貸してください～！

vocab review:

Lend ----> "I forgot my umbrella. Can you lend me yours?"
Borrow --> "I borrowed two books from the library."
Rent-----> "Let's rent  a DVD from Tsutaya tonight.

Lend is　貸す. You can lend your friend some money.
Borrow is 借りる. You can borrow a pencil from a friend, or borrow books from the library.
Rent is... paying to borrow something. Like a DVD or a car. 

Past tense:　
lend　・　 lent
borrow　・　borrowed
rent　・　rented

Do not confuse the meanings of borrow and rent.                                                
Please DO NOT confuse your R and L on this. You cannot pronounce Lent and Rent the same.

Book Review: Stories for Young Readers

title: Stories for Young Readers (1 and 2)
rating: ★★★★★

These are the best books ever! Stories For Young Readers, Books 1 and 2. I'll use them for upper elementary kids, junior high, and beginner adults. Despite their appearance (rather boring covers) they're practically perfect.
Each chapter has a simple story, usually about teenagers, followed by various questions, quizzes, and games, which focus on grammar and vocabulary. Some of the stories are downright bizarre. For example, the amusing story about the girl who puts fish in her shoes. These are not your average junior high text books, so they can keep the interest of teenage students.
Also the illustrations are great. The books include both American and British English (and young people from around the world). The English used is casual, correct, and up to date- the opposite of most school text books. Useful!　Yah～

Book Review: "日本人のちょっとヘンな英語"

title: 日本人のちょっとヘンな英語
rating: ★★☆☆☆

     Easy, fun to read English education books are becoming more popular- and that's great. I'm all for "fun and easy." Several of them incorporate manga or helpful illustrations. However, a great many of these books focus too much on being easy or cute, and end up straying from the real target- learning a language.  "日本人のちょっとヘンな英語", although entertaining, often sacrifices quality English education for humor or shocking English tidbits. Unfortunately, lot of the content is not so useful and even confusing.

     Although amusing, many of the phrases author David Sane* includes are not actually common mistakes that Japanese people make. After teaching English for seven years, I am familiar with the typical mistakes and weird things that Japanese people say when speaking English. Most of Sane's "ヘン" English would not normally come up in conversation.

For example:
"I like street walking." (p.17)
"Did you go all the way with Keiko?" (p.23)
"I don't know how to dump." (p.24)

     Okay, so now we know that "street walking" refers to prostitution, "going all the way," means having sex, and "taking a dump" means pooping. Haha. Very funny. But I've never heard Japanese people make these mistakes and form these sentences like the hapless characters in the manga.  Toilet humor is great (especially if you're a ten year old boy,) but it isn't so necessary in this type of book. The book can be fun without sex and poo.

   This book also has a few mistakes.
*For example, p.110 says, "There's a department nearby," is correct English.  But native speakers never say "department." It is always department store. Department just means "部門."
*Instead of "Do you have a paper?"(p.40), you should say "Do you have a piece/sheet of paper?" Paper is non-countable! Some paper is okay. A paper is not okay.
*And...Sane translates "beautiful" into "色っぽい." He says beautiful has a "セクシー ニュアンス." (p75) This is wrong. Beautiful does NOT mean sexy. "You look beautiful," is perfectly acceptable to say on a date or to one's wife.

     Finally, some advice in this book is just plain wrong. One example is the totally bizarre conversation on page 141-142. Next Sunday and this Sunday, often mean the same in English.  If it is Tuesday, I can say "See you next Sunday," or "See you this Sunday." Same thing- 今度の日曜日。来週の日曜日is usually another phrase such as "Sunday, two weeks from now."The book actually reinforces a common (and troublesome) misunderstanding.
Another example is: You're welcome. The books says it is a "高飛車" phrase. It is not 高飛車! Native speakers often say "No problem," in casual conversation, but "You're welcome" is okay too.

     Overall...This book does not seem like it was written by an American person. The type of humor, the illustrations, and the situations seem very Japanese. And in order to learn a language, it is important to fully immerse yourself, not only in grammar and vocabulary, but also culture. Even the American-born author's name is in Katakana! It is sad that many books on English are filled with typical Japanese characters, humor, and things familiar with Japanese people. We do not need more books dealing with umeboshi, hanami, and overbearing bosses. How about something new and challenging? Something not so familiar. Also, once again the stereotype that foreign people are obsessed with samurai is reinforced. Instead of showing accurate representations of foreign people, we are only given a caricature- a joke.

     Now that I've torn this book apart, I'd like to mention that it does have a few redeeming points. I did give it two stars after all, not one. Some of the phrases are useful. For example page 47 explains that "claim" and "complain," are not the same. Students often say "claim," when they mean "complain."  And "It's hot today," is much better than "Today's hot," which is weird (p.110).

     I do not recommend this book. It is a quick and easy read, and perhaps amusing to some. But overall, it is not very helpful and might end up causing confusion. There are much better books out there. 


*Unfortunately, I could not find his name written in English- only Katakana. So I am unsure of the spelling.

アザ？

Many Japanese people say, "I have black eyes."

