English Learners Club(ELC)

ELC
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This podcast is a program that reads out a monologue created as a homework assignment for the online English lesson "FREEBIRD English". https://www.55freebird.com Do you study English? Join my club! And why not read your monologue. If you are interested, please feel free to contact us. smsgil0228@gmail.com

  1. 120【Lady in the sky】Roman Holiday ep.2

    May 23

    120【Lady in the sky】Roman Holiday ep.2

    For our trip to Italy, we booked everything with our smartphones—just tapping away. Cheap flights, hotels, tickets to St. Peter’s Basilica, even the high-speed train from Rome to Salerno. Honestly, I felt like all you need for international travel these days is your passport, a credit card, and your phone… And I think that’s what led to me getting a little overconfident. I was thinking, “No problem, we’ll just connect to the internet with an eSIM as soon as we arrive. And if English doesn’t work, I can just use Google Translate to communicate in Italian. It’s all figured out! Piece of cake! I’m unstoppable!” On the other hand, my husband is still very analog… He was like, “I don’t trust that stuff. We should have everything on paper, just in case.” He insisted we print everything out, so I did—just to make him feel better. We arrived in Rome around 8 p.m. Okay, time to connect the eSIM and use Google Maps to get to our hotel… but no matter how many times I tried, it just wouldn’t work. I started to panic. I had heard the area around Termini Station wasn’t very safe, so the idea of getting lost there at night was really scary. And then—my husband calmly pulled out a paper guidebook from his backpack and said, “I memorized the map just in case.” And I’m not even kidding—he started walking confidently like he’d been there before, barely even looking at the map. And somehow… we made it safely to the hotel. We were starving by then, so we went to a restaurant near the hotel that he had already researched. That was our first meal in Rome—pizza Margherita. The inside of the restaurant kind of looked like Saizeriya, but wow, everything tasted amazing! Seeing my husband lead the way like that made him seem more confident and reliable than usual… and it kind of brought back the feelings from our honeymoon.

    5 min
  2. 119【Yuttan】Lovely Aukland

    May 2

    119【Yuttan】Lovely Aukland

    We flew from Australia to New Zealand, then took a bus from Auckland airport to Sky city which was near our Airbnb. Google said it was a 10-minute walk on flat ground from the bus stop to the AirBnB. We felt like that was manageable, so we started walking with our heavy suitcases. Google lied!🤥 The city of Auckland is made up of steep hills except around the harbor. As elderly travelers, were  huffing and puffing right away.  Some very kind locals offered to give us a lift, but I smiled and said we were fine.  To be honest, I was completely exhausted though. Auckland is a very beautiful city where urban life and nature mix seamlessly. In particular the yacht harbor is a sight to behold.  Over 2000 yachts are moored there. I was surprised to hear that a building that looks  like a giant Japanese multi story parking garage is entirely for yachts! We stayed in Auckland for 6 days, spending our time relaxing.  We went to some small islands using public buses and ferries.  We strolled around leisurely, stopping for tea whenever we felt like it. Public transportation was cheap and very convenient as you could just tap your credit card to pay. By the way, we celebrated the New Year in Auckland. We heard that fireworks would be displayed at the Sky Tower and we wanted to see them…. But we got tired of the crowds and decided to just go to bed.  We fell asleep with the festival commotion outside as our lullaby.

    4 min
  3. 118【Lady in the sky】Roman Holiday ep.1

    Apr 24

    118【Lady in the sky】Roman Holiday ep.1

    My husband and I got married 30 years ago, back when Japan’s economy was still strong. For our honeymoon, we chose a Caribbean resort in Jamaica. To be honest, we were torn between seeing the historic sites of Rome in Italy and just kicking back on the beach at an all-inclusive resort in Jamaica. My husband had already been to Paris and London when he was a student, and since Jamaica was much farther from Japan, he said, “Let’s go to Jamaica! Don’t worry baby, I’ll take you to Italy soon anyway.” So, we picked Jamaica, and off course, it was an unforgettable honeymoon. Over the next 30 years, we raised two children and cared for my husband’s parents until the end of their lives. Our days were busy, and time just flew by. I would sometimes mention the Italy trip that he promised me, but there were always reason why we couldn’t go… he couldn’t take time off, or it was too expensive for our situation at the time. So when we did travel it was always to somewhere nearby. We never went further than Southeast Asia. This year, when we were talking about our next trip, he asked me, “How about Vietnam?” …but I had waited long enough! “When the hell are you actually going to take me to Italy!? With things like COVID and wars happening unexpectedly, if we keep saying ‘next time,’ we might miss our chance!” I said to him. That finally convinced him. Now, after 30 years of waiting, we’re finally leaving Asia and heading to Europe. Our long-awaited Roman holiday, three decades in the making, has finally begun!

