Phobias!

fear 恐怖
afraid おそれる・こわがる
phobia　恐怖症

I have a fear of spiders.
I am afraid of spiders.
I have arachnophobia.

All of these sentences mean that spiders scare me. However, arachnophobia is more serious. People with arachnophobia might scream, panic, sweat, or have heart problems if they are near spiders. Even seeing a picture of a spider might make them nervous.

In English, normally we say "I'm afraid of　～."
And we can ask other people "Are you afraid of  ～?"

Phobias are more extreme. They are mental disorders. The names of phobias usually come from Greek. So, in Greek "arachne," means spider, and "phobia," means fear. There are many many phobias. Some commonly known ones are:

Agorophobia- fear of public places or open spaces
Claustrophobia- fear of small spaces or being closed in
Mysophobia- fear of germs or dirt
Acrophobia- fear of heights
Zoophobia- fear of animals

For many of them (such as zoophobia, sociophobia, philophobia, frigophobia, etc), we don't need to know Greek to understand the meaning. We know other English words with the same Greek roots- Zoo, zoology, society, sociology, philanthropy, philosophy, refrigerator, frigid, etc. So it is easy to figure out the meaning!  For example, "frigophobia," means...fear of being cold. Lots of English words come from Greek.

So, what are you afraid of? Do you have any phobias?
I'm afraid of heights and spiders, but I don't think I have any phobias.

Another blog?!

Check this out:

http://innocence-plus.blogspot.jp/

for updates on the school, and English stuff (explained mostly in Japanese).

Watch out! (see, watch, look at)

I saw a painting in the museum.
I watched a baseball game.

Do you understand the difference? Many students say "I watched a painting." or "I watched some nice scenery from my window."But it is better to use saw or looked at. Because the painting and the scenery are not moving.

I'm watching a baseball game.

I'm watching the children play.

I'm watching the cars go by.

Baseball players, children, and cars-- All of these things involve movement- usually living things. Also, "watching," implies that we give it our attention for a while (not just a few seconds). Watch is active!!

however...

I saw a pretty dress in the shop window.

I saw a lot of peach trees in Fukushima. 

They are not moving. They are not even alive.


But...be careful!! Some examples:
 "I saw my friend at the mall." is okay. Yes, she was moving, but you didn't really give her much attention or "watch" her, the way you would a baseball game.

"I watched my girlfriend sleep." No, she's not moving a lot, but she is alive and breathing. And you are giving her your attention.

For movies, see and watch are both okay! "I saw a movie." or "I watched a movie."
"I saw a play." "I saw my classmate." are also okay.

~~~~~~~~~

Now...how about "see" and "look at?"

I saw a beautiful painting. 

I looked at a beautiful painting. 

Both are correct. But look at is a conscious effort, that often takes some time. When my eyes are open, I see everything in front of me. There is no effort. But when I look at something, I study or think about it, and take some time. Usually, I look at things that are interesting or fascinating.

I saw a lot of food in the grocery store. (It wasn't very interesting. I didn't need to study it.)

I looked at the roses in the garden. (They were beautiful, so I took some time to "look at" them.)

~~~~~~~~~~

Finally, "see" is often used to mean "visit."

I saw my mom last weekend. 

I'm going to see my aunt tomorrow. 

Must you?

To explain that something is necessary, we don't use "must" very much. Usually, we say "have to." And we say "have to," a lot. It is very common. In fact, I probably say it everyday.

Examples:
I have to go to the store for vegetables and milk.
I have to wake up early tomorrow.
I have to do my homework by Friday.
I had to write a report last week.

Although it is not very conversational, "must" is sometimes used for written rules. Sometimes you can see "must" in manuals or signs.

Examples:
Workers must wear a helmet.
Students must not use cell phones in class. 
You must be at work by 9:00am every morning.

However!! We do use must to mean that we believe something is true.

Examples:
You worked 10 hours today?! You must be tired.
That jacket is leather. It must be expensive.
It's hot outside. You must be thirsty.


Any questions?

Y u no spell good??

wat u wanna have 4 dinnr? 


OMG! I met teh kewlest guy today in english class. lol!!!


U comin tothe party 2nite? Come on! YOLO!! lol


1 c4n p4y y0u b4ck 0n m0nd4y, 1 pr0m153.

Please don't type like this- at least not all the time.  Really, it doesn't look good. In fact, this kind of poor spelling and teenage text-speak makes people look unintelligent and juvenile, rather than cool. It may be normal among American teens, but unless you are 14, it looks ridiculous. Well, that's just my opinion anyway.

A lot of people type "U" instead of "you" and "ur" instead of "your." It's not such a big problem, but really...what's the point? "You," is a pretty short word as it is. Do we need to make it any shorter? Take your time. Don't be lazy.

LOL!!! People overuse "lol" (laugh out loud) WAY too much. If you're actually laughing out loud at a joke, then it's fine. But lately, people seem to add "lol" after every other sentence. It's not even funny! People also type "lolz" just to be cute/cool. But when your 25 or 30 years old, it's not so cute anymore. lol!!!!

YOLO......just don't use this. Ever.


(Yeah...I'm 30 years old and have no patience for these hooligans, hoodlums, and ruffians and their crazy talk!)

Coolest furniture in the world!!!

I got SCHOOL FURNITURE!! I went to Ikea (in Saitama) last week and got a truck load of furniture from Ikea. Ikea is wonderful- good quality and affordable. I was there from 1:30 to 9:00 at night. The truck was FULL. It was a rather exhausting trip, but well worth it.
We got some nice stuff!

I had raspberries from Costco on the trip home, so that made the trip even more worth it. By the time I got back to Sendai...I ate them all.

I wish Costco would come to Sendai, just so I could buy raspberries.

chicks dig Lisa Frank

I went to Costco...

Got fake food. And...

Pencils for my students. Not just any pencils-- Lisa Frank pencils. Success!