Have you ever heard of Lang-8? It's a free website, where you can write a diary (日記）and native speakers will check your English. All the members write diaries in their native language and then check other people's diaries in their own native languages.
I think this is a really great site, because I know there are many times when I want a native speaker to check my Japanese!
Here is a sample of an original diary:
Here is the corrected (修正された） version:
It's easy to sign up because you can choose to do everything in Japanese. Just select "Japanese" where it says "Interface" at the top right. (右上に「Interfaceの欄で”Japanese"を選択してください。） Here is the URL: http://lang-8.com/home.
I think this is a really great site, because I know there are many times when I want a native speaker to check my Japanese!
Here is a sample of an original diary:
Here is the corrected (修正された） version:
It's easy to sign up because you can choose to do everything in Japanese. Just select "Japanese" where it says "Interface" at the top right. (右上に「Interfaceの欄で”Japanese"を選択してください。） Here is the URL: http://lang-8.com/home.
I often see shops that say "renewal open" in Japan. I can understand the meaning, but actually (実は）"renewal" means 更新 in English. You can say, "I renewed my driver's license," (運転免許書を更新しました）but you can't say, "I renewed my house." The word "reform" also has a different meaning in English. It means "改革." You can say, "The government will reform the tax system" (政府が税制改革をするよていです), but you can't say, "I reformed my house."
There are two words for リニューアル or リフォーム in English. One is "remodel" and the other is "renovate." The meaning is almost the same, but they are used a little differently.
"Remodel" is usually for interiors. For example, you could say, "I remodeled my living room." (リビングを改装しました。）Usually remodeling is changing the wallpaper or buying new furniture, but there is not so much construction (工事）.
"Renovate" can be used for both interiors and exteriors, but it is usually a bigger project and means that there was some construction. For example, "Our company is renovating the factory." (私たちは工場の修復しています。）
Here are some sentences using "renovate," "renew," and "remodel." Can you say them in English?
1. このダムが古くなったので修復が必要です。
2. 私は壁紙の色が飽きたので寝室を改装しようと思っています。
3. 旅する前にパスポートを更新しなければなりません。
4. 家を建て直すか修復するかまだ決めっていません。
5. 来月は賃貸契約(lease)を更新しなければなりません。
6. リビングがインテリア・デザイナーによって改装されました。
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 (2人以上） can do it.
There are two words for リニューアル or リフォーム in English. One is "remodel" and the other is "renovate." The meaning is almost the same, but they are used a little differently.
"Remodel" is usually for interiors. For example, you could say, "I remodeled my living room." (リビングを改装しました。）Usually remodeling is changing the wallpaper or buying new furniture, but there is not so much construction (工事）.
"Renovate" can be used for both interiors and exteriors, but it is usually a bigger project and means that there was some construction. For example, "Our company is renovating the factory." (私たちは工場の修復しています。）
Here are some sentences using "renovate," "renew," and "remodel." Can you say them in English?
1. このダムが古くなったので修復が必要です。
2. 私は壁紙の色が飽きたので寝室を改装しようと思っています。
3. 旅する前にパスポートを更新しなければなりません。
4. 家を建て直すか修復するかまだ決めっていません。
5. 来月は賃貸契約(lease)を更新しなければなりません。
6. リビングがインテリア・デザイナーによって改装されました。
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 (2人以上） can do it.
Last weekend I went to the beautiful Yumenoshima Tropical Greenhouse Dome (夢の島熱帯植物館). It has tropical plants from rainforests (熱帯雨林） and the Ogasawara Islands, and a carnivorous plant (食虫植物) room.
Here are some pictures:
Here's a quiz on some common English flower names. The answers are in the comments.
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 3:
Many Japanese people make English mistakes with the words 以内 and 以上. How many people is 二人以上? It's not "more than two people." It's "Two people or more." In English "more than two people" means "三人以上."
Similarly (同様に), 二人以内 is not "fewer than two people." It's "two people or fewer."
When you are talking about time, you should use "within" or "or more." If you say, "less than an hour," it means "５９分以内," so you should say, "within an hour." If you say, "more than five seconds," it means ４秒以上, so you should say, "five seconds or more." (アバウトに話す時、"more than"は大丈夫です。例えば："This work will take more than an hour."は正しいです。）
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 (１人以上） can do it.
1. 5名以上のチケットを購入されると２割引になります。
2. １時間以内に終わると思います。
3. 大阪に１０年以上住んでいます。
4. エキスプレスのレジは１０品以内のみ。
5. １００メーターを１２秒以内で走れる。
6. ２０００円分以上お買上げで送料は無料になります。
7. １０日間以内の支払いをお願いします。
8. ビルの建設は１年以上掛かりました。
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 3:
Many Japanese people make English mistakes with the words 以内 and 以上. How many people is 二人以上? It's not "more than two people." It's "Two people or more." In English "more than two people" means "三人以上."
Similarly (同様に), 二人以内 is not "fewer than two people." It's "two people or fewer."
When you are talking about time, you should use "within" or "or more." If you say, "less than an hour," it means "５９分以内," so you should say, "within an hour." If you say, "more than five seconds," it means ４秒以上, so you should say, "five seconds or more." (アバウトに話す時、"more than"は大丈夫です。例えば："This work will take more than an hour."は正しいです。）
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 (１人以上） can do it.
1. 5名以上のチケットを購入されると２割引になります。
2. １時間以内に終わると思います。
3. 大阪に１０年以上住んでいます。
4. エキスプレスのレジは１０品以内のみ。
5. １００メーターを１２秒以内で走れる。
6. ２０００円分以上お買上げで送料は無料になります。
7. １０日間以内の支払いをお願いします。
8. ビルの建設は１年以上掛かりました。
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。
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!
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
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
Yesterday, I went to Shibamata in Katsushika ward. It's about 20 minutes by bicycle from my house, and I often go there to take pictures. I love the beautiful woodcarvings (木彫り) on the temples and the 下町 atmosphere (雰囲気) is really nice.
Many people translate (翻訳する） 下町 as "downtown," but this can be confusing (分かりにくい) to foreigners. When people in Europe or North America hear the word "downtown" they think of 中心街 like Ginza or Shinjuku. I think the best way to say 下町 is "traditional Japanese neighborhood" or "old-fashioned downtown area."
Here are some pictures of Shibamata:
-Ed
Many people translate (翻訳する） 下町 as "downtown," but this can be confusing (分かりにくい) to foreigners. When people in Europe or North America hear the word "downtown" they think of 中心街 like Ginza or Shinjuku. I think the best way to say 下町 is "traditional Japanese neighborhood" or "old-fashioned downtown area."
Here are some pictures of Shibamata:
-Ed