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Today, let's talk about some ways to join sentences together to make longer sentences. The 3 key words you need to know to understand the explanations are:

1. conjunction
2. compound sentence
3. complex sentence

Below are some excerpts from the website we will use today:

The 'magnificent seven' conjunctions (the most commonly used) are:

and, although, as, because, but, if, or

When you make a compound sentence, you are joining two or more simple sentences together with a conjunction. If you took the conjunction away, the sentences would be complete and they would still make sense.
e.g. 'I hate curry, but I like Thai food.'= 'I hate curry' + but + 'I like Thai food'

Complex sentences don't just divide into neat, complete, simple sentences if you take out the conjunctions. In complex sentences the conjunction is used to join together clauses. A clause is a group of words that contains a subject and a verb. Some of these clauses might be complete short sentences, but in a complex sentence at least one of them will depend on the conjunction for its meaning.
In other words, if you take the conjunction away, the sentence won't divide into complete units that make sense by themselves.

e.g. 'The dinner was burned because she had forgotten it.'
= 'The dinner was burned' + 'because' + 'she had forgotten it.'

We will visit the lesson Putting Sentences Together at the BBC Skillswise site.

If you have some free time, please try Alpha Attack!

Try Power Typing for typing practice. I recommend the Frequent Words 1, 2, and 3 exercises.

Also, please try Go to School 4!

I like movies very much. I like watching DVDs, but of course I like watching movies at the movie theater best. In Kumamoto we have several multiplex cinames, as well as several standard cinemas in the town center. Until recently I always preferred to go to Hikari no Mori for watching movies but last month I went to Diamond City Clea.

I was quite impressed with the movie theaters there. When you buy a ticket, if you show your Tsutaya or T-Point card, you get extra points and sometimes big discounts. Unfortunately the standard price is 1800, and there doesn’t seem to be a way to get a price of 1500 yen every time, unlike at Hikari no Mori, where you can always get a price of 1500 if you have a You me town card. (136 words)

I like movies very much. I like all kinds of movies, and I prefer to watch them in the movie theater. I used to go to Hikari no Mori to watch movies but recently I’ve discovered Warner cinemas in Clea. The cinams there are a bit more expensive but we can get T-Points there, like in Eneos and Tsutaya. There weren’t many interesting movies playing over the winter holiday, so I haven’t seen anything recently, but I’m looking forward to February and March when usually in Japan many good movies are on. I saw Johnny Depp on the news this morning, so I guess Sweeney Todd will be starting soon. I’m not sure what else is coming up. I also like watching DVDs but recently I’ve mainly been watching the TV series 24 and Alias. They’re both very interesting though Alias is a bit stupid sometimes. (147 words)

I LIVE IN KUMAMOTO, a medium-sized city in the central area of Kyushu. It is an interesting place to live, because it is in the center of an area of great natural beauty. To the north is Aso and Kikuchi, to the south Amakusa. Aso is a highland area with a famous volcano boasting the biggest caldera in the world. Kikiuchi is famous for its gorge. Amakusa is an archipelago consisting of well over 100 islands, the most famous of which are Shimoshima and Kamishima. Kamishima is the first island we meet as we go to Amakusa from the Kumamoto mainland. Shimoshima is the most heavily populated one. It has the cities of Hondo and Ushibuka although recently they have changed their names. It also has the famous churches of Oe and Sakitsu which have existed for hundreds of years and came to fame in the “kakure Christian” era. And of course it has the sea and a couple of very nice beaches. (163)

In my free time, I like doing many different things, such as watching movies, reading books and magazines, listening to music, or just sitting around at home playing with my children. Today, I’ll talk maninly abour movies and music. I don’t really have a special kind of movie that I like. Any movie that comes to Kumamoto is potentially interesting. Recently, I’ve seem the Brave one, and the Bourne Supremacy. Other movies I have seen on DVD include The Devil Wears Prada. I’ve also been watching the 24 and the ER series. 24 is now on its 6th season. Interestingly, I rewatched episode 1 of the first season a few days ago and I was surprised to find that it was rather slow! I guess that each season the action goes faster and faster. I haven’t been keeping up with ER recently, as there are very few copies of the DVDs available and they’re always rented out when I go to the video shop. (164 words)

IN MY FREE TIME, I LIKE reading, watching movies, and listening to music. My favorite kinds of music are rock and modern Japanese music. By that I mean modern koto music. I like reading all kinds of novels, especially fantasy and science fiction. Recently I have been rereading books by Ursula Le Guin, for example the Earthsea series (Ged Senki in Japanese) . About movies, I like all kinds of movies, and whenever possible I go to the theater to see them. However,m these days I am very busy so I often don't have time ti go to the theater. When I go to the theater I like to go to the nearby Starbucks for a café latte made with soy milk. Recent movies I have seen include The Brave One and The Bourne Ultimatum. The Brave One stars Jodie Foster and is about a woman whose fiancé is murdered in front of her and how it changes her life. The Bourne Ultimatum is the third movie in the Bourne series starring Matt Damon, It’s very exciting but I didn't enjoy it as much as the 1st and 2nd ones. (190 words)

