My father's condition got worse

Yesterday, I got a phone call from my mother. My father's condition got worse again, suddenly.

He has been hospitalized since this March because of pneumonia. I went to see him in the hospital then. He seemed okay, but on my way back home by car, my mother called me on my cell phone and said that my father's condition had gotten worse. I knew I should go back to the hospital, but I could not skip the next day's job. It was impossible to cancel it.

Fortunately, he recovered then. He had been getting better day by day. It was amazing. The doctors also were amazed. He was supposed to be discharged from the hospital in two weeks. We were really happy to hear the news. I was planning to visit him this summer with my family. These past few days, I have been thinking about what he would like for his Father's Day present.

Yesterday's phone call changed everything. However, I need to stay here in Osaka until Friday night. It is possible for another person to take my place for some jobs, but as for Friday night's job, no one can replace me. It might cause problems. My parents' house is an 8-hour drive from my place. Driving back and forth between these two places is not so easy.

(corrected by Tracey)

Expressions with "weather"

Today's English Channel's topic was "It's so Hot!". Expressions with "weather". As for "fair weather friend", I thought the meaning is opposite, at first. That's because I stuck the word "fair"! Of course the meaning of "fair" is clean or pure. When I was asked the tutor to illustrate with an example sentence, I said totally opposite meaning Oh, my goodness! It took time to understand that I was wrong, because I completely believed I was right I was embarrassed. Maybe other participants thought, "give me a break, Ken"! Sorry, guys


It's So Hot!
The trouble with English is that there are so many words that sound exactly alike but have no connection with each other whatsoever. A case in point is ?weather? which often gets muddled up with whether. In fact the only way to differentiate between them when speaking is to aspirate the first aitch with emphasis. But whether it's whether or ?weather?, the topic of this little story is the one to do with the climate ― ?weather?. If you live in the UK and your English vocabulary is limited, you can always fall back on expressions like these: ?Lovely, isn't it? ? ― ?Couldn't be better, could it?? ― ?What a pleasant change!? ― ?Makes a difference, doesn't it?? Yes, they all refer to the weather. Apart from polite conversation the word ?weather? also appears in several expressions.

If you're feeling under the weather, you're not feeling very well.

If you ?make heavy weather of something?, you're making things more difficult than they need to be. Someone gives you a job to do which would normally take about half an hour and if you are still doing it 3 hours later, then that's ?making heavy weather of it?.

If a business is having financial problems but somehow manages to survive and be back in credit, it is said to ?weather the storm?.

If you ?keep a weather eye open?, you are being very careful to see there's no trouble. The burglar or thief ?keeps a weather eye open? making sure there are no police around.

You may think you have a good friend but you only know how loyal they are when you want their help in a crisis. If they turn away when you need them most, we call them ?fair weather friends?.

I don't think I've got anything more to say really. Oh, yes I've just looked out of the window and it's turned out nice again ― the ?weather? I mean.

Hideko's interview with Steve

I listened to Hideko's interview on The Linguist. It was really nice. First of all, I was really surprised that the interview was held at 4:30 in the morning! Oh my goodness! Some listeners thought every Japanese housewife wakes up like that early! No, no, no! Why do you wake up so early, Hideko? Maybe she studies English in the morning!

Listening to other students talking about studying English is so much fun, especially the persons who I know. I have to say "thank you" again to Hideko because she is the person who introduced me The Linguist. Thanks to these interviews and blogs, I can encourage myself to study English.

She can speak French as well. I am interested in French because I have the chance to work with French people, but not very often. It is famous that the French don't speak English. However, all the French people I met in Japan speak English. I always speak to them in English because their Japanese is not as good as their English. Studying French means cutting the time that I spend studying English. I asked Steve about this. He said that I should study French so that I can be a better English speaker. I was puzzled. He said that our brains are the same as our flesh. If you stimulate or exercise in different ways, your brain works better. It is convincing.
But I am still hesitating!

The reason that I want to study English

Studying English is difficult for us Japanese. That's because these two languages are very different. The grammar, pronunciation, intonation, and so forth, are not the same. However, I want to learn. Why?

First of all, I like the sound of English, especially North American accents. It sounds clear and rhythmic. Some people say it is not that important to speak like a native, but I want to pronounce that way because I know that English can sound beautiful. I also know that Japanese can sound beautiful. I love beautiful sounds! I want to talk like singing.

Secondly, I want to communicate with a lot of people. When I visited the U.S. for the first time over ten years ago, I could speak just a little bit. The speed at which native speakers talked was overwhelming. I decided to study English. Now, I can speak more than I could ten years ago. My traveling abroad has totally changed. It is much more enjoyable! It is very different, but still I have trouble listening and understanding what people say. If I could master English, it would be far more enjoyable.

At third, I could get a lot of information if I could use English. We are in a modern society. The Internet has changed everything. Most of information is written in English on the Net. I want to catch up current topics and what is going on in this world.

At last, to be honest, I like studying English. This is one of my hobbies. I am enjoying studying English. My goal is understand American movies without sub-titles and write lyrics in English!

Welcome to Ken's Bar!

Hello! Welcome to Ken's Bar. What will you have? Scotch or bourbon? Oh, you love beer? So do I! Please sit back and relax with sweet music. I can play the piano for you. I can sing for you, too, if you like! Oh, but if you want to stay here, you have to listen to my story, ok? You know what, I am studying English. I want to tell you how I enjoy studying and how I am struggling with English. Hahaha. I want to hear your suggestions and ideas. OK, here's your beer, buddy! This is on the house! Enjoy Ken's Bar!