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：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

ベストセラー『英語と仲直りできる本』の著者デビッド・バーカーさんが、毎日の暮らしの中で出会った「日本人の英語」を正します。

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デビッド・バーカー

David Barker
1967年イギリスはウェールズ生まれ。リバプールで警官として２年勤務した後、英語教師に転身。以来、シンガポール、イギリス、日本、ニュージーランドなど、さまざまな国で英語を教えてきた。名古屋女子大学助教授を経て、現在は南山大学総合政策学部助教授。趣味はオートバイなど。このブログについて >>

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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

2010年10月25日

TITLE：Things You Should Not Say to Foreigners

Hi Team,

Sorry I haven't been writing comments very much recently, but I've had a busy few days. On Sunday, I went to Tokyo to do a presentation at Tokai University, so I was busy preparing for that on Friday and Saturday. On Thursday, I did a lecture at Aichi Prefectural University in Seto, so getting ready for that kept me busy on Tuesday and Wednesday.

One of the things I talked about at Kendai was the need for Japanese people to develop a better understanding of multi-culturalism in our ever-increasingly globalized world, and I want to focus on one aspect of that this week.

2010年7月10日

TITLE：Cameron's Final Comment

Hi team,

Cameron emailed me to say that he is still unable to post his comment on the blog. I don't know why this happens, but anyway, here is his last comment:

Hello everyone!

It was so nice to talk with you all this week - I'm just sorry I wasn't able to make more posts...

Anyway, this will be my last post for a while - I'm off on my honeymoon next week! Miwa and I are going to Borneo, where we will be diving, hiking and jungle trekking. At the very end, we will pop over to the UK to see my grandad, who wasn't able to fly over to Miyazaki for our wedding.

But before that, I have a friend's wedding to go to this afternoon, at Aoshima Shrine - which is the same shrine I got married at. Please look it up on the internet - or better still visit - it's one of the most beautiful places I know, on a small sub-tropical island surrounded by "oni no sentaku ita". Has anyone else been there?

Anyway, must dash, but I hope to talk again when we get back from our honeymoon at the end of August!

Cheers for now,

Cameron

I hope you all enjoyed having a guest this week. In a couple of weeks, I will ask Alastair, who works with Cameron, to join us as another special guest. His life story is very interesting too, so I'm sure you will have fun chatting with him.

This morning, I tried a bit of "sawanobori" for the first time. "Sawanobori" is the sport of climbing a mountain by walking/climbing up a river. If you do this, you can walk up mountains even when there is no trail. This morning, I only went for about an hour, but I had a great time. I'm going to try doing it properly on my next trip.

This afternoon, I'm meeting bbz (he sometimes comments here) to talk about a new book we are working on. Tomorrow, I'm going to go for a ride on my bike during the day (if the weather stays fine), and then I'm going to drive to Aoki san's house in Nakashihoro tomorrow night. I'll probably spend all of next week up around Lake Kussharo and Shiretoko. I'm hoping to do a bit of motorcycling, a bit of bicycling, and a bit of hiking. It's my favourite part of Hokkaido, so I'm really looking forward to going back there again.

So when in the World Cup final? Is it tomorrow? I don't really know much about football, but I have a feeling that Spain are going to win. I quite like Spain because their star striker, Fernando Torres, plays for Liverpool. Anyway, it will be interesting to see whether the octopus gets it right!

Hope you are enjoying the weekend.

2010年7月 6日

TITLE：Cameron Nagatomo

Hi team,

I'm in Sapporo at the moment, but I'm going to head back up to Tokachi Dake this afternoon. (I'm going for a run in Makomanai Park this morning.) I'm meeting a friend for dinner in Asahikawa this evening, and after that, I will be going back up to the mountain to sleep in my van. Tomorrow, I'm going to do some hiking in the Taisetsuzan range, and then maybe a nice bicycle ride around Biei the day after. (All of this will be good for my diet!)

Tsuneko, the main point about "moved" is that it expresses a really, really strong emotion in English. As I said before, Anne's story about being "moved" when she met the mother of a fireman who died at the World Trade Center was a good example of how it is used. I'm sure you can see listening to a mother talk about how her son died is a very different level of feeling from one that you would get watching a soccer match, so it sounds a bit strange to use the same word to describe both. Of course, it's not "wrong" to say "I was moved by the soccer match," but it sounds a bit unnatural to native speakers. As I recommend in my book, it is generally better for Japanese people to avoid "moved" and "impressed" altogether unless you are certain that they are right for the context.

Monaka, I've been thinking about your question, but I honestly can't see a difference between "judging by" and "judging from." Can you give me some examples?

This week, I want to do something that we haven't done for a long time. I have invited a friend of mine to join us, and he is going to introduce himself in a comment later today and then answer your questions.

2010年6月21日

TITLE：Consumption Tax

Hi team,

I'm sure you have been following the news about the government's plans for raising consumption tax （消費税）to 10%, and I was wondering what you all think about it. Actually, the same debate is going on in the UK at the moment. In Britain, consumption tax is called VAT (Value-Added Tax), and it is currently 17.5%. Believe it or not, the new government is now talking about raising it to 20% from next year! Nobody knows yet whether this will actually happen, but the new budget will be announced tomorrow, and the newspapers have been speculating that a rise in VAT will be one of the announcements.

