“Sanmitsu” — the “Three Cs” approach to preventing COVID-19 infection by avoiding Closed spaces, Crowds and Close-contact situations, was chosen as Japan’s buzzword of the year.
Here is a YouTube video showing Tokyo Metropolitan Governor Koike going around Tokyo and telling people “Mitsu desu!” (“You’re too close!” or “This is crowding!”). Courtesy of Mancy Snow
https://youtu.be/O9-7h8karSI
Capital(首都/資産）
ここでは、首都ではなく資産/資金の意。
“米国のお金はどこにあるの？”
“人口の1%の富裕層(one-percenter)が資産のほとんどを海外の口座に入れているんだよ…“
今月から、Stephen先生が担当してくださる事になりました、トピックは、COVID-19/vaccination/the Olympics/Scotland/Retronym… とても楽しかったです‼︎
https://youtu.be/VD8lxL_xwbg
Retronym
◆複retronyms◆語源retro（レトロ）+ synonym（同意語）。主に技術の発達により新しい言葉や意味が生まれたために言葉の本来の意味が曖昧になったので、本来の意味を示すために形容詞＋名詞で作らなければいけなくなった新語。例として、televisionはcolor televisionが出たことで black-and-white televisionが生まれ、さらに cable televisionが出たことで on-air televisionのレトロニムが生まれた。
今月からStrphen先生（スコットランド出身。大学や研究機関の技術文書の校正/TOEFLの指導/地方公共団体の姉妹都市•国際交流プログラムなどの分野で活躍されています）が担当してくださる事になりました！どうぞよろしくお願いいたします！
retronyms
https://youtu.be/KRZreDhbAW4
英検ライティング指導のクラス: 少しずつ受講者が増え、手応えを感じています。社会問題などについて、自分自身の考え方をまとめ/発表する良い機会になっていると好評です。 受講費は、添削/書き直し2,000円 or 4,000円（添削/書き直し/１時間のディスカッションクラス付)です。受講を希望されます方は、伊藤まで。
Survival of the fittest(適者生存)
高校時代、世界史の授業で、デカルトやスピノザなど、17世紀を代表する哲学者(合理主義）に興味を抱いた事がありました。なかでも、スピノザの宗教感に強く魅せられました。アインシュタインが自身の宗教感は、スピノザに重なると表明していたことに起因するのかもしれません。英検一級/準一級の必須ボキャブラリー, Atheist（無神論者）/Pantheist(汎神論者）について調べていたら、とても、興味深い文章を見つけました。
“When Einstein gave lectures at U.S. universities, the question students asked him most was: Do you believe in God? And he always answered: I believe in the God of Spinoza.
Baruch de Spinoza was a Dutch philosopher considered one of the great rationalists of 17th century philosophy, along with Descartes.
According to Spinoza, God would say: “Stop praying. I want you to go out into the world and enjoy your life. I want you to sing, have fun and enjoy everything I’ve made for you.
“Stop going into those dark, cold temples that you built yourself and saying they are my house. My house is in the mountains, in the woods, rivers, lakes, beaches. That’s where I live and there I express my love for you.
“Stop blaming me for your miserable life; I never told you there was anything wrong with you or that you were a sinner, or that your sexuality was a bad thing. Sex is a gift I have given you and with which you can express your love, your ecstasy, your joy. So don’t blame me for everything that others made you believe.
“Stop reading alleged sacred scriptures that have nothing to do with me. If you can’t read me in a sunrise, in a landscape, in the look of your friends, in your son’s eyes—you will find me in no book!
“Stop asking me, ‘Will you tell me how to do my job?’ Stop being so scared of me. I do not judge you or criticize you, nor get angry or bothered. I am pure love.
“Stop asking for forgiveness, there’s nothing to forgive. If I made you, I filled you with passions, limitations, pleasures, feelings, needs, inconsistencies, and best of all, free will. Why would I blame you if you respond to something I put in you? How could I punish you for being the way you are, if I’m the one who made you? Do you think I could create a place to burn all my children who behave badly for the rest of eternity? What kind of god would do that?
“Respect your peers, and don’t give what you don’t want for yourself. All I ask is that you pay attention in your life—alertness is your guide.
“My beloved, this life is not a test, not a step on the way, not a rehearsal, not a prelude to paradise. This life is the only thing here and now—and it is all you need.
“I have set you absolutely free, no prizes or punishments, no sins or virtues, no one carries a marker, no one keeps a record.
You are absolutely free to create in your life. It’s you who creates heaven or hell.
“Live as if there is nothing beyond this life, as if this is your only chance to enjoy, to love, to exist. Then you will have enjoyed the opportunity I gave you. And if there is an afterlife, rest assured that I won’t ask if you behaved right or wrong, I’ll ask, ‘Did you like it? Did you have fun? What did you enjoy the most? What did you learn?’
“Stop believing in me; believing is assuming, guessing, imagining. I don’t want you to believe in me, I want you to believe in you. I want you to feel me in you when you kiss your beloved, when you tuck in your little girl, when you caress your dog, when you bathe in the sea.
“Stop praising me. What kind of egomaniac God do you think I am? I’m bored with being praised. I’m tired of being thanked. Feeling grateful? Prove it by taking care of yourself, your health, your relationships, the world. Express your joy! That’s the way to praise me.
“Stop complicating things and repeating as a parrot what you’ve been taught about me. Why do you need more miracles? So many explanations?
“The only thing for sure is that you are here, that you are alive, that this world is full of wonders.”