2010年1月25日月曜日

Spring Vacation

Spring vacation comes soon. I must study because I want to pass civil service examination. So I must study very hard all day. My friends will do job-hunting very hard in spring vacation. I hope that they will get good jobs. And I don’t do part-time job. I don’t money. So I must save money. In spring vacation, I will walk with my dog. She likes walking because when she goes to walking, she can get snacks! So she is fat. And I want to learn cooking because I am poor at cooking. So I want to be good at cooking. (101words)

America

I like America because when I visited America about two years ago, I had a very good time. My host mother was very kind and her dog was very cute. I love them. Our teachers are very good and other people are also kind. I think America is good country. America is wide and has clear sky. Someday I want to visit America again and I want to meet my host family. Recently, I like President Obama. I hope that he lead world to peace. The way may be rugged because there are many problems. But this is proof we are advancing. Yes, we can!!(105words)

Book Review 15

I read a book. The name is ‘Papua New Guinea.’ I know Papua New Guinea, but I didn’t know detail of the country. The book showed me about Papua New Guinea. The country is in the Pacific Ocean, just to the north of Australia. Most of the country is very hilly and covered in thick rainforest. There are many diverse cultural groups. Its population of five million is made up of people from around 1000 different cultural groups who speak more than 800 different languages. When I read this sentence, I was surprised. There are many cultural groups. And they mainly follow traditional lifestyles. Today, there are a number of towns and small cities in Papua New Guinea where people lead Western lifestyles. However, about 80 per cent of population lives in the country, some in very remote areas. In Papua New Guinea, there are over 800 different languages. So people may not understand each other. Tok Pisin is the language that is spoken most often in Papua New Guinea. It is also known as Pidgin. Tok Pisin is a mixture of local languages, English and German. It was first used in the 1930s. It helps people from different tribes to communicate with each other. I am interested in Papua New Guinea to read the book. Their art are very great! They have traditional lifestyle and deep culture. I want to know Papua New Guinea more.(236words)

English Process

Language has base language and separated various language groups. For example, base language of English is The Indo-European languages. The languages are separated some language group. I will write English process today. When Anglo-Saxons invaded in Britain from vicinity north of Germany, English process began. They used the West Germanic languages. They were ancestry of British. They ejected Celt who is native people. And they settled in Britain. It is beginning of English. In the 8st century, the Norman began to invade. And the Britain was conquered by Norman in the 11st century. It happened in 449-1100. The then English is called Old English. Old English had various inflections. But English changed simple and level after Norman Conquest. The English of time until beginning of Renaissance from Norman Conquest was called Middle English. The period was in 1100-1500. In 1476, printing office first opened in London. And Modern English began. The then English has many dialect. But people must unify spelling to print. People used London spelling. And the spelling spread around many parts of the country. In 1500-1650, English adopted a lot of words from Latin and Greece because people studied Latin and Greece in Renaissance. In 1611, the Authorized King James Version was published. And William Shakespeare flourished in the period. His works gave big influence to English. In 1607, Britain settled in America. And English entered in America. After 1700, America became independent from Britain. And American English was born.(243words)

2010年1月24日日曜日

The Tale of the Heike

Recently, I am interested in literature. In Japan, there was a book ‘The Tale of the Heike.’ The work is very famous in Japan. The work was written by simple and fluent Japanese. The author is unknown. And the day the work was written is also unknown. I like the beginning sentences of the work. So I introduce the sentences. I think that the sentences mean that life is an empty dream.

The Tale of the Heike
‘The sound of bells echoes through the monastery at Gion Shoja, telling all who hear it that nothing is permanent. The flowers of the sala trees show that all that flourishes must fade. Proud men, powerful men will fall, like dreams on a spring night, like dust before the wind.’

平家物語
「祇園精舎の鐘の声、諸行無常の響きあり。
娑羅双樹の花の色、盛者必衰の理をあらわす。
 奢れる人も久しからず、ただ春の夜の夢のごとし。
 猛き者も遂にはほろびぬ、ひとえに風の前の塵に同じ。」

(221words)

Book Review 14

I read a book. The name is ‘Pompeii.’ The city of Pompeii was a part of the Roman Empire in the first century AD. Pompeii was a busy trading center. And there were 20000 people. The morning of 24 August, 79 AD, began like any other summer day in Pompeii. People were up and about before the sun rose. By sunrise, Pompeii’s streets were busy. Farmers began to sell food. In the forum, shops, government buildings, temples and the baths were open for business. Children began their lessons at school. After sunrise, the people of Pompeii felt the first earthquakes. The cause of the earthquakes was the eruption of Mount Vesuvius-only a few kilometers away. Soon after, hot ash and rocks began to rain down on the city. Within a short time, the ash blocked out the sun and was black. The air was full of sounds of the volcano. And the air was hot. Fires broke out all over the city. The people of Pompeii panicked. Some people reached the city gates quickly and left by the city. They were lucky. Other people ran to the nearby beach because they wanted to leave by boat. But, the sea was wild. People decided to wait the beach. There were many people in the city of Pompeii. Poisonous gases were now seeping out of Mount Vesuvius. Within a few minutes, the gases drifted across the city and down to the beach. The gases killed everything. The ash covered the bodies of the dead and slowly buried the city. Pompeii was not discovered again until the 1700s. A farmer found ruins of the city under his land. And most of the city of Pompeii has been uncovered. Now thousands of people visit Pompeii each year. I heard the city of Pompeii on TV. And then I shuddered. The people of Pompeii were very sad. And the calamity is very scary. Japan has a lot of earthquakes. 15 years ago, there was very big earthquake in Hansin and Awaji. The earthquake broke many cities and killed many people and animals. It is very sad. And we don’t know when the earthquakes will happen. Perhaps, the big earthquake will happen tomorrow. We don’t know. We don’t stop the earthquake. But we can prepare for the worst. I think that I must buy flashlight and some things to useful. And I decide to learn ways to lifesaving. Pompeii is in Italy. In Pompeii, Visitors can walk along the streets and see art and graffiti on the walls of the buildings. And there is the museum. Someday I want to visit the city of Pompeii. And I am interested in Roman Empire. Italy has long past and deep culture. And Italy had a lot of the historic sites and arts.(464words)

2010年1月23日土曜日

Book Review 13

I read a book. The name is ‘Wind Power.’ The main place is the Gale Hills Town Hall. The town has the issue. The issue is that a company called Wind Future wants to erect wind turbines in Gale Hills. And they will discuss about wind power. The Mayor of Gale Hills is Sarah. She is chairperson. She introduces two people. Dave is from Wind Future. Wind Future wants to set wind turbines and generate electronic power. Eva is from P.A.W.T-People Against Wind Turbines. And they present their points of view. I read their presentation. And I could know that wind power. Wind power is created by wind turbines. The blades of the turbine are powered by the wind, and when the blades turn, they power a generator that is inside the turbine. This generator creates electricity. There are more than 35000 wind turbines around the world. Wind power is a clean form of energy. The more wind power we use, the less we need to use other energy sources, like coal. Using coal to produce electricity aerates a lot of greenhouse gases. And the wind turbines will attract tourists to the town. These people will spend money in local businesses. But wind turbines destroy the landscape. The town has a beautiful landscape with unspoiled hills. And wind turbines are noisy. The town has the amount of wind. So the wind turbines are going to be very noisy. And birds and bats might fly into the blades and be killed. I thought the wind power issue is very hard problem. Wind power has good points and bad points. I want to know the town’s conclusion. In Japan, there are such problems. For example, dam problems and nuclear power plant problems. It is important for us to do talk such town. (300words)