ANMI English Tips & Tools

Skype Call Recorder, Riviera for Skype

noreply@blogger.com (ANMI) — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 15:30:00 +0000

Skype Call Recorder, Riviera for Skype looks like the kind of application that could have a lot of useful purposes for not only conducting our Skype-based lessons, but also for conducting Skype-based business calls. I have yet to try the software, but I see a lot of potential.

ANMI English Tips & Tools by
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A Moment of Silence

noreply@blogger.com (ANMI) — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 16:31:00 +0000

Highlights from Today's Class

When do you "pause for a moment of silence"?

I pause for a moment of silence during public commemorations of something sad. You can see people pausing for a moment of silence at Ground Zero in New York City. Many people in Japan and especially in the Tohoku region paused for a moment of silence on April 11th, May 11th, and June 11th.

I paused for a moment of silence when I visited the Nagasaki Peace Park many years ago. I also paused for a moment of silence when I visited the graves of my relatives.

See if you can catch the phrase, "paused for a moment of silence" in this CNN video:

Link: http://edition.cnn.com/video/?/video/education/2011/05/11/sn.0512.cnn

- pause for a moment of silence
- 黙とうをささげる
- Mokutō o sasageru

ANMI English Tips and Tools by Chip Sorensen
is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.1 Japan License.
Based on a work at anmienglishtools.blogspot.com.

アンミ英会話教室
２３４－００５３神奈川県横浜市港南区日野中央２－６－３パークサイド日野１０２号
http://www.anmi-eikaiwa.com/ | support@anmi-eikaiwa.com
Tel. 045-841-4218 | Fax 045-841-4288
携帯リンク http://www.anmiweb.com/mobile/

noreply@blogger.com (ANMI) — Fri, 06 May 2011 07:14:00 +0000

ran 22.42 km http://ping.fm/ZO3en

English Messages to Overseas Coworkers and Colleagues

noreply@blogger.com (ANMI) — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 18:04:00 +0000

On the 16th, I posted messages for personal contacts. The following post is more oriented towards coworkers and colleagues:

Thank you for your concerns.
Thank you for your kind words.
Thank you for your prayers.
Thank you for your messages of concern.

We are doing fine.
We are doing OK.
We are getting by OK.
Our operations are running smoothly.
Our local operations are basically getting by.

Our location here in Yokohama and Tokyo were not as seriously impacted.
Our operations here in Yokohama and Tokyo were spared the worst damage.
Our offices here in Yokohama and Tokyo were not impacted directly.

Unfortunately, we are faced with difficulties with purchasing fuel.
Unfortunately, we are faced with difficulties in dealing with rolling blackouts.
Unfortunately, we are faced with difficulties in commuting to worksites due to the rolling blackouts and limited train operations.

The aftershocks continue to cause concern.
The crisis involving the nuclear reactors remain a serious concern.
The rescue efforts are ongoing and continue to be faced with serious challenges

We hope that all survivors will be found.
We hope that the Sendai area will start making a marked recovery soon.
We anticipate that officials will be able make some significant recovery efforts.

I am sure that Japan can recover quickly from this crisis.
I believe that we can recover quickly from this crisis.
I feel confident that we will recover quickly from this crisis.

Additional Suggestions by Students (Updated Mar. 19, 2011)

Some Japanese companies have not returned to normal operations due to the current crisis.
We will overcome these difficulties. I am confident that we can do it!

Examples:

Dear [Recipient's Name],

Thank you for your kind messages. My family, friends, colleagues, and I are making due considering the situation here in the Yokohama and Tokyo areas. Our operations were not directly impacted and spared the disaster that occurred in Northern Japan. Unfortunately, we still face difficulties in purchasing fuels and some foodstuffs.

Large aftershocks continue to shake our homes and offices every now and then. Currently, most concern is focused on the nuclear reactor crisis.

I hope all survivors will be found soon, and anticipate a quick recovery from this crisis.

Thank you again for your kind words and concerns.

Sincerely yours with warmest regards,

[Your Name Here]
[Business Name]
[Contact Information]

Dear [Recipient's Name],

Thank you for your messages of concern. Fortunately, my friends, family, colleagues, and I are doing fine.

Here in the Tokyo and Yokohama areas, we are faced with difficulty in purchasing fuels, some foodstuffs, in addition to working around rolling blackouts.

Compared to the victims in the northern part of Japan, we are faring much better. Hopefully, the aftershocks will subside and officials will be able to address the nuclear reactor crisis.

