Sticker Shock~!

Hey everyone do you know what

Sticker shock

means? It means that after you look at the price tag(the sticker-in Japanese you say seal) you get a shock because the price is super high~!

Customer: Wow, that's a beautiful coat.

Store clerk: Yes we have it in brown and black.

Customer (looks at the price): ...

Store clerk: Is everything ok? You're very quiet all of a sudden.

Customer: I'm fine, just a bit of sticker shock. Unfortunately, it's out of my price range.

Store Clerk: Ah, ok. We have something similar but much cheaper one over here...

Do you understand the usage of sticker shock?

In the conversation, you also saw the expression "it's out of my price range" which means it is TOO EXPENSIVE FOR ME.

Price range is the price you are willing or able to pay. For example, from 300 to 1500 yen is my price range when I go shopping for t-shirts.

Man: I wanna go to Hawaii with my wife.

Travel Agent: What's your price range for the trip?

Man: Not too expensive maybe 1000$ each for 4 days...

Have a good week,

Phil

Idioms

Hey everyone, last Friday I went to my Japanese lesson and learned a few idioms ^_^ Here are some of my favorite idioms from that lesson:

彼は油を売っている。

He's goofing/slacking off.

But it literally means "He is selling oil"~! Anyone know the story behind this idiom?

後の祭り。

It's too late~! I missed my chance...

It literally means "after the festival".

穴があったら入りたい。

Meaning, I'm so embarrassed I wish I could just disappear. The literal meaning in Japanese is "I wish I could go into a hole".

The closest English idiom is: I wish I could just crawl into a hole and die!

As you can see, the English idiom sounds much stronger, I am SOOO embarrassed I wish I could crawl into a hole somewhere and die.

And my favorite,

赤子の手をひねる。

Meaning, it's really easy.

In English, we use the idiom "It's like taking candy from a baby" but in Japanese you say "it is like twisting a baby's arm"!!! It is even stronger in Japanese, wild.

Have a nice Sunday night~!

Phil

In? On? At? Which should I use???

Hope you had a good weekend, today we will quickly review when to use the prepositions in, on and at.

in + area/long periods of time

I live in Japan.(area)

I work in northern Kyoto.(area)

The milk is in the fridge.(area)

I went to Turkey in August. (period of time)

I like to go swimming in the summer. (period of time)

It is really simple you use in with areas and long periods of time.

on + days/streets/floors

I go to the gym on Wednesdays. (days)

I will meet you on Friday night. (days)

I went to my parent's house on Christmas. (days)

Fuji Daimaru is on Shijo Street. (streets)

Oh, the post office is on First Avenue. (streets)

My office is on the fourth floor. (floors)

So you need to use on with days(including Christmas, New Year's, Halloween, etc.) , street names and floors of buildings.

at + specific place/specific times

I will meet you at 5pm on Friday. (specific time)

At Halloween I like to decorate my house in a scary way. (specific time of year)

A: Where's the meeting?
B: It's at Isetan on the 4th floor.
(specific place) A: When is it?
B: It's at 3pm. (specific time)



The party's at Tom's house at 9pm. (specific time & place)

So at is used with specific things! BUT be careful by switching prepositions you can change the meaning of the phrase:

I visit my parents at Christmas. (time - maybe NOT on Christmas Day, anytime around Christmas)

I visit my parents on Christmas. (DAY, NOT before or after-on December 25th)

Any questions?

Phil

Is that feasible?

Hi everyone, here's a quick vocab lesson to get you through the weekend~!

FEASIBLE

Do you know this word? It is a high level word that is often used in BUSINESS. It basically means that it can be done. In casual English, we would say that it is DOABLE.

1) Is finishing this report by Friday feasible?

2) Is finishing this report by Friday doable?

These both mean the same thing but 1) sounds more professional and 2) sounds more casual. So you should use 1) with clients, at meetings, etc. and 2) with friends or co-workers- your boss might use it with you but it would be too casual if you used it with your boss~!

Another way feasible is often used is in:

Economically Feasible

This means, can we do make money doing this~!

Does it make economic sense? Sometimes, a project might be doable(technologically it can be done) but it isn't ECONOMICALLY FEASIBLE. We will lose money building and selling this product.

Technologically we can build it but the costs are so high that it isn't economically feasible right now. We need to wait till costs come down.

It isn't economically feasible for me to teach private lessons far from my home, I waste too much time getting to my students house.

Any questions?

Have a nice weekend,

Phil

The temperature keeps yo-yoing...

Hey everyone, here's a super short lesson today about the verb:

to yo-yo

It is usually used in the following three different tenses.

~ing

The weather has been yo-yoing alot recently, it's driving me nuts~!

~ed

When I was a kid, my weight yo-yoed up and down.

~s

This movie's pace yo-yos alot. The story moves slowly, then fast, then slow, it's kind of annoying!

As you can see, it means that something goes up and down like a yo-yo. So it's used when talking about frequent changes.

Have a good week,

Phil

On Sunday? On SundayS???

Hi Everyone, today I'm going to post a quick lesson about regular actions. We use the present tense to talk about REGULAR ACTIONS. So it is often used in combination with words like: everyday, sometimes, usually, always, once a day, twice a week, etc.


I floss everyday.

I usually take a shower once a day, but in the summer I sometimes take two cold showers a day.

He sometimes brings his lunch to work.

My Mom usually makes dinner for us every night.


When talking about regular actions we often talk about things we do every week on the same day.


In Canada & the US we say on SundayS, on TuesdayS, etc.

I go grocery shopping on SundayS.


In the UK they usually say on Sunday, on Wednesday, on Tuesday. I go grocery shopping on Sunday.

But we BOTH say: on weekendS and every weekend.

I go clubbing every weekend.

I like to go hiking on weekendS.


These two have a slightly different meaning. Every weekend means each and every week on Saturday and/or Sunday. On weekendS means I usually do X on SaturdayS and/or SundayS BUT maybe not every week.

Have a good weekend,

Phil

How long have you been studying English?

Today's lesson is about the Present Perfect continuous. We use it to talk about actions that started in the past and continued to the present. It is formed using:

has/have + been + present participle.

I have been walking all day.

He has been talking non-stop for 2 hours!


So you'll often hear it in a question like:


A: How long have you been living in Japan?

B: I have been living here for about 5 years.

The pronounciation in casual English is:

A: How long've you been living in Japan?

B: I've been living in Japan for about 5 years.

So 've sounds like OF.

I have -----> I've = Eye-of

long have ------> long've = long-of

BE Careful!

We can also use the present perfect which is:

has/have + past participle

I've lived in Japan for about 5 years.

These have about the same meaning. But to me, have been living seems more temporary whereas have lived seems more permanent-I don't have any plans to leave.

So, onto today's question:

A: How long've you guys been studying English?

B: I've been studying it OFF AND ON for 10 years.

C: I've been studying it SERIOUSLY for about 6 months.

Let's look at these two useful expressions:

OFF AND ON means you start something and then stop, then start again, etc.

They've been dating OFF AND ON for 3 years.

Meaning they date, they break up, they get back together, break up, date, etc.

SERIOUSLY means you are focusing on it, it's like 真面目に (まじめに ) in Japanese.

I've been thinking about that problem seriously and I think I have a solution.

Have a nice day,

Phil