デビッド・バーカーの英語と仲直りブログ：スペースアルク

2009年5月29日

Masks - Corrections

Hi team,

I'm glad you enjoyed the discussion about masks, but I'm afraid you haven't changed my mind. If masks were really so effective, there would be fewer people catching colds in Japan than in my country, but if anything, I thing the opposite is true. I actually used to wear one sometimes when I was younger and I worked on farms if I was in a particularly dusty place, but I don't think I could wear one anywhere else, except maybe a hospital. Amica, you said that you have to wear one to protect your throat because you are a singer, but there are lots of singers in my country too, and I have never seen any of them wearing a mask!

Anyway, here is some feedback on your comments.

Did they say the same thing as me?' in your entry. I suppose the sentence, 'Did they say the same thing as I do?'
("as I do" would be regarded as more "correct" by some people, but in spoken English, "as me would be much more common.)

but I think that people, include me of course, should wear them when we have the flu, because it's useful not to give it to other people.
(but I think that people, including me of course, should wear them when we have the flu because it protects other people)

I have never had discussions with Westerners about masks, but I have heard somewhere that the things like you had read.
(I have heard similar arguments to the ones you read)

I've never thought it as you said,"Westerners associate masks with thieves and robbers." It's interesting!
("Westerners associate masks with thieves and robbers" - I've never thought about that before. )

I saw photos that a lot of people were wearing masks in the news
(I saw photos of a lot of people wearing masks in the newspaper/on the news.)

So I wonder if the mask is useful or not.
(It made me wonder whether masks are really effective or not.)

because most of western people might have image of me who is a thief!
(most western people will think I am a thief)

I think every Japanese are very timid.
and then I can't understand use mask once
and then throw it away.
If you are person who works medical
facilities,I will agree it.
(I think most Japanese people are shy, and I can't understand people who use masks once and then throw them away. I think you only need a mask if you work in a medical facility.)

I began to at ease about writing comments.
(I feel better now about writing comments.)

Today, I come home without finishing all jobs.
(Today, I came home without finishing all my work.)

So we have better indicate others' mistakes after our talks about the topic. How do you think?
(It would be better for us to point out each other's mistakes. What do you think?)

Already, lots of comments are saying, I agree with them.
(I agree with all the other comments.)

I only want the person getting well.
(I only want the other person to get well.)

I think the masks are very useful for with keeping my health, while flu season, and take a walk for keeping warm my body in winter.
(I think the masks are useful for keeping me healthy in the flu season, and taking a walk is a good way to keep my body warm in the winter.)

Westerners' prejudice against masks should be abolished.
(Westerners need to rethink their prejudice against masks.)

I am really crap at English.
(I'm not very good at English - "crap" is not a very polite word, so you need to be careful about using it.)

May: a friend of my friend,
I am quite not sure of this use, but I guess it should be "a friend of my friend's" or "a friend of a friend of mine - if you have not only one friend.
(There are many ways of saying this. "A friend of a friend" is the most common.)

My students often ask me such a question.
(My students often ask me questions like that.)

This is the first time to talk with you, isn't it?
(This is the first time we have talked, isn't it?)

Therefore, your a new idea which corrects for the blog sentences is really useful and helpful, I think.
(Your new idea about correcting blog sentences is really helpful.)

However, almost of them didn't stay in my memory.
(I forgot most of them.)

Have a great weekend, and see you again on Monday.

David

Comments

Hi David,
Thank you for giving us a lot of feedback. It's really helpful for us because it's difficult to find the best translation of what we want to say. You said before that Japanese learners of English often say more than is necessary in English, and I often do that, so it's also interesting to see the parts you have left out or changed.

Hi Kiyoko,
Glad to hear your grandson's team won! My son's school was going to hold their sports day tomorrow, but they postponed it to Sunday because of bad weather. I hope the weather is going to be fine on Sunday.

Hi May,
You are welcome. I also learned a new expression;-)

Have a great weekend, and see you soon,

Tomo

Tomo
2009年5月29日 22:35

Hi David,
Thank you very much for correcting our writings. It's very helpful for us to read your corrections.
I've learned a lot from your feedback.
As for my sentence"I've never thought it *as you said*, I thought my sentence was very"Japanese" after reading your correction. I wanted to say'あなたが言うようには’, but I noticed that I translated it literally.
As for " saw ～of　---ing, I know this pattern, but I couldn't use this, so I thought I need more practice.

Hi kiyoko,
It's nice to hear that you enjoyed the sport day and your grandson's team won.

Hi May,
はい、本はベストセラーになると思います。勝間さんの訳というのも大きいと思います。Gladwellなんて、いい名前ですよね。

Have　a　lovely　weekend,

Anne

Anne
2009年5月30日 00:03

Thank you David for the eye-opening corrections of yours.

