英語勉強ノート

やさビジ2/21/2002

【buyout】買収
Buyouts are also known as takeovers or acquisitions.
buyout: a situation in which a person or group gains control of a company by buying all
or most of its shares: a management buyout (= by which the managers of a company gain control
of it)

【downfall】転落、没落
This kind of a downfall is not a literal, physical falling down. You wouldn’t say,” I
had a downfall on the stairs,” for example. This kind of downfall means losing your position
in society or in business in this case. Companies are not able to handle the business
situation any more, and so related to that, Hiromi Araki talks about broken bones of the
downfall. The broken bone would be the damage that many companies go through, when they
don’t have the advice they need.

【dustbin】ごみ箱
Gabby Mann talks about the dustbin. Dustbin is mostly British English. In the US people
would say trashcan or garbage can. But I’m pretty sure both the US and the UK would not
use dust-box, which I see fairly often in Japan.
Of course either the companies are not trash.

【level playing field】公平な活動の場
But Gabby man also goes on to talk about a level plain field, which has been a very common
phrase in the US for last few years. It refers to having a similar chance and equal
opportunity to carry out your business.
A level playing field is a phrase often used to mean fair conditions or equal chances.

【evident】明白
Something that evident is “clear.” It’s emerged, or it’s identifiable.

【niche market】発音注意
You might have noticed Sandy Liu said a [ni'∫] market, but I pronounce a little differently; I usually
say a [ni't∫] market. Both pronunciations are very common for English speakers.

【Amish】
The Amish are a group of people who live mostly in the east in the US. They live separately
from most society in the US; they don’t use electricity, they live a rather simple life.
And so many people find it a healthy life and they'd be happy to buy Amish foods.

【petite】小さい、女性の小柄の

【luck out】
If you lucked out, you were really lucky. You found what you wanted. Sometimes people say,
"lucked into" for the same purpose.

【be nuts about】に夢中である
If you are nuts about something, you really love it. It's your favorite thing. You might
even be called sort of a maniac for that thing.

やさビジ2/21/2002続き

【wouldn't be caught dead】が死ぬほど嫌だ
The phrase "be caught dead 'in' or 'at'" or whatever preposition is appropriate, is often
used in the U.S. for something that is very very hated.

【go sky-high】激増する、急騰する
Something that go sky-high rises rapidly to a very high level.

【can't hack it】持ちこたえられない、耐えられない
If you can't hack it, you can't handle it, you can't manage it successfully or perhaps
you can't tolerate it.

【ride out the storm】あらしを乗り切る、困難を切り抜ける
To ride out the storm means to survive a difficult situation.

92さん、なんかありました？
リハビリ？

>>278 サボり癖がついちゃったみたい。気を取り直してがんばってみる。

やさビジ02/22/2002

Sugita: Now Chris, have you gone for any freebies online?
Chris: A little bit, yeah. The one I liked the best was getting free long-distance phone
calls.
Sugita: Oh that's good.
Chris: Yeah. For, I think, it was probably about six months, I was able to call my parents
and family and friends for free in the U.S. as long as I went thorough the computer.
Sugita: Was it completely free?
Chris: Completely free, yeah. You could download the software, which my husband kindly
did. And we'd already had a headset, you know, with the earphones or headphones and a mike
attached. And we just plug that into the right parts of the computer and use the software
and that was it. Oh, it did shut off every five minutes though.
Sugita: Oh, you had to try again, or what uh...?
Chris: Yeah, I had to dial again. But it was easy enough to redial, because it was still
there that we just get cut off and I just told everybody, you know, just wait ten, fifteen
seconds and I'll call you back. So that worked really nice but it was definitely all
promotional thing which, you know, we understood from the beginning.
Sugita: For limited period.
Chris: Yeah. They didn't announce what the period would be.
Sugita: I see.
Chris: But we figured, you know, few months of free international calls, that's a pretty
good deal.
Sugita: But only to the U.S.?
Chris: Yeah, I tried to call a friend of mine in Germany and I couldn't do that. They wouldn't
place it. But, that was nice. I have, you know, lots of sisters and a brother, my parents
and friends all that in the U.S.
Sugita: Sure.
Chris: I could just call when I felt like it.
Sugita: I see.
Chris: Yeah.
Sugita: Anything else?
Chris: Uh. I usually try not to do too much with freebies, because it is a kind of a balance,
you know, a trade-off.
Sugita: Trade-off.
Chris: Right. So, you know, you get a lot of e-mail or spam and advertisements and things
like that.
Sugita: Junk mail.
Chris: Junk mail, all kinds of stuff that, you know, I don't wanna deal with so much. So
you know, I can pay my way most of the time.
Sugita: But if an encyclopedia is free..
Chris: Oh, yeah. I think that's a great deal. Because they, you know, they need to be updated
now and then and now that they all fit in a CD-ROM, it doesn't cost that much to have them
ship to you.
Sugita: Sure.
Chris: Yeah, I think that's a great deal. You know, some things are worse more than others.
So just collecting free stuff because it's free, I think it's not such a great idea.

