Hi David and everyone,

David, thank you for re-writing our comments. As I said before, it is really useful for all of us(for the writer and readers) to read the comments you have re-written because we can learn from mistakes.

By the way, I watched the video of Susan Boyle's performance on You Tube again, and I read a lot of comments there. When I was reading them, I found an interesting expression and lot of people using it. It's ‘Never judge a book by its cover.’ I'd never met this expression, but I was able to guess the meaning because it was easy to understand. Some people were saying the same thing with another expression like ‘Never judge people by appearance’or ‘Looks are not everything.’ Watching videos on You Tube is fun, but reading comments there is also interesting for me. Well, there are sometimes some nasty comments, though.

Hi May,
Glad to hear you had a nice experience on the train! 素敵な偶然でしたね＾＾

Hi Jazmin, Anne, and the other members of the book club,
I read the chapter one 'The Matthew Effect' today, and I was really surprised by the finding. The finding is very simple, and I understood it well, but it's so unfair!

Have a great weekend, and see you soon.

Tomo

•  Tomo
• 2009年4月25日 00:04

Hi David and Tomo,

As Tomo mentioned, David's comments for our sentences are really helpful. They tell me acquireing normal English expressions is really time-consuming.

But I have to keep learning.

Talking about the expression, ‘Never judge a book by its cover.’, we can read many proverbs on the top page of ALC's 英語学習 content. It shows one proverb every day with Japanese translation.

It's really useful to remember broverbs in English.

See ya,

Gussan

PS
I received your card, David. Thanks.

•  匿名
• 2009年4月25日 04:54

Hi David and everyone,

David, thanks for re-writing member's sentences; it is very helpful for us to learn more natural expressions.
Tomo, I saw this expression often when I was reading comments or some other article relating "Susan Boyle, and one of the judges also used this expression when she answered the interview.
As you said, reading comments is very interesting and useful for us to learn natural English, right?

Hi 'Outliers' book club members,
I've finished reading chapter eight, and there are a lot of interesting things in this book, and what hooked my eyes is "The ethic theory of plane crashes"(chapter seven).
I'd like to share this later .
Jazmin, yes, you are right. This fact is the basic of this book.
Tomo, you finished reading chapter one?

It's raining and a bit cold today around here.

See you later,

Anne

•  Anne
• 2009年4月25日 09:22

Hi David,
Thanks for re-writing our comments. It always helps. I guess it also gave away the fact that I hadn't had the time to read your book carefully... ;-)

•  Lily
• 2009年4月25日 11:16

Hi Lily,

As a matter of interest, that was the only mistake in your whole entry, so I wouldn't worry about it!

•  David
• 2009年4月25日 13:47

Hi David

Thank you re-writing our comments. It helps us a lot.
I have never joined those clubs, so I could not answer your questions.
I enjoyed reading other members’ comments for your questions. I agree with them.
Speaking English with other Japanese is good practice for us.

How is your PhD thesis? Is it going well?
Good luck and hope you finish writing soon!!!

Hi everyone

How are you spending your weekend?
It is raining, so I just stayed home and studying English for my work.
I am going to the movies with my friends tomorrow.
Hope it will be fine tomorrow.

Have a nice weekend!!!

•  amo
• 2009年4月25日 18:48

Hi David and everyone,

David,
thank you for re-writing my comment. Your feedback was useful for me. I've recognized how was important and difficult using the article and preposition, correctly.

Tomo,
I watched the video of Susan Boyle's performance on CNN. She talked and danced merrily in her room. However, I didn't read her words, so I failed to catch "Never judge a book by its cover".
I remembered at the first audition scene when she said her age, 47, three judges were impolite to her.

Hi everyone,
In this trip, I met two kind New Yorker. First woman, she was sitting next seat to me in plane and returning to New York. She lived and worked in Manhattan as a hairdresser since 10 years. She gave me many advices, especially the way from JFK airport to my hotel was helpful. It was sure and quick, about 35 minutes with subway and Long Island Rail Train. Its charge was 12 dollars.

