Since when've you been working there? vs. How long've you been working there?

Hey guys, here's a quick lesson looking at two very similar grammar structures that have slightly different meanings & usages.

How long've you had a dog?

This question has a NEUTRAL tone you're simply asking for the length of time someone has had a dog.

(small talk)
Al: I see your smartphone's home screen is a dog. Are you a dog person?

Bell: Yeah, I love dogs. Actually, that's a photo of my dog.

Al: What's your dog's name?

Bell: Terrence.

Al: How long've you had a dog?

Bell: I've had dogs since I was a kid, but I've had Terrence for 2 years.

One thing to note is that have is often contracted into 've which is pronounced like of. In casual North American English, the of or ou sound is often replaced with a. So you might hear this:

How long-a ya been married?

Now let's look at the structure that starts with since:

Since when've you had a dog?

This expression is asking the same thing, the length of time you've had a dog BUT it is expressing SURPRISE. The speaker thought you didn't have a dog so is surprised to see you with a dog.

(walking in the park Ken sees Mark)
Ken: Hey Mark, since when've you had a dog?

Mark: He's not mine, I borrowed him from a friend. Terrence here's a real chick magnet.

Ken: Really? He's kind of ugly.

Mark: Naw, he's a cute kind of ugly women really like him.

Ken: So meet any cute girls today with Terrence?

Mark: Yeah, I got 2 phone numbers already!

You could also use it if you visit your friend's house and they suddenly have a dog there. You want to ask them where did this dog come from? I didn't think you had a dog...

(barking sounds through the door)
Hal: Come in.

Glen: What? Since when've you had a dog Hal???

Hal: I don't, I'm just dogsitting for my sister.

Have a good week,

Phil

Can I ask you a question?

Hey everyone, today we're going to have a quick lesson about cultural miscommunications. These often occur when you use a sentence in a language that has an added meaning or connotation.

A few weeks ago I asked a class of students, "Does anyone have any questions?" and one of my students said "Can I ask you a question?". Now this sent up a red warning flag! Another sentence that does this is "We need to talk".

She didn't need to ask this question, I had just offered to answer any questions so she should have simply gone directly to her question.

For native English speakers when someone asks you "Can I ask you a question?" we take it as a WARNING that the next question will be something personal or it will be an uncomfortable question.

Usually we simply ask the question directly or we will see if the person has time to answer our question by saying "Do you have a minute?".

A: Does anyone have any questions?

B: Can I ask you a question?

A: Uh... yeah... ok, shoot.

B: What halloween party should I go to?

A: Umm...?

In this case A is confused because he offered to answer questions, so by asking "Can I ask you a question?" he expected a more serious question to be asked. She should have said:

A: Does anyone have any questions?

B: Can I ask you a question unrelated to English?

A: Sure.

B: What halloween party should I go to?

A: Umm... how about the one at Tadg's?

In this case, A is curious about the topic but it doesn't sound so serious. If you want to ask a question about a different topic than what is being discussed ask "Can I ask you an unrelated question?".

Here's the kind of usage we expect from "Can I ask you a question?":

Al: So how's it going?

Betty: Not bad, can I ask you a question?

Al: Uhm, ok. 

Betty: What would you do if I was pregnant?

Al: What!? You're pregnant?!?!

Betty: No, not yet but what would you do if I got pregnant?

Al: Uhh... well, I don't know... I guess I'd...

Have a nice cloudy day,

Phil

A black joke..? huh? - Katakana English

Hey everyone, today while I was at work I heard my co-workers talking in Japanese and they used a Katakana English word in their conversation. I was kind of shocked because they said black joke.

Now, from they context I could see they meant a kind of dark joke about death or some other horrible event. BUT in English a black joke meands a racist joke about black people!

It is not politically correct and not funny. I told my coworkers they should have used a different expression because people may get offended if they hear you saying black joke... instead use one of the three following terms

black humor

Whenever something bad happens I also use black humor to lighten the mood.

dark humor

Tom has a really dark sense of humor, he's always joking about death and other tragedies.

gallows humor

This is when people make jokes about death before a coming battle, execution(gallows are the execution platform for hanging) or other terrible event happens.

