Here is another picture from my trip to Nagano. It reads

Please put your shoes on at the external exit.

Since the sign is by the exit, it would better to write this as
Please put your shoes on outside the exit.

Popularity: 48%

The article “Ten Tips for New Small Businesses” was chosen by one of my students and I was asked to explain the expression Start on a shoestring. The word shoestring does not mean the laces used to tie one’s shoes, but in this case it means frugal or thrifty. In business, the idiom a shoestring budget describes a situation in which very little money is available for an activity.

Popularity: 35%

My vacation last week was the topic of most of my lessons this week. Japanese have a tendency to just listen to the speaker and do not ask many questions. So I always have to review the 5W1H (the who, hwat, where, when, which and how) type of questions which are normal to ask a speaker about something. So here are some sample questions:

Who did you go there with?
I went by myself.
What did you buy during your trip?
I bought no souvenirs, only the food that I ate for my meals.
What would you have bought if you had a lot of money?
I would have bought Matsuzaka beef.
Would you have gone to Wadakin if you knew about the restaurant?
Maybe. But Wadakin is very expensive. I would blow one months lesson fee just to eat one meal at Wadakin.
Would you like to go there if you have time and money?
Yea, sure.
Who would you go there with?
Of course, my girlfriend.
What is the difference between Nikko’s and Ise’s shrines?
Nikko’s is in the mountains and seems very congested, where as Ise’s is spread out and appears to be very spacious.
If you take a trip, which do you like? Driving a car or riding a motorcycle?
If the weather is nice, I like riding a motorcycle.
How was the weather during your trip?
The weather was very nice every day. It did not rain even once.
How hot was it there? (note: a little explanation on why you need it and there in the same sentence; it refers to the time and there refers to the place.)
I do not remember the temperature, but I wore a t-shirt the whole time.

Popularity: 48%

The phrase “come up with” means to create. You can also use the past and present tense (i.e. came and coming). Here are some examples:
How did you come up with that idea?! means Where did you think of that idea?!
I came up with the figures that will surely make our presentation successful.
After coming up with various scenarious for our business plan, I finally chosen this one.

Popularity: 31%

While showing a student a picture I took of a boat, he asked me what do you call the wave the boat makes. I replied wake, and he mistook that for wake as in “wake up”. Well it turns out that the word wake not only means to stop sleeping, but it also refers to the wave a boat makes as it moves through the water. Here is an example sentence:
The boat created a big wake which capsized the smaller boat it passed.

Popularity: 35%