2007年11月16日
Top ten lists
Hi Everyone,
It seems like most of you know exactly what 'flow' feels like, and I'm glad so many of you feel it when you are studying English! Come to think of it, I used to feel that way about studying kanji as well.
Hi Numa - welcome to the blog. I thought your comment was very well organized. I hope you will join us for some other topics as well.
Do any of you remember Umida? She is the woman from Uzbekistan who runs the World Plaza at my university. I did an interview with her on the blog last year. (Which reminds me, I should do some more interviews.) Anyway, Umida has asked me to do a presentation at the World Plaza on Monday, and the topic is "My top ten favourite things."
For me, the top 5 are easy because they are my bikes or things I use for my bikes, but there are plenty of other things I like as well. Here are some examples:
1. Chocolate (especially Royce chocolate from Hokkaido - I think it is the best chocolate in the world)
2. Bananas (I make juice with them every morning.)
3. Computers (I need them to do all my writing and to do this blog!)
4. iPods (I have 3. I think they are the best invention in the history of the world)
5. Sunsets
6. Books that make me think
7. Onsens (especially in Hokkaido in winter)
8. The fashion for low-rise jeans and short T-shirts
9. Playing the piano and singing (when no one is listening!)
10. Mountains
Anyway, that is not really a proper list, just some of the things I like. I thought it would be interesting if you all wrote your 'top ten' lists about different things. For example, you could write a list of your top ten favourite things to eat, your top ten favourite songs, your top ten things to buy in a convenience store - anything is okay! Actually, you could do negative things too - my top ten pet hates, my top ten worst movies... I am very interested to see what kinds of things you write about. By the way, my top ten pet hates would be:
1. Smoking
2. Parents who put children in the front seat of cars without a seat belt
3. People who use telephones while driving
4. Japanese comedians (sorry, but I just cannot understand why people think they are funny!)
5. Japanese TV programmes about food where someone eats something, looks really surprised, and then says 美味しい！(and beer commercials where some drinks some beer and says, ああ！うまい！Can't they think of any different things to say???)
6. Religion (but we won't go back to that!)
7. Driving in cities and traffic jams
8. Hospitals (which is unfortunate because I spend a lot of time in them)
9. High school boys who wear their trousers so low that it looks like they are going to fall down
10. The fashion for wearing jeans under skirts (I think that has finished now, thankfully)
What else? How about my top ten places in Japan? That's difficult, but a lot of them would be in Hokkaido because that is the place I know best. Anyway, I'm looking forward to hearing your 'top tens'.
Have a great weekend.
David
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Comments
少し訂正：
That's sound interesting！→That sounds interesting!
Anne
- 匿名
- 2007年11月16日 17:13
Hi ぬま,
Nice to have you with us! Your comment was really good and I understand it well. I hope you will join us again soon.
Hi The one who helped me and Anne,
Thanks for your help! ‘Sidetrack’is one verb, is it? Now I understand the sentence. (Amica, やっとスッキリ出来たね～＾＾)
Hi Steve,
I understand the last sentence you wrote because someone with no name and Anne helped me. Communicating with you in English is good study for us, and to tell the truth, we often get off the track from the topic, but David let us do it. That is the way this blog is:) I'd like to hear more comments from you!
Hi David,
Of course I remember Umida! How is she doing? I'd like to meet her again.(Of course I'd like to meet you as well;-)
Your favorite girl's name is ‘Ai’(愛)？ Oh, that's why you call your car navigation system ‘Ai chan’?(Sorry, if you wanted to keep this secret, but Umida told me..)
Today's topic is going to be fun, I'll write about my 'top tens' later.
See you soon,
Tomo
- Tomo
- 2007年11月16日 17:43
Hi Amica,
Steve told us about him. He posted the comment on the last topic, and he also gave us an explanation about 'sidetrack'. Please have a look at it;-)
Hi Everyone,
Are you having a good weekend? I had a relaxed time today.
I made a list of my favorite things to eat and drink.
1. Spicy food(like kimchi, tacos..)
2. Chocolate(I like simple one with no nuts or cream. David, Royce chocolate is the best in the world? Oh, I've got to try it!)
3. Ice cream(chocolate, vanilla, maccha(抹茶).., any flavor but except choc-mint(チョコミント)これだけはダメ。。)
4. Fried chicken
5. Spaghetti
6. Clam chowder
7. Oden(おでん)
8. One-pot cooking(お鍋)
9. Coffee
10. Sparkling wine
7と8は今の季節ならではですね。 Actually, I enjoyed No.8 with my family tonight.
Ｉ'm going to make another 'top ten' lists later.
See you soon,
Tomo
- Tomo
- 2007年11月17日 22:39
Hi David and Everyone,
This topic sounds fun!
I like music, so I write about my top ten favorite singers.
1.Edita Gruberova (Opera singer. I want to sing like her!)
2.Barbara Bonney (Opera and lied singer. She has a clear voice.)
