東京根津のエートゥーゼット英語学校講師ブログ

根津にあるエートゥーゼット英語学校講師によるブログ。英会話上達のポイント、日常のことなど気ままに綴ります。

危険な英語の間違えのベスト10

2008-08-22 15:01:26 | 過ちから学びましょう
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 10:
 
How do you say 昨日、ハイキングに行くつもりだったけど雨が降った?
Many people say, “Yesterday, I went hiking, but it rained.” That means “昨日ハイキングに行ったけど雨が降った。” The person might think that you went hiking in the rain!

If you want to say that you changed your plans (予定を変更した), you should use the 過去進行系. Say "I was going to go hiking, but it rained."
 
Try translating the sentences below into English. There are some
vocabulary hints below. 以下の文書を英語に訳してください。以下にヒントがあります。

私はイタリアにいく予定だった。しかし私はチケットをとることができなかった。
彼は彼の友達と会う予定だった。しかし彼は残業しなければならなかった。
彼女は運転する予定だった。しかし彼女は彼女の車の鍵を見つけることができなかった。
彼らは犬を買う予定だった。しかし彼らの家はあまりにも小さかった。
私達は野球をする予定だった。しかし雨が降った。
私は仕事を辞める予定だった。しかし給料が上がった。
彼は映画を見る予定だった。しかしチケットは売り切れていた。
彼女は早く起きる予定だった。しかし彼女は目覚まし時計を設定するのを忘れた。
私達はケーキを焼く予定だった。しかし私達は小麦粉がなかった。
彼らはHoliday Innに泊まる予定だった。しかし彼らは予約できなかった。
 
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 (二人以上) can do it.  
 
Hints:
Quit (辞める), pay raise (賃上げ), sold out (売り切れ), wake up (目が覚める), set the alarm clock (目覚まし時計を設定する), flour (小麦粉)

趣味を楽しみながら外国人の友達を作りましょう

2008-08-19 12:42:51 | ウエブサイト


 I love taking photos, so last year, I joined a photography club. There are some Japanese members in the club, and I think it's a really good way for them to practice their English and make new friends.

 Recently, I found a great website called Meetup.com. It's a list of clubs all over the world, and there are 92 different clubs in Tokyo. I was really surprised at the clubs:

Wine Tasting  (ワインティスティング)
TOEFL iBT Meetup  (TOEFLの勉強)
Tokyo Afternoon Tea Meetup (アフターヌーン・ティー)
Tokyo Beer Meetup (ビール)
Tokyo DJ & Club Music Meetup(djアンドクラブ音楽)
Tokyo English as a Second Language Meetup (英会話)
Tokyo Good Books and Good Food (本と食べ物)
Tokyo Movie Lovers Meetup Group (映画)
The Tokyo Pizza Lovers Meetup  (ピザ)

There are many more, as well! It's free, and I think it would be a really good way to meet friends from other countries. In most of the clubs, about half the members seem to be non-Japanese. There are also clubs in many other Japanese cities.

The URL for the Tokyo section is:
http://www.meetup.com/cities/jp/tokyo/groups/

Olympics Quiz 2

2008-08-13 19:18:24 | ボキャビュレリ
Are you enjoying your obon holidays? I'm taking the night bus to Takayama tonight, and then I'm going to visit Shirakawa-go.

Here's part two of the Olympic quiz. Today's words are all related to gymnastics. Can you say them in Japanese? The answers are in the comments.

All-around
Floor exercise
Pommel horse
Rings
Vault
Parallel bars
Horizontal bar
Vault
Uneven bars
Balance beam
Floor exercise

Olympics Quiz 1

2008-08-10 22:49:41 | ボキャビュレリ
Are you watching the Olympics? The Opening Ceremony ( 開 会式) was very impressive (印象的), wasn't it? Most of the names of the sports in the Olympics are the same in Japanese in English, but there are some that are different. Here's a little quiz. Can you say the names of these sports in Japanese? The answers are in the comments section.

triple jump
track and field
shot put
hammer throw
long jump
gymnastics
high jump
equestrian
pole vault
discus throw
modern pentathlon
javelin throw
decathlon
rhythmic gymnastics

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Do you know (2)

2008-08-07 22:17:10 | より自然な英語
A few weeks ago, I talked about using "Do you know..." and "Could you tell me..." to make your questions sound softer (柔らかく聞こえるために). That pattern is just for "wh" questions (who, what, where, why, when, how). Today, I'd like to talk about "yes/no" questions.
Imagine you want to know if someone is coming to a party. One way is to say, "Is Bob coming to the party?" (ボブさんはパーティーに参加する予定ですか。) But a more polite way is to ask, "Do you know if Bob is coming to the party?" (ボブさんはパーティに参加する予定か知っていますか。)
Last time, we studied how to use the answer to make the question(答えを使って質問を作る方法). Today is the same. Here are some examples:
1. Q. Does Mark like Japanese food?
A. Yes, Mark likes Japanese food.
→Do you know if Mark likes Japanese food?
2. Q. Is Mr. Suzuki in the office today?
A. Yes, Mr. Suzuki is in the office today.
→Could you tell me if Mr. Suzuki is in the office today?

Here are some practice sentences. Use "Do you know..." or "Could you tell me..." to make them softer.

1. Is there a post office near here?
2. Can Chris speak Japanese?
3. Is smoking prohibited (禁止)here?
4. Has Susan ever been to China?
5. Is Mr. James available (都合がよい)on Thursday?
6. Is it possible to make a reservation online?
7. Will Fred be able to attend (さんかする)the meeting?
8. Does Ms. Wilson have experience with sales?

If you write the answers in the comments, I will check them for you.

Five-color sunsets (五色の夕焼け)

2008-08-04 15:34:50 | 講師たちの生活
  I just got back from my trip to Greece (ギリシア). Greece is a wonderful (素晴らしい)country with delicious food and friendly people, but the best thing about it is the sunsets (夕焼け).

 I've seen a lot of beautiful sunsets in Canada, Japan, and other countries, but they can't compare (比べられない)with Greece.

 This is the island of Santorini in the Aegean Sea (エーゲ海). Many people say it has the most beautiful sunsets in the world, and I agree (賛成する)!


 The most impressive (印象的な) thing is that you can see five colors in the sun.

There are many beautiful old churches (教会) on the island. It's nice to watch a sunset sitting near these beautiful old buildings.

This is the old town of Napflio. We saw a really mysterious (不思議な) sunset here with strange shadows (日陰) in the sky.


Here's a translation quiz (翻訳クイズ).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. 夕焼けは何時かを知っていますか。
2. 太陽は五色に見えました。
3. ギリシアの夕焼けはどうでしたか。
4. 太陽は西に沈む。
5. 夕焼けは空を真っ赤にさせた。
6. ギリシアに行ったら是非夕焼けを見てください。
7. サントリーニでは世界で一番きれいな夕焼けが見えます。
8. こんなにきれいな夕焼けは見たことがない。