Eating durian is illegal

Photo taken by : Steve Bennett

Eating or bringing durian is especially prohibited in Singapore trains! It has also been prohibited in airplanes.

Durian has been well known because of its distinctive smell. Many say it stinks like garbage, lavatory, corpse. But Alfred Russel Wallace, a naturalist from Britain positively describes durian:

the five cells are silky-white within, and are filled with a mass of firm, cream-coloured pulp, containing about three seeds each. This pulp is the edible part, and its consistence and flavour are indescribable. A rich custard highly flavoured with almonds gives the best general idea of it, but there are occasional wafts of flavour that call to mind cream-cheese, onion-sauce, sherry-wine, and other incongruous dishes. Then there is a rich glutinous smoothness in the pulp which nothing else possesses, but which adds to its delicacy. It is neither acid nor sweet nor juicy; yet it wants neither of these qualities, for it is in itself perfect. It produces no nausea or other bad effect, and the more you eat of it the less you feel inclined to stop. In fact, to eat Durians is a new sensation worth a voyage to the East to experience. ... as producing a food of the most exquisite flavour it is unsurpassed.

pulp = the inner part of a fruit

edible = can be eaten

indescribable = difficult to describe well

waft = scent or smell (something carried through the air)

incongruous = strangely combined

glutinous = sticky

nausea = having an uncomfortable stomach and feeling of wanting to vomit

voyage = travel

exquisite = very beautiful

unsurpassed = the best

What do you think about durian?

for and to

I sent the letter to you.

OR

I sent the letter for you.

"I sent the letter to you."
means:
I sent you the letter.
You are going to receive the letter.

" I sent the letter for you."
means:
I went to the post office to send the letter because you cannot send it yourself.
I am doing you a favor.

Some verbs behave this way with the prepositions "to" and "for".
The following are similar to the example above:

1. THROW
Throw the ball to him. (Hit him using the ball.)
Throw the ball for him. (Do him a favor. He cannot throw the ball himself.)

2. READ
The mother read a story to her child.
The translator read the document written in Japanese for Mr. Smith.

3. WRITE
Carlos wrote a letter to the president.
The lawyer actually wrote that letter for Carlos.

4. TEACH
Mrs. Chan taught Mandarin to the students.
When Mrs. Chan is absent, Mr. Liu taught (the students) for her.

5. EXPLAIN
Martin will explain the project to the Russian clients.
(Martin has not yet arrived.) Susan explained the project for Martin (instead of Martin).

_____ end _____

Adjectives

Let's widen your vocabulary!

Think of an adjective that you could form using these nouns and verbs.

1. agriculture
2. associate
3. desire
4. element
5. energy
6. communicate
7. fate
8. contribute
9. glory
10. honor
11. idea
12. initiative
13. declaration
14. frustrate
15. comprehend

Answers:

1. agricultural
2. associative
3. desirable
4. elementary
5. energetic
6. communicable
7. fatal
8. contributory
9. glorious
10. honorable
11. ideal
12. initial
13. declarative
14. frustrating
15. comprehensive

Must May Might Could

It's O'bon season in Japan.

It must be a good holiday for everybody.

The streets may be crowded.

The people might be going back to their hometowns.

Or they might just stay home to relax. Right?

My friend in Japan hasn't replied to my mail yet.

He could be in his hometown now.

When will O'bone season end?




☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Must, May, Might, Could are called MODALS in English.


We can use them to show HOW SURE we are when making a GUESS

1- It must be a good holiday for everybody
-----I am 95% sure

2- The streets may be busy
-----I am 50% sure

3- The people might be going back to their hometowns.
-----I am less than 50% sure

4- He could be in his hometown now.
-----This is a very weak guess.

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Must or Have to?

From today, I will start my little tutorials in English.

Our first lesson is about Must and Have to?

When do we use these English modals?

1. Must is a strong order
Like when a mother tells her son to stop playing.
Mother : Hiro, stop playing! You must study now!
Hiro : Ok mom.
* Hiro needs to do it because his mother will get angry.

2. Have to tells about a duty
Like when a sister tells her brother to stop playing because mother will get angry.
Sister : Hiro, stop playing! You have to study now. If not, mom will get angry.
Hiro : Ok.
* Hiro needs to do it because another person (not Sister) will get angry.

Another example:

Daisuke: You have to get a high TOEIC score to enter that company.
Masahiro: I see. I need to study hard.
* Masahiro needs to do it because the company (not Daisuke) will not accept him.




_______________________________________________________

Desserts

What's your favorite dessert?


Your choice will tell me about your personalilty.



a. mango float





b. black forest cake






c. fresh fruits




d. ice cream





Tell me which one you like best?

Kadayawan

I went to a mall yesterday.

... just walking around

... window shopping

... sipping hot chocolate

... people watching

A tune kept playing. It reminded me of durian ...

...... and street dancing

It was the Kadayawan tune. And the Kadayawan fever is on!

Kadayawan is a festival in Davao City which is celebrated mainly for thanksgiving for the abundant harvest of fruits and flowers. The city's celebration is going to start on August 17.

I'm looking forward to seeing beautiful flower floats and lots of fruits sold on the streets.

Happy Kadayawan!

Egg or Chicken? Which came first?

Egg or Chicken? Which came first?



According to Charles Darwin, species change over time. An animal, not exactly a chicken but similar to a chicken, existed before the chicken and must have laid the first egg. So the EGG must have come first before the chicken did! ^^

卵 or チキン? Which came first?

