【会員様限定】第1回英検申込開始いたします！
2025年04月1日
5月31日（土）に本校（準会場）で行われます
「2025年度第1回実用英語技能検定試験」の申込みを開始いたします。
（会員様限定）
申込期間：4月1日（火）〜4月25日（金）
ご希望の方は受付にてお申込みをお願いいたします。
English Cafe Topic ～ イングリッシュ・カフェ4月のトピック
2025年04月1日
「イングリッシュ・カフェ」クラスは
毎回身近な話題を通して文化や習慣について英語で話し合います。
コーディネーターの外国人講師が適切な英語表現をアドバイスしてくれます。
4月の各週のトピックは次のようになります。
2025 April
【Monday : Erik】
7th: How do you protect your personal data?
14th: What is your/your family’s favorite fast food chain and why?
21st: What needs to be done about crime in the Shinjuku area (Kabuki-cho)?
28th: What are your thoughts about the decline in car ownership among young people?
Royal Ashbourne Shrovetide Football
2025年03月31日
This year will be held on Shrove Tuesday 4th March and Ash Wednesday 5th March 2025.
Unlike a conventional football match, Shrovetide Football is much longer than a regular football match and is played over two eight-hour periods. The goals are three miles apart at former mills and there are very few rules. The ball is rarely kicked but instead moves through a giant ‘hug’, not unlike a rugby scrum. There is no set pitch: the game is played throughout the entire town, so shops and businesses board up their windows in preparation!
The game starts on Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday at 2pm, when the ball is ‘turned up’ from a stone plinth on Shaw Croft car park in Ashbourne town centre. The ball is thrown into the air and into the ‘hug’ by the ‘turner up’, a respected local person chosen to do the honour. Famous ‘turner-ups’ have included Prince Charles and The Duke of Devonshire.
Once play begins, a large number of players try to move the ball to their goal by pushing against the opposition.
Players must follow the request of medical personnel, marshals and police at all times – and respect the town and its people.
There are records of mass football being played as early as 1667, but Ashbourne Royal Shrovetide’s origins are unknown due to a fire at the Royal Shrovetide Committee office in the 1890s, which destroyed the earliest records
But we know the modern game follows a very similar format to how it would have looked centuries ago, with tradition at its core, and sportsmanship and rivalry at its beating heart.
So, every Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday the town is divided by the Henmore Brook. Traditionally, those born north of the river are Up’ards, and those born south of it are Down’ards.
The match continues until 10pm. If the goal is scored (goaled) before 6pm a new ball is released and play restarts. However, play ends for the day if a ball is goaled after 6pm. To goal a ball the players must first reach the sites of the former mills, and then jump into the river and hit the ball against a mill stone, mounted in a plinth, three times.
Graduation and Things Coming to an End
2025年03月24日
March marks that time of year when graduations take place across Japan. Students have completed a phase of their school life and are celebrating what they have accomplished. English has a number of idioms about things coming to an end, so in this blog let’s look at a few.
Close the chapter on something: to end something significant (school, job, relationship, etc.)
Twelfth graders are often excited close the chapter on high school so they can have more freedom.
They closed the chapter on living in Tokyo and moved to Hokkaido.
End of the road: when something can no longer continue
Hana and Mia were sad that it was the end of the road for high school because after graduation they were going to different universities.
They had a very successful business, but they knew it was the end of the road for it when their son said he didn’t want to take it over.
End on a high note: to finish something positively or successfully
She ended school life on a high note with her best test score ever.
By winning the last game, the soccer team ended the season on a high note.
Throw in the towel: to give up or admit defeat
After failing at growing vegetables, he decided to throw in the towel and try something different.
The baseball coach threw in the towel once his team was behind by 10 run and put in all the second-string players.
To run out of steam: to lose energy or motivation and stop doing something
After a long day at work, she ran out of steam and went to bed without eating dinner.
The students seemed to run out of steam at the end of the school year
Erik
Birthday
2025年03月17日
Since my birthday is coming up, I thought I would give you a little history (compliments of the Grok AI) about birthdays.
