PAST SIMPLE: TALKING ABOUT PAST SITUATIONSREADING COMPREHENSION

MY JAPANESE EXPERIENCE

1) Read the text about my experience in Japan and decide if the following sentences

are true or false:

Everything started one year ago. Once I finished my

degree in Translation and Interpreting, I decided to go to

Japan to improve my Japanese skills. I looked for a

school in Tokyo, arranged all the papers ….and on

September 29th I took a plane to Tokyo. The flight lasted

more or less 16 hours, so you can imagine how tired I

was. My host family was waiting for me at the airport and we went together to home.

I slept for a few hours in a futon (I had a terrible jet lag) and at 7 pm we had dinner. All

the family gave me a very warm welcome but the problem arrived when on the table I

found two chopsticks instead of a fork and a knife! After 10 minutes practising it and

laughing a lot, I ate sushi, chicken and of course rice. Everything was so delicious!! My

“Japanese mother” drank sake, but I didn’t like this wine made up of rice and I preferred

to drink a cup of green tea. We talked a little bit about the Spanish customs and then we

watched a film.

The following day I went to the school and I met a lot of Japanese people who became

my friends. During my stay in Japan I spent three days in Kyoto and I visited a lot of

temples!! I saw geisha walking around the streets and I wore a beautiful and colourful

kimono. However, what impressed me the most was the area of Akihabara, in Tokyo,

called the Electric town. Akihabara is a shopping area for electronic, computer and otaku

goods, where the tourists buy a lot of souvenirs. I bought and electronic dictionary and I

wrote a lot of kanji. I also had the opportunity to watch a film called The Last Samurai

and I learned a lot about these warriors.

1) Are these sentences true or false?

PAST SIMPLE: TALKING ABOUT PAST SITUATIONSREADING COMPREHENSION

1. I went to Japan to buy lots of manga

2. I lived with a Japanese family.

3. I love drinking Japanese traditional wine.

4. Spanish eating customs are similar to the Japanese ones

5. I can write in Japanese, using kanji.

6. I just could visit Tokyo.

2) Find all the verbs I used in Past Simple and write their infinitive as well as their

meaning (check the Irregular verbs list on page 144 of your workbook)

PAST SIMPLE: TALKING ABOUT PAST SITUATIONSREADING COMPREHENSION

4) Find and write:

- Find two examples of the Present Simple in the text

- Look up these terms in a dictionary or in Internet and explain their meaning in your own

words:

host family

futon

jet lag

chopsticks

customs

kimono

shopping area

otaku goods

souvenir

kanji

warriors