やさビジ02/25/2002

【double-time】
Ben Leonard uses the phrase, double-time, to talk about, probably a two-hour lunch. But
double-time has some other meanings. It can mean a quick march, double time, it's marching
about twice as fast as usual. Or it can also mean double pay. The hours you work with the
company pays you twice as much as usual.

【two solid hours】2時間充実した中断もない時間
"Two solid hours" might sound a little odd if you think of it literally. But "solid" doesn't
mean hard and thick. In this case, it means two unbroken hours with no interruption.

【pick up the tab】勘定を持つ
"Pick up the tab" of course means treat everybody to lunch.

【hot stuff】非常にいい専門家、よく知っている人
People use the phrase hot stuff to describe something that's unusually good. Although
sometimes hot means something that was stolen, stolen goods, so you could say "hot stuff"
meaning "those things were stolen."

↑私はDonna Summerを連想してしまいましたが、これって…

【family tree】家系、家系図
A genealogical chart in English is often called a family tree. Because it branches off,
of course, with each new generation.

【he doesn't know it all】
Sometimes a person who acts like "he does know it all" is called a "know-it-all." It's
someone who is proud of what he knows or she knows and shows it off all the time.　

【have trick up one's sleeve】秘訣、わざを密かに持っている
If you have "tricks up your sleeve," you have ingenious ideas or great little ways of doing
things that many people don't know. Having something up your sleeve means it's hidden or
you're keeping it secret until the right moment to use it. And tricks, of course, would
be something like ingenious feats, really well done things.

【dear old Dad】父親
Dear old Dad is a phrase people use sometimes to talk about their fathers very informally
but very fondly.

【scout around】探しまわる
If you scout around for something, you're on the lookout for it or you're searching for
it.

やさビジ2/25続き

【go hand in hand with】〜と同一歩調をとる　関連しておこる
Things that go hand in hand together, go very closely together; they act almost as a unit.

【without benefit of】〜という強みがなくとも
"Without benefit of" is a longish phrase that means without. But it explains a little more
clearly what you're doing without. It's usually some kind of aid or help or support.

【big picture】全体像、総括的な見通し
"Big picture" refers to the overview or bird's-eye view. Or sometimes people say the forest
not the trees.

【tinker with】〜をいじくり回す
If you "tinker with" something, you fiddle with it, you try to adjust it or repair it,
usually in a small detail.

【salvage】救う、救済する、引き揚げる
If you "salvage" something, you rescue or save it, usually from some kind of wreckage or
a ruin.

やさビジ02/26/2002

【weigh】秤にかける、比較検討する、評価する
The verb "weigh" usually means find out how heavy something is. But it's also used fairly
often to mean evaluate or compare, just like the thing you're evaluating or the two things
you're comparing are on scales. So you can see which is heavier.
"Weigh" is a verb that means find out how heavy something is. But it's also used to mean
compare or evaluate.

【gamble】冒険する
A gamble is a try, taking on the risk. It's very similar to a bet.

【do one's homework】下準備をする
Homework of course is usually what kids do at home, schoolwork that they're supposed to
complete at home. But the phrase "do your homework" is often used for anybody when you
wanna give them advice to be sure to prepare.

【continuing education】社会人教育
Continuing education usually refers to education for people who've already finished
school. Sometimes, I think, it's extended also for adults going back to collage or earning
higher degrees later in life.

【I for one】他の人はいざ知らず私としては
The phrase "I for one" is often used to say, "Oh, I'm not quite sure what everyone else's
doing but at least in my case, this is what I'm doing."

【akin to】〜に類似する
Something that's "akin to" something else is related to it or suited to it.