2010年6月14日

TITLE：Raising a Genius Child

Hi team,

Did you have a good weekend? My seminar on Saturday was interesting. Some of the teachers agreed with what I was saying, and some disagreed very strongly! It led to some very interesting discussions afterwards. Anyway, it was really nice to see so many junior high and high school English teachers coming to a workshop in their own time (I know they are all very busy) because they wanted to develop their professional skills.

Actually, I did something very stupid after the seminar (nothing new there!), but it ended up leading to a very interesting evening. I'm going to tell you about that today.

2010年5月 5日

TITLE：Making Books

Hi team,

Sorry I didn't do a new entry on Monday, but I have been really busy with the new book. I have also completely lost track of what day it is. For some reason, I am actually "ahead" by one day. On Monday, I kept thinking it was Tuesday, and on Tuesday I kept thinking it was Wednesday.

Anyway, today I thought I would explain what I have been up to these last couple of weeks. Before I became a publisher, I really did not know very much about the publishing process and the different jobs that it involves, so I guess that most of you don't know about it either.

2010年4月27日

TITLE：Tachiyomi

Hi team,

Thanks for your comments.

The discussion about "impressive" is interesting. English has a huge vocabulary, and many of the words have very specific nuances and usages that you cannot possibly understand simply by translating them into Japanese. Someone told me a very interesting quotation the other day, but he couldn't remember who said it:

Nothing should be written that hasn't been read;
Nothing should be spoken that hasn't been heard.

This is actually very true in relation to language learning.

2010年4月 6日

TITLE：The First Day of Facebook

Hi team,

As I told you yesterday, I have just joined Facebook and Twitter. (Anne - I haven't actually started doing any Twittering yet. I'll let you know when I do.)

As with most things technological, I appear to be a few years behind the rest of the world, but anyway, I now have a Facebook page. Let me tell you what has happened in the 24 hours since I joined.

2010年2月25日

TITLE：Toyota's problems

Hi team,

The weather has changed dramatically here. We have gone from wearing down jackets and fleeces to walking around in shorts and T-shirts! It's actually nice to walk into air-conditioned buildings now.

I have just been reading some news stories about Toyota's problems, and I was wondering what you all think about them.

2010年2月12日

TITLE：Quotations

Hi team,

As you know, I am going to Vietnam on Sunday. I think I will be able to write comments while I am away, but I'm not sure whether I will have time to do a new entry, so I have decided to give you all a bit of homework to keep you occupied while I am away...

2010年1月25日

TITLE：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!)

2010年1月23日

TITLE：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.

2010年1月15日

TITLE：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.

2010年1月11日

TITLE：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?

2010年1月 4日

TITLE：Health and Safety

Hi Team,

Thanks for your comments. I hope you all had a good weekend.

As I mentioned in my last comment, I had some ideas last night while I was running for our seminar in May or June. The most difficult thing for me is knowing what level of learner to pitch it at. If I decide to do seminars as a business in the future, each one will be aimed at a particular level, but for the blog seminar, I guess there will be quite a mixture, so I have to try to cater for everybody.

2009年12月28日

TITLE：Reflections on 2009

Hi Team,

Well, it's that time of year again! Whenever we come to the end of a year, I like to take stock of the twelve months gone by and start planning for the next twelve. Actually, I like to go somewhere (usually a mountain) by myself on New Year's Eve and think about my plans for next year. I'm thinking of going to Sanage Yama near my house this year, but I'm not sure exactly where I will end up.

2009 was a big year for me. I had two major goals, and I think I achieved both of them.

2009年12月22日

TITLE：Another business idea

Hi everyone,

Sorry for the late posting. I was in Tokyo yesterday and Sunday, and I didn't get back to Seto until about 10.30 last night. I had five meetings with different people in different places yesterday, so all I wanted to do when I got home was go to bed! I love going to Tokyo, but I don't think I could ever live there. There are just too many people!

Thanks for all your comments about the seminar idea. It seems as though quite a few of you are interested in the idea of the experiment I suggested, so I will start thinking about how we could organize that. Actually, Tomo, would it be possible to use the hotel we stayed in for the last event? Maybe if a few of us were staying there they would let us use a meeting room for free?

Anyway, this week I wanted to tell you about another idea that I had. It's just an idea at the moment, and I don't know if it would really be worth doing or not, so I would love to hear what you think.

2009年12月18日

TITLE：Seminars (2)

Hi Team,

And a special 'hi' to all the newcomers. It's great to have you with us. I sometimes forget that there are lots of people who read the blog but don't make comments, so it is nice to hear from you from time to time.

And thanks for your comments about my Photoshop efforts. Actually, the Mashu island one is okay, but the ski one is really terrible because I was experimenting with lots of different correction tools. Anyway, I will show you something else after I have a bit more experience with the software.

Thanks also for all your comments about my seminar idea. Your feedback has given me a lot to think about, but I think I gave you the wrong impression about my plans, so let me explain a bit more.

2009年12月14日

TITLE：Seminars

Hi Team,

As you know, I have spent the last few days locked away in my guest bedroom (now converted to an office) trying to learn Photoshop. I'm still just trying to learn the most basic things, but here are some of the pictures I have been playing with. What do you think? The first photos are the 'befores', and the second ones are the 'afters'.

2009年11月24日

TITLE：Japanese Mothers and Sons

Hi Team,

Sorry about the late entry, but I didn't get back from Shizuoka until late last night, and I was teaching all afternoon today.

