My niece

Today, I want to introduce my niece. I have a niece. She is my older brother's daughter. She was born in a hospital in Hitoyoshi on April 26th of this year. Her name is Yumi. She is five months after birth now. She cries, moves, and sleeps a lot. My mother and I do take care of my niece. I have some photographs to show you in my iPhone6s. She is really cute. I think that she is cuter than any other babies.

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high school memory

My favorite high school memory is going to Kyoto, Osaka, and Nara. I went there for a school excursion. Also, I went there for the first time. I had wanted to go to Kansai for a long time, so I had enjoyed it. I went to Universal Studio Japan, Todaiji, Kiyomizu-dera, Ninnaji, Byodo-in Hoo-do, and any other famous places. However, influenza was just prevalent then. So several students have been infected with influenza. I bought some souvenirs for my parents, friends, and teachers. I really want to go to Kansai.But I will go to Tokyo next year because my cousin will get married next year. So I am looking forward to it.

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dish

My favorite dish is hamburger, fried chicken, chicken steak, French fries, spaghetti, cream stew, beef stew, curry and rice, Chinese noodles, miso soup, nikujaga, oden, pumpkin salad, beef steak, pork cutlet, potato chips, potato salad, chawanmushi, fish, takoyaki, okonomiyaki, sushi, sashimi, tempura, vegetables, fruit, meat, and the others. I don't like avocados, grated daikon, celeries, turban shell, and so on. Why? I hate them. Avocados are not so tasty and delicious. Many women love avocados. So I can’t understand her their feeling well. I tried to eat avocados, but I could not eat them. I also don’t like sea urchins.  I wish I could eat sea urchins.

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My favorite teacher

My favorite teacher was a teacher of English, a modern sentence, mathematics, and the music. They were nice to me very much. Also, they were worried about me very much. I loved them very much. My math teacher always supported me. His name was Mr. Yusuke Hiyoshi. However, he passed away suddenly four days ago. I was very shocked, and cried a lot at home. I also couldn't go to his vigil. I still can't believe that. He was very gentlemanly and was a considerate person.  I also liked my modern sentence's teacher. My modern sentence's teacher became kind and heard my story.

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dessert

My favorite dessert is bavarois and custard pudding, cheesecake, Panna cotta, chocolate cake, mango ice cream, roll cake, fruit parfait, shortcake, apricot kernel tofu, chocolate ice cream, an apple pie, sweet potato ice cream, vanilla ice cream, strawberry ice cream, green tea ice cream, coffee jelly, tiramisu, waffle, chocolate tip cookies, cream puff, mille-feuille, anmitsu, Sachertorte, crepe, fruit tart, and a pancake. These are my favorites. However, I don’t like chestnuts very much. Therefore, like neither Mont Blanc nor Kurikinton very much. I also don’t like zundamoch and avocados. My mother loves avocados. I do not know what of the avocado is delicious at all.


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vacation memory

My favorite vacation memory is to have gone to Huis Ten Bosch. Have you ever been to Huis Ten Bosch? Huis Ten Bosch is in Nagasaki prefecture. Typhoon 16 seemed to come on that day, but it was fine somehow. I have been there many times. There are a lot of souvenir’s shops and restaurants. I went to Huis Ten Bosch with my parents this summer vacation. Then, I took some pictures in Huis Ten Bosch. We stayed at Hotel Europe, too. I watched the performance of the Huis Ten Bosch opera company for the first time. It was very beautiful and fantastic. I bought many kinds of souvenirs for my niece, my older brother, my cousins, and my friends. Unfortunately, we were not able to get on the Ferris wheel. But we enjoyed it. I had a very good time.

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My favorite seasons

My favorite season is autumn and spring. Why? The first reason is because it is not so hot in autumn and it is easy to spend it very much in spring. When it is autumn, we can watch colored leaves. I was born in November, so it is the season when I was born in autumn. I don't like summer and winter. In summer, it is too hot, and it is too cold in winter. I hate these seasons. And I got sunburned immediately. In winter, I am easy to suffer from a chap immediately. I thought that I didn’t need to be born in summer or winter.

