English Learners Club(ELC‪)‬ ELC

I’ve seen a lot of castles in my time, but Himeji castle takes the cake!
It was built in 1609, and even after more than 400 years, it’s beauty is incomparable.
I had been looking forward to visiting Himeji castle, so I booked a guide.
Having a guide made the experience totally different.
He taught me how the castle was built, how it was defended from enemies, how day to day life was for the inhabitants, how strong the castle’s construction is, and the list goes on and on.
The wisdom and way of thinking of the people of that time overwhelmed me.
During the second world war, the area around the castle was bombed.
I thought the reason why the large castle on the hill, nicknamed “Shirasagi”(
The White Heron Castle), survived was because the American military knew of it’s historical value.
BuuuUUUuuut that wasn’t the reason at all! The castle was covered with black nets! A bomb still fell on the castle tower, but luckily it didn’t explode.
The staff risked their lives and carried the bomb out of the castle.
Himeji castle standing tall in the middle of burnt ruins must have given people strength and courage. —————————————————————— 🗣Do you study English? Join our club! And why not read your monologue. If you are interested, please feel free to contact us. 👉smsgil0228@gmail.com *FREEBIRD English: https://www.55freebird.com/blank-1

I went to Primal Fear's show in Osaka. They are a German metal band.
As I came in I saw a notice posted on the wall at the entrance to the venue.
It said: "Today's show won't be perfect. If you agree to that, please proceed to the venue floor."
A spokesperson for the band appeared on the stage when we, the audience, were waiting for the band. She announced, "They can not provide you the show you expected today. Actually, their drummer fell ill yesterday and is in the hospital. Fortunately, we could find a stand-in for this show. They were rehearsing with the substitute Japanese drummer until just now. However, the show will only be half as long as usual today."
Then one crazy metal head in the audience called out, "That's fine! Just give us the METAL!!!!" and no one in the audience seemed to have any bones about it.
That's the thing about metal heads! We just wanna ROCK!!
She continued, saying, "Instead, we'll hold a meet and greet event for everyone after the show!" We were delighted by the band and the crew's respect for their fans.
The band and the audience were united and got fired up together.
I pictured what happened to the Japanese drummer that morning... He woke up and was having a cup of coffee while relaxing as usual. Then suddenly, his phone rang. "We need you to come here right now. Primal Fear needs you to play the drums at thier show!" "What what what whaaaat? THE Primal Fear? ...today??"
Even though he had just a few hours to rehearse their songs, he ripped hard when it was showtime!
When the performance of the last song ended, the band members and audience all gave him a round of applause in admiration. He became a hero in that moment, although he was unknown to anyone here until only an hour ago.
I deeply realized that you never know when opportunity will come, so consistant practice and preparation are crucial.
Afterwards, I got a chance and an amazing offer as well.
But I'll talk about that another time... ---------------------------------------------
Do you study English? Join our club! And why not read your monologue. If you are interested, please feel free to contact us. Keep Rocking and Stay Metal!
👉smsgil0228@gmail.com
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Today, I’m going to talk about a new part of my morning routine where I go outside right after waking up. Initially, I aimed to get back into running after suffering from sciatica last year due to a sedentary lifestyle. However, I found it quite challenging. The most difficult part was getting my butt out of bed and going outside in the cold weather with just my running gear on.
My husband suggested that we invest in an stationary bike, which was a perfect interim solution, allowing me to exercise without having to brave the cold. Yet, something was missing… I believe profoundly in the mental and physical benefits of spending time outdoors, so this didn’t really surprise me.
After much deliberation, I found a simple yet effective solution: lower the bar to just going outside. Now, regardless of the weather, I step out for a walk. The shift from running to merely being outside has significantly relieved the pressure, making the habit easier to maintain.
Integrating photography into my routine added a layer of enjoyment. Taking photos has long been a hobby of mine, yet I rarely had the opportunity to dedicate time to it. By combining it with my new morning walk, it has become something that I feel excited about and makes me pop out of bed in the morning with a spring in my step.
Since the weather has gotten warmer, I've begun wearing my running gear during my morning outings. This makes it more likely that I'll spontaneously decide to run, and this month alone I've ran over 50 kilometers in total and I've noticed improvements in productivity and mental clarity throughout the day. This has in turn enhanced my enjoyment of learning English and other daily activities.
This simple change to my morning routine has transformed my daily life, and I'm incredibly proud of the progress I’ve made. —————————————————————— 🗣Do you study English? Join our club! And why not read your monologue. If you are interested, please feel free to contact us. 👉smsgil0228@gmail.com *FREEBIRD English: https://www.55freebird.com/blank-1

