2011年7月22日
Man's Best Friend (Feedback)
Thanks for all your comments. I'm glad you found the article interesting. Actually, I was thinking that using articles might be a good way for you to study because it gives you reading practice, and you can try to use some of the new words and structures when you write your comments. If there are parts that you don't understand, you can just copy and paste them into your comment and write "Hey everyone, what does this mean?"
Anyway, as I said in my entry, I really like dogs, but I think that dressing them up in clothes and treating them like human babies is a bit weird! However, I know that a lot of people get a lot of pleasure from their dogs, so I suppose it doesn't really matter what I think.
Here is some feedback on your comments.
"Japan is uniquely unique" sounded a little bit sarcastic to me
(Nice sentence.)
As for this week's topic, I don't have any strong opinions on it
(A very useful sentence.)
I think this is why people love dogs and treat them as if they were human babies.
(Another nice sentence.)
It feels like yesterday that I was in my 20s!
("It feels like yesterday that..." is a really nice structure. For example, you could say, "It feels like yesterday that my daughter was a baby, and now she's getting married!")
I've never heard people need counselors after their pets die when I was a kid.
(I never heard of people needing counselors after their pets died when I was a kid.)
All countries people can have pride in their country
(Everyone can have pride in their country)
It depends on a situation if you feel good or offensive when you use or hear this prase ,isn't it?
(The way you feel when you use or hear this phrase depends on the situation.)
It seems like that I am going to be busy tomorrow as well.
("It seems that" or "It seems like," but not "It seems like that.")
It was a very timely topic to me, because this morning my husband, who is looking at the advertisement of pet tomb, said that it is very strange to make a dog tomb beside its owner.
(It was a very timely topic for me because just this morning, my husband happened to be looking at an advertisement for a pet tomb, and he mentioned that he thought that it is very strange for a dog to be buried beside its owner.)
Luckily today was my day off, but tomorrow I have to get to work....
(Nice sentence, but "I have to work tomorrow" or "I have got to work tomorrow.")
I feel that is not fair when I have a chance to see some pets are treated much better than I, however, to be honest, I don't care so much about that.
(I feel strange when I see pets being treated better than people, but to be honest, I don't really care about it.)
People can talk to dogs (pets) and alleviate their loneliness.
(Nice sentence, but a sad reflection on modern society!)
For example, for some people dogs may satisfy their loneliness. Then people may not get married and have no children but rather have dogs.
(An even sadder reflection on our society!)
I read The Japan Times article, but unfortunately I gave it up to understand all
(I gave up trying to read it all.)
Having pets are resemble to raising children, I think.
(Having pets is a bit like having children, I think.)
I have a question about this. Are you suggesting that you only see this in Japan? Because you were talking about how people treat their dogs in Japan so….
[No, I have seen it in other countries as well, including my own. The thing that surprises me about the attitude to this in Japan is that Japanese people are normally so careful about hygiene. This is a country where people walk around wearing surgical masks to protect themselves from germs! One lady I was speaking to about this the other day said, "In America, I saw someone putting a pair of shoes on a bed!" This lady thought that it was perfectly okay for her dog to lick her face, though. It's this contrast that surprised me. When dogs go for a walk, they lick places where other dogs have gone to the toilet! And then you let them lick your face?! That is much dirtier than putting shoes on a bed! Personally, I think that people having pets on a bed is disgusting, but I know lots of people who do it in my country. Some people even sleep with their pets.)
I saw scenes of some foreign movies that pets are sneaking into couples's bed.
(I have seen scenes in foreign movies where pets sneaked into a couple's bed.) [As I said above, that is not unusual, but I think it is pretty dirty.]
I saw you in my dream last night. You invited us to your house. So some members (unfortunately not any of you but unknown people) and I visited your house. We talked some but I don't remember well. Your house is a Japanese style house in my dream.
Is your house Japanese style?
[光栄でございます ：ー） But my house is not Japanese style, I'm afraid.]
(You were in my dream last night. I visited your house with some other people (none of the blog members, I'm afraid!). We talked a bit, but I don't remember what we talked about.)
Have a great weekend, and I'll see you again next week.
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Comments
Hi. David.
and everybody. How do you do?
When I was surfing the Net, I found your blog .
As soon as I'm interested in it and read many opinions and suggestions about for three hours. They were so nice opinions I was very interested to them. After that I thought, I would like to join the blog so I tried to send a E-mail for the first time .
