en es en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en ja ja en en ja en ja en en en en en ja en ja ja ja en ja en ja en ja en en en en en en en en en ja en ja en ja en en en en en en en en en en ja en en en en en en en ja en en en ja en hbs_lat en ja en en en ja en en en ja en en en en en en en en en en ja en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en ja en en en en ja ja en ja en ja en ja en ja en ja en en ja en ja en ja en ja en ja en ja en gv en ja en en en en en en en en en en ja en en en ja ja en ja ja en en ja en en ja en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en fr en en ja en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en ja en en en en en en ja en ja en en
LivingEigo with Songs for Parents – MachiSpo 茅ヶ崎 Calendly
LivingEigo with Songs for Parents–Calendly Reservations
by Mitsue | Mar 11, 2022
The day to cut my 2-year-long hair has finally come! My locks (hair) had grown to my “BEHIND” (another way to say buttocks, butt, okolele). I could have passed for quite the hula dancer!
It had been a long 2 years since deciding to donate my hair to a wig-making charity. I was getting many compliments and was actually growing quite fond of having long hair, even though it was getting harder and harder to keep clean! When the moment came to snip, snip (!) however … the transformation was instant!
I have been learning French with a private teacher now, for about the same amount of time, 2 years. I still struggle to make conversation with my teacher and often feel that I have not improved at all. I had been telling myself that simply continuing was better than quitting!
But, YESTERDAY!  I took a little FRENCH quiz for fun and was SHOCKED and DELIGHTED that I knew MUCH more that I thought! I had been IMPROVING and getting BETTER without feeling the GROWTH. Isn’t this how life often works?
We ARE growing… we just don’t feel it everyday. That makes sense! C’est vrai!
Yay for having gotten better at French! Yay for waiting long enough to make a decent hair donation!
素敵な職人さんの手にかかりますように。I hope a great wig craftsperson can create a beautiful wig for someone!
New Classes, A New Start!!
by Mitsue | April 18, 2019 | All Blogs, Announcements | 0 Comments
Sing, Sing a Song!  Hello! Here is a video of me playing "Sing," one of the first songs I learned on my ukulele about 5 years ago! I started a community group teaching English SINGING to members of my community! My first class was today. I had so much fun! I hope my...
by Mitsue | May 29, 2014 | Announcements | 0 Comments
(キャプション機能をONしますと字幕が出ます!) LivingEigo.com: Add life to your English Learning! 誕生日、おめでとう! 今日 LivingEigo.com が誕生します! Eigo との暮らしを楽しく、アクセスしやすく、より身近にする、アナタのためのサイトです! 日本が大好き、英語も大好きなミッツ(アンティーミッツ)がナビゲートいたします! サイトの内容は、 (無料)このブログ:身の回りの光景をEigoラーニングの角度から紹介する (無料)16年以上の英語指導の経験で気づいた...
Delightful Resource! Online Stories Series
by Mitsue | July 2, 2020 | All Blogs, 毎日Eigo | 0 Comments
I found such a delightful YouTube site! The storytellers are brilliant, talented and colorful! It will help you on your journey of feeling the language known as English! Enjoy!
by Mitsue | December 12, 2015 | All Blogs, 毎日Eigo | 0 Comments
A Rainbow of Colors An original song by Auntie Mitz A Rainbow of Colors Red, I like the color red, Blue, I know you like it, too! Purple and Green And all the colors in between, A rainbow of colors for you! Pink, I like the color pink, Yellow, I nice color, you know!...
by Mitsue | November 2, 2015 | All Blogs, 発音・表現 | 2 Comments
the "DR" story Hello, I'm back! Did you enjoy your Halloween! こんにちは!ご無沙汰しています。楽しいハロウィーンを過ごしましたか? Today, I have a video talking about words with "dr". ”DR”の発音についてのビデオを作って忌みました。 AND....I am going to talk about a "different" way to understand English pronunciation,...
