lang-8

Today I'd like to introduce you all to a great language learning site called Language Exchange SNS Lang-8 .

The site is based on such a simple concept, it's almost revolutionary.

First, you write in your target language online. Then, other native speakers correct your work. Of course, you're expected to correct other people's work in your native language as well.

When I first heard of this site, I thought there was no way it could possibly work--it is the internet, after all. For some reason, though, everyone on the site is really nice. I've had my work corrected for me within minutes of posting it--it's amazing!

I've recently gotten really into writing on that site, and I write in Chinese and Japanese nearly every day with the handle "Brian". If you're interested, join up and add me as a friend on Lang-8!

----

今日はぜひとも皆さんに外国語学習に役立つサイトを紹介したいと思います。

相互添削型SNS lang-8 というサイトで、仕組みはあまりにもシンプルでむしろ斬新な気がします。

自分の学びたい言語で文章を書いて、ネイティブの人はネット上でそれを添削してくれます。もちろん、自分も自分の母国語で書かれているものを添削してあげます。

ネット上のことだからそんなにうまく行かないだろうと、最初は懐疑的だったのですが、このサイトはすごいです。なぜかユーザーたちはみんな優しくて、すごく早く添削してくれるんです。文章を書いてから5分も経たないうちに添削されていることもしょっちゅうあります。

自分も最近はまって、「Brian」というユーザー名でほとんど毎日日本語と中国語で書いています。他のユーザーの英語もいっぱい添削しています。ご興味のある方はぜひ登録してみてください。

a call for change

Recently I've been reading a book called The Partnership: The Making of Goldman Sachs. It's written by Charles D. Ellis, who worked as a consultant to Goldman Sachs, arguably the most powerful financial firm in the world, for over 30 years.

Goldman Sachs makes headlines day after day, whether for the unbelievable amounts they pay their employees , or for being the first financial institution to attempt to repay the US government the $10 billion it borrowed under the US Treasury's Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).

However, Goldman Sachs was not always a top player on Wall Street. For many years, indeed the entire first half of the 20th century, Goldman Sachs was second- or third-tier in terms of earnings and customer base. However, several key players boosted the firm's standing--men such as Marcus Goldman, Sidney Weinberg, Gus Levy, and others.

The importance of these "key players" was phenomenal, especially in the old days on Wall Street. Goldman, Weinberg, and Levy were all extremely charismatic, some of the greatest leaders of their time.

Reading about them led me to a dilemma--were these men exceptional? Or is it reasonable to assume all CEO's, all chairmen are charismatic and trustworhty? Did they become leaders because they strived for it, or were they destined to be so, through some kind of corporate natural selection process?

It might be worthwile to think on the matter further. If I still have the potential to change--indeed, if one accepts the idea that adults are capable of change--then wouldn't it be worthwile to mold myself more after these men, these pillars of corporate success?

The question is, am I capable of change?

----

1. consultant :: コンサルタント

2. financial firm :: 金融会社

3. unbelievable amounts :: 信じられないような金額

4. employee :: 従業員

5. attempt to repay :: 返済しようとする

6. US Treasury :: アメリカ合衆国財務省（ガイトナー財務長官がトップ）

7. Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) :: 不良資産救済プログラム

8. top player :: 一流（企業）、抜群の人物・組織に対して言う

9. 20th century :: ２０世紀

10. second-tier, thrid-tier :: ２流・３流、２等級・３等級

11. earnings :: 収益

12. customer base :: 客層

13. key player :: 重要人物、枢要な人物・組織など

14. phenomenal :: 驚くべき

15. especially :: 特に

16. charismatic :: カリスマがある、人望がある

17. exceptional :: 特別に優秀

18. reasonable to assume :: （そう）考えて当然、合理的な推論

19. strive :: 努力する

20. corporate natural selection process :: 企業内の自然淘汰の過程

21. worthwhile :: やりがいがある

22. potential :: 可能性

23. pillar :: 狭義では柱という意味だが、この場合は鑑（かがみ）という意味で使っている。つまり、「pillars of corporate success」とは、ビジネス成功者の鑑、という意味。

bridge on the street

Recently I've been reading House of Cards: A Tale of Hubris and Wretched Excess on Wall Street.. I bought the book online and am reading it on my iPhone. The book describes the fall of Bear Stearns, a large investment bank that went under in March of 2008.

I originally thought the title "House of Cards" referred to the fact that financial institutions are highly leveraged, allowing them to have colossal impact on the world economy, while at the same time teetering on very unstable financial footing--like a card castle , in danger of collapsing at the slightest touch.

It turns out, however, that the title also refers to the fact that many of the executives at Bear Stearns played bridge professionally. In fact, the book draws a correlation between the Wall Street and the bridge table:

"...it's logic, deduction, and flair. In bridge you have to be able to read your opponents, to know what your opponents can and can't do, and get a sense of what they are doing and not doing at the table."

James Cayne, who eventually became CEO of Bear Stearns, and maintained that position until it's collapse in 2008, said, "People for whatever reason think, 'If you're a good bridge player, you've got a good brain, so I might as well do business with you.'"

It's an intersting discovery for me in particular. My father, after retiring from Wall Street, has become somewhat addicted to online bridge. I always wondered how a man of so much power and intellect could waste all his time playing cards on the internet--maybe he's channeling all of his financial expertise into a different (but similar) arena.

Or maybe he really is just wasting time?

Either way, chances are he's better off for it--at least according to this article in the New York Times , which claims that bridge may help prevent senility in old age.

----

1. went under :: 倒産した、直訳すると”沈んだ”

2. referred to the fact that ε :: εのことを言っていた、εと関連していた

3. financial institutions :: 金融機関

4. highly leveraged

5. colossal impact :: 莫大な影響

6. teeter :: ふらふらする、今にも倒れそうに立っている

7. unstable :: 安定していない、固定性がない

8. footing :: 足場

9. collapse :: 倒壊

10. draw a correlation :: 関連付ける

11. discovery :: 発見

12. retire :: 退職する

13. addicted :: 中毒

14. waste time :: 時間の無駄遣いをする

15. channel :: 注ぎ込む

16. arena :: 土俵

17. better off for it :: そのおかげで得をしている

18. prevent senility :: ボケ防止を手伝う

----

最近iPhoneで「トランプ・タワー：ウォール街の傲慢と醜悪な不節制」という本を読んでいる。タイトルの「トランプ・タワー」というのは金融機関の危うさを象徴していると思ったが、実はベアー・スターンズ の経営幹部陣の多くがブリッジというトランプゲームにはまっていて、タイトルもそこを皮肉っているだろう。自分の父親もウォール街から退職してからというもの、ずっとオンライン・ブリッジで遊んでばかりだが、あの人も金融人間だから仕方がないかもしれない。