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.

 

 

Becoming a Cybrarian (3)

 

McMillan says his local library isnt using a traditional card catalog any more.

And Ueda mentions a type of modern technology being used by a number of U.S. libraries.

Collins says libraries are changing to meet the needs of todays users.

And McMillan describes how many different people gather at his neighborhood library.

 

 

Home-improvement project: This is pretty straightforward. Ah, a project to improve one's home in some way. Ah, things like, putting new tile on the kitchen floor or attaching a patio to one side of the house.

 

Home-improvement store / center  DIY

 

Be amazed: Ueda says, "I was amazed when I learned that more than 100 libraries in the U.S. are using 3D printers." He was astonished, shocked, surprised. And we can be amazed in a good way of course or a bad way. Ah, things like, I'm amazed that she finished on time. It was such a tight deadline. Well done! Or, I'm amazed that she would lie like that. What was she thinking?

 

Familiarize someone with: Make someone familiar with something, give them knowledge about it. You could say things like, I spent an hour familiarizing myself with my new smartphone. Or, we should familiarize ourselves with a company before going to a job interview.

 

Cutting-edge technology: The very latest technology, the forefront of technology. Think of being on the sharp side of a blade, you know, the side that cuts through things that moves ahead. We also say something is on the cutting edge. Ah, in that case, there's no hyphen between "cutting" and "edge." You could say, Company X is on the cutting edge of self-driving technology. Or, that scientist is on the cutting edge of Alzheimer's research.

 

Leading-edge technology  高度技術 最先端技術

 

Redefine: Change the meaning, change the nature of something. Self-driving cars may redefine the concept of automobiles someday. Or, I remember when overnight delivery services redefine the shipping industry.

 

Keep up with the times: Stay up to date in terms of current behavior and attitudes, not fall behind. We also say, "get with the times." And this has an even stronger sense of don't be old-fashioned. You know, adjust to modern mores. Things like, he doesn't like women wearing pants in the office. Oh, come on! Get with the times!

 

Job search:

 

Genealogical research: McMillan says, "The librarian in my neighborhood will even help you conduct genealogical research." Research into family connections: who's related to who in family lines. On a previous show, we talked about companies that do genealogical research for you and even prepare genealogy tours for the customers.

 

Genealogy tourism 自分のroots 家系を辿る旅

 

Provide a haven for:

 

Stay away from the classroom: We also say, "stay away from certain people." Like, I might say, "Oh, hey, hey, please. Vivian is in a really bad mood today. Better stay away from her."

 

Be bullied:

 

Have no place to go:

 

Sympathetic ear: We often say, "lend a sympathetic ear." Listen to someone sympathetically. Let them talk about something. He always lends a sympathetic ear to my career concerns, for example. Or, thanks so much for being a sympathetic ear when I talked about my job hunting problems.

 

Embark on 何かを始める 困難な仕事を始める embark upon 危険な事業に乗り出す

船や飛行機に乗船する、搭乗する embarkation noun

McMillan says, "I went to my local library to do some research before embarking on a home-improvement project." When we embark on something, we start it. You know, we begin a project. Like, I've embarked on a new exercise program. Or, she's embarked on a study of French. The image is of starting off on some journey. And "embark" can also mean to board a plane, a ship, some vessel. And "disembark" means getting off that vessel. Travel documents sometimes ask for a point of embarkation and point of disembarkation to use the nouns.

 

 

That's all for today.

See you next time. Bye.