http://www.nhk.or.jp/gogaku/english/business1/index.html   

And I'm Kellie Holway.

Welcome to business communication in simple English.

Yes. Let's learn how to communicate effectively in business.

Hello and welcome. We're happy you tuned in.

Lesson 23

Okay, let's listen to today's business scene.

How would you propose to make it mutually beneficial?

Beneficial benefit の形容詞形

Well, if you could add one more item at the same volume as the instant miso soup

"Volume" in this case, means "quantity or amount."

So another item with the same quantity as the instant miso soup.

We may be able to accommodate your request.

I can't think of anything at this point.

Is there any particular item you have in mind?

"Particular" means "special or specific."

For example, is there a particular brand that you usually purchase?

Yes. We recommend our yuzu dressing.

I remember the yuzu ramen I had in Asakusa.

It reminds me of the yuzu ramen I had in Asakusa.

The yuzu gave the soup a distinct flavor.

I'm sure it did.

Business phrase of the day

We may be able to accommodate your request.

We can accommodate the changes.

We may be able to meet your requirements.

Upgrade your communication skills

Beneficial

They say red wine is beneficial to your health.

Distinct

The customer bases in Asia and Europe are quite distinct from each other.

Okay. Let's try the dialogue. Are you ready? Here we go. 

How would you propose to make it mutually beneficial?

Well, if you could add one more item at the same volume as the instant miso soup, we may be able to accommodate your request.

I can't think of anything at this point. Is there any particular item you have in mind?

Yes. We recommend our yuzu dressing.

Oh, yuzu. I remember the yuzu ramen I had in Asakusa. The yuzu gave the soup a distinct flavor.

I'm sure it did.

Wonderful work. You did a great job.

Tips for business communication

That's a possibility but we may have a better option.

Well, another way to react might be to say, I think that's a strong proposal but maybe we should take our time and consider other possibilities as well.

Hmm. Very clever.

We should try to avert a possible breakdown.

決裂は避けるよう努力すべきです　avert 回避する

Possible 実際に決裂する可能性がありえますよ　

可能性を表す　possible
主語をweとして一体感を出しましょう

We had a great time with you today. Thanks for joining us.

Bye.

http://www.nhk.or.jp/gogaku/english/business1/index.html   

And I'm Kellie Holway.

Welcome to business communication in simple English.

Yes. Let's learn how to communicate effectively in business.

Hello, everybody. Welcome to today's show.

Lesson 22

Okay, let's listen to today's business scene.

I appreciate that you're ready to place a large order.

But I think a 30% discount is a bit too high for us.

I understand.

But we get a bulk discount from most of our suppliers.

But with that much of a discount, we would barely make a profit.

only just  barelyの言い替え

We would only just make a profit.

We would market your product

in more than 300 stores nationwide.

"Nationwide" means "throughout the entire country."

You should take that into consideration.

～を考慮に入れる

But I also believe

business should be conducted on a level playing field.

Business phrase of the day

Business should be conducted on a level playing field.

The terms should be satisfactory to both of us.

フレーズを覚えてここはというときにビシッと決めてください。

Upgrade your communication skills

supplier

We're the main supplier of engines for this luxury car brand.

Barely

We have barely enough budget to buy a copy machine.

All right. It's time to practice the conversation.

Are you ready? Here we go.

I appreciate that you're ready to place a large order.

But I think a 30% discount is a bit too high for us.

I understand. But we get a bulk discount from most of our suppliers.

But with that much of a discount we would barely make a profit.

We would market your product in more than 300 stores nationwide.

You should take that into consideration.

Of course we do, Andy. But I also believe business should be conducted on a level playing field.

Excellent work.

Tips for business communication

I don't think it's relevant to setting a price.

それは価格設定には関係ないと思います。

We don't seem to be making any progress.

進展がないように思われます

We're not making any progress. ちょっとダイレクトすぎますよね

Well, in certain cases, I think you have to be patient and give the other side time to come to a conclusion.

However, I think frequent communication is key in such a situation.

Give the other side time to come to a conclusion

相手方に結論を出すまでに時間を与える

Right.

Hmm.

Thank you so much for joining us today.

We hope to see you next time.

Bye.

http://www.nhk.or.jp/gogaku/english/business1/index.html   

And I'm Kellie Holway.

Welcome to business communication in simple English.

Yes. Let's learn how to communicate effectively in business.

Hello, everyone. I hope you're having a great day.

Lesson 21

Okay, let's listen to today's business scene.

How was your trip to Bangkok?

Very successful.

I found some fantastic spices which will be placed on our shelves soon.

Which = spices

"To place" simply means "to put something somewhere."

For example, I placed the file on the desk.

Hmm. Thank you.

put 何かをどこかに置く

I hope we'll soon be able to start doing business too.

I hope so too.

Now, let's get down to business.

"To get down to business" is "to address the matter at hand."

Usually, this phrase is used when transitioning from small talk to talking about the important issue.

Hmm. Thank you.

Sure.

I'm pleased that you're interested in our instant miso soup.

As I understand it, the only outstanding issue is the price.

We've asked you to give us a 30% discount.

Business phrase of the day

The only outstanding issue is the price.

Outstanding performance 突出した

There are a couple of problems outstanding.

未解決の問題

Outstanding amount 未決済の まだ決済していない金額

Not yet done 終わっていない

The only unresolved issue is the price.

resolved 解決済みの unresolved 未解決の

Upgrade your communication skills

Do business

We're pleased to be able to do business with you.

Instant

There's no instant solution to the problem.

どちらのフレーズもよく使いますのでしっかり覚えましょう。

Okay. Are you ready to practice the conversation?

Do your best.

Hi, Andy.  It's nice to talk to you again. How was your trip to Bangkok?

Very successful. I found some fantastic spices which will be placed on our shelves soon.

Wow!  That was quick. I hope we'll soon be able to start doing business too.

I hope so too. Now, let's get down to business.

Sure. I'm pleased that you're interested in our instant miso soup. As I understand it, the only outstanding issue is the price.

Correct. We've asked you to give us a 30% discount.

That was great!

Tips for business communication

It's normal that there are ups and downs in business.

ビジネスに良いときも悪いときもあるのは普通ですよ。

There are ups and downs in life.

人生にもいろいろありますよ。

Well, I usually acknowledge what they said to be a good listener.

And then try to move the conversation in a more positive direction.

Hmmm. That's very important.

Right.

The only outstanding issue is the price.

There are just a couple of administrative issues to be solved.

Administrative work 事務的な仕事

Just を加えることによって、多少、大きな事務的な問題があったとしてもたいした問題ではないという印象を与える工夫をしていますね。

It was wonderful having you with us today.

I hope you'll tune in next time.

Bye.

http://www.nhk.or.jp/gogaku/english/business1/index.html   

And I'm Kellie Holway.

Welcome to business communication in simple English.

Yes. Let's learn how to communicate effectively in business.

Hello, everyone. I hope you're doing well today.

Lesson 20

Okay, let's listen to today's business scene.

How about this?

If you could double the order size, We may be able to compromise on that point.

I don't think that's possible.

内容的には、that's impossible と同じ

We need to see how your products sell first.

他の例

We can't do that.

これを I don't think で始めてみると

I don' think we can do that.

Then why don't we start with delivery against payment?

Once you're able to increase the order size by 80%, then we can switch to payment after 30 days.

How about 70 instead of 80%?

Does that sound fair?

"Fair" means "equal, or that everyone will be satisfied."

70%. Fair enough.

Let's solve the rest of the issues quickly.

Business phrase of the day

We may be able to comprise on that point.

We can't compromise on that point.

We may be able to make a concession on that point.

Concession 譲歩・容認

どちらも交渉では必ず出てくる重要なフレーズです。

Upgrade your communication skills

double

It's possible to double our earnings in 5 years.

Delivery

You are requested to pay cash on delivery.

COD 現金と引き換えに荷物を受け取ること

Are you ready? Here we go.

How about this?

If you could double the order size, we may be able to comprise on that point.

I don't think that's possible. We need to see how your products sell first.

Then why don't we start with delivery against payment?

Once you're able to increase the order size by 80%, then we can switch to payment after 30 days.

How about 70 instead of 80%? Does that sound fair?

70%. Fair enough. Thank you, Kate. Now, let's solve the rest of the issues quickly.

Great job!

Tips for business communication

I didn't mean to catch you off-guard.

Catch someone off-guard 不意を突く 驚かす

I'm just trying to see if it's possible for us to meet halfway.

Halfway 中間点

Win-win お互いが納得する

Well, I would probably say,

"Would you like to take a break for a little while?"

Hmm.  That's clever.

Right. And I would also make it clear that I want them to be comfortable.

I also might ask before going forward If they had any concerns.

Thanks so much for tuning in.

Bye.

http://www.nhk.or.jp/gogaku/english/business1/index.html   

And I'm Kellie Holway.

Welcome to business communication in simple English.

Yes. Let's learn how to communicate effectively in business.

Hi, everybody. Thank you for tuning in to today's show.

Lesson 19

Okay, let's listen to today's business scene.

I appreciate your effort

Your revised proposal still doesn't meet our requirements.

Yes. To meet someone's requirements is to fulfill all of the points.

This phrase is often used in a negative sense.

As in: the first draft of the ad campaign didn't meet our requirements.

Would you mind giving us the reasons behind it?

Our buyers include small local stores and restaurants.

Many of them can't get enough credit from their banks to pay right away.

Credit 信用

銀行が顧客に信用を与える 銀行の融資

Will it make a difference if we extend the payment day?

Extend 先延ばしにする

Extending it will make it easier for our buyers to place bigger orders.

To place an order is simply to give your order to someone so they can process it.

Business phrase of the day

Would you mind giving us the reasons behind it?

Could you please give us some more background?

Upgrade your communication skills

Credit

The credit limit for this company is 1 billion yen.

Extend

Shall we extend the meeting for another 15 minutes?

あと～分 another… minutes

All right. Now it's time to practice the conversation. Here we go.

I appreciate your effort but your revised proposal still doesn't meet our requirements.

Would you mind giving us the reasons behind it?

Our buyers include small local stores and restaurants.

Many of them can't get enough credit from their banks to pay right away.

Will it make a difference if we extend the payment date?

Yes, it will.

Extending it will make it easier for our buyers to place bigger orders.

Okay, Kate. I understand the situation.

That was fantastic. You've made a lot of improvements.

Tips for business communication

If you could provide some more information, we'll be able to move forward.

I would probably ask them, 

"Do you have any suggestions on how we can move forward?"

Hmm. That's clever.

We would have a cash flow problem.

もし御社の事情に合わせていると という文が省略されていると考えてみてください

もしそうすると という意味が込められている

Cash flow 資金繰り

So yeah,  I was offered a job that my agent had negotiated.

And the company asked me what's your rate?

And I didn't know how to answer the question.

But a friend of mine told me to say "What can you offer?"

And that actually worked really well.

Thanks so much for listening to the program today.

Bye.

http://www.nhk.or.jp/gogaku/english/business1/index.html   

And I'm Kellie Holway.

Welcome to business communication in simple English.

Yes. Let's learn how to communicate effectively in business.

Hello, everyone. How are you doing today?

We're happy to have you with us.

Lesson 18

Okay, let's listen to today's business scene.

Today, I'd like to discuss the points you raised in your last email.

Hopefully we'll be able to come up with some good ideas.

I'm sure we'll find solutions that are acceptable to both sides.

So let's tackle the most important issue first: payment terms.

支払い条件

You prefer to pay us 30 days after receiving the goods.

That's right.

You initially proposed advance payment which we couldn't agree to.

Then you proposed delivery against payment.

輸入する側 買い手の Kate

輸出する側    売り手の Naoya

Advance payment 前払い 代金を受領したら出荷する

Delivery against payment 支払い渡し ものをまず送ります。

もし船なら輸入地の港に商品がついた段階で支払う。

支払ったらその見返りに商品を受け取ることができる。

30 days after receiving the goods まず商品を受け取るのが先です。

それから30日後に払いたい

We thought it might be an attractive proposal for you.

It=Delivery against payment

Business phrase of the day

I'd like to discuss the points you raised.

Raise points 論点をあげる

I'd like to discuss the items you mentioned.

Item number 1   item number 2

Upgrade your communication skills

Tackle

There are a couple of ways to tackle this issue.

Advance

An advance booking is recommended for this restaurant.

どちらもよく使われるフレーズですからしっかり覚えましょう。

Okay. It's time to practice the dialogue. Are you ready? Here we go.

Today, I'd like to discuss the points you raised in your last email.

Hopefully we'll be able to come up with some good ideas.

I'm sure we'll find solutions that are acceptable to both sides.

So let's tackle the most important issue first: payment terms.

You prefer to pay us 30 days after receiving the goods.

That's right.

You initially proposed advance payment which we couldn't agree to.

Then you proposed delivery against payment.

We thought it might be an attractive proposal for you. 

That was fantastic! Keep up the good work.

Tips for business communication

I don't mind but is there any particular reason for that?

Can't we just share our views?

We may be able to find some areas of common interest.

I think you did a wonderful job today.

We were so happy to have you with us. 

Bye.

20201204ボキャブライダー Hi! Hello, everyone. I’m Maxell Powers.　

ものを数えるときに使う表現

A glass of グラス一杯の *a ひとつ

I’d like a glass of orange juice, please. オレンジジュース1杯お願いします

A glass of water　グラス一杯の水

A pair of ひと組の　同一の物が2つでできたセット

Wear a nice pair of shoes to your job interview, okay?

