お茶の間留学

Lately I have been
thinking a lot about my country Chile and its food. That's why I made some empanadas last September to celebrate Chile's Independence Day, which is September 18^th.

 Ahora, ya es octubre, pero en Chile no se celebra para nada el famoso Halloween porque es algo americano no es algo de latinoamerica. Lo que se hace y se celebra en Chile es el 1 de noviembre o Día de los Muertos, es algo así como el Obón en Japón.

Now, it's October, but in Chile the famous Halloween is not celebrated at all because it's an American festival, not a Latin American one. What is celebrated in Chile is November 1^st, or the Day of the Dead. It is similar to Obón in Japan.

 Ese día se va al cementerio en familia o solo y se le reza a los seres que ya han fallecido. Lo que se come es lo normal, bistec a lo pobre, se toma vino tinto, se comen empanadas, cebiche (sí, en Chile también se come cebiche) y se toma el día libre por lo general o a veces se hace un "sandwich" (es un fin de semana largo). Mucha gente también va a la iglesia.

On this day people go to the cemetery as a family or alone and pray to those family members who have died. What you eat is regular food, you drink red wine, you eat empanadas, ceviche (yes, in Chile you also eat ceviche) and you usually take the day off work or have a long weekend. A lot of people go to church, too.

 Yo en lo personal solía ir al cementerio a visitar la tumba de mi abuelo y de mi bisabuela (sí, yo conocí a mi bisabuela) y solía dejarle flores en su tumba.

Personally, I used to go to the cemetery to visit the grave of my grandfather and my great-grandmother (yes, I knew my great-grandmother) and I used to leave flowers on her grave.

 Ahora que estoy en Japón no hago nada de eso, ni celebro Halloween ni el Día de los Muertos.... Sólo me quedo en casa mirando YouTube!

Now that I'm in Japan, I don't do any of that. Nor do I celebrate Halloween or the Day of the Dead... I just stay home and watch YouTube!

Independence :独立

pray:祈る

empanadas:具入りのパンの名前

 안녕하세요

 오늘은 한국의 추석에 대해서 소개해볼까 해요.

Today, I will introduce to you Chuseok in Korea.

 한국에 가장 큰 두 가지 연휴 설날과 추석인데요. 음력으로 계산하기 때문에 매년 추석은 다른 날짜입니다 올해 2020년은 9월 30일 수요일부터  10월 4일 일요일까지 5일 연휴로 지정되어 있습니다.

The two biggest holidays in Korea are Seol (Lunar New Year's Day) and Chuseok (Thanksgiving).  Chuseok is a different date every year because it is calculated by the lunar calendar. This year, 2020, it is designated as a five-day holiday from Wednesday September 30th to Sunday October 4th.

 보통 추석은 떨어져사는 부모님을 뵙는 날이기도 하는데요 유교적 문화가 강하게 남아있는 한국은 각자 가정집에서 돌아가신 조상을 기리는 제사를 지내기도 합니다. 하지만 변화가 빠른 현대시대에는 제사문화도 점점 사라져가고 있네요. 요즘은 제사보다 가족과 함께 보내는 시간을 중요하게 생각해서 가족여행이나 연휴간 가족과 시간을 보내며 푹 쉬는 것에 집중하는 사람들이 늘고 있습니다.

Chuseok is usually the day to meet parents. In Korea, where the Confucian culture still remains, families hold a ceremony to remember their deceased ancestors. However, in the modern era of rapid change, the ritual culture is gradually disappearing. These days more people spend time with their families on family trips or holidays, as they value spending time with their family rather than ceremonies.

추석과 설날 시즌에는 한국 방문을 삼가하는 것이 좋은데요 그 이유는 많은 가게들이 문을 닫고 대중교통 또한 단축운영을 시행하는 등 관광객으로서는 불편함이 많은 기간이라고 할 수 있습니다 하지만 추석에는 서울에 있는 대분분 사람들이 본인의 고향으로 돌아가는 경우가 많아 언제나 혼잡한 서울의 모습이 아닌 조금은 조용한 서울의 모습을 볼 수 있는 장점도 있습니다.

