Hi David,
You live in a very beautiful area! I love the pictures you took. I didn't know you are such a good photographer!

I have a question about the article Paule Nation liked. Is it something I can find easily?

Tomo,
You asked about the meaning of "I'm totally doing something." When I was nursing, I often said things like "I'm totally eating chocolate after I stop nursing." 意味は、絶対チョコレート食べてやるといた感じです。I was watching what I ate back then, and didn't eat any chocolate for a looong time. I was craving for it, so I used that expression a lot. I think it's a very casual expression, and used by young people, and I don't think well educated adults would say that in public. I remember learning it from my American friends when I first went to the States as a college student. My friends were young, and I was young. I wanted to sound like one of them, so I started saying it. Now I'm not that young, but with my family and close friends I still say that.

Another example of totally is that "he's totally into you." I heard that last night. Since you asked that question, I was closely watching the language when I saw Desperate Housewives. A 18-year-old girl who lives in California(っぽい所) said that.

I hope you'll have a nice weekend. I have to get ready for the pary I'm throwing tomorrow!

Yuki

•  匿名
• 2010年11月26日 22:56

Hi David and everyone,

I haven’t been feeling well for a couple of days, and I ended up taking a day off today. I slept all the morning and am feeling much better now.

David> Thank you for uploading more pictures. They are beautiful, and really autumn.

Hi Tomo,

Thanks you for your ideas, but I didn’t have time to read them carefully. I will read them again this weekend.

Have a nice weekend everyone!
amo

•  amo
• 2010年11月26日 23:16

Hi David,
Happy for you that you got a very nice email from Michael Swan, and congratulations on being back to a normal person! How are you feeling now? I hope your operation made a big difference to your breathing:)

As for language gathering, I don't usually take a note like that, so it was very interesting and good study for me. From this entry, I picked up these sentences:

*Not only was she driving a huge truck, she also climbed up on top of the transporter, got in the cars, and backed them down one by one at very high speed!
(Thanks for giving us another example of this structure. I'll try to use it myself.)

*I was very impressed.
(I'm still gathering some more information about the word "impressed" so that I can understand when it is appropriate to use it.)

The pictures are all nice, and the red leaves are pretty! The only difference I noticed between the pictures taken with your phone and the ones taken with your camera is the size. The quality looks almost the same to me.

Anyway, I hope you have a nice ride tomorrow, and good luck to Tonari san!

Hi Yuki,
Thank you for your explanation! I see, I understand what it means and how it is used. It's an interesting expression. If it's a very casual expression used by young people, I think I should avoid it too, but thanks to you, I can understand it when I meet the expression in a movie or a TV drama next time.
By the way, does "he's totally into you" mean "he's really crazy about you"? I've seen David use "be into sth" in one of the "Friday Corrections" before, so I think it's OK for me to use this one.(maybe!) Anyway, thanks again for your help. I hope you have a great time at the party!

Oh, just one more thing. From your comment, I picked up this expression today:

*I was craving for it
(I didn't know the expression "crave for". The more you write, the more I can learn:))

Hi amo,
Are you all right? Take care!

Have a great weekend, and see you soon,

Tomo

•  Tomo
• 2010年11月27日 00:22

Hi Yuki,

Glad you like the pictures. I have emailed the article to you.
By the way, I'm not sure about "crave for sth." Shouldn't it just be "crave sth"? Maybe it's different in American English. Anyway, please ask Charles what he thinks.

•  David
• 2010年11月27日 01:08

Great photos David, do you live in the area that these were taken? Its beautiful.

Glad your nose is okay. Also glad you had a successful time last weekend.

We have snow here at the moment and its either going to freeze tonight or snow again. There are a lot of people on facebook that aren't happy about the snow. Which I can understand with work and transport.

Anyway, hope you have a great weekend. Speak to you soon.

Charlene.

•  Charlene
• 2010年11月27日 01:48

Hi David and everyone,

Please excuse me for not keeping up with your posts. Luckily, I woke up early morning last night and couldn't go back to sleep, so I have time to read your blog and comments now!

By the way, I have just realized that my last comment wasn't actually posted. That was to answer David's question about my experience. It seemed there was a problem with the server or something that day (about a couple of weeks ago). Shame :s So, even my response wasn't there, I read your comment and tried to write back, David!! I will talk about it when I have a chance again.

Anyway, I was impressed that some people are learning English by copying others through reading and writing. That certainly is a great way, isn't it? I tend to just read books, articles, and the like, and forget about how they were written. I'm definitely missing out a lot of opportunity to learn! I will try to read previous blogs and comments and put something together!

While we are on the subject, does anyone know a good book about common mistakes Japanese English learners make which is written in English? I've been looking for it, but I haven't had any luck yet. If you know, please let me know!