就職の面接にはいい靴を履いて行きなよ

A bunch of   bunch 房　束　一房の　一束の

Look. A bunch of bananas is only 100 yen today.

見て。今日はバナナ一房がたったの百円だ

A piece of  piece 一切れ　何から切り取られた一欠片

There’s nothing like a nice piece of cake. 一切れのケーキにまさるものはない

Super low prices today.

Get one bunch of muscat grapes for just 5800 yen.

Here’s another bargain. One piece of melon for only 3200 yen. That’s an amazing value.

And this fruit drink.

It’ll only cost you 300 yen for one delicious glass.

Carrot!

20201203ボキャブライダー Hi! Hello, everyone. I’m Maxell Powers.　

レストランのテーブルの上にあるもの　海外でレストランに行ったときに役立つ単語をご紹介

Napkin ナプキン Could you pass me a napkin? ナプキンとってくれる？

Condiment 調味料　Fast restaurants offer a lot of condiments.

ファストフード店にはいろんな調味料が置かれている

Condiments pluralが多い　tableに上に置いてある調味料を総称しているので

Wet wipe お手拭き　ウェットティッシュ　濡れた拭くもの

Don’t lick your fingers, Tom. Use a wet wipe.

指を舐めないの　ウェットティッシュを使いなさい

Wet tissue ただの濡れたティッシュ　wet wipe 事前に液体を含ませたシート

Toothpick 爪楊枝　tooth 歯 pick 尖ったもの　突くもの

Cover your mouth when you use a toothpick, dad!

お父さん、爪楊枝を使うときは口元を隠してよ

*th[θ] 下を上の歯の裏に触れながら息を出すイメージ

20201202ボキャブライダー Hi! Hello, I’m Maxell Powers.　

掛け算・割り算に関連した単語のご紹介

Multiply 掛ける

Multiply 2 by 4, and you get 8.  2に4を掛けると8になる

2 times 2 is 4.　2×2=4  2 multiplied 2 equals 4.

Product掛け算の答え　積

The product of any number and zero is zero.

0にどんな数字を掛けても答えは0です　any 如何なる～も

I’m the product of two cultures. 私の2つの文化を掛け合わせてできたもの

→私は2つの文化の産物です

Divide 割り算の 割る

8 divided by 2 is 4. 　8÷2は4です8÷2=4

The team divided of the work. チームで仕事を分け合った

Quotient 割り算の答え　商

指標・指数

The company’s growth quotient was 3% last year.

昨年の会社の成長指数は3%だった

IQ Intelligence Quotient 知能指数

20201201ボキャブライダー Hi! Hi, everyone. I’m Maxell Powers.　外交

ニュースや新聞の国際欄によく出てくる単語をご紹介

Diplomacy[dɪˈpləʊməsi ] 外交 　diplomat[ˈdɪpləmæt] 外交官

The counties found a solution through diplomacy.　

その国々は外交を通して解決策を見出した

Foreign policy 外交政策 foreign 外国の　policy 方針　外国に対する方針

Trade has a big influence on a country’s foreign policy.

貿易は国の外交政策に大きな影響を与える　　foreign policy: adjective

Foreign policy goal 外交政策の目的  foreign policy adviser 外交政策顧問

Embassy 大使館　The 派遣先の国の　embassy in 駐在先の国

The American embassy in Japan is often busy.

日本のアメリカ大使館はよく混んでいる

The Japanese embassy in Canada カナダの日本大使館 Nice job!

Ambassador 大使

Who is the Japanese ambassador to Russia? ロシアの日本大使は誰ですか？

Tourism ambassador 観光大使  goodwill ambassador 親善大使

20201130ボキャブライダー Hi! Hi, everyone. I’m Maxell Powers.

スキーに纏わる単語をご紹介

Slope ゲレンデ(German)　slope 斜面

If you are a beginner, I’d recommend this slope.

初心者の方ならこちらのゲレンデをお勧めします

Ski lift スキーリフト liftの後に母音を入れないこと

Getting on the ski lift is easy. Watch me.

スキーリフトに乗るのは簡単だよ。ほら、見てて

Pole American Englishストック  stick British English stock Australian English

Poles help you keep your balance on the slope.

ストックはゲレンデでバランスを保つのに役立ちます

Powder 粉雪　powder snowでも通じるが、スキーの話をしているならわざわざsnowをつけなくてもよい

The powder at this ski resort is incredible.このスキー場の粉雪は最高ですよ

I’m going to go all the way down the mountain from the very top. The ski lift on the right is for beginners. That was some awesome powder. Hew!

2020年11月30日 Monday

This is Roza Akino here.

Hi, guys. Chris McVay here. You know it’s hard to find good people to work with.

But luckily I got you two! Let’s get started.

Oh!

Lesson 161　　It’s hard to find people’s contact information!

Hey, guys. You liked our textbook last month, didn’t you?

This month’s is even better?

My boss is tough to impress. How can I get him to notice me? 私の上司は感心させるのが大変なんです。どうしたら私に気がついてもらえるのでしようか？

It is tough to impress my boss. → My boss is tough to impress.

It is easy to please John. → John is easy to please.

It’s hard to make ends meet on my salary. I’m looking for a better job.

私の給料でやりくりするのは大変です。もっとよい仕事を探しているところです

*make ends meet 目的語説明型　end収入と支出 がmeet ピッタリ合う　という状況をmake作り出す → 収支を合わせる・やりくりする

Lucy is impossible to beat. She’s too good.

(sportsの試合で)Lucyを負かすのは不可能だよ。上手すぎる

It is impossible to beat Lucy. → Lucy is impossible to beat.

So, are there any special dishes for Christmas in England?

Well, In the olden days, we used to have goose.

But nowadays, there’s not so much goose around.

So, we use turkey. So we have turkey with roast potatoes and what we call trimmings. That’s different types of vegetables.

Chris! You’re making me hungry!

Bye.

http://www.nhk.or.jp/gogaku/english/business2/index.html

Business Communication in Action  実践ビジネス英語

Hello everybody.   こんにちは。みなさん。

Hello and welcome to the show.

This is Heather Howard.

Let's take a look at conversation at work.

Employee Engagement Survey (6)

Talk the Talk with Heather

「石の上にも三年」とか言うけど、今、充実してなおかつ高収入の仕事に就けている人が一体何％いらっしゃるだろうか？　国会議員の先生方は充実しているかどうかはともかく、少なくとも高収入だ。否、政権におべんちゃらを言わなくてはならないので充実はしていないだろう。政権の犯罪の片棒をかついでいるのだから。

大事なのは自分の頭で考えること。諺・先人の知恵・先輩などの助言もunsolicited adviceになることもある。

Sugita: In the current vignette, Pat McMillan says he'd like to see a question on the employee engagement survey about whether peope find working at A&A fun. This is a very relevant question for me. I once had an ideal job at a big global firm. But it became increasingly profit-focused and poorly managed. So I vowed to myself that I would quit working there when it was no longer fun and eventually I did leave.

Heather, I hope you find fun at work.

Heather: I do. I’m very happy to say that I do. Ah, for many years, I’ve gotten to do what I love best, working with language and communication, and I’ve been able to do it with a lot of talented, dedicated people. Like the people on this show, who’ve challenged me and inspired me to grow and do better. We’ve worked together to share information in fun ways, and I think we’ve done a pretty good job.

S: Happy employees are usually productive employees. But over the years, I've also seen happy workers become complacent workers. As management yielded to the wishes of the workforce and the company ended up going south. I think employees must also be dedicated to the mission and outcome of the company. When employees are proud of where they work, it shows. That attitude translates to their performance. When people take pride in their company, they'll take pride in their work too.

H: Certainly. They'll want to do work that is worthy of their company. They'll say to themselves I have to perform at a level that is worthy of this company. But if they don't have that pride, that commitment, they're likely to take an attitude of "Hmm. This will do, I suppose."

S: Even in the post-coronavirus days, a lot of people will be working from home. But it is more difficult to keep remote workers engaged. Heather, what do you think management should do to keep remote workers engaged and happy?

H: I think a big thing they can do is trust those remote workers. I was reading an article the other day about how many managers in the United States were smothering their work-from-home employees. For example, some bosses were requiring multiple progress reports every single day. One person said they were now talking to their boss more than to their partner or their best friends. Perhaps the worst example was the employer who made staff install a monitoring program on their personal laptops. Their personal laptops! According to the staffer, the software monitors things like URL activity, and it even has a function for periodically sending random screenshots to the employer. If a person’s productivity drops off, or the quality of their work noticeably declines, that’s one thing, and may require some countermeasures. But to assume from the start that someone will slack off? Now that’s a recipe for unhappiness and resentment.

That's all for today.

Hope we see you next time. Bye.

2020年11月27日 Friday

Hey, welcome back for the review. This is Roza Akino here.

Hi, guys. Well, here we are again. Friday the review. Let’s get started.

Friday the 13^th  Jason   A Nightmare on Elm Street  Freddy

Lesson 160　　Review

Listening challenge

Okay, everyone. Here’s the question.

Q: In the end, who will decide where to go for a break?

A  The woman.

B  The man.

C  Both of them.

Here we go.

Okay. Here we go with the question.

Q: Who will answer the last question?

A  The girl.

B  The boy.

C  Both of them.

Listen up.

Q: How long will it take to get to the resort?

A  Less time than usual.

B  The same amount of time as usual.

C  Longer than usual.

Listen carefully, everyone.

Q: What does the woman consider to be most important?

A  Safety.

B  Expense.

C  Quantity.

Here we go.

Say it in English

Staffer: What should I do?

Since it’s you that created the problem, I’ll leave it up to you to decide how to solve it.

But don’t worry. I’m sure the client will understand in the end.

Colleague: Are you sure you are up to this?

Who are you talking to? It’s a piece of cake.

I’ve given so many presentations. You can count on me.

So, Chris. You have given many presentations? Is it easy for you now?

Yes, I think I could say it’s easy for me now.

It’s a piece of cake. But, you know it takes lots of practice. And I know most people find it very scary to stand up in front of others. But keep practicing. And it will, little by little… it will become a piece of cake for everybody.

Good advice!

Hmm.

Bye.

http://www.nhk.or.jp/gogaku/english/business2/index.html

Business Communication in Action  実践ビジネス英語

Hello everybody.   こんにちは。みなさん。

Hello and welcome to the show.

This is Heather Howard.

Let's take a look at conversation at work.

ちらっと、次回のMidlife Crisisを読んで…

どうしてこんなに心配するのだろう。運良く長生きできればそれでよし。仮に早めに死んでもどうってことない、と思うのだけど。

オレなど、朝起きれたら、"Lucky" って思うだけで、別に起きれなくて(死んでて)もまったくどうってことない。

若手に仕事を委譲することが頭にない人が多い。特に国会議員!!!!

Employee Engagement Survey (5)
 

Ueda cites an old adage that he feels also applies to the business world.
McMillan says that the distinction between work and play is a false dichotomy and that they’re not necessarily mutually exclusive.

Grace describes some ways that A&A strives to make its workplace enjoyable.
Activities that Ueda says can lower stress and help people bond.

Apply to the business world: Is also true in the business world, Ueda is saying. It is relevant to the business world. Likewise, you could say, "The rules of good business communication also apply to personal communication." We should respond to people swiftly. We should use clear language in our emails. That sort of thing.

Conceptual problem: McMillan says, "I think this reflects a basic conceptual problem in our culture."

Distinction between work and play: Here "distinction" is the act of differentiating things. Saying, A is different, separate from B or C, etc. For example, he makes a clear distinction between honesty and rudeness. Or, a clear distinction between risk taking and carelessness.

False dichotomy: "A false dichotomy" refers to a situation where only two alternatives are considered when there are actually other possibilities. You might hear something like, it's a false dichotomy to say a manager can be friendly or a manager can be effective.

False dilemma  / black and white thinking

実際には他にも選択肢があるのに、２つの選択肢だけしか考慮しない状況を示すもの

味方でなければ敵

Mutually exclusive: 　だぶりがない

Logical thinking  

MECE Mutually Exclusive, Collectively Exhaustive

相互に排他的な項目による完全な全体集合　もれなく だぶりなく

If you like:

Workplace book club: How to say..."Book club" is a group of people who read the same books and then discuss their content and themes. Ah, if it's a workplace book club, then the members belong to the same workplace. Likewise, we have "workplace romance, workplace friction."

Work anniversary: In a situation like this, You might say, "Congratulations to David. Today, he marks 20 years on the job." Or, today, he marks 20 years with this company."

Professional achievement: An accomplishment, a success achieved in one's career. Of all her professional achievements, she's most proud of this design award, for example.

Lower stress levels: Ueda says, "This helps to lower stress levels, not to mention serving as team-bonding activities." Reduce people's stress, make them less tense. Personally, a good massage always lowers my stress level. Or, I recommend deep breathing to help reduce your stress level.

Not to mention:

Team-bonding activity:

Dose of: "Dose" can mean the amount of medicine that is taken or given at one time. Like, you should take one dose of this medicine in the morning and another at night. But expressions, like a dose of fun, use the image of medication to mean an amount of something that we experience. And it can be good or bad. Like, I love this show. It always gives me a good dose of humor. Or, these sales figures are a harsh dose of reality. It's a rough market these days.

Do a lot to: Contribute greatly to something, have a significant effect in some area. For example, I think the flexible work schedule will do a lot to boost employee morale. Or, our redesigned website has done a lot to increase online sales.

Rate one's work-life balance:

That's all for today.