The conference was very interesting. As well as meeting potential customers, I spent a lot of time talking to other publishers and picking their brains about the publishing business. One British chap I met told me about an amazing website called "lynda.com" where they have fantastic instructional videos for any piece of software you can think of. I spend about an hour and a half in my hotel on Saturday night just watching the introduction to Photoshop!

Anyway, I think that this week's topic is also something I have mentioned before, but two things happened last week that made me think about it again.

2009年11月16日

TITLE：The Job Market in Japan

Hi Team,

(I can never decide whether 'team' should be capitalized or not, so please don't worry if it keeps changing. You could make an argument for both versions.)

I was reading an article earlier today about the job market in Japan. The article itself is quite interesting, but the comments from readers are even more interesting, and I would love to know what you all think about it.

A couple of years ago, I watched a programme on NHK where the heads of big companies were debating the problem of 若者不採用 with university teachers. The people from the companies were blaming the universities for not giving students the basic skills they will need in the workplace. I have to say that I agreed with most of what they were saying, even though I am a university teacher myself.

Anyway, please have a look at the article and the comments and let me know what you think.
http://www.japantoday.com/category/kuchikomi/view/new-graduates-face-gloomy-job-prospects

Bye for now,

David

2009年10月12日

TITLE：How to Win Friends and Influence People

Hi team,

(Thanks for the new story, Nao. I will give you feedback on this entry.)
Thanks for all your comments about the TED video. If you search through that library, there are lots of fantastic lectures by amazing people. It's a wonderful resource.

A few months ago, we talked about the book 'Outliers' by Malcolm Gladwell. Now that I have finished writing my PhD thesis, I am reading all kinds of interesting books that have nothing to do with language teaching. When I was in Hokkaido, I bought 'How to Win Friends and Influence People' by Dale Carnegie.

2009年10月 5日

TITLE：TED

Hi team,

Guess how much work I did this weekend? None! I did nothing at all! On Saturday, I got up really late and then went up to Gifu on my bike. Yesterday, I drove up to the Southern Alps in Shizuoka. The leaves are just starting to turn up there, and it was really pretty. It was further than I thought, though, and I ended up driving 530 kilometres just to ride my mountain bike for an hour and a half! Oh well, it was nice just being out in the country.

This week's topic is a conference called TED, which stands for Technology Entertainment Design.

2009年9月28日

TITLE：Nao's Challenge

Hi Team,

Maki - glad to hear you had fun in Taiwan. I used to have a Taiwanese girlfriend (a long time ago!), and I went there to visit her once. I loved it, and I hope to go back there someday.

As for your questions, "I never thought I would go there" is probably what you want to say, and with motorbikes, we don't use the word 'tandem'. (A tandem is a bicycle made for two people.) With motorbikes, we say 'ride pillion', or just 'ride on the back of a motorcycle'. I'm not sure about American English, but that's how we would say it in Britain.

Anyway, Nao is going to start her challenge this week, so let me explain what we are going to do...

2009年9月21日

TITLE：The Secret of Illusions

Hi team,

I see that you were having an interesting discussion about numbers on the last entry. 2010 would normally be two thousand ten (or two thousand and ten in British English), but if you were talking about the year, it would be okay to say 'twenty ten'. Incidentally, the problem of what to call this decade has still not been solved. We had the sixties, the seventies, the eighties, and the nineties, but the only suggestion I have heard for 2001-20010 is 'the noughties'. This is taken from 'nought', which means 'zero'. Have you heard any other ideas?

Last week, I found a really interesting video. I want to share it with you this week and find out if you have the same reaction as me...

2009年8月10日

TITLE：Noripi

Hi team,

Did you have a nice weekend? I went for a ride on Saturday afternoon, but I spent Saturday evening in my office. Yesterday, I finished my work quite early, so I went for a long walk on the 東海自然歩道, which runs near my house. It was nice, but I walked for about three hours, and I was very sweaty when I got back!

Hi Sisilemon. That is an interesting question. It is much easier to skim read in English even without the kanji because of the spaces between words. I think readers of Japanese need to look at the kanji to find the sections of the text, but in English, the spaces help us to break it up. There is also research to suggest that native speakers tend only to read the first and last few letters of each word. There was a funny email that got sent around the world a few years ago where all the middle letters of the words were rearranged, but it was still easy to read.

2009年8月 4日

TITLE：Pets

Hi team,

I am happy to report that I have solved my computer emergency. I don't know why, but a setting had changed in Microsoft Word that caused problems in another program I am using. Anyway, everything is back to normal now.

Did I mention last week that my parents' dog had died? She was very old, so it was not a shock, but it made me realize that pets are something we have never discussed here.

2009年7月27日

TITLE：Irritating English Phrases

Hi team,

Is it raining where you are? I'm guessing that it is, because according to the weather forecast I saw this morning, it's raining pretty much everywhere except Okinawa! It feels like being back in Britain, although it doesn't usually rain as hard as this in my country.

Actually, though, the rain is great for me because it means I am not tempted to go out on my bikes, so I can focus on work, which is exactly what I need to do at the moment. I'm planning to go to Hokkaido around the middle of August, so I want to get as much done as possible before I go.

2009年7月20日

TITLE：Stationery

Hi team,

How was your weekend? I spent the both days working, so I didn't get a chance to go out on my bikes at all. I haven't touched any of them for a while now - I think they are probably feeling a bit lonely and unloved. Anyway, I hope you had more fun this weekend than I did.