My heart feels deeply saddened by the loss of life. Although we are worried about the
nuclear reactor, I am sure that our country can recover quickly.

Thank you again for your kind words and prayers.

Yours sincerely and warmest regards,

[Your Name Here]
[Business Name]
[Contact Information]

Do you have any other things you want to express? Let me know!

English Messages to Friends and Family Overseas

noreply@blogger.com (ANMI) — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 17:42:00 +0000

* See update below (March 18, 2011)

I have spent the last several days sending messages back to the States to let my friends and family know that we are doing OK here in Japan. Maybe you have the same situation, too.

Here are some sample messages and phrases that you can use to share with folks overseas:

Thank you for your concern.
Thank you for your worries.
Thank you for your prayers.

We are doing fine.
We are doing OK.
We are getting by OK.

We were luckier than the folks up North.
We were lucky here in Yokohama.
We are better off here in Yokohama.

We still have to worry about buying gas.
We still have to worry about rolling blackouts.
We still have to worry about buying some foodstuffs.

The aftershocks still scare us.
We are a little worried about the nuclear reactors.
We are a little worried about the rescue efforts up north.

We hope and pray survivors will be found.
We hope and pray for a quick recovery.
We hope and pray that things will get better soon.

* This part added March 18, 2011.

I am sure that Japan can recover quickly from this crisis.
I believe that we can recover quickly from this crisis.
I feel confident that we will recover quickly from this crisis.

Examples:

Dear [Recipient's Name],

Thanks for your email. My family, friends, and I are doing OK here in
Yokohama. We were luckier than the folks up north. We still have to
worry about buying gasoline and some foodstuffs.

We still have big aftershocks that scare us every now and then, and
are worried about the nuclear reactor up north.

I hope and pray all survivors will be found soon and that our country
can recover quickly.

Thank you again for your kind words and prayers.

Love,

[Your Name Here]

Dear [Recipient's Name],

Thanks for your worries and prayers. Fortunately, my family, friends,
and I are doing OK here in Yokohama. We were much luckier than the
folks up north. It is so sad and horrible to see the effects of the
earthquake and tsunami.

Here in Yokohama, we were spared the worst damage. We still have to
worry about buying gasoline and some foodstuffs. Also, there are still
some aftershocks that scare us. The nuclear reactor up north is also
very scary.

I hope and pray all survivors will be found soon and that our country
can recover quickly.

Thank you again for your kind words and prayers.

Love,

[Your Name Here]

Dear [Recipient's Name],

Thank you for your kind words, messages, and prayers. We were very
lucky here in Yokohama. All my friends, family, and I are doing OK so
far.

It is a little hard to buy gasoline, some foodstuffs, and there are
rolling blackouts. Still, we were luckier than the folks up north!
Hopefully, the aftershocks will subside and we can feel less fear.

I hope and pray the last survivors can be found. My heart feels deeply
saddened for the loss of life. Although we are worried about the
nuclear reactor, I hope Japan can recover quickly and soon.

Thank you again for your kind words and prayers.

Love,

[Your Name Here]

I will add some more samples later. Do you have any other things you want to express? Let me know!

Happy New Year 2011

noreply@blogger.com (ANMI) — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 15:45:00 +0000

2011 has arrived here in Japan! Happy New Year to all my friends, family, and people of the world!
Peace, Chip

JPod Word of the Day - Cake

noreply@blogger.com (ANMI) — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 19:33:00 +0000

Although the original purpose of the Nonnative Nihongo Blog is for studying Japanese, I thought that some of the references would also be of used to English language learners, too:

Phrases related to the word "cake": http://bit.ly/fAjQWH

Named After

noreply@blogger.com (ANMI) — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 16:09:00 +0000

Today's English tip is:

something is/was named after something/someone

～の名前が付けられる
～にちなんで名付けられた
～の名を取って名付けられた
～名物にちなんでいます
～の名をとって命名されている
～にちなんで名づけられました

Here are some examples:

The Toyota Motor Corporation was named after its founder, Sakichi Toyoda.
Adobe is named after a creek behind the founder’s house, called Adobe Creek.
Honda Motors was named after its founder, Soichiro Honda.
The Richter scale is named after its inventor, Charles F. Richter.
The Eiffel Tower is named after its designer, the French engineer Alexandre Gustave Eiffel.
Curium is named after Marie Currie.
The Ferris wheel was named after an American engineer, George Washington Gale Ferris.
Washington D.C. is named after the first U.S. president, George Washington.
The state of Utah is named after the local native Americans, the Ute tribe.