3.The Manhattan Transfer (The jazz chorus group which has 2 male and 2 female. They have perfect singing ability!)
4.Ella Fitzgerald (Jazz singer)
5.Westlife (The male chorus group)
6.Nat King Cole (Jazz singer)
7.Sarah Brightman
8.Stevie Wonder
9.Sarah Mclachlan (Singer and songwriter)
10.Celtic Women (The female music group. The song "You raise me up" they sing became famous song because Shizuka Arakawa used it when she skated on ice in the exhibition of the winter Olympics. )
I'll write other my top ten favorite things later.
Hi Anne and 名前を書かれなかった方、
ありがとうございます！
本当、スッキリしました（＾＾）
Hi Tomo,
Thanks! I read Steve's comment.
By the way, You like spicy food? I can't eat spicy food...
I like chocolate, too! Though I like chocolate with nut.
You ate お鍋 tonight? Me too!
I and my family ate "とり野菜味噌鍋".
Do you know it?
Hi Steve,
Thanks fou your explanation.
I'm glad to hear about you.
See you soon,
Amica
- Amica
- 2007年11月17日 23:19
Hi David,
I laughed when I read your top ten pet hates 'No.5.' Your are right, everyone says ‘美味しい！’, ‘ああ！うまい！’(You are very good at copying them!), but for me, they are natural. I don't think they have to say different things. ‘美味しい！’, ‘ああ！うまい！’ make us want to try the food or the beer. Of course, there are some people saying different things like ‘○○と△△のハーモニー’or ‘味の博覧会’(←これは誰だっけ・・？(笑)), but I don't like it. おいしいものはおいしいし、素直な感想でいいんじゃないかと思います。 まぁ、みんな同じリアクションなので、その中にはそうでもないものもありそうですけど・・。 特にビール好きな人にはあの‘ゴクッゴクッ’という音と｢ああ！うまい！｣がたまらないみたいですよ。 I don't like beer, though.
Japanese people often say the same thing, you know. It sounds strange to you or English speakers because in your culture, people try to say different things or use different expressions. It's one of the cultural differences, isn't it? It's very interesting.
Hi Amica,
You too? You ate お鍋 tonight? 今日は寒かったので、お鍋を食べた人がたくさんいそうですね。 とり野菜味噌鍋?? 初めて聞いたけどおいしそうだね～＾＾ うちはお肉も野菜もお魚もシーフードも何でもありのお鍋でした。 ・・これって何鍋だろう??(笑)
By the way, about your top ten favorite singers, I only know 'Stevie Wonder'! Ha ha ha..
It is fun to make 'top ten' lists, isn't it? 次は何にしようかな～。 Top 10 って意外と悩むのよね。。
I'll go to bed now. Good night.
Tomo
- Tomo
- 2007年11月18日 00:14
Hi David and everyone,
I chose 'my favorite things'.
1. Sweets (chocolate, omanzyu,cakes,..
everything!! ha,ha,ha)
2. Baby's smile ( the touch of a baby...makes me
happy!)
3. Books(ranging from novels to the ones which
make me think)
4. Fragrances of herbs
5. Josh Groban's songs
6. Casual and sometimes a little heated talks(not a
quarrel!) with my husband
( his a little ironic and witty way or tone of
speaking)
7. The season which scent orange osmanthus
（金木犀）
８．Anderson Cooper(CNN anchor He motivates me
to study English a lot! a thing?)
9. Onsens
10. Computer (It widened my world.)
There are many things which I like, so it was so difficult to choose.
Hi Tomo,
I kike ice cream,too, and choc-mint comes to my top three!!
As for oden, we season with red miso adding to kantouni(関東煮）around chubu area, and I love that way.
Hi Amica,
I didn't know the name of opera singers.Sarah Mclachlan's voice is so beautiful, isn't it? She sometimes dose joint concerts(or sings together) with Josh Groban. And if you have a chance , please listen to ' You raise me up' by Josh Groban. His version is also beautiful.
Have a nice weekend a little more,
Bye for now,
Anne
- Anne
- 2007年11月18日 14:44
Hi Anne,
I know Josh Groban and "You raise me up" of his version, but I didn't know he does joint concert with Sarah Mclachlan.
Do you know Westlife sing that song too?
Their version is wonderful, too!
Yes, Sarah Mclachlan's voice is so beautiful.
I like her song "Fallen".
Why I don't know, when I listen to that song, I shed a few tears.
You like casual and a little heated talks with your husband?
きっと仲の良いご夫婦なのでしょうね。
うらやましいかぎりです（*＾＾*）
Hi Tomo,
「とり野菜味噌鍋」は、基本が鶏肉と白菜の味噌鍋です。
あとはお好みで豆腐、ねぎ、こんにゃく、大根…など好きな具材を入れます。そして締めは中華めん！！
お腹いっぱいのはずなのに、なぜかツルツル食べれてしまう…。魔性のお鍋です（笑）
Hi Everyone,
It was very cold today!
I had a work all day, so I'm very tired.