In my free time, I like reading, watching movies, and listening to music. My favorite kinds of music are rock and modern Japanese music, i.e. koto. I don't really have a favorite kind of movie but I do prefer to go to the movie theatre whenever possible. I also watch DVDs sometimes, but I guess I try to get to see big action movies and spectacle movies at the theater. (70)

In my free time I like doing many different things. I like reading and listening to music, and watching movies. Today I’m going to talk about movies.
Whenever possible I like to go to the ciname to watch movies. Recently I saw the Bourne Ultimatum and The Brave One. The Brave One starred Jodie Foster and it was about a woman who saw her fiancé murdered, and how she reacted to this tragic event. The Bourne Ultimatum is the third movie in the Bourne series. It follows on from The Bourne Iderntity and the Bourne Supremacy. It stars Matt Damon, and is very very exciting. (105)

I DON’T HAVE A GREAT DEAL OF FREE TIME these days, because I am so busy at work. But when I do have free time I like reading, listening to music, watching movies, playing the koto, hiking, cooking, and so on. My favorite kinds of music are Japanese modern, and progressive rock. I read all kinds of novels, but I guess I like science fiction and fantasy best. Recently, I bought the first book in L.E. Modesitt’s Corean chronicles, a series that has been praised widely. Cooking is something that I used to do all the itme but now do very rarely. It’s lots of fun and quite relaxing, but does take some time. I would like to travel a bit more if possible. (124 words)

I’m so busy at my job these days that I don’t have so much free time. But there are many things I like to do in my free time. I like playing the koto, listening to music, reading, hiking, and playing tennis. I also like watching movies. I always read at night before going to sleep, nearly always a novel. Now, I am reading Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand. Often, I read science fiction or fantasy, but I haven’t read the 7th Harry Potter book yet. Have you? These days, I almost never play the koto. But I do see movies sometimes. Recently, I saw the Brave One, with Jodie Foster, which was a great movie. All her movies are good, I feel, though I wish she appareaed a little more often. Another one I want to see is the (140 words)

Kumamoto has lots of nice places to visit. In the south, facing Nagasaki, is the archipelago of Amakusa, a collection of about 100 islands, which are very beautiful. The biggest 2 islands are Shimoshima and Kamishima. Kamishima is made of paper. No, not really. Kami means upper, and this island is near mainland Kumamoto. Shimoshima is the place with the biggest cities, Hondo and Ushibuka. and also the most famous places such as Ooe and Sakitsu churches. (77 words)

Hi (1 word)

I like Kumamoto because it is a nice city of medium size, not too big like Tokyo, but not too small like Yatsushiro. In Kummaoto there are lots of nice shops including lots of good bakeries. One of my favorite bakeries is Bon Gout which is in Obiyama Joshidai-doori, and also has a shop in Aso, in Uchinomaki. Another good bakery in Aso is Merukoro, which is in the Chouyou area. Their best breads are cranberry bread and rye bread. Rye bread is also good in the German bakery whose name I’ve forgot in (94 words)

I like Kumamoto very much. I think it's a nice size for a xcity. Not so big like Tokyo but not too small like Yatsushiro! Because the city is fairly big, there is a wide variety of food shops. I'd like to talk about bakeries. Here are some of my favorites. Bon Gout on Obiyama Joshidaidoori (and recently also in Uchinomaki in Aso) has a wide range of “kashi pan”, which I don't like so much but also 2 masterpieces: a heavy rye fruit bread loaf and a wholewheat loaf. The latter is only baked once a week. In Aso, there is a very famous bakery called Merukoro. This has been in business for 10 years or so. When it started it was just one shop on the side oif the road in a fairly deserted area. Now, it is the centre of a big cluster of shops and restaurants. Another favorite is (153 words)

Kumamoto is a very nice prefecture, and Kumamoto City is a nice city, too. Kumamoto is blessed with many good bakeries. The most famous one is Merukoro, in Nishihara village in Aso. It is so famous that some people travel there at weekends from Fukuoka and other places in Kyushu to buy bread. One of their famous breads is Aso Takahara Milk Bread, because the owner is a soccer fan. Sorry, that ws a joke. Actually the bread is called Aso Kougen Milk Bread. Although that one is very famous there are several others that I much prefer. One is their rye bread, which is very chewy. Another is their cranberry bread. And yet another is their fig bread. Good bakeries in the city include Bon Gout on Joshidai-dori. (130)

Food & drink are at the heart of human culture. I like eating and drinking very much. My favorite kinds of food are French and Chinese. When I cook myself, I usually cook Italian or Chinese. But of course I like British food very much, too. One of my favorites is fish & chips. Fish & chips are battered cod and fried potatoes. They are deep fried in corn oil, and served with salt and vinegar. Many British people have this for Saturday lunch. It tastes great. You can have it at Little Kitchen, near the Prefectural University of Kumamoto. (100 words)

I like food and drink very much. Eating and drinking are at the heart of human culture. I come from the UK, and I have lived in China and France and japan, so I have experienced many kinds of food. My favorites are French and Chinese cuisine. (47 words)

My name is not Yoko. But maybe she likes food and drink, too. I like food and drink. Tonight, I'm going to Little Kitchen, just opposite the west entrance to PUK (the Prefectural University of Kumamoto), with my colleagues in the Division of Ecology and Environmental Resources, Faculty of Environmental & Symbiotic Sciences. We’re going to have a range of dishes and some English beer. (65 words)