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Easter eggs

4/25/2017

Last weekend was Easter.

It isn't a well-known festival in Japan...yet. However this year I saw more use of the word "Easter", and images of rabbits and eggs in advertising on TV and in shops.

Easter, for Christians, is an important festival. It remembers the time when Jesus Christ was killed on the cross by Romans, and then after 3 days rose to heaven. Christians go to church at Easter and it is time of rebirth of belief etc

For non-Christians? The rest of us...it is a spring holiday where kids decorate chicken eggs, people have egg hunts and competitions to make cute Easter hats.
The Easter Bunny, a rabbit. is a character and many people give eachother egg-shaped chocolates.
Eggs - rabbits....spring and birth images....linking to the Christian festival.

There are no Easter Eggs in Japanese shops...I was sad. But after I said this on Facebook last week 3 friends gave me eggs from America and England.

Here is the one I ate last night: milk chocolate in the shape of an egg, wrapped in foil and packaged in a box. The small bag contains more chocolate eggs.

Delicious! Not good for a diet....

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Stages of "can"

4/17/2017

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What can you do?

This week my "cans" increased with my knee.

I can walk downstairs now!
I can ride a bike!
I can stand and write on the whiteboard in class!
I can walk outside over 10 meters...

Many "cans"

Language is the same. I often think that there are things I can do in Japanese, and many other things I can't.

In Japanese:
I can do shopping and basic communication in daily life.
I can chat to someone for an hour or so. General topics.
I can understand about 60% or more of TV news.
I can understand about 30% of radio news.

I can't talk to people formally about money/immigration/law/medical topics.
I can't write.
I can't read ...

What can YOU do, in English?

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Katakana Ing gu ri shu

4/12/2017

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Pet Bottle?

Domai?

Fighto?

Shoe curemu?

This morning a TV show sent a reporter out on the streets of Tokyo to try out katakana words on foreigners and see if they understand.
Predictably, there was much confusion and misunderstanding.

Many words that Japanese people use sound like English, and may have a similar meaning - or may be totally NOT English or a very strange pronunciation.

The words above? Do you know the correct English?

Plastic bottle

Don't worry! ("Don't mind" is English, but the meaning is different. e.g. "Do you want coffee or tea?" "Oh? I don't mind, either is ok". It's very casual, only use it with friends or family.)

Good luck!

Cream Puff ( "choux" is the French name for the kind of dough used to make that kind of pastry).

It was a fun program. Even me - after 20 plus years in Japan, I forget that some words are not English and maybe when I go outside Japan I confuse my non-Japanese friends.

But the biggest laugh? The name of the corner on the Tv show this morning?

"HATE NAVI"!!!

In English? Hate - means "strongly dislike"....Navi is maybe a short form of navigation.

But HATE is a strange word to have as the name of a cheerful morning TV show corner :-)

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Easter eggs

Stages of "can"

Katakana Ing gu ri shu

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