Katakana English...

Hey everyone, sorry I haven't posted more lessons this month but I've decided to take the JLPT(Japanese Language Proficiency Test) in December so alot of my free time is now being taken up with studying... wish me luck~! So this month I will post 6 lessons instead of my usual 8 and I think that will be about how many I will post in the next few months till my test.

Today's lesson is about some Katakana English words that have different meanings from the original English meaning.

リップスティック　= chapstick or lip balm

but

口紅（くちべに）= lipstick

We use chapstick often in Canada to protect our lips from the cold but lipstick(kuchibeni) is used as make up by women. So Japanese people SAY lipstick BUT they MEAN chapstick~ in English!

Next we also have this pair:

エアリング　= clip-on earrings

but

ピアス = normal earrings

So when Japanese people say earrings they mean clip-on earrings you can wear without pierced ears. But when they want to say normal earrings for someone with pierced ears they say pierce(ピアス )!

Ok that is it for this month, I will try and post something this weekend, enjoy this rainy Thursday,

Phil

Rinse vs. wash

Hey everyone, I just realized I haven't posted in awhile so I looked through my notes for lesson ideas and found this one about the difference between rinse and wash.

Do you know the difference?

Rinse

It means to wash lightly with water and NO SOAP. It also means to REMOVE SOAP by washing something lightly in water. In Japanese, it's 濯ぐ (すすぐ).

After swimming in the ocean, I always take a quick shower to rinse off the salt.

Shampoo bottle instructions:
1- Wet your hair.
2- Put the shampoo on your hair and massage your scalp(skin on your head).
3- Rinse
4- Repeat as needed.

Oh, one more thing! Remember, in Japanese Conditioner = Rinse in English and what we call Rinse, Japanese people say Conditioner! It is the opposite! So if you go abroad and want リンス ask for conditioner ^_-

Wash

This means to clean something USING SOAP or some other cleaning product like shampoo, laundry detergent, etc. In Japanese, it's 洗う (あらう).

Always wash your hands after using the restroom.

A: Where is your brother?
B: He's washing the car.

I wash my laundry once or twice a week.

If you don't stop using such bad words, I'll wash your mouth with soap!

Any questions? Enjoy your Monday off!

Phil

Let's agree to disagree...

Have you heard this saying before? Today, I am gonna teach a short lesson explaining this expression and telling you when and how to use it ^_-

Let's agree to disagree.

This means that you both have different opinions BUT you can't convince the other person to change their mind. SO, you agree to disagree. You have your opinion, I have my opinion-they are different BUT let's stop arguing about it.

You use this expression when you are arguing with someone, you have different opinions and the argument continues for a long time. Finally, you want to drop the subject (stop talking about it) and talk about something else.

A: Obama is a great president.
B: Are you crazy? He's a terrible president. George W. Bush was a much better president.
A: WHAT??? You like George W. Bush? He was a total idiot and a liar!
B: No way, he kept our country safe!
A: Huh? He stole an election! Ok, Ok, let's just agree to disagree.
B: Ok... so where do you wanna go for dinner?

So you can see the two friends are arguing, they can't agree about who is the better president. Finally, they just want to talk about something else and they agree to disagree.

Have a nice day,

Phil

I'm gonna go mingle...

The other day I was at a party at work and told some students "I'm gonna go mingle" nobody knew what I was talking about so, here's a quick lesson about the verb:

to mingle

Have you heard this verb before? It is similar in meaning to mix but the most common usage these days is at parties or events when we want to say we will go around the room and talk to various people.

So the main meaning here is to move around and mix with a group of people. So it is a really useful word at parties.

Oh no, everyone is staying with their friends, no one is mingling~! This party is a disaster...

At business events, it is important to mingle to make new business contacts.

There's also a slightly different meaning with the phrasal verb:

to mingle in = to join a group and fit in

Bob's not really mingling in.

Meaning Bob is not fitting in with our group.

She mingled in to the department quickly!

Meaning she fit in quickly when she joined our department.

I hope you enjoyed this quick lesson, have a good weekend,

Phil

We grew apart...

Hi everyone, today I will teach you some useful vocabulary you can use when talking about your family or friends.

Are you close?

Do you understand this question? The verb to be close, means something is near.

A: Where's the post office?

B: It's pretty close, just walk straight for 5 minutes.

It ALSO means that you are emotionally close to someone. So it is most often used when describing relationships with family and friends. The question "Are you close?" means "Do you have a close relationship?".

A: Are you and your parents close?

B: Yeah, I tell them everything and we talk on the phone once a week.

Now, the second expression we are looking at is to grow apart. The original meaning was used for things, most often plants.

The trees I planted in my backyard grew apart.

The image here are two trees which planted next to each other growing apart to make a V shape. Or one tree which splits into two, like this:

Nowadays, it is most often used to talk about relationships. We use it to say, we used to be close but now we are not. Often, the change is gradual(little by little).

I'm worried about my marriage, I think me and my husband are growing apart

When we were kids we were best friends but we grew apart in high school. He joined the football team and I joined the glee club(singing club).

Any questions? Have a good week,

Phil

Shut up!!! You're driving me crazy!

Hey everyone, I hope you are having a good week. Today's lesson is about the word:

CRAZY

In Japanese, you would say:気が狂う (きがくるう) . A higher level word that means the same thing as crazy is INSANE but crazy is more casual...

In casual English, there are many many ways to say crazy:

nuts

Man, that guy is totally nuts~!

cuckoo

I broke up with her because she was cuckoo!

mental

I saw a guy punching a cop! That was mental...

round the bend

My Uncle Willy went round the bend so we had to put him in a nursing home.

When we use the word crazy we often use it to say someone/something is driving someone crazy.

My neighbor is driving me nuts! He does his laundry at 7am every morning!

My Mom is driving my sister round the bend nagging her about getting married.

His girlfriend was driving him crazy with her constant nagging...

When people chew gum in class it drives my teacher insane!

Any questions?

Have a good week,

Phil