【My wife and I are thinking about trading in our big housed for a smaller, cozy home. 】
I think this is a very common pattern in the U.S. as couples get older and their children
leave the home. A lot of people sell their old large house that have plenty of rooms for
the kids and buy a smaller, easier-to-take-care-of home.

【trade in】下取りに出す

【free up】自由になる
If you free something up, you free it actually. But by adding the "up," it just sounds
more like it's there and loose and ready to be used for some other purpose.

【retire on it】
The phrase retire on it means Barry could stop working and use that money to live on. You
can also say "live on it," live on something, your salary, your savings, your trust fund
if you're lucky.

【potential】潜在的な、可能性のある
"Potential" is an adjective that means something that's in the future and possible.

【prick up one's ears】聞き耳をたてる
If you "prick up your ears," you're paying attention, you've become interested.

【trust fund】信託資金、信託財産
A trust fund is property or money, something a value, valuable assets that are held for
the benefit or interest of another person.

あらら。昨日は９時前に寝てしまった。気を取り直して今日は頑張る（つもり）。

やさビジ2/28/2002

【specter】亡霊、幽霊、不安、恐怖の影
A specter is a ghost. But the word is also used fairly often for something that’s frightening and
difficult to understand, and maybe not as clear as you would like it to be.
A specter can be a ghost. But like a ghost, it can also be　an unwelcome idea or worry
that haunts your mind.

【running a household】家庭を切り盛りする
Running a household means managing a household. So they take care of everything that needs to be
bought, all the thing that need reparing; they handle everything at home.

【opt for】
If you opt for something, you choose it; or you like it. Sometimes people also use the phrases “opt
in, ” or “opt out,” meaning they want to take part in something or they don’t want to be a part of it.

【hubby】
Hubby is a fond way to refer to your husband.

【strip down to the bone】骨までしゃぶる
I think it interesting when Japanese and English use pretty much the same phrases. Strip someone to
the bone means take everything away.

【wives don’t work at home】
I think it’s kind of interesting. Recently if you talk about wives don’t work, you have to say, “Outside
the home,” or a lot of people get angry because it also implies that she doesn’t work period. But managing
a household, especially a large one is pretty hard work.

【by-then-paid-for】
By-then-paid-for, this long phrase used as an adjective, that’s a little bit difficult in English. Usually this
would be made in a relative clause[関係詞節], but sometimes people do it this way without a
hyphen. The kind phrase people use more formally would be something more like, “We’d have to
sell our home which by then will have been paid for and divide the proceeds[売上].

やさビジ2/28/2002続き

【proceeds】売上
"Proceeds" are the result of some action. It's usually the amount of money that's
been brought in.

【prenuptial agreement】結婚前の同意書、契約書
Prenuptial means before, pre-, and nuptial refers to weddings or marriages. Sometimes
people just talk about "the nuptials" meaning the whole process everything that goes
together with getting married.

【contingency plan】緊急時対策　不測事態対応計画
A "contingency plan" is a plan to handle something that may or may not happen. It's
usually
something that you don't want.

【One of the ones who have excellent credentials and can prove it. 】
This sentence is a little confusing for lots of people. Because "have" is the verb.
But is it "one or ones," that's the subject. "One who has excellent credentials" or
"one of the ones who 'have' excellent credentials. We had a long discussion about
this "one," which way should it be. I think this is correct because we are talking
about a person from a group of people who have.

【in place】きちんとして、整った
Something that's in place is set or prepared, it's ready or stationed.

【fast-growing】急成長の、急増する
Something that's fast-growing is rapidly increasing.

やさビジ3/1/2002

Sugita: Now Chris, do you do your financial planning?
Chris: Uh.., if you mean, you, by my husband and I, yeah. He does most of it, but we discuss
it together.
Sugita: So he is the family financial planner.
Chris: Yea. You could say that. He is very careful about it. So it's OK with me. I'm really
glad he is handling it. ‘Cause he is much better at assessing risk and making decisions
like that than I am.
Sugita: So you're prepared for a rainy day?
Chris: I think so. If it's not too long a rainy day. What we're working on now is building
up some money for retirement. We're gonna try to retire early if it's possible.
Sugita: Retiring in the States?
Chris: Probably. Because I think we can live a little more easily on a little less money
than we can here.
Sugita: Sure.
Chris: But if things went really well, I'd love to keep a place here too. You know, just
very small, maybe even, you know, two rooms or something like that. So we can come back
whenever we like easily.
Sugita: Interest rates are better in the States anyway.
Chris: Yea. They, a few months ago, or a year or so ago, they were much better. They are
still a lot better. We've started moving some of our money from interest type earnings
into stock market and things like that, hoping to build up some money a little more quickly
than you can with interest.
Sugita: U.S. stock market or the Japanese stock market?
Chris: We've got everything divided about half and half right now, I think. So you know,
whichever one goes better, we've got money on one or the other. We'd like to try to open
something up in Europe, too. But unless you live there it's difficult, unless you're very
rich. hahaha

【consequences】結果
Consequences refer to results. But usually if something is called "consequences," it's
usually unexpected and not welcomed.