This week's topic is things that you love or get excited about even though most people are not interested in them at all. As you will have guessed from title of the entry, stationery is one of my favourite things, but I have absolutely no idea why. I love it all - pens, staplers, files, you name it! Yesterday, I went to the home centre because I needed some highlighter pens, and it was the best part of my weekend! (I bought a set of six different colours of highlighters, and I spent the rest of the day merrily highlighting everything I could find.)

2009年7月 6日

TITLE：The Power of the Internet

Hi team,

Did you have a good weekend? I worked on Saturday, but I went for a long ride on my bike yesterday. In the evening, I found some more bike racing on TV, and then I went for a run. All in all, it was a very relaxing weekend.

Today's topic may seem a bit strange to some of you because the power of the Internet is hardly a new topic, but I have only recently begun to realize how many things it can be used for.

2009年6月29日

TITLE：Michael Jackson

Hi team,

If you have been watching the news at all over the last few days, I'm sure you will have heard about the death of Michael Jackson. I was in high school when 'Thriller' came out, and I still remember the excitement of watching the video for the first time. I actually went to see him in concert in Liverpool a few years later. The show was fantastic, but the crowd was so big (around 150,000 people) that we spent most of the time just watching the big screens, and we couldn't really see him at all.

2009年6月26日

TITLE：Health Checks - Corrections

Hi team,

Thanks for sharing all your stories. Just to confirm, I agree that health checks are a good thing. My problem is with the idea of companies keeping the personal medical records of their employess, particularly when those employees do not have job security.

Actually, my mother had cancer last year, but because she picked it up early, the doctors were able to operate on it. She is okay at the moment, but she still has to wait another few years until the doctors will give her the all-clear.

Here are my comments on your comments ...

2009年6月22日

TITLE：Health Checks

Hi team,

Well, it's a very rainy Monday here in Seto, but that's good because it means I can work without being tempted to go out and play on my bikes or go for a walk in the mountains.

Hi Chiyo - are you Chiyo with the short hair from Hokkai, or a different Chiyo?

Hi Yumeko - nice to have you with us. I'm glad you like the books. If you actually do all the exercises in 'before/after', I think it will make a big difference to your English.

2009年6月19日

TITLE：The Weekend - Corrections

Hi team,

I'm glad you liked the picture of Oliver. I will show you some others when my brother sends them to me.

The topic of health checks is also very interesting - I think I will make that the topic for next week. The culture of health checks is another big difference between Japan and my country.

Anyway, here are my corrections for this week...

2009年6月15日

TITLE：The Weekend

Hi team,

Here is a picture that my brother sent me of my new nephew, aged three hours.

I must admit that all babies look the same to me, but my brother tells me that some people have said he looks like me! Anyway, I'm looking forward to meeing him later this year.

2009年6月 1日

TITLE：Konkatsu

Hi everyone,

Did you have a nice weekend? I was working again, but I managed to get out on my bike yesterday, and then I spent all evening watching bike racing on the television. The top class of bike racing was really boring last year, but it is much more interesting this season. One of the reasons is because all the riders have to use the same tyres now. Last year, it was a battle between Bridgestone and and the French company Michelin, but all the riders agreed that Bridgestone tyres were the best, so now everyone is using them.

Because I watch the bike racing on Sky, I can listen to the commentary in English. One of the commentators is great, but the other is an idiot. He keeps getting English expressions wrong, mixing up his words, and mispronouncing riders' names. He always calls the Japanese rider Yuki Takahashi 'Yuka' Takahashi! Yesterday, he made a sentence using the past participle of 'slide' as 'slidden'! (There is no such word in English.)

2008年12月 1日

TITLE：Irony and sarcasm

Hi team,

Did you all have a nice weekend? I went down to Ise for a short break. It was really nice because the weather was fantastic. I went by car, but I saw a lot of bikers, and I wished I had taken my BMW.

Anyway, I'm glad some of you have done your homework on George Bush. The two things he is most famous for are not knowing anything about the world outside America, and not being able to speak properly. The article I want to show you is making fun of the second of these things.

2008年7月12日

TITLE：今週のテーマ

今週のテーマは……

「ブレーンストーミング」（Brainstorming）です。バーカーさんがこの秋発売予定の新刊のタイトルについて、皆さんのご意見を募集中！　下のエントリーに続けてお聞かせください。

2008年7月 8日

TITLE：Brainstorming

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for all the comments. It is great to see the blog so lively!

I went to Tokyo yesterday, and I spent the whole day going over the manuscript with my editor. It's very long! One of the things we have to do very soon is decide the title of the book. This is a very difficult thing to do because the success of books often depends on whether people like the title or not. The title of my first book, 英語と仲直りできる本 was very popular, but actually, I hated it at first. I had many arguments about it with my editor, but in the end, I let him decide. And I'm glad I did, because when I went around visiting the bookshops, everybody said, このタイトルすごくいいですね！ I realized then that I do not have much sense when it comes to choosing Japanese book titles.

2008年6月16日

TITLE：Impossible Dreams

Hi Everyone,

Did you have a good weekend? I spent most of it working, but of course I was at home on Saturday night watching the finals of American Idol, and then again on Sunday to see the results show. the results show was fantastic, and they had some amazing guest stars, like ZZ Top, Bryan Adams, and Donna Summer. George Michael also came on to sing his new song, which was really moving. I'm sure it is going to be a big hit in the very near future.

