HAVEは以外に役に立つな単語

Sorry for not writing anything last week! I was really busy at work.

Today's topic is "have." It's a very easy word, and means います or あります, but it can be difficult, because there are a lot of ways to use "have" that don't match with the Japanese (日本語の言い方と違う使い方があります）.

Can you say these sentences in English? All of them use "has." The answers are in the comments.
1. 彼は茶色い髪をしています。
2. 昼ご飯を食べました。
3. 授業を受けました。
4. パーティーを開くつもりです。
5. 私たちはチェスをしました。
6. シャワーを浴びました。
7. 猫を飼っています。
8. 奥さんは子供を生みました。
9. 手術を受けました。
10. 事故に遭いました。
11. 風邪をひいています。
12. 楽しみました。
13. 口喧嘩をした。


By the way, there are two new reading exercises on our chunk reading page: http://www.english-live.com/chunk/chunk.html

危険な英語の間違えのベスト１０ （その4）

Usually, mistakes are not serious (真剣). If you forget (忘れる) “a” or “the” people will be able to understand you, or if you say “Go to shopping” instead of (変わりに) “go shopping” (買い物は場所ではないから”to”は使えない), people will still understand your meaning. But some mistakes can be very dangerous.

This series is about the most dangerous mistakes in English. These are mistakes that could cause a serious misunderstanding (重大な誤解の原因になる). Here’s number 4:

How do you say, 「上司は転勤になると言った。」Many people make a mistake and say, "My boss said I'm going to be transferred." But who is going to be transferred? The boss? Or the speaker? In this case, it's the boss, so we should say, "My boss said he's going to be transferred."

The most important thing to remember is that when you're explaining what someone else said, you should always use "he" or "she."

One other difficult case is with "you." How would you say, 「上司は私がクビになると言った。」If you say, "My boss said you're going to be fired" the listener might he or she is going to be fired.

Can you say these sentences in English? If you write your answers in the comments of this blog, I will check them. このブログのコメントに答えを書いてくれたら、チェックします。） You don't have to use your real name　and more than one ｐerson (二人以上） can do it.

1. 上司が私にABCプロジェクトを担当して欲しいと言いました。
2. 上司がABCプロジェクトを担当しますと言いました。
3. 上司があなたにABCプロジェクトを担当して欲しいと言いました。
4. お医者さんがあなたは妊娠していますと言いました。
5. お医者さんが私は妊娠していると言いました。
6. お医者さんがあなたは妊娠していると言いました。
7. お兄さんは自分自身に対して怒っていると言いました。
8. お兄さんは私に対して怒っていると言いました。
9. お兄さんはあなたに対して怒っていると言いました。

東京はカナダより寒い？

This week I was talking to a student who used to live in Hokkaido. I told her that I feel colder in Tokyo than I did in Canada. She said that she understood my feeling, and she is colder in Tokyo than she was in Hokkaido.

Of course, the temperature (温度）is much colder in Canada and Hokkaido, but the buildings and lifestyles (生活）are very different. My house in Canada had very good insulation (断熱材), double-pane windows (二重窓), and central heating (セントラルヒーティング). We used the car much more, so I didn't have to go out in the cold so much.

Sometimes I think I should go to Hokkaido or Canada for the winter so I can be warm!

Here are some phrases you can use for discussing the temperature. Can you say them in English?  If you write your answers in the comments of this blog, I will check them. このブログのコメントに答えを書いてくれたら、チェックします。） You don't have to use your real name　and more than one ｐerson (二人以上） can do it.

There are vocabulary hints below the quiz.

1.      今日の温度はー5度です。
2.      家に断熱材を入れてから暖房費が下がりました。
3.      体感温度によると今日の温度はー20度でした。
4.      加熱炉がないので客部屋にストーブを使います。
5.      室温は２０度です。
6.      温度がー40度になるとカ氏と摂氏が同じになる。
7.      温度計によると温度はー2度です。
8.      温度自動調節器を下げてくれますか。

1.    temperature
2.    insulation, heating bills
3.    wind chill factor
4.    furnace, space heater
5.    room temperature
6.    Celsius, Fahrenheit
7.    thermometer
8.    thermostat

How do you say 成人式 in English?

On Monday, on my way to the station, I saw a lot of young people wearing beautiful kimonos. I guess they were coming home from the Coming of Age Day Ceremony (成人式). We don't have any events like this in Canada.I thought it was very interesting, and the kimono were beautiful.