Outside, Together (An original song!)
by Mitsue | July 2, 2015 | All Blogs, 毎日Eigo | 0 Comments
Outside, Together! (A weather song) Hi Everyone! Here is my very first original song to be released on the internet! Feel the sunshine Feel the rain Feel the wind upon my face I like to dance I like to twirl outside Together What Weather do you like? What Weather do...
The “R” Story, with Chocolate!
by Mitsue | May 17, 2015 | All Blogs, 発音・表現 | 4 Comments
新しい発音ビデオです!楽しんで下さい! Here is a new pronunciation video!  Enjoy!
The “L” Story (with marshmallows)
by Mitsue | April 4, 2015 | All Blogs, 発音・表現 | 0 Comments
Hello! Thank you for waiting for my newest blog! こんにちは!最新のブログ、お待たせしました! Time sure flies by quickly! 時間があっという間にすぎてしまいますね。 The Cherry Blossoms in the park outsideare in FULL BLOOM! COOL! 近くの公園の桜はもう満開!(昨日はクリスマスだったのに!ヒィヒィ!) 今日の話は"L"の発音の話です すぐにはできなくても、舌の筋肉の体操だ...
Mele Kalikimaka!
by Mitsue | December 24, 2014 | 毎日Eigo | 0 Comments
Mele Kalikimaka!! 最近、茅ヶ崎市がホノルルとの姉妹市になったと聞きました!やったね! I recently heard that Honolulu and Chigasaki City are now sister cities!! ハワイ出身で茅ヶ崎市に住んでいる住民が少ないに違いない! There can't be too many Chigasaki citizens whose hometown is also Honolulu!!! これからいっぱいイベントを企画しなきゃ! I have to plan...
Sa, “Si”, Su, Se, So– The “S” Storysdz
by Mitsue | December 2, 2014 | All Blogs, 発音・表現 | 0 Comments
発音ビデオ第2段 高1の息子の英語を手伝っていたら、 ”言える”けど”言わない”「Sィ」の単語たくさんありました! なぜ言わないかと言うと、 「くせ」だけです! 日本語の50音の流れ的に行けば、 sa,si,su,se,so は:sa,"shi", su, se, so になっているだけだから’さ’の口、舌を’い’に入れ替えれば、言えるはず!...
Tha, Thi, Thu, Thay, Thank You! 発音特集
by Mitsue | November 17, 2014 | All Blogs, 発音・表現 | 0 Comments
もう11月の中旬 It's already the middle of November! 早い! How time flies!! 発音のワンポイントです!練習してみて下さい! 発音の練習で舌の筋肉と 耳を鍛えます! リスニングが苦手な人は、細かい”音”を聞き分けることが...
A Halloween Song for Kids!
by Mitsue | October 9, 2014 | All Blogs, 毎日Eigo | 0 Comments
Here is a simple Halloween song about Jack O' Lanterns Sing it with kids! Have fun!!
My Story & Teaching Eigo
A LONG Small Donation
by Mitsue | March 11, 2022 | All Blogs, My Story | 0 Comments
2年間、お尻まで伸ばした髪を切る日がついにやってきました! The day to cut my 2-year-long hair has finally come! My locks (hair) had grown to my "BEHIND" (another way to say buttocks, butt, okolele). I could have passed for quite the hula dancer! ...
Back to the Past (タイムスリップ)
by Mitsue | September 4, 2021 | All Blogs, My Story | 0 Comments
My husband came back from his business trip to the States, and brought this tiny box of raisins! ...... Whoa! (I hadn't seen this little snackage in over 30 years maybe! It whooshed me right back to .... elementary school in Hawaii!   Time travel?! Okay, maybe not...
One small step!!
by Mitsue | September 3, 2021 | All Blogs, My Story | 0 Comments
The First Step!! 第一歩 !!I cannot believe that after 2 years, the "book" is finally out! In 2019, I met an illustrator who (after hearing my idea on creating songs for young parents) told me that she would LOVE to help me make picture books for my songs!...