Thanks for tuning in. Bye.

2020年11月26日 Thursday

I, me, myself and I. Hey, everyone. This is Roza Akino.

Hi, guys. Chris McVay here. I have to tell you. These two are always attacking me. So, from now on, I’m going to wear a helmet. Let’s get started.

Lesson 159　　Safety has to be our number-one priority.

We know that accidents can happen at any time. Therefore, the company should provide helmets for all employees. *therefore くっきりと論旨を覆うような感じを保つ　

therefore ∴

But that would be very expensive. We have over 2,000 employees throughout the country.

*over ～よりも上　上に円弧アーチ　*throughout ～じゅうに

It doesn’t matter. Safety has to be our number-one priority.

*matter 重要である　doesn’t matter 問題でない

But whatever you do, make sure the helmets are top quality. No cutting corners when it comes to safety, right? *make sure 必ず～であるようにする　whatever 譲歩を表す

*whatever it takes 何があろうとも　何を犠牲にしようとも　AVENGERS ENDGAME

Well, our textbook’s number-one priory is to make studying English easier.

And we don’t cut corners to achieve this goal.

Let me check with some suppliers and see what kind of deal I can make.

目的語説明型　me の説明がcheck 以下　meがcheckすることをletする

Safety has to be our number-one priority. 安全は私たちの最優先事項であるべきです

Achieving perfect English pronunciation should not be a top priority. Communicability is the most important goal. 完璧な英語の発音を達成することが最優先であるべきではありません。communication能力こそ最も重要なゴールです

Just a minute. You’re mixing up priorities here. No wonder progress is so slow. ちょっと待って。君はここで何を優先すべきかを取り違えています。道理で進みが悪いと思いました

*mix up priorities 優先事項をごちゃごちゃに→何を優先するかを取り違える は重要表現

こんな表現は英作文できない　しっかり覚える

I think health should come before wealth. 健康は富よりも重要ですよ

*should/must come before

My family is my number-one priority. 私の家族が私の最優先事項ですよ

*number-one priority 最優先事項

表現を知っているかどうかはperformanceに大きく影響する

覚えること　覚え続けることが言葉の学習では大切

Many people get their priorities mixed up. A good work-life balance is essential.

多くの人々は何を優先するのか取り違えてしまいます。*work-life balanceが本当に大切なのです

Hey, Chris. What’s your number-one priority?

That’s easy. It’s my wife

That’s right. And as everyone knows, “Happy wife, happy life.”

Bye.

http://www.nhk.or.jp/gogaku/english/business2/index.html

Business Communication in Action  実践ビジネス英語

Hello everybody.   こんにちは。みなさん。

Hello and welcome to the show.

This is Heather Howard.

Let's take a look at conversation at work.

Employee Engagement Survey (4)

Grace describes how A&A gauges the level of its employee satisfaction.

And Ueda says he’s glad to hear they’re using a data-driven approach.

Lyons suggests a certain question and says answers would likely include things like “bad communication” or “feeling undervalued.”

McMillan says he’d like a question about whether people find it fun to work at A&A.

Be aimed at:

Gauge the level of happiness: Here "gauge" is a verb meaning "measure, evaluate, appraise." We need to gauge consumer interest in our new product, for example. So we're going to do a big online survey. Or, doctors are trying to gauge the effectiveness of this experimental drug.

gage

Keep tabs on:

Benchmark: A "benchmark" is a standard by which other things can be judged. You might say, "He set a benchmark for future employees. He was dedicated, forward-thinking, proactive. We're always looking for more staff like him."

Collect data:

Compare on a year-on-year basis: Compare figures that are one year apart.

Or, compare on a year-to-year basis. That's fine too. You might say, "If we compare regional sales on a year-to-year basis, we see a slight upward trend." And you can leave off "basis" as well. Newspaper articles often say things like, "Sales rose 20% year-on-year."

Year to date   YTD   年初来 年の初めから今日まで

Be good to know: Ueda says, "It's good to know that A&A is using a data-driven approach to find out how happy and engaged employees are." He's glad to hear that. He's reassured by that. Likewise, it's good to know there are scholarships available. Or, it's good to know the company is so supportive of paternal childcare leave.

Data-driven approach:

Quitting:

Potentially provocative: McMillan says, "That's an interesting - and potentially provocative - question." "Potentially" means something could happen. There is the chance it could happen. Like, raising our prices is a potentially disastrous move. Ah, customers might desert us in droves. And then, provocative statements and actions are likely to make people upset or excited. They challenge, they shock. A world leader might make a provocative statement that challenges another country. Or, a country might take provocative military action. Action that could provoke another country to respond.

Lack of transparency: Transparency is openness in one's dealings and actions, you know, not hiding things. In a company setting, I imagine that could refer to openness about why decisions get made, why someone is promoted. That sort of thing. You could also say, "The university was criticized for a lack of transparency in its admission's process." So, the real standards for getting in were not openly revealed.

Adjective: transparent

日本語でも制度や組織の運営が外部からもわかるように維持されていること

Feel undervalued: Feel less valued than one deserves. And we use this about things as well as people. Undervalued stocks, for example, are priced lower than they deserve to be. Currencies are also said to be undervalued.

Feel underappreciated

Be here to stay: Not going to change or leave, be firmly established. Such as, unfortunately this rain is here to stay for a while. The weather report says, "We've got another week at least." Or, online shopping is definitely here to stay.  Too many people depend on the speed and convenience now.

The rain is here to stay.

Online shopping is here to stay.

Underlying issue: The fundamental problem, the…the issue causing certain behavior, events, feelings. Things like, the underlying issues contributing to rising drug prices. Or, what are some of the underlying issues that lead to crime?

Look elsewhere for work:

Silly:

Frivolous:

That's all for today.

See you next time. Bye.

2020年11月25日 Wednesday　

Gin tonic / gimlet  

This is Roza Akino.

Hi, guys. Chris McVay here. You know, I love to see monkeys at the hot spring.

But, actually I can see two in the studio.

Hey!

Lesson 158　　　Considering the present situation, we’ll have to be more patient.

Does it rain like this every year during this season?　*during 何々の間に何かが起こる

*for ～の間　期間を表す

This year, the rains have been unusually heavy. いつになく雨が多い

Considering the present situation, we’ll have to be more patient. With this weather, delays are inevitable. 　　　With this weather　この天気では

Thanos “I am INEVITABLE.”   Tony Stark “Then… I am Ironman.”

*inevitable 不可避の　避けることの出来ない

Considering the present situation, I think you should check out the textbook.

It’ll be dark when we arrive there.

ここでは、will ～だろう　be going to ～するつもり　などといった、未来を表す語句は使うことはできない。到着する という事態を、予測しているわけでも意図しているわけでもないから。

ここで現在形が使われているのは 起こっている と 見なして いるから

到着している と見なして それまでに　そのころには と述べているから

I’m very sorry, but we need to retake the last scene. We had some technical problems.

たいへん申し訳ありませんが最後のシーンを撮り直す必要があります。技術的な問題がありました　*need to は have toよりも幾分穏やかな義務を表す

Okay, folks. That’s all for today. Bye!

Ah, I suppose it’s too early for a gimlet, right?

I have no idea what the two of you are talking about.

Bye.

2020年11月24日 Tuesday　

Welcome back, everyone. Thanks for joining us again. This is Roza Akino.

Chris McVay here. Once again, do your very best. And we’ll do our best too.

Lesson 157     No matter what the question is, you can count on me.

Shota, we’re in the lead, but the team from the UK is very strong.

we’re in the lead　優勢だ

So, what’s the difference “broad” and “wide”?

“broad”と“wide”の違いは何でしょう？

Well, I think “wide” is more literal whereas “broad” is a bit more figurative.

そうですね。思うに、wideはより文字通りで、その一方、broadはより比喩的ですね

Well, we couldn’t say “wide-minded”, could we?　“wide-minded”なんて言えませんしね

So, basically “broad” has many more figurative uses.

ですから、要するに、broadにはより多くの比喩的な用法があるのです

Well, guys! Our textbook includes a broad range of knowledge and it won’t let you down.

Now, let’s study

Nothing fazes me.

*no と　not any　はどちらの訳も　まったく～ない　となるが、

*noの方が遙かにインパクトのある表現

There are no cookies left.　　　 クッキーはまったく残っていない

There aren’t any cookies left.　 クッキーはまったく残っていない

I won’t let you down.　目的語説明型　目的語youをdownが説明し、

*you が　down するのを許しません(won’t let) となっている

No matter what the question is, you can count on me.

質問が何だろうと、私を頼りにしていいですよ

*count 頼りになる人間としてcount数える

That’s as easy as pie. I could fix it with my eyes closed.

それはとても簡単だよ。目をつぶっていても直せます

パイを食べるように簡単

I’m sure we can do this. I mean it’s not rocket science. Let’s give it a try.

僕ならできるさ。というか、難しいことじゃないよ。やってみようよ

It’s a piece of cake. You can count on me. 簡単ですよ。私を頼りにしていいですよ。

*a piece of cake 　　　a piece of cakeは一口で簡単に食べることができるから　簡単

No matter what the repair job is, just ask me.

その修理作業が何であれ、僕に言ってくれればいいよ  僕に頼むだけでいい

Hey, guys. “Confidence” is very difficult to get, right?

みなさん、自信を手に入れるのはとても難しいですね

That’s right. So, the question is how to build up confidence.

そうですね。だから、問題はどうやって自信をつけるか、です

I think for language, one key thing is just “practice, practice, practice.”

言語においては、1つの主要なことは、ただもう練習あるのみということです

I couldn’t agree more.　まったくもってその通り

Bye.

20201127ボキャブライダー Hello, everyone. And I’m Maxell Powers.

注意するについての単語

Attention 注意を払う の 注意

If you don’t pay attention to your teacher, you’ll fail the test.

先生の話を注意して聞かないと、試験で落ちるよ

Careful 注意深い　用心深い

Be careful not to drink too much at the party.

パーティーで飲み過ぎないように気をつけてね

Be careful not to catch a cold. 風邪を引かないようにね  Exactly!

Watch out　あぶない状況に遭遇したときに使える表現

友だちが階段で躓きそうになっていたら　Watch out!　あっ…あぶない!

That’s right!

Watch out for holes in the road. 道の穴ぼこに気をつけて

Watch out for 何に気をつければいいのか具体的に伝えられる

Caution 注意　用心

Caution! Wet floor. 注意　床が濡れています

Done! Yep! But the paint’s not dry yet. Be careful. Watch out! Phew! That was a close one. Wait! Hiyori! Why are you sitting on the bench? I told you! The paint’s not dry yet!

20201126ボキャブライダー Hello, everyone. Hi, I’m Maxell Powers.

警察とヤクザだと警察の方が実に質が悪い　映画「孤浪の血」でも特に感じた

警察に纏わる単語

Police officer 警察官

I saw two police officers standing in front of the station.

駅の前に2人の警察官が立っているのを見た

Arrest 逮捕する

The man was arrested for drinking and driving.その男性は飲酒運転で逮捕された

The policer officer arrested him for drinking and driving.

警察官がその男を飲酒運転で逮捕した

Fine 罰金

I had to pay a fine for speeding. スピード違反の罰金を払わないといけなかった

Handcuffs 手錠　両手にかけられるものなので　pluralで使われるのが一般的

The thief was put in handcuffs.　泥棒は手錠をかけられた

Hi, there, Ma’am. You missed stop sign back there.

You will have to pay a fine of 7000 yen.

And if you don’t follow my instructions, you might get put in handcuffs and arrested.

Miwaku… What?

20201125ボキャブライダー Hello, everyone. And I’m Maxell Powers.

この番組の前のロシア語会話のアナスタシアと落語家の人のやりとりはとても面白い

約束に纏わる単語をご紹介

Promise 約束する　約束のネバーランド

My son promised to clean the house but he didn’t do it.

息子は家の掃除をすると約束したのにしなかった

I promise to study hard every day. 頑張って毎日勉強することを約束します

I promise.　約束です

Vow 誓う　V-O-W　単なる約束というより誓います、と宣言する感じ

In her speech, she vowed to end the war.

彼女は演説で戦争を終わらせることを誓った

Keep 約束を守る

If you can’t keep a promise, people won’t trust you.約束を守れないような人は皆の信用を得ることはできない

Break 約束を破る　イメージ　壊す Right!  Break↔keep

I can’t trust people who break their promises.

私は約束を破る人は信用できない

Yeah! I guess so. I had too much to drink last night. I don’t remember anything. All right, all right. I’m never going to drink again. I promise. If I break that promise, I’ll buy you whatever you want.

20201124ボキャブライダー Hello, everyone. Hi! I’m Maxell Powers.

感謝を伝える言葉をご紹介　Thank you 少し固い響き

友だちやよく知っている人にはThanksの方がしっくりきます

Thanks ありがとう　Thank you のもうちょっと軽いversion

Thanks a lot for coming today. 今日は来てくれてありがとう ひよりは発音がいい

Appreciate 価値を認める　評価する　相手がやってくれたことの価値を認める

Appreciate  thank you よりもformalなword

I appreciate all your help. いろいろ手助けしていただきありがとうございました

Appreciate 後ろに感謝するものやことを入れるのがpoint

I appreciate your hard work. あなたの努力に感謝します

Gratitude 感謝の気持ち　かなりformalで主にwritten Englishとして使われる

I’m full of gratitude for your kindness. あなたの親切に感謝の気持ちで一杯です

*gratitude for… ～に対する感謝の意

You don’t owe me anything. I owe you. -Denzel Washington-

Owe 借りがある 恩に着る

I owe my success to you. 私の成功はあなたのお陰です

この成功はあなたからの借りです　

Thanks. I owe you one. あなたに1つ借りができた　いつか返す

20201123ボキャブライダー Hi. Hi, everyone. I’m Maxell Powers.

