ETJ Blog

I’ll go to US next month for a business trip and this is the first time. The place I’ll stay and work is San Francisco. I want to go somewhere to visit at weekend. Are there anyone living there giving me some suggestions?

Thanks.

scleonis

Yes, I’m taking a little vacation time and this time I’m traveling with a Tibetan friend of mine. We’re now in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand and it’s really an exciting city. Yesterday was Sunday and there was a big, exciting street festival. I think the whole city was out on the streets, shopping, eating, drinking, playing music … and just having fun!!

I don’t know if you’ve noticed but I just put the complete transcript for ETJ Show 45 (audio and video, parts 1 and 2). I think there’s a lot of useful English conversation in there so please check it out.

Take care,
John

[ETJ Show 45 – part 2 – start transcript]

John: What else, what is your favorite season?

Hiromi:  Fall.

John:  Why do you like the fall?  I really like the fall too. I love autumn.

Hiromi:  Because I was brought up in very cool place.  Hokkaido is a cool place, so I don’t like hot summer. 

John:  Cool like the people are really cool? Like the Japanese say, Kakui or cool.  Cool or temperature cool?

Hiromi:  Temperature cool. 

John:  Temperature cool, okay.  Just testing you.

Hiromi:   I don’t like summer.  I don’t like the cold winter. 

John:  I don’t like summer, like right now, it’s a bit warm but I love winter.

Hiromi:  Yes, I know some love winter.

John:  I like the cold. I like it.

Hiromi:  When I was a kid, I love winter because I could play outside doing skiing, doing skating.  That was a little fun for me, but now…

Read the rest of this entry »

[Start of transcript – ETJ Show 45 – part 1 (audio and video podcast) 

Taiko – Traditional Japanese drumming from this weekend Matsumoto Taiko festival. 

John Koons: Yes, 3, 2, 1. Welcome everyone to the English Teacher John Show.  This is English Teacher John Show No. 45.  My name is John Koons.  I am from…. Where am I from?

Hiromi:  From Philadelphia?

John:  Philadelphia., Pennsylvania, U.S.A. And I now live in Chakow, Russia. 

Hiromi:  No.

John:  No.  Oh, I’m sorry.  Where do I live?

Hiromi:  Matsumoto?

John:  I live in Matsumoto, Japan.  That’s right. So today we have a very special guest, my good friend and perfect English student, Hiromi. Hello.

Hiromi:  Hello.

John:  How are you?

Read the rest of this entry »

Hello John & everyone,

                               This is priti.How are you John? How’s this blog going on? I was not there for some months so can’t visit the blog.Are there any new improvements on this blog?

Waiting for your reply.

Good bye.

Lesson 48 (mp3) | Duration: 17:45 | File Size: 8.21mb | Podcast Page

It’s a friendly chat with Angus and Charlie. We rode our bikes up to the top of Mt. Keshibozu (it’s not REALLY that high!) and had a good conversation and some relaxation.

Let’s learn a little about Angus, his life in England and his girfriend in … ?

John

Lesson 47 (mp3) | Duration: 49:09 | File Size: 19.68mb | Podcast Page

Lesson 47 Video

Yes! Charlie has a lot to tell about completing HALF of his 10,000 km Japan cycling adventure. Hiromi joins me for this interesting interview and chat.

The video is here.

John

I recently found this web page and I can say that, in my personal opinion it´s been very helpful with my English. I´ll keep in touch and learning more English with these great podcasts. Please continue and CONGRATULATIONS on your 1st aniversary.

Best regards,

Edgar / Tepatitlan, Jalisco. MEXICO

Lesson 46 (mp3) | Duration: 13:45 | File Size: 6.38mb | Podcast Page

Hello everyone. I’m John Koons and I’m your host for the English Teacher John Show and our other audio and video podcasts.

It’s summer time, it’s hot and I am pretty lazy these days. You’ve probably noticed that we’ve put out fewer podcasts than usual in the last couple of months. It’s a combination of my summer laziness and getting busy with my teaching work. Although there are only a few new podcasts on our website, I do think that the new ones – podcast 44 and video podcast 45 – (they) have a lot of learning material in them. You’ll see that they’re pretty long and they may take you a while to digest those shows.

And, don’t worry we’ll be producing more video and audio podcasts in the future … for sure!!

