TOEIC

Congratulations to Aya who got 830 points in TOEIC! Her score has gone up a lot since her last TOEIC test. Recently Toshihiro also got his best ever TOEIC score (725) and so did Kyoko (800). I am very proud of my students' achievements. Well done! Studying at London Bridge English definitely improves your English a lot!

侍ブルー

Last night, Japan won the Asian Cup. Did you watch it? It was a close match and by the end of full-time there were no goals. However, in the second half of extra-time, Lee scored for Japan. Australia failed to score despite their aggressive attacking style and repeated attempts on goal. The Samurai Blues triumphed to be crowned Asian football champions; a well deserved victory.

サッカー

Tonight is the Asian Cup final between Japan and Australia. I hope you will all stay up and watch it despite the late hour. Here is a chant to help you support Japan:

Meat pie, sausage roll, come on Japan score a goal!

In England, the word football is more common than soccer.

線香

Sometimes I burn incense in my office. Last week, some members were discussing what kind of incense I was burning. In English we have two words: incense stick or joss stick; both words have the same meaning.

ラーメン＆餃子

I like ramen and gyouza. In England we say noodles and (Chinese) dumplings respectively. Machida is full of noodle shops/restaurants, each with its own style. I usually go to the same place, 山一ラーメン屋さん、because it's so good. Thanks to Takahiro for recommending it!

I've heard noodles and dumplings are not healthy so we shouldn't eat them too often. Do you agree?

インフルエンザ

Japan is currently experiencing a flu epidemic. Many people are suffering from typical symptoms like fever, sore throat, coughing, headache, joint pain, runny nose and phlegm.

If you consult a doctor you will probably be prescribed antibiotics and other medicine.

My advice is to stay wrapped up in bed, drink plenty of hot fluid and sweat it out!

Please stay healthy and remember this expression:
Coughs and sneezes spread diseases.

薬屋

Where can I buy medicine? Traditionally in Britain, we buy medicine from a chemist's (= chemist's shop) but nowadays we say pharmacy; the meaning is the same. In the USA, you would go to a drugstore to buy medicine. In many countries, pharmacies display a green cross so we can find them easily.

ワイン

I went to a shop yesterday to research some wine for the next wine tasting event. Toru showed me the shop as he is a regular customer. While we were walking there, he asked me what we call that type of shop in English. In the USA, they say liquor store but in Britain we usually say off licence. We may also say wine shop or wine merchant for a business that specifically sells wine.

I bought a bottle of manzanilla sherry, a bottle of Chardonnay and a bottle of tawny port; I tried various types of red wine but could not find a good one. My favourite grape variety is Tempranillo; yesterday's selection was a Merlot, a Syrah and a Tempranillo-Cabernet Sauvignon blend.

Toru and I are planning the next wine tasting event to be announced soon.

おめでとう！

Congratulations to Rumiko and Takahiro on their engagement! I seem to have been an unwitting matchmaker because they met at London Bridge English.

Pseudo-

I have recently told a few people about a restaurant near my office where I had a nice lunch. People said it is a Spanish restaurant but I described it as pseudo-Spanish; this is because it is not authentic. Pseudo- is a prefix used with nouns and adjectives to show something is not authentic, genuine or real. For example:

• Hub is a chain of pseudo-British pubs in Japan.
• 発泡酒 is pseudo-beer.

Although it was a pseudo-Spanish restaurant, I still recommend it; the food was good.

Cold feet

The other day, Makiko asked me about the expression cold feet. We describe a person as having cold feet if they lose their confidence and decide not to do an important action. For example:

• The wedding was suddenly cancelled because the groom had cold feet.
• Mr Sato didn't speak at the conference because he got cold feet.
• Satomi has cold feet so she won't be playing piano in the concert.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everybody!
Thank you for your support during 2010.
I look forward to seeing you all in 2011.