木　自然の木に纏わる気になる単語

Trunk 木の幹 車のトランク That’s right. 旅行用の大きな鞄　人間の胴体

I wrapped my arms around the tree trunk. 木の幹に腕を回して抱きついた

tree trunk 木の幹　trunkの基本イメージはしっかりしていてものの一番太い部分　中にいろんなものが詰められる

bark 木の皮や樹皮 uncountable noun

Did you know that cinnamon comes from bark?

シナモンは木の皮から作られる、って知ってた？

Twig 小枝　葉っぱが落ちた小さい枝がイメージ

There were lots of twigs on the street after the typhoon.

台風の後、たくさんの小枝が路上に散らばっていた

Tree ring 木の輪　木の年輪　tree rings: pluralが一般的

Tree rings tell us so much about a tree’s history.

年輪は木の歴史をいろいろ物語る

Hey, Hiyori. Do you have a lighter? I can’t start the fire. Oh! Okay. Then we’ll need some twigs. Some bark? All right. I’ll go to the store to get some.

2020年11月23日 Monday　

日本でAvengersみたいな映画は無理なんだな、とひしひしと感じた映画のひとつ

Hey, everyone. Roza Akino here. Ah, I forgot to do my laundry.

Huh! Hi guys. Chris McVay here. I think we all need a relaxing break, don’t you agree?

What are you talking about? We haven’t even started.

Oh! that’s true. Well, let’s get started then.

Lesson 156    I’ll leave it up to you.  The choice is yours.

No. I want you to choose. *to 以下の状況に向かっていくことを欲する

Okay. Let me check out the best offers, and then we can decide together.

*check out ～をよく調べる　*then 視線が移る感触　そしてそれから

If you haven’t already, I think you should check out our textbook.

I couldn’t agree more.

I couldn’t agree more! やろうと思ってもこれ以上賛成できない→大賛成

You always find a great way to compromise!　

英語は 配置の言葉　表現の機能が文中での位置によって与えられる言葉

*to compromise の位置は、名詞a great way の後ろ

説明ルール により名詞の説明となる

*to infinitiveの形容詞的用法 と呼ばれる使い方だが、to infinitiveにそうした特別な用法があるわけではありません

名詞の後ろだからその説明となる　ごくごく当たり前のこと

We have over 36 flavors. Take your pick. – Er… pistachio, please. 36種類以上のフレーバーがあります。お好きなものをお選びください。－えっと…、ピスタチオをお願いします

*take は 手に取る という動作　そこに 選ぶ nuanceが宿る

Hey, Roza. Which do you prefer, sushi with me or lukewarm wine with Chris?

Hmm. It depends. How much 海胆 can I have?

But anyway, whatever’s on offer, Roza would always choose me.

Why not have both?

Uhh! Greedy!

See you all next time.

Bye.

http://www.nhk.or.jp/gogaku/english/business2/index.html

Business Communication in Action  実践ビジネス英語

Hello everybody.   こんにちは。みなさん。

Hello and welcome to the show.

This is Heather Howard.

Let's take a look at conversation at work.

今日の「エール」を見て思い出した。

次女のレイナ　http://tjjapanthegreat.livedoor.blog/archives/126376.html

が中1だった頃、
中3の男の子の1人「先生、僕たちの中のひとりが、先生のことを お父さん と呼んだらどうしますか？」
　　　　　　　TJ 「殺す!」

Employee Engagement Survey (3)

Lyons says monitoring employee engagement gives companies an idea how happy the staff are and how long they're likely to stay.

Ueda adds that many surveys ask where someone sees themselves in one or two years reflecting the fact that people change companies more frequently than they used to.

According to McMillan, management should be concerned if many people expect to leave within that time.

Keep track of: Up at the top, Lyons says, "Keeping track of employee engagement is a useful way to get a clear picture of whether employees are happy and how long they'll stay with the company."

If we keep track of something, we stay informed, we monitor what's happening with something or someone. For example, I write down what I eat in a food diary. That way, I can keep track of how many calories I consume every day. Or, so-called password managers help people keep track of all their passwords.

*track 元々は動物の足跡 人や動物が通ってできた道

*keep track of 人や物事など幅広い対象についてその動向を把握しておく、ということ

Where do you see yourself in one year - or two years - from now?

Where do you see yourself? What do you envision? Where do you expect or want to be? What do you want to be doing at that point in time? Ah, it's a good thing to think about it, isn't it? Easy to forget in the hustle and bustle of daily life. And a response could be something like, I see myself opening my own translation firm in five years. Or, I see myself being assigned overseas in a few years.

Relatively few: Not that many, less compared with others. Things like, there are relatively few restaurants in this area. Or, there have been relatively few complaints about our higher prices.

Stay with the same company: Ueda could also say, "remain with the same company." In other words, continue to work there. You can also say things like, John has stayed with the same department year after year. He likes his work there and he doesn't wanna change. Or, managers here don't stay with the same department for more than five years.

Remain with the same company

be stuck with the same company　他に行き所がないので、仕方がないから同じ会社にいる

Job market: Current hiring conditions, you know, how many vacancies are available? What kind of jobs? What levels of pay? We read about a competitive job market, a tight job market, a booming job market.

Sellers' market 売り手市場 / buyers' market 買い手市場

Fluid:

Be inclined to:

Feel a sense of loyalty:

Sign of the times: McMillan says, "That's a sign of the times, all right?" It reflects the way the world is now. I'd say, the common use of abbreviations and ungrammatical text is also a sign of the times. It reflects how so many people are writing short, smooshed up texts or posts on social media.

It's just a sign of the times that many people are working from home.

在宅勤務の人が増えてる

Sizable:

Ring alarm bells with: Indicate danger to someone. Warn them that something is wrong or trouble is brewing. As in, the accidents at the factory have rung alarm bells with company president. He wants a thorough safety check. We also say, "something is a red flag." Like, that job candidate didn't have any questions for the interviewer. That's a big red flag for me.

Address: Handle, take care of, respond to. Like, we need to address these complaints from our customers. Ah, they're angry about the slow service. Or, we need to address the sharp increase in production costs.

Advance: In this case, "advance" means "move something forward, take it to a higher level." Ah, here it is a transitive verb. 他動詞　It can also be an intrasitive verb, meaning "move forward, go to a higher level." Like, Team X has advanced to the semi-finals for the first time in five years. 自動詞

That's all for today.

Hope you had fun. Bye.

2020年11月20日 Friday 　

Hey, everyone. This is Roza Akino. Today is the day you’ve waiting for all week. It’s time for review.

You don’t have to exaggerate, Roza. You know, but anyway, yeah, we all like Fridays. So, let’s review, review, review together. Go!

Chris McVay here.

Lesson 155    Review

Listening challenge

Okay, guys. Here’s the question.

Q: What did the woman decide to do?

A  To go on a trip.

B  To go to college.

C  To go to Cambodia.

Here we go.

Okay. Here’s the question.

Q: What is the man’s dream?

A  To visit another country.

B  To open a curry restaurant.

C  To go to all curry restaurants in Japan.

Listen up.

Q: What does the man ask the woman to do?

A  To be quieter.

B  To help make a movie.

C  To give him a copy of the movie.

Listen very carefully.

Q: What did Roxy ask her dad to do?

A  To make seafood paella. *paella っていう綴りが綴れた。奇跡だ!

B  To check the oven.

C  To taste the pumpkin pie.

Here we go.

Say it in English

Friend: You kook a bit down.

No, I’m thinking. I was in two minds, but finally I’ve reached a decision.

I’ve decided to have sushi for dinner today!

*have … for dinner まとめて覚える　こうした簡単なフレーズを英作文している時間は会話にはない
 

Young person: Hmming…

Excuse me, but you might want to turn the music down a bit.

I’ve just gotten my baby to sleep.

Hey, Chris.

Huh-huh?

Let’s go for a drink after this.

Good idea. Hmm. But you know, I’m in two minds. Shall we go to Indian or Italian?

Hmm. Hey, sensei, how about you decide, since you know, you have less than one mind?

だって、先生って考える頭を持ってないから迷うこともないでしょ!

Bye.

http://www.nhk.or.jp/gogaku/english/business2/index.html

Business Communication in Action  実践ビジネス英語

Hello everybody.   こんにちは。みなさん。

Hello and welcome to the show.

This is Heather Howard.

Let's take a look at conversation at work.

Employee Engagement Survey (2)

Grace says there is overlap between employee engagement and satisfaction and that while an engaged employee is probably satisfied, a satisfied employee is not necessarily engaged.

Ueda asks what an engagement survey measures.

And Grace cites things like leadership behavior, career development and an employees' sense of pride in their company.

Definitely:

Overlap: Here it's a noun. It can also be a verb. And both can mean something literally being of top of something else. Like, at my newspaper, sometimes text will overlap a picture, so we have to fix that layout. Grace is using it in the sense of "having things in common, or happening at the same time." Imagine you're planning a conference, you say, "Ah, make sure these two speeches don't overlap on the schedule. Lots of people wanna go both."

I get it.

I understand, basically.

Ah, this can be used in lots of situations.

Let's say, A colleague tells you they're quitting because they feel stuck in their current job: no chance for promotion. You say, "I get it. You want to take your career to the next level." Or, if I was assembling some furniture at home, "Oh! I get it. Attach Part 34-B to Section 92-A using Widget 21. Right!"

I got you. Gotcha! [ˈgɒʧə]

That makes a lot of sense.

McMillan says this up towards the top, "That makes a lot of sense."

Crucial for:

Metric:

Health of one's business: How strong is a business? Ah… We also say, the health of one's finances, the health of one's community. Ah, we're talking about how well is something functioning and performing.

Identify: Recognize something and know who or what it is. We've identified several promising new markets for our business. Or, security camera footage was used to identify the thief. Likewise, ID or identification are materials that indicate who's that, show who we are. Such as, you need to bring two types of picture ID. So, two kinds of ID that include a picture of yourself.

ID Card  Identification / Identify

ID Verb: identify  ID'd IDed

Room for improvement: Areas, sections where improvement can be made. For example, there is a lot of room for improvement in our customer service. We need to respond customers' inquiries much faster. And we say, "room for" in other areas too, like there's a lot of room for growth in this market. I think we can greatly increase our sales. Or, we have room for flexibility in the work schedule.

There's no such thing as a perfect job. There's always room for improvement.

完璧な仕事などというものはない。いつだって改善の余地はある

Leadership behavior: Grace says, "An employee engagement survey measures things like leadership behavior and the nature of people's work,"

Nature: In this case, "nature" means "the characteristics of something, content, the type. Unexpected developments are the nature of this business, for example. They are common in this business.

Career development:

Perform one's day-to-day work: Do one's daily work, the tasks we tackle day after day. My day-to-day work involves a lot of editing. I check articles and pages for spelling and grammatical errors.

Motivating: Something motivating, it makes us want to take action, it encourages us. Like, the new profit sharing program has been very motivating for the staff.

Depend on: If A depends on B, then B determines what happens with A.

Like, with summer cloting sales, a lot depends on good weather.

We also say "depending on," such as I eat in a cafeteria or go outside depending on the weather

Positive effect on:

Performance:

That's all for today.

Thanks for tuning in. Bye.

2020年11月19日 Thursday

Oh! Roxy and dad!

Roza Akino here.

Chris McVay here. Guys, do you think we’ve mastered the technique of making good lessons?

Of course!

Okay, then. Well, let’s give one now!

Lesson 154　　　You might want to check the oven. I can smell something burning.

Wow! Oh, no! 英語を話すときは英語の気持ちになること

Guys, wait until you see our future textbooks. They just keep getting better and better.

Wait till you taste my pumpkin pie! 私が作るpumpkin pieをお楽しみに

*wait till ～をお楽しみに　～したら驚くよ

I’ll finish my homework by 10:00. 10時までに宿題を終わらせるよ *by 期限

Hey, Chris. I’m warning you.

Ah…why?

Hey, Roza. I’m warning you.

What! I didn’t do anything.

I’m just practicing.

Again?

Oh…!

Ah!

Bye.

http://www.nhk.or.jp/gogaku/english/business2/index.html

Business Communication in Action  実践ビジネス英語

Hello everybody.   こんにちは。みなさん。

Hello and welcome to the show.

This is Heather Howard.

Let's take a look at conversation at work.

Employee Engagement Survey (1)

ディクテーション自体は、10時くらいには終わってたんだけど、義母の相談にのっていた。「いろいろと困ったこともあるだろうけど、何の心配もないですよ」という風に話した。

Grace asks the A&A staff for their input regarding the employee engagement survey.

She says happy people are productive people.

And Lyons comments that employee engagement means different things to different people.

Grace says she interprets it as how valued and involved do employees feel.

And McMillan asks about the difference between engagement and satisfaction.

Employee engagement survey:

Task someone with:

Revamp: Revise, ah, reconstruct. Such as, this new operating system completely revamps the software. Or, a sports team could revamp its lineup of starting players or its offensive strategy. And it appears as a noun too. This OS represents a complete revamp of the software.

Morale survey: Employee morale is how do employees feel about a job, you know, how enthusiastic are they, how committed, etc. You could say, "Winning that design award really boosted morale at the company." Or, morale has been low since our department head was replaced. Nobody likes the new guy.