Second woman, in my last night in New York, when I was asking a booth man of subway about next morning train, an American lady was behind me. Then I said, "After you, my question will need a little bit more longer". Surprisingly, she said　to me. I can speak Japanese, I would talk to you more in Japanese. And also she arranged my question with booth man and explained the detail route me on the map in Japanese. I gave her a packed Japanese rice cracker. we exchanged e-mail address, name home address each other. I wrote my name and address in Kanji character for her, amazingly she read correctly all of them. She was retired Japanese language teacher of New York University, and her husband was Japanese. She had lived in Kyoto 10 years.
Nearby my hotel and Empire State Building, we enjoyed chatting and exchanged some information.
My short in New York traveling alone was end luckily.

See you,

Kiyoko

•  Kiyoko
• 2009年4月26日 01:09

Hi David and everyone! It's been a while since I wrote my comment last.

David,
I have your book named 「英語じょうずになる事典」, and I totally enjoy it. I have a question, though. In the book, you said we can't say "Learning English is very fun." because "fun" here is used as a noun. However, I found a sample sentence in the "Longman Advanced American Dictionary": The soccer class is really fun. It also say this "fun" is an adjective. That is, can we say " Learning English is very fun." as well? I'm confused a bit... Would you please help me out?

•  Emi
• 2009年4月26日 02:35

Correction

She had lived in Kyoto 10 years.
→ She has lived in Kyoto for 10 years.

My short in New York traveling alone was end luckily.
→ My short traveling alone in New York ended in luckily.

Kiyoko

•  Kiyoko
• 2009年4月26日 09:42

Hi David and everyone,

It's a windy today!

David, Thank you for correcting our sentences.
It's very useful to realize those mistakes.
Please help us this way sometimes, if you have a time.

Have a nice day!
eeko

•  匿名
• 2009年4月26日 13:40

>Appoh and everyone

I'm sorry for my late reply.

I usually read this blog and coments on the way home in the train with mobile phone, which is useful for reading English but isn't for writing.
That's why, I only read. But I try to comment here sometimes to get chance to use English.

And I couldn't comment on this blog for the other reason.
I sometimes couldn't keep up with your talking because I don't know much about you and others.
So I read many tracks and comments in the past to understand about you;-)

Anyway, thank you for your introducing the young culture about eyeblow in US. As for me, I sometimes trim mine. What should I do in abroad...

By the way, I'm living in Chiba and grow up in Tohoku region. So I know some features of Miyagi prefecture a little and recommend David to live there.

Have a nice day :>

•  yuu
• 2009年4月26日 14:05

Hi David and everyone,

Thank you for your re-writing for us.
It was useful for me.
I need more practice English.
I need to get used to English explanation.
This is because different between English and Japanese.
I was focusing on my mind rather than time.
But as you mentioned, it is natural.
Thank you, David.

Hi Kiyoko,

I'm glad to hear your wonderful experience in New-York and I'm so jealous.
You must have spent a good time in New-York.
Your comment made me smile.
Thank you for sharing your wonderful experience.

Hi Emi,

As long as I remember, How do you do?

I have a book called "英語じょうずになる辞典" too.
It is very useful, isn't it?
Let's have fun in this blog.

Hi Yuu,

Nice to have you in this blog.
I live in Tochigi prefecture.
Let's have fun in this blog.

Hi Anne,

Congratulations opening your blog.
Have you been having fun with your blog?

Hi Maki,

Belatedly, Happy birthday.
You must have spent good time.

Hi everyone,

Needless to say, I want to say something to rest of you all.
But, I can't do it　because of lack of my English skill.
So　I would say、
”May you have a good time while holiday”

Kazu

•  Kazu
• 2009年4月26日 19:16

Hi Emi,

Thanks for your comment. I had a lot of trouble with this when I was writing the book, and I consulted a lot of experts. The general feeling is that 'fun' is really a noun, but through patterns of general usage, it has started to take on some, but not all, of the characteristics of an adjective. For example, using it before a noun to say, for example, 'a fun party' is something that you might hear in spoken English, but it is definitely not 'correct' or standard.

