EY Y04 L26 Self-Sufficiency

  1. Do you have a garden? If yes, what do you grow in your garden? Do you grow any fruits or vegetables? If no, what would you grow in your garden if you had one?
  2. Can you cook? If yes, are you a good cook? What dishes can you make? If no, would you like to learn how to cook?
  3. When you damage your clothes, such as tearing a shirt or getting a hole in a sock, are you able to repair the damage yourself? Or do you usually throw away the item of clothing and buy a new one?
  4. Have you ever done any DIY projects around the house? If yes, tell me about one of these projects. If no, are you interested in DIY?
  5. If you were to move house, would you prefer to box everything up and transfer the items yourself or would you rather pay a moving company to do all that for you? Why?
  6. If you had the time and the money to acquire a new skill, what would you like to learn to do? How would you put this skill to use?

Question 1

I just started growing plants in my mini garden about two months ago. I am trying to grow some herbs but the seeds have just started to sprout. I'll have to be more patient to see more progress.

Question 2

I can cook simple dishes like steak and fried dishes. I don't consider myself a good cook. I've made terrible mistakes in the kitchen and my husband is a better cook than me. I am trying to improve though, I take down notes whenever students share cooking recipes, and Jon another teacher here at EP has also been giving me some cooking tips.

Question 3

I have never learned to mend clothes on my own. My mother was a seamstress so I've always relied on her when it comes to mending clothes. She can also make clothes from scratch so whenever we have special occasions that require a costume, she can easily make one for me and my sister.

Question 4

I've done a lot of DIY projects. It's one of my hobbies. When I arrived in Japan, my husband's apartment did not have a shoe rack so I made one out of discarded wooden crates. Now that we have moved to a bigger apartment with its own shoe cabinet, I have repurposed it as a plant shelf.

Question 5

I prefer to pack things myself but I would hire a moving company to transfer them. I'm quite meticulous when it comes to storing my things so I'd like to pack them in specific boxes. As for the transfer, I don't mind if the moving company does it themselves as long as fragile items have been wrapped properly and they are careful not to make scratches or dents on my items.

Question 6

I would like to learn how to sew. I've always asked my mother to teach me but she didn't have the patience to do so. I've given my mother sketches of dresses that I want to make but she always says my designs are impractical. If I can learn to sew on my own, I can make any customized clothing I want.

Tough Vocabulary