Anyway, have a good weekend everyone :)

•  Michelle
• 2010年11月27日 07:14

Hi Charlene,
Glad to hear from you! If you read the last entry, you'll know how much I learned from your writings, but I was a bit worried if I sounded rude because I wrote my thoughts on the words or phrases I gathered in Japanese. I picked up the word "awesome" from one of your posts, but I understood that you used that word in a real meaning when I first read it, so please don't get me wrong. I've been interested in the word for a long time, and I often see native speakers use it in a different way, so that's why I asked David about it.

From your post, I picked up this sentence:

*its either going to freeze tonight or snow again.
("either going to ... or ..." I use "either" a lot, but I sometimes have trouble with it. I think this structure is useful, so thank you:))

Hi Michelle,
Nice to hear from you as well! I know a good book about common mistakes Japanese English learners make which is written in English. David wrote about them both in Japanese and English, and I have both versions. They are very helpful!

Yes, I've been teaching myself through reading and writing. Of course, I try some other ways for my listening and speaking practice, but I think writing is one of the most effective ways in language learning because you have enough time to think about the things you notice.

From your comment, I picked up this sentence:

* I was impressed that some people are learning English by copying others through reading and writing.
(Thanks for giving me another example of "impressed". The word "impressed" is not difficult, but David says in his book "Common English Errors" that most Japanese people learn "moved" and "impressed" as translations of "kando suru" and "kanshin suru", but these words are not very common in everyday English. I'm still not sure when it is appropriate to use them, so I've been gathering examples of these expressions.)

Hi Fumie,
I forgot to tell you about this. In one of the messages to me, you said, "I am quite impressed how you..."(Thank you!) David told me before that "quite impressed" sounds a bit rude because it means ちょっと感心. I know you used it in a good meaning, so don't worry about my feelings. I just wanted to share the thing I learned with you;-)

Hope you are all enjoying your weekend,

Tomo

•  Tomo
• 2010年11月27日 09:28

PS Fumie - If you want to make the meaning stronger, "really" or "very" are better.(← David also told me about this, so you can trust me!)

•  Tomo
• 2010年11月27日 09:46

Hi David and everyone,

I see a lot of new faces here! So, hi to everyone. I’m Lily. I’m one of the (barely) surviving early members of this blog. I’ve been juggling part-time office work and freelance translation work for nearly two years now. I mainly translate documentaries and reality shows for cable networks. I’m experiencing a paradox: the more I work on translation, the more my English deteriorates. English-Japanese translation is mostly about expressing in Japanese, and I’m spending less and less time learning or practicing English. Well, it seems like I’m repeating myself periodically. When I get a break from work, I start making some effort again, and then get carried away with work again. Sorry, it’s sounding more like whining than self-introduction!

A few weeks ago, I went on a three-day trip to Seoul, Korea, with three friends. It was a simple flight and hotel package. We fully enjoyed Korean culture, entertainment, spa, shopping, and especially food! Everything we ate was really good. Our trip was just after G20 (and we got a hotel upgrade for some reason) and a week before the recent North Korean attack. So I guess we had good timing

Earlier this year, I took part in David’s seminar about “language gathering,” so I’m supposed to be practicing it… I tried it on this entry.

* Talking of things that make me happy,…
- I would have used “speaking of.” “Talking of” sounds good.

* put cotton wool balls up my nose
- Such a simple phrase, but explaining actions is rather difficult.

* I can go back to being a normal person! Well, normal for me, anyway.
- Ha, ha :-D

* to have some work done on my van
- The usage of “to have” still doesn’t come naturally.

* Transporter
- Ah, that’s called a “transporter”?

* Not only was she driving a huge truck, she also climbed up on top of the transporter, got in the cars, and backed them down one by one at very high speed!
- As Tomo said, good example of 倒置法 and explaining actions.

* I'll probably head across Aichi
- I couldn’t have said “head across.”

* congratulations on selling out your concert
- Same as the above.

Those pictures are beautiful. I know nothing about photography or cameras, but it’s hard to capture autumn leaves so clearly in detail with my average camera, so it should be the camera (and the good photographer, of course.)

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Lily

P.S. David, thanks so much for your help the other day. You so easily solved the question that seemed unsolvable to me! The series I was working on at the time was full of land mines so to speak. I’m relieved it’s finished.