A black eye is what happens when someone punches you in the eye. In a fight. Most Japanese people have brown eyes- light brown or dark brown. My eyes are blue. My mother's eyes are green. But humans don't have "black" eyes. So if you say "I have black eyes," it's strange. 

In English, most Japanese eyes are brown. ^-^

What is a menu?

What is a menu?

menu- a list of food that is available at a restaurant

That's it.

I've heard "menu" used in strange ways in Japan. It's the paper (or booklet or board) in a restaurant that lists the food/drinks they have.
If your friend cooks you dinner, you do not say "What's the menu?" That's kind of rude, actually. Your friend is not a restaurant, and you should not be asking for a menu with things to choose from!

Two more BAD example (because there is no choice or list):
"My husband cooked last night. The menu was curry and salad."
"What is the menu today at school?"

(Menu is not 献立!)






*There is also the "drop down menu" on the computer screen. It's a list of things to choose from on the computer.

Making a school!

Innocence Plus is coming soon. ～yah! The school will be completed next month and ready to open in October. Just in time for Halloween. Woo～！

http://www.innocence-plus.com/

Any questions about the school? Any questions about English? Ask me!

Phobias!

fear 恐怖
afraid おそれる・こわがる
phobia　恐怖症

I have a fear of spiders.
I am afraid of spiders.
I have arachnophobia.

All of these sentences mean that spiders scare me. However, arachnophobia is more serious. People with arachnophobia might scream, panic, sweat, or have heart problems if they are near spiders. Even seeing a picture of a spider might make them nervous.

In English, normally we say "I'm afraid of　～."
And we can ask other people "Are you afraid of  ～?"

Phobias are more extreme. They are mental disorders. The names of phobias usually come from Greek. So, in Greek "arachne," means spider, and "phobia," means fear. There are many many phobias. Some commonly known ones are:

Agorophobia- fear of public places or open spaces
Claustrophobia- fear of small spaces or being closed in
Mysophobia- fear of germs or dirt
Acrophobia- fear of heights
Zoophobia- fear of animals

For many of them (such as zoophobia, sociophobia, philophobia, frigophobia, etc), we don't need to know Greek to understand the meaning. We know other English words with the same Greek roots- Zoo, zoology, society, sociology, philanthropy, philosophy, refrigerator, frigid, etc. So it is easy to figure out the meaning!  For example, "frigophobia," means...fear of being cold. Lots of English words come from Greek.

So, what are you afraid of? Do you have any phobias?
I'm afraid of heights and spiders, but I don't think I have any phobias.

Another blog?!

Check this out:

http://innocence-plus.blogspot.jp/

for updates on the school, and English stuff (explained mostly in Japanese).

Watch out! (see, watch, look at)

I saw a painting in the museum.
I watched a baseball game.

Do you understand the difference? Many students say "I watched a painting." or "I watched some nice scenery from my window."But it is better to use saw or looked at. Because the painting and the scenery are not moving.

I'm watching a baseball game.

I'm watching the children play.

I'm watching the cars go by.

Baseball players, children, and cars-- All of these things involve movement- usually living things. Also, "watching," implies that we give it our attention for a while (not just a few seconds). Watch is active!!

however...

I saw a pretty dress in the shop window.

I saw a lot of peach trees in Fukushima. 

They are not moving. They are not even alive.


But...be careful!! Some examples:
 "I saw my friend at the mall." is okay. Yes, she was moving, but you didn't really give her much attention or "watch" her, the way you would a baseball game.

"I watched my girlfriend sleep." No, she's not moving a lot, but she is alive and breathing. And you are giving her your attention.

For movies, see and watch are both okay! "I saw a movie." or "I watched a movie."
"I saw a play." "I saw my classmate." are also okay.

~~~~~~~~~

Now...how about "see" and "look at?"

I saw a beautiful painting. 

I looked at a beautiful painting. 

Both are correct. But look at is a conscious effort, that often takes some time. When my eyes are open, I see everything in front of me. There is no effort. But when I look at something, I study or think about it, and take some time. Usually, I look at things that are interesting or fascinating.

I saw a lot of food in the grocery store. (It wasn't very interesting. I didn't need to study it.)

I looked at the roses in the garden. (They were beautiful, so I took some time to "look at" them.)

~~~~~~~~~~

Finally, "see" is often used to mean "visit."

I saw my mom last weekend. 

I'm going to see my aunt tomorrow. 

Must you?

To explain that something is necessary, we don't use "must" very much. Usually, we say "have to." And we say "have to," a lot. It is very common. In fact, I probably say it everyday.

Examples:
I have to go to the store for vegetables and milk.
I have to wake up early tomorrow.
I have to do my homework by Friday.
I had to write a report last week.

Although it is not very conversational, "must" is sometimes used for written rules. Sometimes you can see "must" in manuals or signs.

Examples:
Workers must wear a helmet.
Students must not use cell phones in class. 
You must be at work by 9:00am every morning.

However!! We do use must to mean that we believe something is true.

Examples:
You worked 10 hours today?! You must be tired.
That jacket is leather. It must be expensive.
It's hot outside. You must be thirsty.


Any questions?