The Road to Independence
by Mitsue | October 22, 2019 | All Blogs, My Story | 0 Comments
This has nothing to do with English learning... Today, I went to Kamakura for an appointment. The station was really crowded.At peak tourist season (with a festival taking place on the Kamakura shores,) crowds of people were walking steadily towards a narrow...
Words, Words, Words!
by Mitsue | October 2, 2019 | All Blogs, Teaching | 0 Comments
What does it take to learn a new word?  I just worked with one of my Junior High School private students. She has been learning English at school now for 1 and a half years, 3-4  hours a week. She still cannot converse in simple sentences like, "I like pizza with tuna...
Back to the Past (タイムスリップ)
by Mitsue | Sep 4, 2021
My husband came back from his business trip to the States, and brought this tiny box of raisins! …… Whoa! (I hadn’t seen this little snackage in over 30 years maybe! It whooshed me right back to …. elementary school in Hawaii!
Time travel?!
Okay, maybe not really, but it was amazing how I was immediately “transported” to the past in Honolulu with our very American lunchboxes.
ん?タイムスリップ?!
、、、とは言いませんが、1つのアイテムでハワイでの小学校ライフに記憶がよみがえるなんて、ちょっと考えさせられた。
I remember how my mother used to pop in little boxes of raisins (like the other kids’s lunches) along with our lightly salted, soy sauce coated rice balls (which was very unlike the other kids.) While everyone had sandwiches and apples, we had our little taste of Japan, via our mom who was born and raised there.
母は干しぶどうのスナックサイズを(当時はよくあるパターンで)ホームランチの箱にポーンといれてくれたことをよく覚えてる。当時は外国生まれの子供達はまだ少なく、みんなと違って、うちの弁当箱の中身は塩・醤油おにぎりで、箱を開ける瞬間、日本のにおいで懐かしい印象が強かったことを覚えてる。サンドイッチやりんごが入っている隣の友達と弁当の中身がいつも違って、ちょっと恥ずかしくて、ちょっと嬉しくて、複雑な気持ちであった記憶がある。
It is quite different from the the “obento” that we see here in Japan, and (I suspect) how bento used to be way back when as well!
日本での弁当箱とは結構違いるので、面白い豆知識かもしれません。
Typical kids’ “bento bako” lunch box for kids in the 70’s and 80’s, and sometimes still used (with the exception of renewed characters) today in 2019. This simple metal box was packed with rice and some side dishes like egg rolls or sausages, and wrapped simply with a large handkerchif-like cloth called furoshiki.
1970年代、1980年代の一般の弁当箱でした。今でもこの形が残って使われていますが、プラステック素材が多くなりました。
My lunch box was “Strawberry Shortcake” which was in full trend at the time. I loved the fact that we were on trend, but still able to have culturally familiar foods to give us subtle, comforting hints of “home.” It wasn’t such a big deal on the surface, but the “mom’s” touch always reminded me that I had a home to come home to, no matter how different it may be from other kids around me.
当時流行りの「ストローベリーショートケーキ」というキャラクターの弁当箱でした。流行に乗っていることに嬉て、しかも自分の日本とのルーツはしっかり、食べ物などで根付いてて、家の暖かさを感じた。見た目では大したことなかったのだろうが、うちは他の家庭とおおきく違っても、母親の小さな気遣いは「帰る家がある」とのちょっとしたメッセージが伝わってた気がする。
How interesting how one item can open a well of memories that one never knew loomed in the tiny brain of ours.
ちょっとしたアイテムで今まで考えもしなかった記憶が我々の小さい脳みそでよみがえられるなんて、とても面白いと思った。
One small step!!
by Mitsue | Sep 3, 2021
The First Step!! 第一歩 !!