Climate survey 社内の情勢とか雰囲気を調べる

Shift the emphasis from A to B:

Redraft: Compose again, ah, write something again. My sense is that this is not the final version, you know, this is being prepared for someone's inspection, you know, a possible approval. Let's say, I write a memo about recent mistakes at work. But then I decide, "No, no. It's too critical. It's too harsh." So, I redraft the memo to be more encouraging.

Draft 下書き　最終versionではない

Reflect:

New slant: In this case, "slant" is a noun, meaning a point of view or attitude.

I always imagine someone cocking their head to one side to look at something from a certain angle. Things like, My presentation offers a new slant on marketing to young consumers. Or, this book presents a new slant on the history of capitalism.

Get someone's input: Get someone's opinion, hear what they think about something. I often ask people at work, "Ah, could I get your input on this opening paragraph? Do you think it's too long? Or we've asked several departments to give us their input on the new ad campaign.

Get someone's feedback

Buzzword: McMillan says, "I know that employee engagement is a buzzword these days."

Keep something at the forefront of one's mind: Always be thinking and remembering something, ah, keep it a key factor. A conscious key factor in our actions and decision making. Customer satisfaction should always be at the forefront of our minds, you know, a manager might say. We also have the expression "at the back of one's mind." This is like, not actively thinking about something, but it's there. Coloring the situation, influencing our feelings. Our boss always has production costs at the back of his mind.

At the forefront of  ～の念頭に

At the back of one's mind 頭の片隅に

Obvious:

It means different things to different people.

Elastic: Ueda says, "It's a fairly elastic concept, after all."

Like, "elastic" you know, in the waistband of our pants or something that can stretch and recoil. And an elastic concept changes. It can be adapted to the circumstances. It's often said that time is an elastic concept. Words like, "soon" and "a long time" mean different things in different situations and to different people. Also, time seems to pass differently at work and on the vacation.

Define:

To what extent: How much, to what degree. Like, to what extent did this product boost our sales? Or, to what extent will this cold weather lower our sales?

That's all for today.

Thanks for tuning in. Bye.

2020年11月18日 Wednesday

Hey, everyone. Roza Akino here. Um. Ohnishi sensei. I hate to ask you this, but would you mind thinking of more interesting openings?

Chris McVay here. Roza. I hate to say this, but you’ve stolen my opening again!

Sorry!

What can I do?

Lesson 153　　　I hate to ask you this, but would you mind keeping the voice down? We’re making a movie in the park.

Sure, no problem. What kind of movie is it?

Sure, no problem… combinationで覚える

Sounds interesting. Could I possibly get a copy of the film when it’s finished?

That sounds interesting. それはinteresting に聞こえる

Hey, Chris, could I possibly get a copy of our textbook? I hear it’s the best English textbook out there.

It certainly is.

But it will cost you.

I hate to ask you this, but would you mind keeping the noise down?

こんなことを言いたくはありませんが、もう少し静かにしていただけますか？

*I hate to ask you this… クッションを周到に用いて、相手の気分を害さない配慮が幾重にもなされている

You shouldn’t be afraid of making mistakes. They are an essential part of language learning.

間違いを恐れるのを忘れてはいけません。それらは言語学習の大切な一部なのです

I don’t think you should sit on that bench. It’s just been painted.

そのベンチに座ってはいけないと思います。それは塗り立てですよ

It’s just been…　現在完了形　塗り立てという直近の出来事が感じられている

Hey, guys. I always make a love story in the bath?

Ah… why?

What in the world… what do you even mean by that?

Oops! Sorry.

Rub Story, not love story.

Would you mind not making awful jokes anymore?

Bye. Bye-bye.

連邦最高裁が今後、バンス氏に数々の記録文書を取得する権限を与えれば、「前大統領にとっては刑事上の有罪判決、あるいは刑務所入りといった驚くべき怪物さえ出現しかねない」（米ニューヨーク・タイムズ）という。
世界を振り回した男、トランプ氏の落選にほっとした

（筆坂 秀世：元参議院議員、政治評論家）

　米大統領選で民主党のバイデン候補が事実上勝利したというニュースが流れた際、ほっとした気持ちになった。

　トランプ大統領の下品な言動には辟易していたし、平気で嘘をつく姿には失望とやりきれなさを覚えるだけであった。イラン核合意やパリ協定からの離脱、WHO（世界保健機関）からの脱退など、アメリカ第一主義で世界のルールを壊すやり方にも我慢がならなかった。アメリカさえ良ければ、否、自分さえ良ければ世界はどうなっても良いというのがトランプ流だった。

　このトランプ流には、世界中が心身ともに疲れ果てたのではないか。

　米国内での分断も拡大した。経済格差は拡大し、警官による黒人暴行死を契機に、アメリカ社会の病理である人種差別への怒りも噴き出した。そして新型コロナウイルスである。当初、トランプ氏は「アメリカでは完全にコントロールされている」などと虚言を振りまいていた。信じたのはトランプ信者くらいのものだろう。よくわからないウイルスをコントロールできるわけがない。

　だが結果は、世界最多の感染者と死者を出し続けている。ワクチンや治療薬でも根拠ない楽観論を振りまいてきた。これによって多くの人々が仕事を失った。普通の国なら、この大失敗だけでも選挙に出馬することすらできなかっただろう。

自国の選挙制度を信用できない大統領

　トランプ氏は、今回の選挙でも、選挙結果が出る前に「我々は勝った」と一方的な勝利宣言を行った。その一方で、何の根拠も示さずに、「不正があった」「選挙が盗まれた」などと言って法廷闘争に持ち込んでいる。ミシガン州では、トランプ支持者が「トランプ氏が大きくリードしていたのに、まるで魔法のように、バイデン氏の票が深夜に何千票も投下された」と主張している。

「アホか」としか言いようがない。魔法ではなくアメリカ国民の明確な意思表示だ。

　郵便投票も立派な一票だ。トランプ氏は郵便投票を批判しているが、これは法律で認められた投票方法である。コロナ禍で郵便投票が増えたのは、当然のことだった。トランプ氏支持者も郵便投票は行っている。ましてや開票を「止めろ」などというのは、国民の選挙権を奪う暴論である。法律で決められた選挙方法が、自分に不利だから認めないなどというのは、民主主義の基本を壊そうとするものである。

　だが、何の証拠もない法廷闘争が勝てるわけがない。ジョージア州、アリゾナ州、ネバダ州では、不正の証拠を示せず、いずれも訴えを退けられている。当然だ。トランプ氏やトランプ陣営が言うように、郵便投票に大規模な不正があったとしたなら、トランプ陣営だって不正があったことになる。

　現職大統領が、自国の選挙制度を信用できないのなら、選挙にそもそも出るべきではない。

政権委譲を拒否する異常

　11月13日には、米国全50州での勝敗が判明した。バイデン氏が306人の選挙人を獲得し、トランプ氏の232人を大きく上回った。15日、トランプ氏はようやく負けだけは認めたものの、「彼が勝利したのは、選挙が不正だったからだ」と根拠も示さずにまだ不正選挙を主張している。これほど往生際の悪い男を見たことがない。本当にみっともない限りだ。

　トランプ政権は、今なおバイデン氏への政権委譲を拒否している。トランプ氏に忠誠を尽くすポンペオ国務長官は、11月10日の記者会見で「トランプ政権の2期目へ円滑に移行する。私たちは準備ができている」と述べた。日本の菅義偉首相や各国首脳がバイデン氏に祝意を伝え、首脳会談の準備に入っている時に、まさに異常事態である。

　だがそれでもトランプ氏を支持する米国民も少なくない。まだすべての州の票数が出そろっていないが、得票数はバイデン氏が7700万票を超え、トランプ氏も7200万票を超えている。真っ二つに割れているのだ。

　2006年の大統領選挙でオバマ氏に敗北した共和党のジョン・マケイン氏は、選挙結果を潔く受け入れ、オバマ氏への祝福と協力と連帯を呼びかけた。名演説として、高く評価されている。こういう政治家が共和党にいないことも、事態を深刻化させている。

　この時以上にアメリカの分断は深刻化している。バイデン氏は、勝利演説で「分断ではなく、統合を目指す大統領になる」「品位を回復する」と述べた。今のような異常事態と分断が続けば、アメリカは国内政治も、対外政策もさらに衰退するだろう。バイデン氏と民主党の力の見せ所だ。

トランプ氏に物言えぬ共和党議員

　オバマ前大統領が、今の異常事態についてインタビューに答えていたが、印象的だったのは、今の共和党の幹部への失望であった。本来ならこの異常事態を共和党こそが正すべきなのだ。だがペンス副大統領からも何の発言も出てこない。ポンペオ氏に至っては、先に紹介した通りだ。

　ブッシュ元大統領がバイデン氏に祝意を伝え、「今回の選挙は根本的に公正であり、結果は明白だ」と語った。だが、現職の共和党上院議員の多くが、トランプ氏と同様に不正があったと主張している。誰もトランプに進言できない。なぜこんなに弱腰なのか。

　在米コンサルタントの渡邊裕子氏は、11月12日付朝日新聞で、「4年前の大統領選挙までは『トランプだけはあり得ない』と批判していたのに、この4年間トランプ氏の目的達成のため、『たいこ持ち』のように動いた共和党議員が多く、今回も再選されています。逆に、理念を大切にし、トランプ氏を批判していたマケイン氏のような共和党の政治家の多くは、亡くなったり、政界を引退したりしてしまいました」と語っている。

　トランプ陣営は訴訟費用調達のため「トランプ選挙弁護基金」を立ち上げているが、この資金の4割は、共和党全国委員会に割り当てられる。トランプ氏は、負けたとはいえ、4年前よりも1000万票多い約7230万票を獲得した。共和党議員からすれば、“トランプにくっついていれば資金も票も手に入る”という目論見がある。このため批判を避けているということなのだろう。

どこまでも自分本位のトランプ氏

　トランプ氏は、11月13日の記者発表で米製薬大手ファイザーが開発する新型コロナウイルスのワクチンについて「早ければ4月にも全国民に提供できるようになるだろう」と述べた。ただ、ニューヨーク州のアンドリュー・クオモ知事が、トランプ政権が推奨するワクチンの安全性などに懸念を表明していることを踏まえ、「ニューヨーク州は除外する」と語った。

　トランプ氏は米食品医薬品局（FDA）が早期に緊急使用許可を出すとの見通しを示した上で、政権としてワクチン開発を支援してきた実績を強調し、「ほかの政権であれば、開発に3～5年はかかっただろう」と成果を訴えた。

　まだ開発の成功したわけでもないのに、いつものように“根拠なし”の発言である。トランプ氏の発言通りなら、とっくにワクチンも治療薬も開発が終わっていたはずだ。また他の政権であったなら、ここまで米国内での感染を拡大させなかったであろう。

　ニューヨーク州のクオモ知事がワクチンの許認可プロセスが「政治化されている」と懸念を示し、「率直に言って、連邦政府の意見を信用するつもりはない」と述べたのも当然である。

　ニューヨーク州は、多様な専門家からなる諮問委員会を設置し、安全性を評価。その結果を踏まえて住民に助言を行う。ワクチンが必要な人に優先的に行き渡るよう、配布についても専門のチームを設置して対応する、としている。

　クオモ知事の方がはるかにまともである。トランプ氏は「アメリカ・ファースト」で国際関係も、民主主義も、人権も壊そうとしてきたように思えてならない。

https://www.msn.com/ja-jp/news/world/%E4%B8%96%E7%95%8C%E3%82%92%E6%8C%AF%E3%82%8A%E5%9B%9E%E3%81%97%E3%81%9F%E7%94%B7-%E3%83%88%E3%83%A9%E3%83%B3%E3%83%97%E6%B0%8F%E3%81%AE%E8%90%BD%E9%81%B8%E3%81%AB%E3%81%BB%E3%81%A3%E3%81%A8%E3%81%97%E3%81%9F/ar-BB1b482T?ocid=msedgntp

2020年11月17日 Tuesday

Roza Akino. Curry fragrance.

Chris McVay here. Let’s have a spicy lesson today.

Without any curry shoe please.

実は、オレはカレー作りは得意だ、と思っていたのだけど、都城市のインド人の方が作るカレー屋さんのカレーを食べてから自分で作るのが嫌になった。

Lesson 152     I’m going to make my dream come true, no matter what it takes.

With these spices, I can introduce Japanese people to real South Indian curry.

*intro 中に　duce 導く　中に導く→紹介する

Well, dear listeners.

We’re determined to make our textbook the best it can possibly be, no matter what it takes.

Captain America “Whatever it takes”… Avengers Endgame  

MCUのファンの人とかいないのかな？　

コメントしていただけたらヒジョーに嬉しいのに…

I’m going to make my dream come true, no matter what it takes.

私は自分の夢を実現するつもりです。何が何でも  

*no matter what 何が何々でも

take 必要とする

*matter 重要だということ　何が何々であっても重要じゃない　変わらないよ

Why do you use “take” here? ここでどうしてtakeを用いるのでしょうか？

Well, you know, it’s just like, if you’re making a cake, baking a cake, you need to take some sugar, some flour, some milk, perhaps some eggs, you take whatever is necessary to make the cake successful. And, here, you take whatever is necessary to make the dreams come true.

