ハロウィーンの単語と写真

Last Sunday I went to the Halloween Parade in Kawasaki. It was a lot of fun and the costumes were incredible (素晴らしい). I was really surprised that Halloween has become so popular (人気). When I came to Japan in 1993, very few people were interested in Halloween, but things have really changed.

Here's a little quiz about Halloween words. Can you match the English and Japanese words?

The answers are in the comments.

Here are some of my photos from the parade:

How do you say 紅葉 in English?

Actually (実は), there are a lot of ways to say 紅葉:
autumn/fall leaves
autumn/fall colors
changing leaves

Can you say these sentences in English?
1. 日曜日に紅葉を見に行きました。
2. 今年の紅葉はすごく綺麗です。
3. 東京では紅葉が１１月の月末頃に変わる。
4. 紅葉を見たかったら、京都がお勧めです。
5. モミジやイロハモミジ、又銀杏やトチノキを見ることが出来ます。***
6. 明後日頃が紅葉のピークになります。
7. 紅葉を見るためにハイキングに行きました。
8. 葉っぱは全部落ちました。
***モミジ＝maple,イロハモミジ=Japanese Maple, 銀杏=gingko, トチノキ=Japanese horse chestnut

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. 

Here are some beautiful fall photos I found on a photo-sharing site called Flickr. To see more of each person's photos, click on the link.


http://www.flickr.com/photos/ming_chai/


http://www.flickr.com/photos/pilou/


http://www.flickr.com/photos/7294954@N02/


http://www.flickr.com/photos/duanemoore/


http://www.flickr.com/photos/sindrisvan/

危険な英語の間違えのベスト１０ （その７）

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 7:

Everybody knows that you should be careful when using カタカナ words, but there are some that can be really dangerous. They can be really confusing or cause a serious misunderstanding (重大な誤解).
What do the following sentences mean?
1. I bought a new ワンピース.
2. I drive an RV.
3. My brother is a カメラマン.
4. He's very ナイーブ.
5. I bought a new パーカー.
6. I used the クーラー yesterday.
7. We need to リフォーム our business.
8. I have a クレーム.
9. He's a ネイティブ.
10. We ate some シュークリーム.
11. I bought a new ストーブ.
12. I live in a マンション.

Here are what native speakers hear:
1. 新しいワンピースの水着を買いました。
2. キャンピングカーがあります。
3. お兄さんはテレビ・カメラマンです。
4. 彼は騙されやすい人だ。
5. 新しいフード付き防寒着を買いました。
6. 昨日はクーラーボックスを使いました。
7. 弊社は改革が必要です。
8. 主張があります。
9. 彼は先住民です。
10. 靴クリームを食べました。
11. 新しいコンロを買いました。
12. 大豪邸に住んでいます。

Here are the correct sentences:
1. I bought a new dress.
2. I drive an SUV.
3. My brother is a photographer.
4. He's very pure-hearted.
5. I bought a new hoodie.
6. I used the air-conditioner yesterday.
7. We need to renovate our business.
8. I have a complaint.
9. He's a native speaker.
10. We ate some cream puffs.
11. I bought a new space heater.
12. I live in an apartment.

聞き取り能力を向上させる方法 - Improving Your Listening Ability

A few months ago, I wrote about a site called Breaking News English. It's very good for people who want to listen to the news and it's free (無料）.


Recently (最近）, I found another really good website for listening. It's called ello.org. It has lots of conversations and interviews so you can listen to everyday (日常） English. It's really natural, but not so difficult.  There are a lot of different topics, such as families, food, dating, and travel, and it's all free. The best thing is that every conversation has a transcript ( 原稿）.

Here's the URL: http://www.elllo.org/

危険な英語の間違えのベスト１０ （その8）

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 8:

In English, "go home" and "get home" have very different meanings. One time my wife got angry because I told her, "I'm going to go home around 7:00." She thought I was going to arrive home (家に着く） at 7:00, and she was waiting for me for one hour. Actually (実は） "go home" means "家に向かう," so "I'm going to go home around 7:00" means ７時ぐらい会社を出て、家に向かいます。 If you want to say, "７時に家に帰る" you should say, "I'm going to get home around 7:00.

"Go to" and "Get to" are also important in other situations (状況）. For example "Go to the park" and "Get to the park" are very different in meaning (意味がかなり違う）. "I went to the park at 8:00." means "８時に公園に向かった。" but "I got to the park at 8:00." means "８時に公園に着いた。”.

Here are some sentences using "go to" and "get to".　Can you say them in English?

1. 何時に家に帰りますか（職場を出る）。
2. 何時に家に帰りますか（家に着く）。
3. 家に帰ったら電話します。
4. 今日は疲れたので早く家に帰りたいです。
5. 奥さんは私より早く帰ります。
6. 係長はいつも私より早く帰ります。
7. 普段は８時に仕事に行く。
8. 普段は９時に職場に着く。

 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.