It's best to avoid visiting Korea during the Chuseok and New Year holidays. The reason is that it can be inconvenient for tourists because many stores are closed and public transportation operates on a reduced schedule. However, as local people often return to their hometown, there is the advantage of being able to see a slightly quieter city instead of the usual crowded one.

 오늘은 한국의 큰 연휴 중 하나인 추석에 대해 소개했는데요 일본에도 존재하는 연휴라는 생각에 한국과 일본은 문화적 공통점이 많다라는 생각이 들어요 한국어 역시 비슷한 점이 많으니 여러분 한국어 공부 조금 더 열심히 해주세요 언제나 코로나 조심하시고 레슨에서 또 만나요.

Today, I introduced Chuseok, one of the biggest holidays in Korea. I think it's a holiday that exists in Japan, so I think Korea and Japan have a lot in common. Korean also has many similarities, so please study Korean a little harder. See you soon in a lesson.

Hello everyone! 

Say, I have a question. 
Do you know any good places to eat?

One of the most difficult decisions I have to make whenever I'm out with some friends is where to go to eat. I wouldn't say I'm particularly picky. I'm generally okay with eating anything. But I find choosing a restaurant really hard.

Next, what about family restaurants? I rarely go to these type of restaurants, but in general, I think I almost always end up having a nice meal there. I went to one recently, after not having been there for many years, and I was surprised at how nice everything tasted, especially considering the low prices. It was very reasonable! I can see why it's so appealing to many people. Did you eat anything nice at a family restaurant recently?

I also really like pancakes! I know the pancake boom has long since passed, but, like many Americans, I find breakfast food to be the best kind of food, so pancakes and omelets and hashed potatoes sound great to me any time of day. And if you've never been to a restaurant which specializes in pancakes, omelets and crepes, I definitely recommend them.

So, everyone, these are the places that I often eat out at. How about you? Please tell me a nice place to go for the next time I have to make a difficult restaurant decision!

                          Ciao a tutti,

 Oggi vi parlerò‌‌ della cosa migliore della Sicilia: le spiagge!

Today I will talk to you about the best thing in Sicily: the beaches!

Come probabilmente saprete in Sicilia ci sono alcune tra le migliori spiagge d`Italia, d`Europa e probabilmente del mondo, quindi se volete fare un viaggio in Sicilia vi consiglio di farlo in estate.

As you may know, in Sicily there are some of the best beaches in Italy, Europe and possibly the world, so if you want to take a trip to Sicily I recommend you do it in summer.

Maybe July and August are not the best months due to the heat and the large number of people in the tourist spots so June and September are probably the best choice.

 Nella parte occidentale della Sicilia, da dove vengo io, posso sicuramente nominare la spiaggia di San Vito Lo Capo, piccolo paese molto carino con una bellissima spiaggia di sabbia e mare caraibico ma purtroppo frequentatissima da abitanti locali e turisti che la rendono troppo affollata durante l`alta stagione.

In the western part of Sicily, where I come from, I can certainly mention the beach of San Vito Lo Capo, a very nice little town with a beautiful sandy beach and Caribbean sea, but unfortunately it's very popular with local inhabitants and tourists who make it too crowded during the high season.

Un altro posto bellissimo è la riserva naturale dello "Zingaro" che si estende per circa 7km tra San Vito e Scopello, con tante piccole calette di roccia e ciottoli e un mare paradisiaco con una fauna marina sempre viva e presente, ottimo posto per fare snorkeling, ma purtoppo spesso soggetta ai numerosi incendi che distruggono annualmente la flora della Sicilia.