Today, I'd like to study some expressions for talking about age. The first one is "in his/her XXs." If you want to say, 「彼女は１０代です」, you can say, "She's in her teens." To say ～代前半、なかば、or 後半, just add "early" "middle" or "late. E.g. She's in her late 20s.

Another good expression is 「turn ～」. For example, 「妹は今年２０になった」is "My younger sister turned 20 this year."

20才未満 is "a minor." E.g. "He can't drink because he's still a minor."

Here are some photos I took:

I was so impressed by the creative fashions I saw!

異文化 － Christmas and New Year's

Recently (最近), I have been talking to my students about Christmas and New Year's. I noticed (気づく) that there are a lot of small differences:

In Japan, Christmas is a romantic holiday, but in Canada, it is a family holiday. I never went on a Christmas date when I was in Canada. Also, many restaurants and hotels are closed, so there are no dinner shows. We are happy to spend time with our family on Christmas.

Most Japanese people celebrate (お祝いする）Christmas Eve more than Christmas Day. In Canada, my family didn't do anything special on Christmas Eve - no special dinner, no presents, no nothing. The only thing we did was go for a drive and look at Christmas lights. We exchanged (交換する） presents and ate dinner on Christmas day.

Also, chicken is not a Christmas food in Canada. We eat turkey (七面鳥）, and we don't go to Kentucky Fried Chicken (ケンタッキー）.

Adults get Christmas presents in Canada. I still look forward (楽しみにする) to getting a nice present from my parents and some relatives (親戚)!

New Year's is the opposite (反対）of Christmas in Canada. It is a time to go out and drink with your friends. Many people look forward to (楽しみにする）drinking champagne and having a romantic kiss at midnight on New Year's Eve　（大晦日）. We usually spend New Year's day recovering (回復する） from a hangover (二日酔い）!

Many Japanese people clean the house for New Year's. In Canada, it's a time for relaxing, so we don't think about cleaning. We do "spring cleaning" instead (代わりに）. After the long, cold winter, we need to clean the house and let in some fresh air.

Happy Holidays!

読解・リスニング・イントネーションの練習

We added some new content (新しいコンテンツ） to our homepage. It's called "Natural Intonation Reading." They are recordings of short talks and are spoken very slowly and clearly (ゆっくりではっきり話した）.

You can use them for listening, reading, or intonation practice. The narrator will speak them line by line (一行一行で話す）, and you can repeat with them, or just listen.

They have English transcriptions (英語字幕） and you can turn off the Japanese translations of the English text if you want to practice listening. Please check them out!

http://www.english-live.com/chunk/chunk.html

危険な英語の間違えのベスト１０ （その5）

Usually, mistakes are not serious (真剣). If you forget (忘れる) “a” or “the” people will be able to understand you, or if you say “Go to shopping” instead of (変わりに) “go shopping” (買い物は場所ではないから”to”は使えない), people will still understand your meaning. But some mistakes can be very dangerous.

This series is about the most dangerous mistakes in English. These are mistakes that could cause a serious misunderstanding (重大な誤解の原因になる). Here’s number 5:

Even really high-level student (上級の生徒）make mistakes with "by" and "until." Sometimes, it can really change the meaning (意味が全然変わる場合もある).
例：
I'll be home by 6:00. (６時までに家に帰ります。）
I'll be home until 6:00. (６時まで家にいます。）

Just remember that "until" is 「まで」 and "by" is 「までに」.

Here are some sentences using "until" and "by." Can you write them in English?

1. ９時まで働かなければなりません。
2. あなたは試験結果を３月１日までに受けとります。
3. 彼はあしたまでに決めます。
4. 彼女は日曜日まで泊まります。
5. 私達は終わるまで残業します。
6. 彼らは今晩までには帰ります。
7. 土曜日までは始められません。
8. あなたは明日までには終えられません。
9. 彼は給料日までそれを買えません。
10. 彼女は体重を減らすまでそれを着られない。
11. ３月３１日までには払えません。
12. 彼らはあしたまでには来られません。

If you write your answers in the comments of this blog, I will check
them. このブログのコメントに答えを書いてくれたら、チェック
します。） You don't have to use your real name　and more than one
ｐerson (二人以上） can do it.

Junkudo Book Sale, Autumn Leaves

Did you enjoy the long weekend? I had a great time. On Saturday, I went to Junkudo to buy some English books. Did you know they're having a 50 percent off sale (半額セール） until the end of November? All the English books are half price! http://www.junkudo.co.jp/081008shinjuku.html
After Junkudo, we were wandering around (ぶらぶらする）, and came across (見かけた) this autumn festival.

