Blog for Learners

[wpaudio url=”https://www.btbpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/@bitsofenglish.mp3″ text=”Click to listen”] As I go about my daily life, I often hear or read “bits of English” (sentences, words, phrases, etc.) that I know are really useful, and that I am quite sure most Japanese people are…

[wpaudio url=”https://www.btbpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/A-Load-of-Rubbish.mp3″ text=”Click to listen”] As I’m sure you all know, throwing out rubbish in Japan can be a very complicated business. For me, this is always one of the most difficult things to figure out when I move to…

[wpaudio url=”https://www.btbpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Introducing-Polls.mp3″ text=”Click to listen”] Last week I added a new feature to the blog that allows all of you to answer a question or “vote” by clicking on a button in the entry. I thought it might be fun…

[wpaudio url=”https://www.btbpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Our-House.mp3″ text=”Our House”] Now that I have a great job in a great place, I am hoping to build a new house here in Gifu either next year or the year after. I have to build it before the…

[wpaudio url=”https://www.btbpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/The-_Busy-Myth_.mp3″ text=”The ‘Busy’ Myth”] I think we have talked about this topic before, but it was a long time ago, and I read an article yesterday that made me think of it again.

Thanks for all the comments and discussion on the last entry. “I can’t claim credit for…” means “I can’t say it is because of me that something good happened.” You could also use it in a negative way to say,…

Sorry for the late entry this week. There is a big conference in Hamamatsu this weekend, and I’m rushing to prepare for that. Also, my new university classes started last week, so I have a lot of preparation to do…

How was your weekend? I hope no one was too badly affected by the typhoon. We got some very strong winds and rain here in Gifu, but it was nothing too serious. Actually, I went running at the peak of…

As you know, I started a new job at Gifu University this April. At the interview, they warned me that the pay was not very good, and they were right! My pay now is a lot lower than it was…

I’m back in Gifu now. I love Hokkaido, but it’s always nice to come home. I drove 1,200 km yesterday, which was a bit more than I planned, but I enjoyed travelling through some beautiful parts of the country.