This lesson is a piece of cake

In this lesson we are going to look at some British English idioms. Our first one is:

A piece  of cake

This idiom means something is easy to do, for example: 

• Frying an egg is a piece of cake.

• The exam won't be difficult, it will be a piece of cake.

• I thought climbing Daimonji would be a piece of cake, but it was actually a little difficult. 

Every cloud has a silver lining

 The meaning of this idiom is that even if something bad happens, there is always something good too. If you look at a black cloud, it's edge is silver. Here are some examples:

• I used to work for a big English conversation school, but it went bankrupt and was taken over by a terrible company, so I was in a bad situation. But every cloud has a silver lining: this made me look for better and more fulfilling teaching work.
•  One of my student's has cancelled their lesson tomorrow, but every cloud has a silver lining, I now have time to study Japanese.

It is not my cup of tea

This means you do not really like something. British people are very fussy about tea and how tea is made, so this is probably the origin of the idiom. Here are some examples:

• Most British men are interested in football, but it is not my cup of tea.
• I like different curries from around the world, but I am sorry, Japanese curry is not my cup of tea.
• Strangely, I love all kinds of Japanese tea, but British milk tea is not my cup of tea! 

 Before next lesson choose two of the idioms  and make two short talks to give to the class,  using one idiom in each talk.

 

Birmingham in the 1970s

1. The picture above is a statue of King Kong, it used to stand in my hometown, Birmingham, in the 1970s. Before class think of some questions about the the picture. Also find an old picture of an interesting thing from Kyoto's past, that has now disappeared and prepare to tell the class about it.
   
2.  This picture is of the open air market in Birmingham, again from the 1970s. Think of some questions about it. Then find an old picture of a Japanese market or a shop and prepare to tell the class about it.
   
3.  This is a picture of my secondary school in Birmingham in the 1970s. Think of some questions to ask me about the school. Then find a picture of one of the schools you went to and prepare to tell the class about that school.

The Emperor

Before class please watch the video and answer the questions.

 

1. Did you enjoy the video? Why or why not?
2. Which of the four words in the video do you think suits the Emperor best?
3. If you were asked to choose a word to represent the Emperor, what word would you choose and why?
4. How do you feel about the Emperor abdicating?
5. What do you think about the next Emperor? 

Before class please prepare a short talk about the present Emperor or any previous one. Also before class think of some questions to ask about the British Queen.

JAL

Before class watch the video and answer the questions

1. What was your impression of the advertisement?
2. What does "while others fly, we soar" mean?
3. What are your experiences with JAL?
4. Which is your favorite airline and why?
5. Is flying enjoyable for you? Why or why not?
6. Which do you think is the top rated airline in the world?

Before class please prepare two talks, one about a good experience with an airline and one about a bad experience.