和製英語と英語の違いを説明するシリーズLost in Translation
第3回の今日は”バイク”です。
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Lost in Translation Part 3 バイク (Motorcycle)
Tyler Ayala
Many foreign words have been adopted into the Japanese language. However, they occasionally do not maintain their original meanings and rarely keep the same nuance. One such word is バイク, which is taken from the English word ‘motorbike’. Nowadays, however, most people use the word motorcycle to describe this. バイク (bike) in English is usually associated more closely with 自転車- though it can occasionally be used for motorcycle in certain contexts.
If you were to ask, “Do you have a bike?” to a native speaker, they would assume that you were asking if they had a bicycle. However, if you are standing next to their motorcycle and you wish to compliment them, it is okay to say, “You have a nice bike,” because of the context of the situation. Bike, by default, means bicycle. However, you may use bike to refer to a motorcycle in a situation similar to the one I have described.
Please keep this in mind when using the phrases below.
Do you have a bike? => 自転車はありますか。
Do you have a motorcycle? => バイクはありますか。
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※The English described in this blog is from an American perspective. Cultural reactions and vocabulary might be different in other countries like Canada, Britain and Australia.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Wishing good luck to an employee that is leaving
There are many situations in life that call for well-wishing (read: encouragement) of some sort. Often we wish someone good luck or がんばってwhen they are about to embark on some new venture. You want the person to do their best in order to achieve whatever goal they have set out from themselves, and so in wishing them good luck, your words convey that you want them to have success. Of course, the circumstances under which a person is leaving a company can determine whether or not they will be wished the best of luck. If a person is leaving under good circumstances, they will find many who are willing to send them on their way with a friendly word of encouragement.
Sometimes the particular reason(s) a person leaves a company can change the way in which we wish them good luck, depending on the language used in either situation. For example, if someone is choosing to leave work due to the fact that they have decided to take care of their family, perhaps instead of saying the words “Good luck” you could instead say “Take care”. The phrase “Take care” is also a well-wishing expression which, though the words are not the same, has an effect as saying “Good luck”. Saying “Take care” instead of “Good luck” is preferable because it is not common to wish someone “Good luck” in taking care of their family. “I wish you all the best” is another common, very considerate phrase that we use in English that is very appropriate in any situation.
Showing confidence in a person’s abilities is very helpful if they are starting out in a new company. Going into a new workplace, they may be nervous or feel left out; they may not be confident of what they can do if a great deal is suddenly asked of them. They may be facing a challenge, but if they receive the support and encouragement of their peers, they may feel better equipped to handle what is to come ahead. For well-wishing in these particular situations, using phrases like “I know you will…” and “I’m confident you will…” can demonstrate your confidence in your departing co-worker.
Examples: Mr. Smith: It’s a much bigger company than I’m used to. I hope I will do well. Mr. Tsuzuki: I know you will do well with your skills. I wish you all the best.
Miss Jordan: It will be hard to start over. I hope I can do my best. Mr. Nagai: I’m confident you will find your place there and do well.
What is important is that you send your co-worker off with something positive to “raise their spirits” (read: make them feel better) about their new career and/or life choice. In doing so, you can help them to feel better prepared for whatever they are facing, and they will be left with a pleasant memory and a good impression of the people they are leaving.
Note: Some other phrases to include are “Don’t forget us” or “Come back and see us” in order to let them know that they are always welcome.
和製英語と英語の違いを説明するシリーズLost in Translation
第2回の今日は”トイレ”です。
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Lost in Translation Part.2 トイレ（Toilet）
Tyler Ayala
Many foreign words have been adopted into the Japanese language. However, they occasionally do not maintain their original meanings and rarely keep the same nuance. One such word is トイレ, which is taken from the English word ‘toilet’.
In Japanese, the word トイレ would mean something like this image below.
In English, if we were to hear the word toilet, we would think of the image below:
This might seem like a small difference; however, this is quite a difference to English speakers. Saying トイレはどこですか？ in Japanese is perfectly acceptable. However, if we say, “Where is the toilet?” in English, this is considered vulgar. Using the word toilet is a bit offensive. Instead, we use restroom, bathroom or lavatory. Restroom is the most polite, while lavatory is used for airplanes.
To ask someone in English, トイレはどこですか？, be sure to use this sentence: “Where is the restroom.” In this way, you will be able to avoid risking offending your guests during a business meeting.
Occasionally, you may be able to use ‘toilet’ if you are not participating in a business meeting and are close friends with that person. You might say, ‘Excuse me. I’m gonna pop into the toilet real quick.’ However, this is a very casual way.
※The English described in this blog is from an American perspective. Cultural reactions and vocabulary might be different in other countries like Canada, Britain and Australia.
In the U.S., confrontations come in a variety of sizes and shapes. They can be as simple as someone complaining that you took their parking space, to full-out screaming matches that lead to physical fighting. There’s no real common language across these various situations. However, the thread they share is in the pattern: “You are”, “you did”, “I did” or “I think”, in an accusatory or aggressive tone of voice. In order to “defuse” the confrontation, we want to reply in a gentle, conciliatory fashion.
