prepositions; what is the difference?

Filed Under prepositions | Leave a Comment

Which preposition do I use? Let’s look at the sentence “I complained [preposition] him.”

The preposition tells us a lot about the sentence above. For example,
“I complained to him.” means you told that person something you did not like.
“I complained about him.” means you told someone else that you did not like him.
“I complained for him.” means you told someone else about something he did not like.

Popularity: 7%

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Aug

22

back to means return

Filed Under Grammar (文法) | Leave a Comment

I often hear my Japanese students say “When we back Japan.” I am not sure why this common mistake is often repeated, but let’s stop it now. The correct use of “back” in this sentence is “back to”, so the correct way to say this is

When we went back to Japan.

It is even better to use the word return as in

When we returned to Japan.

Popularity: 5%

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Aug

21

The Proposal

Filed Under Business (ビジネス) | Leave a Comment

If you make a proposal to someone from another country who is not familiar with the way your country conducts business, you need to be prepared to address the following types of questions:
Why do we need that?
Culture and Customs - The culture of a country or the business customs conducted there can impact the price of an offering. The reason that a cost for an activity in one country could be more than in another country is that certain customs are observed in the other country. For example, it might be customary that staff recieve their breakfast, lunch and dinner paid for by the company using them. Whereas in the other country, the staff are responsible for paying for their own meals.

What is this for?
Be prepared to explain the reason something has been added to complete a task. For example, Japan is an earthquake prone country, so you might add the cost of insurance to a particular task, which normally not included in a proposal that your customer receives in their country because their country does not have earthquakes.

Why do you need this person?
If you are proposing to use a celebrity from your country, your customer most likely will not know the celebrity nor will they understand the value the celebrity brings. So you must be prepared, especially with Westerners, to show data that supports your suggestion. For example, how many popular television programs or movies has the celebrity appeared in. What other foreign countries is the celebrity known in. If the celebrity has appeared in anything in your customer’s country, be prepared to show that. Fo example, “He had a minor appearance in Hollywoods hit movie blah-blah-blah.”

How something is done
Sometimes the way something is done in one country is different than how it is done in another country. For example, trains are often used in and around Tokyo because cars are expensive and traffic will most likely make the trip longer. So this could effect the timing and/or the expense described in your proposal. Another example is how something is prepared for like setting up a stage which could be due to union rules. Whatever the reason, be prepared to explain it.

Popularity: 6%

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Aug

4

annoy vs. worry

Filed Under vocabulary, 1 word difference | Leave a Comment

What is the difference between annoy and worry? Well, looking at the Japanese English dictionary indicates that both mean the same thing, because if you look up 悩ませる（なやませる nayamaseru） it shows both the words annoy and worry.

But annoy really means to make something else uncomfortable where worry is more a feeling that you will lose something.

Popularity: 21%

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Jun

21

toast

Filed Under vocabulary, slang, 1 word difference | Leave a Comment

The word toast can mean something different depending on how you use it. It can mean

grilled bread as in “I would like eggs and toast with butter.”
something said before drinking alchohol as in “Let’s make a toast to everyone’s health.”
having something bad happen or lose something as in “I was toast in that race. The other guy was just much faster than me.”

Popularity: 44%

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