So tomorrow we all lose our jobs when the factory closes, I guess it is time for some gallows humor...

Be careful guys! Sometimes katakana English can be misunderstood and get you in trouble~!

Phil

Do you have a phone? vs. Do you have your phone?

Hey everyone, so today I was out with my wife and she asked me:

Do you have a phone?

What she meant to say was:

Do you have your phone?

Let's take a quick look at the difference between the two.

Do you have A phone?

Means simply if somewhere in the world there is a phone that belongs to you. In Japanese it would be something like:

携帯電話を持っていますか？

Whereas "Do you have your phone?" means "Did you bring your phone with you?". In Japanese it might be something like:

携帯電話を持ってきますか？

This just goes to show that using A can truly change the meaning of a sentence!

I ate some watermelon.

Meaning I ate a few pieces of watermelon.

I ate A watermelon.

Means that you ate a WHOLE watermelon by yourself!

Have a nice weekend,

Phil

We need to Talk...

Today we're going to have a quick cultural miscommunication lesson. Back when I first started dating my wife she sometimes emailed me the sentence "We need to talk" this always filled me with dread and caused me a lot of stress...

...do you know why? In English, when someone says "We need to talk" it is 95% of the time followed by BAD NEWS! So these words are REALLY strong in English and shouldn't normally be used.

For example:

Boss: John come into my office we need to talk.

John: Did I do something wrong? Am I getting fired???

Boss: No, no but you are getting transferred to our Arkansas office.

John: Arkansas... uh... OK...

The most common usage of this phrase you'll see in movies or TV shows is before someone breaks up with someone. In most cases when your boyfriend/girlfriend says this your partner thinks you will break up with them~!

Jill: John about your transfer to Arkansas...

John: Yeah, Jill?

Jill: We need to talk... I can't do a long distance relationship...

John: What? Are you breaking up with me??!?!

Jill: Sorry but long distance relationships never work out.

John: This week sucks!

So PLEASE don't use the phrase "We need to talk" lightly, instead try to say what you want directly or use the weaker"I have to tell you something" BUT remember try and be SPECIFIC.

"I have to tell you something" could also make people feel bad news is coming. If you say "I have to tell you something about my job" or "I have to tell you about my new hobby" then people won't feel any worry.

Ed: Hey Tina, I have to tell you about something. Do you have a minute?

Tina: Sure, what's up?

Ed: I'm gonna open up my own coffee shop.

Tina: Cool~!

Have a nice weekend,

Phil

I'm lost versus I lost.

Do you guys understand the difference in meaning between the two sentences? 

The other day one of my students said "I'm lost" during our lesson. This means "I don't know where I am" (迷っている)　needless to say, I was kind of surprised!

What she meant to say was "I lost" this means you didn't win a game, you failed to win. (負けた)

Now you can see how a very small difference can lead to a big difference in meaning!

For example:

go out for a drink

This means lets go out for 1 or 2 drinks. We use this when we want to go out for a short time.

go out for drinkS

This means go out for MORE than 2 drinks. We use this when we want to go out for a long amount of time.

Helen: Would you like to go out for a drink after work?

Samantha: Sure, that sounds like fun. Let's go to happy hour at Popeye's.

Helen. Great idea!

Samantha: But I have to leave at 7pm.

Helen: No problem.

-----------------

Ben: Wanna go out for drinks tonight?

Dan: Sorry man, I gotta get home early.

Ben: Alright, how about going out for a drink?

Dan: Sure, I can grab a quick drink on my way home.

Have a good week,

Phil

The flu's popular?!?! Huh?

A few weeks ago, I heard a Japanese English speaker say:

Recently, the flu's popular.

I was like,

HUH??? What are you talking about?

Popular means 人気 (にんき), a lot of people like or want something. It this case you should use the word, common. Meaning, many people have it. Common in Japanese would be: ざらにある or ざらにいる.

So the next time you want to talk about many people having the flu these days please say:

Recently, the flu's quite common.

Or if you'd like to sound more casual you could say:

Recently, the flu's going around.

We often use the expression going around to talk about the flu or a cold that seems to be moving between lots of people. Tom has it, then Mary has it, then Bob, then Jill, etc.

