Word of the year

Hmm... This is rather biased, I believe.

Don't too much rely on your dictionary.

Need to update this blog...

When I got back to Japan and started working at an English language school, one Japanese bilingual teacher asked me this question.

"How many fingers do you have?"

"I think, I have ten (fingers)," I answered.

But, he didn't say that my answer was right. Why? Let's take a look at a dictionary written for ESL learners.

According to Collins Cobuild Advanced Dictionary of American Enlgish:

Your hands are the parts of your body at the end of your
arms. Each hand has four fingers and a thumb.

He insisted that a person have eight fingers, relying on this dictionary definition. Well,...

I am not a native speaker of English, so I have been asking my American friends this question. I haven't found anyone who immediately answered "eight" yet.

Dialog for English conversation

Kana and Hide are having a conversation. Hide showed up ten minutes late. Kana looks mad.

Kana: You're late. What have you been up to? I've been waiting for you.
Hide: Sorry. From now on, I'll try not to be late.
Kana: You've said something like that before. This is the second time.
Hide: This time, I'm serious. Believe me. Give me the third chance.
Kana: Some people say, "Misfortune always comes in threes."
Hide: Well, don't get so serious. Haste makes waste.
Kana: You are driving me mad. Three-strike-out, okay?
Hide: Don't scare me, please. I am too timid to take strong words.
Kana: Whatever. Whenever I say something important, you're not listening, you know.

This dialog above was written to explain that if you put too many idioms in conversation, it would sound strange. Anyway, the dialog seems to sound strange.

After reading some comment about the dialog, I've changed a bit. It became more idiomatic.

=====================================================

Kana: You're late. What have you been up to? I've been waiting for you.
Hide: Sorry. From now on, I'll try not to be late.
Kana: You've said something like that before. This is the second time.
Hide: This time, I'm serious. Believe me. Give me a third chance.
Kana: They say, "Misfortune always comes in threes."
Hide: Well, don't be so serious. Haste makes waste.
Kana: You are driving me mad. Three strikes, you're out, okay?
Hide: Lighten up, dude.
Kana: Whatever. Whenever I say something important, you're not listening.

They should be "stamps" and "others"

Hmm...

Who is the woman?

Is she really Winona Ryder?

I can't say anything about the picture...

TOEIC Part 1 Question

a) The woman is carrying a lot of drinks.
b) The woman is putting on her glasses.
c) There are a lot of beef in her hands.
d) The woman is talking with a lot of people.

Sprite and 7UP

I found the information below through the internet. It is surprising to know that Sprite and 7UP are not sold well in Japan. Tastes differ.

Softdrink you would like to drink once again:

1. Mellow Yellow
2. Hachimitsu Lemon ("Honey Lemon")
3. Ambasa
4. Sprite
5. 7UP
6. Kiriri
7. Kocha Kaden
8. Mountain Dew
9. Dr. Pepper
10. HI-C

http://narinari.com/Nd/2006066108.html (Written in Japanese)

Never-ending journey

Keep going.

Keep going.

Even if you can't see the goal yet.

Take the same route.

Take the same route.

Even if other routes seem right.

Hold your dream.

Hold your dream.

Even if you look stuck.

Write a poem.

Write a poem.

Even if nobody reads it.

Sing the song.

Sing the song.

Even if people laugh at you.

What is the most important thing?

My room is very messy because there are a lot of books. However, I haven't even touched most of them. While trying to touch any of the stacks around my desk, I drop by a bookstore and buy another book that looks interesting.

Why does it happen? Partly because I am interested in many things, which is not a bad thing. Mostly because I can't control my schedule, though, which is a really bad thing.

Actually, I must have much more free time than most of Japanese business people. I am not working as a parttimer. I teach a few classes in a week, and I have to prepare for them. The rest is my free time.

I can see a picture hung on the wall. That says "New Year's Resolution: 2008." It says:

-Get a TOEIC score of over 950
Did I? Not yet. My maximum score is 945. Maybe the one I took last Sunday might be. But, God only knows the result so far.

- Pass STEP EIKEN (1st Grade)
Did I? Not yet. Actually, I surely know why I can't make it. Vocabulary. But, I haven't finished any vocabulary book since New Year's Day in 2008. The last time I took the EIKEN, I felt that my reading skills should be improved too. While taking the listening part, I couldn't choose the best answer despite the fact that I understood almost all of the tape because of being unable to finish reading the answer choices.

- Get a TOEFL score over 100
Did I? No. I even haven't taken the test.

And I have intended to take the Cambridge Exam (CPE) after the previous three targets are accomplished. But, none of them hasn't been conquered. So, I can't start to set a target for the Cambridge...

