Strange Japanese English skills

I guess this article is maybe amusing and amazing for almost all the native English speakers. :-)

There are a lot of funny things which I found out when I studied by myself at home.
Of course, the articles, which I've already posted on this blog, are funny English, too. :D
Most of the Japanese who have just started studying English often make such the following.

Take a look if you have time.

• A is a native English speaker.
  
• B is a funny(?) Japanese who likes studying English.
  

A: Don't you like studying English ?
B: No ! I like it.
A: (confusing...Which one is right ???? )

B should say : "Yes, I do" or "Yes, I like it."



Where are you from [originally] ? - about someone's origin

wrong: Where did you come from ?
correct: Where do you come from ?



wrong: She asked a difficult question to me.
correct: She asked a difficult question of me. / She asked me a difficult question.



wrong: Open the door of the bathroom.
correct: Open the door to the bathroom.



wrong: The metal got red and hot, but (it) didn't get heavy.
correct: The metal turned red and hot, but (it) didn't get heavy.

Difficult ! - Articles

Today I was studying English, especially about "articles(a, an, the)" almost all the day.

It's difficult for most Japanese to understand about articles and plurals perfectly. Because there's no part of speech called "article" in Japanese.

Studying about "articles" seems basic, but it's very important to write and speak English, I think.

I'm always afraid of making mistakes in English expression.

I'm tired...... Could I have a drink of beer ? :D

headache

I have a terrible headache... The reason is that I studied English too much today, I guess.
So, I decided to go to bed earlier than usual. Wow ! I just found out I didn't post my English diary yet today.

I must post it soon !!! Oops! I've already posted it... :-)

See you tomorrow. (^o^)/^^^^^^^

A Dusty Factory

August 13th, 2005

We cleaned up our factory, which recycle chemical fiber, yesterday. We usually do it before long holidays.



Look at this picture. There were so much dust in the factory. My brother was on the top of the one, which the forklift uplifted. He was picking up the dust by using an air compressor. He's really a good duster. :D

After the cleaning, we had to dispose of about 1 ton garbage. (1 ton = 1000kg)

Now we are on summer holiday. I'm going to my wife's family home with her and our children to have dinner with my parents-in-law. It's not far. It takes 15 minutes by car. So, she can always come back her family home easily. I must not anger her. ha-ha.

Summer Holiday !!!

August 12th, 2005

Summer holidays are coming soon !!!
I'm going to take 9 days for it. There are so many things to do.

I'm going to some interesting places with my family and brush up my English skill !!!

What ? "You had better take rests after a spell of hard work !"

Yes !! I'll brush up my English skill to relax. :D
I can always make myself comfortable when I take to English.

But we have to clean our dusty factory before that....(ToT)


(ToT) : This is a popular face mark in Japan. It looks tearing.

Scary Piano School ?

My daughter, who is 4 years old, usually take a piano lesson on Monday evening. She actually likes playing the piano.

My wife asked me,
"The piano school, which our daughter attend, allows us to borrow an electronic organ for a few days. What do you think ?".

I replied,
"That's free, isn't it ? Of course that's OK. But be careful about sales talk after that. I'm worried that the school staff pressures us to buy it.".

Don't make light of the world..... :-)

Bon festival Dance

August 8th, 2005

We participated in a Bon festival dance yesterday.
In Japan, Bon festival dance is held everywhere in this time of year.
It is celebrated as a reminder of the gratefulness we should feel toward our ancestors.

Bon festival dance is called Bon Odori in Japanese.

You can have a look some pictures of it here.


My daughter went to the dance with her Yukata. Yukata is a type of Japanese clothing. We especially wear them at firework festivals and other summer festivals. It's similar to kimono. But kimono is a type of traditional Japanese clothing. Yukata is not. It's a type of casual clothing.



You can have a look some pictures of Yukata here.

The Japanese chess(SYOGI) competition

August 6th, 2005

There was a competition in Osaka, Japan. It's the competition of Japanese chess for kids(elementary school students). And now, Japanese chess is called "SYOGI" in Japanese.

My eldest son is very good at SYOGI. He's exactly stronger than me. Also, he's sometimes stronger than his grandpa. His grandpa(my father) is absolutely stronger than me.

In the competition, he did his best...But, he wasn't able to qualify in the trials. He had to win three games to qualify. He won twice... He almost qualify...
However, I'm glad even though he didn't qualify. I'm happy that he had a great experience.



There was a trouble in the competition. It's a lightning damage by summer thunderstorm... Black out, air conditioner not working... It's too hot... But I had no problem. Because I always work in "THE OVER 40 DEGREES CELSIUS FACTORY". :-p


After the competition, we had great dinner. :D
He and I had a lot of beef. The cooking style is called "YAKINIKU" in Japan. It's similar to barbecue. YAKINIKU isn't Japanese cooking style. It's really Korean cooking style.
We had too much beef.... The cost of dinner is about 20 thousands yen ! (about $200) Is that too much for 1 adult and 1 kid ? We have to go on a diet. ha-ha.

Why are there many pictures ?

August 6th, 2005

On my blog, there are many pictures.

Why ?

The answer is very simple. I can't write any long English articles because of I'm not good at English.
However, I'd like to explain my experiences as much as possible. I can explain them easily by using pictures. I guess all visitors can imagine what I mean, even if my English is not correct,

If I would be good at English, I would write so long articles on this blog.

There're some interesting and amusing things to do today.
Let me introduce them later. Bye for now !

Delicious Crabs

August 3rd, 2005

I had a great time on dinner tonight.

My friend who I met on the Internet presented some delicious crabs. He's really a great sushi chef.

My family had a great time. My daughter likes a lot crabs. She was very happy to eat them.

Also I drank with such delicious crabs.

Sorry, I'm on a drunk a little.... :-)