Spring break was from the end of March until the beginning of this week, which means I had to make my kids lunch boxes everyday when they were out of school. When you make a lunch box there are various things that you have to consider. There is a lot of pressure on mothers to make a lunch box that their child can be proud of when eating with their friends. If your child’s lunch box looks boring, they might be disappointed or embarrassed. Therefore, things like color balance are actually just as important as nutrition in a strange way.

In my early days as a mother, I struggled with making a lunchbox for my daughter. However one of my friends gave me some good advice.
She suggested that I put three different colors of food in the lunchbox. For example, red for tomatoes or carrots, green for broccoli or cucumbers, and yellow for Japanese style eggs. She called it “三色列車走らせる”which means “running a three-color train.”
Anyway, It worked! I started making lunchboxes using this rule, and when my daughter opened it, a big smile came across her face because she noticed the three-color train!
Ever since then, I have been keeping this rule in mind and making sure I have the appropriate ingredients in my refrigerator.
If you have to make lunchboxes for kids in the future, following this simple rule should make life easier for you, and brighten up your kids' lunch time! —————————————————————— 🗣Do you study English? Join our club! And why not read your monologue. If you are interested, please feel free to contact us. 👉smsgil0228@gmail.com *FREEBIRD English: https://www.55freebird.com/blank-1

When I get up in the morning, sometimes I remember two or three dreams I had.
All of them are completely different, and pretty detailed. Do you have similar experiences?
Recently, this happened again. Let me tell you about it…
I dreamed that my best friend in Tokyo got in a car accident. I told her about it in the morning because I was worried about her. But I also told her, “It’s just a bad dream Don’t worry too much because my dreams are always weird, and they never come true.” I also told her about some of my other dreams to put her at ease.
First I told her about a dream where I was on the way to work when I saw a kangaroo jumping through a rice field. It seemed to have been injured in a car accident, and she had a baby in her pouch… But the baby was obviously too big for the pouch, so I thought “Come on! Get out of her pouch! You should jump on your own! Your mother is having a hard time! Take care of her for a change!”
I think this dream was influenced by an amazingly funny Australian, Ben, from the “TeacherTalk” podcast.
Then I told her about another dream where I went to play trombone with my brass band friends, but I hadn’t practiced for a long time because my left hand is sore, so holding the trombone properly is painful - which is true. In the dream, I tried hard to play with them, but of course I failed. Do you know how hard it is to hide your mistakes playing a trombone? I think the trombone is the hardest brass instrument to hide mistakes, or not being in sync with your bandmates, because it’s so obvious just from watching the sliding movements. I was in big trouble, and tired in my dream. ふ～・・・
Afterwards, she texted me “OK, thanks. I’ll be careful as always. Safety first!”
—————————————————————— 🗣Do you study English? Join our club! And why not read your monologue. If you are interested, please feel free to contact us. 👉smsgil0228@gmail.com *FREEBIRD English: https://www.55freebird.com/blank-1

I like playing a pretending game. In Japanese, I think it’s called “ごっこ遊び”.
I’m getting more and more forgetful.
Therefore, recently I created a new game to benefit from my forgetfulness.
The game is very easy, doesn’t cost any money, and you can play it anywhere you want.
In the morning, I tell myself “Oh! I have something fun and interesting to do at work today!”
That helps me start my work day in a good mood, which is how this game cheers me up.
I eventually forget that I was playing this game, so I never feel down when I have just a normal day.
In the afternoon, I start another game.
I tell myself “Oh! I have exciting plan after work today!”, and kind of convince myself to believe it.
That puts me in an upbeat and an excited mood for most of the rest of the day,
but eventually I forget about that too, so it never brings me down after I finish work.
I’ve found this game to be quite effective to improve my mood on a day to day basis.
Do you want to try? Do you think this is crazy?
Or perhaps you agree that it is a really creative and genius idea! —————————————————————— 🗣Do you study English? Join our club! And why not read your monologue. If you are interested, please feel free to contact us. 👉smsgil0228@gmail.com *FREEBIRD English: https://www.55freebird.com/blank-1