夏の祝日「海の日」、全国の海がにぎわう

Welcome to Japanese Daily News. I'm Maya. Today is July twenty-second. This week started with a national holiday in Japan — Marine Day, a day to thank the sea. Let's listen.

Now let's break it down, sentence by sentence.

July twentieth was a Japanese national holiday, Marine Day. It's a day to give thanks for the blessings of the sea.

It means a national holiday.

Japan is an island country surrounded by the sea. Counting the small ones, it has about fourteen thousand islands.

It means an island country.

Marine Day is the third Monday of July every year. This year it made a three-day weekend starting on Saturday.

It means consecutive holidays — a long weekend.

During the long weekend, swimming beaches across the country were bustling with families and many other people.

It means a swimming beach.

But this summer is very hot, and on Marine Day too, many places had extremely hot days of thirty-five degrees Celsius or more.

It means an extremely hot day — thirty-five degrees or higher.

At the sea, you also need to watch out for rip currents — fast flows that move from the shore out to the open water. If you get caught in one, swim parallel to the shore.

It means a flow or a current.

Let's listen to the whole story one more time.

Time for a short quiz. Listen and try to answer.

It's a day to give thanks for the blessings of the sea.

The third Monday of July.

Swim parallel to the shore, not against the current.

That's all for today. This Monday, Japan celebrated Marine Day, a holiday for giving thanks to the sea. Over the three-day weekend, beaches across the island country were full of families — and with days over thirty-five degrees, remember to drink water and watch out for rip currents. Thanks for listening, and see you tomorrow.