間違いから学ぶ！ ① PROBLEM It's a comfortable day. The sun is shining. It's not too hot and not too cold. The weather is perfect for a day at the park. Yes, it's a comfortable day! Well, actually… no. In this situation the word ‘comfortable’ is not a suitable choice. It just feels weird, strange and perhaps a little odd. But a lot of my students tend to say this. Let’s look at the reasons why you can’t use the word ‘comfortable’ like this. ② REASON Let’s look at this from the other w

The word 'should' is used a lot by Japanese speakers of English. But I have some bad news for you. It can sound a little overbearing, if you use it too much. It's fine to use it now and again, but I'd like to introduce you to some softer and altogether more friendly ways of giving advice and recommendations. ① Have you ever thought about ..ing? So this is a nice passive way of making a suggestion. It’s similar to "how about..?" or "what about..?" but it creates a little mo

間違いから学ぶ！ ① PROBLEM I live in a local area. Now as we all know, the word 'local' is used in Japan quite a lot. You can see it every day on the trains. ローカル線　A local train line Here's part of the Tsukuba Express Train Announcement Thank you for using the Tsukuba Express Line. This is a local train for Akihabara. We will soon be stopping at station number 15, Moriya. The doors on the right side will open. But in daily English conversation I often hear the word being used and I t

Using the verb 'tend' as a base, I'm going to introduce 4 differerent patterns that you can use in English conversation right away. There are 2 basic structures that we use with 'tend.' Tend to 〜 Have a tendency to 〜 They might look a little tricky at first sight, but after you learn the rules it's actually not as difficult as you may think. Here's what the 4 different meanings are in Japanese. By mastering these structures, it can make you look even smarter and might even im

間違いから学ぶ！ ① PROBLEM My room is dirty. This is a classic mistake to make, but it’s just a matter of word choice. I always feel that a lot of my students don’t fully understand the deeper connotations of the word ‘dirty.’ A connotation is like an additional idea. A feeling A notion An underlying meaning Let’s look in more detail about the reasons why you should think twice before using the word ‘dirty.’ Especially when talking about your home. ② REASON In order to fully understa

When most Japanese people talk about something in the future, most of the time they end up going with 'will.' It's a great word and is used a lot in the English language. But do you know what? Native speakers don't use it half as much as people in Japan. When you 'will' on its own, it has a very serious and somewhat conservative tone to it. I'd like to teach you some more relaxed and natural ways to talk about the future. So without further ado, let’s get started with the fir

MAKEとLETの使い分け！ ① PROBLEM I let my son study. If you say you 'let your son study' then this means your son really wants to study and you gave him permission. If your son is like most kids then they don’t want to study. The majority of kids would prefer to play video games or watch YouTube these days. Let’s look in more detail about the reason you will probably never say 'I let my son study.' ② REASON The reason is this. A lot of people are getting confused. What are they getti

Describing someone's personality helps build up a mental picture of what kind of person they are. I'm going to teach you 10 commonly-used idioms to perfectly describe your friend, family member or colleague. ① A Bossy Boots やたら威張り散らす人 仕切り屋 傲慢な A Bossy boots is kind of a cute way of saying someone who likes telling people what to do. If you use this expression you can say it with a smile on your face. It’s not so serious. - Don’t be such a bossy boots! You’re always telling me

この英語使ったことない！ ① PROBLEM I cut one’s finger. One is part of a very special family called the Generic Personal Pronouns. Generic as in generic medicine, an expression used in Japan. There are 4 people in this family: One, You, They & We. They refer to ‘people in general’ Open any J/E dictionary and you’ll probably see it lurking, hiding, skulking around in the example sentences. One must always wear a seatbelt. Being with one’s friends is such fun. One cannot help but grow older

There are so many alternatives to the word 'many.' A lot of Japanese people fall into the trap of overusing this word, resulting in their English sounding unnatural and lacking in variety. This lesson will show you 10 different expressions you can use to give your English a boost and to start sounding like a native speaker today! ① Heaps of A heap is like a small mountain of things. Australian people in particular love this one. We can say a heap of or heaps of. - There are h

意味的に大丈夫？I stopped to smoke. ① PROBLEM I stopped to smoke. This is a perfect sentence. There is absolutely nothing wrong with it. Go ahead - use it - be my guest! Having said that. Are sure about the meaning? A lot of people say this sentence, or something similar, without realizing what they are actually inferring. To infer means to insinuate. By insinuating I mean suggest. Let’s break this down in the next section ② REASON If you use the structure 'I stopped to do something,

The word 'nick' is a good old British expression which has various meanings. In this post, we'll focus on 3 key points. If you are a fan of British police dramas, this will be of particular interest. ① To be in good condition 良好な状態で To be in good nick means to be in good condition. We can use this for things and also for people. This sofa is in good nick. This lady is in good nick for her age! For things it’s usually used for stuff that would get broken and damaged over time.

どっちが悪い？Who was bad? ① PROBLEM Who was bad? You’ve had a car crash and you’re telling your friend about it. What does your friend say? ‘Who was bad?’ ‘Which one was bad?’ ‘The other driver was bad.’ ‘I wasn’t bad.’ In this situation the problem is the use of the word ‘bad.’ Wait a minute! I hear you say. One driver must be 'bad' and the other must be 'good.' Well, it's a case of YES & NO. It’s not as simple and clear-cut as you would imagine. Let’s look at the reasons why in m

① Giving a Souvenir Let’s look at a few phrases you can use when giving a souvenir in English. Firstly, I want tell you about a few experiences I’ve had over the years in Japan Sometimes when you try to translate the Japanese ‘heart’ or the Japanese ‘spirit’ into English, it just doesn’t work out. For instance, don’t say anything negative about the souvenir even before you have handed it over. I’ve have been given some home-made jam before and the person told me “It’s not del

My hobby is sleeping. ① PROBLEM My hobby is sleeping. OK, imagine you’re at a dinner party and everyone is speaking English. At some point, someone during conversation says "Hey everyone! I’ve got this really great hobby. It’s called sleeping." Now I can guarantee you that everyone is going to have kind of a puzzled look on their face. "Your hobby is sleeping? Mmm OK.. That’s nice" It’s going to feel kind of awkward. To feel awkward means to feel uncomfortable - it’s not a pa

Ain’t is a slang expression. It’s extremely versatile, which means it can be used in many ways. Of course, as it is 'slang' you have to be careful how you use it. It has been around for hundreds of years and can be seen in the works of Charles Dickens, whose characters used a lot of ‘cockney’ expressions ‘Cockney’ is a dialect of London English, but that story is for another day. Walk down any street in New York, Melbourne or London and you’re going to hear it being used. So

I wanna visit to Kyoto. ① PROBLEM I’m gonna visit to Kyoto. Sounds like fun, doesn’t it? Now a lot of you are probably thinking there is absolutely nothing wrong with this sentence. But there is. Let’s come right out with it. We never use the word ‘to’ when we use ‘visit’ as a verb. Remember that’s as a verb - that’s a key point! It’s as simple as that. But here is the important part. Why don’t we use ‘to’ with the verb ‘visit’? Let’s look at the reasons in more detail ② REAS

Wow! That sure is a beautiful car you’ve got there! ① Sure + Be Verb So of course we’re talking about are, am, is, was, were, been and being. The important thing to remember is that Sure comes BEFORE the Be verb Why do we use it? Well it gives more impact, more emphasis. It’s also a really friendly and casual way of talking. This way to use ‘sure’ is probably more common in American and Canadian English, but it is starting to be used more in other English speaking countries d