Here is my opinions about your questions.
1)What do you think about the way pet dogs are treated in Japan nowadays ?
I think , some pet dogs owners have been treating thier pets is taking care of them too much on the other hand some owners treat strictly ,but they are not so many .
2)If you have(or have ever had)a dog ,what is /was its role in your family?
I have a dog and two cats ,I'm enjoying my life with them. About my dog ,he is quite big . His weight is 22kg but he stays in a hous except whil he is taking a walk. And he roleing in as sibling with my children also he sements a family.(彼は我が家の鎹です。）
3)What do you think about dogs licking thier owner's face?
I dislike licking my face,so I usually don't let him licking everybody. Because it is not hygiene.
See you next time . by Katherine
- Catherine
- 2011年7月22日 18:10
Hi Catherine, nice to meet you, too. See you soon.
Hi David and everyone,
Thank you for your feedback and answer to amo's question about the situation in other countries. I also wanted to know about that, so that was helpful.
By the way, you seem to like discussing the way pet dogs are treated in Japan. Having read amo's comment, I just remembered I had heard amo saying that she didn't like pets but liked animals in wild twice or three times before.^^
As for the article, it was really difficult for me to understand it all the part. I read through all the paragraphs but could not understand it all, so I gave up trying to understand it all.
I read the following correction for noriko's sentence, I thought the situation was almost the same as mine. I wonder whether David's sentence meant 最後まで全部読むのをあきらめた or could imply 全部読むには読んだけど、難しくて全部を理解しようとするのはあきらめた？ I would appreciate it if somebody helps me.
> I read The Japan Times article, but unfortunately I gave it up to understand all
(I gave up trying to read it all.)
Good night!
- tsuneko
- 2011年7月23日 00:44
Hi David,
Thank you for the feedback. It made me smile when I saw your comment of "Nice sentence". ^^
>光栄でございます。
Thank you, that's nice of you to say that!
I thoght only Japanese people treat their pets like their babies. On second thoght, I looked up "dog strollers" in search engine. There are many ads with pictures of dogs(cats) on strollers and dog's fancy clothes on foreign sites. Apparently this trend is not only in Japan. I found an interesting You Tube video. Have a look.
http..//www.petitude.com.au/
Hi Catherine, nice to have you with us!
Hi tsuneko and noriko,
I'm also wondering how to express this situation.
> I read The Japan Times article, but unfortunately I gave it up to understand all
(I gave up trying to read it all.)
I thought noriko wanted to say ジャパンタイムの記事を読んだけれど、難しくて全部、理解するのは諦めた。（全部は理解できなかった。）
And David's correction of "I gave up trying to read it all." I think it's means 全部読むのは諦めた。
There are slightly differences in meanings between two sentences if my understanding is correct.
Also I'm not sure about noriko's sentence's this part, "I gave it up to understand all" (I can't understand all). Does this means 全部理解できなかった（全否定）or 全部は理解できなかった（部分否定）？Noriko wanted to say the latter one, right?
"I can't understand at all" なら全く理解できなかった（全否定ですね）
Another way to say this might:
I read The Japan Times article, but I only understand partially.
Grammar is really confusing me. 涙
Have a lovely weekend!
Fumie
- Fumie
- 2011年7月23日 06:27
Ｈｉ tsuneko and Fumie and David,
Thanks again to correct my structures David:)
But tsuneko and Fumie told me that a good point what I wanted to say(thanks for your mention:))
全部読むには読んだけど、難しくて全部を理解しようとするのはあきらめた...
or
ジャパンタイムの記事を読んだけれど、難しくて全部、理解するのは諦めた。（全部は理解できなかった。）
yes,that's what I wanted to say :)
In this case,"I only understand partially.",like Fumie mentioned is a suitable way for me ,too?
Hi Catherine,
Nice to have you with us :D
It was a kind of anniversary last night for me and my son.
He took a leak into the brandnew his potty!
- noriko
- 2011年7月23日 07:17
Hi Catherine,
NIce to have you with us.
Hi Tomo,
"You can't tell what you have stepped on with your shoes, can you? You might have stepped on places where dogs have gone to the toilet."
That is very true, and that is why I don't lick my shoes either!
Hi Noriko,
How about "I gave up trying to understand it all"?
- David
- 2011年7月23日 07:37
Hi Catherine,
Nice to meet you! Looking forward to reading your comments again :)
Hi David and everyone,
Thank you so much for your feedback!