【run the gamut of】のすべてを経験する
To run the gamut means to go through a whole range or series. You start it one end go all
away through to the other end without skipping anything in between.

【make the grade】成功する
Make the grade means measure up to the standard.

良スレsage

やさビジ3/4/2002

【Here..】
Lou Cruise starts off his comments with the word “here.” He’s not really talking about
location; in this case, “here” represents the present state, the way they’d been thinking
up to this moment. And it kind of sets up a contrast with the information that he is
announcing.

【dark clouds】暗雲
In English, lots of time, if you’re talking about something that’s not here yet, but you
can see it beginning to develop. It’s going to arrive in a little while. And it’s something
you don’t welcome. You can call them, “dark clouds,” just like seen a storm beginning to
come up far and distance.

【across-the-board】全般に渡る
Across-the-board is a phrase that means shared or more or less evenly divided.
Everybody is affected by it.

【prune】刈り込む
Prune is a kind of clipping or cutting away. A lot of people prune their bushes so that
they stay in the right kind of shape. Pruning is usually used with plants and gardens.
But sometimes people use it for the careful cutting away of almost anything.

【in view of】を考慮して
In view of is a phrase people often use to mean “in consideration of.” Something are
thinking about their relationship to something else.

【dip】落ちる、減少している
And finally, “dip.” Dip is often used to talk about putting something into a liquid. But it
also means dropping something down quickly or suddenly.

【trimming fat】
Trimming fat is similar to pruning your bushes. Pruning sounds more like cutting out
some of the sticks from within a larger mass. Trimming fat is cutting a fat off (laughter)
outside the edge. But both of them result in a better shape or better maintained thing.
In the eighties they talk about companies the more lean means a means. If you are
lean, you don’t have any extra fat.
agile

【play safe】
If you play something safe, if you play it safe, if you’re being cautious. You’re taking
action before absolutely necessary.

やさビジ3/4/2002続き

【ax falls】首になる
In the US, when people talk about firing people or laying people off, they often talk
about using an ax. The company is chopping out or pruning away, the unnecessary or
extra employees that they have.

【get the chop】
Get the chop is another metaphor relating to the ax, losing your job. People use axes to
chop things. So if you get the chop, the axes are falling. And you’ve lost your job.

【sudden death】
The sudden death is the phrase that often used to describe something that’s pretty
much unforeseen. In sports, it’s used sometimes to settle the game that’s been tied. They
add and extra sudden death overtime period, meaning whichever team scores first is the
winner.

【plunge】
Plunge means dive in or head first without hesitation. It’s dipping is sometimes a kind
of going in or putting in. But it’s sounds much more hesitant.

【beat ..to the punch】機先を制する
If you beat something to the punch, you take action and success before the other person
or the other event has the chance to act.

【hunch over】背を丸める
Hunch over is the position that almost always includes the meaning that you’re trying
to protect yourself or hide from something. It’s having around you back with your head
down and shoulders up.

【looming】のしかかってくる
Something that’s looming is taking shape or it’s impending*, coming soon.

impending* (usu. of something unpleasant) about to happen

【slews of】たくさんの
Slews of means a large number of.

【preemptive】予防の、先制の
Something that’s preemptive has the power to stop something, it happens before.

【gnaw at】を蝕む、を悩ます、を絶えず苦しめる
Something that’s gnaws at something else is biting or chewing on it. It’s wearing it away by continuous nibbling

やさビジ3/5/2002

【breathe a sigh of relief】ほっとして一息つく
Breathe a sigh of relief is a phrase that people use quite a bit to talk about feeling
relieved.

Breathe of course is a verb and the matching noun is breath. You breathe your breath. There
are a couple other words with the same kind of pattern. Cloth and clothe. Bath and bathe.

