A Frenchwoman has successfully sued her ex-husband for failing to have enough sex with her during their marriage, the woman’s husband has been ordered to pay her £8,500 in damages. This unusual decision came about after the woman filed for divorce two years ago; she blamed the breakup of the relationship on her husband’s’ lack of activity in the bedroom.’
According to the husband he had suffered from “tiredness and health problems†which had prevented him from being as attentive between the sheets as his wife wanted. However, the judge ruled that the law implies that “sexual relations must form part of a marriage as it constitutes the expression of affection they have for each other and in this case, it was absentâ€.
Two drunken men amusingly broke into a police van to fool around. They took pictures of each other pretending to get arrested however, the plan was slightly flawed after they got locked inside the van and did not know how to get out. Police arrived at the van in the early hours of the morning and arrested the “dumb and dumber†criminals.
From the outside it all looks real, the signs look real, the products inside look real, even the staff who work there (think) they are real Apple employees, working for Steve Jobs. However the Apple store in Kunming in the south-west of China is in actual fact a knock off of a real Apple Store. .
After further investigation and crack down by Chinese authorities, a total of 22 fake Apple stores have turned up. Some of these stores even sell real Apple products although it is unclear how they are procured.
-Learn expressions such as idioms and slang that is unique to culture, age, and business!
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–Hiroshi and Carl are preparing for a presentation that they have to give to clients. Carl is trying to calm Hiroshi as he is very nervous being this is his first presentation in English–
Hiroshi:
I have "butterflies in my stomache" Carl! I hope I can get through this "in one piece."
Carl:
You will be fine Hiroshi, just relax. We have been "prepping" for this for weeks. Should you get stuck on anything, rest assured that I will "have your back."
Hiroshi:
Thanks! By the way, how should I "break the ice" before starting the presentation? Do you think it is a good idea to begin with a joke?
Carl:
In most cases, I would recommend starting with an "ice breaker". However, it may not be wise to do that for the crowd we are about to address .
Hiroshi:
Oh, why not?
Carl:
I heard Mr. Stephenson, the Chairman and CEO, will be attending and from what I heard through "the grapevine", he is not too keen on jokes.
Hiroshi:
I see. So it is strickly business then?
Carl:
From the looks of things, I think we should just dive in to our presentation and just stick to the points.
–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.
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What are the biggest mistakes most students make?
Read some of the sentences below and try to understand in which situations they are used correctly or incorrectly.
Ex:
Every morning I’m going for a walk.
Every morning I go for a walk.
Note: When you want to say that you do something that is usual or habitual (routine), you should use simple tense rather than continuous.
Ex:
I’m understanding the lesson now.
I understand the lesson now.
Note: When you use the word "understand" to express that you comrehend something "now" or at a "moment", use the simple tense and not the continuous tense form.
Ex:
I’m at this school two years.
I’ve been at this school two years.
Note: When you are expressing a period of time that you did or have done something that starts in the past and continues to the present moment, you should use the "have/has + be (form) "
Ex:
I have seen a good film yesterday.
I saw a good film yesterday.
Note: In the above sentence, we want to say what you "did" yesterday and does not continue to today. Therefore, you should use the simple past tense.
Ex:â‘¡
I forget to bring my notebook and pencil to today’s lesson.
I forgot to bring my notebook and penci to today’s lesson
Note: In almost 99% of the situations when you want to say that you "forget" something, you use the past form. You only use the "forget" simple form when you are talking about the future.
Ex:â‘¢
I’ll see you when you will come back.
I’ll see you when you come back.
Note: When you use the word "After", "Before", or "When" with a moment / activity that you will do something such as "After I get back home" or "After getting back home", we do not use "will" or "would"..
