I heard some interesting figures while watching a TV program the other night. This TV program showed the international cultural differences on the web.
It says only ten percent of Japanese reveal their real names on their blogs, but in North America the number goes up to more than fifty percent. This type of difference is seen in countries even within Asia. While many Japanese try not to expose themselves on the web since they are afraid that people might be able to find out who they are, it is natural for Korean people to use their real names. In Korea, posting messages on a blog happens mostly when a reader knows the site owner in the real world. That is why they do not mind showing photos of their families, relatives, and friends on their sites, while it is considered inappropriate in Japan.
It does interest me to know that there is an international cultural difference in the cyberworld as well. In today's globalized world, you should be aware of this fact, as this may lead to a misunderstanding.
Today was the second day of a three-day weekend in Japan.
I went to Ashiya Rock Garden with my husband to do get some exercise, which I cannot get on weekdays. Ashiya Rock Garden is
about 45 minutes away from my place,. It is 15 minutes by train and 30 minutes on foot from
Ashiya station to the entrance of the hiking trail.
My main purpose
As soon as we arrived at the restaurant, I
accomplished my first purpose; however, my long-waited sansai-udon was not as
tasty as I remembered, although it was still good. As people often say it is better in your memory. Anyway, while
eating the udon, I overheard the conversation between an elderly man
sitting at the next table and the master of the restaurant. Apparently, this
guy also came to the rock garden to take a picture of the
swine for his New Year's cards. He said to the master that he had come here to do the
same thing 12 years ago. He was young and healthy at that time, and it was
quite easy for him to hike up the mountain and find the swine. He
added he was going to wait for the swine to
come down to
near the restaurant this time. I hoped he
would come to this place again in 12 years' time, even though he might not be
able to follow a
the trail.
I remembered the trail as a little more than a casual Sunday walk, but again, it was much harder
than I expected. However, we liked the trail very much and enjoyed every minute
of our walking. My second purpose was fulfilled, too. We saw four of the swine in
the middle of the trail. Unfortunately, the battery of my digital camera ran
out and I had to take a photo with my mobile phone.
It was quite warm for November and we had a great
day. One thing that made my day even better was when I saw people we met in on the mountain exchange greetings when passing by. In today's
unpredictable society, you cannot take it for granted that people should
exchange greetings. It sometimes leads to deadly
crimes for the a reason that
you can never understand. However today, I was quite happy to see every single person, including
a 6-year old girl
to a young couple from a 6-year old girl
to a young self-involved couple, did not hesitate to smile or utter a word to
strangers.
This is my writing sample that has been corrected by a Linguist tutor.
Hi Tutor,
I am writing this to see if the long-standing problem we had in the Write section has finally been solved.
When we
,(no comma) Japanese members wrote something on Word application software and copied and pasted it onto the Submit Writing page, some characters in the writing turned into garbled characters. I heard the problem has now been solved; therefore, I just wanted to try it myself. I hope this writing does not get garbled when being pasted on the Write section.P.S. Please correct my English although this is not an essay or anything, since this is aimed
to killat killing two birds with one stone: (colon) to check the system upgrade and to practice my writing skills!WestEnder
I joined one of The Linguist’s group discussions the other day. All the members in this discussion group happened to be able to speak French, although only one of them actually lived in France. During the discussion, I tried introducing myself in French for the first time in my life!
Je m’appelle Tamaki. Je suis japonaise, et j’habite au Japon, à Kobe. J'ai trente six ans. And I don’t know how to say I’m married but have no kids.
Well, you might say "that's all!?", but this was all I could remember! （＾＾；
When I was on the train on the way home tonight, several Internationl school students got on the same train. They started conversation both in English and Japanese. One of them was checking his mobile phone and started reading a riddle that he found through his mobile. The riddle goes like this: "The red house is next to the blue house. The blue house is next to the yellow house. Then, where is the white house?".
Of course, the answer is Washington D.C. d(^-^)ネ!
Thanks for many comments towards my previous posting on "unshelled shrimp". Well, I had my writing sample corrected and found there was more to tell about the word "shrimp".
Here is my writing sample after being corrected. (corrected parts are in green.)
I learned a new word today from a TV program I watched. The word is "unshelled".
Which do you think are "unshelled shrimp": shrimp with or without shells? At first, I thought it was obviously "without shells", since the prefix "un" means "not", right? However, "unshelled shrimp" actually means "shrimp with shells". How is this possible? I will explain why.
When the word "shell" is used as a verb, it means "to remove the shell". Therefore, unshelled shrimp are actually shrimp whose shells are not removed!
It is tricky, isn't it?
Can you spot the recurring mistake I made?
Yes, the word "shrimp" is a plural noun, so you need to use a plural verb! (therefore, you need to make shell plural as well. -> shrimp with shells)
Another confusing story, isn't it? Now I like shrimp less than before.... (Just kidding! ^^)
I learned a new word today, from a TV program I watched. The word is "unshelled"...
Which do you think is "unshelled shrimp"; shrimp with shell or without? At first, I thought it was obviously "without shell", since the
prefix "un" means "not", right? BUT, "unshelled shrimp" actually menas "shrimp with shell". How does this happen?
I will explain why.
When the word "shell" used as a verb, it means "to remove shell". Therefore, unshelled shrimp is actually shrimp whose shell is not removed!
It is tricky, isn't it?Below is a conversation I had with my husband the other night.
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(I found my husband looking for something in the living room.)
WestEnder: "What are you looking for?"
WestEnder's husband: "A book called How to write Better Business Documents. I have been planning to give it to one of my collegues. I had already read it and found it quite good."
WE: "Hmm. Does he have a lot of "writing" jobs?"
WE's Husband: "What?" - my husband gave a puzzled look.
WE: "I said does he write a lot at work?"
WE: "Oh, I see. No, not a lot, but he said he wanted to improve his writing skill."
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Well, do you know why my husband game me a puzzled look at my question?
I asked the question in Japanese; 『その人は書く仕事が多いの？』 but he took it as 『その人は隠し事が多いの？』！
I have been listening to Joe Kissell's Interesting Thing of the Day for quite a long time now. What keeps me interested in his stories is not the topic he has chosen, but his writing style. I often find myself intently listening to the story which topic is totally irrelevant to me. Mr. Kissell narrates so beautifully that I forget he is talking about some insect's habits or technological innovation.
I hope to be able to write English like he does!