Anyway, the key point for Japanese learners is that one of the adjectival characteristics that 'fun' has not yet taken is the ability to be modified by 'very', so you cannot say that something is 'very fun'. You can say 'really fun' (I think I gave that example in the book), but the question of whether it is an adjective or a noun in that sentence is one that even experts do not agree on.

Hope that helps,

David

•  David
• 2009年4月26日 20:22

Hi David and Everyone,

How's your weekend? We had "snow" here in Hokkaido!! It was not a little and I saw "a white world"! I was a bit surprised, because we usually don't have it in my area in late April. My car had alreay been changed its tires to non-winter ones, so it was scarely to drive. It will disappeare by tomorrow morning.(I hope.;-))

David, thank you for re-writing the sentences! It's really helpful for all of us.

Hi Kazu,
Thanks for your comment! I had a good time on that day, though I was on a business trip.

Hi 'Outliers' book club members,
Maybe I'm only person who bought the book, but haven't started reading it yet...Please forget me.(^^;)

By for now,

Maki

•  Maki
• 2009年4月26日 22:21

Hi Maki(this is first time to name you),

It was so cold and windy today here in Kobe,too that I can imagine you were in "a white world".
It sounds nice, but a bit strange and must be dangerous. I really hope it will be melted by tomorrow morning. Good night!

•  神戸ネコタロー
• 2009年4月26日 22:40

Hi David and everyone,
How was your weekend?
David, thanks for explaining about"fun". It helps a lot to make sure again.

Hi Emi,
It's nice to see your comment here again.

Hi Kazu,
Thanks! I'm doing in my own pace little by little.

Hi Maki,
You had snow in Hokkaido? I hope it will disappear in the morning!

I'd like to share a bit from "outliers".

About ethnic theory of plane crashes
この章では、韓国の航空会社が墜落事故が多いことをPower distance (権力距離)
と関連付けて述べていました。
Power distanceは権力構造（hierarchy）と関係があって弱い立場の者は上の立場の者に
意義を唱えにくい、と言うことです。
パイロットのこの意識が強い国と弱い国。
*High power distance Index countries
1. Brazil 2.South Korea 3.Morocco 4.Mexico 5. Philippines
*Lowest five pilot PDIs countries
15.United States 16. Ireland 17. South Africa 18. Australia 19. New Zealand
If you compare this list to the ranking of plane crashes by country, they match up very closely.

韓国はこの意識が強い国の中に入るわけですが、この文化意識はコックピットの中の緊急事態では、不都合が生じる、と言う事でその後、改革に乗り出し、外国人の乗組員を採用し、従来の意識を取り除き、改革に成功した、というものです。
以下、抜粋しておきます。
When we understand how much culture and history and the world outside of the individual matter to professional success-then we don’t have to throw up our hands in despair at an airline where pilots crash planes into the sides of mountains. We have a way to make successes out of unsuccessful.

文化と成功への道、を結び付けているところが面白いと思いました。(間違えてとらえているかもしれません。あしからず。）

See you soon,

Anne

•  Anne
• 2009年4月27日 00:02

Hi Gussan,
I checked the top page of ALC's 英語学習 and found‘日英ことわざカレンダー’. I didn't know that you can read one proverb every day on the HP of ACL. Thanks for the information!

Hi Anne,
Yes, I think it's useful to read those comments. People usually write their comments in spoken style, so they are something like English subtitles. I like reading them.
By the way, about the book 'outliers', the chapter seven also sounds interesting!

Hi Kiyoko,
"Never judge a book by its cover" is not what Susan said. That's what the people who watched her performance said. If you read some comments or article about Susan Boyle somewhere, I think you can find the saying.
Anyway, thanks for sharing your stories in NY again. You really had a great time there!

Hi Maki,
Don't worry about the book club. I know you are very busy at the moment, so take care of yourself. But, I won't forget you;-)

Hi everyone,
Did you have a good weekend? The weather is changeable these days, so please be careful not to catch a cold!

See you soon,

Tomo

•  Tomo
• 2009年4月27日 01:06

Have you seen the Google logo today? It's in Morse Code!

•  David
• 2009年4月27日 12:13

Hi David,
I just had a look at it. Does it say 'google' in Morse Code? I can't read it!