However, as a mater of fact, the most important thing is not to pass these exams. As you know, there are some people with higher TOEIC/TOEFL scores can't speak English fluently. Most of the EIKEN words are not frequently used. The Cambrige is said to be much better than other English language exams, but it is still just a test.

Of course, the most important thing is to keep learning English. I thought that I have learned a lot about the English language while completing my master's in TESL in the states. However, I can't be satisfied with my skills now, and I even feel my English is getting worse at times. Whenever I speak to native speakers in Tokyo, I can recognize how awkwardly I speak.

It is easy to say that it is because I don't use English now as often as I used to. But, I know many people who learned to speak better English than me only with domestic language learning. My English learning is not a competition, I am learning for myself. Whenever I hear about those people, I feel embarassed. If I didn't improve my English again, I would undervalue my MA-TESL and feel sorry for the professors who were really helpful.

Therefore, I have to try to use my free time in order to speak/write good English again and to understand English up to nearly 100%. Hope I can keep this motivation forever.

I am thinking of getting back to the states soon. Before that, though, I will start to learn English again.



Steve is a good guy. He reflects himself whenever he screws up. But, he often forgets what he reflects about. I'll try not to do the same mistake as he does.

What?

I saw these statues of owls for the first time. I have lived in Tokyo for more than 25 years, though.

Love in thoughts

Have you seen the German movie Was nützt die Liebe in Gedanken (English title: Love in thought)? I saw it about a week ago and I was pretty much impressed.


The movie describes rich teenagers. The atmosphere of the movie is hardly shown in any American teen movies or TV dramas, though. In most of the American teen movies, main characters could make a mistake but all of them have positive thoughts. However, the main characters in Was nützt die Liebe in Gedanken are rather negative and the fact makes the movie good.


I prefer the girl named Hilde. Probably most people thinks of her a bad girl. But, I kind of understand why she behaves. She knows that she won't be able to be liked by a lot of guys around her for a long time and tries to enjoy the short time that looks shining.

Leah Dizon gets hitched

Leah Dizon announced that she got married. But, unlike Howard Stern's news below, I couldn't find any article with the phrase "get hitched." Of course, you can't find much information about Leah Dizon in English. Is she really American?

the most important human of this century???

The news did not interest me, but the phrase "the most important human of this century" made me laugh. This is a good phrase to teach the superlative to ESL learners.

While we're speaking of prestigious female recording artists: Paris Hilton, singer, actress, and perhaps the most important human of this century, has released a new single entitled "My BFF"--which will coincide with the debut of her new MTV reality show, intriguingly titled Paris Hilton's My New BFF. In it, 16 women and 2 gay men will compete for the privilege of actually becoming Paris's "best friend forever" who, word has it, "is hot, loyal and has the energy to keep up with Hilton's hectic lifestyle." Extremely large mirrors need not apply!

http://new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/thatsreallyweek/26036/sept-30-oct-6-politics-as-unusual

Howard Stern

Nobody in Japan would care about this news itself, but the bolded phrases might be unfamiliar with Japanese and should be learned. I 've seen this guy a couple of times on TV.

Quoted from Yahoo!:

Howard Stern gets hitched

Once avowing to never marry again, Howard Stern ties the
knot with model Beth Ostrosky.

Wa Mu?

I don't have any special knowledge to talk about why Washinton Mutual has collapsed. However, I was very surprised by the news. One of my Japanese friends who lived in California had a bank account of this bank. Also, I had not known the bank is called "Wa Mu" until I read this news through the internet.

Should great detectives be test smarters?

Now, Veronica Mars has got it going on in Japan. I like this series in that each episode not only introduces one single mystery to be solved but also one big mystery to be solved in the final episode. I think that Veronica Mars, the heroine of this show, really looks like Nancy Drew. Both of them help their fathers who are professional detectives.

By the way, Japanese people really like mystery novels whose detectives are high school students. Jimmy Kudo (a.k.a Shinichi Kudo) in "Case Closed" is a highschooler. Also, Hajime Kindaichi, another popular detective in Japan, is also goes to high school. But, Hajime Kindaichi is not a top student. He often takes an F in class. One of my friends who love to read mystery
novels insists that great detectives be good at high school subjects as well as crime cases. Now, I would like to refute him, because I think that skills to solve crime cases are not related to those to get high scores in academic subjects of Japanese high schools. I will make three points below.

The first point is that knowledge to solve crime cases are hardly learned in school. Sometimes, great detectives may need knowlege of chemistry for cases in which some poison is used, but it won't be learned in highschool chemistry class. Although you may need language skills to understand dying message written in foreign languges (Nobody leaves a dying message in a real crime), you won't get high scores in tests of foreign language class in Japan, which is mainly occupied with fill-in-blank grammar questions. Social studies and math also seem to be irrelevant.