【pink slip】解雇通知
Also Lee Seymour talks about the pink slips are arriving. In the past in the U.S., most
people got their pay by check in an envelope and if it included also a pink slip, it meant
that you didn't have a job anymore. The pink slip was a notice of your being fired.

【dead silence】まったくの静けさ
Dead silence of course is complete silence. You can turn the phrase around and say the
silence of the dead, but that sounds very dramatic and probably wouldn't be used so much
in regular conversation.

【the ranks】一般社員　一般人
"The ranks" refers to the regular employees, they're not managers. It comes from the
military, I believe, and it meant not the officer class. It's also used in a slightly longer
phrase the rank and file.

【on offer】提示されている
Something that's on offer is available or it's being offered.

【kinder and gentler】前の政権よりもより親切で寛大な
"Kinder and gentler," this phrase became fairly well known, I think in the 80's in politics
in the U.S. We'd had one leader who was kind of a hawk, very strong about pushing U.S.
interests internationally, and the next one said that he wanted a kinder and gentler
country.

【let the ax fly let and right】
This time, Lou Cruise is talking about letting the ax fly. Again, he's talking about laying
people off, firing them. Letting the ax fly means firing people left and right or
indiscriminately.

【sensitivity】思いやり
Kinder and gentler, in another words.

【layoffs】一時解雇
"Layoffs" are technically not firing. Usually the company says we'll bring you back when
we can. But I think, actually it ends up being pretty much the same thing as being fired.
Because people can't wait too long to get a new job and have some more income. Couple other
ways people say layoffs is they have to let some people go or they have to fire people.

【up to the last minute】ぎりぎりまで、土壇場まで
This is a phrase that means just until the very end.

【bow out】身を引く
Bow out means leave or avoid or give up the space to another person.

【left and right】あちこちで、至るところで
This phrase often means actually left and right. But you can also use it just to mean all
over or unspecifically.

【dish out】を惜しみなく提供する、払う
Dish out means give or disperse freely, could be gifts or advice or even punishment.

やさビジ3/7/2002

【recall laid-off employees】
Here, too, Gabby Mann continues talking about people being laid off and recalled.
Actually it tends to be fired and perhaps rehired.

【more than fairly】十二分に
More than fairly is very similar to saying generously.

【come under fire】非難にさらされる
In the military, if you come under fire, it means someone is shooting at you. They're
attacking you. In other situations, outside of the military, the phrase come under fire
usually means be criticized or verbally attacked.

【shove someone out the door】人をドアから追い出す
Araki-san also talks about shoving employees out the door, this phrase is often used to
mean rudely firing or dismissing employees.

There is a very similar phrase show someone to the door, and that tends to mean take your
guest to the door and say good-bye to them.

【cleaning out desks and saying good-byes】
This sentence talks about cleaning out desks and saying good-byes in one day, I think,
those two actions are probably not that difficult to accomplish in one day. But the
situation where the sentence is used means, they were told in the morning you're fired
and they were expected not to come back again after that workday.

More traditional time span is about two weeks. People often say, "you have to give a two-week
notice" or "your company has to tell you two weeks ahead of time if they are planning on
laying you off."

【a load of lawsuits】
"A load of something" often means a lot of or many or slews. I think in this case was
lawsuits, load is used because then you get those two 'L's and it makes a nice alliteration
and rhythm.

【wreak】に損害を与える
Wreak is a verb that means bring about or cause. But it's almost always used together with
things that cause damage or destruction.
It's often used to mean avenge.

【be dumped】首にされる
"Dump" often means drop something into the trash. Sometimes it's used to talk about firing
people, you're dumped by the company; you're put into the trash, you're no longer valuable
to them.

【upturn】好転、改善
An upturn is a recovery or improvement.

【come under fire】非難にさらされる
If you've come under fire, you're probably being attacked verbally.

【bad press】悪評
Bad press is a critical reporting, the newspapers and magazines that have articles about
your company, stressed the bad points and what you've done wrong.

【misstep】過失、失策
A "misstep" can be literally placing your foot in a bad spot so you trip or fall. But,
I think, it's more often used to mean a mistake or a blunder.

やさビジ3/7/2002

【leave someone out】無視する、仲間はずれにする
If you leave someone out, you maybe abandon them or you don’t care for them or you
overlook them.

【bruised, battered and abandoned】
There is another example of alliteration being used in English. Although the third word
abandoned actually began with the different sound, the “b” sound in it to go along with
bruised and battered is very clear and strong.

