Yukiko's blog

I achieved my best score on the TOEIC test that I took last month.

I got 495 in listening, which is a perfect score, and 440 in reading. (TOTAL : 935)

I know there are a bunch of English learners who have over 900 points out there, but I am still happy. :D

I will take the TOEIC for speaking and writing, which just started this year, once it becomes popular. ;)

I posted this on the forum. What do you think?

I would like to make a few requests for the word acquisition system if you still have room to improve the newer version.

1.Categorize words and phrases into one of three levels when I save them.

One: they are totally unknown or I have seen them but can't recall the meaning.

Two: I can grasp the meaning in the sentence,but can't get it individually.

Three; I can tell the meaning right away,but can't speak or write using the word.

It would be nice if these distinctions could appear in a different color or font in the Review section.

2. Have a "resave" function for imported content.

I have imported some news articles. It would be great if I could add more articles of the same news from different newspaper websites or sources into the same content. It would be easier to review later.

3. Being able to save more than five words as a phrase.

I imagine that other members have pointed this out.

Lastly, I wonder if the newer English version or a different language version will come first. In any case, I look forward to the new system.

I went to a balloon festival in Saga, Japan for the first time. This is an international event and they had eighty thousand people for the three days this year. There were many unique balloons as below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This "Ebisu" balloon is from Canada. The pilot is said to be famous and is from Calgary. The tree balloon is from the U.S. and the pilot is an environmentalist as you can imagine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was surprised how big the balloons were! I went close to look at the balloons and saw the crews sweating from working so hard to burn the banner.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the most popular events at the festival is when the crews grab "paper keys ", suspending from the poles. Two out of sixty teams could get the key. They got a scooter and a jacket, but those were not the top prizes. They seemed to be happy nevertheless, because it can be very tough as the balloons are subjected to the wind. The audience went wild when the other five teams almost made it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I loved the night balloon show the most. The balloons were lit up after counting down; one, two, three and fire!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had a chance to speak English with a couple from Australia. I was just listening to the conversation between my husband and them, smiling, being shy, which is typical for Japanese people. Then my husband prompted me to talk to them. I had a good time chatting with them in the end.

I highly recommend this festival. You can enjoy the balloons with no entrance fee!

Here are her questions and my answers.

1. My dream place to live

I would like to live in Monaco. I would brag to everyone and make them jealous! I would watch car races from my balcony everyday.

2. How old I would like to be

I would like to go back to the late twenties. I would be still considered young and yet sort of settled down.

3. what career I would choose

I would like to be a celebrity in my next life or if I was reincarnated. I long for a flamboyant career, aside from not having much privacy.

4. who I would like to meet

I would like to meet The Linguist tutors and the members in person!

5. what topic I would like to discuss.

This might be a a little too personal, but I would like to hear about the partners of the members and tutors in The Linguist discussions. I always like dating norms and I am curious how people meet each other. I might be a bit nosy.

I prefer discussions with a specific topic. It makes me more interested in listening to other members.

I was able to relax and fool around a bit during this discussion; moreover, I appreciate that Julie allowed me to daydream!

I joined an open discussion about homelessness with AJ the other day.

Here are some of his questions and my answers during the discussion.

Q. Are there any homeless people in your city?

A. Yes. I see some homeless people in the park or on the downtown streets. I can recognize some of the people.

Q. What do you think causes people to become homeless?

A. I imagine people become homeless when they have no jobs or develop mental illnesses; furthermore they might not have any family support.

Q. What do you think of the idea of making your life more simple?

A. It becomes tougher to distinguish between necessity and luxury because the market is relentless and our lifestyles keep changing. On the other hand, it is important to lower our needs in order to be healthier, to save money, and to be more environmentally friendly.

I am not a big fan of second hand items, especially furniture. When my husband bought a used lamp, I didn't worry about where it came from after a short time, nevertheless.

There were two other members in the discussion. It was interesting to listen to their thoughts as well. I had such a good time :D

I have been caught up with a "pronunciation fever" since last year. I find it hard to work on my pronunciation on my own and I took a correspondence course at first. Their method looked good. I enjoyed practicing with their textbook and DVD. It was very interesting to learn how you pronounce each sound. However, it was not easy to submit the assignment. They required taking a video of my performance. I didn't like adjusting the lighting or the angle,or zooming inside of my mouth with a little video function on my cell phone which was the only tool that I could find. I stopped it after three months.

Then I switched to a different pronunciation school. I only could afford to attend once a month since the school was very far. It sure was fun and rewarding to learn face to face. On the other hand,it was so tiring to take two lessons at a time as required in the contract.I would lose focus during the second class most of the times. In addition, the curriculum seemed too long. I didn't go back to school after six months.

We have a proverb which says "Third time does it". I have just restarted working on my pronouciation at The Linguist and I hope to prove the proverb true with the tutor Kerri. Looking back to the approaches I took, the biggest reason that it didn't work was I didn't try hard enough. I was just finding faults with each school and making excuses.

It can be challenging to be instructed pronunciation in English on the internet,but I am determind to keep practicing to overcome the difficulties.

My goal is to be able to speak English in front of people comfortably. I believe that pronounciation contributes to a big part of it!

 

Although I haven't visited The Mint in Japan, I had a chance to go to one in Canada.

This one makes coins for  collecters , not circulation coins.

They make coins for many countries as well !

It was very interesting to see the process of making currency :)

 

This is the Parliament Buildings.

They had a slide show using the building as a background.

They showed and talked about historically famous Canadians.

We sat on the grass and enjoyed the show. I felt like being at an open theater :D

 

It was so amazing to see so many beautiful churches in Canada!

We have a lot of nice temples though :D

 

 

You can see the Canadian flag everywhere. Even on a horse's butt!

We put up our flag at some homes on a national holiday or school premises in general ,but not as many as in Canada.

They must love the country for sure :D

This is the end of my trip to Canada this past summer.

I hope you enjoyed sharing my little journey :D

I'd like to know a good way to study the content from other members or tutors.

Here are my questions and how I do it at the moment.

Q1. What do you do first, listening or reading?

I usually do the listening first. However, I wonder if I should do the reading first for difficult content such as literature or VOA news. I don't understand them much even when I listen to them over and over again.

Q2. How many times do you listen to the content before you check the script?

I often do it twice. I lose focus after the third time since I notice less of the new parts that I then understand.

According to a book I read, "How to study English", you should listen to it eight times or so before you read the script. In that way, you will challenge your listening skill to the limit. What do you think?

Q3. How do you do the reading? Do you read the whole script first and then look it up in the dictionary? Or do you look it up in the dictionary as you read the script for the first time?

I look it up in the dictionary when I read it the first time because if I read the whole script first, I tend to forget where I didn't understand. Having said that, I wonder if I should read the entire script at first in order to enhance the reading speed.

Q4. How much do you check the words and phrases?

I check most of the words and phrases that I don't understand,although I skip some words and phrases that I don't think I'll use in the future. I post a question about the words and phrases that I didn't find in the dictionary on the forum. I keep tutors busy...

On the other hand, I wonder if I should not look up the words and phrases in the dictionary when I can guess the meanings. This would help me to do more extensive reading.

Q5. How do you do in the review section?

Is this a good way to use the review section? Read the sentence from the content, check the examples , and look at the definition again to be sure I get them right.

Is reading the sentences in the review section aloud  better than reading the whole script?

Maybe these questions are too fussy or detail oriented. I tend to be nervous and get lost when it comes to learning English although I am generally very relaxed and laid back . I would love to hear some advice!