The second point is that in Japan, problem solving skills is not required to get high grades in any academic subjects. If you can cram, you can get high grades.

Now, you may insist that they try to cram if needed. In Japan, getting higher grades at school is very important to be successful. Great detectives are smart enough to know it. So, they will try to become top students to be successful. The answer to it will be my third point. Grate detectives in any mystery stories do not have any common sense. They are not interested in becoming a winner. They show up for any crime scene even when they are not asked
to come, which is unlikely to ordinary people in the world.

Therefore, great detectives are not always good at academic subjects, especially in Japan.

Get it back!

It has been more than two weeks since I wrote on this blog last. I have been busy learning English. I've forgotten many things since I left the United States. I used to think in English all day, but now I hardly do it. I hope I'll be able to get my English back by working hard.

Anna Faris often appears in teen movies but is not as famous as actors like Natalie Portman or Scarlett Johansson.

Draws to a close our holiday?

I started to like English partly because I liked the Flipper's Guitar, who sang some of their songs in English. However, I still don't understand some of their lylics. Is "Draw to a close our holiday" grammatically correct? I know it should mean "The vacation is almost over." Anyway, August is almost over. Probably, most of school kids are feeling kind of sad.

Friend Again

We first met by the sea
On the day I came here
You shyly showed to me
A picture on the pier

There you had painted summer
Just as I saw it
Since then we've been good friend
But last night I offended
Oh, silly me

So let's make friends again today
Draw to a close a holiday
Holdin' bouquet someday we'll part anyway
You in a grey beret
I will portray
Though we'll realize by hogmanay
Every word is just a cliche

Did you ever go abroad?

Yesterday, I talked with my students about going abroad. Actually, they have visited much more foreign countries than I have.

I've been to the United States, Germany, and the Netherlands. But, one of the students told me that she's been to more than 25 countries. And I asked her which country is her favorite. Her answer was Tunisia. I couldn't think of anything about Tunisia at that time.

I want to visit more countries. But, I need to make some money in order to do it.

Across the Universe

I went to see "Across the Universe" at Shibuya. The movie was really good. Although the Beatles is not my favorite, I enjoy their songs in there as well as the story line and picture.

Evan Rachel Wood was really good in this movie. She acted as a girl who had lost her first boyfriend in the war and who were involved in the anti-war movement. I believe that there were a lot of girls like her in the 60s.

People are on vacation, but...

I want to take my vacation. I want to go anywhere but here for a while. I want to chill out. I want to spend time on the beach, saying that life is a series of wasting time.

But, I can't.

Seems like they fixed it.

Yeah! By the way, I would like to see this movie. I don't think I can't go anywhere during the obon holidays. So, maybe I will go watch this during the holidays.

Something is wrong.

I can't go to this blog site. I don't know why.

What does it mean?

I found this notice along the lane where few people pass by. I felt that everything we do is being recorded anywhere, anytime. That is scary.

A tiny but important thing

I like Longman Advanced American Dictionary. I bought the new edition a couple of months ago, but I find the old edition better. This new edition does not contain many taboo versions you can find in the old edition.

I don't recommend even highly advanced English language learners use taboo words intentionally. But, those words should be in the dictionary as long as native speakers use them at times.

Should I get something into my head?

Sometimes I feel like reading a very difficult book written by a philosopher. Or I remind some phrases that are really cynical.

"It's kinda funny, all we know is that we never know who we're talking to."

There is a misunderstanding anywhere, anytime. To realize the fact is not fun, though...

Workstation

In the United States, your workstation is usually a cubicle.

In Japan, your desk is connected to your colleagues' desks. It may be good for all the employees to be cooperative. You cannot concentrate on your own desk work, though.

Go back to the basics!

Recently I have been away from here for a while. But, I will try to write more often from now on.

go to the hospital vs go to hospital

In American English, people put "the" before "hospital" as in "go to the hospital" and "in the hospital." In British English, "go to hospital" and "in hospital."

My coworker, a British English teacher, told me that there aren't many hospitals in the UK and that is why they don't put "the."

Japanese people like causative verbs.

Japanese English teachers like to teach causative constructions. They seem to believe that these constructions are typical English sentences.

I had the barber trim my hair.

He made a stranger on the street give him five dollars.

(These examples are taken from The Grammar Book by Celce-Murcia &
Larsen-Freeman, 1999)

On the other day, I edited a material of sentence combining exercises. In this material, original answers were written by a Japanese English teacher and a native English teacher made a comment on them. One correction impressed me:

Original: All of our buses make passengers comfortable.

