Infinitive

July 17th, 2006

Sometimes simple questions bother me...

I found out a strange sentence for me in my dictionary when I was looking up the meaning of the word "be willing to". According to the dictionary, it means "prepared to do something, or having no reason to not want to do it". I can understand what it means, but had a little bit strange feeling after looking at the part, "to not want to do it".
In Japan, most English language teachers teach the children of their nation that the negation of "to infinitive(to不定詞 futeishi)" should be written down as "not to do". That's why I felt a little bit strange feeling at that time. After that, I searched out the correct usage of the negation with some search engines on the net - such as Google and Yahoo!, and realized that the form of "to not do" is correct in many cases and the Japanese education is wrong.
I'm so lucky because I could make sense of the correct English grammar thanks to my English-English dictionary.

| English study |

A new package for Skype

◆ ノバック、「どこでもTV for Skype」発売
http://japan.cnet.com/news/tech/story/0,2000056025,20164007,00.htm
(CNET Japan)

Last week one of my acquaintances, who studies English at the same English school as mine and whose English is much better than mine even though whose age is on the wrong side of 60, asked me if there are good applications to watch Japan's TV programs from other countries.

Actually, one of his relatives lives in Australia and wants to watch our country's TV programs, because she misses Japan. He sometimes send some VHS-format videos to her by airmail, but he said that the way looks old-fashioned. I think so, too. :)
So he has tried some "Remote Desktop Applications" before, but he has never done well from what I know of it.

This week a new excellent software for Skype, which was developed based on "Voice over IP" technology and which is one of the most famous and popular Internet tools in the world as you know, has just been unveiled. It's called "どこでもTVパック for Skype", literally translated into English as "Everywhere TV package for Skype" maybe.

Let me tell him about that later. :D

| web |

Persistence pays off

July 14th, 2006

I restarted studying English last April, so one year and a few months passed already. Some teachers sometimes tell me my skills become much better. I'm so glad to hear that, of course. But that might be kind of flattery(お世辞 oseji). Can I say "Flattery will get you nowhere." ? Anyway, I received the compliments directly at that time. :)

And now, I'd like to introduce a Japanese proverb today. It's "継続は力なり(keizoku wa chikara nali)", literally translating to "Continuation is power." According to some web sites, it means in English like this - "Persistence pays off. So don't give up. Just keep trying."
I'm already on the wrong side of 40; however, I'll keep going as much as possible.

By the way, I don't understand why the phrase "on the wrong side of" means "over". I'll ask my teacher the question tomorrow...

P.S.
Let me indicate new words in bold letters from now on, which I'd like to memorize.

| Japanese proverb |

Too Delicious BEER!

July 12th, 2006

It's been too hot and humid in my factory even though it's still the rainy season as of today. The temperature in my factory is usually over 40 degree Celsius after the rainy season, though.
Anyway, I broke a lot of sweat yesterday, so I got exhausted from working. It was so hot and humid that I almost melted away(down?) yesterday. :(
On the other hand, there're no more delicious drinks than a cold beer in such a season. In fact, on a day like this, I would do anything for a cold beer. That's why I can work hard even when it's too hot and humid in my factory. :)
However, I'll have to watch out for my weight, because I get fat every summer due to such a refreshing beer. I couldn't be alive without BEERRRRRRRRR!

The meanings of "plow7010"

July 10th, 2006

I've never mentioned the reason my handle(network nick name) is "plow7010". Let me introduce it to you today, but it has sort of sad meanings.

My handle in Japan is "Prowler7010". I know the word "Prowler" has a bad meaning, but the name derives from my favorite rock band "IRON MAIDEN". "Prowler" is the first song title of their debut album, so I decided to name myself it then. But one of my English teachers recommended me to change it because of the bad meaning. He told me that it means a kind of "stalker". But I've used the name on the Internet for a long time, therefore, it's difficult for me to change it. I came up with an idea at that time. I decided to continue using it on domestic networks. and change it into another one on global network. :)
Actually, my ancestors were farmers and would often plow a field for rice. For me, the word "plow" looked sort of similar to "Prowler" at that time. So I named myself "plow" as one of my handles. And also I try to plow my brains every time(whenever) [I'm] studying English. :)

And now, the part "7010" has two meaning. Actually.... my second son, whose name is "Naoto(直斗 なおと)", was a Down syndrome child and had a congenital heart defect. He passed away on July 10th 1997, when he was 11 months old.
July is the 7th month as you know. So "7010" means "July 10th". Plus in Japan "7" is pronounced as "nana", "0" - "oh", "10" - "tou". Do you understand what I want to say? "nana"+"oh"+"tou" is nearly equal to "Naoto". I'm not kidding. I named myself the name "7010" in order not to forget him.