Another beautiful place is the Zingaro Nature Reserve, which extends for about 7km between San Vito and Scopello, with many small rocky and pebbly coves and a heavenly sea with marine fauna that is always alive and present. It's an excellent place for snorkeling, but unfortunately is often subject to the numerous fires that annually destroy the flora of Sicily.

 Oltre all`isola principale, la Sicilia è ricca di isolette secondarie, a mio giudizio i posti migliori da visitare per una vacanza memorabile.

In addition to the main island, Sicily has many minor islets. In my opinion these are the best places to visit for a memorable holiday.

Tra queste vi sono l`arcipelago delle Isole Egadi con le bellissime spiagge di Favignana e le splendide grotte marine di Marettimo, le Isole Eolie, l`isola di Ustica, l`isola di Pantelleria famosa per il vino passito "Passito di Pantelleria DOC" e le Isole di Linosa e Lampedusa, quest`ultima famosa per la caratteristica "spiaggia dei conigli" spesso in cima alle classifiche delle spiaggie più belle al mondo.

Among these are the archipelago of the Egadi Islands with the beautiful beaches of Favignana and the splendid sea caves of Marettimo, the Aeolian Islands, the island of Ustica, the island of Pantelleria (famous for the passito wine Passito di Pantelleria DOC), and the islands of Linosa and Lampedusa. The latter is famous for Rabbit Beach, which is often at the top of the rankings of the most beautiful beaches in the world.

Vi consiglio caldamente di visitare almeno una di queste!

I highly recommend you visit at least one of these!

Buona vacanza in Sicilia a tutti!

Have a good holiday in Sicily everyone!

Bonjour a tous,

 Aujourd'hui, je vais vous parler d'un sport que j'ai pratique pendant longtemps pendant ma jeunesse : le velo.

Today, I'm going to tell you about a sport that I practiced for a long time when I was young: cycling.

 Dans ma jeunesse, j'ai fait du velo dans un club. Mon beau-pere m'a propose ce sport parce que je ne faisais aucune activite sportive. Je l'avais deja vu en faire auparavant donc j'ai voulu essayer par curiosite.

In my youth, I cycled in a club. My stepfather recommended cycling to me because I didn't do any sporting activity. I had already seen him do it so I wanted to try it out of curiosity.

En general, en hiver on faisait du "velo tout terrain" ou VTT et en ete on prenait un velo de route pour decouvrir du paysage. L'hiver etait dur a cause du froid, parfois on montait des escaliers avec le velo et donc il fallait le porter.

In general, in winter we rode off-road bikes or mountain bikes and in summer we took a road bike to explore the countryside. The winter was hard because of the cold, sometimes we climbed stairs with the bike and therefore we had to carry it.

 L'ete etait beaucoup mieux, on avait une belle sensation de vitesse, mais il fallait faire attention au vent. Il nous poussait contre les voitures et nous empechait d'avancer. Il vaut mieux un journee de pluie qu'une journee de vent quand on fait du velo.

The summer was much better, we had a nice feeling of speed, but we had to be careful of the wind. It pushed us against the cars and kept us from moving forward. Better a rainy day than a windy day when riding a bicycle.

 Et bien evidemment comme partout, on avait une star dans notre club, il etait rapide et gagnait toute les courses. Au final, j'ai fait fait du velo pendant a peu pres 7 ans. Un jour je me suis casse la bras gauche en tombant sur la route donc j'ai arrete et je n'ai plus jamais repris.

And of course like everywhere, we had a star in our club, he was fast and won all the races. In the end, I rode a bicycle for about seven years. One day I broke my left arm when I fell on the road so I stopped and never started again.

 Une triste fin pour un sport qui a fait partie de ma vie assez longtemps ...

A sad end for a sport that had been part of my life for quite a long time...

jeunesse : youth

beau-pere : step-father

auparavant : before

curiosite : curiosity

sensation : feeling

vitesse : speed

escaliers : stairs

courses : race

triste : sad