I agree with your idea about using articles might be good reading practice.
I think there are a lot of expressions about the topic in each article we can learn.
For example, if the article is about an election, there might be a lot of vocabulary such as “party,” “approval rating,” and “disapproval rating.”
So, that is why I like to read and listen to at least one article in the news everyday.
It's almost 41℃ outside here, and I finally start using air conditioning!
Please have a wonderful weekend!
Hi Noriko,
How about "I gave it up because I couldn’t understand it all (or, I could only understand parts of it)"?
Hi Fumie,
I see your point.
> "I gave it up to understand all" (I can't understand all). Does this means 全部理解できなかった（全否定）or 全部は理解できなかった（部分否定）？
I think,
1) I couldn't understand anything. (0%)
2) I couldn't understand it all. (1% to 99%)
3) I understood everything. (100%)
So, your question about " I can't understand (it) all" means, " I understood parts of it."
Btw, Thanks for the link! It was very interesting : ) haha.
Hi David,
I hope you don't lick your shoes either!
Animal Farm
- Animal Farm
- 2011年7月23日 09:01
Hi David and everyone,
Thank you for considering the question together. Fumie, thanks for your quick help and pointing out another point. I didn't think of it, so it was interesting. Animal Farm's example sentences were also helpful.
I'll write it again: The article was really dificult for me, so I gave up trying to understand it all.
Thank you.
Have a nice and relaxing weekend, everybody!
- tsuneko
- 2011年7月23日 10:09
Hi David,
Thanks for your feedback and answering our questions;)
Hi Catherine,
Nice to have you with us. Looking forward to your next comment.
Hi everyone,
How’s your day? I usually stay late on Friday nights but I went to sleep around midnight last night. I think that I get tired easily these days. It must be because of this save electricity situation. I thought it would be ok for me to set the air conditioner at 28c at office because I always feel cold at office during summer, but it turned out it’s uncomfortable at all. I can’t concentrate my attention on my work. Thanks to the typhoon, it’s not been that hot the last couple of days. Anyway, hope you all are having a wonderful weekend.
amo
PS. Hi tsuneko, yes everytime David brought this topic up here, I always told that I don't like pets, and like animals in the wild!!
- amo
- 2011年7月23日 18:58
Hi David and Animal Farm,
Thank you for your answers to our question:)
"I gave up trying to understand it all"?
"I gave it up because I couldn’t understand it all (or, I could only understand parts of it)"?
Yeah,I got them.
Animal Farm,are you good at math?
Your references always great because you tend to use numbers :)
I envy you :)
noriko
- 匿名
- 2011年7月23日 20:18
It's noriko again,
I forgot to delete "?"
It might be obvious that I copy and paste them :)
Rewriting must be good for practice,right?
気をつけなくちゃ～
Good night everyone...
noriko
- noriko
- 2011年7月23日 20:42
Hi noriko,
Your son had a pee on a potty for the first time. You and your son must be so happy!
Hi Animal Farm,
Thank you for helping me with my question as always. Thanks to your explanation I fully understand.
The temparature was 41 degrees C in where you live. 41 degrees! Gee, that is more than we can bear. I heard about the extraordinary high temparature of US on CNN news. On the other hand, another country (I forgot which country, maybe France) is now suffering from low temparature. Please be extra careful with the heat.
Nighty night.
Fumie
- Fumie
- 2011年7月23日 22:58
Hi David and everyone,
Thank you also for your suggestion as below.
> If there are parts that you don't understand, you can just copy and paste them into your comment and write "Hey everyone, what does this mean?"
I’ll follow your idea. I tried to read the article of the Japan Times one again, and then stopped at the title already. I’ll just copy and paste the title as follows.
> “It seems Japan has literally gone to the dogs”
「日本は文字通り犬（レースを見）に行ってしまったみたい」とはハテどんな意味だろう？Having checked the meaning of the idiom “go to the dogs”, I found out it had another meaning: “(Japan) is worse than it(she?) was” “(Japan) is just not as good as it(she?) used to be.” 日本語に訳してしまうと「文字通り」ということばを使ったおもしろさがなくなってしまいますが、「日本は前より酷いことになってるみたい」のような意味でしょうか？
I would appreciate it if you have an extra time and would consider that together. Good night.
- tsuneko
- 2011年7月24日 01:11
Hi Tsuneko and everyone!
I also was thinking about the title.