I thought this festival was wonderful (素晴らしい）. Children's entertainment can be really expensive in Japan, but the kids looked as happy as if they were at Disneyland.



We went to the Naritasan Temple on Sunday. The autumn leaves were beautiful.

A maple tree reflected (反射された) in the water.

The autumn leaves were at their peak in Chiba.

A five-story pagoda (五重塔)

A procession of priests (行進).

カレセン, 汚染米, and 名ばかり管理職 in English

I often read an English blog about pop culture called "Pink Tentacle." This week, it had an interesting post (投稿）about the 2008 Yukan list of 60 New and Popular Words (2008年ユーキャン新語・流行語大賞の候補語60語).

Here's the English blog post:
http://www.pinktentacle.com/2008/11/top-60-popular-japanese-words-phrases-of-2008/
Here's the original Japanese:
http://singo.jiyu.co.jp/

Here are some of the interesting words and how to say them in English
.
日本語　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　  　　 英語
ゲリラ豪雨                                    Guerrilla rainstorm
おバカキャラ                                 Dumb characters
オワンクラゲ                                 Crystal Jellyfish
婚活                                            Marriage hunting
言うよね                                      You say?
カレセン                                        A taste for middle-aged men
蟹工船                                         The Crab Cannery Ship
源氏物語千年紀                           Millennial Anniversary of the
                                                    Tale of Genji
あなたとは違うんです                    I'm different from you.
名ばかり管理職                            Manager in name only
後期高齢者                                  Late stage elderly
汚染米／事故米                           Tainted rice
毒入りギョーザ              　             Poison gyoza
ゲリラ豪雨                                    Guerrilla rainstorm
姫電                                             Princess phones
私もあなたの作品の一つです     　 I am one of your works
これでいいのだ                         　 It's all good.
おなごの道は一本道                  　A woman's life is like walking
にございます。                          　 on along, one-way path.
屁の突っ張りでもないですから      It was nothing.
再発防止検討委員会         　　 　  Recurrence prevention
                                                  committee
霞ヶ関埋蔵金               　　    　　  Kasumigaseki's buried treasure
ねじれ国会                　　　 　　　   Diet gridlock
暫定税率                　　　　　　　    Temporary tax
燃料サーチャージ   　  　　 　         Fuel surcharge
一斉休漁               　 　　　  　       Fisherman strikes
ささやき女将                                Whispering matron
糖質ゼロ                                      Zero carbohydrates
ゆとり世代                                   Relaxed generation
脱ゆとり教育                               Unrelaxed education

危険な英語の間違えのベスト１０ （その6）

Usually, mistakes are not serious (真剣). If you forget (忘れる) “a” or “the” people will be able to understand you, or if you say “Go to shopping” instead of (変わりに) “go shopping” (買い物は場所ではないから”to”は使えない), people will still understand your meaning. But some mistakes can be very dangerous.

This series is about the most dangerous mistakes in English. These are mistakes that could cause a serious misunderstanding (重大な誤解の原因になる). Here’s number 6:

What do these three sentences mean?
1. Only I like you.
2. I only like you.
3. I like only you.

Number one means, "あなたが好きな人は私だけです". Number two means, "あなたが好きだけど愛していない". Number three means "あなただけが好き". As you can see (ご覧の通り), the position (位置) of words can be very important. You should put the word as near to the word it is modifying as possible. (修飾語は修飾したい単語の近くに置きましょう。)
Here are some other examples:
1. I bought a gold ladies' watch.
2. I understood what he said easily.
3. We almost ate all of the pizza.
4. The car was reported stolen by my wife.
5. At the age of seven, her mother died.
6. He was diagnosed by the doctor with a mental illness.
7. He ate the food he had cooked slowly.
8. My friend said on Monday he will go to Osaka.

１．金の女の時計を買いました。
２．彼が簡単に言ったことを理解しました。
３．全部のピザをもう少しで食べました。
４．車が私の奥さんに盗まれたと報告されました。
５．彼女のお母さんが7歳で死んでしまいました。
６．神経病があるお医者さんに診断されました。
７．彼がゆっくり作った食事を食べました。
８．月曜日に友達が大阪に行くと言いました。
又は　友達が月曜日に大阪に行くと言いました。

Can you fix （直す）these sentences? If you write them correctly and leave them in the comments, I will check them.