【How’s that for …?】なんとすばらしいことか
Lou Cruise phrases his idea as a question, but it really is a kind of praise for what the
company is doing. He is asking what people saying expecting the answer to be, “Great,”
“Wonderful,” and that’s what he’s also trying to say with his question.
How’s that for is a phrase that’s often used to introduce an excellent example or
something.

【cut-and-slash】大規模な
Cut-and-slash is often used to describe something that’s very rough or something that
doesn’t differentiate in where it makes from affects. Cut-and-slash is, if you want to
imagine it is kind of a using a shady（日陰の） to fight away through thick growth in the
jungle.

【panic】
panic > panicked

【deep down】心の奥底で
The phrase “deep down” in English is usually used to refer to your feelings or your
emotions. And not just the light, happy ones. They usually tend to be serious emotions
or psychological being.

【have a say in】
If you have a say in something, you’re allowed or you have the right to participate in
making a decision.

【orchestration】組織化、編成法、調和のとれた統合
Orchestration is often used to refer to harmonious organization, or something that’s
excellently managed and integrated.

【with precision】的確（正確・精密）な
Something that’s done with precision is done very accurately without waste or without
mistakes.

【thoughtless】軽率な、思慮を欠いた、思いやりのない、不注意な
Someone who’s thoughtless is inconsiderate or careless.

やさビジ3/8/2002

Sugita: Now Chris, we hear about massive layoffs at major American companies almost
every day. How do you feel?
Chris: Ah..first of I’m glad that I’m now working for one. But I once hear of the huge
layoffs at some companies are doing. I wonder how they manage to get so many extra
people. But I guess that’s the way bubbles go.
Sugita: I think so. Major companies are laying off at third two-thirds of staffs?
Chris: Yea, that’s pretty amazing. I wonder how they function afterwards. I think the
hardest part of the layoffs is probably emotional part.
Sugita: Yes.
Chris: you know, ‘cause people take it personally. I think even people who are aware of
what’s are going on the near industry and they can see clearly what’s happening to their
company, and even if the company was well managed, and they’re just, you know, called
in recession, I think still it’s difficult to be laid off.
Sugita: Yes, it is. And when you see other people, your colleagues being laid off are
feeling like cracking up, and tendering your own resignation.
Chris: Oh, yea. Sure. A lot of people do it. In my case in fact I wouldn’t prefer that,
because when I feel like a making my own choices as long as have ability to do that. My
husband did that, actually. He was nearing early retirement ages at his company, and
originally meet plan for him to take earliest retirement, you know, the company are ***
But he was afraid that the company might start changing its retirement policy, you
know, reorganizing because, I suppose, we’ve gonna have to lay some people off. And,
you know, if the industries are going to well, chances get higher and higher that might
happen. So he decided finally, to retire probably two or three years earlier that he had
intended, because that way he knew what he was gonna get, and we can plan.
Sugita: And “Be get on bus.”
Chris: Yea. That’s really nice. It was fairly easy for us because we don’t have kids so we
don’t have to worry about continuing save money, we don’t have a mortgage, so we don’t
have to worry about keeping up a peanut or losing a house. And we can always go back
and get some kind of job if own company doesn’t work out very well, or it turns out to be
only a lot of hard work for, you know, much return.

おおーっなっつかし〜
毎度ご苦労様＆Ｔｈａｎｋｓです。

やさビジ3/11/2002
>>30を改正

【figures】数字、統計
figures : in this sentence of course means numbers or digits, but the word figures also is
used means statistics or data fairly often as well.

【swelled】
swelled, of course, is the past and past participle of "swell", you might often note as
"swollen". "Swollen" is usually used as adjective, but when you need a participle form,
people usually use "swelled." You can’t use the "swollen" in the same place but it's not
very common.

【on a par with】
If you are about on a par with someone or something, it means you are about equal
with them. The word "par" is often used to mean things like a common level or equality.
It's also the word that used in golf to talk about how many swings or average or normal
for each hole on a course.
There's a phrase that people often use meaning it's not unusual, or it's normal. You
could say "That's par for the course".

【melting pot】
A melting pot is a place where cultural assimilation is happening, where people are
becoming more similar to each other or picking up each others' cultural trait or ideas.

【aboil】
Aboil is an adjective that means boiling. There are a few other adjectives that start with
"a" like that; afoot and alike are two examples.

