How are you?

Hi everyone, so for the first lesson of the month I will answer a question from my comments box "How are you? ---I'm fine. I'm OK. I'm good. I'm not bad. Could you tell me what you feel about each answer.And which answer is normal?".

Well, first off the question "How are you?" is pretty formal. I would usually use it with people I have NEVER met before or in polite/business situations. Before I came to Japan I hadn't used that question in years! With my friends I would usually ask "How's it going?" pronounced "How-zit goin?".

Now, as for the answers all of them are normal but let's look at them in a bit more detail:

I'm great.

This wasn't part of the question but when you are really happy and feel amazing you can say: "I'm great". Even stronger than this you could say: "I'm on top of the world!" ,which I think was in the movie Titanic, if you say this you are feeling terrific! You could also say: "I'm feeling like a million bucks!"

I'm fine.

This is the standard answer in all the textbooks that EVERYONE learns in Japan. It's a bit old fashioned but still commonly used. My big problem with "I'm fine" is that Japanese English speakers could be in a horrible car accident and you'd ask them "How are you doing? Are you ok?" and they would answer: "I'm fine"! I think for many teachers here we get tired of this answer, it is rote learning not communicating--I sometimes do an exercise where students practice answering the question "How are you?" and no one can give the same answer twice!

I'm ok.

This is the answer I usually give, and all the Japanese staff think it's funny I'm always ok. It's weaker than I'm fine and simply means you're feeling the same as usual-today is nothing special. Personally, I find it weird when people give a huge fake answer like "I'm great!" when really they're just fine or ok.

I'm good.

This is technically incorrect or bad grammar, when you say "I'm good" it usually means you are an expert or good at something like the word jouzu (上手) in Japanese. When you say "I'm good" it sounds arrogant so, people usually use good to talk about OTHER PEOPLE. Like, "He's good at golf."

Or, as I said in a recent lesson, it can mean "I don't need anything right now" when answering an offer like "Would you like something to drink?". However, recently in casual English many people will give this answer when someone asks them:

A: "How's it going?"

B: "Me? Eh, I'm good"

meaning they are fine, nothing special is going on with them, everything is alright.

I'm not bad.

This is similar to "I'm ok" you don't feel fine but you don't feel terrible either so you're "not bad". After this you get things like:

"I'm terrible"

"I'm awful"

"I'm horrible"

"I'm sad"

etc.

These kinds of negative answers are fine to give people you know but you shouldn't say them to strangers it is what we call TOO MUCH INFORMATION. You are telling people more than they really want to know. Also if you say something negative, you should probably give a bit more detail---to your friends.

A: How are you?

B: I'm sad, my goldfish died.

A: Aww, that's too bad. How can I cheer you up?

Wow, this took much longer than I thought! That it for now, time to go to bed! Have a nice weekend everyone,

Phil

Si/Shi sounds

For the last lesson of the month, I am going to give you a few of my homemade tongue twisters for you to practice the difference between SI and SHI. In Japanese, there is no SI sound so many people often say SHI instead... which isn't correct English pronunciation.

Sally sipped sodas on Sunday.

Sally sipped 76 sweet & sour strawberry sodas.

She sipped her sodas while sailing her swift sailing ship until she was sick sick sick.

Shelly saw Sally sipping her sodas and said "Sally's silly!".

Ok I hope you enjoy your pronunciation practice, I'll post some more new lessons next month~!

Phil

Be with you in a jiffy!

The other day there was an article on thefreedictionary.com about the term jiffy and it seemed interesting so I thought I would share it with you~! You can check it out here:

http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Jiffy+(time)

Basically, jiffy means a short period of time. Usually, a jiffy is the time it takes you to finish what you are doing.

A customer enters a shop and doesn't see anyone:

A: Hello anyone there?

B: Yeah, be with you in a jiffy~!

This situation is pretty casual and "I'll be with you in a jiffy" has been shortened by dropping the I'll.

Apparently, jiffy means lightning in old English thief's slang~! This term has been used as far back as the 1700s, so it is pretty old English but it's still common ^_-

The term also has many variations that are used in physics, computing, electronics and according to the makers of the Pot Noodle(instant ramen Cup Noodle) a jiffy is 1/100 of a second~!

So the next time someone asks you:

"When will you be finished?"

Be sure to answer:

"I'll be done in a jiffy~!"

Have a good night, I hope you enjoyed this mini-lesson,

Phil

I hit my funny bone...

Have you ever heard of your funny bone?? This is a useful English word/expression that has two meanings:

1- a sense of humour

That comedy really hit my funny bone!