•  Lily
• 2010年11月27日 23:01

Hi Tomo,
Thank you for telling me the meaning of 'quite impressed', I should be careful! I remember David said 'moved' and 'impressed' are not for everyday English as you mentioned. I should have said "I really...???" 感心したっ（すごい）って何て言えばいいんだろう？以前デビッドが説明してくれたけれど、まだ理解できていない。
It's really awesome(great) that you are doing about language learning.なんかでもいいのかなぁ？いろんな表現方法があるんだろうけれど、自分の感情よりも、具体的にその物を褒めるほうがいいといった説明だったと思うのですが。

Hi everyone,
There are LOTS of good expressions to follow in all of your comments which are REALLY helpful for me to learn natural English.
Thank you everyone!
Following are what I gathered from your recent comments.
*I've been teaching myself through reading~
*Sorry, it's sounding more like whining than self-introduction.
*for some reason
*We fully enjoyed~
*I know nothing about photography
*Please excuse me for not keeping up with your posts.
*Hi to everyone

Hi Lily,
I enjoy reading your story about translation. I'm intersted in translation （translation of publications though), hopefully I can translate some English books into Japanese some day. But with my English level, I have a loooong way to go.
And your story about Korea definitely make me want to visit there!

Fumie

•  匿名
• 2010年11月28日 07:19

Hi Fumie,
Thanks for your message :-) It’s also my ambition to translate a book someday in the distant future. Let’s keep it up!
By the way, I’m always impressed with Tomo’s English too. It really is amazing what she’s doing!

•  Lily
• 2010年11月28日 13:16

Hi David and everyone,

Are you having a nice weekend? I was a bit busy yesterday because we had a lot of things to do. We went to a bike shop to have a regular safety check done on his bike in the morning.("the" bike shop? My husband usually goes to this shop when he needs to have some work done on his bike.) After that we went to an electric store to buy new lighting tubes and speakers for our iPod, and then we went to a furniture store. I didn't feel like cooking last night, so we had dinner at a restaurant.

Hi Lily,
Nice to hear from you! I'm glad you had a great time in Korea. I also think you had good timing. よかったね！

Thanks for sharing your "language gathering". It's interesting to see the things other people gathered. I also noticed this sentence "congratulations on selling out your concert". I couldn't have said "selling out your concert", either. Even if I were to try to say this, I would put "tickets" after "concert". It's difficult for me to know what is necessary and what is not.
Thanks also for another example of "impressed". As I said, I've been gathering examples of this word, and I'm starting to understand when and how it is used. I'm still not 100% sure, though.

From your posts, I picked up these expressions:

*I'm experiencing a paradox: the more I work on translation, the more my English deteriorates.
(I didn't know the word "deteriorate", and it still takes me some time to use this structure "the more..., the more...)

*I was working on at the time was full of land mines so to speak.
(I didn't know "land mine", and I haven't used "so to speak". よく日本語では「しまった！」っていうことを言った時に「地雷を踏んじゃった」って言ったりするのでおもしろいと思った)

*in the distant future
(I sometimes use "in the near future", but I couldn't have said this one.)

Hi Fumie,
You are welcome:) I read an English e-mail magazine called ジャレマガ every day, which is written by David's old colleague called Douglas Jarrell who is teaching at Nagoya Women's University. Interestingly, he wrote about the expressions "I was impressed" and "It moved me" the other day, so let me introduce the jaremaga here:

『Do you know how to say "kando suru" in English?
If you look it up in the dictionary, it says "I was impressed" or "It moved me."
The problem is that we don't use these expressions very much in English.
When we really like a concert or a movie, we say "It was fantastic" or "I loved it."
I am impressed by great things like the Grand Canyon and great people like Akira Kurosawa.
I am moved by sad stories like "The Diary of Anne Frank."』

少し分かってきたけど、もうちょっと･･･という感じです。　早くすっきり理解したい！

I have to go grocery shopping.

Talk to you later,

Tomo

•  Tomo
• 2010年11月28日 16:46

【訂正】
have a regular safety check done on his bike　→　have a regular safety check done on my husband's bike

•  Tomo
• 2010年11月28日 16:48

さっきは急いで読んで書いたので。。

Lily, thanks for your nice words! :-D

Mr. Jarrell の例文を見ると、もっと日常からかけ離れたすごいことに使うのかな、私の英語学習に impressed でいいの？！と思うのですが、MichelleもLilyもreal English user だし、Davidは女性カーキャリアードライバーの仕事ぶりに impressed だし、「すごい！」と思えばこういう日常のことにも使っていいのかな、と思ったり。　でも何に「すごい」と思うかは人それぞれで、どれ位「すごい」と思うのかも違うし、そのあたりがあやふやでまだ自分では使うタイミングがつかめないのです。

•  Tomo
• 2010年11月28日 21:58

Hi Tomo,

I wouldn't worry too much about "impressed." It's fine to use it if you really think something is amazing. The problem is that Japanese people use it too much when other adjectives would sound much more natural. It just takes time to get used to how native speakers use it.

•  David
• 2010年11月28日 22:38

Hi David,

Thanks for your help! OK, I'll wait until I get used to how native speakers use it.