•  Tomo
• 2009年4月27日 13:13

Hi David,

I also had a look at it now. It's interesting, but I have no idea about Morse Code! Anyway, I guess it says"Google".
Tomo, Good guess,right?

•  Anne
• 2009年4月27日 13:43

Hi Tomo and Anne

Google よりコペパ　”サミュエル・モールスの誕生日”

サミュエル・モールス（1791～1872）
（さみゅえる・もーるす）
もともとはアメリカの画家。大学在学中に電気に興味（きょうみ）を持ったといわれます。38歳のとき、ヨーロッパ留学から帰国する船の上で、モールスは電信（でんしん）のアイデアがひらめきました。当時、通信の方法としては郵便（ゆうびん）が主力でした。電気を使って、もっと早く通信ができないかと考えていたモールスは、符号（ふごう）によって通信文を送ることを思いついたのです。これがモールス符号とよばれ、トン（・）とツー（－）の長短二つの符号を組み合わせて通信文を送るものです。しかも、通信機も簡単にできるため、世界中で使われるようになったのです。日本ではモールスとよばれていますが、英語ではモースと発音します。

eeko

•  eeko
• 2009年4月27日 15:07

Hi eeko,

Thanks for letting us know about Morse Code.
I'm just wondering if there are various versions depending on each language.
ツー．トン．トン．．．．とかなつかしいですね。
It reminds me of the movie "Titanic"; in the movie the staff was sending a Morse code.
By the way,「 ・」might express"e", I guess.

Anne

•  Anne
• 2009年4月27日 17:49

Hi Anne,
やっぱりそうですよね～。　モールス信号だと思って見ないと何が何だか分かりませんが(笑)

Hi eeko,
Thanks for the information!　なるほど～、モールス信号にはそんな背景があったんですね。　いい勉強になりました＾＾

•  Tomo
• 2009年4月27日 17:55

Hi there!
I’ve just finished a translation job, and I’m having a relaxing week right now! So …

David - Thanks! Good luck with your thesis!

Amo - What movie did you see?

Kiyoko – It’s great you had a wonderful time in NY. I’ve never been there, and I’d love to someday! I’m glad you met nice people. You were lucky. But you know what? I think luck comes to people who deserve it. I know you are a very nice lady yourself :-)

Emi – Thanks for bringing up a good question!

Yuu – I know what you mean. You feel like you have to read all the comments before you write. But this place doesn’t really work like that. Don’t worry. You can just drop in whenever you like, right Team?

Maki – I heard on the news that in some areas they had snow and cherry blossoms at the same time! Take care!

神戸ネコタロー – It’s strange to write only your name in Japanese :-) Nice to meet you. I’m from Osaka, and I have relatives in Kobe. Actually, I’m going to Kobe during the Golden Week.

Anne – Your blog is really good. And you update it often. You read many books. You go to movies. I think I should be doing more of those things!

Appoh – I’m looking forward to seeing you at an English group meeting ;-)

Amica – Hawaii sounds great! I’ve never been there, but everyone who went there say it was great. Tell us about all the fun you had in Hawaii without any marine activities ;-)

May - You talked to a foreigner? Good for you! I admire your courage.

That’s about it for now. Talk to you later!

•  Lily
• 2009年4月27日 21:37

Hi David,
I also had a look at the Google logo. It's interesting!

Hi Tomo and Anne,
Click the logo and you can get some informations about Morse. You'll find "International Morse Code" in Wikipedia as well. Anne, your guess is right! 「・」 expresses "e". ;-)

Hi 神戸ネコタローさん and Anne,
When I got up this morning, I opened the curtains slowly and checked the road. No snow at all! I was so relieved. Thanks!

Maki

•  Maki
• 2009年4月27日 22:02

Hi everyone,

Do you have any plan for Golden week?

Hi Lily,

I'm glad to hear that you've finished your translation job.
Please take a rest as you like and have fun in your free time.

By the way, I have some question about English.
Please tell me about it.

From now on, I'll write it in Japanese.

下記に示す会話はインターネット上で話された自然な英会話です。

（子供）　　　　Nice to see you again.
（ネイティブ）　Yeah, you too. How are you?

