スミス英会話布施校講師が書いた記事。 日本語のメインサイトはこちら
This week, I put these beautiful red Cyclamen シクラメン in our English school in Fuse, Higashiosaka 東大阪布施. The Japanese name, シクラメン is taken from the Latin original name when the flower first came to Japan during the Meiji period, but contrary to Cosmos コスモス and Carnation カーネーション the pronunciation 発音 in English is quite different from the Japanese Katakana カタカナ version. In England, the flower is pronounced /ˈsɪk.lə.mən/. As most people are not used to the phonetic alphabet, try this link to the Cambridge Dictionaries Online, which have the great service – you can listening samples both in British- and American English. Actually, the pronunciation for Cyclamen differs considerably in both variants.
In our English Conversation lessons 英会話教室, I used the flowers for a pronunciation practice. Especially the rhythm 韻律 with the stress on the first syllable シラブル is unusual for most students 英会話生徒, but can be mastered quite easily.
Actually, these flowers a a birthday present of my loving wife, and as they are in a pot, I will be able to remember her from now on every time I see the flowers here in the school in Ajiro, Fuse 布施足代. Just one more thing to make my happy and brighten up my life even more. The best thing is that she was so good to think of our students, too, so this week I put them at the usual spot so that the students 英会話生徒 are able to see them when they enter.
Some of the students commented quite positively. One student said simply 「シクラメンだ！」(It`s a cyclamen!). Another student said what beautiful red flowers they are. And although they have a hue of pink, she continued that she liked pink better!
I really enjoy these little conversations before and after lessons. It is a good chance to get to know the English Conversation students on a more personal level, and they are all nice people.
Last but not least the links to the corresponding articles at Wikipedia in English and in Japanese 日本語.
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