As I said, I was working most of the weekend, but when I got bored, I took a break and played around with You Tube some more.

2008年6月13日

TITLE：Tokyo stabbings (2)

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for your comments. I was reading some more English news stories about the Akihabara incident, and there was a lot of talk about the fact that the guy had sent messages to internet sites telling people what he was going to do. I think that more than anything, he probably just wanted people to notice him. There is a saying in English, "The easiest way to become famous is to kill somebody famous."

2008年6月 9日

TITLE：Tokyo stabbings

Hi Everyone,

I think everyone in Japan is talking about the same story today. I saw it when I checked the news on the internet this morning. There have been a lot of stories about young people being killed with knives in the UK recently, but the Tokyo story was even more shocking because the guy just killed people at random. A few weeks ago, we discussed whether you can still say that Japan is a 'safe' place, and I think this incident shows that Japanese society is not as safe as it used to be.

2008年6月 6日

TITLE：Toru (2)

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for listening to the interview and asking Toru (sorry about the spelling!) so many questions. And thank you Toru for writing such long and detailed responses.
One thing Toru didn't mention was that he plays in the Nanzan University Orchestra. He is a multi-talented individual (and a really nice guy too.) I guess it must be difficult to move from one country to another when you are a child, but as Toru said, it was easier for him because he went to a high school where almost everyone was in the same situation.

Anyway, I will be back with a new topic on Monday, so have a great weekend, and see you soon.

2008年6月 2日

TITLE：Meet Tohru

Hi Everyone,

Did you have a nice weekend? I went for a long ride on my bike yesterday. It was nice, but it was a bit colder than I thought it was going to be.

This week, I want to introduce you to an ex-student of mine. His name is Tohru, and, as I told you last week, he has an unusual background. This is a recording of a very short interview I did with him today. If you have any questions for Tohru after you listen to it, please write them on the blog, and he will answer later this week.

Bye for now,

David
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2008年5月30日

TITLE：Big dreams and fantastic English

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Personally, I am a big dreamer - I always have been - but I sometimes feel jealous of friends who are really happy just living ordinary lives in the towns where they grew up. If I could have been satisfied doing that, my life would have been a lot easier! At the end of the day, all that really matters is being happy, and I feel envious of people who can find that happiness close to home.

This week, many of the comments were written by Tomo and Anne. Although the comments themselves were interesting (of course!), I must admit that I was thinking more about the English when I was reading them.

2008年5月26日

TITLE：Separate bedrooms

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for your comments, and I hope you liked the video of Jason Castro. I watched American Idol again on Saturday night. It's still interesting, but now that I know who is going to win, it is not quite as exciting as it used to be.
I got up early this morning and went for a ride on my bicycle. I rode about 50km, which I haven't done for a long time, so I think my legs are going to be a bit sore tomorrow! I worked Saturday and Sunday because it was raining, so I am having today as my day off. After I finish writing this, I'm going home to get my bike, and then I'm going out for a long ride on that. It will be nice to have an engine for the hills!

2008年5月23日

TITLE：Japanese Family Life (2)

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for your comments. I agree that it is not a good idea to trust figures produced by surveys unless you know exactly how the surveys were conducted, but I still think this topic makes an interesting talking point. The idea of couples sleeping in different bedrooms is a very interesting example of cultural differences. I remember being really shocked by this when I first heard a Japanese friend say that he slept in a different bedroom from his wife.

2008年5月19日

TITLE：Japanese family life

Hi Everyone,

Did you have a nice weekend? I had a great biking day yesterday. I got up at 5 A.M. and went for a ride on my Suzuki with my British friend Tony. We went up to Gifu and rode some fantastic roads. I got back to Seto at about 11, had lunch, and then went to the trial practice course in Toyota. I haven't been riding my trials bike much recently, so I was very out of practice, but I had a lot of fun. In the evening, I spent 2 hours sitting on my sofa watching the World Superbikes race, and then I set the video to record the MotoGP race later on. I watched the main race this morning, and I'm going to watch the other races tonight.

2008年5月13日

TITLE：The Bucket List

Hi Everyone,

Sorry I didn't do a new entry yesterday, but I decided to have a day off work. I went to an Onsen in Nagano, and then in the evening, I went to watch a movie called The Bucket List. It's a story about two old men who find out that they only have six months to live and decide to make a list of all the things they want to do before they die. In English, people sometimes use the expression 'kick the bucket' to mean 'die' (I don't know where this expression comes from), so that is why the movie is called The Bucket List - a list of things to do before you kick the bucket.

2008年4月15日

TITLE：Language and culture

Hi Everyone,

I see you have been having a very interesting discussion about names. I don't think that Chinese and Korean names are the same as Japanese names, because Chinese and Japanese people often want English speakers to call them just by their family names - Li, Kim etc. With Chinese and Korean names, the family names are usually much shorter than the first names, and therefore easier to pronounce for English speakers. The Korean and Chinese students I have taught usually just use their family names as their English names because they get tired of correcting people's bad pronunciation of their first names!

In Japanese, the first name is usually just as easy (or easier) to pronounce as the family name, so it makes more sense to use that when talking to someone from a culture where people usually call each other by their first names. As somebody said, however, it is really up to you which way around you say your name as long as you tell people what they should call you. Remember, though, that Western people will feel that they are being rude if they know that they are calling you just by your family name without 'Mr' or 'Ms'.