"It seems Japan has literally gone to the dogs"
The most common meaning of this idiom "gone to the dogs" is things have gotten worse.
However, I think, in this case the meaning is also dogs have become popular in Japan.
(David, what do you think?)
when I took a reading class the last semester, a professor told me, "in English, titles of articles often have idioms with more than one meaning."
Then, how can we know the real meaning?
I think we need lots of experience with reading and idioms. After reading articles carefully, then I think we can find the real meaning of the titles.
I like to see the author is playing with words because it's more interesting to read it : )
Hi Noriko and Fumie,
Thanks for your message!
Animal Farm
- Animal Farm
- 2011年7月24日 02:06
Hi Animal Farm,
> Then, how can we know the real meaning?
I think we need lots of experience with reading and idioms. After reading articles carefully, then I think we can find the real meaning of the titles.
Thank you for such good advice for me(us). I shouldn't have stopped there.(^^;) All right, I'll try to read it carefully once again tonight.
- tsuneko
- 2011年7月24日 09:47
Hi tsuneko,
I didn’t know that idiom ether, so I also checked the meaning of it after reading your comment. Then I understood why the writer used “literally,” but as you said, when you translate this title into Japanese, it’s ruined. This title has two meanings, so it’s really difficult to translate into Japanese. Anyway, thanks to you I learnt new idiom.
Hi Animal farm,
Thanks for the tip;)
speak to you soon,
amo
- amo
- 2011年7月25日 00:53
Hi Fumie,
Thanks for your message :)
My son had pee in the toilet as well,later on :D
By the way,I enjoyed your story about your dream that you met David :)
Hi tsuneko,Animal Farm,amo,
Thanks for letting me know the idiom "It seems Japan has literally gone to the dogs"
I memorise it :)
BTW, the difficult point of the news paper is "using a lot of idioms"
That's why I gave up trying understand it all ;d
noriko
- noriko
- 2011年7月25日 09:16
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- bilete avion
- 2011年10月30日 06:47
Hi David and everyone,
I was going to write about the topic this morning, but my daughter kept me busy, so I couldn't. As you know, children are now on summer vacation, so mothers are busier than usual. It's just the second day of their vacation, but I already miss my regular life!
Anyway, let me answer the questions.
1) What do you think about the way pet dogs are treated in Japan nowadays?
I think it's strange. It's gone too far. Pet dogs can be part of your family, but they can not be human beings. I think people should treat them in the way dogs will be happy, not the owner themselves. I don't like the idea of dressing dogs.
2) If you have (or have ever had) a dog, what is/was its role in your family?
My family had two dogs when I was a child, and it was my chore to take care of them. They were part of my family. I love dogs and had always wanted to have one, but my mother didn't let me keep a dog until I was old enough to take responsibility. When my grandparents gave us a puppy of shiba(their dog's baby), I wanted to keep her in the house, but my father didn't like the idea of having dogs inside the house, so he took the dog out of the house a few months later. He told me that dogs should be outside, but I sometimes snuck the dog into my room and slept with her.(Of course, I took her outside before my father woke up.) As I mentioned, my father didn't like the idea of keeping dogs inside the house, but he has three dogs now, and he keeps two of them inside the house! There is a space for the dogs in his living room. He never let them walk around the other rooms, but people change...
3) What do you think about dogs licking their owner's face?
I think it's OK as long as they wash their face later. I don't have a dog now, but it would be OK for my dog to lick my face when I'm not wearing my make up. I woulndn't be happy if my face got sticky, but I would be happy if my dog showed his/her love to me.
>When dogs go for a walk, they lick places where other dogs have gone to the toilet! And then you let them lick your face?!
Ha ha. You are right, David, but I understand the lady's feelings. For me, putting shoes you have walked around outside on a bed is much dirtier than letting my dog lick my face. You can't tell what you have stepped on with your shoes, can you? You might have stepped on places where dogs have gone to the toilet. A lot of people treat their dog like human babies, and some people carry their dog in a stroller, so dogs nowadays might be much cleaner than shoes.(まぁ、これは冗談ですが…笑) As you know, Japanese people don't wear shoes in the house, so it might be just culture differences. Your ideas about what is 'dirty' depend on what is normal in your country, and also, different people have different ideas about it.
I have seen a Japanese actress who really loves her dog let her dog lick inside of her mouth before. I said it would be OK for my dog to lick my face, but I can not stand this.
Have a great weekend,
Tomo