and its spinoff games, Quordle and Octordle

 

My favorite game of this type is the Japanese version: Kotoba de Asobo. For this game, you have to guess the 4-kana word within twelve tries. I play with my American friend who lives in Fukuoka. We compete and try and guess the word before the other person. He knows much more Japanese than I do, but it is fun to play and try to beat him. I also learn lots of new Japanese words from the game. So, I recommend any of these games for your vocabulary study, whether you study English...or Japanese, like me!

Serrels, M. (2022). Wordle: What You Need to Know. Retrieved 17 May 2022, from [https://www.cnet.com/culture/internet/wordle-everything-to-know-about-2022s-biggest-word-game/] 

Photo Credit: CQF-Avocat@pexels.com

 

Blog Quiz

Q1. How many chances do you get to guess the word in Wordle?

Q2. How many times can you play every day?

Q3. What language is the author studying?

 

 

Scroll down ↓ for the answers to the quiz.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quiz Answers

Q1. Six

Q2. Once

University is a very important part of our lives as it marks the move towards independence as adults. For many students, it is the first chance to live away from home, with all the challenges that involves. For others, even though they may continue to live with their parents, it provides new stimuli and exposes them to new people, new ideas and new ways of dealing with life.

 

I am always impressed when I hear about the creative endeavours of my students. Many of them like to branch out and try something new at university. For example, some of them learn to play a musical instrument; others become involved in photography or art. I feel these kinds of activities are especially valuable and serve as more than a way to simply kill time or make new friends (although these are important benefits, too.)

 

Including something creative in your life can benefit you in many ways. It can open up new worlds and new experiences, help you to experience different emotions and develop a broader understanding of people, inspiring you to widen your own interests and make your life richer. Such activities offer an ideal way to put aside worries and relax, and even if you are a beginner, online tutorials and videos on YouTube have made it much easier to develop your skills. Creative hobbies can help you stay mentally and emotionally healthy, learn new skills, and get more enjoyment out of life.

 

Creative work, whether it is painting a picture, making a dress, or writing a song, requires you to think in different ways. How can I make this better? What would happen if I did this? Is there another way to do it? You become aware of different qualities in your work; it opens your mind to subtleties of expression and feeling, as well as technique and often you find yourself making unexpected discoveries. It also sharpens your judgement – is it better like this or like that? – and helps you to look and listen more carefully.

 

It can be frustrating, too. When things don’t go right, when you realise you’ve wasted hours and hours of your time and will have to start over again, you might wonder why you started at all. But when it goes well, when you finish and show it to an admiring audience (even if it’s just your best friend or your mum), you get a tremendous sense of satisfaction. Suddenly, all the hard work seems worthwhile!

 

 

Photo Credit: Tiana@pexels.com

 

 

Blog Quiz

Q1. The writer is impressed by ________________.

a. his students’ musical abilities

b. videos on YouTube

c. the creative activities of his students

 

Q2. What is one reason it is becoming easier to develop creative skills?

a. There are many helpful videos on YouTube.

b. It helps you to think differently.

c. It can help you to enjoy life more.

 

Q3. According to the writer, a negative feeling that may be connected with creative activities is __________ .

a. admiration

b. satisfaction

c. frustration

 

 

Scroll down ↓ for the answers to the quiz.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quiz Answers

Q1. C

Q2. A

Q3. C