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Students volunteer

From May 6th to 8th, I participated in the student volunteer at the university. There were still several victims there. I didn't know what to do first, so I asked some teachers and students. I cleaned the plural classrooms and library and went to throw away garbage all day. It was a little hot and humid. One day, Chikushi Jogakuen University's student came to be responsible for our university. We ate lunch that they cooked together. We talked about each other's universities and damage situation a lot. I got very tired but I made new friends. I had a very good time.

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Essay 4: My self introduction in 2036

I want to introduce myself. It is 2036, and I am 42 years old. I live in Canada with my husband and my children. My husband’s name is Akira. He is 44 years old, and he is 3 years older than me. He is very kind to us because he sometimes buys many kinds of toys, CDs, and the others. He is a Japanese person, but he can speak English, French, German, Chinese, Spanish, and Italian. He had lived in Spain, France, Germany, China, America, and Italy. He is very good at cooking, too. His job is a pilot, so he sometimes travels around the world. He doesn’t smoke, but he loves alcohol. His parents live in Kyoto.

I have two daughters and a son. Their names are Yui, Tomomi, and Satoshi. Yui is 7 years old, and she is very good at playing volleyball. She has been practicing volleyball since she was three years old. Yui also likes to play the piano. Her dream is to become a professional volleyball player. Her favorite volleyball player is Saori Kimura, Erika Araki, and Haruka Miyashita.

I also have a niece and a nephew. My niece’s name is Yumi, and my nephew’s name is Ritsuki. She is 19 years old, and she is a college student. She goes to Kumamoto University by motorcycle. Yumi likes studying English very much. But she is not good at Japanese history and old Japanese classical literature. She wants to be a cabin attendant in the future. She also likes to cook. My nephew is 16 years old. He is a high school student. He goes to Marist high school by bike. Ritsuki likes to play the guitar. He likes studying math, physics, biology, chemistry, and earth science. He wants to be a super doctor.

Tomomi is 4 years old, and she is a girl who is very much a spoilt crybaby. However, she is very affable. She is interested in electric guitar. Her favorite guitarist is Takahiro Matsumoto. The food she hates is fish, but she loves vegetables, meat, and fruits.

Satoshi is 11 years old. His dream is to become a baseball player. He always plays baseball with his friends after school. He is a member of baseball club. His position is catcher.Satoshi likes to listen to music. His favorite British artist is the Beatles. He loves Paul McCartney. He is interested in the bass guitar. He is a left-handed person, so he wants to buy a bass guitar that is left-handed. Yui and Satoshi always help me, and they sometimes take care of Tomomi.

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Earthquake in Kumamoto

After a main shock, I stayed at a grandmother's house with my family. My grandfather passed away in November last year, so she is alone now. In Ueki city, water, electricity, and the gas are usable there, too.  We couldn't take a bath because of the earthquake.  When we went to her house, we felt relieved very much. My father went for work from Ueki to Aso police station. It took 2 hours to arrive there. My mother got up early to make his lunchbox. They got up from 4:30 to 5 o'clock. My mother and I helped her. We cleaned her house, cooked meal, and went shopping. I made 100 rice balls with my mother, my cousin, and my aunt.

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My new family

On April 26th, my older sister-in-law gave birth to a baby in a hospital in Hitoyoshi. She named the baby “Yumi”, and she is a girl. I jumped out of bed hastily. She was going to give birth to a baby in Fukuda hospital in Kumamoto city, but we were very glad that a baby was born safely. On April 30th, I went to the hospital in Hitoyoshi to watch a baby with my older brother and my parents. When we arrived at the hospital, Yumi was sleeping on the bed. She was very cute, and her cheeks were very soft. I held a baby in my arm for the first time.  I thought that my parents held me in their arms when I was born. I have become an aunt. I am looking forward to my niece growing up.