References:

Disclaimer

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information, go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purpose of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

ANMI English Tips and Tools by Chip Sorensen
is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.1 Japan License.
Based on a work at anmienglishtools.blogspot.com.

Phonics Practice for the "ingk" Pronunciation

noreply@blogger.com (ANMI) — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 17:51:00 +0000

Practice words for the ĭngk pronunciation.

blink（目をぱちくりする）
drink（飲む）
link（つなぎ・リンク）
mink（ミンク）
pink (ピンク）
shrink（小さくなる）
sink（沈む・流し・洗面台）
slink（こそこそ歩く）
stink（いやな匂いがする）
think（考える・思う）
wink（ウインク）

Reference(s):

新和英大辞典　第5版 ― 並装

Disclaimer

ANMI English Tips and Tools by Chip Sorensen
is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.1 Japan License.
Based on a work at anmienglishtools.blogspot.com.

noreply@blogger.com (ANMI) — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 08:21:00 +0000

Student's mom gave a bag of black licorice that her husband bought overseas for the kids. The kids hate it. Lucky for me, I still love it!

More Free Style Guides and Manuals

noreply@blogger.com (ANMI) — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 15:06:00 +0000

This is an update to a recent post dated June 10, 2010

1. Reuters: online and has downloadable pdf
- http://handbook.reuters.com/index.php/Main_Page
- http://handbook.reuters.com/extensions/docs/pdf/handbookofjournalism.pdf

2. National Geographic Style Manual: online only
- http://stylemanual.ngs.org/intranet/styleman.nsf

3. Online Stylebooks.com: online only
- http://www.onlinestylebooks.com/

4. SI Style Guide: online and pdf
- http://www.nist.gov/physlab/pubs/sp811/index.cfm
- http://physics.nist.gov/cuu/pdf/sp811.pdf

* The International System of Units, universally abbreviated SI (from the French Le Système International d’Unités), is the modern metric system of measurement.

ANMI English Tips and Tools by Chip Sorensen
is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.1 Japan License.
Based on a work at anmienglishtools.blogspot.com.

ピンキリ

noreply@blogger.com (ANMI) — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 05:43:00 +0000

How do you say, "ピンキリ" in English?

The term, "ピンキリ" comes from the phrase, "ピンからキリまで," which can be roughly translated as, "the best and the worst; the top and the bottom; there are many different kinds of [something] and the [what] ranges from the superb/expensive/etc. to the terrible/cheap/etc."

In today's class, we were talking about the prices of opal jewelry sold in Australia. I asked the student if opal jewelry was expensive? She said that the prices range from cheap to expensive depending on the size and quality of the opal jewelery itself (オパールの値段はピンキリです。)

In English, be sure to explain clearly what is ピンキリ. You need to tell what is being described:

prices range from cheap to expensive
quality ranges from poorly made to high quality

In English, we can apply this pattern to a much wider range of subjects:

His jokes range from really stupid to extremely funny.
There are all kinds of professors at my college from boring to intellectually stimulating.
TV commercials can be anything from bewildering to entertaining.

If you have any other ideas on how to apply the concept of ピンキリ to an English sentence, please feel free to ask me in class!

Disclaimer

ANMI English Tips and Tools by Chip Sorensen
is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.1 Japan License.
Based on a work at anmienglishtools.blogspot.com.

Useful Online Dictionaries Translation Sites

noreply@blogger.com (ANMI) — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 08:21:00 +0000

1. 英辞郎 on the WEB
- http://www.alc.co.jp/index.html

2. OneLook Reverse Dictionary
- http://www.onelook.com/reverse-dictionary.shtml

3. Yahoo 辞書（国語・類語・英和・和英辞書、新語探検、百科事典、用語集から検索）
- http://dic.yahoo.co.jp/

4. ジム・ブリーンのWWWJDIC辞書
- http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/cgi-bin/wwwjdic.cgi?9T

5. Answers.com (Mobile Version -- No ads)
- http://www.answers.com/

6. Online Style Books (Indexed)
- http://www.onlinestylebooks.com/

7. 株式会社グローヴァ
- http://trans.glova.jp/

Disclaimer

ANMI English Tips and Tools by Chip Sorensen
is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.1 Japan License.
Based on a work at anmienglishtools.blogspot.com.

