画期的な花見の楽しみ方

 On Saturday, I went to Yoyogi Park for cherry blossom viewing (花見). The cherry blossoms were in full-bloom (満開) and it was a beautiful day.

 There were about 15 people at the party, and it was really fun eating and drinking under the cherry blossoms.

 Just before I left, one of the partygoers (パーティの出席者) showed me a groundbreaking (画期的な）idea for enjoying cherry blossoms - a mirror (鏡). If you have a mirror, you can enjoy the cherry blossoms while you eat, or enjoy the beauty without straining your neck (首を痛めずに楽しめる)!

The 花見鏡 is not his only innovation (革新), however. He also had another, idea, the 花見フレーム. Of course (もちろん), cherry blossoms are beautiful, but wouldn't they be more beautiful with a frame around them?

-Ed

What is an アイドリングストップ?

  I often see signs in Japan that say, "Idling stop." For years, I thought it meant (意味する） that you should idle your car when you stop at a traffic light (交通信号灯).
 It's confusing (分かりにくい) because in English, we say a "short stop" (にちょっと立ち寄る), a "rest stop" (休憩), or a "regular stop" (正常停止). Idling stop sounds like "エンジンをアイドルしながら停止する）.
 Recently (最近）, I found out that アイドリングストップ　means the opposite (反対）. The correct way to say アイドリングストップ is "No idling".

Here are some common signs. Do you know what they mean? The answers are in the comments.
No smoking.
No trespassing.
No parking.
No littering.
No dumping.
No soliciting.

外国人がよく見るウエブサイト － 映画編

  I would like to introduce some of the interesting sites that many English speakers enjoy visiting.  I really like movies, so today I'm going to talk about some good websites for movie fans.

The first one is called Rotten Tomatoes (腐ったトマト)*. It is a famous movie review (映画批評記事) site. It's popular because they collect (集まる）movie reviews from hundreds of critics (評論家）and give the movie a score based on the number of favorable reviews (いい批評の数に基づいて). For example, the recent movie I Am Legend got 68 percent, so 68/100 critics gave it a good review. It's a quick and easy way to find out (調べる） if a movie is good.

Another site is the IMDB, the Intenet Movie Database. If you want to know who is in a movie, they have pictures of all the main actors. For example, this is the cast list for Oceans 13:

I'm really forgetful (忘れっぽい） so I often use it to check when I recognize (認識する） the actor's face, but can't remember his name.

*It's called Rotten Tomatoes because in the past (過去）, people would sometimes throw rotten tomatoes if they didn't enjoy a performance.
-Ed

ネイティブ・スピーカーがよく使うけど日本人が使わない英語ーI don't think

Even very advanced students (上級の生徒でも) often make mistakes with "think". In Japanese, you can say, "あまりよくないと思います”, but the English style is very different. It sounds unnatural (不自然） to say, "I think it's not very good." In English, we say, "I don't think it's very good."

Here are some sentences where it sounds more natural to say, "I don't think." If you need help with vocabulary, there are some hints below (以下）.

a) (私は)パーティに行けないと思います。
b) この答えは正しくないと思います。(1)
c) 明日雨が降らないと思います。
d) 彼は忙しくないと思います。
e) 難しくないと思います。 (2)
f) (それは)利益にならないと思います。 (3)
g) (私達は)だれも雇わなくてもいいと思います。(4)
h) 彼は選挙で勝たないと思います。(5)

Hints:
1. correct
2. difficult
3. be profitable
4. hire
5. win, election

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.

-Ed

英語の映画のタイトルの意味（その１）

On Sunday, I went to see a movie called アメリカを売った男。The English title was "Breach" (セキュリティー違反). My fiance asked me what the title meant, and I realized that nowadays (最近）, most English movies have カタカナ titles, so they might be hard to understand (分かり難い）. For example, my fiance also thought that "the Bourne Ultimatum" meant 最高のボーン because ultimatum (最後通告) is similar to ultimate (最高）.　Actually, it means (ボーンの最後通告）.
 Here are the meanings of some popular movie titles:

Enchanted - 魔法にかけられて
｛まほう｝｛みりょう｝Enchanted 　～を大いに喜ばせる、うっとりさせる、～に魔法をかける、～を魅了する
例：　He was enchanted by the witch's spell.
       魔女の言葉によって彼は魔法をかけられた。
例：　He was enchanted by the model's beauty.
       モデルの美しさに彼は魅了された（うっとりした）。

