さまざまな意味を持つ単語 ー 気持ち悪い

気持ち悪い

　The Japanese word 気持ち悪い is usually translated (訳された） as “disgusting” or “gross,” but these are very strong words in English. 気持ち悪い is used very often in daily conversation in Japanese, but “disgusting” is not used so often in English. In English, people only say “disgusting” for things that are very, very 気持ち悪い。 Often the Japanese meaning of 気持ち悪い is closer to “unpleasant,” “awful,” “weird,” or “creepy.” When talking about your own feeling, you can often use “sick.” Here is some information about some different ways to say 気持ち悪い in English.

disgusting – This word is only used when someone has a very, very strong feeling.
例：All the blood and violence (暴力) in the horror movie was disgusting.
例：Many foreigners think that natto is a disgusting food.

gross – Gross is the same meaning as disgusting, but it is a slang word and is popular with younger people.
例：Rotten (腐った) eggs smell gross.
例：When he threw up (吐いた), it was really gross.

awful – “Disgusting” and “gross” are usually used for physical things (物質的), but awful is usually used for situations or ideas.
例：That’s an awful story.

unpleasant - When talking about people or situations, “disgusting” can be very strong, so it’s often better to use “unpleasant.”
例：He has an unpleasant personality (性格).
例：It was an unpleasant conversation.

weird – When talking about people, “disgusting” can be very strong, and the meaning of 気持ち悪い人 is often closer to 変、so it’s better to use “weird.”
例：A weird guy tried to pick me up (ナンパする) at the train station. 例：He told me a weird story about his crazy uncle.

creepy – This word is almost the same as weird, but it is much stronger.
例：He always stares at (見詰める) me. It’s creepy.

Changing leaves (紅葉）

 On Saturday, I went to see the changing leaves at Mt. Takao. It was the height of the autumn colors (紅葉の真っただ中で) and it was really crowded (込んでいる）. They said that there were about 20,000 visitors every day.
 I'm from Canada, and of course (もちろん） we have maple trees there, but I think the Japanese maples are more beautiful. The leaves (葉） are smaller and the reds are more vivid (強い色彩).
 Here are some photos.

Maple leaves

Buddhist statues (仏像）

-Ed

さまざまな意味を持つ単語 ー 認める

　The word 認める has two very different meanings. The first is “admit,” “plead guilty,” or “confess”. These words are used when a person has done something bad.
　The second meaning is “approve,” “allow,” or “agree to” and means that you like something or give permission for something.

Admit  - If you did something bad, and then tell someone what you did, use the word “admit”.
例：He admitted that he made a mistake.
例：He admitted that he stole the money.
例：He admitted that my idea was better than his.

Confess - This word is almost like “admit” but only always used for a crime, a mistake, or a lie, and sounds more serious.
例：He confessed that he had lied. 例：He admitted that he stole the money.
× He confessed that my idea was better than his.

Plead guilty - This phrase is only used in court (裁判所).
例：He pleaded guilty to the crime.

Allow - Use the word allow when you mean that someone gave permission (許可).
例：The boss allowed him to take a vacation.
×　The boss allowed his vacation.

Approve - Approve is almost the same as “allow” but it is used for a noun (名詞), while “allow” is used for verbs (動詞).
例：The boss approved his vacation request(休暇届).
×: The boss allowed his vacation request.

Approve of - You can use “approve of” to say that you like something or think that it is good.
例：I approve of your decision (決定).
×：I approve your decision.

Recognize - Usually, recognize means 認識する (例：I didn’t recognize him because he got a haircut), but it can also mean 認める。
例：I recognize that you are right.
例：The teacher recognized his talent (才能).

Expert Village

I found a really interesting website called Expert Village. It has thousands of how-to videos and it's all free (無料）. You just a choose a topic that you are interested in and you can find lots of videos that teach you how to do it.
There are many different topics, such as health, beauty and fashion, cooking, music, sports and pets. The videos are usually short and easy to understand.
For example (例えば）, this is a screen capture from a yoga video. I think this is a really good way to study English because if you don't understand the words perfectly, you can still understand it because of the video.

Here are some other interesting-looking (面白そうな) videos that I found:
How to bake banana bread　（バナナパンの作り方）:
http://www.expertvillage.com<wbr>/interviews/banana-bread.htm
How to make a White Russian (ホワイト・ルシアンの作り方）:
http://www.expertvillage.com<wbr>/videos/bartending-whiterussian<wbr>.htm
How to use chopsticks as a weapon (箸は武器としての使い方）
http://www.expertvillage.com<wbr>/videos/chopsticks-weapon<wbr>-steel-weapon.htm
How to prepare for a job interview (面接に備える方法）:
http://www.expertvillage.com<wbr>/interviews/job-interview<wbr>-preparing.htm Troubleshooting your printer (プリンターが壊れた場合の裏技）
http://www.expertvillage.com<wbr>/interviews/computer-printers<wbr>.htm


-Ed

The hamster has a name!

Hello everyone,
The hamster naming contest has finally come to an end.
And the winner is.... CHU!!

Thanks to everyone who voted. My hamster is much happier and healthier now that he has a new name.

As promised the winner will recieve a book of her choice from the A to Z Store.

Again, thank you to everyone for your participation.

Derek

さまざまな意味を持つ単語 ー 我慢する

我慢する

Gaman is one of the most difficult Japanese words to say in English. Some of the meanings of the word are really different in English.

Be patient – When someone pressures you (圧力を掛ける) to hurry, you ask the person to “be patient”. Also, if you know a person who doesn’t get angry when people are late or do things slowly, you could also use “patient”.
例：”Please be patient.”
例：”I’m a slow learner, but my teacher is very patient with me.”

Stand・endure – When you are talking about pain or a difficult situation, use the word “stand” or “endure”. “Stand” is more casual than “endure” and “endure” is only used for physical things (E.g. pain and tiredness).
例：”He never stops talking. I can’t stand him.” (×I can’t endure him.)
例：”I’m going to Hawaii because I can’t stand/endure the cold weather in February.”
例：”I couldn’t stand/endure the pain so I took some pain killers (鎮痛剤).”

Hold your temper – In a situation where you want to get angry, but try to remain calm (冷静さを保つ), you can say “hold your temper.”
例：”He was really rude (失礼), but I held my temper.”

Persevere – If someone makes a strong effort for a long time, or if one tries again many times after failing, we sometimes use the word "persevere."
例：”The exam (試験) was difficult, but he persevered and passed it on his third attempt (三度目の試みで).

Stick it out – When you want to talk about continuing in a difficult situation, you can use the phrase “stick it out”.
例： ”My new job is really tough, but I am going to stick it out.”
例： “He wasn’t very good at first, but he stuck it out and became one of the best players on the team.

Halloween in Japan

 I have been in Japan since 1993. When I first came here, no one celebrated (お祝いする） Halloween, but it seems to be becoming a lot more popular (もっと人気になってりうのようだ). The stores sell a lot of Halloween candy and costumes now, and at the shopping mall, I saw kids lining up (並んでいる）to talk to a pumpkin character like they do for Santa Claus at Christmas. We had our Halloween party on Wednesday last week. There were about 20 kids there, and everyone had a lot of fun. This photo shows the kids making a spider web.
The students also listened to a scary story about Halloween.

-Ed