Columns

Speak before thinking 18th Feb 2005
Perhaps, most of Japanese think a lot and speak little. We cannot help it because the structure is other way round. Concerning about adjective, unlike many other European languages the order is the same as adjective followed by noun. But, many other points are opposite, like the usage of 'of,' the place of adverb and the order of verb and object.

What happens here is we have to bring some words back to first as our brains firstly indicate words which should come later in English. This isn't easy at all. After all, we have to think a lot and our response gets late, then it's no longer natural.

The only way to get out of this cage is to stop translating. Ordinarily, when you see an image, unconciously you think some words in Japanese. Then, you try to translate it into English. However, it takes long as I said. Therefore, in order to speak naturaly, you should translate the image directly into English not through Japanese. In that extent, you must understand the characteristic of English. In my opinion, English is a visual and graphical language particularly represented by preposition such as 'up' 'down' 'in' 'on' 'to' 'into'.... etc. They are based on movements so what you can do is understanding the general idea not remembering every single phrase. If you figure it out, I think you would be able to speak before thinking.

Luckily, English is a suitable language to speak before thinking. At least, better than Japanese. If you listen to a native speaker's talk carefully, you may find they put important things at near the end of a sentence and also add further information over and over. It is possible because of the linguistic structure. You can start talking by subject like "I..." "You...", which is much easier than Japanese. It's easy to say simple words first and specify later. Then, it can follow like when, where, how and so on. For another, I showed a phrase 'in terms of', which is really useful to put something behind.

As far as I'm concerned, it's difficult to acquire the ability in Japan simply because the life goes in Japanese. Somebody says, there is no need to learn English overseas. It might be possible to get a beautiful pronunciation but I don't think you would become to think in English. Unless you're in English all the time, your brain is unlikely to change.
For smooth conversation 13th Jan 2005
There are several reasons to make your English sound strange even if it is grammatically correct. In my opinion, one of the main reasons is lack of phrases which do not have significant meanings but somehow indicate your feelings or thoughts filling the blanks on your conversation.

Look at the sentences above. The phrases, 'in my opinion' and 'somehow' take the role. The sentences make sense without these phrases but particularly in speaking it does make a difference.

Firstly, I'll show some very common phrases which are easy for us to use.
- Well, You know, I mean, I don't know but, Basically

You can use these phrases without adding any particular meanings. In other words, just for spending time to think about what to speak next. Mind you, you have to be really careful not to use them too much. Once you start using, you may not be able to stop it.

Then, we also have other connecting phrases showing some introduction to what you're saying.
- Anyway, Actually, In fact, To be honest, To tell the truth, Frankly

To draw an attention, you could declare that you are going to say something important.
- Now, I'll tell you, Let me say something

Giving your opinion, there're lots of phrases which should be very useful in a debate and a discussion.
- I think, I believe, I suppose, I guess, As far as I'm concerned, In my opinion, The point is, I'm saying, I'm afraid, I would suggest, Maybe wrong but, Maybe you're right but, I accept that but

Other useful adverbs are
- perhaps, probably, presumably, possibly, hopefully, simply, purely, not necessarily, exactly, certainly, precisely, naturally, apparently, obviously,

You may also be ablet to put some phrases at the end of your sentence.
- anyway, if you like, shall I say, or something (like that), or whatever

Hopefully, I will show more details in Words or Phrases.
Wonderful country, England 6th Dec 2004
I'm not saying England is a wonderful country, but in English there're a lot of expressions like wonderful. (I'm not saying England is not wonderful... I mean, in some senses, such as trains, customer services, etc it is not necessarily very nice.)

I try to make a list of 'wonderful' words and sort it out with the degree of its nuance, but, I'm not a certain if it's really correct. In some contexts you may not use some of them, for instance, outstanding is tend to be used for performance not likely for appearance and taste. The nuance could change by tone of voice.

Mild
- good, nice, lovely
Strong
- brilliant, wonderful, amazing, fantastic, excellent, remarkable, marvelous
Very strong
- exquisite, fabulous, superb, incredible, magnificent, splendid, gorgeous, terrific, outstanding, breath-taking, mind-blowing, mind-boggling

In Japanese, I think there are just few words commonly used which represent 'wonderful'. There must be a cultural difference. It seems that to praise others with extraordinary strong expressions is not very nice in Japan. In England, people tend to use strong approval without hesitation and regard such attitude as a polite way.
Is English important ? 3rd Nov 2004
I don't hesitate to answer 'Yes', and yet, I would say, English is not everything. I believe the ability of English can make sense so long as you have got another professional skill, like engineering to me.

My confidence about it became strong when I saw an interview with Jackie Chan on TV. I dare say, his English was not perfect, but still, people were keen on listening to him. The point is he is very attractive as an actor. I think the opposite situation is likely to happen; you can speak good English but no one seems to listen to you because you don't have any ohter points attracting people.

You may think, you can be an interpreter just by using your English skill. However, I suppose, what interpreters do is not only to change words into another language, but also to interpret a situation as a member of a team. Apparently, translators have to have literary sense as well as linguistic knowledge.

After all, English is just a tool to communicate.
English in Harry Potter 13th Oct 2004
Reading books tells you a lot of things about English. I believe, most of the non-English speakers are able to read 'Harry Potter' in English easily and surely enjoy it. Even if you face to some words which you never know, you don't have to look them up in a dictionary. Just carry on reading, and you can guess the meanings. Tere're plenty of new vocabularies which seems not to appear in Japanese English examinations.

In English, they describe human's actions with various expressions. For instance, 'walk' diversifies stride, roam, march, creep, etc. I think, there's a clear linguistic difference from Japanese in terms of the way to express such sort of movements.

A couple of examples which I've learnt from Harry Potter are shown below.

'laugh' --- chuckle, giggle, grin, snigger
'speak' --- chat, drawl, jaw, mumble, mutter, screech, wisper, yell
'look' --- avert, gape, gaze, glance glare, glimpse, peer, stare
'walk' --- creep, march, roam, stride

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