SEGMENT 1 – OUR BIRTHDAY

No grammar, no grammar, no grammar. Yeah, we’re going take a break from grammar segments. And it looks like today’s show is going to be a little shorter than our usual audio lesson. Why? Well, because it’s our one-year anniversary and I’m going to do something different. Hey, what’s that …

[Happy birthday music]

Actually, we’re a little late for our one-year birthday party, as the very first English Teacher John Show was published on July 29th, 2005. You know, I’m not someone who likes to look back to the past too much. I’m not completely sure that’s a good thing, but generally I like to think about what I need to do or want to do today, tomorrow and in the near future. I probably should look a little further into the future and have more of a longer-term vision or plan. You know, the “vision” thing.

Besides the need to develop some long-term goals, I think I also need to reflect more on my past experiences. The past and the future. They’re both so much a part of who we are, individually, and as societies.

Well, anyway, it is the one-year anniversary of the English Teacher John Show and let’s listen to a few comments from my friends …
[recording of friends’ comments — sorry for poor audio quality!]

SEGMENT 2 – O-BON – Japanese Holiday

Some of you have written and asked for me to talk more about Japan and the culture here in the country where I now live. Okay, I’ll give you another taste of Japanese culture. The next few days are part of the important holiday period known as O-bon. O-bon is always around the 15th of August and it’s a Buddhist festival in Japan which celebrates the return of the familys’ ancestors to the home. So, it’s a time where most people return to their hometowns and spend time with their families. Traditionally, families visit and clean the graves of their ancestors. Well, my wife is from an area of western Honshu island called Tottori and that’s where we’re headed tomorrow morning early. We’ll leave the house around 6 am, catch a bus to Osaka. I think we have some free time in Osaka (which is Japan’s second largest city), then we’ll be on another bus to Tottori. Yep, it takes all day. I think that even if we had a car it wouldn’t be much faster.

I’ll have a lot of time on buses tomorrow, so I just downloaded a bunch of podcasts from my favorite Japanese learning website, japanesepod101.com.

We’re going to stay with my wife’s family for about four days, then we’ll spend a night in the big city of Osaka. We may even visit Japan’s largest castle, which is called Himejijo or Himeji Castle. Japan’s largest castle is west of Kobe, and the city of Kobe is west of Osaka. West, west west. And, guess what? Yes, Osaka is about 500 kilometers west of the capital city, Tokyo.

You’ve probably heard of the superfast and super sleek Japanese “bullet train.” Well, here in Japan we call it the “Shinkansen” and no, we’re not going to take the Shinkansen tomorrow. First of all, it doesn’t go to Tottori, and second, it’s pretty expensive. I’ve been on it once or twice and yes, it is pretty fun to cruise along at something around 250 or 300 kilometers per hour. Yeah!

SEGMENT 3 – SOME THOUGHTS FOR THOSE SUFFERING (Middle East conflict)

Before signing off, I’d like to send out some wishes for an end to the suffering and conflict in Lebanon. I know it’s a very complicated issue and I just hope that the violence comes to an end soon. Also, I know there are other people out there who are also suffering – from hunger, war, abuse, poverty, psychological problems, disease and lots of other things – so especially in these recent days of conflict shown to many us in the newspapers, magazines, the online world, let’s all hope for brighter days ahead, and lets hope for an eventual end to the large-scale suffering that’s happening in the Middle East and so many other parts of the world.

SEGMENT 4 – SIGNOFF

Hey, I know that some of you have visited the video page on our website and checked out our latest video podcast number 45, and interview with my friend, neighbor and student, Hiromi, a very special person. The video interview is in 2 parts and right now I just have part 1 on the website. Video part 2 is coming soon so please check the website regularly. And don’t forget that the audio for the complete interview is on our podcast page.

All of our video and audio podcasts, some transcripts, our blog and more are close at hand at englishteacherjohn.com. Our email address is p o d c a s t –AT- english teacher john.com.

Thanks for listening to the show today, my name is John Koons, and I wish you a happy and peaceful weekend. Take care.

Thanks to Martin Chenhall, our music man.

Lesson 45 (mp3) | Duration: 81:45 | File Size: 37.51mb | Podcast Page

Lesson 45 VIDEO

An interview with Hiromi — my good friend, neighbor and English student.

Hey, this is a looooooooooooooooooooooonngggg interview so sit back, listen, learn and enjoy. And, maybe a good cold glass of iced tea will help to cool you down while listening!

Hiromi gives us a unique Japanese perspective on many different topics.
Listen to her advanced level of English, and I think you’ll be motivated to improve your speaking skills.

Intro and outro music is TAIKO traditional Japanese drumming, from this weekend’s Matsumoto (Japan) Taiko Festival.

The video of this show is here.

Listen and learn, and don’t forget to write your comments right here under this blog post.
John