ここで質問なのですが、今ひとつ you too の使われ方が分かりません？
どうしてここで　 you too （あなたもね）なのでしょうか？
日本人の感覚だと・・・。

　　あなたに再び会えてうれしいです。
　　私もですよ！　

だから me too. になるのでは？と、思ってしまうところです。
どのように理解すればよろしいのでしょうか？
どなたか教えていただけますか？ (^_^;)
よろしくお願いします。m(_ _)m

Kazu

•  Kazu
• 2009年4月27日 22:48

Hi Kazu,
"You too." はどんな文を略しているか考えると分かりやすいと思います。

(It's nice to see) you too.

Hope this helps.

•  Lily
• 2009年4月27日 23:41

Hi David and everyone,

I really appreciate your reply, David. Some of my dictionaries don't have any explanation about the usage of "fun" as an adjective, so I needed to have your idea. Languages are sometimes ambiguious to us, don't you think? We tend to focus on finding the right answer, but sometimes we have trouble doing it because there seems to be a lot of answer looking "the right one."
I feel we need to be flexible when we study a second language... What do you think about it? If we can be like children, we might have no problem with a second language...

•  Emi
• 2009年4月28日 08:53

Hi David and everyone,

Morning! Nice weather, isn't it? Have a good day.

Hi Maki,
Good to hear you can drive safely in Hokkaido now.
I guess the air is so clean after snowing.

Hi Lily,
Yes, it's strange and also troublesome for all of you to type 神戸ネコタロー in your English sentence. When I first came here, I wanted to write my comment in Japanese as I was too lazy to think it in English, however, everytime I visited here, I saw everybody writing in English that encouraged me to follow you. Then, later on, when I tried to do so and typed "Kobenekotaro" in the box, but it was automatically changed to the old one in Japanese.
So, please type "kobenekotaro" or "nekotaro" that would be much easier for all of us.

You are coming to Kobe. I live in the downtown very near to Higashiyama market called "Kobe's kitchen". Have a good time!

nekotaro

•  神戸ネコタロー
• 2009年4月28日 09:59

Hi Lily,
You are right, anyone can just drop in whenever they like, and they don't have to read all the comments. This blog is always open for everyone, you know.
Anyway, glad to hear you are having a nice relaxing week. Take a good rest!

Hi Yuu,
Please feel free to write your comments whenever you like. If you have any questions about us, please feel free to ask;-)

Hi Emi,
“If we can be like children, we might have no problem with a second language..” ←I think so, too! Children are so flexible that they can accept things easily. They are good learners, aren't they?
By the way, actually we talked about the usage of 'fun' when a reader of the book asked a question about it before. If you are interested, please have a look at the entry "Fun"(12/5 2008). I think it's also useful for you:-)

Hi Nekotaro,(This is much easier to type your name!)
It's sunny here as well, but it's a bit chilly today.
ところで、名前が自動的に変わってしまいますか？　おかしいですね。。　今度‘nekotaro’と書いた時にコメント欄の下の「Remember personal info?」のところを「はい」にしてみて下さい。 それでもダメだとちょっと分からないですが･･、I hope it works!

Hi everyone,
My son's teacher is coming to my house today. It's 'kateihoumon', so I'm busy cleaning up my house. I know I don't have to do it, but something makes me feel 'have to'..

See you soon,

Tomo

•  Tomo
• 2009年4月28日 11:44

Hi Lily,

Thank you for your reply to me.
なるほど～　そう考えると理解しやすいですね～
I got it, thank you Lily.

Hi Emi,

Learning English is very difficult but also it is fun.
In a spirit of a flexibility we have to learn it, haven't you?

Hi everyone,

I had my hair cut.
It was nice for me.
It's sunny day, isn't it?

Kazu

•  Kazu
• 2009年4月28日 11:47

Hi Lily,
You are having a relaxing week? That's great. Enjoy the Golden Week!
Thanks for your kind words. That's because I have time to spare for those things at the moment^^;)

Hi Kiyoko,
Thanks again for sharing your experience in New York.
As Lily said, luck comes to people who deserve it.
It was really nice experience, right?

