2011年6月号-　June Newsletter

| 月間ニュースレター |
 
 
 







＜新・ニュースレターの購読登録のお願い＞
 
月刊ニュースレターの購読登録の手続きをお願いいたします。

今回の震災と計画停電より一部地域で不具合が生じている為、エイゴパスでは特別措置としてメンバーログイン・パスワードなしで当面ご利用いただけるようロック解除しております。
全メンバー様の復旧が完了次第、ロックがかかりますので下記の購読登録の手続きはお早めにお願いします。

 
メンバー様の「氏名」と「メールアドレス」を入力し、購読登録のボタンをクリック
 
氏名:  
 
Eメールアドレス:  
※メールアドレスはパソコンまたはウェブの閲覧可能な携帯アドレスのみ対応可
 
 
 
 
TOPICS：今月のお題
英語ニュース Current Internet NEWS!!　＜新着ネットニュース＞
英語のビデオ Video News (Domestic and World Events／国内＆世界の動画ニュース)
American Idioms & Slang＜アメリカのイディオム＆スラング表現＞
Grammar Study＜今月の文法学習＞
TOEICクイズ TOEIC Study Quiz＜ＴＯＥＩＣテスト＞
Monthly Column – A Foreigner’s Life＜今月のコラム：外国人の生活＞
英語ポイント Made in "America"　メイドイン　アメリカ
–You can read the article below and use it in your lessons to discuss with your teacher.
この記事を読んで先生とレッスンで話し合おう！
 
When Liu Li boarded a plane for the United States, she had a little bit of makeup on, was wearing a loose dress, and had her hair up. She tried to hold her handbag in front of her belly in a natural way, just as the middleman had taught her. She was trying to look as calm as any wealthy Chinese lady would look when travelling abroad. But Liu Li couldn’t help feeling terribly nervous: she was six months pregnant when she left for the United States, where she wanted to give birth to an American citizen.

 

Liu Li knew that going through customs would be a lot easier than obtaining a U.S. visa. In order to obtain the tourist visa that enabled her to go to America for the delivery, she had to carefully choose her clothes, and spend a lot of time practicing her walking and interview techniques. She memorized a host of details about her hotel booking and about famous sight-seeing spots so as to convince the Embassy officer that she was just another Chinese woman going shopping in the States.　

【日本語訳】:リウ・リーが、アメリカ行きの飛行機に乗り込んだ際に、彼女は薄化粧で、ラフな服を着ていて、髪は束ねていた。彼女は旅行かばんを自然に彼女のお腹の前に持っていた。仲人が彼女に教えたように。彼女は普通の中国婦人に見えるように落ち着こうとしていたが、彼女はとても緊張していた：彼女が子供をアメリカ国民として産みたかった場所へ発ったときは、既に妊娠6ヶ月だったのだ。

リウ・リーは税関を通る方がアメリカのビザを取得するより簡単だと知っていたのだ。アメリカでの出産を可能にした観光ビザを取得する為には、彼女は注意深く服装や、歩き方、そして面接のテクニックまで長い時間をかけて練習しなければならなかった。彼女は大使館職員に彼女はただの買い物好きの観光客と思わせるため、大体のホテル予約や、有名な観光スポット情報などの内容を暗記した。
Q. Why would Liu Li want to have her child in the U.S.?　

According to the 14th Amendment to the U.S. constitution (ratified in 1868), anyone born in United States automatically becomes an American citizen and obtains access to public education, university loans, voting, and so on…

"Giving birth to a child in the States is a wonderful dream for her. Giving her child the opportunity to possess American citizenship will allow him/her to live in the U.S. The chance of a better life, access to schools, and the ability to more easily find a job for her child may be reasons that led Lui Li to take this path. "