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Food

I have a lot of favorite food. I like Japanese food. Also, I like Korean food, Chinese food, Italian food, French food, and Spanish food, too. I like sushi, sashimi, tempura, udon, ramen, beef steak, chicken steak, pork cutlet, rice bowl topped with seafood, miso soup, omelet, fried rice, chocolate cake, cheese cake, hamburger, somen, cold noodle, curry and rice, tortilla, French fries, chicken nuggets, hashed rice, beef stew, cream stew, waffle, tacos, lasagna, spaghetti, pizza, pancakes, scrambled eggs, okonomiyaki, takoyaki, yakiniku, sukiyaki, macaroni au gratin, chicken doria, meat and potato stew, sandwiches, fried chicken, potato salad, pumpkin salad, gyoza, minestrone, quiche, and the others.

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My favorite drink

I like to drink. My favorite drink is cola, ginger ale, orange juice, apple juice, grape juice, fruit juice, cocktail, green tea, ice-cream soda, bourbon, Coke highball, tea with milk, milk, water, oolong tea, coffee, café au lait, barley tea, and whisky. I like ginger ale, but I don’t like gingers because gingers are very strong smells. I have drunk red wine once, and I challenged tequila and whisky. But I have had a hangover three years. I’m not a strong drinker, so I don’t to try it anymore. I want to challenge gin and volka someday.  Probably I cannot drink gin and volka.

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Essay 3: My treasure(s)

Hello. Today, I want to introduce my family. I have a lot of treasures, but my most important treasure is my family. There are 6 people in my family. My father is a police officer. My father goes to Aso police station by car every day, and he does the work of accounts there. He was born in 1965. He is from Ueki city. He is 50 years old, and he is very strict. He always treats me like a kid. However, he is very kind to me. He always smokes, so my mother and I tell him to stop. My father told us he would give up smoking if a grandchild was born, but he doesn’t readily give up smoking. I like my father better than my mother. My mother works at a community center near the elementary school that I went to. 

My mother is 51 years old, and she is a very charming and funny person. She is from Amakusa city. She sometimes goes to Amakusa city to take care of her grandparents, so I feel very sad when she is gone. She is very good at cooking. I like miso soup, nikujaga, curry and rice, omelet, spaghetti, cheese cake, and cream stew which my mother cooks. There are very delicious. I love them. I like her very much. 

I have an older brother. My older brother works at the Kumamoto Saiseikai hospital. He is 28 years old, and he is a radiologist. He is very smart and flexible. He treats me like a kid, too. He is as tall as my father. He graduated from Kumamoto University 5 years ago. He is good at studying, driving, and playing the guitar. His favorite Japanese artist is the B'z. I like the B'z, too. 

I have a sister-in-law, too. Her name is Saori, and she works at the same hospital. She is a nurse, and my older brother and she got married last May. She is very kind to us. I sometimes eat supper with Saori. She gave birth to a baby this April 26th. She named the baby “Yumi”. She is a girl, and she is very cute. I have become an aunt. I like my family because they are very close to each other. I don’t want them to divorce. This is my treasure. Thank you very much.

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The 2016 Kumamoto Earthquake

April 14th was my older brother's birthday, so my mother and I wished him LINE and Facebook. I was in my room and was listening to music at that time. I intended to take a bath after my mother.  However, on April 14, at 9:26 p.m., there was an earthquake of seismic intensity 7 in Kumamoto prefecture. We were very surprised. We jumped out of the room in a hurry. We wanted to clean our room, but we were very scared and were not able to enter the house. Several pieces of plates which I liked were broken. I was a little shocked. On the next day, my father went to work early in the morning. My mother and I cleaned our room all day. My house was able to still use water and electricity then. We have finished cleaning our room, but I played a game until midnight. We thought that the earthquake would not happen in Kumamoto prefecture. When I was going to sleep, the earthquake of seismic intensity 7 came again at 1:25 a.m.. The dish which we just put away to the cupboard was broken again. In addition, a microwave oven, computer, TV, and bookshelf have fallen down, too. We couldn't but sleep in a car. These photographs are the supermarkets where we went to go shopping well. I feel like I could cry. I do not know where we should go for shopping.  Why has an earthquake of seismic intensity 7 come twice in Kumamoto? I don’t want to think about anything and don’t want to remember that. 

