English Learners Club(ELC‪)‬ ELC

There is one thing that I always thought about doing, but for some reason I dragged my feet and never went through with it.
I want to switch my cell phone service provider and get a cheaper plan, because my stomach drops every time my monthly bill arrives.
When the discount service providers started coming out, I was excited to get a better plan, but I still haven’t made the switch. If I do, I’ll lose my email address. I always thought that would be a huge inconvenience because I’ve used it for years and have registered for many things with it. Also it’s simply just a pain in the neck.
However, apparently I can actually use the same address as long as I pay a fee. Also the new service provider company has a service where they will come to my house to help me when I make the switch.
So I did it! I got the ball rolling! I contacted the new company, and all the procedures seem quite simple and easier than I thought. However, I had to call the operation center of the previous company to cancel my current contract. The operator asked me a lot of questions and tried to convince me not to switch. I saw that coming, so I passed all the tricky questions. Finally, I successfully switched my phone company and the costs will be reduced by 20%!
I can’t forget the operator saying at the end of the phone call. “Thank you for using our company’s service for the past 16 years and 9 months.”
I can’t believe that I have been paying so much money for almost 17years! I should have done this earlier!
—————————————————————— 🗣Do you study English? Join our club! And why not read your monologue. If you are interested, please feel free to contact us.
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My husband and I enjoyed our summer vacation in the Maldives last month. We chose Bathala, an island in the Ari Atoll of the Maldives, which my husband had wanted to visit for many years. With a drop-off nearby and a carpet of white sand covering the entire island, you can go anywhere barefoot all day long.
I had a lot of experiences talking with people from different cultures. That was actually the goal for my English adventure.
First of all, at the hotel where we stayed before the flight to Bathala, I talked with four Indian staff about the Indian movie "RRR." One of them pointed out that India is a huge country full of mostly peaceful people, and assured me that Indian people aren't aggressive as portrayed in that movie. I was very happy to have such an interesting conversation.
Next, the first staff member we met on Bathala was a young lady from Switzerland. We chatted on the boat when she picked us up from the seaplane. A few days later, she praised my English which really encouraged me.
We stayed in a bungalow on the island for 7 nights and in the bungalow next to us there was a femail couple from Southern France. One of them was interested in my 15 trips to the Maldives, and the other was confident, intellectual, and cool.
I should mention that this island is very popular among Italians so most tourists are from Italy. The island is under contract with an Italian event company which provides three staff members to the island. Among them was a very talented young man that seemed to have a passion for entertaining tourists. Thanks to his support, I was able to mingle with the other guests and enjoy the events even though I couldn't speak Italian.
The highlight of my English adventure was getting to know a family from Germany. There was a friendly lady that always smiled and said hi. I told her she had a beautiful smile. She was with her husband and their granddaughter. I taught their granddaughter how to make an origami crane. Then she gave me small shells in fish-shaped origami that she made the next day. She also gave me a beautiful picture that she drew herself, and signed the back of it, how lovely! It was a heartwarming experience.
Long story short, This trip was absolutely magical!!
I had prepared some stuff to help me mingle with the other guests like some snacks and origami sets. They were very helpful, but I found that the most important thing was to greet people with a BIG SMILE on my face. —————————————————————— 🗣Do you study English? Join our club! And why not read your monologue. If you are interested, please feel free to contact us. 👉smsgil0228@gmail.com *FREEBIRD English: https://www.55freebird.com/blank-1

Recently, my husband and I traveled to Kagoshima and Hakodate. Kyushu has seven prefectures, but I imagined Sapporo to be the center of Hokkaido and Fukuoka city to be the center of Kyushu. I thought Kagoshima and Hakodate were kind of similar, but they turned out to be completely different. Kagoshima city was bigger, while Hakodate was smaller than I expected. I now know that the population of Kagoshima city is more than double that of Hakodate. We were surprised to find that there were no people on the main street near Hakodate station at 8 pm. Moreover, in Kagoshima city, we couldn't use credit cards at any of the restaurants we ate at, including a Michinoeki like drive-inn restaurant. On the other hand, we could use them pretty much anywhere in Hakodate, even at a small ramen shop. Also, we couldn't use Suica in Kagoshima city, but we could use it in Hakodate. Anyway, both cities have great views, and we really enjoyed our time there. —————————————————————— 🗣Do you study English? Join our club! And why not read your monologue. If you are interested, please feel free to contact us. 👉smsgil0228@gmail.com *FREEBIRD English: https://www.55freebird.com/blank-1

I found a wonderful podcast called GoGo エイブ会話.
It’s made by two guys who are friends.
One is Canadian, and the other guy is Japanese. Both are speaking in their mother tongues which makes it easier to understand for Japanese English learners.
Their concept is amazing, and the topics are not only useful, but also really fun.
The thing I like most about their program is when the Canadian introduces “strange news” from around the world every other Monday.
He always uses easy words to introduce a variety of news. It can be funny, ridiculous, and interesting.
I read an article that says when humans are trying to understand a second language, our brains focus on it, and are less functional than they should be.
Ever since I heard that, it surprises me that they’ve been able to have all these fun adventures without hurting anyone for seven years.
I started Twitter and Facebook because I wanted to join their community. I don't know how many times their cheerful voices helped me when I was feeling down or couldn't sleep.
I really appreciate what they do, and wish them happiness. GoGoエイブ会話https://55english.jp ——————————————————————
🗣Do you study English? Join our club! And why not read your monologue. If you are interested, please feel free to contact us.
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In Japan we pray for a safe delivery on the day of the dog in the fifth month of pregnancy. What what whaaaaaat???? The day of dog?

There are many shrines, but each shrine enshrines a different God.

For example an Inari shrine like the famous Husimi Inari enshrines a fox.

We write Inari in Kanji as 稲荷.

So Inari Shrines are built to pray for a good harvest, and foxes prey on grain eating mice.

Suitengu 水天宮 is a shrine that pays homage to water, which is flushed from the body during childbirth for a smooth delivery. Suitengu is famous for safe childbirth and enshrines a dog.

therefore dogs are a symbol for an easy delivery.

Japan has 12 zodiac signs, as you know, and we also use them for days.

Nowadays they are rarely used except to pray for safe childbirth and so on.

So I don’t know the details, but there are 60 combinations with other things.

Don’t ask me what they are though.

Anyway… May 16th was the day of the dog and my daughter is 5months pregnant now so we went Suitengu to pray for a safe birth.

On top of that, that day was a “Taian” 大安 day known as rokuyo.

The Japanese calendar is so complicated!!!

For this reason it was extremely crowded.

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🗣Do you study English? Join our club! And why not read your monologue. If you are interested, please feel free to contact us.

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The first is: “泣いて暮らすも一生、笑って暮らすも一生”
This is originally an old German motto that means, “We will all die someday, so you might as well be positive and make the most of your time while you are alive."

The second motto is: “果報は寝て待て”
It means, “Be patient. Good things come to those who wait.”
For example, if you have a friend who wants to find a good tenant for an apartment, and after a week of only asking acquaintances and no one has shown interest, they might be tempted to lower the rent, or start asking strangers. This is a good time to remind them of this motto.

The last one is: “死ぬこと以外　かすり傷”
It means that you shouldn't get down about problems that you face. As long as you are still alive, you can deal with it, and it's probably not as big as a problem as you are making it in your mind. When I make a mistake and feel depressed, I often try to remember this motto, and say it to myself in order to lift my spirits and move on.
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Thank you for listening, and special thanks to Yuttan and YumiMETAL for their advice! Do you study English? Join our club! Let us know YOUR favorite motto! …I'll be back with another new story. Bye!
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