I cannot believe that after 2 years, the “book” is finally out! In 2019, I met an illustrator who (after hearing my idea on creating songs for young parents) told me that she would LOVE to help me make picture books for my songs!
2年で「本」がやっと出ました。2019年にイラストレーターの Junkoに出会い、ミッツの歌のアイディアの話を聞いて、是非絵本を描いてみたいと言ってくれました。
It was a new idea for me, and after seeing a sample of her illustrations, I JUMPED at the chance! I loved the way she captured the nuance of my song so poignantly and we were both so excited to start working together!
私の歌を絵本にするなんて、考えもしなかったが、Junkoさんがサンプルとして描いてくれた絵を見て、すぐに取り組んでみたいと思った。
We made a sample book and started “testing out” the idea with mini workshops in the neighborhood. The parents LOVED it! We were ready to go into production… then COVID hit, and I had to shift gears!
サンプルの本が出来上がり、現役の保護者の前でワークショップで絵本のコンセプトを「テスト」して、、、大成功でした!が、、、プローダクションを開始しようと思ってたら、新コロナのパンデミックでつまづいちゃった。
After a year of adjusting, we are back on track and have started our adventures starting with a small booklet to sell in book stores and future workshops!
調整時間の一年後、小さな本からでも良いと思って、もう一度チャレンジしてみました。
It went on the shelf yesterday! I’m very excited. Of course it rained, and of course the book store is not ready to open until the 10th of this month! (7 more days!) But here they are ready for a random customer wandering into the back gallery area.
昨日でお店の棚に並びました。とてもワクワクです。もちろん、雨で、、、もちろん、改造の開店が遅れ気味、、、なので、大勢のお客さんにはまだ見せることができていませんが、「第一歩」っということで、とても嬉しい。
Delightful Resource! Online Stories Series
by Mitsue | Jul 2, 2020
I found such a delightful YouTube site!
The storytellers are brilliant, talented and colorful! It will help you on your journey of feeling the language known as English! Enjoy!
The Road to Independence
by Mitsue | Oct 22, 2019
This has nothing to do with English learning…
Today, I went to Kamakura for an appointment. The station was really crowded.
At peak tourist season (with a festival taking place on the Kamakura shores,) crowds of people were walking steadily towards a narrow stairwell, BUT  at a snail’s pace!
There were all walks of people around me. Foreign tourists, local (Japanese) tourists, locals (like me, going to a lesson), children, families… everyone was very respectful of one another to make sure that there was no dangerous pushing going down the stairs. It was a bit frustrating, as I was already late for my appointment, but I kept calm and did not try to push ahead.
約束のため、鎌倉駅を降りましたが、今日は特に混雑していた。観光のピーク時間で、しかも久しぶりの天気だった上、丁度海側でお祭りが行う日だった。観光客や、外国からの観光客、地元の人、カップル、小さい子の家族など、色々なところから集まった人がいましたが、皆さんはゆっくりと、順番にお互いに譲り合って、降りてました。毎回それだけでありがたいと思っていましたが、今回は、私が遅刻気味で特にこのカタツムリのようなスピードに敏感でチョビとイライラしていました。
In front of me, near the rail, a small boy of about 3 or 4 was walking slowly down by himself. At first, I was “Hmm. Who is he with…?” Then I immediately saw in front of him, his mother, carrying their second newborn looking ahead, walking step by step with the crowd. The boy was concentrating, being careful of each step. His mother was not looking even glancing behind her to make sure her boy was okay, which surprised me, but there was one tiny gesture that stood out to me.
