​To all the mothers out there, "Happy Mother's Day!"  I hope you get lots of love and appreciation from your families today!
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I live very far away from my own mother, literally on the other side of the world!  So, tomorrow morning I will give her a call on Skype.  If I call her now, it will be way too early!  But when I call her on my Monday morning, it will be Sunday evening for her, and still Mother's Day.  Time zones make family holidays and birthdays a little complicated!

This is my speaking diary of daily life.  It's in easy English so you can enjoy some listening & reading practice and learn some useful daily conversation.  Enjoy your day!

↓  Students & teachers,
https://www.imagineigo.com/english-diary-resources.html
↑  you can freely download a printable copy of the text here!

​Wow!  It's been a long time!  But I'm finally back with some English conversation practice for you on YouTube!

I'm sorry about the long delay.  But my tablet suddenly broke, so I couldn't shoot videos anymore.  I had to order a new one and set it all up again.  That took forever...!

But now I'm back in action.  With a new and improved mobile device!  Yay!

Lately it has been sunny almost every day.  And it is definitely getting warmer.  I am usually getting up around 5:00 am now, and I'm enjoying going for walks in the morning.  Spring is here and every day many small bamboo shoots pop up from the dirt around this mountain.  I pull them up and we cook them in our rice for lunch and dinner.  Yum!
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I'm glad to be back, and I'm looking forward to sharing more diary entries with you!

This is my speaking diary of daily life.  It's in easy English so you can enjoy some listening & reading practice and learn some useful daily conversation.

↓  Students & teachers,
https://www.imagineigo.com/english-diary-resources.html
↑  you can freely download a printable copy of the text here!

​Are you stuck at home on the weekend?  You can still enjoy practicing your English...  Check out my Daily English Practice Diary video series!  It's free on YouTube!
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     This weekend, I wanted to get some exercise but safely avoid crowded places.  So I went on a long hike in the mountains.  It was very refreshing to walk in the nature, and there were very few people.  My legs are a little sore now, but I am very happy I could do it.  I hope you find ways to keep healthy and refreshed too!

​This is my video diary of daily life.  It's in easy English so you can enjoy some listening & reading practice and learn some useful daily conversation.  Have fun wherever you are!

↓  Students & teachers,
https://www.imagineigo.com/english-diary-resources.html
↑  you can freely download a printable copy of the text here!

​Practice your ESL English with my Daily ENGLISH Diary on YouTube!

I watched Johnny Depp's very first headlining movie, "Cry Baby".  He was so young!  And cute!  It's a very strange and silly movie, but it has a positive message.  So I like it.  And it's a lot of fun to watch.  It has some fun music and dancing too!  I can't believe I was able to find it in the local video store here in rural Japan...  a weird and wonderful surprise!

This is my video diary of daily life.  It's in easy English so you can enjoy some listening & reading practice and learn some useful daily conversation.  Have fun!

↓  Students & teachers,
https://www.imagineigo.com/english-diary-resources.html
↑  you can freely download a printable copy of the text here!

​I want to start this year with a fun tip from my Daily English Diary last Sunday.  I held a karaoke party all day long.  We sang all our favorite songs from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm!  Around 8 hours!  Wow!

If you are studying English in Japan, you might be surprised by the way I just said "karaoke".  And if you are in other countries, you might wonder why the spelling of this word looks a little unusual for English.

Well, that's because it's not actually English.  The first karaoke machines were invented in Japan.  So they got a Japanese name: "kah-rah-oh-keh".  The 'kara' means 'empty', and the 'oke' is short for 'orchestra'.  It's like having an orchestra in an empty room--  and you're the star!

When it became popular in the USA, people used the Japanese name for it.  But the original sound of the Japanese "kah-rah-oh-keh" doesn't fit so easily with the natural rhythms of English.  So it got changed a little.  Well, maybe a lot...

Anyway, this happens in every language.  People "borrow" technology, foods, ideas, and the words for those things from other cultures and languages.  Then they change them to fit locally.

For example, modern Japanese has taken many words from English and changed them into Japanese pronunciation.  It is sometimes called "Katakana-English".

But we shouldn't forget that English is actually quite full of words "borrowed" from other languages.  It has been doing this regularly for more than 1,000 years.  In fact, English might be the most mixed language in the world.
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So see if you can find some words rearranged from your own language in English, and enjoy those connections--

​This learning tip is part of my short daily diary.  It's in easy English so you can enjoy some listening & reading practice and learn some useful daily conversation.  Enjoy!

​↓ Watch the original video mentioned in today's tip!
https://youtu.be/-SoBlyJ6bJY

​Hello!  Do you want to improve your English conversation skills?  But maybe you're very busy...?

Try my Daily English Practice Diary video series!  It's perfect for busy people to read and listen to one minute of natural English every day.  And it's free on YouTube!
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     Last week I did a lot of work outside.  I worked on the water pipe in the stream, picked up trash, and even saw a snake!  It's getting colder, so I'm glad I did these things before it really gets freezing.

​This is my speaking diary of daily life.  It's in easy English so you can enjoy some listening & reading practice and learn some useful daily conversation.  Subscribe to the imagineigo YouTube channel to watch them all--  Have fun!

↓  Students & teachers,
https://www.imagineigo.com/english-diary-resources.html
↑  you can freely download a printable copy of the text here!

​This last week was all about fixing things.  My car got an inspection and some new tires.  And I ordered some new parts to repair the water pump for our house...  lots of work with tools!  But now everything works just fine!  Yay!

​Are you looking for some quick English practice every day?  My Daily English Diary video series is perfect for busy people to read and listen to one minute of natural English each day.  And it's free on YouTube!  Enjoy!

↓  Students & teachers,
https://www.imagineigo.com/english-diary-resources.html
↑  you can freely download a printable copy of the text here!

​The nights and mornings are certainly getting colder now, so this week was all about getting ready for winter!  We washed the fluffy blankets and cleaned out the chimney on our wood stove.  I'm looking forward to lighting a nice warm fire soon--

​Do you want a fun and easy way to practice English every day?  My Daily English Diary video series is perfect for busy people to read and listen to one minute of natural English each day.  And it's free on YouTube!  Keep warm!

↓  Students & teachers,
https://www.imagineigo.com/english-diary-resources.html
↑  you can freely download a printable copy of the text here!

​Last night, singer/songwriter Ai Nagayoshi invited me to her local radio show on Sunshine FM Miyazaki.  It was so fun talking about my favorite song by U2.  Thank you to everyone who listened!

↓ Check out my favorite local singer/songwriter, Ai Nagayoshi, here!
https://youtu.be/F1Vviyk_feU
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Sunshine FM Miyazaki 76.1
www.sunfm.co.jp

​This is my speaking diary of daily life.  It's in easy English so you can enjoy some listening & reading practice and learn some useful daily conversation.  Enjoy!

↓  Students & teachers,
https://www.imagineigo.com/english-diary-resources.html
↑  you can freely download a printable copy of the text here!