そうですね。まあ、ケーキを作るとき、焼くときですね、砂糖、小麦粉、牛乳、卵など、ケーキ作りを成功させるために必要なものを取ってきますよね。ここでは、夢を実現するために必要なものを取ってくる、ということなんです

Hey, Roza. What fragrance do you like the best?

Hmm. I would have to say, “I love the smell of hinoki. It’s one of my favorite smells.”

Hmm. How about you, Chris.

Hmm. I would say, “citrus.”

Then you can use my oranges.

Bye.

20201120ボキャブライダー Hi. Hi, I’m Maxell Powers. 足し算・引き算

Add 足す　加える

If you add 12 to 9, you get 21.  9に12を足すと21になります

Add sugar to my coffee. 珈琲に砂糖を入れてください

One plus one is two. 　1＋1=2

Sum 総和　Σ　合計　足し算の和

The sum of 15 and 25 is 40. 　15と25の合計は40です

1×1＋3×3＋5×5＋7×7＋9×9＋11×11=6×6

Subtract 引く　差し引く

Subtract 12 from 33 and you get 21. 　33から12を引くと21になります

Right!  Eleven minus five equals six. 11-5=6

Yes! Equal でも　is でもどちらでもokay

Difference 差　引き算の答え

Find the difference of X and Y. XのYの差を求めよ

The difference between dogs and cats 犬と猫の違い

20201119ボキャブライダー Hello. Hi, I’m Maxell Powers.

どうして、実践ビジネス英語　よりアップが遅いかというと…「エール」を見たり(二階堂ふみと古川琴音が母娘なんだけど、二階堂は26歳で、古川は24歳)、洗濯物を干していたりしたら、もう9:25 a.m.だったから。　

庭をテーマに植物に関する単語をご紹介

Garden 庭 　個人の家の敷地内で花、野菜、果樹などを栽培しているところ

My grandma loves to spend time in her garden.

おばあちゃんは庭で時間を過ごすのが大好きです

Plant　verb 植える  noun 植物

I want to plant some yellow flowers next year. 来年は黄色い花を植えたいな

Plants need water. 植物には水が必要だ

Weed noun 雑草  verb 雑草を取り除く

These weeds are driving me crazy. この雑草のせいで頭がおかしくなりそう

I have to weed the garden. お庭の雑草を抜かなくちゃ

Watering can 如雨露(昔は金属製)　can 金属製の缶   water verb 水をやる

Watering 　adjective 水やりのための

I filled my watering can with too much water.

如雨露に水を入れ過ぎちゃった

Thanks for coming to help me with my garden, Hiyori. Great! Could you weed that area there? Okay! Could you fill up the watering can too? I’m going to plant some seeds today. Sunflowers! 

20201118ボキャブライダー Hi, everyone. Hi, I’m Maxell Powers.

船に纏わる単語

Ship 船 大型船　 boat 小型船

The ship left Shanghai with 500 passengers on board.

船は500人の乗客を乗せて上海を出発しました

Cargo　貨物 積み荷 船荷

That ship is carrying cargo from Canada.

あの船はカナダからの積み荷を載せています

Crew 乗務員  乗務員全員という集団を指す a crew member 1人の乗務員

The crew quickly loaded cargo onto the ship. 乗務員が貨物を素早く船に積んだ

I asked a crew member about our departure time.乗務員に出発の時間を聞いた

Deck 船の甲板　デッキ

From the main deck, you can see Rainbow Bridge.

メインデッキからRainbow Bridgeが見えるよ

Yawww! We be the worst, nastiest pirates on the seven seas. Give us your cargo. Not one move! You hear? Call your whole crew to the deck. We’ll see, missy. Wait. Uh-oh! We forgot all our weapons.

20201117ボキャブライダー Hi! Hi, everyone. I’m Maxell Powers.

レストランに行った際に役に立つ単語をご紹介

Server レストランの接客係  昔　waiter / waitress 　recommendation お勧め

Let’s ask our server for a recommendation.接客係の人にお勧めを聞いてみよう

Appetizer 前菜　starter 食事を始めるもの→最初に食べるもの

How about some appetizers? 前菜はいかがでしょうか？

Order verb 注文する　noun 注文したもの

Let me know when you’re ready to order.

ご注文が決まりましたら及びください

My order hasn’t come yet. 注文したものがまだ来ていないのですが

Refill 飲み物のおかわり　re再び　fill 満たす　空になったグラスをもう一度満たす

Could I get a refill on my iced tea? アイスティーのおかわりをもらえますか？

What appetizers do you recommend? Do you happen to have a shrimp cocktail? Could you recommend any entrées? I’m in the mood for beef tonight.

Make that beef well-done, okay?

20201116ボキャブライダー Hi! Hello. I’m Maxell Powers.  小説を読んでここがよかった、ここは微妙だった、と感想を言うときに使える単語をご紹介

Plot 話の筋や仕組み　plan計画　と同じ仲間の単語

The plot was a little hard to follow. 物語の筋がちょっとわかりにくかった

Dialogue 対話　会話　dia A とBの間　logue話すこと　AとBの間が話すこと

I think the dialogue really shows the characters’ personality.　

会話に登場人物の性格がよく出ている、と思う　characters 物語に出てくる登場人物

Imagery 描写や比喩的な表現で作者の文章の特徴について使う言葉

The imagery she uses in her stories is so creative.

彼女が物語で使う描写は非常に創造的です

Image 読者が心の中で思い描くもの　imagery 作者が使う文章表現

Pace 作者の文体の速さ　Pace 作家の語り口　

I loved the characters in the book but the pace was pretty slow.

登場人物たちはとてもよかったのですが、文章のペースがとても遅かった

slow pace 一場面の描写や説明をぎっしり詰め込んで語りテンポを落とした感じ

Fast 文章が短かったり、対話が入っていたりしてテンポ良く読み進められるイメージ

2020年11月16日 Monday

Roza Akino.

Hi, guys. Chris McVay here. Today’s is a special day.

What’s that?

It’s my birthday!

Happy birthday, Chris.

Thank you, Roza. You’re the only one who remember it.

Lesson 151      I’ve decided to take a gap year.

It’s a book about Cambodia.

*about ～のまわり がイメージ　Cambodia 周辺のいろいろなことが書いてある、その周辺についていろんな情報が書いてある本

You know, it’s good to experience our textbook. So, check it out!

Exactly.

もし皆さんが単語は知っているのに文を作るのは苦手なら、その理由は単語間の 相性の良さ を知らないから。でも、それを学ぶのは簡単です。そう、音読・暗唱です

音読･暗唱で文の流れと同時に単語のコンビネーションも取り込むことができるのです

Chris.

Hmm hm.

You’ve been all over the world. So, have you ever been to Cambodia?

Yes. I was lucky enough to go to Siem Reap where the famous Angkor Wat is before. It became really, really popular on Commercial. So, it was a fantastic experience. I highly recommend it.

Chris. I’m so happy Ohnishi sensei is taking the both of us.

Yeah! Everything is on him, right?

Right!

Dream on!

Bye.

http://www.nhk.or.jp/gogaku/english/business2/index.html

Business Communication in Action  実践ビジネス英語

Hello everybody.   こんにちは。みなさん。

Hello and welcome to the show.

This is Heather Howard.

Let's take a look at conversation at work.

Solo Living (6)

Nowadays, however, there's a lot more freedom to choose our own lifestyle. If someone doesn't wanna get married or hasn't found a right person yet, they don't have to worry about society looking down its nose at them, clucking its tongue and speculating about "What's wrong with them?"
こんなことは、杉田水脈を代表とする自民党議員にはいくら言ったところで理解する頭を持ち合わせていないことだろうな。

Talk the Talk with Heather

Sugita: In the current vignette, Chuck Salmans noted that the singles market is growing all over the world. Here in Japan, this trend has led to a number of services aimed at single people.

Heather: What kind of services?

S: One example is karaoke rooms for singles. You can sing alone and experience the feeling of a professional making a studio recording. It’s perfect for folks who are self-conscious about singing outside the shower, or who can’t carry a tune in a bucket.

H: That’s a great idea. And you don’t even have to be legally single to enjoy it. My husband actually likes to sing karaoke alone. It’s a great stress reliever for him. He hasn’t been going for a while due to the pandemic — he’s being extra cautious to protect our family — but in the past he’s often sung by himself at a neighborhood karaoke place for four or five hours at a stretch. What other types of singles services are flourishing?

S: Tables for one are the fastest-growing party size in the restaurant business, as groups of more than five or six people are frowned upon these days. You can go to almost any eating establishment — whether it’s a yakiniku or ramen place, a company cafeteria or a high-end French restaurant — and see plastic partitions for single diners. I’m also seeing more restaurants and cafes with single seats by the window, so solo diners can enjoy a view with their meal.

H: That's nice. I think I've mentioned this before. But I've always enjoyed eating in restaurants alone. It's nice to feel pampered and have the time for myself. I like to open a book on my smartphone and enjoy the food and the text without the need to think about anybody else. We all need times when we can put ourselves into a cocoon and shut out the rest of the world.

S: There are different reasons for the increase in the number of singles. But I think an important factor behind this trend is the digital revolution. Social media and smartphones let people who might otherwise be considered loners stay connected with the world.

H: Definitely. Another factor is probably increased acceptance of being single. I'm sure a lot of people in generations past got married because that was what people were supposed to do or, because society deemed it was the right time in their life. Nowadays, however, there's a lot more freedom to choose our own lifestyle. If someone doesn't wanna get married or hasn't found a right person yet, they don't have to worry about society looking down its nose at them, clucking its tongue and speculating about "What's wrong with them?"

S: The vignette also talks about how people fill their time during self-isolation. What about you, Heather?

H: I have done some remote work and certainly curtailed a lot of my regular, free time activities. I've read books and watched movies on different streaming services. But more than myself, my chief concern has been helping my little girl get through all this. I've tried to find fun activities that we can do at home. Science experiments have been a big help. I got a book aimed at primary school students and checked some things online and we've done a bunch of fun experiments together.

That's all for today.

It's always great to see you. Bye.

2020年11月13日 Friday

Roza Akino.

Wow! Amazing introductions there. I’m left speechless. Chris McVay here. Review. Let’s get going.

Lesson 150　　Review

Listening challenge

Okay, everyone. Here’s the question.

Q: What will the man and woman do next week?

A  They’ll visit Lisa.

B  They’ll go to Osaka.

C  They’ll have Takoyaki together.

Here we go.

Okay. Here’s the question.

Q: What was the man’s reaction to the woman’s request?

A  He told her he couldn’t do it.

B  He told her he could do it.

C  He told her he needed to check his work schedule.

Listen up.

Q: What will the woman do?

A  She will help the man prepare his prepare his presentation.

B  She will go to the man’s office the following morning.

C  She will have dinner at an oyster bar with the man.

Listen carefully, everyone.

Q: Which of the following is true?

A  Only older people like the band.

B  The lead guitarist is leaving the band.

C  This is the band’s last concert.

Here we go.

Hey, Chris.

Hmm hm?

What year wedding anniversary is it for you?

Well, we’ve just celebrated our 44^th wedding anniversary.

Wow! 44 years? That’s amazing! Celebrating anniversaries must be fun since you’re such a romantic.

Actually, we don’t celebrate our wedding anniversary so much because for us every day is an anniversary.

Bye.

http://www.nhk.or.jp/gogaku/english/business2/index.html

Business Communication in Action  実践ビジネス英語

Hello everybody.   こんにちは。みなさん。

Hello and welcome to the show.

This is Heather Howard.

Let's take a look at conversation at work.

Solo Living (5)

Alvarez talks about the various things she did while staying at home.

And McMillan says he and his wife work for the local charity that helps elderly people.

McMillan adds that his wife developed cabin fever and spent a great deal of time on the phone or talking to people online.

Alvarez describes the lesson she learned while volunteering.

Fill one's time: Find some activity to do during a certain time, engage in activity over that time. We also say things like "fill one's weekend" you know "fill one's morning." I found some fun activities to fill our time during summer break. Or, let's say I'm on the late shift at work one day. I do a bunch of cleaning to fill my morning.

Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.

完成のために与えられた時間を埋めるために仕事は増える

この仕事は明日までにやって、と言われれば明日までにやるけれど、

いつでもいいから、と言われたらば、その仕事はほとんど完成しない

Charity: Alvarez says, "The best use I made of my free time was doing volunteer work with a local charity."

Care package:

Kudos to: Kudos[kjúːdɔs] or kudos[kúːdɑs] is originally a Greek word.

In English, we use it to mean "praise" you know, "acclaim" for an achievement. Things like, kudos[kúːdɑs] to everyone on the product launch. It went really well. Or, kudos[kjúːdɔs] to the government for extending the unemployment benefits.

Bed-Stuy (=Bedford-Stuyvesant):

Thing is: The key issue, point or problem in a certain situation is this. We often use this to present a contradicting or contrasting fact. And you can also put "the" in front of it. The thing is… That's fine too. So, you could say, "This is a terrific idea. But the thing is we don't have the budget. You know, We just cannot afford to do it."

The problem is… the question is…

Something of: This expression can mean a bit of something. Like, Carl's promotion was something of a surprise. So it was a bit of a surprise. There's also show some of the characteristics of. Ah, does things like a… So, if I say, "Jerry is something of a designer," then his work is like that of a designer. He does things that you would expect from a designer.

Social butterfly: A butterfly flits from flower to flower. So, a social butterfly

is an outgoing sociable person who likes to go to different events, who likes to be involved in events. Something like, she's always been a social butterfly: planning parties and picnics for everybody.

