Japanese People and their Pets

Hi Team,

Thanks for all the comments about the corrections. Like I said, I am in "grammar mode" at the moment, so it comes very naturally! I spent the whole day weekend working again, but I was able to get a lot done, so it was worth it. As you know, I'm off to Vietnam next Sunday, so I have to get as much done as possible before I go.

It's interesting when I read the comments to notice that a lot of you are picking up English from each other, and some of you are also trying to used expressions and words that we have talked about before. This is a very good way of improving your English, so it's nice to see that people are noticing things.

Anyway, this week's topic is based on an article I read in the Japan Times the other week...

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"Well" and the Past Perfect Tense (corrections)

Hi team,

Thanks for all your comments. I have spent another whole day today trying to finish the new version of the A-Z of Common English Errors. I have been working on this so much over the last few weeks that I find it really difficult to think about anything else! Wherever I am and whatever I am doing, I find myself thinking about English grammar. I will be glad when the book is done and I can take a break. Mind you, I know that as soon as the book is done, I will be reading it and finding things that I want to change. Oh well, I guess that is the job I have chosen.

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"Well" and the Past Perfect Tense

Hi Team,

Did you have a nice weekend? I am living a very strange life at the moment. I spend all day every day thinking about example sentences and explanations of English grammar, so those are the only things I can write about this week.

Actually, "well" and the past perfect tense are quite interesting topics for me. The past perfect tense is one that I have written about many times, but I have never really been happy with my explanations. Last night, I had a new idea about how to explain it while I was in the bath! I'm still working on the Japanese version, but here is the English. What do you think? Some of it is the same as 英語じょうずになる辞典, but a lot of it is new.

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It's finished!

Hi team,

Thanks for your feedback on my explanation of "seem." I will be putting that in the new version of the errors dictionary.

I had some good news yesterday. I found out that my thesis was approved by the university's research committee on Monday, so I am now 応用言語学博士, and I can write Dr. David Barker on my books. It feels really nice to have finished, but I can't really celebrate at the moment because I am so busy trying to get the new books ready for April. Once they are finished, however, I will be truly free for the first time in four years!

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Seminar and "Seem"

Hi Team,

Thanks for your comments. Shall we set May 15th as the date for the seminar? That will give you plenty of time to save up money to buy my birthday present :-)

This week, I have been working on the English version of the errors dictionary, and I have also been writing something about errors for the magazine English Journal. Do you remember that we talked a few weeks ago about "seem"? Well, I realized today that there is more to it than I wrote when I explained it to you before, and I want to get some feedback on the revised version.

If you don't mind, please have a look at the new explanation and tell me (a) if you can understand it, (b) if it is interesting, and (c) if you think there is anything I have missed. (PS If anyone would like to translate this, be my guest!)

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Divorce Parties (2)

Hi team,

As I told you on the last entry, I finished writing the English version of the errors dictionary last night, but unfortunately, that is only the first stage of the process. Next, I have to go through all the suggestions made by the editor, rewrite the text, and then make all of those changes to the Japanese version as well. At the same time, I am trying to write an article for the English Journal, and we are in the middle of the exam period at Nanzan. I have 70 test papers sitting on my desk waiting to be checked right now! It's going to be a very busy few weeks for me from now until the middle of February.

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Divorce Parties?

Hi Team,

Thanks for your questions and comments. Here are the corrections of the mistakes I listed on Friday.

I always feel sorry for their staffs. (I always feel sorry for their staff.)

Some people said that these informations were no use. (Some people said that this information was no use.)

It was very difficult to find the shop which had a restroom. (...a shop which had a restroom.)

My family also enjoyed. (My family also had a good time.)

If he thought that I was wet, I was very shame. (If he thought that I had wet myself, I would have been very embarrassed.)

I would like to help you as possible as I can. (I would like to help you as much as possible.)

You have a tough time in the bus, hadn't you? (You had a tough time on the bus, didn't you.)

I had tough time in the bus, but I could stand because the driver was very kind. (...but I was able to stand it because...)

I believe that your happening... (I believe that what happened to you...)

This is similar feeling with Johnny's concert. (...a similar feeling to...)

I mistook as you said. (As you said, I made a mistake.)

Even I was born in Japan, I feel the same way of David. (Even though I was born in Japan, I feel the same as David.)

There were a few other questions over the weekend, so here are my answers to them.

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I know! (2)

Hi Team,

Tomo, I'm very sorry to hear about the death of your father-in-law. I'm sure you are going to be very busy for the next few days, but I hope we will have you back with us again soon.

Actually, this made me think of a good topic for the blog, which is "things that you should say when..." For example, when someone's relative dies, it is normal to say "Sorry to hear about your..." but I guess that a lot of learners do not know that expression. If there are any other situations you would like to ask about, please write them on here and I (or one of the regulars) will tell you what you should say in English.

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I know!

Hi team,

Thanks for your help with "seem." I feel more confident about putting it in the new version of the book now. By the way, I will be asking for volunteers to help me check the new book around the end of January/beginning of February, so I hope that some of you will be available. (Many of the explanations and examples have been re-wrtten, and there are sixteen new points.)

This week's topic comes from a day I spent with a friend in Hokkaido last year. We went for a drive around the Shakotan peninsula, and we started talking about how many signs there are in Japan for things that are blindingly obvious. For example, we saw a sign saying 危険。立ち入り禁止 by a fence that had a 100-metre drop on the other side of it! When we were driving home, there was a sign on the expressway that said 雨注意. What is the point of signs like this? Do the people who make them think that drivers might not notice that it is raining, or do they think that people do not know that you need to drive more carefully in the wet?

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Seem

Hi team,

I managed to get back to Seto safely yesterday, but it was a very cold ride on the expressway from Osaka to Nagoya. There was quite a lot of snow on the mountains, and I was worried that the road might be frozen, but it turned out to be okay.

I didn't take many pictures while I was in Kyushu because it was so cold that I didn't want to get off my bike and take my gloves off. I took a few on the first day while I was riding down the coast from Miyazaki, though, and you can have a look at them on my Flickr page.

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