top of page

「赤べこ」と疫病の関係       英語の記事を毎週読むのが英語上達に役立つvol.856  

英語の上達には勉強ではなく、日々英語を使うこと。

これが一番です。

多くのラーナーさんの悩みがボキャブラリーをなかなか覚えられないということですが、

でも単語を単語帳を作って覚えるというのはめちゃくちゃ大変な割に効果は限られています。

では、ボキャブラリーを増やすには、どうしたらいいのでしょうか?

それは簡単です。

毎日に英語を使い、慣れるのが一番です。

DCECのブログを活用して英語に触れてください。


今週は、日本のお土産に買っていかれた赤い小さな牛について、そのいわれを話しています。


■Cow Medicine


Characters: C - Chan; H - Hideyoshi


A GV and a learner in class talking about a souvenir item


C: My girlfriend’s aunt lives in Japan but she recently went

  back to her country for vacation. She brought a lot of

  souvenirs but what caught my attention was a cute little

  cow figurine.

H: Cow figurine, huh? Sounds oddly familiar. Can you describe

how it looks?

C: Well it’s a molded figure, mostly bright red in color,

  and it has some patterns like circles and curved lines.

  She said it was a traditional toy in one of the areas

  of Fukushima.

H: Aha! If it’s from Fukushima, then now I’m definitely sure.

It’s an Akabeko doll.

C: Oh, you’re right! I think that’s what she calls it.

  What is it, exactly?

H: Well, long ago, samurai were taught the Aizu molding

  technique commonly known these days as papier mâché.

  They made Akabeko dolls and it was a good foundation

  of culture and economy in Aizu.

C: Wow! I didn’t know it had such a history.

H: But wait, there’s more!

C: Really? Do tell me about it.

H: On traditional Akabeko dolls, you’ll see circle patterns.

  Those symbolize the smallpox virus. Legend says

  that a red bull or cow warded off the plague epidemic

  in the Heian era.

  So children would always have an Akabeko with them.

C: You don’t say! You know the word “vaccine” comes from

  the Latin word “vacca” which means a cow. That’s

  because the deadly smallpox virus was eradicated

  by developing a medicine from the cowpox