私の左に、レールを小さいでで掴んで慎重に歩いている, 3・4歳くらいの男の子がいました。”一人かな?大丈夫かな?”と母性本能動き出した。よく見ると、彼のすぐ前に赤ん坊を前抱っこして、ぞろぞろ階段を降りている女性がいました。
”ママかな?”と思ったのだが、このお母さんが一度も息子に振り向こうとしていなかったので、”違うかも”と他にママらしい人物を探し始めましたが、下にちらっと見たら、その女性は右手をしかっり後ろに男の子の方にさしのべたまま歩いているのではないか。そうか。
I thought for a second that perhaps she was not his mother and looked around for someone near him who might be lost in the crowd. Then I looked down and saw that the woman in front of him was holding out her hand behind her, right near the boy’s head. The boy wasn’t trying to take her hand. He just seemed to concentrate on his walking, on the stairs, no desperation or hurriedness in his motions to catch up with mom right away. Ahh, I get it.
男の子は自分の歩いきに夢中でしたし、お母さんの手を繋ごうともしていなかった。急いでも焦ってもいませんでした。なるほど。この人混みの中でも、一人で歩こうとする息子を尊重しつつ、ママが道を作っておいて、「ずっといるよ」って本人がわかるように、本人目線に手をずっと出したまま。
Of course, this was my interpretation, but I felt like this mom was being brilliant in letting him be “independent,” letting him do his thing even in this scary crowd of people. At the same time she was letting him know silently that she was there AT ALL TIMES. He knew she was there. She knew that he knew that she was there. And that was all they needed to get through this simple activity of going down the stairs at a crowded station.
もちろん、このお母さんは無意識に息子に自立するため行為かしら?としたら、素晴らしい、と思った。こんなに混んでいる場所で目の前にあえて見張らず、手のジェスチャーで彼女なりのコミュニケーションを取っている。「ちゃんといるよ」と手で伝えている。男の子はママがちゃんといることがわかってる。そして、彼女は彼がわかっていることもわかっている。このシンプルな行為に必要な交流でした。
What a beautiful small (natural) gesture between mom and child going through the process of “growing up” and learning to be on your own. We are alone. And yet there is always something in the wings to help. Heck, ”I” was ready to jump out to help if this boy had a hard time. Moms… I believe most moms want to help guide their kids into independence. At the same time, we are the first to jump out and want to protect them from hurt or danger. It’s not easy to know how to balance the extremes.
This one mother’s gesture (as interpreted by me) was another sign how parents instinctively know how to let their children “be” while being there on the wings when duty calls.
とても自然なジェスチャーで、心が動いた。親で一番の思いはちゃんと自立できるようにと願う人が多いと思います。と同時に、守らなきゃ。と言う気持ちがいつも混み上がる。このバランスは本当に微妙です。親の感も働く瞬間なのかな?
P.S. By the way, although I have not raised children in other countries, I can’t imagine this happening in a huge city overseas. Perhaps this is permissible because we are in Japan. Anywhere else, one would be afraid of a child being taken and would be seen as negligence. この行為も日本ならではのことかな、とつくづく思います。残念ながら、他の国ではこのように子供に「任せる」は(いつも見張ってない行動は誘拐の恐れがあり、)無責任と解釈されることもある。
Words, Words, Words!
by Mitsue | Oct 2, 2019
What does it take to learn a new word?
I just worked with one of my Junior High School private students. She has been learning English at school now for 1 and a half years, 3-4  hours a week. She still cannot converse in simple sentences like, “I like pizza with tuna fish.” but she seems to catch on  how sentences work. It’s hard to tell what she does and does not know. Most of the words I ask her the meaning of she does not know. Wow. simple words like “brush” or “work” or “grandfather.” Where do you start at this level without resorting to ramming random words according to categories like “family” and “verbs” and “school activities?” without boring them?
In my years (since the 1990’s) of teaching English to people of all ages  here in Japan, i have found that students remember words that they have strong connections to.
Of course, right?
My son loves camping. He now knows all kinds of camping equipment words! Many of which are beyond my native English vocabulary! Uhh. I haven’t been camping in over about 20 years, so…. no. I’m not going to take up brain space until I need to.