Meaning the comedy made me laugh alot.

2- a spot on your elbow肘(ひじ) that when hit will cause your whole arm to tingleぴりぴり

Ouch! I think I just hit my funny bone, my whole arm is tingling.

So, I knocked my elbow and something hit the nerve and now my arm tingles.

from:http://kidshealth.org/kid/talk/qa/funny_bone.html

The second meaning is much more common than the first, so can you answer my question readers?

Have you ever hit your funny bone?


Phil

P.S. If you wanna know more check out the link!

We're behind schedule so it's time to...

Hey everyone, today I'm gonna present two idioms that are most often used in a business context. They are a bit old fashioned but you still hear them sometimes. Plus students when talking about studying might used these idioms too.

We're behind schedule we're going to have to:

1- put our noses to the grindstone

A grindstone is a stone used for sharpening knives. When you used it you had to lean in and push the knife onto the grindstone so your nose was very close to it~. This came to mean to work hard.

I have to put my nose to the grindstone if I wanna pass the exam!

2- to burn the midnight oil

A long time ago, people had to burn oil to light lamps at night. So if you needed to work late you had to burn extra oil. If you are burning oil at midnight you are working really late! So this expression came to mean work very late or work all night.

Don't use this if you just wanna say you are going to work overtime! This idiom is stronger than that, it implies you are working till midnight or later.

To finish my project on time I had to burn the midnight oil for a week! It sucked!

Hmmm, I guess that is it for now, I hope you all had a nice weekend,

Phil

あなたのマイブームは何ですか？

Do you understand this question? I just studied a Japanese lesson on learnjapanesepod.com about the katakana English phrase "my boom". You can find it online here: http://learnjapanesepod.com/97-my-boom/

Basically, in English fad has a bit of a negative connotation or feeling. You don't really understand why it is so popular or you don't approve of it's popularity. Whereas boom simply means that something has increased.

Now the Japanese katakana マイブーム (my boom) would NEVER be said by a native speaker. A boom in English is something outside yourself: a population boom, an oil boom, a boom in housing prices, a boom in mini-skirt sales, etc.

If you translate:

あなたのマイブームは何ですか？

literally you get:

What's your my boom?

Which makes no sense, the correct translation would be:

What have you been into recently?

So my boom means a recent increase in interest or activity, lately you have been doing it alot or often. It would be translated as to be into recently or to be getting into recently.

My feeling is that my boom includes the fact that recently you are doing it more, that it is what you are into NOW.

If you want to learn more, please listen to learnjapanesepod's podcast!

Phil

Boom vs. Fad

Hey everyone, I hope you all had a nice golden week vacation! I had a nice time relaxing in Kansai and visiting Nagasaki ^_^ Today, I will answer Akiko's question:

"What's the difference between a boom and a fad?"

Well, let's take a quick look at what the dictionary has to say about boom:

1. v.intr.
   1. To make a deep, resonant sound.
   2. To grow, develop, or progress rapidly; flourish: Business is booming.
   
2. v.tr.
   1. To utter or give forth with a deep, resonant sound: a field commander booming out orders.
   2. To cause to grow or flourish; boost.
   
3. n.
   1. A deep resonant sound, as of an explosion.
   2. A time of economic prosperity.
   3. A sudden increase, as in popularity.

We are talking about a noun so let's look at number 3 in detail. The first meaning of boom, is an onomatopoeia(giongo). Tt means, a big deep loud sound like a jet breaking the sound barrier or an explosion.

I was woken up by a loud boom last night! But it was just some kids setting off fireworks.

The second meaning, is when the economy is doing well, all aspects of the economy are rising.

The economic boom that followed the Great Depression was largely the result of spending on wartime goods due to World War II.

The third meaning, is that there is a sudden increase in something, including an increase in popularity.

There was a population boom following World War II.

Due to high gas prices there has been a boom in hybrid cars.

This usage is similar to the katakana English word: ブーム.

In English, boom tends to be used in newspapers or when talking about things from a BUSINESS perspective. It is also often used in academia, such as in research journals, history books, etc.

The main difference between boom and fad is that fad has an added value judgement... you are saying you think the popularity of something will end soon or that you don't think it should be so popular.

A: Can you believe all those people with that crazy haircut?

B: Eh, it's just a fad. Next month, their hair will all be back to normal.

Boom is more neutral, you are just saying that something has increased or is more popular.

There's been a big boom in robotic toys this year.

Here, you are saying there are many more robotic toys than before but you AREN'T saying if you think that it is good/bad or if you think it will eventually stop.

I hope that helps clarify things, have a nice Mother's Day!

Phil