Corrected: All of our buses are very comfortable.

However, the question was given to teach learners causative constructions. After I discussed with this native speaker, I had to change the question itself and the answer became like this:

Traveling on our buses makes passengers comfortable.

Fukutoshin Line

Yesterday, Fukutoshin Line, a new subway line in Tokyo, opened.

No rest for the weary.

I'm teaching 8 classes now. But, I don't have enough money to live by. Therefore, I'm thinking of having my third job, which makes me busier.

Watched The Wicker Man

I watched The Wicker Man (2006) yesterday. This movie is a remake of the British movie of the same title produced in 70s and stars Nicolas Cage.

I felt that the original one was better as people usually feel about any remakes. However, it still describes what a very confined community can be. It makes me think a lot.

Leelee Sobiesky, one of my favorite actors, is in this movie. That is good too.

Responsibilities, that which always annoys us...

I am working for an institution that provides English language trainings for many cooperations.

I think these institutions responsiblities for:

1) companies paying for training

2) students taking lessons

3) instructors teaching lessons

4) the quality of English provided

5) its employees as a corporation.

1)-5) should be balanced, but sometimes in most institutions 1) should be emphasized too much, which makes things difficult.

Secret

Everybody has a secret. And I believe that any secret will be revealed in the end.

If you notice somebody's secret against your will, you'll have to keep your mouth shut. It should be another secret.

How disparate Japan is!

Today I went to Shiroganedai, which is a upscale residential area in Japan. And we found a BOOKOFF. The BOOKOFF is totally different than other BOOKOFF stores. It has a coffee shop like STARBUCKS. Although the BOOKOFF really suited Shiroganedai, knowing the existing of this store gave me a bad feeling. I thought that BOOKOFF is for people who aren't rich. As a matter of fact, though, they are giving a better service to the riches.

I've just come back from Kyoto!

I've just come back from Kyoto, where there was a wedding of my old friend. While walking around Kyoto, I felt that it is not as packed as Tokyo and it is very clean.

Although I like Tokyo because I was born there, I wish it could be clearner and less crowded.

The Japanese like comparison!?

If you take a look at grammar textbooks written in Japanese, you will be surprised that a lot of space is occupied with explanation about comparison. Even the book I'm using for a beginners' class has more than 10 pages for it and there is a list of idioms related to comparison, which will be shown below. I don' t think that some of them should be called idioms.


According to "新ＴＯＥＩＣテスト英文法をはじめからていねいに (TOEIC: English Grammar from the beginning)" by Tetsuya Yasukochi, Toshin Books

as... as any ~
(number) times as ... as ~
as... as ~ can = as... as possible
as... as ever
as... as ever lived [was]
do not so much as V
as many~
all the (comparative) for ~ = all the (comparative) because SV
not... any more than~
no more... than ~
no less... than~
no more than~
not more than~
no less than~
not less than~
S not V, much [still] less ~ = S not V, let alone~
not... any longer = no longer...
know better than to V
sooner or later
more or less
none the less
would rather V1 than V2
at most = not more than~
do one's best
not... in the least [slightest]

"Whale Sentence Structure" or "Whale Sentence Pattern"

A whale is no more a fish than a horse is.

This sentence is used to explain the concept of "comparison" in English grammar and it very very famous among only English learners in Japan.I think that teaching comparison is good. But, learners need to master sentences like these below before the sentence above:

Her hands were as cold as ice.

My wife earns as much money as you.

My boyfriend is much younger than me.

More and more people from Europe live in Tokyo.

Five Sentence Pattens? I've never heard of it!

In Japan, mastering "five sentence patterns" is centerned on not only grammar classes but also English education. Do native speakers of English know "five sentence patterns," though?

According to Grammar & Sentence Patterns (Tomonaoabe, TS Kikaku):

1st Sentence Pattern S(Subject) + Vi (Intransitive
Verb)
God exists.
She is in that room

2nd Sentence Pattern S + Vi + C(Complement)
The sky is blue.
My friend is a lawyer.
The sky looks blue.
My friend became a lawyer.

3rd Sentence Pattern S + Vt(Verb Transitive) +
O(Object)
We eat fish.

4th Sentence Pattern S + Vt + O + O
Father bought his son a car.

5th Sentence Pattern S + Vt +C +C
I consider him a fool.
We eat fish raw.
I watched him swimming.
We found the matter settled.
I found the machine out of order.
I want you to study.

I admit that this theory has been playing a role in helping Japanese English learners become familiar with English sentence patterns. However, I also wonder if there's something incomplete in this grammar theory. For example:

I am fine.