2008年4月11日

TITLE：Nice stories and waterfalls

Hi Everyone,

Happy birthday Amica. I hope you had a wonderful day.

I'm glad you all liked the stories. My favourite is number 1 (the cleaning lady's name) because I think it is the one that is closest to our daily life. The other stories are nice, but I don't think they have much of a connection with my everyday life. Actually, when I was in the police, everyone used to talk to the cleaning ladies because they were the ones who had the most information!

2008年4月 7日

TITLE：How we treat people

Hi Everyone,

Did you have a nice weekend? I went out on my bike on Saturday and Sunday. The weather was great, and it was nice to see so many bikes on the road again. It made me feel like spring has really arrived. On Sunday, I went back to the spot I told you about last week, and I found my waterfall again. I will show you the pictures next time.

Recently, someone sent me an email that has been going around for a long time. It is a series of five short stories about how we treat people. I thought it would be an interesting topic for this week. Have a look at the stories, and if there is anything you do not understand, post a question, and someone will help you. When you have read all the stories, please tell us which one you liked the most and why. I'll tell you what I think on Friday.

2008年4月 1日

TITLE：…に弱い

Hi Everyone,

Well, it was very short, but I enjoyed my spring vacation. I went for a long ride on my bike on Saturday. It was nice, but it wasn't as warm as I thought it would be, and I didn't wear the right clothes, so I was cold the whole time. Tomo - are you really going to have your own blog? I think that is a great idea! Will it be in English or Japanese? And please say congratulations to your husband from me. What kind of bike is he going to get?

I have two things to talk about today:

2008年3月17日

TITLE：risk

Hi Everyone,

Did you enjoy the weekend? Now that I have a bit more free time, I was able to get out on my BMW on Saturday and my trials bike on Sunday. We had beautiful weather both days, and it felt wonderful to be away from work and the new book. I had a bit of a disagreement with a tree on Sunday which left my leg quite badly bruised and my bike needing a new footpeg, but it was still great fun.

Hi Alice - I didn't realize you were so young! I think it's great that you are brave enough to write comments in a foreign language. I could never have done that when I was your age. And Tomo - what is ５月病？ Whatever it is, I hope you are feeling better. The blog community needs you!

2008年3月 3日

TITLE：Bridgend

Hi Everyone,

Did you have a nice weekend? I was working most of yesterday, but I managed to get out on my bike for about two hours. The weather is definitely getting warmer, and I'm really starting to look forward to doing some serious touring in the spring.

Anyway, I have some good news and some bad news about this week's topic. First, the good news.

2007年11月26日

TITLE：Jokes (1)

Hi Everyone,

Did you have a nice weekend? I was working on Saturday, but I went to Suzuka yesterday. There were a lot of bikes on the track, and I wasn't able to get anywhere near my best time, but it was a lot of fun because the weather was so good. (And I didn't have any dangerous moments!)

After our serious discussion of religion (by the way - Tomo, keep watching that programme. It gets much better in the last few chapters), I thought it might be good to change the mood and talk about humour, especially jokes.

2007年11月12日

TITLE：Flow

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for all your contributions to the debate about religion. Whatever you think, I just wanted you all to know that it is currently a very hot topic in many parts of the world. Some people say that Japan is not really a 'debate' culture, and that Japanese people place much more importance on agreement and the harmony of the group. I'm not sure if that is always true, but anyway, it was fun to have a real debate about an important topic with you all. Actually, when we were talking about the Jehovah's Witness and her babies, I remembered that Blue Dream said she was going into hospital to have hers soon. I hope everything is going okay for her. Anyway, this week, let's talk about an easier topic - one that I think you will find it much easier to talk about.

2007年11月 7日

TITLE：Jehovah's Witnesses

Hi Everyone,

It is nice to see some of the old regulars joining us again. Coincidentally, just as we were talking about religion, the problems of religious faith have been big news in the U.K this week. Have you heard of the group 'Jehovah's Witnesses'? They are well-known in Britain for going round to people's houses and trying to teach them about God. Apparently, Venus and Serena Williams (the tennis players) and Michael Jackson are members of this religion. I don't know much about them, but they are one of the many different types of Christian groups. One of their beliefs is that it is a sin to give or receive blood, and many of them have died in hospitals even though they could have been saved because they refused a blood transfusion.

2007年11月 2日

TITLE：Religion (2)

Hi Team,

Thanks for your comments on a very difficult topic. Some of you made the point that people should be free to believe whatever they want. What Richard Dawkins and people like him are saying is that it is wrong to teach children that they should believe something just because their parents do, and it is wrong to teach them to believe something when there is no evidence that it is true. I know that religion in Japan is a very private thing, and actually, I'm not sure whether Buddhism is really a religion in the same way that Christianity and Islam are. (I mean that in a good way!) I think in many ways, Buddhism is closer to a philosophy than a religion. As far as I understand it, the main idea in Buddhism is that you must find answers to the most important questions in life by yourself. In the other religions, you are told what the answers are, and you are taught that if you question them you will go to hell!

2007年10月29日

TITLE：The aetheist revolution

Hi Everyone,

And welcome Asa and Ru. Nice to have you with us. Thanks for sharing all the proverbs and your ideas. Actually, I never really learned any Japanese proverbs, so if there are any you think I should know, please put them on the blog. Yesterday, I went on another long ride on my new bike. This time, I went up to Chausu Kogen (the west part of Aichi). The koyo has really got going up there, and it was incredibly beautiful. There is a viewing point from which you can see up to the Alps in Nagano. I got there at sunset, and the sky was pink, the mountains in the distance tipped with white, and the trees below below blazing with reds and oranges and yellows. I didn't take a picture because it was too dark, and also, I think it was just too 'big' for a photograph. Do you understand what I mean?