By the way, how was Tonari san's final race? I hope he finished the race without any problems and you had a nice time there:)

•  Tomo
• 2010年11月28日 23:00

Hi Tomo,
Thank you for writing another examples of "impressed" and "be moved". I read じゃれまが everyday too, I knew about it from old entry. I'm also not sure what's the appropriate situations to use those words. I think you are so discreet when you are not sure about the words. I use the words which I'm uncertain the meaning sometimes when I can't come up with other substitute words.　あー他の言い方が思いつかない、仕方ない使っちゃえ！こんないい加減さがいけないんでしょうね。ともを見習ってもう少し気をつけます。＾＾
What I gathered from your posts are,
*Interestingly,~
*real English user

Mr. Jarrell also write about intersting vending machines the other day. I want to see them!

Fumie

•  Fumie
• 2010年11月29日 06:15

Hi Fumie,

If a word I didn't know is just a noun, I read some example sentences and use it without hesitation. If it's not a noun, I read example sentences more carefully. If I don't understand or am not sure how it is used, I'll give up using it and try to find another expression. If I can't come up with any other expression, I'll change what I want to say. That's kind of my rule, but maybe I shouldn't think or worry too much.

Thanks for picking up some expressions from my writings, but I'm not sure about the expression "real English user". When we were talking about "Three things you should not say to foreigners", I called myself "English user", but there is a HUGE difference between me and those people who have advanced-level or native-speaker level English like Yuki, Michelle, and Lily, so that's why I called them a "real English user".

From your post above, I learned "discreet" and "substitute". You really know lots of words!

Have a nice day!

Tomo

•  Tomo
• 2010年11月29日 08:35

【訂正】
If a word I didn't know...　→　If the word I didn't know...　かな？

•  Tomo
• 2010年11月29日 08:39

Hi Tomo & David,

Regarding Tomo's correction, I think 'a' is correct because トモが知らない一つの単語を読み手はわからないので、その場合I didn't knowで限定していても、不定冠詞を使うのだと理解しています。

Anyway, the usage of articles in English offen annoys me.
Besides, some nouns can be used as countable nouns and uncountable nouns depending on cases.

I don't know David is a user of our company's product. Thank you David.

Talking about digital photos, it is difficult for us to understand the defference between SLR cameras' and cell-phones' because their sizes are small.
However, the second photo is SLR camera's because the image is three-dimensional.

See ya.

•  Gussan
• 2010年11月29日 12:16

Hi everyone,
Once again, I'm a bit behind in my writing, but not in my thoughts of you!

I had some projects over the weekend. I was making a care package for a friend and a Christmas package for my husband's family. And, we had a Thanksgiving party at home.

Tomo and David,
Oops! I'm sorry I made a mistake. I was confused with "crave something" and "have a craving for something." Now, I know Tomo's reading my comments carefully. I'll pay more attention to my language use. Having said that, I have to say that I'm also a learner/non-native speaker, and make mistakes here and there. Plus, I feel my English is rusty these days. So, please be patient!

David's comment about the female truckdriver made me think of some of the changes in gender roles. Even in Japanese society, we now have more female bus drivers, taxi drivers, firefighters, construction workers-you name it! When I take my son to day cares for young children's programs, I see lots of male teachers, which I don't remember seeing when I was growing up. I knew a Japanese professoer whose husband stayed home and did most of the housework. She was the breadwinner (or I should say ricewinner.)

Lily,
はじめまして！I've done some translation myself. I don't do it professionally, but pepople ask me to because I speak the language and have an American husband. I've done some work for an acupuncturist, a veterinarian, hospitals, 給食センター...Anyway, I know what you mean by 日本語力って大切. I'd love to hear more about your work.

Yuki

•  匿名
• 2010年11月29日 15:35

Hi Gussan and Tomo,

Both "a" and "the" would work in that sentence.

•  David
• 2010年11月29日 16:05

I always like to have a read about such things, my blog is related if you want to have a look round it please feel free. I have added yours to my bookmarks.

•  Armand Crace
• 2011年1月17日 21:50

jyqbczo

暑いと遊ぶ気にもならない。クーラーの効いた部屋で遊べる事って言ったら…ぷっ
http://bit.ly/qRJL4X

•  匿名
• 2011年7月15日 03:25

n33b2pi

まじ大興奮なんですけどｗｗｗｗ
何コレ！
http://www.shavitrue.com/n33b2pi/

•  匿名
• 2011年7月21日 11:39

5xbr5ab

まじ大興奮なんですけどｗｗｗｗ
何コレ！
http://www.shavitrue.com/5xbr5ab/

•  匿名
• 2011年7月23日 07:46

da63y4u

アニメの夏より
リア充したくね？
http://real.to-hoku.info/da63y4u/

•  匿名
• 2011年8月 6日 08:12