English Recordings

James just jostled Jean gently.

Jack the jailbird jacked a jeep.

How was Harry hastened so hurriedly from the hunt?

Four furious friends fought for the phone

Five flippant Frenchmen fly from France for fashions

Did Doug dig Dick's garden or did Dick dig Doug's garden?

Do drop in at the Dewdrop Inn

Betty bought a bit of butter, but she found the butter bitter, so Betty bought a bit of better butter to make the bitter butter better.

Bill had a billboard.
Bill also had a board bill.
The board bill bored Bill,
So Bill sold his billboard
And paid his board bill.
Then the board bill
No longer bored Bill,
But though he had no board bill,
Neither did he have his billboard!

Six thick thistle sticks

Theophilus Thistler, the thistle sifter, in sifting a sieve of unsifted thistles, thrust three thousand thistles through the thick of his thumb.

The shrewd shrew sold Sarah seven sliver fish slices.

Sister Susie sat on the sea shore sewing shirts for sailors

Moses supposes his toses are roses,
But Moses supposes erroneously,
For nobody's toeses are posies of roses
As Moses supposes his toses to be.

(When I read this story for my daughter, this part is difficult to read to me. Please help me!)

"Someone has been sleeping in my bed," shrieked tiny, little baby bear.
"And she's still here!"

Baby bear's shrill, little voice woke Goldilocks with a start. When she saw the three bears staring down at her, she was out of bed... down the stairs... and out of the door in a flash.

What a surprise! What spoiled cattle there are in Japan!

The Wikipedia article about kobe beef says that "as beef became more prominent in society, farmers began hiring geishas to massage the animal's backside." I did not know that geishas had offered such services even to cattle!

Kobe beef is considered to be top grade beef in Japan, and it probably is some of the most expensive beef in the world. It is well marbled and very tender. Thus, it is very delicious. It is said that it currently costs over $100 per pound; it is over 10,000yen for only 450g.

Kobe beef comes from a specific breed of Japanese black-haired cattle and is raised in with organic practices.

They are fed natural foods, such as barley ,wheat and grass and they are given good water.

They are massaged by humans daily, in a special way over their whole body! The cattle must remain muscular and well marbled to be ranked Grade A by the Japanese Association of Meat Rankings.

If I tell you this, you would feel green with envy of the cattle. They can drink beer like crazy!

Do you think they are spending happy days by having massages and tons of bottles of beer every day~?

A question popped into my mind while driving today.
This(It) is about the way people greet one another in English.

Why do you always ask people " How are you?" , " How are you doing?" or " How is it going?", when you meet them? Why do you reply , " I'm fine" or " I'm good" most of the time?

When I go to an English school, two of the American teachers ask me that ( this). I can reply to them, " I am fine, thank you, and you?", which is just like what I learned in school. I feel bored saying this in the same old pattern, actually.

I wonder how I can continue the conversation after saying "I am fine."

Is it a good idea to talk about what I did over the weekend or maybe how I felt when I did something during the week? Can I say those things abruptly?

I think that lots of Japanese English learners have this (the) same question as me. The ways people greet one another in English and Japanese are different, but I can't explain how they are different right now.

Would you start off with small talk, like about the weather?

I am not a person who comes under the influence of the weather much, so it is kind of boring to talk about it and hear about it...

Hello, everyone!

I am Ringo from Japan. I happened find this website just before, and I don't know exactly about how it works.

I really want to improve my speaking skills and get rid of my Japanese accent.

Please listen to me and give me some suggestions. Thank you!