English Recordings

Meals

There are four meals a day in an English home: breakfast, lunch, tea, and dinner.
Breakfast is the first meal of the day. It is at about 8 o'clock in the morning, and consists of porridge with milk and salt or sugar, eggs — boiled or fried, bread and butter with marmalade or jam. Some people like to drink tea, but others prefer coffee.

Instead of porridge they may have fruit juice, or they may prefer biscuits.
The usual time for lunch is 1 o'clock. This meal starts with soup or fruit juice. Then follows some meat or poultry with potatoes — boiled or fried, carrots and beans. Then a pudding comes. Instead of the pudding they may prefer cheese and biscuits.

Last of all coffee — black or white. Englishmen often drink something at lunch.
Water is usually on the table. Some prefer juice or lemonade.
Tea is the third meal of the day. It is between 4 or 5 o'clock, the so-called 5 o'clock tea. On the table there is tea, milk or cream, sugar, bread and butter, cakes and jam. Friends and visitors are often present at tea.

I had a chance to speak with some Americans yesterday.

We chatted about trivia at first, but gradually made the shift to (talk about) education, because all of them were married, and some of their children were attending Japanese schools.

I was surprised when one of them said that it's more common to see nudity in Japan than in the US. I could not believe my ears at the time.

He also said that it's easier for children to be exposed to violence and nudity through comic books and cartoons in Japan than it is in America.

I think that tons of Japanese people would object to this idea. Many of us learn about America mostly from TV programs or movies, and it looks and sounds like it's more lenient than in Japan.

It's just my idea, though I guess that some people living and raising their children here may agree with him.

As I have not lived in America, I actually know little about it.

I can't help but accept his idea because he is an American, who has been living in Japan for 10 years. He must have learned both countries and their situations.

I wonder how different comic books are in other countries.

Dumbledore locates a Horcrux and asks Harry for help destroying it. They travel to a cave and retrieve what they believe to be Salazar's locket, but Dumbledore is severely weakened after drinking the magical potion that protects the Horcrux. They return to Hogwarts and see Voldemort's symbol hovering over Hogwarts's Astronomy Tower. At the top of the tower, Dumbledore is confronted by Draco. Draco admits that he was behind the attacks on Dumbledore's life, as Voldemort had ordered Draco to kill him and would kill Draco if he failed, but he cannot bring himself to kill Dumbledore on the spot. However, Snape arrives and kills Dumbledore. Enraged, Harry pursues Snape, who fends off Harry's attacks and reveals that he is the Half-Blood Prince shortly before disapparating.

Harry recovers the locket from Dumbledore's body, only to discover that it is a fake left by someone with the initials R. A. B., who stole the real Horcrux and left a note declaring his opposition to Voldemort. The school year ends with Dumbledore's funeral; he and his wand are buried in a tomb beside the lake on Hogwarts' grounds. After the funeral, Harry breaks up with Ginny, fearing that Voldemort will target her if they continue to see each other. He, Ron, and Hermione decide not to return to school the following year, but to hunt for the remaining Horcruxes instead.

During private meetings held throughout the year, Dumbledore uses his Pensieve to show Harry memories of Voldemort's past. A memory Harry procures from Slughorn confirms Dumbledore's suspicion that Voldemort splintered his soul into seven fragments in order to achieve near immortality. Six of these fragments are contained in magical objects called Horcruxes, which must be destroyed before Voldemort can be killed. Two Horcruxes have already been destroyed: Tom Riddle's diary, which Harry stabbed with a basilisk fang in his second year, and Voldemort's grandfather's ring, which Dumbledore destroyed during the summer. Dumbledore suspects that the remaining Horcruxes are Voldemort's pet snake Nagini and objects formerly owned by Hogwarts' founders: Salazar Slytherin's locket, Helga Hufflepuff's cup, and an unidentified object of either Godric Gryffindor's or Rowena Ravenclaw's.

After Snape sees Harry cast a curse from the Half-Blood Prince's book and attempts to confiscate the book, Harry hides it in the Room of Requirement. Harry's Hogwarts House, Gryffindor, wins the school's Quidditch championship; euphoric, Harry spontaneously kisses Ginny, and with Ron's diffident approval, they start dating.

Harry Potter and his best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, return to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for their sixth year of magical education. It is announced that Severus Snape has become the new Defence Against the Dark Arts instructor, while Horace Slughorn has taken Snape's place as Potions teacher. Harry discovers that the previous owner of his Potions textbook, the "Half-Blood Prince", has annotated the book with refinements that allow Harry to excel in class and become a favourite of Slughorn's. Slughorn is also intrigued by the rumour that Harry is the "Chosen One" who will finally kill the evil Lord Voldemort, who has recently regained power and is set on conquering the wizarding world.

