England in the World Cup

Have you been watching the World Cup? How about England's matches? I have seen all of them except for the Algeria match, which was shown only on SkyPerfect. I was not very impressed, although I guess the Slovenia performance was pretty good. Last night's knockout match against Germany was very poor. In case you haven't heard, England lost 1-4. This was their biggest ever defeat in the knockout stages of the World Cup. The England players looked very slow and old.

Germany scores again!

Many commentators are now saying that English football needs major reform. One problem appears to be that England does not invest enough in training young players, nor in educating coaches. The Premier League also values fast and strong players more than skillful ones, and the attitude appears to be the same in schools, so that small and light players are not chosen even if their ball control is excellent.

World Cup again!

The World Cup is still continuing in South Africa. A couple of days ago, the preliminary rounds finished and the knockout stages started. The teams knocked out so far in the round of 16 are USA, South Korea, Mexico, and England.
I saw the England-Germany match last night. As you may know, England lost 1-4, a very bad performance. I also wanted to see Argentina vs. Mexico, but that match was broadcast only on TV Tokyo. I get confused with the schedule, but I think tonight's matches are Chile vs. Brazil, and Spain vs. Portugal. As you probably know, Japan will play tomorrow night.

Soccer, etc.

I haven't had enough time to watch as much of the World Cup as I would like, but it's a lot of fun!

Soccer & other matters

As everyone knows, the World Cup is well underway. Every team (?) has played two matches. The first round of matches was disappointing, because most teams were scared of losing rather than trying to win, but in the second round teams that had lost the first match tried very hard to get a win, so the matches became more exciting.

The best teams seem to be Brazil and Argentina. I think Brazil will win, but I hope that Spain make good recovery from their defeat in the first match.

The Chilly Little Penguin

1. The Chilly Little Penguin lives at the North Pole.
2. He found a box.
3. He tried to get warm.

Please listen here.

The Chilly Little Penguin

1. Perry found a box.
2. But he was too cold to eat it.
3. What did he do?

Please listen here!

A long way out in the deep blue sea there swam a school

of fish.Not just ordinary fish-each one had sparkling silver scale.

Ever since Rainbow Fish had shared his scales,

these fish had done everything together.

They swam together.They played together.

They ate together.They even rested together,

floating in the shadows of the reef.

They were so happy together,they had no interest 

in other fish.So one day,when a little striped fish 

swam through their game of flash-tag,

they all stared at him.

"Hey,"the little striped fish finally said,

"Can I play too?" "It's flash-tag,"said one

little fish,"and you don't have a flashing scale!"

"Do you have to have a special scale?"

the little striped fish asked.

"Of course you do!"said the fish with the

jagged fins."Come on,let's play!"

he called to the others.

"Don't worry about him."

Then all the fish turned and went back to their game.

Rainbow Fish hesitated.He was afraid of losing his

new friends, so he didn't dare stand up to the fish

with the jagged fins.Feeling a little ashamed,

Rainbow Fish reluctanly swam off to join the others.

The little striped fish floated all alone at the

edge of the reef.He looked sad as he watched the game.

The other fish were having such fun-darting and diving

in the deep blue sea,their shiny scales sparkling.

Rainbow Fish remembered what it felt like

to have no friends and how lonely he

had been when all the fish had ignored him.

He had been so proud of all his glittering scales

that he had refused to share them.

No wonder nobody had wanted to play with him.

But now his friends did want him to play,

and Rainbow Fish soon was caught up in the game.

No one was paying attention when danger

entered the reef....

Suddenly a shark shot like an arrow

into the middle of the school.The fish darted in every

direction and managed to escape to their hiding place.

There,in a narrow crack in the reef,the shark

could not reach them.They were safe.

But the little striped fish wasn't.Rainbow Fish couldn't keep still,

he was so worried.

"What's wrong?" asked the shinny fish.

"It's the little striped fish," said Rainbow Fish.

"He's all alone out there.We've got to help him!"

With that,Rainbow Fish left the safety of the

hiding place."Let's go!" he called.

The other fish trembled with fear,but they knew

what they had to do.They sped out of the

crack after Rainbow Fish.

They soon saw the shark.And there was the little

striped fish, swimming and spinning away from his jaws.

Rainbow Fish could see that the little fish's strength

was failing fast.

"Hurry!"shouted Rainbow Fish,and all the fish swarmed

straight for the shark.This confused the shark,

because usually fish swam away from him.

He turned this way and that,snapping right and left

until he was dizzy.

The shark almost got the fish with the jagged fins,

but the escaped with just a few scratche.

Quietly,Rainbow Fish led the little striped fish to safety.

"You were really brave,"said the little striped fish.

"Thanks for saving my life."

Together,they watched as the exhausted shark gave

up and swam away.

When all the fish returned safety to the reef,they welcomed

the little striped fish.

"Why don't you stay and play with us?"

Rainbow Fish offered.

"How can I play flash-tag when I don't have a shiny scale?"

asked the little striped fish.

"We can play fin-tag instead!"said the fish with

the jagged fin."Touch a fin and you're it!"

All the fish cheered,and then they swam off

to play together in the deep blue sea.

This book is lovely.

First, fish would like to enter

friends, and try hard.

Result, friend treated fish

"This way please!" went off, enter friends.

But,It's hard for friend.

I found tough position fish is in.

I know how fish feel, fish suffer from.

Feelings of inferiority.

Everybody got through a serious crisis.

Fish win a fish's trust.

I judge a person only by person's appearances.

I just assumes that person are wrong.

I found I thought they were a reliable person

but I was wrong.

Everyone has his strong and weak points.

For example, person's humorous side,

good point see and go with!

Kumamoto mind map

j

Table Tennis tournament & World Cup

Do you like table tennis? I like it very much and play it every week, usually two or three times. I played in a tournament yesterday, and I was very happy to get through to the 2nd round, for the first time ever. I heard from some students that I was on the news yesterday evening!

Of course, the biggest sporting news these days is the World Cup, starting in South Africa this coming weekend. I'm looking forward to seeing the England and Japan teams playing. However, at home we only have terrestrial TV, so maybe I won't have so many chances to see England, unfortunately. You may have heard that the England captain, Rio Ferdinand, has been ruled out with a knee injury, so I doubt that England will do very well this time. However, the manager, Fabio Capello, is very famous and experienced, so maybe he will make a difference.

Table tennis tournament and other matters

Yesterday, I played in a table tennis tournament. It was a team competition with three players in each team, each player playing one 5-set singles match. One of my teammates was Mr Tomei. I am very happy because we won the first round and went through to the second round, and also because I won all my games. Unfortunately, Mr Tomei lost all of his games!