Have a nice Sunday,

Phil

I'll think about it....

Hi everyone, it's time for another cultural miscommunication's lesson~!

When someone says:

I'll think about it.

It often means:

No.

When someone you are dating says:

We need to talk.

It usually means, there's bad news... for example:

I'm gonna break up with you.

BUT sometimes it can be good news~!

We need to talk... ...I'm pregnant!

Well, that example could be good or bad news depending on your point of view ^_-

These examples are a kind of code that is culturally based, you hear them all the time in movies and TV shows. People react not based on the words that are said but on their hidden meaning!

For example, in the 1950s this was a common scene:

Tom: Hey, Sally wanna go out with me on Friday night?

Sally: Sorry, I'm busy. I'm washing my hair.

Tom: Oh, ok... -_-

The subtext here is that:

I'm washing my hair = I am not interested in you/I don't want to date you.

Have a nice rainy day,

Phil

Do you know Brad Pitt???

Umm, no I've never met him but he seems like a nice guy...

Hey everyone, today we are looking at a common mistake Japanese English speakers make. They translate directly from Japanese ブラドピットしっていますか?

BUT in English "Do you know...?" means do you know him PERSONALLY, have you MET HIM in real life?

Jim: Do you know Tom, Bob?

Bob: No, I don't. Nice to meet you Tom.

Tom: Nice to meet you too Bob.

-------------------

John: Do you know Sara?

Ed: No, I never met her.

John: She's great I think you'd really like her.

Generally speaking, when talking about famous people, places or events we use the expression:

Have you heard of...?

It's a really useful expression to check if someone knows about something/have they heard of it.

A: Have you heard of the movie Oldboy?

B: Nope, is it any good?

A: Yeah, it's a bit violent but it's a great Korean movie!

---------

C: Have you heard of Johnny Depp?

D: Of course! I've seen all his movies, he's a great actor.

---------

E: Have you heard of the Kyoto Craft Beer Festival?

F: No, what is it?

E: It's a new festival where you can try many Japanese microbrews.

F: Wow, sounds great. Let's check it out!

Ok, that's it for now. If you have any questions please post a comment! I am a bit busy these days so I think I will only be able to post 5-6 lessons this month, sorry guys...

Have a good week,

Phil

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

You like hamburg? Huh??? The city?

Hey everyone, to start off the short month of February I decided to post a short lesson~! Also, I think I will aim for maybe 6 lessons this month instead of my more usual 8.

Anyways, I often hear Japanese people say "I like hamburg" or "I like hamburger" but both of these sentences can easily confuse native English speakers.

I like hamburg. = I like the city of Hamburg in Germany???

There is no English word hamburg, what you mean to say is:

I like hamburger steaks.

or

I like hamburg steaks. (I have never heard this but saw it online)

The second sentence "I like hamburger" sounds odd, it isn't really grammatically correct. Hamburger without an S is uncountable and so I would think of hamburger MEAT. Meat is always uncountable.

I like chickenS (animal).

I like chicken (uncountable and so meat).

In this case, what you mean to say is:

I like hamburgers.

This morning I was studying Japanese and was learning ハンバーガー which inspired me to write about it~!

I hope you enjoyed my lesson, see you,

Phil

Are you seeing someone?

Hey everyone, this is a common question you ask when you want to know if someone is dating someone. You might also hear:

"Are you married?"

This also sounds like you are interested in the person you are asking... so be careful~!

"Are you single?"

Now, this question can lead to cultural miscommunications in Asia. When I lived in Korea I was really surprised to find out that single for Korean people it means "not married" and then when I moved to Japan I was surprised to find out that single (独身の) also means "not married".

This can leads to a case of cultural miscommunication, because for western people single means that you are not married and have no boyfriend or girlfriend. You are completely alone and free to date anyone you want.

So often western guys in Korea ask a girl "Are you single?" and she says "Yes, I am." so they start to date... and months later he finds out she has another boyfriend~! Then they break up... this kind of thing happens pretty often and it is because of a cultural miscommunication caused by two different interpretations of the word single!

So sometimes people have problems because words have different meanings in different languages. It is important to try and learn about these differences to avoid problems when communicating.