【日本語訳】: なぜリウ・リーはアメリカで子供を産みたいのか？

第14項アメリカ憲法改正案(1868年に承認された)によると、アメリカで生まれた者は誰でもアメリカ国民となり、公共の教育、大学ローン、選挙権等の権利が得られる。

"子供をアメリカで出産することは、彼女にとってすばらしい夢です。子供にアメリカの国民権を持たせる機会を与えると、その親もアメリカに住むことが出来ます。それは良い人生、スクールへのアクセス、そして子供にとって将来仕事を見つけやすくなるいった事が、ルイ・リーさんがこの道を選んだ理由かもしれません。"
to board
飛行機に乗る、機中の人となる
英語ポイント belly 腹、腹部｛ふくぶ｝、胃
英語ポイント middleman 1.仲介者｛ちゅうかい しゃ｝、中間商人｛ちゅうかん しょうにん｝、ミドルマン、仲介役｛ちゅうかい やく｝、仲買人｛なかがいにん｝
英語ポイント American citizen 米国市民
英語ポイント In order to ～するために
英語ポイント enable ～を可能｛かのう｝にする、～に可能性｛かのうせい｝を与える、
英語ポイント embassy 大使館｛たいしかん｝
英語ポイント U.S. Consitution アメリカ合衆国憲法｛がっしゅうこく けんぽう｝の
英語ポイント Ratified 〔条約・法案などを〕承認｛しょうにん｝する、批准｛ひじゅん｝する、裁可｛さいか｝する
 
 
英語ポイント English through videos with transcripts　リスニング力を試そう！
 

 
 
 
Idioms & Expression
–
Business English Expression and Phrases　＜ビジネス英会話フレーズ＞
-Learn expressions such as idioms and slang that is unique to culture, age, and business!
新しい英語表現：　文化・時代・ビジネスで使う特有なイディオム表現や俗語を覚えよう！
–Carl and Hiroshi are having a meeting at their headquarters in Tokyo to resolve two key situaitons–
Carl: Thank you for meeting me on such short notice. I hope we can "clear the air" regarding the X1 production delays and the sales numbers for the X2 .
Hiroshi: It is no problem at all! We can use this meeting to "kill two birds with one stone".
Carl: Listen, honestly, telling our clients in the U.S. that their shipment of the X1 will not reach them on time won’t sit well with them. What do you suggest we do?
Hiroshi: I may have an out to that problem. There are 1000 units of the X1 sitting in inventory that was reserved for another customer, but they cancelled their order. Would that be enough to make up for the shortfall to our U.S. client?　
Carl:

That is the best idea you have ever come up with Hiroshi! That’s perfect!

Now what about the other issue at hand? Any ideas how we can increase sales volume for the X2?

Hiroshi:

Don’t look at me! I am just the inventory guy!　
 
上記の会話の日本語訳はこちらをクリック’（印刷可）: JAPANESE VERSION
"to clear the air" to speak openly:
"to kill two birds with one stone" accomplish two things at the same time
-won’t sit well with will be unsatisfactory
"to have an out" to have another option
-to make up for to cover or be adequate for
-shortfall shortage
-"at hand" at the moment
-don’t look at me to express that one is not responsible for
"At first vs First" 今回はAt FirstとFirstの使い方を解説します。
 
 
English Grammar Study

–This section will cover a broad range of different grammar rules and explanations to help you understand sentence structure and improve awareness of English grammar.
このコーナーでは文法の規則や英文の構成についてわかりやすく学べるように解説しています。
What is the difference between "think of" vs "think about" vs "think over"
Read some of the sentences below and try to understand in which situations they are used correctly or incorrectly.
Think About :
 
Ex:â‘ 
I’ve thought about your offer and have decided to take it.
I’ve thought of your offer and have decided to take it.
Ex:â‘¡
英会話ポイント
"Could you lend me 50,000yen?" – Let me think about it.
英語ポイント
"Could you lend me 50,000yen?" – Let me think of it.
Ex:â‘¢
英会話ポイント
You look so serious! What are you thinking about?
英語ポイント
You look so serious! What are you thinking of?
　
Think of:
 
Ex:â‘ 
He told me his name before but I can’t think of it right now
He told me his name before but I can’t think about it right now
Ex:â‘¡
英会話ポイント
That is a great idea! Why didn’t I think of it?
英語ポイント
That is a great idea! Why didn’t I think about it?
Ex:â‘¢
英会話ポイント
I can’t think of any reason why she is angry at me!
英語ポイント
I can’t think about any reason why she is angry at me!
 