“The celebration of birthdays has a rich and varied history, stretching back thousands of years. The earliest known birthday festivities likely originated in ancient Egypt around 3000 BCE, where pharaohs marked their “birth” as gods upon coronation, rather than their actual birth dates. These events were steeped in divine significance, setting a precedent for honoring individuals on specific days. In ancient Greece, birthdays took a more personal turn. Greeks celebrated the birthdays of gods like Artemis, with offerings of cakes adorned with candles symbolizing moonlight. This practice influenced mortal celebrations, where cakes and candles became symbols of good fortune. The Romans expanded this further, hosting lavish birthday feasts for elites, though commoners rarely marked the occasion. The tradition waned in early Christian Europe, as birthdays were seen as pagan and self-indulgent. However, by the 4th century, Christians began celebrating Jesus’ birth (Christmas), reviving interest in personal birthdays. The modern birthday as we know it—cakes, gifts, and parties—emerged in 18th-century Germany with “Kinderfeste,” children’s celebrations featuring candles for each year of life. Industrialization and mass production later made cakes, cards, and gifts widely accessible, cementing birthdays as a global tradition blending ancient reverence with modern festivity. Today, they’re a universal marker of personal milestones.”
Hope you have a good birthday this year.
Rick
The Eiffel Tower: A Marvel of Engineering and History
2025年03月11日
Have you ever been to Paris? If so, you surely have visited
this tower on the left.
The Eiffel Tower, an iconic symbol of Paris, was completed in March, 1889 for the Exposition Universelle, celebrating the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution. Designed by engineer Gustave Eiffel, the tower was originally met with mixed public reactions. Critics deemed it an eyesore, while others marveled at its audacious iron lattice design, which was revolutionary for its time.
Initially planned to stand for just 20 years, the Eiffel Tower was almost dismantled afterward. However, its value as a radiotelegraph station helped secure its place in the Paris skyline. Interestingly, Adolf Hitler, upon visiting Paris, sought to have the tower demolished, viewing it as a symbol of French nationalism.
Over the years, the Eiffel Tower transformed from a controversial structure into one of the most recognizable landmarks globally. Its graceful silhouette has inspired numerous structures, including the Tokyo Tower, which was designed to serve a similar purpose as a broadcasting antenna.
Today, the Eiffel Tower stands proud at 1,083 feet, attracting millions of visitors each year. With its twinkling lights and breathtaking views of the City of Light, the tower has become a symbol of love, innovation, and resilience—an enduring legacy of human creativity. Whether you’re a first-time visitor or a returning admirer, the Eiffel Tower continues to enchant and inspire all who gaze upon it. Which do you fancy, the original or the one which was inspired by it? Alex
Pancake Day in the UK
2025年03月3日
Pancake Day, or Shrove Tuesday, is the traditional feast day before the start of Lent on Ash Wednesday. Lent – the 40 days leading up to Easter – was traditionally a time of fasting and on Shrove Tuesday, Anglo-Saxon Christians went to confession and were “shriven” (absolved from their sins). A bell would be rung to call people to confession. This came to be called the “Pancake Bell” and is still rung today. Pancake races are also a common part of the celebrations.
Shrove Tuesday always falls 47 days before Easter Sunday, so the date varies from year to year and falls between 3rd February and 9th March.
This year, 2025, Shrove Tuesday will fall on 4th March.
Shrove Tuesday was the last opportunity to use up eggs and fats before embarking on Lent, and pancakes are the perfect way of using up these ingredients.
A pancake is a thin, flat cake, made of batter and fried in a frying pan. A traditional English pancake is very thin and is served immediately. Golden syrup or lemon juice and caster sugar are the usual toppings for pancakes.
The pancake has a very long history and featured in cookery books as far back as 1439. The tradition of tossing or flipping them is almost as old. The ingredients for pancakes can be seen to symbolise four points of significance at this time of year:
Eggs ~ Creation
Flour ~ The staff of life
Salt ~ Wholesomeness
Milk ~ Purity
Pancake races are also held every year all over the UK. Richard
Happy Birthday to the Emperor of Japan
2025年02月27日
Since 1868, Japan has celebrated the Emperor’s birthday as a national holiday first on November 3, next on April 29, then on December 23 and now on February 23. In honor of Emperor Naruhito’s 65 birthday, what better time to look at some vocabulary related to ‘emperor’.
Emperor: the male ruler of an empire
Japan is currently the only country with an emperor. He has no role in the government but serves as a symbol of the country performing ceremonial and social duties.
Empress: the female ruler of an empire or the wife of the emperor
Did you know that Empress Masako went to high school in the U.S. and was on the softball team?
Empire: often a large area ruled by a single person
It is believed that the British Empire was the largest empire in history covering almost a quarter of the globe.
Imperial: relating to emperor, empress and empire
The Imperial Hotel near the Imperial Palace in Tokyo was the first place to offer a western style buffet which was named the Imperial Viking in honor of the Scandinavian buffet called smorgasbord.
Emperor penguin: the largest penguin species
Antarctica is home to over half a million emperor penguins.
Now Emperor’s birthday can be more than just a holiday. It is an opportunity to increase your English vocabulary. Erik.