Extra Class Notes

noreply@blogger.com (ANMI) — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 16:45:00 +0000

1. rushed to the train (一気に電車に殺到する)
例: Everybody rushed for the door. (誰もがドアに向けて殺到した。)

2. She was scared. (彼女は怖かった。) ≠ She was scary. (彼女は怖がっているようだった。)
例: The movie was good but scary. (いい映画だったけど怖かったよ。)
例: I was too scared to see the whole movie alone. (怖いから一人では映画の全部は見られなかった。)

3. Hang in there! (頑張って！)【意味: 挫けないとする；諦めない；勇気を出す；頑張る；粘る】
4. Good luck! (頑張って！)【意味: 成功を祈ります；万事うまく行きますように】

References:
1. Kodansha's Furigana Japanese Dictionary
2. ジーニアス英和大辞典
3. CASIO Ex-word 電子辞書 XD-A10000

Disclaimer

ANMI English Tips and Tools by Chip Sorensen
is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.1 Japan License.
Based on a work at anmienglishtools.blogspot.com.

More Ohana

noreply@blogger.com (ANMI) — Tue, 25 May 2010 06:01:00 +0000

Spring flowers in Fujisawa :-) http://ping.fm/93lXy

Ohana

noreply@blogger.com (ANMI) — Wed, 12 May 2010 05:38:00 +0000

Heading back to classroom fm Fujisawa. Beautiful weather! http://ping.fm/au7PV

Mothers Day Japan

noreply@blogger.com (ANMI) — Fri, 07 May 2010 18:34:00 +0000

日本の母の日も長い歴史ありそうです: http://bit.ly/dnzmNS

Mothers Day

noreply@blogger.com (ANMI) — Fri, 07 May 2010 18:25:00 +0000

In 1914, The U.S. Congress passed a law, which President Wilson signed on May 8, 1914, designating the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day.

Golden Week

noreply@blogger.com (ANMI) — Tue, 04 May 2010 17:26:00 +0000

Golden Week is almost over. Hope all my students have made good memories. Please be careful driving home!!

VOA: Green Auction Benefits Green Causes

noreply@blogger.com (ANMI) — Mon, 03 May 2010 17:42:00 +0000

Original Article:
http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/usa/Tax-In-The-Bag-84472552.html

I have corrected the transcript. Here is the corrected version:

WARD: The Anacostia River is filthy. Litter adorns its shores and plastic bags swim in its current. Known as Washington D.C.'s "Forgotten River," it flows from Maryland to the U.S. Capitol finally merging into the larger, better known, Potomac River. Trash from there can eventually end up in the ocean. Brent Bolin is with the the Anacostia Watershed Society. He believes the new bag fee instituted in Washington will help clean up the city and the Anacostia.

BOLIN: Metropolitan Washington Council governments did a trash survey throughout the Anacostia. They found that around 33 percent of the the trash that they recovered out of--so twelve--around twelve thousand out of thirty-six thousand items that they recovered were plastic bags.

WARD: The five-cent fee applies to any bag--large or small, plastic or paper--at all retail outlets. You can avoid the fee if you remember to bring your own bag.

SHOPPER: "It's unfortunate that we didn't bring enough today, so we had to pay for our five extra bags. That's OK. That's OK. Next time we'll know better. We'll just keep them in the car."

WARD: Steve McKinley-Ward volunteers to help clean up an experimental trash trap on a small tributary of the Anacostia. He owes the excess garbage to simply bad behavior.

MCKINLEY-WARD: It's litterbugs. It's absolutely litterbugs just throwing their stuff out dropping right on the street or sidewalk. And the action of a heavy rain will just get that stuff mobile, floating, and all the water goes to one place--little storm drain inlet port right at the edge of the curb--goes under there--this goes with it. That's where all this stuff comes from. It's litter, the product of litterbugs.

WARD: At this grocery store in northwest Washington, the new bag fee has met with little resistance; that according to store manager Jack Eaton.

EATON: It was a very popular move on our part, and I think that it was really is pushing that issue and it's getting everybody involved, so all that trash--all that litter that--it just blows in the wind. Should,we should see a pretty immediate effect of that.

WARD: Grocery stores in Washington were at first were opposed to the idea of a bag fee thinking they'd lose business to retail stores in nearby Virginia or Maryland. The Giant Food has now joined forces with the Anacostia Watershed Society and gave away about a quarter of a million reusable bags to their Washington customers.

EATON: We packed everybody's orders in these reusable bags to help the customer get acclimated to the new bag tax and try to lessen the uh shock to their system. It was well received. We had numerous positive comments on it.

WARD: But not everyone is OK with the new bag fee. This shopper says any additional fee is hard on the elderly.

SHOPPER: You have to remember to get your tote bags and your plastic bags because they're five cents each. I think it's ridiculous.