    4 min
  4. 117【Alissa】Looking Back on My 6-Year Journey Learning English

    Apr 16

    117【Alissa】Looking Back on My 6-Year Journey Learning English

    It’s surprising that six years have already passed since I started studying English again. I vividly remember my buried passion for English reemerging when I saw a YouTube video of a bilingual Japanese lady traveling around the world using English fluently and effortlessly. Before I knew it, I was drawn in, and studying English quickly became part of my daily life. In the first three years, I was obsessed with exploring all the new ways of studying that didn’t exist when I was a student, like taking online lessons, watching YouTube videos created by native speakers, and listening to podcasts. There were days when I felt like I was really improving, but there were also days when I completely lost confidence. It was like an emotional roller coaster back then. However, about four years into this journey, something changed. It felt like English was no longer something outside of me that I was trying to grasp. It started to feel like the language had been embedded in me. I suddenly started to actually enjoy reading English books, and began learning more naturally rather than constantly seeking new learning methods. Now I don’t feel overwhelmed when I encounter new words or confusing phrases. I tend to get a thrill that there’s something new I can learn, and there is no shortage of these thrills! Looking back, I feel like everything I’ve done was necessary, even though I felt I was not making any progress at that time. Most importantly, the greatest treasure has been the unexpected gifts along the way, discovering what I love and meeting amazing people. They mean even more to me than the language itself!

    4 min
  5. 116【Etsuko】Beyond the Classroom

    Apr 9

    116【Etsuko】Beyond the Classroom

    Thanks for tuning in to the English Learners Club. You know, learning English isn't just about grammar and pronunciation—it's about the wonderful people we meet along the way! Today, I want to tell you a story about respect, family, and a very special person. All right then, let's dive in. Among the listeners of the 'GoGo Abe Kaiwa' podcast, there are many fascinating women. Today, I’d like to talk about one of them, who is a Japanese English teacher. I first heard about her from one of the podcast hosts. He expressed great respect for her on the show. It all started with a message she sent him on his birthday: 'Happy birthday! Your birthday is also a day that reminds you to thank your mother for giving birth to you.' What a sweet message! I was deeply moved by her words. Later, I heard her being interviewed on another program and I found myself hanging on her every word. After that, I started listening to a podcast she does with her friends, where they speak both English and Japanese. Her voice is charming, and I found her personality so intriguing—she sounds serious and responsible when speaking Japanese, but when she speaks English, she has a beautiful accent, and she comes across as incredibly sociable and cheerful. I truly understood where she got her lovely character when I met her mother. Her mother was modest, refined, and dignified—the epitome of a quintessential Japanese mother. Her posts on social media often show how much she cherishes her family. There are many other sides to her besides being a teacher. For instance, when she dances, she demonstrates grace and a vibrance that is captivating. She’s quite a bit younger than me, but my respect for her grows every time we meet. We both have had ups and downs in life. My message to her is this… “Hey! Let’s make some lemonade from Hiroshima lemons, laugh, and chug it down in beer mugs!🍋🍺” Thank you for listening! Keep learning, keep practicing, and always remember to have fun. See you in the next episode. Bye for now!

