Happy New Year! 2012☆ 新年明けましておめでとうございます。
I believe that you had a great Oshogatsu! I hope that 2012 finds you happy and successful!

新年から早速、今回はいくつか英語のなぞなぞを出題です。
皆様～ぜひ挑戦してみてください。 Please have fun!

1. What doesn’t ask questions, but needs to be answered?
　　（何も質問はしないけど、答えてもらう必要があるモノは？）

2. What has no beginning and no end?
　　（始まりと終わりがないものは何だ？）

3. Why is the letter C coldest? Because it’s in the middle of ____________.
　　（ｱﾙﾌｧﾍﾞｯﾄの『Ｃ』が一番冷たいのはなぜ？だって、________の真ん中だから！）

　　　↓

　　　↓

　　　↓

　　　↓

　　　↓

Answer：
１．Telephone (電話) 　*『電話に出る』は『answer the telephone』と言います。
2．Circle （円、丸）
３．Ice　（氷）　*真ん中のアルファベットが"C"ですね！

I hope you enjoyed them!
See you next time^^

The year 2011 is coming to an end, and I’d like to thank you all for visiting Kitakyushu YMCA’s website to check out my blog.
I’ll try to post more useful and interesting articles and messages next year so that you may want to visit us more often!
Here’s a problem you can challenge on a cold night!

今回は英検２級からの問題です！Good luck!

◆問題：次の英文が、文章になるように、１～５を並び替えなさい。　　　　　　
Our company has been in the publishing business for over 30 years and, since the beginning, ( ) our backbone.
1. been 　2. providing 　 3. has 　 4. superior 　 5. customer service

　　　　　↓
　　　　　↓
　　　　　↓
　　　　　↓
　　　　　↓

答え：2, 4, 5, 3, 1
Our company has been in the publishing business for over 30 years and, since the beginning, ( providing superior customer service has been ) our backbone.

How did you enjoy it?
Please have a happy new year^^

Hi there! Enjoying the autumn?
We had a “Autumn Party” at an restaurant near Kokura station on the evening of Oct. 22. It was kind of a stormy day, but we all had a great time eating & drinking and, of course, chatting in English! I feel soooooo thankful to the students and teachers who came to the party.

10月22日（土）成人英語にて親睦会を行いました。
お忙しい中、そして足元の悪い中、受講生の方もご参加いただき、皆さん積極的に英語で講師陣に話しかけ、とても楽しく＆刺激的なディナータイムを過ごされたご様子でした！

Hi there! Now my favorite season has come and I’ve been enjoying making plans for going out. I hope everyone out there is enjoying this pleasant season, too.
Well, I’d like give you a quiz for TOEIC practice this month. Please have fun!

問題：（　　　　　）に入る最も適切な単語を(A)～(D)の中から選びなさい。　　　　　　
The nurses of YMCA Hospital ( ) requesting flexible working schedules since last year.
(A) has been　 (B) were 　 (C) will be 　 (D) have been

The answer is....

　　　↓
　　　↓
　　　↓
　　　↓
　　　↓

(D) have been が正解です。主語がThe nursesと複数形なので(A) has beenは不可。最後にsince last yearとありますので、「ある時点からの継続」を表す完了形の文だと分かります。

Please keep up with your good work!

It’s been sooooo hot, and I hope everyone out there is surviving (enjoying?) this penetrating heat.
August is just right there, and I guess you’re now busy making plans for Summer holidays.
I’m not having anything special this summer, but looking forward to seeing my sister and niece who are coming to visit us!
I hope to get a chance to hear about your exciting summer plan!
暑い暑～い毎日が続いていますが、みなさまお元気にお過ごしでしょうか。
どんな夏休みにしようか計画をたてるのに忙しくされていることと思います♪
機会があれば是非皆様の楽しい夏休み計画について聞かせてください^^

◆前回のクイズの答えは以下です♪Please check the answer key for the quiz!

アジサイ - hydrangea　／　蚊 - mosquito　／　扇風機 - fan　／　水たまり - puddle
カタツムリ - snail　／　雨傘 - umbrella　／　日焼け止めクリーム - sunscreen lotion
海水浴 - sea bathing　／　梅雨 - rainy season／　田植え - rice planting

Take care & see you next time!

Hello, there! I’m Shoko, started teaching here at Kitakyushu YMCA in April. I’d like to give a quiz about “Rainy season”, which may sound a little gloomy… But I hope you’ll have some fun with it!

★ Please match each Japanese word with the right English word on the right. （日本語と同じ意味の英語はどれでしょうか？）

1. アジサイ　／　2. 蚊　／　3. 梅雨　／　4. 水たまり　／　5. カタツムリ　／　6. 雨傘
7. 日焼け止めクリーム　／　8. 海水浴　／　9. 扇風機　／　10. 田植え

a. fan　／　b. rice planting　／　3. umbrella　／　4. hydrangea　／　5. snail
6. rainy season　／　7. puddle　／　8. mosquito　／　9. sunscreen lotion
10. sea bathing

Well, how did you enjoy the quiz?
I’ll post the answers in the next message, so please wait until then.
Well, please spend a good second half of June! See you soon!!

Hi folks!

Sorry for my late post! Here at YMCA, we've been working vigorously to find the best possible teachers to take over my position when I leave - and we have succeeded!

Indeed, I have my own style, and there's probably not another teacher just like me - but that's a really GOOD thing! I'm so excited for my students, because they will have the wonderful opportunity to study under someone else that can bring new techniques to the classroom with a fresh personality. In America, we have a saying:

"a change is as good as a rest"

I am a firm believer in change.. New teachers, new staff, new students, new paint and floors.. Your YMCA is full of great things.. don't miss out!

Hi there! We just had our first full week of English classes last week, and I am very pleased with the mix of students we have for this term. Everyone seems very eager to improve their English - some of my students are taking more than one class per week at YMCA! I really admire this level of motivation! Actually, I admire ANYONE who wants to learn a foreign language. Trust me, I know how much of a challenge it is, because I had to go through the same thing to learn Japanese. If you really want to be fluent, never give up, and never say "I can't do it". Here at YMCA, we will help you get there!

The beginning of the fiscal year is officially here! Kind of exciting, because we are starting new classes, and we have several new students as well. I'm very excited to get to know everyone!

Around this time of the year we all experience lots of going away and welcome parties. So how many have you been to already? Do you have some more to go?? Unfortunately, we don't have such a custom for our coworkers in America. Maybe I can change that! :D

Hello all! How are you liking this beautiful spring weather?! (ok, I am being sarcastic.. typical American style of making a joke) In fact, it seemed too cold and windy to view the cherry blossoms with a nice picnic.. and now this week has become little warmer, but we are losing the blossoms due to the rain.. Oh well, we always have next year! :)

April Fools Day is coming up. Although not celebrated so much in Japan, I still hope someone plays a good joke on me.. But please don't be cruel, ok? :D