2015-03-09

Example Short Speech: Cakes

[Note that this is intended a (fabricated) example essay, not as a personal statement.
あくまでも、見本作文です。特定の人の経験および意見を伝えるつもりではありません。]

My name is (Given) (Family). I am a freshman at (School Name) High School, in class 9. I will talk about cakes.

I like cakes. They are very sweet, and I like sweet things. The sweetness comes from sugar, and sugar is important for energy.

Cake batter is made with sugar and wheat flour and eggs. Cakes are usually baked in an oven.

Some cakes are best eaten hot. Others are best eaten cold. Some are delicious either way.

You can put nuts in cakes, too. Nuts are nutritious. They have protein and good oils and important vitamins. And you can add dried fruits to cakes. Dried fruits have vitamins and fiber, so they are also nutritious.

Nuts and dried fruits
add variety to the flavor of cakes.

I think that cakes are good food.

Example Short Speech: Ping-pong

[Note that this is intended a (fabricated) example speech, not as a personal statement.
あくまでも、見本作文です。特定の人の経験および意見を伝えるつもりではありません。]

My name is (Given) (Family). I am a freshman at (School Name) High School, in class 1. I will talk about ping-pong.

I like ping-pong.

It is called ping-pong because of the sound the balls make. It is also called table tennis because it is like playing tennis on a table.

The basic rules of table tennis are not hard. You hit the ball back and forth on the table.

Ping-pong is good exercise. You use your arms, legs, and eyes when you play. And ping-pong takes at least two players. So it is a good opportunity to practice social skills.

I have my own ping-pong paddle. I take good care of it.

Ping-pong is interesting and fun.

Example Short Speech: Matchbox Cars

[Note that this is intended a (fabricated) example essay, not as a personal statement.
あくまでも、見本作文です。特定の人の経験および意見を伝えるつもりではありません。]

My name is (Given) (Family). I am a freshman at (School Name) High School, in class 9. I will talk about matchbox cars.

I like matchbox cars.

They are called matchbox cars because they fit in a matchbox.

There are many kinds of matchbox cars. There are racing cars, family cars, emergency vehicles, and industrial vehicles. They look cool.

You can race matchbox cars on the floor or on plastic tracks. You can also put them on a shelf and just look at them.

I collect matchbox cars. I have about thirty different cars.

Matchbox cars are interesting and fun.

Example Essay: Model Rockets – My Teenage Hobby

When I was a teenager, I built and launched model rockets.

Most of the models I built were pre-designed kits from the model rocket company Estes. Some were designs of my own. Some were very simple. Some were quite elaborate.

Usually, I used a stiff paper tube for the body and a cone of light balsa wood for the nose cone and fins. The parachutes were thin nylon sheets and strings.

I didn't risk making my own motors, just bought them from Estes.

One model that was easy to build was a ten centimeter paper tube with a two centimeter nose cone and three short fins. It was light enough that it didn't need or use a parachute.

A more elaborate one was a model of the space shuttle. I built it for a physics class at high school. We used our physics to check how high it actually flew. But I was too impatient to get the right motor, and my rocket crashed. I was disappointed, of course, but it was a good experience.

You have to be careful when you launch rockets because they can be dangerous.

I learned a lot about physics and responsibility from building model rockets. And it was fun.

2015-03-07

Example Essay: My Favorite Sport Is Not a Sport


My favorite sport is dance.

I have danced since I was pretty young. My mother used to tell me I was born dancing. My body moved a lot.

My friends and my siblings and their friends sometimes teased me about my dancing. I’d hang around at parties that my brother and my sisters sometimes held, and jive and groove until my mother told me it was time for me to go to bed. Several of my sisters took creative dance classes, and sometimes they wouldn’t chase me off when I watched them work out and practice.

After I saved up money from delivering newspapers and bought my own sound system, sometimes I’d close the bedroom door, turn up the volume, and ride the vibes. The noise of my feet on the wooden floor was about as loud as the music, I think.

In college, I took a lot of modern dance classes. I also took some martial arts, to improve my timing and balance. I don’t have time to dance much any more, but I still use a daily exercise regime that I developed from what I learned in those classes.

One of my dance teachers described modern dance as a study in how to move from here to there.

I tend to describe it as a study in the use of the body as a tool.

You may not think that my favorite sport is a sport, but my favorite sport is dance.


2015-03-04

Example Essay: Building Model Cars

[Note that this is intended a (fabricated) example essay, not as a personal statement.
あくまでも、見本作文です。作者本人の経験および意見を伝えるつもりではありません。]

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One of my hobbies is building model cars.

Mostly, I build plastic models from kits that I buy at hobby stores, or sometimes at home appliance and electronics shops like Edion or Joshin.

Sometimes, I build models from scratch, making the design and diagrams myself, and cutting parts from light wood and paper.

Some of the models I have are motorized. Some of them have remote controls, so I can drive them around the floor of the house. I can't take them to school because the teachers don't like the distractions.

Models I have include old Ford Model Ts, Formula 1 race cars, sports cars like the Mazerati, and even a Hum Vee. I haven't yet built any models of 18-wheeler trucks.

Building models is good for hand-eye coordination. But you have to be careful to open the windows when using glue or paints. You can get a bad headache if you don't open the windows.

Designing my own models has taught me a lot about forces and other principles of physics, too.

Building model cars is a good hobby.

Example Essays: I Like Ping Pong

[Note that this is intended a (fabricated) example essay, not as a personal statement.
あくまでも、見本作文です。作者本人の経験および意見を伝えるつもりではありません。]

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My favorite sport is table tennis, or ping-pong.

I have been playing ping-pong for four years. I started when I entered junior high school.

I joined the ping-pong club because I thought it would be more fun than soccer. I found out that ping-pong is good exercise. Playing it well takes lots of practice.

In ping-pong, wrist coordination is the most important thing. Using the wrist, you can put a spin on the ball. Putting a spin on the ball is important to strategy because it makes it hard to return the ball.

I have learned a lot from the other members of the club. Ping-pong players are fun to hang around with.

Now I enjoy ping-pong more than any other sport.

2015-03-02

Example Essays: New Zealand!

New Zealand!
a Sample Essay

New Zealand is an island country in the Pacific ocean. It lies to the south and east of Australia.

It has a population of about 4,500,000, mostly European, but including 15% native Maori.

The government is a constitutional monarchy, with Queen Elizabeth as the head of state, and John Key as the current prime minister. It has a democratically elected parliament.

Rugby union football is the national sport, but federation football (soccer) is the most popular sport among young people.

The most common language spoken is English, but many people speak the native Maori language.

The currency is the New Zealand dollar, with a current international exchange rate of about 0.75 US dollars, or about 88 Japanese yen.

The weather is mild, although it snows more on the South Island, Te Waipounamu, than on the North Island, Te Ika-a-Māui.

New Zealand exports many agricultural products, including wool and dairy products.

New Zealand is generally considered a peacable country, and many people think New Zealand is a nice place to live.