    4 min
  6.  115【Yuttan】 Journey to Australia and New Zealand

    Feb 10

     115【Yuttan】 Journey to Australia and New Zealand

    Last Christmas, my husband and I were in Sydney. We left the cold Japanese winter for Sydney in midsummer. It was late at night when we left the airport and the temperature was 28 degrees. We were excited about sightseeing the next day. First we headed to Sydney University where Harry Potter likely studied. Our hotel was close to Central Station, so we decided to take the train. Central Station itself is old and beautiful. It is huge and there are 25 platforms.  We had no idea which platform our train was, but a kind lady came and asked us if we were ok. We finally got on the train. Bu~~~~~~t it didn’t stop at the station we wanted to get off at!  It finally stopped several stations later and then we caught a train back again. By the way, from that day until we left, the sun was shining brightly, but there was always a cool breeze that kept the temperature low.  The hotel staff said the weather was strange. Some people wore tank tops, but others wore down jackets. We felt very hot the night before, so we went out with light clothes. My husband felt sick and stayed at the hotel on the third day. As soon as I came back from walking alone with thick clothes,there was a loud siren and an announcement to evacuate. Fortunately there wasn’t actually a fire. This is how the journey started. I’ll tell you more in the next monologue!

    3 min
  7. 114【Etsuko】The Penguin Lessons

    Jan 9

    114【Etsuko】The Penguin Lessons

    Hello, everyone. Welcome back to the English Learners Club. I'm Etsuko, and today, I'll talk about a movie called "The Penguin Lessons." I saw "The Penguin Lessons" at a movie theater last week. Before seeing it, I had heard about it and read a short teaser for it, which went as follows: “Inspired by the true story of a disillusioned Englishman named Tom who went to work at a school in Argentina in 1976. Expecting an easy ride, Tom discovers a divided nation and a class of unteachable students. However, after he rescues a penguin from an oil-slicked beach, his life is turned upside-down! The reasons I picked this movie were: 1) my birthday was coming up, so I wanted to take a day off work and go somewhere on a weekday, 2) it was cold outside, so I wanted to be indoors, and 3) it didn't have excellent reviews, but the penguin looked cute, so I said to my self, “hey, why not!" And decided to watch it. I didn’t set my expectations very high, but I was surprised! It was excellent! The penguin was cute, of course, and the lead actor's performance was fantastic. He brilliantly portrayed an intelligent English teacher who had lost motivation due to an unfortunate incident in his past, but then is faced with unforeseen challenges after being transferred to a non-English speaking country. I liked how the director portrayed the gradual changes in the atmosphere around him using the classroom scenes. For us English learners, the English poetry lessons were fascinating, even though it’s just a movie. Since watching this movie, I've been thinking deeply about many things that came up in it. Needless to say, I will definitely watch it again when I get the chance. This was the best movie of the year for me. Thank you for listening! Keep learning, keep practicing, and always remember to have fun. See you in the next episode. Bye for now!

    4 min

  8. 12/31/2025

    113【Alissa】Shaking Off Bad Luck

    A few weeks ago, I had an accident. It wasn’t serious, but one of my belongings fell over and hit a parked car. After I heard the thud and realized what had happened, it felt like time had stopped. I just stood there, not knowing what to say or do. Then I snapped back to reality and apologized profusely to the car’s owner, and we exchanged contact information. Even though I was able to remain calm on the outside, I couldn’t calm down right away. My mind was racing as I imagined the consequences. What if it costs 2 or 300,000yen? What if there's hidden damage underneath? I kept replaying the moment it fell over and over, thinking, "Why wasn't I more careful? How could I let this happen?” I tried everything to calm down. I talked to ChatGPT and did some journaling in the hope that this anxiety would go away. About a week later, I finally got the estimate, and it was for 78,000 yen. It was painful, but at the same time, I felt unexpectedly calm and all my anxious thoughts and feelings had completely gone. It made me realize how uncertainty amplifies our fears, and even if it is painful, clarity often comes with peace of mind. When things are unclear, negative thoughts start to swirl, and we imagine the worst case scenario. Anyway, no one was hurt, and now it’s all taken care of. Now, I try to think of it as having shaken off all my bad luck before the year ends. With that mindset, I’m ready to start the new year fresh!

    3 min
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This podcast is a program that reads out a monologue created as a homework assignment for the online English lesson "FREEBIRD English". https://www.55freebird.com Do you study English? Join my club! And why not read your monologue. If you are interested, please feel free to contact us. smsgil0228@gmail.com

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