Vantage Point - バンテージ・ポイント
｛みは｝Vantage Point 見晴らしの利く地点
例：　He climbed up the hill to get a better vantage point.
       彼は見晴らしのいいところを得るために丘を登った。
例：　I couldn't see the parade, so I moved to get a better vantage
       point.
       パレードが見えなかったから、私はより見晴らしのいいところに
       移動した。

The Golden Compass - ライラの冒険 黄金の羅針盤
例：　He used a compass to find North.
       彼は方位磁石を使って、北を見つけた。
例：　We used a compass to navigate in the fog.
       私達は霧の中を方位磁石を使ってナビした。

Elizabeth: The Golden Age - エリザベス：ゴールデン・エイジ
例：　Famous TV shows like "I Love Lucy" were made in the golden
       age of television.
       アイ・ラブ・ルーシーのような有名なテレビ番組はテレビの最盛期に
        作られた。
例：　Many people think that the ancient Greeks lived in a golden
        age.
       たくさんの人たちは古代ギリシア人は最盛期に生きていたと思っ
       ている。

Breach - アメリカを売った男
｛だいきぼ こうりてん｝｛ほうりつ｝｛やくそく｝｛いはん｝｛はき｝｛ふりこう｝Breach 〔法律・約束などに対する〕違反、破棄、不履行、侵害
例：　The company was sued for breach of contract because they
       didn't meet the deadline.
｛けいやく｝｛きょうてい｝       締め切りに間に合わなかったので、その会社は契約違反で訴え
       られた。
例：　The hackers breached the company firewall.
       ハッカー達は会社のファイヤーウオールに忍び込んだ。

Sleuth - スルス
｛たんてい｝Sleuth 探偵、刑事
例：　Sherlock Holmes is a famous sleuth.
       シャーロック・ホームズは有名な探偵だ。
例：　The killer was found by an amateur sleuth.
       殺人は素人の探偵によって発見された。

｛あくりょう｝Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street - スウィーニー・トッド フリート街の悪魔の理髪師
Demon - 悪霊、悪魔
例：　The movie the Exorcist is about a woman with a demon in her
        body.
       エクソシストと言う映画は体の中に悪霊が取り付いた女について
       である。
例：　Hell is full of devils and demons.
       地獄には悪魔と悪霊が一杯いる。

Have you ever seen a movie but didn't understand the title? If you have a question, please leave a comment.

-Ed

What is 花粉症?

花粉症 is called "hayfever" in English. This is the hayfever season, and I think that about one-third (三分の一) of the students at Atoz are suffering from (~に悩まされています) it.
Last week, a tourist asked me why there are so many people wearing masks in Japan. I think he was worried that there was another outbreak of SARS (SARSウイルスの発生). 
People in America and Europe don't usually wear masks, so if you go abroad (海外に行く）, you should probably leave (置いてくる） your masks at home. If you wear one, people might think you have a contagious disease (伝染病)!

Here are some useful phrases you can use to talk about hay fever:
I  have hay fever.
I have a runny nose (鼻水）, itchy (かゆい） eyes, and I sneeze (クシャミをする） a lot.
I'm taking (飲んでいる） hay fever medicine.
My medicine makes me drowsy (眠い）.
There is a lot of pollen (花粉） in the air.
The pollen comes from Japanese cedar (杉） trees.
I'm wearing a mask because I have hay fever.

ネイティブ・スピーカーがよく使うけど日本人が使わない英語ーYou

How do you say, "京都で沢山の神社とお寺が見えます"? Many students say:
We can see a lot of shrines and temples in Kyoto.**

This is not wrong, but native English speakers almost never say it. We usually say:
You can see a lot of shrines and temples in Kyoto.  

 In this sentence, "you" is not あなた. It means 皆さん、 and it's called the "generic you" (一般のyou).

It's very easy to make a mistake when answering questions with "you" in them. For example (例えば）, if someone asks, "How do you turn on the copy machine?" you shouldn't say:
X　I press this green button.
You should say:
○You press this green button.

Here are some sentences using "you". Can you say them in English? If you need help with vocabulary, there are some hints below (以下）.

A) 明日、１０％の割引がもらえる(1).
B) 今日、富士山が見えます。
C) このお店では、お金を節約(2)できる。
D) ホーム・ビジネスで沢山のお金を稼げる(3)。
E) この用紙(4)に記入(5)しなければならない。

Hints:
1. get
2. save  money
3. earn money (with)
4. form
5. fill out

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.

**Some people also say, "One can see a lot of shrines and temples in Kyoto" but this sounds too formal （改まった） for everyday conversation (日常会話）.