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BR 1-01: “Seasons and Celebrations”

“The New Year” and “Festivals old and new” (P.1, 2)

I read this book yesterday. The title of this book is“Seasons and Celebrations”. Actually, I borrowed this book last year at the library. Because I have borrowed the same book, I want to write different content this time. When it is the same contents, you may get bored. I do not intend to imitate the thing which I wrote before. In Britain, Canada, the US, people enjoy different festivals and celebrations. There are many kinds of festivals and celebrations all over the world. Also, food, family, and flowers are an important part of most celebrations. Restaurants and cake shops are very busy on Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, Father's Day, and Christmas. New Year's Day is January 1st, the first day of the New Year. It is a holiday for most people, and banks, department store, beauty parlors, barber shops, book stores, bakery, cake shops, supermarkets, and many shops don't open. What did you do for New Year's Day this year? Did you eat New Year dishes, rice cake, and zoni this year? Did you do a kite-flier this year with your friends or family? How many New Year's cards did you get this year? I didn't get any New Year's cards this year. This book is very interesting because I can learn many kinds of celebrations and festivals. I want to borrow this book again. 

Maguire, Jackie. (1997). Seasons and Celebrations. Oxford. Oxford University Press.

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Placement essay: Advice to my kouhai

Hello, sophomore. I’m Rina Takamoto, and I am a senior. Please call me Rina senpai. Have you got used to a university life? Were you able to make friends? Do you have a part-time job? How many credits did you get last year? Do you enjoy your university life? Today, I will give you some advice. How many subjects do you take this year? In this year, sophomores must take 48 credits as the upper limit by 30 credits together a first semester for spring semester of this year. University is different from high school, so you decide one's class schedule by oneself and must file for the study registration. Do you understand that? You must never lose the credit in required subject. In addition, you must get 124 credits before you graduate from Kumamoto Gakuen University.

By the way, do you have driver’s license? Yes or no? I think that you should acquire the driver’s license. Why? This is because it is convenient for job hunting. When you have a driver’s license, it is very convenient. Why? This is because it may be asked as reference in the interview even if it is not work to need the driving of the car.

Do you have a credit card? Even university students can make a credit card. When you buy overseas travel and an expensive thing, the credit card is very helpful other than time doing shopping in the Internet.

Did you go for study abroad last year? Which country did you go? It is “foreign countries” to want you to experience it if you become a sophomore, and a junior. It is good to go as a trip and studying abroad with your friends. However, it is to go abroad that I recommend. It is very good for you. It is to know a foreign atmosphere and the culture to be the most important.

That’s all. Please enjoy your university life. Good luck.

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Essay 1-01: Letter to my host family

Hello! Let me introduce myself. My name is Rina Takamoto, and I am a girl. Please call me Rina. I am 21 years old, and I go to Kumamoto Gakuen University (KGU). I have been living in Kumamoto city for 21 years. By the way, do you know where Kumamoto prefecture is? Kumamoto is a prefecture in the center of the Kyushu region. Kumamoto prefecture is very beautiful place to visit. Also, Kumamoto Castle and Suizenji Park are very famous for sightseeing. Many tourists visit these places. When you visit Kumamoto in the spring, you can see many cherry blossoms. There are many kinds of delicious food in Kumamoto. Especially, horse-meat sashimi, Taipien, dago-jiru, ikinaridango, and Karashi renkon are very delicious. Karashi renkon is very spicy, so I have never eaten it.

Next, I will introduce about my family. There are five people in my family. My father is a police officer, and he works every day at Aso police station. He always smokes. However, my father does not give up smoking. I wish he could stop smoking. He is very strict, but I like him very much. My mother works at a community center near the elementary school where I went to. She is very good at cooking and sewing. I like miso soup, nikujaga, curry and rice, and cream stew which my mother cooks. I have an older brother. He is a radiologist. He works at Kumamoto Saiseikai hospital. He is very kind to me. He likes driving and traveling. My older sister-in-law is a nurse. She is very kind to us, too. She gives birth to a baby soon. I am looking forward to it. She got married last May.

Thank you very much for inviting me. I have really wanted to go to many places for a long time, so I am very exciting. I really want to go to Victoria, Toronto, Vancouver, and Calgary. I have some questions to ask you. How many people are there in your family? How many children are there in your family? Do you have any pets? What kind of pets?

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