WARD: Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform shares that sentiment calling the bag fee just another tax on consumers.

NORQUIST: The politicians want to have a tax on bags. The fact that they want to try and call it a fee tells you that they're liars as well as tax increasers.

WARD: Bag fee or bag tax--it still costs the same five cents. But the Anacostia Watershed Society says the goal is not to make money--it's to change behavior. Although the city expects to make three or four million dollars this year to help clean up the Anacostia, the hope is that eventually there will be fewer bags, less trash, and a cleaner environment. I'm VOA's Rebecca Ward for Going Green.

Okinawa

noreply@blogger.com (ANMI) — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 10:39:00 +0000

One of my favorite FB pages. Beautiful pix of Okinawa! http://is.gd/bLhrV http://ping.fm/RNpsz

Eijiro on the Web

noreply@blogger.com (ANMI) — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 03:33:00 +0000

英辞郎 on the WebのiPhoneアップをダウンロードしました。とても良いかも！ And it's free!

Classroom

noreply@blogger.com (ANMI) — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 18:56:00 +0000

教室をちょっと変更しました。どうかな? I made a small change to the classroom. Hope our students don't mind. http://ping.fm/IZ7GS

World's Oldest Barber

noreply@blogger.com (ANMI) — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 15:35:00 +0000

Corrected Transcript:

Many adults continue working long after other people have retired. One example is 99-year-old Antonio Mancinelli of New York State. The Guinness Book of World Records calls him the world's oldest barber.

ANTONIO MANCINELLI: You see all these people. You cut their hair for years, and you want to keep going. I don't. I have no way of thinking that I am going to retire. I am not retiring. I'm just, keep on going until the end.

Mancinelli has been cutting hair since he was 12 years old. In the 1920s, some barbers did more than cut hair. They offered other services and treatments.

ANTONIO MANCINELLI: I used to use leeches. People used to come in there. They had high blood pressure, and I used to put a leech on them to take some of the blood away. And they felt, they said they felt better.

Mancinelli says he removed growths on skin with a heated pin, and performed the ancient art of cupping to treat pain. Now, he just gives haircuts. His customers are pleased.

CUSTOMER: Great barber. He doesn't use the clippers. You get a haircut with scissors. It's much better.

Mancinelli says people keep him going.

ANTONIO MANCINELLI: We had one fellow come in here, in fact. He came in and says, "Anthony, you don't remember me. You used to cut my hair when I was a baby."

Mancinelli has lived longer than many of his customers. He worked seven days a week for 40 years. And he can still cut hair for 25 people in one day. I'm Jim Tedder.

Answer the following questions:

Do all adults quit working after they reach retirement age?
What makes Antonio Mancinelli unique?
When will Mancinelli stop working?
Do you think Mancinelli went to a trade school to become a barber? Why or why not?
What is different between barbers of the 1920s and barbers of today? What is the same?
Have you ever heard of cupping? What other ancient arts are still used to treat pain?
Why does the customer in the video like getting his hair cut by Mancinelli?
What motivates Mancinelli to work so hard? What motivates you to work hard?
What might be a possible downside of getting to know your customers on a personal level?

Disclaimer

ANMI English Tips and Tools by Chip Sorensen
is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.1 Japan License.
Based on a work at anmienglishtools.blogspot.com.

Sometime vs. Sometimes

noreply@blogger.com (ANMI) — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 15:36:00 +0000

Whats the difference between "sometimes" and "sometime"?

Definitions:

sometimes

[adverb] at times; now and then.
[副詞] 時には、時々、たまに。

sometime

[adverb] At an indefinite or unstated time. At an indefinite time in the future.
[副詞] いつか、そのうち、いずれ(は)、近々に。

Examples:

sometimes

I sometimes write a letter to my grandma. (時々おばあちゃんに手紙を書きます.)
Sometimes our dad cooks dinner for us. (父は時々夕食を作ってくれます.)
I sometimes take a walk in the park. (私は時々公園を散歩します.)

sometime

Come and see us us sometime next weekend. (来週末のいつか遊びにいらっしゃい.)
They will get married sometime. (彼らはやがてそのうち結婚するだろう.)
Please visit us sometime when you aren't busy. (忙しくないときにいつかお訪ね下さい.)

Do you have any other examples that you can think of? Please let me know in class, send me an email, post a comment via Facebook or Twitter, or leave a comment below!

References:
||||

Disclaimer

ANMI English Tips and Tools by Chip Sorensen
is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.1 Japan License.
Based on a work at anmienglishtools.blogspot.com.