Bye for now,

Anne

•  Anne
• 2009年4月28日 21:08

Hi Tomo,

This is a trial. I typed "nekotaro" and ticked 「はい」 in personal info. I hope it will work. If it works, thanks a lot!

Today, I went to Osaka for a concert of Fuzjko Hemming. Everytime I listened to her playing, I felt her energy more and more.(I totally have no confidence in this sentence. I want to say 演奏を聴く度に、前よりもっと彼女のエネルギーを感じます。Somebody who has extra time, could you pls correct this.)

Good night to everyone!

•  nekotaro
• 2009年4月29日 00:09

Hi Tomo,

This is a trial. I typed "nekotaro" and ticked 「はい」 in personal info. I hope it will work. If it works, thanks a lot!

Today, I went to Osaka for a concert of Fuzjko Hemming. Everytime I listened to her playing, I felt her energy more and more.(I totally have no confidence in this sentence. I want to say 演奏を聴く度に、前よりもっと彼女のエネルギーを感じます。Somebody who has extra time, could you pls correct this.)

Good night to everyone!

•  nekotaro
• 2009年4月29日 00:11

Hi Lily

Good to hear that you finished your job before Golden week, so you can relax during a long holiday.
I watched “Burn After Reading”. It is a sort of crime comedy.
I had a tough week last week, so I needed a movie something like makes me laugh.
That’s why I chose that movie. It was really stupid, but I liked Brad Pitt in it.

Hi Kiyoko
You are really energetic, as I said before!!
I enjoyed reading your story of trip, and it sounds that you had great time.
You met some nice people in there. It’s good memory of travel.
I have never been to New York, and your story makes me want to go there.

•  amo
• 2009年4月29日 00:37

Hi Nekotaro,

You are welcome! I'm glad it worked.
「演奏を聴く度に、前よりもっと彼女のエネルギーを感じます」は難しいですね～。 nekotaroが書いた文もOKなのではないでしょうか。　ただ、聴く度に感じる、ということなので、現在形を使った方がいいかな、と思いました。

・Every time I listen to her playing, I feel her energy more and more.
・Every time I listen to her playing, I feel more energy from her.
・Every time I listen to her playing, I feel her energy becoming stronger.

あとは、the more ～, the more ～　「すればするほどますます…」の形を使って、

・The more time I listen to her playing, the more I feel her energy.　とか。。

いろいろ考えてみましたが、全部自信なしなので、参考意見でお願いします＾＾

Tomo

•  Tomo
• 2009年4月29日 13:19

Hi Tomo,

Thank you for your precious time for me. I liked all of your sentences and my favorite one is "Every time I listen to her playing, I feel more energy from her." This is what I exactly wanted to say. Thanks, once again.

Every time I visit here, I learn more expressions from everybody.
Every time I write in Engllish, I encounter more difficulties.
The more I use English, the more I get used to it.
The more I make mistakes, the more I could improve.

My family has no golden week and spend my time as usual.

nekotaro

•  nekotaro
• 2009年4月29日 15:13

Correction for my last sentence.

My family has no golden week and spend each time as usual.

•  nekotaro
• 2009年4月29日 15:20

re-correction

My family has no golden week and spend our time as usual.

•  nekotaro
• 2009年4月30日 09:10

How are you, David-sensei?
I have a question in relation to 25 auxiliary verbs of 「Eigo zyouzu ninaru Jiten」. When you say "How much do these trousers cost?", I presume that you mean "that pair of trousers" by saying "these trousers". If I want to buy only one pairt of trousers instead of two or more, is it not better to say "that pair of trousers" rather than "these trousers"?

•  Toshi Tatsumi
• 2009年5月19日 13:09

Hi Toshi,

Welcome to the blog! Glad to have you with us.
You posted your comment on this entry, but David doesn't check old entries, so I posted your question on the latest entry. David already answered your question there, so please check it.(You can read the answer if you go to the entry 'Downloading YouTube Clips'(5/18, 2009).)

Look forward to hearing from you again!

Tomo

•  Tomo
• 2009年5月19日 13:40