9/29 〜 10/2

ラジオ英会話　　　Monday, September 29

So, Katie, what’s the new situation going to be like?
Well, they are loons.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • -

Machiko!
Haruki!!!
What are those noises, Abi 1?
Those are humans, Bbi 2, calling to each other.
They sound lost or something. Are they encroaching on our territory?
I guess not. They only come out here when they’re catching food.
What do they eat?
They eat anything.
I hear that door bell.
It’s time for Rajio Eikaiwa.
I’m lying in the nest and enjoying it.
Let’s go!

Was that a door bell?

Well, you play anything, don’t you?
You know, I thought those loons have exquisite radio taste.　　
（exquisite = この上なく素晴らしい）
They do?
Yes.
That’s why their English is so good.
I see. So, um… this week, we are talking about birds.
Birds, right.
Yes.
Any memories, any … anything you would like to mention?

Well, my great grandmother had a parrot named Polly and that ...
That’s a common name for parrots, right?
It is very common.
Polly-san.
Oh! What a talkative bird.

Oh! Did you have a good time listening to it or talking to it? Or how do you have fun with the parrot?
Well, they taught Polly to say the usual thing that you teach the parrot in America. “Polly want a cracker.” She would always say, “Polly wanna cracker. Polly wanna cracker.” And then you give Polly a cracker. And you watch Polly eat the cracker. For kids, that’s a lot of fun.

I see. How about you, Jeff?
We had a parakeet when I was a kid, but she didn’t talk. And then one year, we won a turkey in a Halloween costume contest.
Turkey to eat?
We thought it was going to be eaten … an oven turkey and it wasn’t. It was live.
You won a turkey?
Yes, so we had this …brrrrr …. in a garage for about three months.
Three months, then what happened?
We gave it to a turkey firm.
Ohhh…
Oh, okay.

ラジオ英会話　　　Tuesday, September 30

Well, it doesn’t sound seem like its humming.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • -

So what’s the new situation going to be like this time, Jeff?
Oh, we are always singing, right?
Yes.
Well, we are singing again.
You are?
They sing their lines to the tune of “Aura Lee.”

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • -

Grandpa, is that a hummingbird in your garden?
Yes, Alice! It sips nectar from the petunias
How does it do that?
It has a long tongue that flicks in and out of its beak.
Is nectar its only food source?
No, it eats small insects, too.
I’m getting my camera. Ah! It’s gone!
It’ll come back soon.

It was a challenge.
It was a challenge.
No, it …. I like it. Yeah, good job.
Thank you.
Wow. Do you see hummingbirds in America, often?
All the time.
Oh, there you go.
Yeah, me too.
Oh, many.
They are beautiful.
People put hummingbird feeders out for them, sugar water. (feeder =えさ箱)
Is that right? Sugar water?
Yeah, and then they come and sip the sugar water from the feeder. Yeah.
It’s a bird that always exits people.
They are pretty. There are several different kinds.
They are tiny, right?
Tiny.
Very tiny.

Do you actually hear their wings beating and so on?
Yes, they sound like prrrrrrrrr because they are beating so fast so that they actually break the sound barrier.
（break the sound barrier =音速（の壁）を超える、音速の壁を破る)
I guess you have to get very close to it.
They sound like little helicopters.

ラジオ英会話　　　Wednesday, October 1

So Katie, what's the new situation going to be like?
This time, they are squirrels.
They are?
Yes, they are.
You mean you are?
Yes.
You play anything.
Well.
Any animal, any, any creature.
The keyword is "play." Have fun.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • -

Brooke, those birds are acorn woodpeckers.
Well, they’re cute, Adam!
See all those holes they made in that oak tree?
Oh, my, yes!
They store acorns in those holes.
There’s another one coming back with an acorn.
Let’s go snatch one.

The woodpeckers are looking this way! Why can't we have one measly acorn?
Survival of the fittest.

We are fitter than them.
You go, I'll stay.
Why?
Well, as the saying goes, squirrels avoid quarrels.

They speak good English.
They do. They've been listening to Rajio Eikaiwa.
Oh my goodness. They have?
Nothing, nothing pleases me more than what you do at the end of the program. They store acorns in their holes. Do you store anything?

Yes.
Yes.
What do you store?
Chocolate.
Okay.
Water and rice.
Oh.
And emergency supplies, just in case.
Very practical.
Great idea. Well, you learn something new every day as usual.
Especially on this show.
Yes.
Okay.

================================

ラジオ英会話　　　Thursday, October 2

You learn something new every day.
Yes you do.
Very true.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • -

So, Jeff.
Right.
What's the new situation going to be like? Are you going to be an owl or something today?
Well, I don't know who the owl is but the short-eared owl is a talking owl.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • -

Keep an eye on Pixie.
Why do you say that?
There's an owl perched in that tree.
Oh!
Hello, there.
He talks.
Yes. Actually a lot of them do, and they sometimes swoop down and pick up small mammals with their talons.
In broad daylight?
That's right.
Short-eared owls hunt primarily during dawn and dusk -- and sometimes during the daytime.
Oh, I'm going straight home! Come on, Pixie!
Bye! I'll (owl) see you later.
Yeah, much later.
Pixie!

Who was that owl?
Hmm…
Oh, wow!
The voice sounded very familiar.
Someone near and dear.
I'll be darned. (I’ll be darned. = びっくりだなー！／驚いたな！／うそだろ！)

I think Ken was perched in that tree.
Why do you say that?
It sounded just like him.
You're right. Ken, were you perched in that tree?
Me, perched in that tree? Are you kidding? There was an owl perched in that tree.
Oh!
That's the truth.