Apologies; I am sorry for having made a thinko about the usage of the phrasal verb "rely on." It was rather me to blame.

Anne:
I cannot help admiring your parsing sense of the sentence. It was amazing.

> I really want to know if the position of 'all' is correct or not.

I bought a grammar book on English for the first time in all my life yesterday the moment I looked it up in the book, and found a useful note in it.

It says "An adverb can freely stand in almost any position except between a verb and its direct object, where it is much less common than elsewhere."
The eplanation indicates that you can put the word "all"- means "completely"- as an adverb between the verb "rely" and the preposition "on" since the verb "rely" must be an intransitive verb.

> I tried to make a senence instead of NO.3'all'.

As you know, the verb "try" has two phrase patterns, i.e., "try to do" and ""try doing."

"Tried to do something" means "attempted to do or made an effort to do something." It implies "you couldn't do it." While, "tried doing something" "did something as an experiment or test." It shows "you actually did something with intention and you likely succeeded or failed."

Should be "tried making a sentence..."

I realized that grammar books of English were fairly worth studying in particular for beginner level learners of English like me.

Mie

Mie
2009年5月30日 11:13

Hi David

Thank you very much for rewriting our sentences.
I just run through your corrections, so I have to reread them later.
I am not good at writing, so it really helps me a lot.
Thanks again.

Hi Anne

You came up with a lot of things for “rely on”.
Wow you are amazing, and made me think again.
Thank you.

Hi everyone

I have been learning something from this blog lately.
Your comments make me think English grammar more deeply than before.
I think it’s good for me, so thanks everyone.

It’s raining, but have a great weekend.

amo
2009年5月30日 15:57

Hi David,
Thank you very much for correcting our sentences! I've just looked through them quickly, so that I will read them carefully later. Your feedback help me a lot. Thanks again!

Hi Everyone,
How's your weekend? It has been raining here since yesterday and it's chilly as well.
Please have a look at the google logo. It's very nice!

Talk to you later!

Maki

Maki
2009年5月31日 19:34

Hi Mie,
Thanks for your ideas and advice for my last comment.
As for "try to", I actually didn't think anything when I wrote the sentence. I understand what you meant, so using"try-ing" is proper here. I think I know the difference between the two, but I noticed that I hadn't used " try-ing" so often, so it is due to my writing pattern. But I'm wondering if"try to ～"　is interchangeable depending on speaker's intention. Thanks again.

Hi Maki,
Thank you ! I watched the logo, and the video concerning with the special day.

Hi everyone,
Do you know who have won the "Britain's got talent"?

Bye for now,

Anne

Anne
2009年5月31日 21:16

Hi Anne,
Thanks for the tip about "Britain's Got Talent"!　An amazing performance, isn't it!!
As for the logo, the webpage is interesting, and I'm curious about the tour, but it is permitted only for UK residents...I remember that I toured Parliament during the Summer Opening.;-)

By for now,

Maki

Maki
2009年5月31日 21:54

Hi David,
Please check if my following understanding is correct:
(1) 1-JIKAN 15 FUN = one and a quarter hours
(2) 1-JIKAN 20 PUN = one and a third hours
(3) 1-JIKAN 30 PUN = one and a half hours
(4) 1-JIKAN 40 PUN = one and two third hours
(5) 1-JIKAN 45 FUN = one and three quarter hours

Thanking you for your usual, kind guidance,

Toshi

(Mr.) Toshi Tatsumi
2009年5月31日 23:12

Hi David,

Please refer to "circle" in the page 176 of 「Eigo Zyouzu ninaru Jiten」.

If the "circle" is a sport-related one (like baseball club or volleyball team), could we say, for example, "After school, I am going to join in the training of our baseball club"?

Looking forward to your comment,

Toshi

Toshi Tatsumi
2009年6月 1日 00:58

Hi David and everyone,

Did you have a good weekend? I went to my son's elementary school to see the sports day today.(It's already 'yeterday', though.) The weather was okay in the morning. I enjoyed watching my son's and my niece's events, but it started raining when they just started the rest of the events in the afternoon, so they had to give up. They decided to have the rest on June 3rd, so I'm going to see them again. But on that day, I have to go to my son's junior high school as well, so it's going to be crazy day for me..

Hi Maki,
I had a look at the logo. It's Big Ben's 150th anniversary, isn't it?

Hi Anne,
I just checked the result. I can't believe it!

Good night, and see you soon.

Tomo

PS I watched the movie 'The Shawshank Redemption' tonight. I knew it was a good movie, but actually I hadn't seen it before. It was a great movie!

Tomo
2009年6月 1日 01:22

How do you do, David and team!

This is my first coment to you.
I enjoy readind Dvid's blog and your coment.
It is very usefl for my English study!
I have only 445 TOEIC score.(I got the score about 4 yers ago.)