Aggressive phrases make flat statements, or claim that someone is doing something unwise or improper. Examples include:
“This is a stupid idea.”
“The entire plan was a mistake.”
“You couldn’t be more incompetent if you tried.”
“Your part of the plan was flawed from the beginning.”
“We missed our deadline because you were late with your deliverables”. (A “deliverable” is the part of the project that someone is assigned to complete.) “We fell behind schedule because we needed to correct your mistakes first.”
These are all statements that either attack a person directly, or attack some job, task or project that person is responsible for. These are strongly worded statements that make the other person feel that they are being judged negatively.
Conversely, the non-confrontational phrases work to the opposite effect, taking care to not attack someone directly, nor to indicate that they were at fault in any way.
“Don’t misunderstand me; we know the problem was not your fault.”
“The project was delayed by forces beyond your control.”
“You weren’t the one responsible for the problems the rest of us faced.”
“The project faced delays, so we’re currently behind schedule.”
“We’re not assigning blame here; we just want to pick up the pieces and move on.”
With non-confrontational phrases, we want to concentrate on resolving the problems, rather than on focusing on the causes of the problems. When defusing a confrontation we first want to stop using phrases that assign blame (“We know the problem is not your fault”) and then use phrases that redirect the conversation to focus on fixing the problem (“How do we move forward from here?”).
A possible conversation would be:
Chairman: On the agenda today is the schedule of the M500 project. Sales: Yes, what is going on with this? We’ve been promoting the M500 to the customers, and we’re getting complaints that the announced ship dates are being pushed back.
Engineering: It’s the fault of the production staff - they keep breaking the circuit boards during assembly. Production: Well, yeah, that’s because you designed the circuit boards with no stress relief. Engineering: We designed in plenty of stress relief, but we have to reduce it because we can’t get the parts in time because of the short deadline imposed by Sales. Production: Yes, we can’t build enough units in the timeline imposed by Sales. Sales: It’s not our fault if you can’t meet the deadlines that you all agreed to. Chairman: I’m not interested in who’s at fault here. I want suggestions on how to get the M500 back on track.
(The conversation has changed from personal attacks to focusing on solving the problem.)
Engineering: The supplier requires a 4 week lead time for getting us the stress relief assemblies. After that we need 2 weeks to ensure that the parts will work in the M500. Chairman: Can you get the work done in 1 week? Production: We can put extra people on installing the stress assemblies to reduce the test times by 1 week, if the budget allows it. Chairman: Then the company’s official stance is that the M500 has been delayed to ensure that a quality product will be available to the customer. The official release will be in 6 weeks, but we’ll shoot to have it on the market in 5 weeks. Sales: If the official date is set a little later, then that’s what we’ll tell the customers.
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＜本日の単語＞
screaming match 罵り合い
accusatory 【形】罪があるとする、非難する、問責する
conciliatory 【形】和解の、懐柔的な、融和的な
incompetent 【形】無能な、（～する）力のない、不適任な、至らぬ、駄目な
flaw 【他動】～を駄目にする、～を損なう
conversely 【副】反対に、逆に（言えば）
assembly 【名】 組み立て、アセンブリ
impose 【動】負わす、強制的に押し付ける
＜本日のイディオム＞
beyond one's control ～にはどうすることもできなくて、（人）の手に負えなくて
move on 先へ進む［進める］、どんどん進む［進ませる］、～に取り掛かる
on track 〔事業などが〕軌道に乗って、順調に進んで
Now, as with any nation, America will approach China with a focus on our interests. And it's precisely for this reason that it is important to pursue pragmatic cooperation with China on issues of mutual concern, because no one nation can meet the challenges of the 21st century alone, and the United States and China will both be better off when we are able to meet them together.
That's why we welcome China's effort to play a greater role on the world stage -- a role in which their growing economy is joined by growing responsibility. China's partnership has proved critical in our effort to jumpstart economic recovery. China has promoted security and stability in Afghanistan and Pakistan. And it is now committed to the global nonproliferation regime, and supporting the pursuit of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
So the United States does not seek to contain China, nor does a deeper relationship with China mean a weakening of our bilateral alliances. On the contrary, the rise of a strong, prosperous China can be a source of strength for the community of nations.
And so in Beijing and beyond, we will work to deepen our strategic and economic dialogue, and improve communication between our militaries. Of course, we will not agree on every issue, and the United States will never waver in speaking up for the fundamental values that we hold dear -- and that includes respect for the religion and cultures of all people -- because support for human rights and human dignity is ingrained in America. But we can move these discussions forward in a spirit of partnership rather than rancor.
一度高いスコアを取ったら、そのスコアを英語力の証明にずっと使えるのか、
５年前のスコアを知ることができるのか？
なぜTOEICテストの問題用紙は回収されるのか
どうしてテストの問題数が多いのか
全問正解しなくても最高点（９９０点）になることがあるって本当？