Harry recognises his attraction to Ginny Weasley, but fears that acting on it will harm his friendship with Ron, her overprotective older brother. Ron begins dating Lavender Brown, causing a rift between him and Hermione, who secretly harbours feelings for him. The rift heals only when Ron is nearly killed by poisoned mead intended for Hogwarts' headmaster, Albus Dumbledore. Harry suspects that his nemesis, Draco Malfoy, has become one of Voldemort's supporters and believes he was behind both the mead and a previous failed attack on Dumbledore's life. However, no one seems to believe him.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, released on 16 July 2005, is the sixth of seven novels from British author J. K. Rowling's popular Harry Potter series. Set during Harry Potter's sixth year at Hogwarts, the novel explores Lord Voldemort's past, and Harry's preparations for the final battle amidst emerging romantic relationships and the emotional confusions and conflict resolutions characteristic of mid-adolescence.

The book sold nine million copies in the first 24 hours after its release, a record at the time which was eventually broken by its sequel, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

have influenza 유행성 감기에 걸리다
have[catch, get] (the) flu 유행성 감기에 걸려 있다[걸리다]

Given such changing conditions, older people especially will be vulnerable to colds.
이처럼 심한 일교차로 인해 노인들은 감기에 걸릴 가능성이 특히 높아지고 있다.
Her resistancewas low and she came down with a severe cold. 그녀는 저항력이 약해서 지독한 감기에 걸렸다.

I got a cold after I was caught in the rain yesterday. 어제 비 맞은 뒤로 감기에 걸렸어요.
She’s sickening for the flu. 그녀는 감기에 걸려 있다

I´ve been feeling chills since this morning. I seem to be catching a cold. (아침부터 한기가 난다. 감기에 걸린 것 같다
get a cold (감기에 걸리다

She took care to avoid catching cold. (그녀는 감기에 걸리지 않도록 조심했다.
guard against catching cold (감기에 걸리지 않도록 조심하다.

feel mean with a cold (감기에 걸려서 몸이 좋지 않다
come down with a cold (감기에 걸리다.

suffer with a bad cold (심한 감기에 걸리다
Because of irregular weather I caught cold. (불규칙한 날씨 때문에 감기에 걸렸습니다.

have a slight[bad] cold (가벼운[지독한] 감기에 걸려 있다
Maybe your dogs had a cold. (당신네 개들이 감기 걸렸을지도 모르죠

What is worse, I have a bad cold. (거기다 또 감기까지 걸렸다
What's wrong? Did you catch a cold? 무슨 일이야? 감기 걸렸어?

She has a natural disposition to catch cold. (그녀는 감기에 잘 걸리는 체질이다.
He easily catches colds. (그는 감기에 잘 걸린다

I've found a minor difference in the concept of "smiling" in the West and Japan.

Not to speak of situations of where you feel happy, you smile for the same reason anywhere.

However, there are some situations where Japanese people smile, but people in the West do not. It seems that this type of Japanese smile really confuses people from other countries.

I had an experience; Several years ago, my coworkers and I went to the airport to meet an important client and his wife. That was our first meeting and we decided to have a cup of coffee in a cafe at the airport.

What happened there was that his wife tumbled off the chair! Gee~ The Japanese people tried to put on a smile on their faces, although they really felt embarrassed as if they had fallen off the chair.

Some foreigners call some types of our smiles a "forced smile". For example, when we try to hide our weakness or when we have some negative feelings, we smile. It seems that it looks mysterious to foreigners.

Viewing it from a Japanese point of view, it is our way of showing tenderness and compassion. It's worth much more than behaving too honestly, but this works only when we all know our culture. Otherwise, it does puzzle people.

I guess that smile is highly valued in the West. It must be very important to encourage people to feel comfortable, and at ease with being around you.

This is what I should learn more about from you!

I found a very interesting video where a British man does 24 different accents in English, including a Japanese accent! It's fun to hear how the Japanese accent sounds from people in other countries.

He stresses vowel sounds in a Japanese way, and I thought that he found the point.

Since I'm interested in different accents, I never got tired of listening to his 8 minute video. I actually really enjoyed it.

In the video, I like his Indian accent which I've often heard in the world news. What surprised me was that I didn't fully understand him when he used an Irish accent. It was English, wasn't it?

I wondered if I worked as an interpreter and people with different accents approached me and asked me for help, would I be able to do it?

English rocks!!! （^^）

In the novel's climax, Voldemort lures Harry into the Ministry of Magic in a plot to steal a record of a prophecy which concerns Harry and Voldemort. Harry and his friends face off against Voldemort's Death Eaters in a battle, during which the prophecy is smashed. The timely arrival of members of the Order of the Phoenix saves the children's lives, but Sirius Black, Harry's godfather, is killed in battle by Bellatrix Lestrange. In the entrance hall, Harry comes face to face with Voldemort for the fourth time in his life, but is saved by Dumbledore who engages with the Dark Lord in a ferocious duel. In the end, most Death Eaters are captured, and the return of Voldemort is confirmed within the magical world.

In the aftermath of the battle, Dumbledore explains to Harry that just before his birth, a prophecy was made saying that a child was being born with the power to defeat Voldemort. The prophecy could have referred to Harry or Neville Longbottom, but it was Harry that Voldemort chose to hunt down. Since his return, Voldemort has been determined to find out the rest of the Self-fulfilling prophecy, which Dumbledore reveals to Harry: firstly, "the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal", and that "neither can live as the other survives" - ultimately, either Harry or Voldemort will kill the other.