Showing posts with label Emperor of Japan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Emperor of Japan. Show all posts

Tuesday, 3 June 2014

Chopsticks

English: Chopsticks for cooking Français : boi...
English: Chopsticks for cooking Français : bois à manger (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

You are probably well aware that in Japan rather than using knives or forks, chopsticks are the most common eating implement. How much do you really know about chopsticks?


The chopsticks お箸(Ohashi)

At the home in Japan, each family has their own chopsticks. Parents tend to use long chopsticks and children use short chopsticks. There are a variety of colors and designs in department and other stores in Japan.

Many Japanese people carry around their own set of chopsticks. By doing this they avoid having to use the cheap throw away chopsticks (waribashi) that are often supplied at bento shops. Most Japanese find chopsticks easier to use that a knife and fork.

When eating at a restaurant in Japan you will see a Chopstick rest (箸置き hashioki) on the table. If there is no chopstick rest and you need to put your chopsticks down then simple fold the wrapper your chopsticks came in, into an accordion shape and use that as the rest.

Never ever ever

  1. Lift chopstick above mouth height.
  2. Tear food apart by holding one chopstick in each hand
  3. Shake off liquid on tip of chopstick.
  4. Swing hand that is holding chopstick.
  5. Shovel food into mouth with chopsticks, with the edge of you mouth on the rice bowl
  6. Let chopsticks roam around plate while you are deciding what next to eat.
  7. Hold chopsticks with hand that is already holding dish.
  8. Put food in your mouth that is dripping.
  9. Lick cop sticks.
  10. Use chopsticks upside-down.
  11. Eat with unmatched pair of chopsticks.
  12. Tap plate with chopsticks.
  13. Pass food from one person to another using chopsticks.
  14. Use as toothpick.

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Wednesday, 28 May 2014

Smiletalk website update

I am excited to tell you avid Smiletalk users and eager learners, about Smiletalks latest features. As you know the site at the moment is still in it's infancy and with each passing month we boldly stride forward to improve it for the users. This month we have added a more social element to the website but stay tuned because even bigger and better updates are in the works. Thank you so much for your support!
Now lets take a closer look at these new features!

The Latest Features

Smiles

English: Hitch-hiker's gesture Русский: Жест а...
English: Hitch-hiker's gesture Русский: Жест автостопщика (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Hey you, someone just gave you a smile! This means that they found your recording helpful and wanted to show their appreciation with a little smile. It's basically a thumbs up meaning you did a good job and just a little something to help motivate you!

This will help you decide on the content you can upload by seeing what people like. It will also help you to improve your posts by mimic the ones you made that got a lot of smiles.






Comments

We have finally created a comments feature! This means that people can now comment on your talk to tell you if it was helpful or not and to thank you for uploading. You can also comment on other users talk and maybe even ask for a specific talk! More features like this coming real soon

Plays

Now you can see how many time your talk has been played. If it is being played a lot then you know a lot of users are using it. You should feel proud that you are helping break down the language barrier!

Thank you all once again for your support and remember, by just sharing a few words you are helping billions of people by providing listening comprehensions



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Tuesday, 29 April 2014

Golden Week

Kogosai 100DJs x 100SONGs000
Kogosai 100DJs x 100SONGs000 (Photo credit: Mixtribe Photo)
The Golden Week has begun, Ladies and Gentlemen
The Golden Week has begun (Photo credit: @ 孟亚柯)

Today is the 29th of April which in Japan is the start of Golden week. Golden week is a succession of  holidays which (if you include the weekends) is one of the longest holidays in the whole year! Today we are going to learn all about Shōwa Day and it's origins so stay tuned to Smiletalk for everything about it!

The first day you celebrate

天皇誕生日 Tennō Tanjōbi
which is the Emperor's birthday.
Which Emperor?  Emperor Akihito of course who was born in 1933.

This day later evolved into what is now known as みどりの日 Midori no Hi which is Greenery Day (not to be mistaken for the band GreenDay). It is mildly similiar to the western celebration 'Earth Day'. Greenery day is a day for communing with nature and being thankful for what it gives us. The Emperor was known for his love of nature so it seemed appropriate to have a day that both honored him and nature.
Isn't Japanese History Fascinating?
If you enjoy it you should check out the Facebook
for all sorts of tidbits of Japanese History!

The day then evolved once more to 昭和の日 Shōwa no Hi or as we know it Shōwa Day.
This day honors the birthday of the Shōwa Emperor and exists to remind people to look back on his reign. This is only the first day Of golden week!


Golden Week 02
Golden Week 02 (Photo credit: bhollar)

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