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2007年9月14日

TITLE：NEETs

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Hi Everyone,

Thanks for sharing your ideas and thoughts about NEETS. I didn't know it was such a big topic in Japan. As I have said before, I think it is a problem for some Japanese people that everyone is expected to be the same. People who feel they are different from those around them, or people who want to have a different kind of life from those around them have a hard time in Japan. Japan is a wonderful place to grow up and live if you are 'normal', but it is not such a good place for people who are 'different' in some way.

I was listening to a radio programme on the BBC the other day about the country that has the best education system in the world. Do you know which country it is? I didn't either, but apparently it is Finland.

2007年7月30日

TITLE：Japanese Universities (1)

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for all the suggestions. I had forgotten about The Shawshank Redemption, but I agree that is was one of the best films ever made. I think I cried when I saw it!

When I think of new topics for this blog, I like to focus on things that I have been thinking about recently. Last week was our test week at Nanzan, and, as happens every year, I have been thinking a lot about the differences between universities in my country and universities in Japan.

I have often heard people say that it is very difficult to get in to universities in Japan, but very easy to graduate. I am always surprised by how little students in Japan study and how much time they spend doing part-time jobs and club activities.

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2007年7月23日

TITLE：Books and films (1)

Hi Everyone,

Well, summer has arrived in Seto! It's really hot today, and I had to have the air conditioning on in my bedroom last night.

I wanted to go out on my bike today, but I couldn't because I had too much work to do. Actually, when you have to work, it's better to have rainy weather because you don't feel like you are missing anything.

I noticed that a lot of you were talking about books and films ('film' is British English for 'movie') last week, so I thought it would be nice to have a week of giving each other ideas about what to watch and read. Of course, these can be Japanese or English. I will tell you about some of the things I have read and seen recently.

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2007年7月20日

TITLE：Magic Moments (2)

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for sharing your 'magic moments'. I am not a parent, so I can't comment on the feeling of seeing your own child, but I think that really happy people are the ones who can find 'magic moments' all the time in their everyday lives.

I have had a really busy week this week, and now I have to rush off to the bike shop to get some new tyres on my bike before I go to Suzuka tomorrow. お母さんが読んでいるかもしれないから英語でかけないけど、明日は事故以、来初めての走行（隣さんも）になるので、楽しみにしているような、緊張しているような気持ちです。でも、事故はもうほとんど忘れているし、体は完全に治っているので、きっと大丈夫だと思います。

Anyway, let's keep the theme of magic moments going over the weekend. I'm sure that a lot of people still have stories to share! Next week is our test week at university, so it's going to be another busy one. The week after that, I will still have lots of work to do, but then I will be heading back to the UK, and I will have a week off to visit friends before I have to go to university.

Before I finish, let me share one other magic moment with you.

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2007年7月16日

TITLE：Magic Moments (1)

Hi Team,

How was your weekend? We had a party at my house on Saturday night with Tonari san and some other bike friends, and Waka and her friends. It was a lot of fun. They made tons of food, so I don't have to worry about making lunch this week.

I don't have much time to write today because I have started testing my students, and I have a lot of papers to mark. It's going to be another very busy week. Anyway, we started talking about diving a bit last week, and that made me think of a magic moment I had when I was diving in Malaysia...

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2007年7月 9日

TITLE：Relaxing (1)

Hi Team,

Did you have a good weekend? I went out on my trial bike yesterday, and I almost did manage to get lost! I also had a lucky escape. I packed all my stuff in my van and drove up to the forest, but when I got there, I realized that I had forgotten my leg protectors. I thought about just riding without them and taking care, but I decided I should drive home and get them. That turned out to be a very good decision. Later, when I was riding through some tall grass, I didn’t see a concrete post and it hit my leg just below the knee really hard. If I hadn’t been wearing my protectors, I think it would have broken my bone, but because I had them on, it didn’t hurt at all. So how did I get lost? I started off down a track I know, but I went a long way, and ended up somewhere I had never been before. The trail was really interesting and quite challenging, so I was just focussing on moving forward all the time. I started getting a bit worried because I had no idea where I was, but I had a feeling that I was going around in a big circle, so I kept going. Sure enough, I came out exactly where I started! My mother always used to say that I have no sense of direction, but it was certainly working for me yesterday.

Anyway, I think we have had enough heavy discussions recently, so let’s talk about Panda’s suggested topic.

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2007年7月 6日

TITLE：Smoking (2)

Hi Team,

Our discussion this week seems to have moved away from just smoking. Now we are talking about all drugs. I think that is a good thing, because many Japanese people have a very poor understanding of what is a drug and what is not a drug. Basically, a drug is any substance which creates a chemical change in your brain. Whether you like them or not, tobacco and alcohol are both drugs and both can be very addictive. (依存性がある). Actually, one of the most addictive drugs is caffeine. I’m sure those of you who drink a lot of coffee would notice some changes in your body if you stopped drinking it for a day. If you visit a 精神科 at a Japanese hospital, you will see many, many people who are addicted to alcohol. These people have often lost their jobs and hurt their families because of their drinking.
I am not trying to say, of course, that alcohol is always a bad thing. All I am saying is that it is a dangerous drug that needs to be used carefully. As I was running this morning, I remembered something that (I think!) was said by George Harrison of the Beatles. (Or maybe it was John Lennon?)
“There are no good or bad drugs, just good or bad relationships with drugs.”