Cool Slideshows!

July 9th, 2006

I've just found out a cool web service thanks to one of my American friends. It's RockYou.com.
You can embed some slideshows easily in your blogs, web sites and so on as below. Amusing! :)



| web |

Apples, grass and Tanabata

July 7th, 2006

About one year has already passed since I resumed my English study and started posting articles in English on my blog space. I'm not sure if I could improve my skills on those ways. Actually, these days any English idiom sounds interesting to me. It might be a proof that I cound improve my skills. :)

And now, an American guy often visit my blog and post some comments on it, who showed me an interesting idiom, which was "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree". After that I found out an idiom with the word "apples" when I was browsing my dictionary.
The saying with "apples":
"The apples on the other side of the wall are the sweetest."

I came a Japanese idiom into my head at that time, which is "隣の芝は青い(となりのしばはあおい tonali no siba wa aoi)". If I translate it literally, it means that your neighbor's grass always looks greener than yours. Those idioms have the same meaning as far as I consider. I think that they mean "The stuff which another person have always looks better than yours."

After a while, I dug up another English idiom at the time when I was browsing the Internet without any special purpose. It's "The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence." Wow! This phrase is completely the same as the Japanese one I wrote down above! Amazing! What a coincidence! I'm so lucky to find out it!
But.... my neighbor's wife doesn't look more beautiful than mine. Mum's the word. :p

By the way, it's 七夕(たなばた tanabata) today in Japan. If you wanna know about it, I recommend you to access the following web page.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanabata

| Japanese idiom | English idiom |

Somewhat similar words

July 6th, 2006

Some of English words which have somewhat similar meanings sometimes bother me.

For example:
able, capable
ability, capability
exactly, definitely
way, method

I usually google with those words and "違い(ちがい chigai means difference)" - such as "able capable 違い". But I'm not able to get the details once in a while even though "google" is the most killer application of search engines. Actually I bought an "English-English dictionary" recently for my study. The dictionary is really excellent! It has an extra CD-ROM, in which includes an excellent application, in addition to a printed dictionary. I know it's more effective for my study to use printed dictionaries than to use electronic dictionaries. But I often use my electronic English-Japanese dictionary because of my short temper. I'll use my new printed English-English one from now on as much as possible. I expect to improve my English skill by that way(method?). I suppose I'll be able to understand the details of the difference among the words whose meaning I don't figure out exactly.



| English study |

Like father, like son

July 5th, 2006

Yesterday I posted the good result of my eldest son's English test. After that I found out an English idiom, "Like father, like son."
Sounds nice! My eldest son got a good score on his English test, and also I'm good at speaking English.... No, no.. I'm not so good at it. I can speak it after a fashion. :)

There are some similar idioms in Japan. They are "蛙の子は蛙(かえるのこは、かえる kaeru no ko wa kaeru)" and "この親にして、この子あり(このおやにして、このこあり kono oya nisite konoko ali)", which mean that any behavior of children tends to resemble the one of their parents maybe.

I'm so lucky! I've just been able to study the idiom thanks to my eldest son! Thank you, son! :) Anyway let me keep teaching him English even though my English skill is awful. (^o^) In addition, I have to study harder not to lose to him in English study. He's sort of my rival from now on.

By the way, I saw another English idiom on an email newsletter, "put one's foot down". According to my dictionary, the idiom has 2 meaning. One of them is "speed up", and the other one is "refuse firmly".
I guess my wife's mother must be stubborn, because she always puts her foot down about anything I want to do and insists on her strict opinion. Like mother, like daughter. :)

| Japanese idiom | English idiom |

Perfect Score

July 4th, 2006

My eldest son brought back the results of the term-end tests which he took last week for the first time at junior high school. Most of the results are over the averages, but only the score of Japanese was under the average of it. I don't usually care about the scores, because from my point of view, the process of studying is more important for children than its result. However, I was so glad to look at the result of his English test.

He got a PERFECT SCORE!!!
(100 points)

It was really excellent as his teacher wrote down. I was so wired that I couldn't fall asleep easily last night. (^_^:)

I praised him and expressed my pleasure with all English phrases I knew.

For instance:
You did it!
Excellent!
Good job!
You made my day!
I couldn't be happier!

I absolutely think that he is my son. Actually, I had been worried that he might not be my son sometimes. haha. Just kidding. :)