Have butterflies in one's stomach 胃の中で蝶々たちが飛び回ってる　

不安・緊張などでドキドキしている　落ち着かない

Cabin fever:

Social setting: Salmans says, "Having met your charming wife in various social settings, I can imagine how tough it was for her." A situation, an environment in which we're dealing with other people, we're interacting socially. Like, if we have to be in a social setting, we should wear a mask to protect the people around us. Or, children, as they're growing up, learn to behave in different social settings. So, how do you behave when you're at school? Or, how do you behave when you're at a wedding?

Swear: In this case "swear" means "I declare this is true." Or, "I say this with great conviction. Like, I swear she drank 6 diet sodas in 3 hours. Or, I swear I am never eating at this restaurant again.

Waking hours: The time when we're awake, when we're up and doing something. And this is often used with a bit of hyperbole. You know, obviously we don't spend all our waking hours doing one thing. But you might say, "During our last vacation, we spent all our waking hours at the beach." Or, last weekend, I spent all my waking hours cleaning the house.

Chat with:

At a critical time:

In a positive frame of mind:

A person's frame of mind is their mood, their mental or emotional attitude. Things like, an early morning jog always puts him in a healthy frame of mind.

Or, watching a funny movie puts me in an optimistic frame of mind.

That's all for today.

Thanks for tuning in. Bye.

2020年11月12日 Thursday

Roza Akino.

Hi, guys. Chris McVay here. Roza, I have to tell you something.

What?

Ah, I forgot. Let’s go.

Lesson 149    Ryan Day is leaving the band? What are they going to do without him?

Look at all the people here. I didn’t realize older people liked the Desperate Rats too.

*realize ボーッとしたイメージしか作ってないものが心の中でくきっとその形をとる イメージの単語→気づく わかる

No way. He’s irreplaceable!　No way. まさか　あり得ない

Luckily, our textbook is popular among all generations. Thank you, listeners.

The band is popular among people of different generations.

*among 雑多な集合体を表す前置詞　個々のものがごちゃごちゃっとある、その中で・間で　というnuance

ここでinは使えない。　in～の中　は強くグループ内を意味するから

 It’s very awkward. I don’t know how to break the news to her. Any ideas? とても気まずいんです。彼女にどう打ち明けていいのかわかりません。何かアイデアはありますか？

So, what is the nuance of “awkward” ? awkwardのnuanceは何でしょうか？

Well, I think the nuance is basically “not as expected.” So, therefore it’s something that’s difficult to deal with. そうですね。私が思うにnuanceは要するに「予測してない」　つまり、対処するのが難しいことですね

Yes. For example, you take a girl to the movies and on leaving the theater… oops! There’s your girlfriend. Ah, this is a rather awkward situation. そうですね。例えば女の子を映画に連れて行って映画館を出るとき、ああ。彼女がいる。これってかなりのどうしていいかわからない状況ですね

Roza, are you leaving the program? What are we gonna do without you?

Wait, wait, wait, wait. I’m not going anywhere.

Oh! What are we going to do with you?

C’mon! I know you guys love me.

Bye.

http://www.nhk.or.jp/gogaku/english/business2/index.html

Business Communication in Action  実践ビジネス英語

Hello everybody.   こんにちは。みなさん。

Hello and welcome to the show.

This is Heather Howard.

Let's take a look at conversation at work.

Solo Living (4)

今、中学生の英語対策に、英検(2級)の過去問をtypeしているのだけど、自分のtyping speedに驚く。
こんなことなら、今までの分、全部typeしておくんだった。あはは。(^^ゞ。

Grace and Ueda give reasons why more people feel comfortable living alone including digital technology allowing loner-types to stay connected with the world.

Ueda says that while he was self-isolating during the pandemic he often felt bored during his downtime and lists a number of things he did to keep from getting depressed.

Fulfill one's basic needs:

Social safety net:

Live on one's own:

Loner: Ueda says, "The internet enables people who might otherwise be considered loners to stay connected with the wider world." A loner is someone who prefers to primarily act alone, be alone. You can also say "a lone wolf." Like, he always eats lunch alone. But that's okay with him. He's a lone wolf type.

Stay connected with:

Splendid isolation:

24/7:

Go stir-crazy: Ueda says, "sometimes I thought I was going stir-crazy when I was self-isolating." This means "get upset" or "get restless" because we've been confined in one place for a long time. Now, I couldn't find this in my dictionaries. But I think "stir" refers to "prison" in this sense. That's the image. It's another word for "jail." Imagine it's been raining all weekend and your kids have had to stay inside the whole time. By Sunday night, they're going stir-crazy, 'cause everyone wanna get outside.

Self-isolate: Sadly, this has become a familiar term. Ueda means "when he was isolating himself, taking action to separate himself from other people." There's also the term "self-sensor" when we choose not to do or say something because it might offend others. Things like, he self-censors his political opinions at the office. He doesn't talk about politics because he doesn't wanna argue with his coworkers.

Shelter in place 外出せずに今いる建物・家の中で身を守る

Work remotely:

Downtime: 元々はコンピューターなどの機械類の作業停止時間・運転休止時間

Time when Ueda was not working, when he didn't have something to do. And, of course, this can happen within job hours as well, you know. I had some downtime in the afternoon. So I went to the bank and a convenience store. Ah, downtime can also refer to when a machine or computer is not working. Ah, system's staff might announce, for example, "Everybody! We're gonna have 30 minutes of downtime starting at 2 p.m. Ah, we have to do some maintenance."

Feel cut off and bored:

Morosely:

Beat the self-isolation blues: The blues, feeling depressed, down, sad. I used to get the back-to-school blues as a kid, feeling down because the fun of summer vacation was over. There are also the Monday blues, ah, you know,  getting back to work after the weekend. Or the post-vacation blues.

Meditate: In addition to a mental exercise, you know, meant to calm the mind or seek deeper spirituality. "Meditate" and "meditation" can mean "think carefully and calmly about something." Imagine, you are asked to participate in a project but you're already very busy. So, you say, "Ah, you know what. Let me meditate on this for a bit."

Stick to:

Catch up with: In this case, "catch up" is "get up to date on something," you know, "learn the latest things that have happened." So, Ueda and his friends, you know, told each other what's been going on in their lives since they last communicated. You could email a friend, ah, "Hey! I'd really like to catch up with you. Let's do a video call." Or, to use a slight variation, "After the pandemic has calmed down, we'll meet for lunch and catch up."

Binge-watch: Watch a lot of something, ah, all in one go, especially we binge-watch TV shows these days and movie series. You could say, I'm going to binge-watch Season 1 and 2 this weekend. So, I'm gonna watch all the episodes in 2 seasons of a show.

はい。Binge-watch　やってまーす。　最近では　「トッケビ」

宮崎学園の英語教師だったOliverは、Netflix で、「愛の不時着」「キム秘書」「全裸監督」を見てる、って言ってた。それにしても凄い世の中だ。

Binge on 大量に食べる　go on a binge 暴飲暴食をする

That's all for today.

Hope we see you next time. Bye.

2020年11月11日 Wednesday

Hey, everyone. This is Roza Akino. Hmm. I’m a bit hungry. What should I eat? I know it won’t be shrimps since I am allergic.

Hi, everyone. Chris McVay here. Well, I hope our listeners are not allergic to our lessons because we’re gonna keep giving them. Let’s get started.

Lesson 148   I’ll be happy to help you write it.

Hey, guys! Our textbook will help you with your English. And don’t worry. You won’t be allergic.

I’m willing to give you another chance. But you must promise to change your attitude.

Hmm. Be willing to… This is often a bit misunderstood, right?

このbe willing to は少し誤解されることがよくありますね

Definitely much less happy. For example, Ohnishi sensei, I’m willing to lend you 500 yen. But I’m not happy about it.　そうです。はるかに喜びが薄いです。例えば、大西先生、私は先生に500円貸すのにやぶさかではないですが、嬉しくはないのです

So, there’s an element of reluctance. Therefore there’s condition attached usually afterwards.

ですから、躊躇いの要素がありますね。それ故、後に条件が付くのが通常です 

Roza. Thank you so much. Let me treat you to lunch at the NHK cafeteria. I’ll buy you a cup of the famous NHK miso soup.

What? No! I want sushi for lunch.

Dream on! Roza. There’s no way Ohnishi sensei will ever be that generous!

Bye.

2020年11月10日 Tuesday

Hey, everyone. Roza Akino here. Chris, could you possibly do your opening now?

Sure. And actually, I wonder what’s on today’s agenda. So, let’s find out. Chris McVay here.

Lesson 147   I may have to take charge of a project at work. Can you wait until next Monday for my answer?

Well, when it comes to using our textbook on that. It’s easy to make a quick decision. Yes! I’ll use it.

So, what do you mean by “contingency plan” ?　contingency planってどういう意味ですか？

Oh, basically, it means “backup plan.”　要するに “backup plan” ということですね

Hmm, hm.

Exactly! Just in case. まさしく　まさかの時のためのプランですね

“Plan B,” we sometimes say, don’t we?　Plan Bとも言いますよね

Hmm.

We should have a Plan B.　Plan Bを持っておくべき

Yeah! That’s a good expression, isn’t it?　そうですね。いい表現ですよね

Hey, Chris. I may have to go to our New York office.

Could you take charge of feeding my fish?

Oh, no. I’m scared of your fish. They might bite me.

Wait, wait! We have a New York office?

I was just practicing, you know.

Bye.

20201113ボキャブライダー Hi! Hello. I’m Maxell Powers here.

Putの句動詞に注目　 put 基本的イメージ 何かを動かしてどこかに位置させておく

put on 着る　身につける　on 接触した状態に　接触した状態に位置させておく

I helped my son put on his tie. 息子がネクタイをつけるのを手伝った

体重が増えた Put on weight 重さを身につける、というイメージ

I put on a little weight this fall. 今年の秋体重が少し増えた

Put down 　down下の方に　下の方に位置させておく

The test is over. Put your pencils down. 試験終了です。鉛筆を置いてください

I will put the baby down. 赤ちゃんを寝かせてくる

Put away  away離れた状態に　何かを離れた状態に位置させておく

Kids, you need to put away your toys if you want dessert.

ほら、デザートが食べたかったらおもちゃをしまいなさい

おもちゃを片付ける→別に場所に整理して置いておく、ということ

ひよりは頭もいいのか!

Put together 何かを組み立てる　揃える　まとめる

My mom and I put this puzzle together.

お母さんと一緒にこのパズルを組み立てた

Puzzleのpieceをくっつけるのと似たイメージで

put our heads together　知恵を集める　一緒に考える

20201112ボキャブライダー Hello. Hi, I’m Maxell Powers here. 郵便局

郵便局で役立つ表現をご紹介

Post office 郵便局　post 郵便　office 事務所

I’m going to the post office to send a package to my grandparents.

郵便局に行って祖父母に小包を送ります

郵便局は大体どの町にも1つはあるので　the post office  definite article

Stamp 切手

I’d like ten \84 stamps, please. 　84円切手を10枚ください

One \94 stamp 94円切手を1枚　Good!

Registered mail 書留郵便  register記録する　

記録された郵便→配達までの過程が記録されている郵便物

If you’re mailing important documents, you should send them by registered mail.　大切な書類を送るなら書留郵便で送った方がいい　*by ～で

Postage 送料　uncountable noun　複数形pluralにならない

How much is the postage for this package? この小包の送料はいくらですか？

the postage for ～の送料

20201111ボキャブライダー Hello. Hi, everyone. I’m Maxell Powers here.

天気に纏わる単語をご紹介　yが後ろにつくと～に満ちた

Sunny   sun 太陽　Right!　太陽の光に満ちた→晴れ渡った

When the weather is sunny, I’d like to be outside.

天気が晴れている時は、外にいるのが好きです

Cloudy 曇った　cloud 雲　＋y 雲で一杯

Clothes take a long time to dry on cloudy days.

曇っている日は洗濯物がなかなか乾かない

Partly 部分的に　天気予報でよく聞く「時々」

The news said it’s going to be partly cloudy today.

ニュースで今日は時々曇る、って言っていました

High 高い　このhighは最高値→最高気温

What’s the high for today? 今日の最高気温は？

Unfortunately, young lady. It will be cloudy tomorrow. If you wish, I will make it partly sunny. But if I do, ah, the high will be 5 degrees.

Don’t be so mean! I was going to grant your wish. Some…some people are just so cruel.

20201110ボキャブライダー Hi. Hi, everyone. I’m Maxell Powers here.

鳥の動作

Soar 高く舞い上がる 上空を飛ぶ　鳥の飛び方から連想 何かが急上昇する 急増する

I watched a beautiful bird soar into the air. 　

美しい鳥が空高く舞い上がるのを眺めた

Temperatures are soaring. 温度が急上昇している

Migrate 移り住む　渡る

In the fall, some birds migrate to warmer places.

秋になるとより暖かい場所に移り住む鳥がいます

Workers are migrating to the city to find jobs.

労働者は仕事を求めて都会に移住している

Peck 啄む つつく

A pigeon was pecking at something on the ground.

鳩が地面にある何かを啄んでいた

My son pecked at his food silently. 息子が黙って食事をつついた　少しだけ食べた

Perch 鳥が何かにとまる　高い場所や狭いところに座る、というイメージ

The bird perched on a branch and started looking around.

鳥が枝にとまってキョロキョロし始めた

Look, Hiyori. There’s a little bird perched on that branch. No idea. Oh, look! There’s a blue bird pecking at some nuts over there. No idea. Uhhh! A flock of birds soaring into the air! No idea!