The sentence above is categorized into the 2nd Sentence Pattern (S + V + C). But, the sentence below, which seems to mean and function in the same way, is categorized into the 1st sentence Pattern (S + V):

I am in good health.

We have to consider it.

I really hope that young grammarians in Japan will give English learners and English teachers in Japan and world a better theory to understand English sentence patterns easier.

Time needed.

I have to work on something else recently, and I had been away from here for a while. What've I been up to? Hmm... I'm drinking coffee and despising people who think money always comes first.

Jammy Bastard

One of my Japanese colleague regarded an email account that contained "jammy bastard" as a male's name. As a matter of fact, though, it's a British slang item. In American English, people say "lucky bastard."

Are you dating Scarlett Johansson? You're a lucky bastard!

Listening CNN might not be always good.

Although I know that my English is not that good, I often wonder what is good English. If you are a serious English learner, you often try to speak good English as I do.

This time I don't want to include people who have lived in English speaking countries and who acquired native-like fluency without any conscious efforts. Anyway, their English is not always good as you think. I'm working with two Americans who think of theirselves perfect bilinguals of English and Japanese. But, one doesn't know the difference between to "realize" and to "recognize." The other uses English like "I'm looking forward to see you," as I mentioned before.

If you started out learning English after becoming an adult like I did, you must have been doing consistant efforts. Most Japanese bilingual English teachers often try to listen to English for their free time like their commutal time on the train. But, what do you listen?

Most serious English learners often listen to news in English such as CNN or BBC. However, those who learned English from only such materials tend to speak kind of monotone and solid English despite the fact that their vocabulary are excellent. As for me, American TV dramas are my textbook. But, I have to admit that my vocabulary is limited and sometimes my English is too colloquial. What is the best way? It's a good question....

Those who are good at the TOEIC can't speak English, while Americans are not good at English grammar

If you are an English teacher in Japan, you can't stay away from the existence of the TOEIC test. It is widely believed that if you have a TOEIC score of over 900, you are really good at English. However, if you live in Japan, you may come across a lot of Japanese who have gotten scores of over 900 and who can't speak English good enough.

Talking about myself, my latest score is over 900. But, I surely know that my English is not that good, as you may notice it from my poor writing.

Anyway, most Japanese who've got higher TOEIC scores is just good at exams. Actually, most Japanese bilingual English teachers know this well but they need to keep teaching the TOEIC coures to make ends meet.

Another thing that may often be mentioned in English teaching industry is that Americans are often poor at grammar. According to my colleague's observation, one of American teachers I'm working at have said "I'm looking forward to see you." Of course, you have to say "I'm looking forward to seeing you." I don't know whether or not Americans are really bad at English grammar, but I can say that some of Americans who live in Japan for teaching English can get English teaching jobs much easier than Japanese teachers or other native-speaking teachers such as Australian teachers and Canadians teachers, and that they are not serious about their jobs. I wonder how much they can get on the TOEIC test. Full mark (990)? Or less than 900.

Higuchi and Higashino

I'm reading One-way Love by Keigo Higashino. When I read his other book for the first time, I felt that his style was very monotone and kind of boring. Now, I feel his style is just fine.

I've also felt that the style of Yusuke Higuchi is n't satisfying any more. Maybe my preference has changed unless their styles have changed.

Surprised and...

Recently, I noticed that Beni Arashiro has got it going on in an advertising poster hung in a train. I am kind of surprised by the fact. I think she is attractive, but she's not that famous.



Another thing that surprised me is that an American, who is teaching English at the same place, told me that he liked a group called "AKB48." Actually, I didn't know those people. And then, I checked it out though the Internet. I sighed, because they are teenagers wearing school uniforms. I thought that Americans and Europeans who are over 20 do not like those girls. But, probably I was wrong.

makeup and retake

A makeup (test/exam) is a test taken in school because you were not able to take a previous test. But, I wondered how you call an exam that you take again because you failed it the first time.

My American colleague told me that it should be called a "retake." He also said, though, "it's very rare." In Japan, it's not uncommon. I have taken a retake a couple of times. And one of my Japanese colleagues said she had taken many times.

I think that this difference comes from that of term exams between Japan and the states. In Japan, sometimes the mean score of a term exam is around 50 percent. And 75 percent is a very good score at times. However, as you know, 75 percent is C in the states.

Do you want to be a lackey? Nope.

Today I learned this word.

A lackey or lacquey is a term for a uniformed manservant, in its original meaning (attested 1529, according to the OED).
The modern connotation of "servile follower" appeared later, in 1588 (OED).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lackey_%28manservant%29

Goober?

Sometimes Hajime looks like a goober, you know.