I go to bed early.
See you and good night.
Amica
- Amica
- 2007年11月18日 21:33
Hi Everyone,
Here is my top ten favorite movies.
1. Castle in the Sky(天空の城ラピュタ)
2. Beauty and the Beast
3. Howl's Moving Castle(ハウルの動く城)
4. Indiana Jones And the Last Crusade
5. Harry Potter series
6. Leon
7. Pretty Woman(This movie made me fan of Richard Gere!)
8. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind(風の谷のナウシカ)
9. The Goonies
10. Ghost
It' difficult to say which is better. My recent favorite movie is 'Howl's Moving Castle', and I'm watching it in English with English subtitles again and again. The subtitles are briefed and different from what the characters are saying in the movie. It's difficult but interesting to try to catch what they are really saying. Plus, Howl's voice of English version is so sweet and sexy!(笑) I prefer it to Takuya Kimura's voice which is Japanese version. Girls, try it if you have a chance;-)
Anne, where you live in, people love miso taste, right?
Baby's smile, I love it, too! It's nice and soft to touch their skin, especially their cheeks, isn't it?
You like choc-mint ice cream? When I had it for the first time, I felt like I was eating chocolate with toothpaste!(笑)
Amica, 締めは中華めん??? うどんじゃなくて？ でも味噌ラーメンがあるんだから変じゃないか。。 お鍋の締めに中華めん、今度やってみます＾＾
You worked all day today? Take a good rest and sweet dreams;-)
See you tomorrow.
Tomo
- Tomo
- 2007年11月18日 22:36
Hi everyone,
Here's my top ten favorite movies.
1.An Affair to Remember(めぐり逢い）
2. Les Choristes(コーラス）
３．Good Will Hunting
4. Gone with Wind
5. West Side Story
6. Roman Holiday
7. The Hours (めぐりあう時間たち）
８．The Shaw Shank Redemption
9. What's Eating Gilbert Grape
10. The Grinch
There are many movies which I want to choose and it is difficult to decide as Tomo said. Two or three movies among them are the ones which I watched college student days. Even now ,I remember those day's excitement . Music shares the important part and many wonderful music remain lodged in my brain.
Good night,
Anne
- Anne
- 2007年11月18日 23:36
Hi all,
How are you doing? It's getting colder day by day. I bought 灯油 for the kerosene heater in my house yesterday, and it was about 1600 yen per box of 18ℓ!! 何でこんな値段に・・。 一体いつになったら元に戻るのでしょうね。 これじゃあエアコン(電気)だけの方がいいのかな～。
Anyway, here is my top ten favorite things.
1. English
2. Books that take me another world
3. Movies except war and horror ones
4. Dogs
5. Country style furniture (wooden goods and furniture)
6. Ancient history and buildings
7. The sound of piano
8. Night view(夜景)
9. Sunsets
10. The sea (I like just seeing it, not swimming.)
Talk to you later,
Tomo
- Tomo
- 2007年11月19日 15:23
Hi David and Everyone,
Here's my top ten favorite things.
1.Singing and playing the piano
(I sometimes feel hard it, though.)
2.A nice chat with my friends
(Friends are my treasures.)
3.Sweets
4.Studying English
5.Traveling
6.Shopping
7.Watching the movie in the theater
8.Foreign drama
(I have liked always foreign drama. Here's my recently favorite foreign drama.
"24", "CSI:", "Cold Case", "Desperate Housewives", "Medium")
9.Making sweets
(I'm not good at cooking, but I like making sweets.)
10.Computer
(I can't comprehend life without computer!)
Hi Tomo,
You are watching the movie in English with English subtitles?
That's great! I want to try it!
It will be good lesson for me to do it.
Yes, 灯油 and gasoline are too expensive these days.
When I pay at the gas station, I feel like crying.
Hi Anne,
I like the movie "What's Eating Gilbert Grape", too.
Leonardo Dicaprio's performance was so amazing.
He seemed to be really disabled in the movie.
See you soon,
Amica
- Amica
- 2007年11月19日 23:54
記入者の名前のない、前のコメント（１１月１６日 １４：３２）を書いたのは“むらさき”ではありませんか？
英語圏でないところに行くとのことでしたが、純日本の会社かもしれないし、海外かも？機会があればではなく、チャンスを作ってまたコメントを書いてください。
- マック
- 2007年11月20日 11:10
Hi David,
Top ten favourite things and pet hates? That's sound interesting! I'll post about this topic later. By the way, I completely agree with No.9 of your pet hates!
Hi Steve,
I think your posting never gets sidetracked, and interacting with many people from different situation and different countries is absolutely exciting!
Hi Tomo and Amica,
sidetrack について名前のない方の説明どうりだと思います。参加する事によってDavid の本来のこのブログの目的を邪魔したくない、と言う事だと思います。（同じ説明でした）
Hi ぬま、
Nice to meet you! I feel happy when when I see my husband's face sleeping next to me, too!
See you later,
Anne