English Recordings

When you travel abroad, you may experience various kinds of hospitality. In Hawaii, for example, people present you with a fancy necklace of flowers when they first meet you.
In Morocco, people invite you to dinner and even to a stay at their homes. Hospitality happens there so quickly!
Back in Japan, how do you treat people from abroad? The Tokyo Olympic Games are a great opportunity. Let's welcome foreign guests with our omotenashi. They will remember the spirit of Japan for a long time.

Omotenashi comes from the spirit of the tea ceremony. The host always treats guest in a kind, careful, warm-hearted way. They experience a delightful time. Each tea ceremony is a once-in-a-lifetime chance for both the host and the guests.
When you hear "omotenashi," you may think of the word "service." There are some differences between the two words. We don't expect anything from our guest in return for omotenashi. Their happiness is our happiness. This is the spirit of omotenashi.

--Already recorded, thanks!--

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mother tongue,
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to be honest,
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My ex-partner and I have a five-year-old son. Recently, I discovered that she has been breaking lockdown rules by taking him to visit her elderly parents.
I sympathise with anyone who needs family contact during the lockdown. I am sure we all feel the same way. But this is a serious breach of trust, as well as putting our son at risk.
We have not had a good relationship since separating, but I genuinely believed the lockdown had led to better communication and more cooperation. We have been moving our son safely between the two houses.
If I raise this with her, I am likely to get an angry and defensive reaction. The best approach might be just to let her carry on doing it and hope for the best, but that goes against my protective instinct as a parent. What should I do?

These days, a lot of young tourists come to Japan from abroad. What do they like about Japan? Some enjoy Japanese pop culture, like anime and video games. Others love Japanese-style hospitality.
"Of course, I was very impressed with things Japanese," one tourist said. "But I will never forget the omotenashi from the people at a cozy traditional inn."
Another said, "I like oshibori at restaurants. This omotenashi is nice and refreshing." The word omotenashi is already an English word!

She feared to tell him the truth.
I fear to think what may happen.
Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.
Doctors have voiced fears that we may be facing an epidemic.
I had to run away for fear that he might one day kill me.
fear of flying
a fear of looking foolish
I didn't want to move for fear of waking her up.
Nobody refused for fear of being fired.
Nobody refused for fear of losing their job.
the girl’s childhood fear of being eaten by monsters
This disease is greatly feared.

Topic: In some countries, more and more local shops are closing down because so many people now shop online. What problems might this cause? What is the best way to deal with this problem?

Model answer:

Small shops provide an important service to the local community. However, online shopping is forcing many to close. This causes problems that need to be addressed.
The issues surrounding online shopping are complex. In the past, when people needed to buy something, they would wait to visit a shop and buy several things at once. Nowadays, we can have whatever we want brought to our door within a day. Smaller shops feel the effects of this the most, because people will often visit their store but then go online to buy a cheaper alternative. However, the community also suffers. In some places, local high streets now have few interesting shops and many ‘closed’ signs. As a result, the elderly, and anyone without easy access to a computer, are forced to travel further to buy what they need. Even more importantly, door-to-door deliveries require extra packaging and road traffic, which have a damaging effect on the environment. Thus, the impact of shopping online is felt by more than local shop owners.

Nevertheless, there are several possible solutions. Firstly, the smaller shops could adapt and offer an online service to their customers. They can also show that they offer better quality products than the internet can. However, it should not only be the smaller businesses that change. We also need to force the online giants to pay taxes similar to those that physical stores must pay. In addition, the public need take more responsibility and adopt a more community minded and environmentally aware approach to their shopping. Therefore, these issues can only be resolved with everyone’s cooperation.

In conclusion, evolution has shown the benefits of adapting to change, and this is the best way for local shops to survive. Nevertheless, shoppers also need to stop searching online for cheaper, easier options.

Topic: Some experts believe it is better for animals to live in zoos where they are safe and are given all the food they need. Do you think that living in zooms has more advantages or more disadvantages for animals?

Model answer:

Large zoos can be found in most parts of the world. Many, though not all, are established to take care of animals. This can have both advantages and disadvantages for the animals concerned.

Zoos can have clear benefits for animals. Firstly, they are given food, shelter, and protection. The need for these is growing due to urban development, which reduces the habitat of many species. Many are also killed on new roads that are built across their normal hunting grounds. In addition, protection is needed from poachers, who can make large sums of money from the sale of furs or tusks. Through their conservation programmes, zoos offer protection for endangered species, who are often those most at risk from all of these issues. Therefore, places like this represent a crucial lifeline for many animals.

Nevertheless, there are also disadvantages. Although the best animal parks try to replicate the natural habitat of each species, they cannot achieve this for larger creatures, or those adapted to life in a different climate. Captive animals that were born in the wild must surely feel this loss. The situation is far worse in smaller facilities, without the funds to offer more than a bare cage. In addition, running a zoo requires a great deal of money, which is obtained through attracting visitors. Thus, the animals are put on display or forced to perform for the public. Furthermore, while animals in the wild spend their time looking for food or engaging in natural behavior, in zoos they have very little meaningful activity in their day. Consequently, they often display signs of boredom and stress. Thus, for many creatures, life within a zoo is not a happy one.

In conclusion, zoos clearly offer much-needed protection from human threats. However, the disadvantages of living in captivity for species that are not endangered must surely be greater.

Topic: Working long hours causes a great deal of stress and can be very bad for the health. The government must find a way to reduce this type of stress. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Model answer:

Stress from overwork is a key factor in public health. Some believe the government should do something about this. This essay will discuss whether this type of intervention is necessary.

Longer working hours and higher levels of stress are caused by a combination of factors. Firstly, there is now greater competition for jobs, which means that employers can pressure workers to achieve more within their working week. Often, this can only be done by working longer days; if workers refuse, they can easily be replaced. Secondly, developments in mobile technology have created an expectation that problems will be dealt with immediately. For these reasons, the office now extends into the home, and old ideas, such as working ‘9 to 5’, no longer exist in many jobs. Consequently, more and more workers now report feeling exhausted. Clearly, employees are not receiving the support they need.

While working conditions have changed enormously, in many countries, employment regulations have not. Some people may argue that the government can do little to help. However, several countries have already managed to address theses problems. In one instance, the working week was officially reduced to four days. This was initially done as an experiment to gauge the impact on businesses and workers, but the result was a success. The workers were not only more relaxed but also more productive, and still able to meet their targets. However, it seems unlikely that businesses would make changes like this unless they were forced to do so. This shows that governments do have an important role to play in the way employees are treated.

In conclusion, much of the stress now felt by workers comes from the faster pace of life and work, and companies should help employees deal with this. I completely agree that governments should act on behalf of workers to force this change.