Hokudai/Cast 67: Chinese for the Olympics

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Choose Hokudai/Cast 67 to Listen to these notes.

The Beijing Olympics will be held in August - that's two plus months away. On Hokudai/Cast 67 we are going to hear some Chinese (and Japanese) words you can use if you go to Beijing. Many Hokuriku University students go to Beijing to study English and Chinese simultaneously. But you can sit at home and study these simple phrases just by listening to Hokudai/Cast 67.

Before the useful sentences though, why are the Olympics sometimes called the Olympics and sometimes called the Olympic Games? The Olympics (with an 's') is a short way to say The Olympic Games. Sometimes the city where the Olympics were held is added: the Mexico City Olympics, the Seoul Olympics, the Barcelona Olympics, and now the Beijing Olympics. 

Olympics - with an 's' - is a noun but Olympic - without an 's' - is an adjective: the Olympic Games vs the Beijing Olympics.

Hokudai/Cast's Trilingual Lesson includes the following sentences (in English - click on the title to hear the sentences in Japanese and Chinese):

• Where is the National Stadium?
  
• Where is the bus stop?
  
• Where is a good restaurant?
  
• Where is the restroom?
  
• Where are you from?
  
• I'm from Japan.
  

Thanks for listening.

The music today is Rolling Family from Jesushairdo. 

You can find more Jesushairdo at music.podshow.com

Additional music is by Manzi, a local Kanazawa indies band.

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 Hokudai/Cast: Your fun-service podcast for learning Japanese, English, and Chinese.

What Is Your Best Language Skill?

Hokudai/Cast 27 is ready for you to listen to!

Of the four language skills: writing, reading, speaking, and listening which is your best? Which did you get first? Which do you want to improve?

The four skills are usually acquired (gotten) in this order:

• Listening
• Speaking
• Reading
• Writing

But not always. There are many excellent translators who can read and write but cannot speak the foreign language they are translating.

If you are reading this blog, perhaps you have reached a good level in your reading skills. How about the others? Are you happy with your speaking and writing skills?

Starting soon, we are going to write entries about how to improve all four of the skills, starting with the hardest (writing). Each entry will have an easy way for you to improve your foreign language skills. And, perhaps, links to sites that can help you.

I hope you will enjoy them and look forward to hearing from you. Email us at hokudaicast (at) gmail.com

And look at our simple website at Hokudai/Cast.net.

The photo is the entrance to Hokuriku University's 未来創造学部.

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Hokudai/Cast: Your fun-service podcast for learning Japanese, English, and Chinese.

My English life 12-22, April

A special study abroad diary from Haruka in Bath, England! It is interesting to note that she is using British spellings (centre vs center) and the British way of writing the date (12 April vs April 12). Haruka learns very quickly!

On 12th April, I went Narita International Airport with my mother and grandmother. I got on a plane to Heathrow; it took about 12 hours. I went Padindon by train, and left that from Bath. It took 1 and a half hours by train. It was very hard for me. After I arrived at Bath Station, I took a taxi and went to my host family's house. When I arrived there, I was very tired and went to bed early.

13th April. After I woke up, I talked with host family. My host family is a single mother. She has a daughter named Madison. She will become 3 years old this summer. She is cute but very powerful girl!! She has a small house to have some toys in the garden. I played with her with a ball. Later, I ate dinner. I heard English food was not good, but my host mother's meal was delicious!! I went to bed about 10:00.

14th April. I went to the bus station which is near my house with Madison and her grandmother. It took about 5 minutes. It's very close!! Later, I played with Madison.

15th April. I went to the city centre alone. Then I took a bus for a first time. I couldn't understand how to ride, so I was confused. I managed to arrive at the city centre and went window shopping. I bought some clothes and accessories.

I went the rounds of the city centre. Bath has lots of hills, so I was tired. Later, I returned home and talked with host mother, Hayley. I couldn't speak well and couldn't understand her completely. Since I came here, I have managed to speak in English, but I have a small vocabulary, so I often stop talking. This thing was very regrettable.

16th April. Bath Spa University started. I took a test and an interview. The test's style was multiple choice. Later, I had a tour of Bath Spa University with some classmates. I was worried about making friends, but I didn't need to worry. I could speak with some students and ate lunch. But in the afternoon class all the students spoke English well except for me. I felt down a little.

The next day, I changed class. I was relieved because I thought I could take a lesson at a slow pace. I became friends soon in my new class. I don't speak English well yet, so it is very hard for me. I found it hard to remember the names of my classmates.

18th April. I am used to my class. I thought this university's lesson is intelligible to me and useful. I couldn't speak well but I could understand more words than before. My course has three Japanese, but we have talked using English. Sometimes during talking, we came to a deadlock, then we use English a little. I thought this was very important thing because if we spoke Japanese often, we wouldn't learn anything.

20th April. This day was my teacher, Cal's , so we prepared for the party after the 1st lesson. Then a surprise party started. Cal was very surprised and pleased. I was happy, too because she was pleased. We took some pictures, drank champagne and ate cake and sweets.

After school, I went the city centre with my classmates and located Pizza Hut. This Sunday, my classmates will be in a football game. We're going to met in front of Pizza Hut, but some classmates and I didn't know where it was, so we went to find it. Then we went to the post office. I sent postcard to my friend. Later, we drank coffee and talked. We parted and I went back home with my classmate, Asuka. We use the same road on our way home and at this point I knew our houses were very near.

My host mother worked late, so I ate dinner alone and talked with Cecilia who is an American student who lives with us.

The next day, I had free time. I used the Internet and played with Madison.

22th April. I woke up at 6:00 and called my friend in Japan. I reassured myself about her because I haven't contacted with her recently. After breakfast, I did my homework. Then I left my house for Pizza Hut. We got on a bus and went to a stadium. When we arrived at the stadium, the players were practicing. At 2:30, the football game kicked off. My three classmates tried their best. We cheered, too. Their team won 3-0. We were so excited. Afterwards we took some pictures. This day's game will be a good memory.

Haruka