Watch today’s show at YouTube or BlipTV.
Hi, I’m Sarah. Welcome to The Daily English Show.
Today’s guest is Paul. He was born in England but moved to Australia when he was very young and he grew up in Adelaide. He worked in IT in Sydney for about ten years before coming to Japan.
He first came here 6 years ago for a snowboarding holiday. And he spent a few winters here and then decided to live here.
He now lives in Kutchan and he makes websites. He also DJs, snowboards and plays darts. I asked Paul how he learnt Japanese.
Ah, I came here for the first time, yeah, six years ago with a friend. And we were here for three weeks. And I went back and I knew I wanted to come back and so I decided to take it upon myself to study. Um, I did some night courses in Sydney. It was very polite Japanese, I’m sure it helped me with my sentence structure. But coming back the next year I couldn’t understand what the guys I was staying with were saying.
So I decided to buy some books and just studied from books, um, I was pretty diligent, studying every night, whenever I’d hear something I’d write it down and revise it later.
But, ah, yeah just generally from books and from friends.
STICK NEWS
Kia Ora, in Stick News today, the girl in Hillary Clinton’s 3am ad has turned out to be a Barack Obama supporter.
Hillary Clinton wants to be the next President of the United States of America. Recently she made an ad telling people she knows the world’s leaders and the military and was ready to lead in a dangerous world.
The ad used footage of an 8-year- old girl sleeping. CNN reported the file footage was originally shot for a railroad company advertisement and the Clinton campaign bought it from Getty Images.
The girl in the ad is now almost 18 and she has been campaigning for Barack Obama.
She says she doesn’t like the ad’s fear-mongering and prefers Obama's message of looking forward to a bright future.
And that was Stick News for Monday 10th March.
Kia Ora
conversations with sarah
#408 How long have you been DJing?
Step 1: Repeat Sarah’s lines.
Step 2: Read Sarah’s lines and talk to Paul.
Sarah How long have you been DJing?
Paul Ah, I’ve been DJing for a long time. I think I started when I was about 18. That’s a lot of years.
Step 1: Repeat Sarah’s lines.
Step 2: Read Sarah’s lines and talk to Paul.
Sarah How long have you been DJing?
Paul Ah, I’ve been DJing for a long time. I think I started when I was about 18. That’s a lot of years.
Sarah What kind of music do you play?
Paul I play all, all genres, depends on the crowd. My personal preference is, you know, deep, deep house or new school breaks - which is a style out of England. Ah, but I’ll, I’ll play anything, basically. Keep the people happy.
Sarah Do you use vinyl?
Paul I used to always play with vinyl. Ah, when I started travelling to Japan the records were too heavy to carry, it cost too much. So I bought a new toy called Final Scratch which basically lets me play music of of my lap top. But with vinyl. It’s kind of confusing to people who don’t understand how it works. But it’s great for travelling. Takes a bit of time to set it up and pack it down but it makes travelling and DJing easy.
Sarah Where have you played in Niseko?
Paul Um, I’ve played a fair bit at Yummy’s a few years ago. Which was ah ... I was helping out working there for three winters I was here. And, ah, Red Bar and I guess most of the little clubs in Hirafu. Um, some private parties. Loaf Lounge. Yeah, there’s a bunch of places.
Sarah Has the nightlife in Hirafu changed much over the years?
Paul Definitely. I used to go to, you know, a bar five years ago and there’d be three people in there. And two of them were the bar staff. And now there’s definitely a lot of ... a large influx of foreigners coming in. Um, I’d say that’s great for the establishments. Sometimes it causes some trouble but, you know, alcohol and people sometimes don’t mix. But it’s definitely changed.
Sarah What’s been your best gig this season?
Paul We had a good party at Yummy’s on New Year’s Eve. It was just a local crew. Um, that was good fun.
Sarah What’s your favourite bar in Hirafu at the moment?
Paul My favourite bar would be a bar with a dart board in it. So it’s probably Wild Bill's or Splash.
Sarah How did you get into IT?
Paul Um, I was in a band years ago in Australia and decided that we needed a website. So I took it upon myself to learn HTML. And just basically sat in my bedroom with some books and my computer and taught myself some HTML. And then a friend of mine was working for Microsoft in, in Australia taking photos for a entertainment, a city entertainment guide. And he told me to come along for, for a job interview one day. And then I worked for Microsoft for a couple of months just taking photos and sourcing images and building up a media library. And then got moved into development department. I think they realized that I knew a lot more HTML than some of the designers they had there. And so they took me on full time in the development. And then Microsoft and Channel 9 a few years later became 9 MSN. Ah, and I worked there for 6 or 7 years as a developer and a designer. And just basically got a lot of on-the-job training. A lot of, ah, training courses the sent me on and just basically just picked it up on the job.
Sarah Do you miss it?
Paul Ah, I’m still doing it. But ah, I mean, I came here for a skiing holiday and went back to my, my desk and decided that there was more to do in life. And thought I’d give it a go for a few seasons. And got hooked and, and then a friend of mine who I first came over with had started up a business here. And asked me to come and work with them. So I had the opportunity to do it and I moved over here.
Sarah Is there enough work around here in IT?
Paul We, we get by. Some months are busier than others. Um, we’re still building our business. But definitely, um, I can see things improving. There’s a lot more foreign investment in the town. Most of our clients are, are foreign companies building apartments or with tour companies. Um, they, they require someone who can speak fluent English to do the job for them. And rather than going to companies in Tokyo or wherever, they would like to work locally. I think it’s easier to have meetings and get your point across. So, but I think ... summer times are generally busier for us. Everyone’s getting ready for the next season.
Sarah Could you get work from anywhere in the world?
Paul Yeah, we could. Um, at the moment we’re focusing on this area, just because there’s, there’s still enough people here to give us work. Ah, it’s easier for meetings. But in the internet industry I think you could pretty much work from home and, and work, you know, for clients in any country. It’s, anything’s possible with the internet these days.
Sarah Do you have any advice for people who are learning English?
Paul You have to speak. It’s no good, it’s no good reading a book and not using the language. You might remember it, but you’ll be too shy to use it. I think any opportunity you can you should use the words that you’ve learnt that day or the day before. The more you use them, the more you remember them, they’ll become part of your vocabulary.
SCRIPT FOR 3AM AD
Watch the ad here.
It’s three am and your children are safe and asleep. But there’s a phone in the White House and it’s ringing. Something’s happening in the world. Your vote will decide who answers that call. Whether it’s someone who already knows the world’s leaders, knows the military. Someone tested and ready to lead in a dangerous world. It’s three am and your children are safe and asleep. Who do you want answering the phone?
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artist: BrunoXe
album: aprendiendo desde 2004
track: Mandrake
from: Jerez, Spain
album at Jamendo
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artist: San Sebastian
track: Happy Sad
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artist: ioeo
album: Groovetracks
tracks: groovetracks ending
from: Saint Raphael, France
album at Jamendo
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artist: Music is Love
album: Episode # 2
track: Arcobaleni
from: Castellammare di Stabia, Italy
artist at Jamendo
album at Jamendo
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