englishbooks.jp
Facebook
BTB Press
YouTubeBlog for Learners
Still Going Strong (Feedback)
Thanks for all your comments and stories. I’m glad to see that people are still taking care of things. When I moved to NZ, one of the things that surprised me most was how they made things last. Something that…
Read MoreStill Going Strong
[wpaudio url=”https://www.btbpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Still-Going-Strong.mp3″ text=”Click to listen”] In 2000, when I was still living in Sapporo, I bought a brand new Toyota Hiace van. It was (and still is!) the only car I have ever bought new from a dealer. Actually, it…
Read MoreLost & Found (Feedback)
Thanks for all your comments and funny stories. I’m glad to know that I am not the only one who loses things!
Read MoreLost & Found
[wpaudio url=”https://www.btbpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Lost-Found.mp3″ text=”Click to listen”] A couple of weeks ago, I was at Nagoya Station when I realized that I needed to withdraw some money from the bank. I went to the ATM, but when I took my wallet out…
Read MoreTokyo's Olympic Bid (Feedback)
Thanks for your comments. This is a difficult topic, and to be honest, I’m still not really sure what I think about it. As some of you mentioned, the government has already spent a lot of money on the bid,…
Read MoreTokyo's Olympic Bid
[wpaudio url=”https://www.btbpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Tokyos-Olympic-Bid.mp3″ text=”Click to listen”] I’ve been meaning to talk about the Olympics for a while, but other topics kept coming up that were more timely. As I’m sure you are all aware, Tokyo is bidding to host the 2020…
Read MoreThe Relative Age Advantage (Feedback)
Thanks for all your comments. I had forgotten that I originally read about this topic in “Outliers,” so thanks for reminding me. I think I need to read that book again.
Read MoreThe Relative Age Advantage
[wpaudio url=”https://www.btbpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/The-Relative-Age-Advantage.mp3″ text=”Click to listen”] First of all, I have to say thank you to Mika, because I came up with the idea for this week’s topic after reading her comment on the last entry. (Happy birthday, by the way!)…
Read MoreThe Worst Developed Country for Mothers? (Feedback)
Thanks for all your comments on this very interesting and important topic. I think one big problem that is very difficult for Westerners (including Kattie) to understand is the degree to which Japanese people give priority to work over everything…
Read MoreThe Worst Developed Country for Mothers?
[wpaudio url=”https://www.btbpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/The-Worst-Developed-Country-for-Mothers.mp3″ text=”Click to listen”] Last week, Kattie sent me a link to an article that she had seen on the BBC news site. As you know, she has had a number of Japanese students staying with her, and she…
Read MoreNaughty Children (Feedback)
Thanks for all your comments. I suppose that as so many of you are mothers, it’s not surprising that this was one of the more popular topics.
Read MoreNaughty Children
[wpaudio url=”https://www.btbpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Naughty-Children.mp3″ text=”Click to listen”] A friend of mine sent me a link to a video on You Tube the other day. It shows the aftermath of an incident involving two very small children and a bag of flour. (You…
Read MoreThe Second Anniversary (Feedback)
Thanks for all your comments. I was very sorry to hear about people’s stories about how natural disasters have affected their families. The thing I remember most about the disaster is seeing a documentary on TV about a young couple…
Read MoreThe Second Anniversary
[wpaudio url=”https://www.btbpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/The-Second-Anniversary.mp3″ text=”Click to listen”] Given that today is March 11th, I think there is only one topic that we can discuss this week. It was two years ago today that nearly 19,000 people lost their lives in the terrible…
Read MoreMovie Stars in Commercials (Feedback)
Thanks for all your comments. The discussion about NHK was particularly interesting. I might do that as a separate topic sometime. It was also interesting to know that Japanese people tend not to have a negative image of Western celebrities…
Read MoreMovie Stars in Commercials
[wpaudio url=”https://www.btbpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Movie-Stars-in-Commercials.mp3″ text=”Click to listen”] I read on Japan Today the other day that Leonardo DiCaprio has made a commercial for whisky. Apparently, the commercial will only be shown here in Japan. I remember reading about this phenomenon before I…
Read MoreWhaling (Feedback)
Thank you all for your contributions to what was (as I thought it would be!) a very lively discussion. I think it is probably correct to say that Westerners are a bit hypocritical in their opposition to whaling, especially the…
Read MoreWhaling
[wpaudio url=”https://www.btbpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Whaling.mp3″ text=”Click to listen”] I don’t know how widely this is being reported in the Japanese media, but some of you may have seen stories recently about conflict in the Southern Ocean between Japanese ships that are trying to…
Read MoreNuclear Weapons (Feedback)
Thanks for all your comments. I guess no one really wants nuclear weapons, but when you have a basket-case of a country like North Korea developing them, it is understandable that some Japanese people feel that they need more than…
Read MoreNuclear Weapons
[wpaudio url=”https://www.btbpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Nuclear-Weapons.mp3″ text=”Click to listen”] As I’m sure you all know, North Korea recently conducted another nuclear test, and they have said that they intend to do more in the near future. The United States has reassured the people of…
Read More