20201109ボキャブライダー Hi. Hello. Maxell Powers here. 映画館 Action!

Movie theater 映画館  movie 映画　theater 劇場

Let’s meet at the movie theater at 7.  7時に映画館で会おう

*cinema=movie theater  British English

Showing 映画を見せること 上映

I’d like two tickets for the 7:30 showing for Vocab Rider Adventures.

7時30分上映の「Vocab Rider Adventures」のticketを2枚ください

The next showing 次の上映　 the last showing 最終上映

Screen スクリーン　画面

This movie theater has 16 screens. この映画館には16のスクリーンがある

Big screen 大画面→ 映画 映画館

Small screen 映画館よりも小さな画面→ テレビ

She made the jump from the small screen to the big screen.

彼女はテレビから映画界へ進出した

Jennifer Lawrence / Emma Stone / Steve McQueen / Brad Pitt / Michael J. Fox

Trailer  予告編  trail 後を追う

This is the trailer for my favorite actor’s new movie.

これ一番好きな俳優の新作の予告編なの

昔、予告は映画本編の後に上映していた　後からついてくるもの→trailer

映画が終わるとみんな帰ってしまう。だから最初に上映するようになった。呼び方だけはそのまま残った

2020年11月9日 Monday

テキストに載っているところはなるべく載せないようにしようと思います。
テキスト入力にはとてつもない労力が必要とされます。
必要な方は購入されるべきではないか、と思われるからです。
テキストに載っている部分は、テキストで確認されるのがよいかと思います。

This is Roza Akino.

Hi, guys. Chris McVay here. I love seafood. Anyway, let’s have a great time today.

Lesson 146　　Risa and I are thinking of going out for takoyaki next Thursday. Would you be free to join us?

Would you be free to join us? *Are you free… ? Would you be free… ? 丁寧

Hey, Chris. I’m thinking of going out to check the textbook. Would you be free to join me?

I’d love to.

So, what’s the difference between “think of” and “think about” ?

で、think of と think about の違いは何でしょうか？

Well, I think “think of” is like a pop-up, you know, like, think of dinner… pyung!

そうですね。“think of”　は突然起こる、っていう感じですね。夕食のことを考える、とか

Whereas, “about” … basic image is “looking around you.”

それに対して、aboutの基本イメージは「周りを見る」

It’s much deeper than that. “I’m thinking of going out for takoyaki” is just one simple event.

より深いですね。たこ焼きを食べに行こうと思っている　というのは単なるイベントに過ぎないです

So, “about” doesn’t really fit, you know. だから、aboutはそぐわないというわけです

*about 周りの　様々な角度からよく考える

Could you spare some time for me?

金曜日は一日暇なんだ。私のためにお時間ちょっととれますか？

Can you spare some time for me? 時間があるかどうかを訊ねる定番の表現

Avengers Infinity War

Spare his life, and I’ll give you the stone. Doctor Strange

http://tjjapanthegreat.livedoor.blog/archives/5667773.html

2020年3月18日　Wednesday

I know you’re busy, but could you spare a couple of minutes to check this report?

お忙しいことは重々承知していますが、少しの間このリポートを見ていただけますか。

Spare

So, could you explain “spare” ?

Spareを説明していただけますか？

Sure, well, for me I think a good image is that of a spare tire, right?

いいですよ。そうですね。スペアタイヤをイメージしていただいたらいいと私は思います

A tire that you have as an extra but you don’t need.

余分に持っているタイヤで必要としていないもの

So, spare minutes are extra minutes that you could use for that person.

だから、spare minutesは、その人のために使おうと思えば使える余分の数分間です

That’s right. So, it’s something that you have enough of that you can give to somebody else.

そうです。だから、十分にもっているもので、誰か他の人にあげられるものです

Exactly.　その通りです

Hey, Chris.

Hmm. Hm.

I’m planning to go to the gym after this. Do you have time to come with me?

Uhm. why?

Ah, because I wanted you to meet my friend. He’s muscular and hairy.

I call him…

Muscularly

Bye.

http://www.nhk.or.jp/gogaku/english/business2/index.html

Business Communication in Action  実践ビジネス英語

Hello everybody.   こんにちは。みなさん。

Hello and welcome to the show.

This is Heather Howard.

Let's take a look at conversation at work.

昨日は、都城市の高校での授業の日だった。

高校生にいろいろと質問された。

ケネス・リスマン先生と一緒に喋っていたため、その高校生から英語で話しかけられた。

「アメリカの方ですか？ Are you American? 」　と聞かれたので、

「まあね Sort of.」とこたえておいた。(^^ゞ。

Solo Living (3)

Salmans says one person households are expected to be one of the fastest-growing sections of U.S. society.

And Grace lists several reasons why more people are living alone.

Alvarez says urban millennials and aging consumers are fueling the trend.

And Salmans talks about the kind of products that single consumers want.

Fast-growing: Something growing quickly. Likewise, you could say, a fast-growing industry, a fast-growing business. "Fast-acting" means "something takes effect quickly" or "it takes action quickly. Like, I bought some fast-acting headache pills. Or, the fast-acting policeman quickly put out the fire. 

Segment: A part of something, a division among a larger whole. Market segments, for example. We often hear that term. Or, a large segment of the voters are unhappy about the tax increase.

Shift: A change in direction, attitude, emphasis. Such as, 10 years ago, the company made a big shift from industrial equipment to home appliances. And it can be a verb. The company shifted from industrial equipment to home appliances.

No kidding.

Ueda says this up at the top, "No kidding."

A multitude of: There are many reasons. There are a lot. For example, there are a multitude of things you can study at college. Or, this software is used by a multitude of companies. It's very reliable. "Multitude" can also mean "the masses, the populace." Like, to get elected, you have to win over the multitude.

Put off:

Longevity:

Urbanization:

Track: Alvarez refers to researchers who've been tracking the growing number of single-person households. They've been following, monitoring what's happening. For example, this index tracks the performance of small and midsize businesses. Or, the GPS function lets him track his children's movements.

GPS=Global Positioning System

Urban millennials:

Aging consumer:

Relatively: Or, comparatively. That would work here too. More than others, Alvarez is saying. Or, fairly, somewhat. This brand is relatively affordable. Or, the weather has been comparatively good.

Well-off: Prosperous, affluent. This is a pretty well-off neighborhood. Or, he's very well-off due to his inheritance. We also have the expression "bad-off," which can mean "in financial difficulty." She's really bad-off due to her uncontrolled spending.

Well-off / better-off / best-off  　comparative - superlative

↔　bad-off / badly-off British English 　金銭の状態だけでなく健康状態についても

Urban area:

Cake and brownie mixes:

A slice of: When we're talking about food, a slice tends to mean "a piece cut from a larger block of food." If it's pizza or cake, it's often wedge-shaped. We also have a slice of cheese, ah, slices of meat and a sandwich. And, of course, "slice" is a verb too. She sliced up the cabbage.

a slice of life 人生の一断面　暮らしの一断面

This book portrays a slice of real life in modern Japan.

この本は現代日本の現実の生活の一断面を描写している

Deli(=delicatessen): Here's another abbreviation that has become the norm.  I almost never hear the longer original word ah, "delicatessen." That sounds, ah, very old-fashioned now. So, a deli sells cooked or prepared foods, you know, ready for eating. Supermarkets have deli sections. I used to love going to the deli section when I was a kid, get a salad, you know, picking all the ingredients was lots of fun.

That's all for today.

Hope you had fun. Bye.

2020年11月6日 Friday

Hey, everyone. This is Roza Akino. Ready for another exciting review?

The question is, Roza, are you ready?

I’m always ready. Well, Chris McVay here. That means we’re all ready. Let’s do it!

Lesson 145　　Review

Listening challenge

Okay, guys. Here’s the question.

Q: Where will the man to with the woman?

A  To an oyster bar.

B  To his office.

C  To his home town.

Here we go.

Okay. Here’s the question.

Q: What did the woman decide about going to the concert?

A  She will go.

B  She won’t go.

C  She’s not sure.

Listen up.

Q: Which of the following is true?

A  The woman had been looking for a new apartment.

B  The man found the woman a new apartment.

C  The man will help the woman to move.

Listen carefully.

Q: Who will hold the rakugo event?

A  The man’s friends.

B  The man’s students.

C  A professional comedian the man knows.

Here we go.

Say it in English

Friend: What happened?

I left my parasol in my car. I’ll be right back.

I’ll be back. TERMINATOR

Could you watch my bag, please?

とられないように見張っておいてね　watch　じーっと見る　監視する

Colleague: Hi, good morning.

Hi. By the way, I’m going on a business trip to Nagoya next week. I’m going to buy some delicious miso for my wife, who is a vegetarian.

You’re from there, right? Can you recommend any good miso ships?

Chris?

Hmm. Hm.

Are you a vegetarian?

Well, I’m a flexitarian.

So, I told I’m a vegetarian. But when I eat out, I eat anything. So flexible. Flexitarian. So a new word.

How about you, Roza?

Hmm. I’ll eat anything except for shellfish.

Is that because you’re selfish?

Hmmm.

It’s becoming colder in here. 空気が重たくなってきてます

Bye.

http://www.nhk.or.jp/gogaku/english/business2/index.html

Business Communication in Action  実践ビジネス英語

Hello everybody.   こんにちは。みなさん。

Hello and welcome to the show.

This is Heather Howard.

Let's take a look at conversation at work.

Solo Living (2)

Salmans says the singles market is growing all over the world.

And he and Ueda talk about how many people are living alone in the U.S. and Japan.

Salmans says A&A is focusing a lot of marketing on the growing number of single-person households.

And Grace describes products being tailored to single-customers.

Pandemic: A pandemic of a certain disease occurs over a wide geographic area and affects a very high proportion of the population. It spreads further and affects more people than an epidemic. In regular times, we often use epidemic to mean the rapid spread or growth of something bad, like, there’s been an epidemic of mistakes in our work lately. But nowadays we would probably avoid this usage.

Drastically:

Household: Salmans says, "That represents roughly 28% of the country's households." A household is the social unit of people who live together in one dwelling. And we also have the expression "head of the household." And this is the person designated on tax forms and other documents as the leader of the family, the head of the household. 世帯主

Comprise: To be made up of, like, "Our department comprises three different sections." Or, Japan comprises 47 prefectures. Now, sometimes you'll see sentences like, many households are comprised of three or four people. And language purists may say this is wrong that it should be many households are composed of three or four people. But according to my dictionary, ah, "comprised of" has been around since the late 18c.

Forward-looking: Salmans says, "Forward-looking companies like A&A are staying on top of this trend." They're looking forward, in other words. They're thinking about the future, they're planning for the future. Such as, forward-looking companies are planning to keep remote work in place. Or, forward-looking educators are using digital technology more.

Burgeoning:

Single-person household:

Emphasis on: Focus on, giving the most attention or priority to this. At Company X, for example, our emphasis is on innovation and creativity. Or, your presentation should put more emphasis on potential profits.

Place emphasis on / put emphasis on …

Family-focused: Attention, priority content is concentrated on the family. The government has complied a family-focused relief plan, for example. Or, this streaming service has a number of family-focused programs. And we use hyphen-focused after a lot of other things too. Work-focused, self-focused, profit-focused, and so on.

Product development and marketing:

Appliance:

Single-serving: In this case, "serving" means "a portion, a helping of a certain type of food." So, "single-serving" refers to a portion appropriate for one person. 

1人の人が1回に食べる分量　レストランの料理　一人前　食器によそってある一盛り

Option:

Stick with: Continue to do or use something, not change it. I might tell my daughter, "I know this lesson is hard. But stick with it. Don't give up!" Or, I'm going to stick with this tax accountant. She's expensive. But she's done a really good job for me.

Stick with 方針などを守り続ける

Stick with one job 1つの仕事を続ける　辞めない

Template: A "template" is a guide or pattern for something. Salmans is speaking metaphorically, you know, the social vision of a typical pattern. But it can also be something tangible. Like, you might give a new employee a paper and say, "Here, this is a template for writing your personal profile. Ah, it shows the kind of information you should include and in what order."

Template 一定の形式の文章　

Personal profile　

冠婚葬祭の定型文

That's all for today.

See you next time. Bye.

2020年11月5日 Thursday

This is Roza Akino.

Oh! Chris McVay here. Sorry I’m late again. But I had to take a phone call. Let’s get started.

Lesson 144   My old friends from college are planning to hold a rakugo event soon.

Actually, it’s more like “sit-down” comedy. The comedians sit on cushions as they perform.

*actually 相手の予想外の内容を持ち出す時に使われる　前置きの言葉

Sounds interesting. Can I come? 落語の場所を頭に置いてそこに近づくので　Can I come?

Well, guys. I can assure you that it won’t be hard to understand the humor in our textbook except for Ohnishi sensei’s parts.

Grammar and vocabulary

It’s a form of comedy performed in front of an audience.

It might be hard to understand the humor, though.

*might  mayの控えめversion

*may ～かもしれない　50%程度の可能性

*might                30%程度

*though  ～ですがね　と添えるこうした使い方もできる

Absorb the flow

My old friends from college are planning to hold a rakugo event soon.

大学時代からの古い友人が近いうちに落語の公演をしようと計画しているのです

I’m scheduled to make a speech in English next Friday. Can you help me?

来週金曜日、英語でスピーチすることになっています。手伝ってくれますか？

So, “be scheduled” and “to” is a good combination, isn’t it?

“be scheduled” と “to” はいいコンビですね