When I was a high school student, I had to commute to school by train. There was only one service in the morning so I had to run to catch it every morning. How nice it would have been if JR had provided more services.
などと怒りを込めて話す学生が結構いた。
これにはメイさんも驚き、Why does the developed country like Japan have a transportation-related problem?
「懐かしいね」。。。 is the phrase that I want to say when I am seeing this photo. Gone are the days that people have the freedom to roam around and gather as a group to form celebrations and get-togethers. This is the photo that I took with my students in the Eikaiwa Class that I am handling. One can surmise the peace and freedom to flock together to create happy moments which we are now lacking and are forbidden to do during this time of the pandemic. Organizing parties or the like is the new taboo of the society. Being able to recollect as one regardless of race, gender, age, and interests is one of the priveleges that we have lost since the time of the coronavirus. I am still looking forward to the day that we can enjoy the time that we have as a human without boundaries, without masks, without health protocols, just as how we were almost 3 years ago.
Following the declaration of voluntary lockdown by the mayor of Asahikawa, Nishikawa Masato, I have decided to postpone and close all of my group lessons for both adults, as well as children.
しかし外出自粛と言う、個人個人の裁量に任せるやり方は不十分ではないかと思われます。
Based on what I can muster, simply suggesting a voluntary lockdown – a preventive measure that relies heavily on an individual’s will and decision – is not adequate to produce effective results in putting a halt into this pandemic.
コロナが始まってから9ヶ月が経ち、今第3波の波が押し寄せているのは誰の目にも明らか。
It is already known by everybody that we are now facing the third wave of the coronavirus and it has been nine (9) months now since the start of this outbreak.
菅総理大臣の国民任せ自粛対策やGOTO キャンペーンは、我が国の立て直しに繋がっていません。
By this, one can simply conclude that Prime Minister Suga’s decision to entrust the quarantine measures to the public is not helping the overall status of the country, not to mention the aftermath of the Go To Travel Campaign that was launched by the government.
この状況を打開するにはもっと厳しい方策を取らねばならないと思います
To resolve this, the government should begin implementing the “iron fist” if they are earnest in eliminating this almost year-long pandemic.
感染する人々は日に日に増加し我々が望む方向とは逆方向に進んでいます
The number of infected people is continuously increasing day by day and is leaning the opposite way, contrary to what we actually want to happen.
People are simply being optimistic that the environment will involuntarily resolve it’s problem without much participation from the general public. I believe that we must act as one nation now.
To emphasize on these, I have here the photos that one of my friends from the Philippines had sent me. These were the photos that were taken during the midst of the lockdown from April until late August.
写真A
市内中心部に出入りする人が尋問を受けているところです。
Exhibit A:
Local makeshift public transportations, such as this “pedicab” are being interviewed before entering the boundary of a new “barangay” (the smallest administrative region in a town) to ensure that all people who come in and out of the place are identified.
Exhibit B: Local residents are required to show a Quarantine Pass to confirm their residency and locality to prevent them from going to other places without permission. This pass is also needed when doing grocery shopping for necessities. Shopping Schedules are also in place to prevent the supermarkets from overcrowding.
写真C
列車の座席はソーシャルディスタンスを守れるようビニールシートで仕切られています。
Exhibit C: Train seats are divided by plastic sheets to mark the gap between the two social distancing points.
写真D
公共交通手段の1つであるトライシクルを待つ人々。距離を保って待てるようにしています
Exihibit D: Passengers waiting for the tricycle – a three-wheeled local public transportation service – are asked to line up on a well distanced plastic chairs to prevent close contact from each other.
写真E
バスの中では乗客が一つおきに座席に座るようX印が付けられています。
Exhibit E: Buses are marked with “X” to inform the incoming passengers that the seat should not be used in observance of the social distancing rules.
われわれが住む旭川もこのぐらいのことをしなければならないのではないでしょうか。
この厳しい外出規制のおかげでフィリピンのコロナ情勢はかなり快方に向かっています。
As you can see from these photos, that the Philippines is way too strict and advanced when in comes to the security and flow of crowd as compared to Asahikawa.
さらに詳しいデータはこのリンクで知ることができます。
Based from the data and statistics online (statistics – https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/philippines/), you will see that the Philippines has already progressed a long way and is now on their way to putting an end into the coronavirus battle. Although the graph seems to be bumpy, at least, they are showing remarkable milestones in battling the pandemic as compared to Japan as a whole.
他国の良例を真似て取り入れることで、少しでも改善につながるならばやるべきではないでしょうか。
Sharing best practices and mimicking the good examples of other nations won’t do any harm, I guess, but in fact, it may even help us improve the situation where we are all in at the moment.
With my ten years of experience in teaching in an “eigo juku”, I noticed one common grammar mistake that students commit when creating their own essays and compositions.
それは、they’re, their, there がはっきり理解されていないことである。
That is the distinction among the usages of “their” (possessive), “there” (demonstrative pronoun), and “they’re” (contraction of ‘they are’).
These homonyms are confusing to the ear and brain, as one would expect, but your mastery of the English Language may reflect within these confusions. Homonyms are words that are pronounced the same way but differ in meaning and origin.
最近、高校、大学生にディクテーション演習を課した。つまり、英文を聞かせて生徒たちに書かせてみた。Recently, I gave a practical dictation exercise. In this activity, I played audios for them to listen to and jot down whatever word they think they heard.
サンプル文の1つは、「Some people sell their goods online.」。
One of the sample sentences was, “Some people sell their goods online”.
By the way, among these three homonyms, “the possessive – their” seems the most neglected , ignored, excluded, forgotten, and discriminated in the same manner as middle children.
ある学生がこのような投稿していました。Even if our government lifts up the GO TO TRAVEL campaign, significant effects won’t be seen such as the rapid reduction in COVID-19 cases.
( 1 ) The government should consider providing subsidy to those industries affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
( 2 ) Fifteen Asian countries signed RCEP, or regional comprehensive economic partnership. India should join too.
(3) In Japan many companies are suffering from poor business performance owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On the other hand stock prices are on the rise, which is very strange. It is because the government is allowing our pension fund to be invested in stock market. There should be no gap between the two.
