実践ビジネス英語 2019/3/6 (1)Parenting and Grandparenting
Parenting and Grandparenting (1)
親であること、祖父母であること
Lyons says his wife is extremely happy about becoming a grandparent. But he himself has mixed feelings. He says friends have described it as returning to a country one visited long ago and finding everything changed. At their son’s suggestion, his wife enrolled them in a grandparenting class something Lyons says is very popular now.
–
have mixed feelings 複雑な心境である
Up at the top, Lyons says, “I have mixed feelings, I have to admit.” He has good and bad feelings about something. We also say “I have mixed emotions.” You could have mixed emotions about a new job, for example. You’re excited to do the job. But you’re sorry to say good-bye to your old office and colleagues.
I have to admit 正直に言うと、実を言うと
Lyons could also say, “I must admit” or “I must confess.” I must reveal the following, I must confess the following. Things like, I have to admit I’m not finished with the report yet. Or, I must admit I don’t like John’s idea.
I hate to admit it but, 認めたくはないんだけれど…
be over the moon about -, 〜について大喜びしている
wait for the curtain to rise on one’s last act 人生の最終幕が上がるのを待つ、始まるのを
Lyons is using the image of a play. He’s waiting for the last stage, the last section of his life to begin.
We also refer to the curtain falling, coming down, bringing it down, which is, of course, something coming to an end. You might read something like, restaurant X closed today bringing the curtain down on 100 years of history.
last act 最終幕
second act 会社を退職して別の仕事をする 老後に何か新しいことを始める 人生の第二幕
be excited about -, 〜にわくわくしている。
Aren’t you excited about reliving your parenting experience?
relive 再び体験する、追体験する
Ueda is talking about actually experiencing something again. But “relive” can also refer to “going through something againin one’s mind.”
Experiencing the emotions again as if they were experiencing the actual event.
Imagine someone testifying in court about how they were attacked, it would be very hard to relive that experience in the courtroom.
metaphor たとえ、隠喩
Around the middle, McMillan says, “That’s a very apt metaphor.” A metaphor uses, let’s say, thing A to illustrate the qualities of thing B. For example, animals are metaphors of people in these paintings. Or, the book uses an old house as a metaphor for old age.
形容詞 metaphorical
indeed まったく、実に、確かに
enroll someone in -, 人を〜に入会させる
refresher course in -, 〜についての再教育講座コース
A course that refreshes our knowledge of something. It reviews a subject and, or provides the latest information. I’d like to take a refresher course in Japanese sometime.
Fine tune my use of は and が. 私の「は」と「が」の使い方を微調整をする
Whatever will they think of next? 人々は次に一体、何を思いつくのでしょうか？
McMillan says this down at the bottom, “Whatever will they think of next?” Or, “What will they think of next?” That will be fine too. What an interesting innovation, a creation, McMillan is saying.
That’s a fascinating or surprising new thing. I was impressed by the face recognition feature on my new smartphone. What will they think of next? I thought.
be all the rage 大流行している、大人気である
Be the latest popular trend, very popular lately. Spanish food is all the rage, these days. Or, voluntourism is all the rage. And there’s also the thing or the latest thing. Platform shoes are the thing these days. 厚底の靴
senior center 高齢者センター
A facility catering to the needs of senior citizens where they can gather and get information,
participate in different activities. Likewise there are youth centers and student centers.
only to -, 残念ながら〜であった。こういう結果であった
Around the middle, Lyons says, “becoming a grandparent for the first time is like going back
to a foreign country, only to find that everything’s changed.”
We use “only to” in a lot of situations. Basically, A happens right after B. And A is surprising, disappointing, not what we hoped or expected. Like, they gave him a raise, only to have him quit one month later. Or, I took my father to the imperial gardens one day, only to find them closed.
They gave him a raise, only to have him ??? quit, one month later.
–
a whole different ball game
ball game 球技
national pastime 国民的娯楽、野球
completely different ball game
完全に異なる状況
全く新しい事態
実践ビジネス英語 2019/3/7 (2)Parenting and Grandparenting
Lyons says today’s grandparents are more involved in their grandchildren’s lives than in years past.
And Collins has read that the best classes are said to be taught by nurses who are certified child care instructors. Lyons says the classes he and his wife were attending were started after the hospital received inquiries from many expecting parents.
popularity 人気、流行
consensus 大方の見解、総意
The consensus seems to be that.
The general opinion, the agreement among a certain group. The consensus in the office is we should update our computers. Or, we couldn’t reach a consensus on when to launch the product.
registered nurse 登録看護士、公認看護士
Someone who is registered is officially qualified or certified. A registered voter, for example, is officially qualified to vote in elections. Or, he’s a registered nutritionist.
RN (registered nurse)
certified 公認の、認定された
CPA Certified Public Accountant 公認会計士
a wide range of -, 幅広い〜
curriculum 教育課程、学習過程
Collins is talking about the subjects taught in a certain educational facility or situation. Like, the school’s curriculum includes music and painting as well as science and math.
It can also refer to a group of related courses in a certain field. The math curriculum. The biology curriculum.
curricula / curriculums curriculumの複数形
data, datum
curriculum vitae CV 履歴書 身上書、イギリスの言い方
resume / biographical background bio アメリカで
best practice ベストプラクティス、最上のやり方、事例
The procedure, the policy that brings the best results. Research and experience have shown this is the best way to go. You could also talk about best practices in employee management. How do you get the most out of your workers and keep them happy?
