①「洗面台の水切りにご利用ください」“Please use to wipe out for sink” ← この英語をどのように修正しますか?

②「水切りにどうぞ」”Wipe Out” ← こちらはどうですか?

※ Wipe out (v) = to fall over or off a vehicle; to destroy completely

※ Wipe out (動詞) = 転ぶ・乗り物から落ちる、もしくは, 全滅させる

①正しい英語は: Please use to wipe around the sink. / Please use to wipe water around the sink.

②正しい英語は: Use for wiping water.

* ちなみに、この道具は “squeegee“と言います。

It’s WINTER in Japan!

In English, there are a few different ways to express how cold it is, from a little cold to very cold. We wanted to share these phrases with you so that you can use them in conversations for the next couple of months. Try them out!

Keep in mind that everyone may have a different idea of how cold it is. What is chilly to one person, may be freezing to another. To give you an example, I’m from Hawaii so I think anything below 10 degrees Celsius is freezing! People from Alaska might think it’s just chilly or even warm!

Chilly (adj) → It’s chilly.
Cold (adj) → It’s cold.
Freezing (adj) → It’s freezing.

 

“Your cheek might drop” =「ほっぺたが落ちるほどうまい」という意味で書いたと思いますが、英語では全く意味不明です。日本語のことわざを直訳するのも面白いかもしれませんが、会話で使っても通じませんのでご注意!

 

Before, I wrote about the word 困る and explained that there is no one word in English that has the same meaning. You have to change your sentence depending on the situation. This time I would like to talk about a similar word, which is “悩む”. In a Japanese-English dictionary, this one has over 250 applicable translations! Again, it depends on the situation.

 

Here are some commonly used phrases:

  • The person is thinking about it
  • The person hasn’t decided
  • The person doesn’t know what to (verb)

 

Now let’s look at some examples for the phrases above.

  • The person is thinking about it
    • I got three different job offers but I’m still thinking about which one to accept.
  • The person hasn’t decided
    • He hasn’t decided whether he should go to Europe or Africa for his graduation trip.
  • The person doesn’t know what to (verb)
    • My friend doesn’t know what to get her father for his 60th birthday.

 

Again, if you have a question about a specific situation and want to know what word or phrase is best, leave us a comment in English or Japanese and we’ll get back to you!

“The key to realizing a dream is to focus on success but significance!”
↑ ここには小さな(ただしすごく文章の意味を変える)言葉が一個抜けています。わかりますか?

正しい英語は:
The key to realizing a dream is to focus NOT on success but significance!

Created by Freepik

There are some Japanese words and phrases that don’t have a simple one word English translation, and vice-versa. For example, お疲れさまです、よろしくお願いします、爽やか、悩む、etc. The word that I’d like to talk about today is “困る” because this word comes up at least once or twice a day in my lessons.

 

In Japanese, the word 困る can be used in many situations. In English, you have to explain the situation and use a word or phrase that matches that particular situation. Often, my students say “He / She is troubled.” or “He / She is confused.”, and although I can kind of understand what they want to say, it’s not natural. If you look up 困る in a Japanese-English dictionary, you will get over 60 different results because it all depends on the situation.

 

Some commonly used phrases are:

  • The person is in trouble
  • The person is having trouble / difficulty
  • The person doesn’t know what / how to (verb)

 

Now let’s look at some examples for the phrases above.

  • The person is in trouble
    • When I was driving on the highway, I saw a man on the side of the road with his car. His car had a flat tire. He seemed to be in trouble so I pulled over to help him.
  • The person is having trouble / difficulty
    • My coworker was having trouble / difficulty with the printer at work today, so I offered to help him.
  • The person doesn’t know what / how to (verb)
    • I need to get home but all of the trains have stopped because of the snow and I don’t know what to do.
    • A tourist approached me in the train station and asked me questions in German. I don’t speak German so I couldn’t understand what he was saying and didn’t know how to help him.

 

If you have a question about a specific situation and want to know what to say, leave us a comment in English or Japanese and we’ll get back to you!

It’s RAINY SEASON in Japan!

Although weather forecasts and reports have predicted that we will have a dry rainy season this year, we thought these phrases might still be useful and wanted to share them with you. Please try to use them in conversations!

Drizzle (動) → It’s drizzling.
Rain (動) → It’s raining.
Pour (動) → It’s pouring.

※ It’s raining cats and dogs! = It’s pouring. = It’s raining very hard.