I learned this slang from my colleague.

goober: a goober is someone who looks/ is a bit silly, not as harsh as stupid or dumb Example: My father in lay looked like a bit of a goober at the
wedding
http://www.slangsite.com/slang/G.html

realize vs recognize

I know an American who is teaching in Tokyo. He believes that he is one of the best ESL teachers. But, I heard that when one of his students asked him about the difference between to "realize" and to "recognize," he said "English is sometimes very difficult."

A dictionary explains this way:

realize: to understand a situation, sometimes suddenly

recognize: to accept that something is legal, true, or important.

Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary

mop vs map

I taught English pronunciation today. It included the difference between "map" and "mop." This reminds me of my experience.

When I lived in Missouri, one of my friends visited my house. He went to the gas station near my house. He wanted to have a map of Missouri. And he said, "Can I have a map of Missouri?"

But, his "map" sounded like "mop." Therefore, the girl working there looked confused. Nobody can imagine what "map of Missouri" is...

It's Snowing in Tokyo

Chime

My boss showed me a book and asked me to make up a plan using the idea of the book. The book contains a lot of phrases used as a chime or response. I looked over the book and find it funny. But, I felt it difficult to make a program of English conversation course. Probably, most native speakers don't want to hear the phrases below from Japanese English learners in business:

A: See you later alligator.
B: After a while crocodile.

This kicks ass!

No way, Jose!

How those who can't speak English would think of those who can speak English

I'm not talking about Americans or any English speaking people. I'm talking about Japanese people.

There are some Japanese people who speak English. And there are many people who don't speak English. It's not strange, is it? Recently, I've recognized that some of those who belong to the latter group are miunderstanding the former group.

For example, even Japanese who speak English with native-like fluency cannot do translation or simultaneous interpreting without any training. Few Japanese who got a TOEIC score of over 950 can write perfect English. To me, these things are quite natural. But, Japanese who are not good at English often say to me, "Why not? You speak English, right?"

Are writing skills a gift?

Recently you can find many writers with little experience. Probably, you'd say that writing can't be learned. But, I kind of doubt that idea. I believe writing must be skills and anybody can learn them. However, it takes lots of time. That's why nobody can't be successful in writing.

If you always listen to too good English,...

Today I spoke with a native speaker of English. I understood what he said, but I felt that his English wasn't enough clear. He was from Ohio, which is not a place where people speak English with a strong accent. What made me think that his English wasn't clear enough is that I am always surrounded by native speakers whose articulation was pretty good. Therefore, it may not be good for you to try to listen to only perfect English, which is like English spoken in Mr. Sugita's radio program.

a simple but important tip

Which do you prefer, Diet Coke or Diet Pepsi?


What's the difference between these two questions?

1) Where do you live?

2) Which do you like better, New York or San Francisco?

1) is asking a fact. So, your answer should be simple. (ex. I live in Iowa.) However, 2) is asking your opinion, and you have to tell "why". So, the answer should be like:

I like New York better because there are many museums I would like to visit.

Of couse, real conversation doesn't always follow this rule. This simple tip will be helpful if you take any speaking test, though.

You don't want to use such words...

This year, in a gesture of humanitarian relief, the committee restores "truthiness," banned on last year's list, to formal use. This comes after comedians and late-night hosts were thrown under the bus and rendered speechless by a nationwide professional writers' strike. The silence is deafening.

PERFECT STORM-- "Overused by the pundits on evening TV shows to mean just about any coincidence."-- Lynn Allen, Warren, Michigan.

"I read that 'Ontario is a perfect storm,' in reference to a report on pollution levels in the Great Lakes. Ontario is the name of one of the lakes and a Canadian province. This guy would have me believe it's a hurricane. It's time for 'perfect storm' to get rained out."-- Bob Smith, DeWitt, Michigan.

"Hands off book titles as cheap descriptors!"-- David Hollis, Hamilton, New
York.

WEBINAR-- A seminar on the web about any number of topics."Ouch! It hurts my brain. It should be crushed immediately before it spreads."-- Carol, Lams, Michigan.

"Yet another non-word trying to worm its way into the English language due to the Internet. It belongs in the same school of non-thought that brought us e-anything and i-anything."-- Scott Lassiter, Houston, Texas.

WATERBOARDING-- "Let's banish 'waterboarding' to the beach, where it belongs with boogie boards and surfboards."-- Patrick K. Egan, Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

ORGANIC-- Overused and misused to describe not only food, but computer products or human behavior, and often used when describing something as
"natural," says Crystal Giordano of Brooklyn, New York. Another advertising gimmick to make things sound better than they really are, according to Rick DeVan of Willoughby, Ohio, who said he has heard claims such as "My business is organic," and computers having "organic software."