Happy Nation

Do you know who the happiest people in the world are?

Take a guess with a couple of clues I’d give:

- Hamlet is one of them.

- Hans Christian Andersen is another.

Yes, they are the Danes! It’s Denmark - the “Epicenter of Bliss”, haven of the most joyous beings, or simply the world’s happiest place. That is according to a research at England's University of Leicester

Wonder what their secret to happiness is?

Well, the research said that indeed Denmark is one of the richest countries in the world. However, it does not end in that alone. The Danes are contented not only because of their wealth but also because of the high regard for freedom and equality in their country.

As I was reading about Denmark in Wikipedia, I learned that Denmark is the first country in the world to grant marriage rights to same sex individuals, i.e. gay marriage. Wow! This must have gained a lot of criticism from around the world. But well, the Danes have become contented and happier with these kinds of laws.

How about you, if you were asked to rate your happiness and degree of contentment with your life now, what would you say? And what measures your happiness?

I hope you feel like a Dane too. Happy and contented.

Hisashiburi!!!! ("It's good to back." in Nihongo)

Great to make noise again after a long 2-week silence...

I got a lot of things to catch up. But nothing to worry about. Slowly, slowly, I will catch up, surely!

Got a bunch of not so pleasant news from the television and the internet: Michael Jackson's sadly leaving the world's music scene; Flu virus continuing to infect people; Bombings happening here and around the world; and a whole lot more.

I wasn't saved from those who were showered with bad luck and unpleasant happenings. I wish to forget and am trying to erase from my memory an experience that caused my 2-week hiatus. Well, bad news has always been around. And I was not able fight bad luck that time.

I hope to hear some good news soon. Aah, good news is.. I am here and can start writing my blogs again.

See you around!

Practice is the Key

A lot of people say Mathematics is difficult. In fact, many students hate Math. I was one of them too. I remember, the biggest difficult I had in my elementary days - Memorize the multiplication table. I spent one whole night barely sleeping only to memorize this. The next day, I was asked to go in front of class to recite. As I expected, I flunked. After 5 times 5, I became silent and could not continue reciting. I could not forget that experience. I finished Elementary not liking Math. When solving Math problems, I always have long solutions but wrong answers. Sad thing is, my long solution did not get even one point for effort. I had a number of zeros in quizzes and tests.

I considered this a challenge. If my classmates can be good at Math, why can’t I? I saw how fulfilled they were when they present their correct answers before everybody in class. I wanted to feel that fulfillment too. I was frustrated. But it challenged me. When I get back home and find free time, I open my Math book to go back solving the problems again. I did this many times. I practiced resolving, and when I have more time, I solved some in advance. It's funny because I also practie how I will present my answer in front of class. I lock up in my room and then pretend I was in class. When I get to class, I still hesitate to raise my hand but sometimes luck allows me to be chosen to present my answer before everyone. At times, my answers were wrong. Sometimes, right. This made me really happy and motivated to continue learning Math.

And who would believe, I took Mathematics as my major in college! Yes I did. I wanted to experience more time for Math to find fun in learning it. I enjoyed it, indeed. And what made me really fulfilled is that I finished all my college Math subjects with flying colors!

Now, would you say English is hard to learn? Well, I would say, Yes! In fact, English grammar is really complicated. There exists English grammar rules, but there are more exceptions to these rules. This may be what makes it difficult to learn. But just like Math, practice is the key! Find time to experience English more no matter how difficult it may be, then you will be able to discover the fun in learning it!

English Language Schools

Nowadays, English studying has risen to popularity everywhere around the globe. Thus, the very high demand for English teachers. Learners seek for "teachers" who can make their English improve by teaching them either face to face or virtually through the internet. A number of language learning centers and online schools have sprouted like mushrooms in the past 2 or 3 years following this high demand.

However, with great quantity came low quality. Because of the growing number of students wishing to study English, learning became business and the pursuit for student improvement became secondary to profit. We can now find "teachers", as they call themselves, who provide the venue for English practice as chatting mates, talking buddies, and the like but do not really infuse language learning.

Providing the venue for English practice is a very important stage in learning English. But of course before one can practice something, he/she needs to learn it first. For advance learners who already know the basics of the language and may have a wide knowledge about grammar, they still need to learn something new. If they only practice through chatting, their language knowledge is stagnant and will remain at that level. Advance learners always have a room for some new learning. Language is dynamic. It changes, improves, and widens its scope. Even English speakers and teachers learn something new everyday!

Online English Teacher

My name is Laurie. I am an online English teacher.

From more than 2 years of experience, I have discovered (and am still continuing to discover) many things about learning and teaching English online. One is that a great number of people from all over the world has considered the English language as an important base to communicate globally in the fields of business, politics, education, and even leisure.

If you are one of those who need to learn English, you would probably ask, what is the most effective way to learn? My answer is simple.

They say "To learn Math, you have to DO math!" It is never enough to memorize math formulas. What finally completes the learning is when you are able to use the correct formulas in solving problems. In the same way, to learn any language, you have to SPEAK the language! You can memorize words and rules in grammar but learning will not take place until you are able to use what you memorized. And that happens only when you are able to practice and use them in a real conversation with a real person, of course not with your grammar book or with a robot! ^^

Another important factor to make your studying effective is to find fun while learning. Studying English is fun! Speaking English is more fun!