Counting the Members of a Family

Counting the Members of a Family

Ann said, "There are five in my family."

[私の家族は５人がいます。]

"Five what?" Jotaro joked, "Mice or monkeys?"

"Five cats," Mari suggested.

Tomohisa gave his opinion, "Witches. There are five witches in Ann's family. They all fly to school on brooms."

"Cool!" Junko was impressed.

Ann pouted. "Five people. There are five people in my family, my grandfather, my parents, and my little brother and me. No witches!"

Mari responded, "My family is five, also -- my big brother and my little sister, my mom, my turtle and me."

[私の家族は５人です。]

Kenji asked, "What about your dad?"

Jotaro was still joking. "He's the turtle."

Mari replied, "I never met my dad. He left after my sister was born."

"Oh. I'm sorry I asked."

"It's okay. My mom says he was a jerk, and we are better off without him."

Jotaro decided to tell about his family. "I have five brothers and two sisters."
[僕は（自分以外）５人男兄弟と二人姉妹が居ます。]

"Wow!" Junko expressed everyone's surprise. "That's eight! There are eight children in your family. Do both your parents live with you, too?"

"Yes. We live with both of my parents. And my mom's parents live with us, too. And we have three dogs and two cats and five hamsters."

"Five hamsters!" Ann was surprised.

"Dad said we have to keep them in separate cages, or we'll have even more."

Kenji was adding things up in his head. "Eight and two is ten. Two grandparents, that's twelve. Three and two and five is ten pets. That makes twenty-two. You live in a family of twenty-two!"

Jotaro grinned. "Dad says it's a family of twelve and a zoo. We are famous for our zoo of twenty-two!"

Tomohisa bragged. "My family is famous for kabuki."

"So, is your father a kabuki actor?" Ann asked.

"No, we just watch it."

Mari quietly said, "My hometown is famous for kabuki."
[私の町は歌舞伎に有名です。]

"Do you have a kabuki theatre?" Tomohisa asked.

"Yes. There is a theater and a kabuki school in my town."

Jotaro asked, "How many people are there in your town? Is it a big town?"

"My town has a population of 25,000."
[私の町の人口は25000人です。(twenty-five thousand)]

Ann asked, "How many schools are there in your town?"

"There are four regular schools in our town, one high school, one middle school, and two elementary schools," Mari replied.

[私の町には４つ学校があります。]

"Middle school?" Junko asked.

"Junior high school," Tomohisa suggested.

"Well, last year, the new school building was completed," Mari explained. "They changed the name from South Junior High School to Mars Middle School."
[昨年新校舎が完成しました。]

"Did they just change the name?"

"No. They moved the ninth grade to the high school, and they moved the sixth grades from the elementary schools to the middle school."
[小学校が五年制度になって、高校が四年制度になって学年が移動する。]

"How many students moved?" asked Junko.

"Eighty-seven freshmen and eighty-three sixth graders."
[9th grader => freshman （中学校三年生が四年制度高校の一年生になる）]

Kenji asked, "Does your school have volunteer activities?"

"It does," Mari replied, "but I don't usually join them. How about you?"

Kenji replied, "I participated in volunteer activities last Sunday. There were five students, including me."
[先週の日曜日にボランティアに参加しました。]
 
"What kind?" asked Jotaro.

"I helped feed animals at the local zoo."

"Do you do that every week?" asked Ann.

"Almost every Sunday."

Tomihisa said, "I usually don't get involved, but I joined in on the park cleaning project last Saturday. It was fun. There were forty people, including students."

Junko changed the subject. "I have three tickets to the movie. Who wants to join me?"
[映画のティケットが３枚あります。]

"Only three?" Ann asked. "We can't all go."

Jotaro dug in his pocket. "Here are three more movie tickets!"

"Great! That's six. There are six of us. Let's all go!" said Mari.