※ It’s really coming down! = It’s pouring. = It’s raining very hard.

Cloudy (形) → It’s so cloudy and dark.
Windy (形) → It’s windy. The sand is blowing into my eyes!
Foggy (形) → It’s so foggy. I can’t see anything!

 

Fahrenheit, C, Temperature, The Air

It’s almost 30 degrees today. It’s hot.
Tonight will be about 17 degrees so it might be a bit chilly.
It will be 18 degrees Celsius (65 degrees Fahrenheit) on Wednesday evening.

 

Boy in Blue Jacket Hopping on Water PuddleFree stock photo of woman, girl, dancing, hairstyle

I love playing in water puddles and dancing in the rain. How about you?

“Turn to right after finished paper”
“Lever not turn when paper remains”
↑ この英語をどのように修正しますか?

正しい英語は:
Turn (the dial) to the right if the toilet paper roll is empty
The dial will not turn if there is toilet paper remaining

ただし、スペースが限られているのでもう少し短く書くとしたら:
Turn right if empty
Dial won’t turn if toilet paper remaining

最近急に暖かくなり、アレルギーにやられている人や風邪気味の人が多いです。
ここで、喉や鼻が痛いまで行かないけど、「なんか変な感じがする・ムズムズする・イライラする」と言いたい時には “feels funny” を使ってみましょう。

– My throat feels funny.
– My ears feel funny.
– My stomach feels funny.

こういう相手には “Take care!・お大事に!”と言ってあげてください。

もっと詳しく色々な「痛み」の表現を知りたい方はこちらまで!
https://gengolingo.com/teachers-diary-ouch/

Allergy, Cold, Disease, Flu, Girl

※ナチュラル英語

日本語の「〜が苦手」は便利な言葉で 上手くない 好きじゃない、どっちの意味を表現したい時に使えますよね。英語ではそれぞれ違うフレーズがありますので、気をつけましょう。 “not good at” は上手じゃないという意味を持つので、好きじゃないと表現したい時に使うと変な文章になってしまいます。例えば “I’m not good at celery.” = 私はセロリが上手じゃない。相手がなぜ困った顔するのかわかりますよね!

(X) I’m not good at coriander. / I’m bad at coriander.I don’t like coriander. = 私はパクチーが苦手です。

(X) He is not good at heights. / He is bad at heights.He doesn’t like heights. / He doesn’t do well with heights. = 彼は高所恐怖症です。

 

(O) I’m not good at singing. = 私は歌が苦手・下手です。

(O) She is bad / terrible at cooking. = 彼女は料理が苦手・下手です。

(O) He doesn’t like snakes. = 彼は蛇が苦手・嫌いです。

(O) My friends from Hawaii don’t do well with cold weather. = 私のハワイ出身の友だちは寒いのが苦手・好きじゃないです。

 

(O) I suck at bowling. = 私はボーリングが苦手・下手です。

(O) My uncle is the worst at driving.  = 私のおじさんは運転が苦手・下手です。

(O) She’s not a fan of bananas. = 彼女はバナナが苦手・好きじゃない。

(O) Natto is not my thing.  = 私は納豆が苦手・好きじゃないです。

As an English teacher, I correct this mistake EVERY SINGLE DAY. I’m not joking. It is one of, if not the most, common mistake made by students in Japan.

Almost is used when talking about approximation, while Most references majority.

殆どの〜」と言いたい時に “almost” を使うのは間違いです。 “Almost people” = もう少しで人、と言うことは猿?! 違いますよね。こういう時は “most” を使いましょう。

ほぼ」と言いたい時に “almost” を使うのも間違いです。 “I almost eat soba for lunch.” = 昼食はもう少しでお蕎麦を食べています。意味が不明ですよね。こういう時は  “mostly” を使いましょう。

 

(X) Almost Japanese food is healthy.Most Japanese food is healthy. = 殆どの和食はヘルシーです。

(X) She finished almost her homework.She finished most of her homework. = 彼女は宿題を殆ど終わらせました。

 

(X) I almost stayed at home this past weekend.I mostly stayed at home this past weekend. = 先週末はほぼ家にいました。

(X) He almost eats pistachio ice cream for dessert.He mostly eats pistachio ice cream for dessert. = 彼はデザートの時には大体ピスタチオアイスクリームを食べます。

 