I hope you enjoyed this lesson, it is August now and I am enjoying my summer holidays so I will only be posting 4 blogs this month instead of the usual 8.

Enjoy your summer vacation~!

Phil

What day is it?

Hey everyone, this weekend I decide to talk about two more questions that often lead to Cultural Miscommunications in Japan.

What day is it?

In Japanese, this is:

何曜日ですか？Nanyoubi desuka?

So the meaning is what day of the week is it?

A: What day is it?
B: It's January 30th. XXX No~!

A: What day is it?
B: It's Sunday. ^_^ YES

What's the date?

In Japanese, this is:

何日ですか？Nan nichi desuka?

So, the meaning is what day of the month is it?

A: What's the date?
B: It's Friday. XXX No~!

A: What's the date?
B: It's May 24th. YES! ^_^

楽しかった？I hope you enjoyed this Sunday mini-lesson and have a great weekend!

Phil

Cultural Miscommunications...

Hi everyone, Cultural Miscommunications are when people have trouble understanding each other even though they are speaking the same language. For example:

A: Where do you work?
B: I work in Osaka.
A: Um, I mean what company do you work for?
B: I work for Omron.

Here the native English speak(A) wanted to know the COMPANY the Japanese English speaker (B) works for. But B focuses on WHERE and so misunderstood A. When native English speakers want to know about the LOCATION where you work we say:

Where's your office?

and when we want to know your COMPANY we say:

Where do you work? (company)

Today, I will talk about the difference between these two questions:

Where are you from?

and

Where do you come from?

-------------------------------------------------------------

Where do you come from?

This question has a negative connotation~! The feeling of this sentence is why are you here? Go back where you came from... This can be emphasized using word stress:

Where do YOU come from?
(meaning you are strange so what planet are you from weirdo?)

Where do you COME from?
(meaning I don't want you here so please go back where you came from)

Also please be careful with:

Why are you here?
(very strong, very negative, TOO direct)

Why did you come to Japan?
(too direct, it feels like you don't want me here)

Instead say:

Why did you decide to come to Japan?
(by adding decide you make the question less direct and so more positive)

What brings you to Japan?
(this is old fashioned but really polite and sounds very nice, please use it! ^_^) This question is great as you can switch Japan for any location:

What brings you to Tokyo?
What brings you to Canada?
What brings you here?

Where are you from?

This is a great question, it asks about where you are from but, without using the word come, loses all it's negative connotations. This is the best and safest way to ask people what country or city they are from.

So please try this conversation the next time you want to speak to a foreigner in Japan~!

Japanese: Where are you from?
Foreigner : I'm from New York.

Japanese: What brings you to Japan?
Foreigner: I'm here on business.

Japanese: Oh? What do you do?
Foreigner: I'm an software engineer.

Japanese: Where do you work?
Foreigner: I work at IBM.

I hope you enjoyed today's lesson, have a nice week!

Phil

You ate bread for breakfast?!?!?!????

Hey everyone here is another short and quick lesson. Many of my students have told me they ate bread for breakfast and I was always surprised because plain bread is a little bland(薄味,うすあじ). After asking them to describe their breakfast I always found out they had used the wrong word! In English, bread is not toasted. You take bread, put it into the toaster, PING! Toast come out of the toaster ^^


So here are a few bread vocabulary words!


bread: パン

ex: What kind of bread do you like? I like baguettes!



bake: To cook something using dry heat, usually in an oven.

ex: My sister likes to bake cookies. ^^



bakery: A store selling baked goods, in japanese: パン屋


ex: What is that delicious smell coming from the bakery?


bun: A small bread roll, often sweetened or spiced and sometimes containing dried fruit.


ex: Do you like sticky buns?



roll: A small rounded amount of bread.


ex: These bread rolls are really good!



loaf: A big amount of bread, usually shaped like a rectangle. You cut slices off it.


ex: a loaf of bread, two loaves of bread.


croissant: a crescent shaped roll of bread


ex:



baguette: This is the famous french bread which is long and thin.


ex: I love fresh baguettes.


toast: To heat and brown bread, by putting it in a toaster or an oven.

ex: I eat toast(s) for breakfast!

Wow, I am hungry now. Time to eat!