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(I have tried to speak a bit more slowly today!)

2007年7月 2日

TITLE：Smoking

Hi Team,

Well, here we are in July already. I’m going back to the UK for two weeks in August, so that is only about a month away now. I haven’t seen my family or friends for two years, so I’m looking forward to that. Blue Dream – most grammar books give the rules you quoted, but it is quite natural to say ‘Tonari san said he will be…’. You will just have to trust me!

Anyway, I suspect that when I said I wanted to talk about a big news story in Britain, many of you thought I was going to talk about terrorist attacks. Actually, what I want to talk about is a new law that came into force from 6 a.m. yesterday in England, and which was already in force in other parts of the UK.

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2007年6月22日

TITLE：Accidents and Injuries (2)

Hi Team,

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Thanks for sharing all your stories again. I hope you found the re-writing useful. Anne asked about the phrase ‘without slowing down the speed’. In English, you don’t need to say ‘the speed’ – just ‘without slowing down’ will do. Actually, Japanese learners of English often say more than is necessary in English. One very common mistake is ‘black colour’, ‘red colour’, etc. In English, we don’t say ‘colour’ because everyone knows that ‘black’ or ‘red’ are colours. We just say, ‘It is red’ or ‘It is black’.
Hi Amica. Good to have you with us. I’m glad my books helped you to get started with your English studies again. I guessed that you were a singer because you said that you had learned about Italian pronunciation. I sing and play the piano as well, but I am really terrible at both. Perhaps you can teach me some day.

2007年6月18日

TITLE：Injuries and accidents

Hi Team,

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Did you enjoy the weekend? I was working both days, but I went out on my bike for a couple of hours yesterday evening. I have just bought a book about techniques for racers, so I’m itching to get back on the circuit again.
I just read Tomo and Anne’s challenge reports. It is really interesting for me to see what you pick up from the book. Like Tomo said, sometimes it is surprising how easy it is to say things in English. I really believe that this kind of study is the most effective for Japanese people who have studied English but can’t use it. I hope lots more people will buy the book and actually try the tasks.
Anyway, here is my idea for today’s topic…

2007年6月15日

TITLE：Dreams (2)

Hi Team,

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Thanks for sharing all your dream stories. I guess nobody really understands why we dream or what our dreams mean. When I was a child, I remember someone saying to me, “How do you know that dreams are really dreams? Maybe the dreams are your real life, and the time you think you are awake is actually a dream.” Wouldn’t it be interesting if that were true! Sometimes my dreams seem so real that I am really surprised when I wake up. One of my worst nightmares is a dream that I am on my way to my own wedding, but I don’t want to get married. I feel completely helpless because I have to get married and I can’t run away. I have had this dream about 3 or 4 times, and I always wake up sweating and frightened, but I feel so happy when I realize it was just a dream. Maybe that is why I have never got married!

2007年6月11日

TITLE：Dreams (1)

Hi Team,

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Did you have a good weekend? I went to Suzuka yesterday to watch the 300km race. The winning team was a Japanese rider and a British rider, but I had never heard of the British guy before. Anyway, I’m excited about riding again and I want to get a new bike as soon as possible. I have still not completely recovered from my cold, but I am feeling a lot better now. I ran this morning, and it wasn’t too hard. (I ran on Thursday and Friday last week as well, and that was horrible!) I hope I will be back to 100% fitness in the near future. I decided that the topic for this week is going to be ‘dreams’, but I don’t mean dreams as in ‘what is your dream for the future?’…

2007年6月 8日

TITLE：Omiai (2)

Hi Team,

I thought I was getting better yesterday, but then I couldn’t sleep at all last night and I feel terrible again today. I’m not going to do a recording for this entry because my throat is very sore and my voice sounds strange. Luckily, I don’t have any classes today, so I am just working quietly in my office. I don’t run or train at weekends, so I can relax tomorrow. On Sunday, I am going to Suzuka to watch some racing. A guy from Tonari san’s company (Okamura san) is racing in the 600 class (he is very fast), and then in the afternoon, we will all be watching the 300km endurance race. This race is for teams to prepare for 8 tai, so there will be a lot of top riders there. I’m looking forward to that.

2007年6月 4日

TITLE：Omiai

Hi Team, .

Did you all enjoy the weekend? My neck is still a bit painful today, but I was able to run and do my training this morning, so it can’t be anything too serious. I definitely need to find a safer hobby though! I went out with Tonari san on Saturday night and tried to persuade him to write a comment here. He said that he checks the blog sometimes, but he doesn’t know what to write. I hope he will post a comment sometime soon. Anyway, here is my idea for this week’s topic…

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2007年6月 1日

TITLE：The JET programme III

Hi Team,

I’m glad you found the explanation about ‘same-way’ tag questions useful. Thanks to Anne for the other examples. Blue Dream – I think your friend probably said, “Oh, you are spoiling me!” And to answer your other question:
If you got a fantastic present that doesn’t deserve you→a fantastic present that you didn’t deserve.

Well, we had an interesting discussion about the JET programme this week, didn’t we?

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