Or, best practices in child-rearing.
maternal and newborn care 母親と新生児の世話
Maternal refers to mothering. Mothers taking care of children. And a person can be maternal even if they don’t have children. If they are loving and caring like a mother. I sometimes feel maternal toward the young staff in my office. And a newborn is a just born child. I’d say up to about a month or so. Past that, it’s an infant, but it’s not a newborn.
maternal, mother paternal, father
maternal leave, paternal leave 産休 育休
inquiry 問い合わせ、質問
Lyons says, “staff got an increasing number of inquiries from expecting parents attending childbirth classes there.” This is a request for information to find something out. You’ll see things like, please send all inquiries to this email address. Or, please call this number with any inquiries.
for inquiry メールアドレス、電話番号
expecting 子供の誕生を控えている
share the load of -, 〜負担を分け合う、重荷を分担する
Share the work, the responsibilities of something. Like, he and his brothers share the load of
caring for their elderly parents. Or, to use a similar expression. Our boss shares the workload equally with his employees.
That’s one way of putting it. そういう言い方もできますね。
Lyons says this down towards the bottom, “That’s one way of putting it, I suppose.” That’s one way to express something. There are others. I don’t think Lyons is being sarcastic.
But we often use this when we think, I would describe it in another way, I wouldn’t use euphemism like that. 婉曲表現 I’d be a little bit more blunt.
Imagine, you have a coworker who’s very rude, always making inappropriate personal comments. Someone says, “He’s not very sensitive, is he?” You reply, “That’s one way of putting it. I’d say, he’s,
That’s a nice one you’re putting it. それは上手な言い方ですね
まぁ、いい言い方をすればこうですね
make sense 理にかなっている
Here, “make sense” means “it’s logical to do something.” There’s a good logical justification. It makes sense to read the newspaper every day to stay informed.
Make good business sense. そうすることがビジネスとしてもいいやり方だ
take advantage of -, 〜をうまく活用する、活かす
–
grandparents to-b
もうすぐ、祖父や祖母になる人
to-be 名詞の後において、未来の
bride-to-be もうすぐ花嫁になる人
8 金 Lesson23 Parenting and Grandparenting (3)
Ueda recalls how his grandmothers helped his mother raise him. And McMillan recommends that people be diplomatic and not provide an endless stream of advice about how their children should raise their children. Collins says staying silent must be hard for grandparents and recommends finding reasons to compliment new parents on their efforts.
sibling 兄弟、誕生の順番や、性別に関係なく
A brother or a sister. I’m an only child. So I don’t have any siblings.
sib 略式
tip 助言、ヒント
The instructor gave us a very important tip.
newbie 新米、初心者
bear the load of – ,〜の重荷を引き受ける
Take on the work and responsibilities of some task. Be careful of spelling, when you write this.
Even native speakers get it wrong and write B-A-R-E sometimes. That means “うncover, expose.”
bare your soul, bare your stomach.
When B-E-A-R is “take on, carrying.” And “bear the load” can mean literally “hold the weight,
carry the weight.” The truck collapsed because it couldn’t bear the load of the equipment.
bring up -, 〜を育てる、養育する
Take care of children, train them as they grow. I was brought up in Alaska and Oregon.
We also say “bring up to.” And that means “raise a person to behave a certain way or think a certain way.” He was brought up to take over his father’s business. Or, He was brought up to always say “please” and “thank you.”
diplomatic やんわりとした言い方をする、如才ない, diplomat 外交官 の形容詞
Acting and speaking so that we don’t give offense. That takes consideration of the other person’s feelings and position like a diplomat should do. Imagine someone gives a terrible presentation.
But you are diplomatic in your criticism. And you say things like, “Well, I think some more personal detail. Examples from your own life would be effective.” Or, it might help to speak more slowly.
unsolicited advice お節介なアドバイス、求められていないアドバイス
be the order of the day ある状況にふさわしい時代の状況、良好である
This is a priority in a certain situation. Or, this is usual, this is common in the situation.
McMillan is using the priority the importance meaning. You could also say, “Humility is the order of the day for new employees. Don’t act like you know everything right from the start.”
Or to use the usual meaning. Big hair was the order of the day in the 1980s. 豊かな髪
一般的傾向
mean well 良かれと思ってする。
A person’s intentions are good, in other words.
And we often use this when yes, their intentions, but their actions cause some kind of problem or it has a bad result. Like, Kevin means well but he needs to be more diplomatic in his feedback.
People get hurt by his blunt criticism.
endless stream of -, とめどなく続く、絶え間なく
go easy on -, 〜をほどほどにする、手加減する
The best policy is to go easy on the advice.
Use something sparingly or do it sparingly. For example, go easy on the numbers in your presentation. Too much data will make it feel dry and boring. Or, go easy on the salt in this recipe. And we also use “go easy on” to mean “don’t be too hard on something. ” For example, go easy on Brenda. She’s trying very hard.
go easy on alcohol アルコールは控えめにするように
Shut your pie hole. 黙りなさい。
This compares the round shape of a pie with the round shape of a person’s mouth.
I would use this in informal situations, it’s bit laugh. Like, I would never say this when speaking to a boss. Maybe something like, “Oh, I’ve got to stop stuffing my pie hole snacks.”
インフォーマルな言い方。
Shut your mouth!
at the end of the day 結局の所、最終的には
Ultimately, after everything has been taken into consideration. You can say, “At the end of the day, companies put profits first.” Or, at the end of the day, the most important thing in life is friends and family.
文字通りの一日の終り
I bet -, きっと〜だろう。 違いない
compliment ほめる
Lay it on thickly 大げさに言う、わざとらしくほめちぎる
–
bait one’s tongue 黙っている、言いたいことを我慢する
舌を噛む。言うのをこらえる
Bait your tongue. なんてことを言うんだ。
–
Study as if you were going to live forever; live as if you were going to die tomorrow.
Maria Mitchell, U.S. astronomer
永遠に行き続けるかの如く学問し、明日死ぬかの如く生きなさい