(O) He’s almost done with work for today. = 彼は今日の仕事はもう少しで終わります。

(O) I almost missed my train this morning. = 私は今朝もう少しで電車に乗り遅れるところでした。

(O) It’s almost midnight. = あともう少しで夜中の12時です。

(O) She is almost 30 years old. = 彼女はもう少しで30歳になります。

 

(O) Most people from the Netherlands are very tall. = 殆どのオランダ人は背が高いです。

(O) I was able to see most of Malaysia during my trip. = 旅行でマレーシアの殆どを見れました。

(O) He spent most of his childhood in Zimbabwe. = 彼は幼年時代の大半はジンバブエに住んでいました。

(O) It was the most beautiful flower I’ve ever seen. = 今まで見てきた花の中で一番素敵でした。

 

※ “Almost all” を “most” の代わりに使うこともできます。

(O) Almost all Japanese food is healthy. = 殆どの和食はヘルシーです。

(O) She finished almost all of her homework. = 彼女は宿題を殆ど終わらせました。

辞書で調べてみるとわかりますが “miss” にはとってもたくさんな使い方があります。上記の表には一番よく使われている意味をまとめました。

Miss” を動詞として使う時には一般的な「失敗をした」と言う意味では使えません。

(X) I missed at work today.I made a mistake at work today. = 今日仕事で失敗をしてしまった。

(X) I missed on the exam.I made a mistake on the exam. = 試験で間違いをしてしまった。

(O) I missed a great opportunity. = 最高な機会を逃した。

(O) I missed my train. = 電車を乗り遅れた。

(O) I missed a spot when washing my car. = 車を洗った時に一箇所見落としてしまった。

(O) I miss my dog. = 犬が恋しい。

Mistake” は過去形の動詞として使うときはそのままでは使えません。

(X) I mistaked the time of my appointment.I mistook the time of my appointment. = 予約の時間を間違えました。

(O) I’m sorry Ron, I thought your name was Bob. I was mistaken. = Ronさんごめんなさい。あなたの名前はBobだと思っていました。私の間違いです。

(O) There is no mistaking the smell of blue cheese. = ブルーチーズの匂いを間違えることはありません。

¡Hola Gengo Lingo world! Welcome to the [Miss Mistakes] blog series. Can you guess where the name comes from? Students often confuse the word “miss” with “make a mistake.” Teachers often hear things like, “I missed at work today.” The correct sentence should be, “I made a mistake at work today.” In this series, we will cover commonly made mistakes and explain the correction. Languages can be confusing because sometimes the same word has different meanings and usages. The word “miss” is a good example. For the name of this series, we are using “miss” as a courtesy title (i.e. Ms.) – a play on words. Please share any common English mistakes that you know of in the comments! Enjoy!!!

Gengo Lingoの皆さま、元気ですか?新ブログシリーズ「ミス・ミステークス」を紹介したいと思います。このタイトルの意味はわかりますか?生徒さんはよく「ミス」と「間違い」を勘違いします。「今日仕事でミスをしてしまった。」と言いたい時に “mistake” ではなく “miss” を使ってしまう。このシリーズではよく間違えられるミスを紹介し、正しい単語や表現を説明します。言語は難しいけど面白いですね。日本語もそうですけど、同じ言葉でも意味がいっぱいあって使う場も違う。英語の「ミス」はこの一つです。タイトルはワードプレイで “miss” を敬称として使っています。皆さんのよくある英語の「ミス」をシェアしてください!一緒に「ミス」して、一緒に勉強しましょう。お待ちしています!

“thunder” (名) = 雷(音)
“lightning” (名) = 稲光・雷(光)
“lightning bolt” (名) = 稲妻
“astraphobia” (名) ・”astraphobic” (形) = 雷恐怖症

I love thunderstorms, especially if there are lightning bolts… but only if I’m in a safe place. I think they are beautiful and almost magical.

Did you know that you can calculate how far you are from a storm by watching lightning and listening for thunder? After you see a flash of lightning, count the number of seconds until you hear thunder. Every three seconds means the storm is roughly one kilometer away. Divide the number of seconds by three to get the number of kilometers.
(For example: 30 seconds / 3 = 10 kilometers)

Just a few moments ago I saw lightning and heard thunder immediately. The thunder was so incredibly loud that it made me jump! The storm was right over me! Good thing I’m not astraphobic!

このお話わかりましたか? よかったら上記の計算式を使って自分と嵐の距離を計算してみてください。安全第一なので、皆さんも気をつけてくださいね!