Think over: "to consider or think about again"
 
Ex:â‘ 
I am at a lost as to what I will do about my job. I need to think it over.
I am at a lost as to what I will do about my job. I need to think of it.
Note: Think about is ok. However, THINK "something "over means "think about again"
Ex:â‘¡
英会話ポイント
Have you made a decison yet or do you need more time to think it over?
英語ポイント
Have you made a decison yet or do you need more time to think of it?
Note: Think about is ok also as well.
 

Let’s learn how to use the above words!　＜練習問題＞
Read each sentence and think which (think of / think about/ both) would be appropriate.
 
What did you think ________ the movie?
I wanted to call my teacher to let him know I would be late but I could not ___________ his number at that time.
I don’t ___________ much __________ this restaurant. The food is terrible!
When I was offered the position, I didn’t take it right away. I needed to take some time to __________ it.
We’re ________________ going out for dinner tonight.
英語のクイズ I take a long time to make decisions because I like to ____________ things very carefully.
英語のクイズ I don’t know what to get my father for his birthday. Can you _____________ something he may like?
 
Answers to above sentences:
Check back next month for the answers to the above questions. （回答は次月号で掲載します）
Last Month’s Answers: 1. show up 2. turned him down 3. wake up 4. takes off 5. closed it down 6. cleared up 7. broke down 8. drove off 9. doze off
 
 
 
TOEICクイズ TOEIC STUDY – 読解問題Part 5 &　リスニング問題(Part 2)
–-TOEIC対策（読解＆リスニング問題編）Eメールとﾕｰｻﾞﾈｰﾑの入力でテストの結果がメールで受け取れます。
[kml_flashembed publishmethod=”static” fversion=”8.0.0″ movie=”https://www.members.eigopass.com/flashquiz/toeicsentence/Quiz 5/quiz.swf” width=”620″ height=”480″ targetclass=”flashmovie”] [/kml_flashembed]
[kml_flashembed publishmethod=”static” fversion=”8.0.0″ movie=”https://www.members.eigopass.com/flashquiz/toeiclistening/Quiz5/quiz.swf” width=”620″ height=”480″ targetclass=”flashmovie”] [/kml_flashembed]
連載コラム：A Foreigner’s View　（日本で生活する外国人）
NEW! – My "Personal" view on Japan – By "John" (2of 2)
 

TOPIC 1: Why is the birthrate so low in Japan?

Hi everyone and hope you are enjoying the beautiful rain we are having. I planned a barbeque at the park just last week without checking the weather forecast beforehand. I guess I can say it is just my luck that the rain made my picnic an event to remember!

Enough about me, hope everyone is having a great month. At least we can say that the cold winter is behind us.. 🙂 I never thought I would ever say goodbye to winter in JUNE! Weather has been extremely erratic this year.

Now that I have complained enough about the weather, let me dig right in and restart the topic that was at hand last month. Why is the birthrate so low in Japan?

I know I mentioned how some causes may have been attributed to the rising costs of raising children and lack of support and services for families such as day care faciliities to accomdate working parents.

I would like to dig deeper. Rather than talk about what the government has been doing to increase or promote more children, I want to touch on why married people in Japan have less "quality time" with one another.

I know it may be taboo to talk about this in Japanese society, but when I googled "japanese marriage couples", I learn how this topic is the most talked about "untalked about" topic.

Is it because men are too tired or overworked? Are women not interested anymore? What is causing this "decreased" interest in intimacy among married couples? Could it be the uncertainty of the economy and the stability of jobs that is causing a situation of stress to build among couples?

More interestingly, it seems that this trend is moving over to single men as well. Some of my students have mentioned how younger men in Japan are less interested in pursuing relationships and prioritize more on enjoying their life. Have the "hunters" become less interested in pursuing the "prey" for lack of a better word?

My female students jokingly refer to these new breed of men as "grass eaters". Rather than brushing that statement aside, I seriously want to understand why it is that our society is no longer interested or at least it seems in growing our population.

Is marriage in itself not attractive anymore or the responsibilties of marriage that has resulted in a climate where our population growth is as stagnant as our economy?

Please comment below with your opinions.

 
 
 

 

Here are other posts you may like! :)

  1. June Newsletter – Business English (日本語・英語)
  2. 2011年5月号-May Newsletter
  3. 2011å¹´4月号 – April’s Study Newsletter
  4. Q. Is it permissible for Japanese to use Japanese among themselves?
  5. May Newsletter Student News Transcript
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