"Things have gone too far when they begin marketing T-shirts as organic."-- Michelle Fitzpatrick, St. Petersburg, Florida.

"'Organic' is used to describe everything, from shampoo to meat. Banishment! Improperly used!"-- Susan Clark, Bristol, Maine.

"The possibility of a food item being inorganic, i.e., not being composed of carbon atoms, is nil."-- John Gomila, New Orleans, Louisiana.

"You see the word 'organic' written on everything from cereal to dog food."-- Michael, Sacramento, California.

"I'm tired of health food stores selling products that they say are organic. All the food we eat is organic!"-- Chad Jacobson, Park Falls, Wisconsin.

WORDSMITH/WORDSMITHING-- "I've never read anything created by a wordsmith - or via wordsmithing - that was pleasant to read."-- Emily Kissane, St. Paul,Minnesota.

AUTHOR/AUTHORED-- "In one of former TV commentator Edwin Newman's books, he wonders if it would be correct to say that someone 'paintered' a picture?"-- Dorothy Betzweiser, Cincinnati, Ohio.

POST 9/11-- "'Our post-9/11 world,' is used now, and probably used more, than AD, BC, or Y2K, time references. You'd think the United States didn't have jet fighters, nuclear bombs, and secret agents, let alone electricity, 'pre-9/11.'"-- Chazz Miner, Midland, Michigan.

SURGE-- "'Surge' has become a reference to a military build-up. Give me the old days, when it referenced storms and electrical power."-- Michael F. Raczko, Swanton, Ohio.

"Do I even have to say it? I can't be the first one to nominate it…put me in line. From Iraq to Wall Street to the weather forecast-- 'surge' really ought
to recede."-- Mike Lara, Colorado.

"This word came out in the context of increasing the number of troops in Iraq. Can be used to explain the expansion of many things (I have a surge in my waist) and it's use will grow out of control…The new Chevy Surge, just experience the roominess!"-- Eric McMillan, Mentor, Ohio.

GIVE BACK-- "This oleaginous phrase is an emergency submission to the 2008 list. The notion has arisen that as one's life progresses, one accumulates a sort of deficit balance with society which must be neutralized by charitable works or financial outlays. Are one's daily transactions throughout life a form of theft?"-- Richard Ong, Carthage, Missouri.

"Various media have been featuring a large number of people who 'just want to give back.' Give back to whom? For what?"-- Curtis Cooper, Hazel Park, Michigan.

'BLANK' is the new 'BLANK' or 'X' is the new 'Y'-- In spite of statements to the contrary, 'Cold is (NOT) the new hot,' nor is '70 the new 50.' The idea
behind such comparisons was originally good, but we've all watched them spiral out of reasonable uses into ludicrous ones and it's now time to banish them from use. Or, to phrase it another way, 'Originally clever advertising is now the new absurdity!'"-- Lawrence Mickel, Coventry, Connecticut.

"Believed to have come into use in the 1960s, but it is getting tired. The
comparisons have become absurd."-- Geoff Steinhart, Sault Ste. Marie,
Michigan.

"'Orange is the new black.' '50 is the new 30.' 'Chocolate is the new sex.'
'Sex is the new chocolate.' 'Fallacy is the new truth.'-- Patrick Dillon, East
Lansing, Michigan.

BLACK FRIDAY-- "The day after Thanksgiving that retailers use to keep themselves out of the 'red' for the year. (And then followed by "Cyber-Monday.") This is counter to the start of the Great Depression's use of the term 'Black Tuesday,' which signaled the crash of the stock market that sent the economy into a tailspin.-- Carl Marschner, Melvindale, Michigan.

BACK IN THE DAY-- "Back in the day, we used 'back-in-the-day' to mean
something really historical. Now you hear ridiculous statements such as 'Back in the day, people used Blackberries without Blue Tooth.'"-- Liz Jameson, Tallahassee, Florida.

"This one might've already made the list back in the day, which was a Wednesday, I think."-- Tim Bradley, Los Angeles, California.

RANDOM-- Popular with teenagers in many places."Over-used and usually out of context, i.e. 'You are so random!' Really? Random is supposed to mean 'by chance.' So what I said was by chance, and not by choice?"-- Gabriel Brandel, Farmington Hills, Michigan.

"Outrageous mis- and overuse, mostly by teenagers, i.e. 'This random guy,
singing this random song…It was so random.' Grrrrr."-- Leigh, Duncan, Galway, Ireland.

"Overuse on a massive scale by my fellow youth. Every event, activity and person can be 'sooo random' as of late. Banish it before I go vigilante."-- Ben Martin, Adelaide, South Australia.

