Good day!

They said that the government is planning to lift the state of emergency (SOE) in a few prefectures after May. Still, we shouldn’t let our guard down. Stay safe, everyone!

 

ー初めにー

 

Today’s Riddle:

If your answer was “one”, then you got it right!

Why?

The key phrase here is “You brought home one of the cutest mice you saw that day.”, so after ten months, you would still only have one mouse!

For this week, here’s the riddle:

“There’s a one-story house in which everything is yellow. Yellow wall, yellow doors, yellow furniture. What colors are the stairs?

 * Hint

I suggest reading the question twice or thrice!

 

ー続いてー

Today’s Conversational Point:

Another tip to help continue the flow of the conversation is to avoid asking “closed-loop questions”. These questions are easily answered by a “yes” or a  “no”. Instead of asking “Do you like watching Netflix?”, you can ask “How often do you watch Netflix?”

 

The answer to this question could either be how often they watch Netflix, or a “no” followed by an explanation, which could then be continued by another follow-up question. A simple thing to keep in mind is that it going back to what we previously talked about, ask “WH-questions”.

 

A step-up from this is to ask for their opinions. Ask questions that solicit their opinion/thought. Some sample questions are as follows:

“What do you think about ~?”

“How are you doing these days?”

“What did you do today?”

 

ー最後にー

Today’s Column:

 

In connection with our previous lesson, those of you who has taken a few lessons with me might know this, but I really like the show, “The Office”, and one of the actors there has started a Youtube series where he shares good news around the world. I think it’s timely to start this show, especially because of the ongoing pandemic. Also, I think it’s a good way to practice your listening skill in English!

 

Remember to take care of yourself!

Ryo