When babies learn new words, notice how they become obsessed with that “one” or “two words” they are “working on.” Recently learn what dogs look like? All of a sudden they are noticing dogs all around them! The more they connect with the word, the more they “see” it, and voice it.
Totally irrelevant, but when I’m thinking about getting new shoes, all of a sudden, I notice how cool everyone’s shoes are (and how dumpy-looking mine are…sigh.)
For my super beginners. I start with objects. I don’t go to sentences. Not even the “I am happy” sentences.
The verb changes and transitions depending on who or what you are talking about will scare most insecure students away.
No. I start with “dog” “cat” … and only things they see around them.
How you slice and dice that new word? (because it’s pretty boring…. yikes!)
The black dog,
the thin dog,
the thin, hungry dog,
the barking dog,
the two-tailed dog at the park,
the two-tailed dog chomping a steak at the park with a four-eared pig
Adjectives, verbs, prepositions are introduced, one by one, without scaring students away with conjugations.
All nouns need an article (a, an, the) or something to replace it with (like my, his, their, etc).
These rules rarely change with the number of objects or time frame.
The subject is not yet “doing anything” but the description of that subject is certainly cool and not boring (depending how colorful you can make that particular subject.)
Another reason why I start with learning how to elaborate on nouns.
In Japanese, the subject is rarely part of a spoken sentence. So Japanese speakers tend to leave out the instigator of sentences.
Whether the subject is spoken or implied, the characteristics of the subject– whether it singular, plural, animate, inanimate makes a difference in how the rest of the sentence is formed. This makes for many easy mistakes in English.
車を洗った。Kuruma wo aratta. This sentence is perfect in Japanese; the subject is implied and need not be mentioned to make sense.
In English, it translates as, “Washed the car.” This is the opposite of TMI. Not enough information. Japanese implies that the subject is I. or inferenced by the rest of the context. Of course, you may do the same with English, as an informal declaration for yourself when you are asked (for example), “What did you do?”
“Me? Washed the car!”
or when ordering someone to “Wash the car!” in present tense.
This linguistic difference is one of the first things that seem to “trip up” my students when they are trying to converse freely. (as opposed to answering test questions or doing drills–which they are often quite good at doing.)
Since they are digging through their own emotions and unrehearsed answers (that are very attached to their Japanese way of perceiving the world), the “subject” of a sentence simply does not occur to them as easily.
I often stick to the “nouns” and ways to describes them for a good 3-6 months of lessons (depending on how often I see them) !
They learn new words that are “relevant to them”  and learn how to describe them in interesting ways, with interesting verbs, adjective and adverbs, without worrying about switching things about constantly.
More later!
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SunnySmilesとして音楽活動をしています!
WEBSITEへどうぞ!http://SunnySmilesMusic.com
Peek-a-Boo, I See You at Tsukiyama
Ta-da! We are official!
Miho and Me with Sunny Smiiles
Boku wa Kimi, Kimi wa Boku, Junko and my second book!
Ukulele Class at Cohal Ukulele School
Mitz on the Beach in Shonan
Little girl from Peek-a-Boo, I See You!
Little Duckie from Peek-a-Boo, I See You!
Little Piggie from Peek-a-Boo, I See You!
Little Bunny from Peek-a-Boo, I See You!
Singing my song, "I Love Me" (2017)
Mitz and Hubby (2015)
First trip to Hawaii in 14 years!
Oiso beach ... my the first year with my ukulele! (2016)
Taken by Uke friend, Nami!
Starting my Website, 2015
Starting my Website yay!
Starting LivingEigo.com!
In my Kids at Play Classroom in 2015
Swimming with Honu in Hawaii
A school of dolphins in Hawaii.
via "Dolphins are You" on Oahu
Shonan Beach, Yanagishima
A turtle looked directly at me!
From Pali Lookout in Honolulu
Famous Monkey Pod tree @Moanalua Gardens
Here we are 15 years ago! 15年前のミッツ。この頃に独特のスタイルの英語教室をスタート。
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