"How can a person be random?"-- Emma Halpin, Liverpool, Merseyside, United Kingdom.

SWEET-- "Too many sweets will make you sick. It became popular with the advent of the television show 'South Park' and by rights should have died of
natural causes, but the term continues to cling to life. It is annoying when
young children use it and have no idea why, but it really sounds stupid coming from the mouths of adults. Please kill this particular use of an otherwise fine word."-- Wayne Braver, Manistique, Michigan

"Youth lingo overuse, similar to 'awesome.' I became sick of this one immediately."-- Gordon Johnson, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

DECIMATE-- Word-watchers have been calling for the annihilation of this one for several years. "Used today in reference to widespread destruction or devastation. If you will not banish this word, I ask that its use be 'decimated' (reduced by one-tenth)."-- Allan Dregseth, Fargo, North Dakota.

"I nominate 'decimate' as it applies to Man's and Nature's destructive fury
and the outcome of sporting contests. Decimate simply means a 10%reduction-- no more, no less. It may have derived notoriety because the ancient Romans used decimation as a technique for prisoner of war population reduction or an incentive for under-performing battle units. A group of 10 would be assembled and lots drawn. The nine losers would win and the winner would die at the hands of the losers-- a variation on the instant lottery game. Perhaps 'creamed' or 'emulsified' should be substituted.-- Mark Dobias, Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.

"The word is so overused and misused, people use it when they should be saying 'annihilate.' It's so bad that now there are two definitions, the real
one and the one that has taken over like a weed.-- Dane, Flowery Branch,
Georgia.

"'Decimate' has been turned upside down. It means 'to destroy one tenth,'
but people are using it to mean 'to destroy nine tenths.'-- David Welch, Venice, Florida.

EMOTIONAL-- "Reporters, short on vocabulary, often describe a scene as 'emotional.' Well sure, but which emotion? For a radio reporter to gravely announce, 'There was an emotional send off to Joe Blow' tells me nothing, other than the reporter perceived that the participants acted in an emotional way. For instance: I had an emotional day today. I started out feeling tired and a bit grumpy until I had my coffee. I was distraught over a cat killing a bird on the other side of the street. I was bemused by my reaction to the way nature works. I was intrigued this evening to add a word or two to your suggestions. I was happy to see the words that others had posted. Gosh, this has been an emotional day for me."-- Brendan Kennedy, Quesnel, British Columbia, Canada.

POP-- "On every single one of the 45,000 decorating shows on cable TV (of which I watch many) there is at LEAST one obligatory use of a phrase such as ... 'the addition of the red really makes it POP.' You know when it's coming ... you mouth it along with the decorator. There must be some other way of describing the addition of an interesting detail."-- Barbara, Arlington, Texas.

IT IS WHAT IT IS-- "This pointless phrase, uttered initially by athletes on the losing side of a contest, is making its way into general use. It accomplishes the dual feat of adding nothing to the conversation while also
being phonetically and thematically redundant."-- Jeffrey Skrenes, St. Paul, Minnesota.

"It means absolutely nothing and is mostly a cop out or a way to avoid answering a question in a way that might require genuine thought or insight. Listen to an interview with some coach or athlete in big-time sports and you'll inevitably hear it."-- Doug Compo, Brimley, Michigan.

"It seems to be everywhere and pervade every section of any newspaper I read. It reminds me of 'Who is John Galt?' from 'Atlas Shrugged.' It implies an acceptance of the status quo regardless of the circumstances. But it is what it is."-- Erik Pauna, Mondovi, Wisconsin.

"Only Yogi Berra should be allowed to utter such a circumlocution."-- Jerry Holloway, Belcamp, Maryland.

"This is migrating from primetime 'reality television' and embedding itself
into otherwise articulate persons' vocabularies. Of course it is what it is...Otherwise, it wouldn't be what it would have been!"-- Steve Olsen, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada.

UNDER THE BUS-- "For overuse. I frequently hear this in the cliche-filled sports world, where it's used to describe misplaced blame-- i.e. 'After Sunday's loss, the fans threw T.O. under the bus."-- Mark R. Hinkston, Racine, Wisconsin.

"Please, just 'blame' them."-- Mike Lekan, Kettering, Ohio.

"Just wondering when someone saying something negative became the same as a mob hit. Since every sportscaster in the US uses it, is a call for the media to start issuing a thesaurus to everyone in front of a camera." -- Mark Bockhaus, Appleton, Wisconsin.

LSSU accepts nominations for the banished-words list throughout the year. To submit your nomination for the 2008 list, go to http://www.lssu.edu/banished/submit_word.php.

http://www.lssu.edu/banished/current.php

This list is awesome.