TOEIC STUDY – èªè§£å•é¡ŒPart 5 &　リスニングå•é¡Œ(Part 2)
Common questions that annoy or irk foreigners living in Japan – by Julie
What is the "correct" way when talking to foreigners? I bet you have never thought about that have you? Don’t worry, I will try to give you a run down on what many foreigners have told me of what makes them feel "uncomfortable" 🙂
In my experiences living in Japan, I realized that we "Gaijins" or "Gaikokujins" as most youI’d like to provide some advise to our Japanese readers as how to better address Westerners so as not to shock them. I understand that not all Westerners feel the way I feel about these issues, but I also know that a considerable number of people do.
1. Questions about food
Do not ask someone "can you eat (something)", but "do you like (something)". We can only say that somebody cannot eat something when they are allergic to it, cannot eat it for religious or ideologic reasons or because they dislike it so much that it makes them throw up. It doesn’t matter in what language you ask this question (even in Japanese), it is not a matter of cultural difference about the meaning of "can" (dekiru, taberareru…), but just a matter of accuracy of vocabulary. So please say "what kind of food don’t you like ?" and not "What kind of food can/can’t you eat ?". If someone ask me if I can eat something, my answer will be "yes", even if I don’t like it, as I have no allergies or religious restrictions.
There is also food which I can it, like, but don’t want to eat, because they may be unhealthy or I may be afraid to eat (e.g. beef because of BSE).
2. Questions regarding general abilities
Just don’t ask a foreigner if they can use chopsticks, sleep on a futon, sit in seiza, or whatever.
If they have been in Japan for some time, your asking will be offensive because you are supposing that they cannot do it just because they are foreigners. This sounds racist and is bound to anger many people you ask (not all though).
If they have just arrived in Japan, are visitors, or if you ask the questions while abroad to people who have never been to Japan, it will sound like you are proud of being able to do these things while they probably can’t because they are not used to them. If people are not offended, they will think you are vain. So just don’t ask.
If you really need to know for example if a short-term visitor can sit in seiza and use chopsticks because you want to take them to a restaurant where they have to sit on a tatami then ask it more tactfully like :
– "I hope you don’t mind if we go to a restaurant where we have to sit on a tatami".
– "This restaurant doesn’t have chairs; is it a problem for you ?"
– etc.
In my experience, Japanese people tend to be abrupt when asking such questions to foreigners, even when asking in Japanese. It’s usually like "Can you sit in seiza ?" with a tone of voice expecting a negative answer. It’s for the least surprising for a culture said to be so indirect, polite and careful of other people’s feelings. Or maybe is it a special treatment for foreigners, who cannot possibly need to be asked tactfully (as they don’t feel the same way as the Japanese) ?
3. Addressing a Westerner in a public place
There are a few rules that should be followed here if you don’t want to appear impolite, abrupt, shameless or just weird.
a) Don’t assume that all Westerners are native speakers of English
b) Don’t assume that foreigners can’t speak Japanese
c) Don’t talk to a foreigners in a public place just to practice your English, especially if there is no eye-contact before that invite you to do so (e.g.don’t do it if they are reading a book, resting, thinking, talking to someone else, walking, etc.). It happened several times to me (and many other Westerners in Japan) to be suddenly approached by some people in the street who apparently just want to speak English (e.g. asking where I am from, etc.). This happened when I was riding my bicycle (waiting at the traffic light), when I was reading in a cafe, walking to work, and even when I was shopping with my wife. This is just rude and should be avoided. Acceptable situations would be at a party, or when your are both sitting in a cafe and make some eye to show that you are interested in communicating.
d) Don’t answer with gestures or think 2min about an answer in English if a Westerner ask you something (e.g. if you work in a shop) in Japanese. Just answer in Japanese. The reasons are that 1) they may not speak English (over half of all Westerners are not native English-speakers), and 2) it can be very annoying to be answered in incomprehensible English or by gestures when one is trying to communicate in the local language. They may also think that you just don’t want to talk to them because they are foreigners, as no Japanese would reply like this to another Japanese. So only reply in English if you are confident enough and are sure that the person asking speaks English (e.g. if they have a strong English accent in Japanese or you heard them speak English to someone else). to be continued…