【a drop in the bucket】ごく少数の
A drop in the bucket is the phrase that people use a lot, to mean something is very small
and maybe even meaningless because it's so small.

【commonplace】
Also the word commonplace means something that commonly found; it's the usual　
thing ;it's normal; it's not strange.

【prone to】
If you are "prone to something", you have a tendency or in inclination towards it.
【Humpty Dumpty】
Most kids in US learned as short nursery rhyme about Humpty Dumpty;

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall
All the king horses
And all the king's men
Couldn't put Humpty together again

3/11続き
【pledge allegiance】忠誠を誓う
When I was in school, a different kid everyday will go to the front of the class, and lead
the group by saying the pledge of allegiance.

【harbinger】前触れ
The word "harbinger" isn't used that much in everyday English. About the meantime I
hear is one people talking about sign of spring sometime you hear "the harbinger of
spring," it sounds a little poetic.

【tumble down】転落する
Tumble down is a way of falling, or going down or collapsing. It includes the idea of kind
of rolling and falling.

【insularity】狭量さ、孤立
Insularity is a state of being isolated it's also related to actual island.

【evaporate】消える
Something that evaporates disappears. Evaporate also means having something wet
become dry. The liquid evaporated.

【erode】衰退させる
Erode means wear away.

やさビジ3/12/2002
>>37更新

You'd provably say something like Los Angels has the largest Mexican population
outside of Mexico.

【demographer】人口統計学者
A demographer of course is the person who studies population groups to see how they
structure then how they change. The word "demo" comes from ancient Greek and means
people or common people.

【LA】
Also Sandy Liu calls Los Angeles "LA" and in US if you call it "ro-su" like people doing
in Japan, nobody will understand what you're saying.

【crumbling】崩れる
Crumbling is another way for something to fall down or go down; crumbling means
breaking up into little pieces and kind of disintegrating away. In Monday’s lesson they
talked about tumbling down; the ethnic barrier's tumbling down.

【take a gander】ちょっと見る
"Take a gander" is a phrase that means look or glance at something, and my dictionary
says it probably comes from people stretching out their necks to take a look. It kind of
looks like a goose with a long neck. Gander is also a word for male goose.

【booming】
Something that booming is very successful; it's going very rapidly; booming is often used
to describe towns or economy.

【one and all】
Sandy Liu uses the phrase "one and all" it means everyone but it's intensified because of
using both words.

【lump something together】
Also if you lumping something together, it means you put them in the same category
without really observing how they are actually different. They don't really fit into the
same category.

【nightmare】
Lots of things that people perceive as being really terrible or very difficult are called
nightmares.

【second only two】
Second only to is the phrase people use fairly often actually to praise
someone else to say they're very very good, if not the best.

【Populous】
Populous is the adjective that means full of people, or lots of people.

【Booming】
Something that booming is experiencing sudden and rapid growth. It's usually strong
economically.

【lump together as】
If you lump things together as one group, together in a same group,
it usually means you haven't actually looked at their differences.

やさビジ3/13/2002
>>38更新

【expand into market】
If you expand into a market, your company is growing and entering a new market.

【be bound to 】
If you boundThe word bound often means very likely or sure to.

【sluggish】
Sluggish is adjective that means slowly moving or slow reaction.

【take the lead】率先してやる
If you take the lead, you take the initiative to show the way to go.

【grab】
Something that grabs you is attractive or interesting, it catches your interest.

【heart】
In English usually using the word heart is referring to your emotions, and often it’s
referring to more romantic type emotion.

【Second】賛成する、支持する
When it’s used as a verb means support or condone something. It’s often used in
meanings to support someone else’s proposal.

【first generation】一世
First generation is usually used to describe people who are born outside of the US, but
who emigrate and become new citizens.

【influx】流入
An influx is a flowing of a large number or amount of something into some other area.


The situation in US of having quite a few households that English isn’t the first
language is very common. I think ever since US started, that’s been true. Of course
English speakers are dominant and still are, but I don’t know if that fifteen percent
change is a big change or small change or it’s average about that much over the years.
But I think what has changed is the focus on getting your message clearly across to all
the different ethnic groups. It seems to me that if you hear message in your own
language, understand it more deeply or differently, no matter how you well speak the
second language

【sluggish】停滞した、不振の
Sluggish is an adjective you can use to describe things that are slow or seem to lost
power or that don’t respond rapidly.

【bulging】膨れる
Something that bulging is swollen or enlarged. You could also call it protruding.

【heritage】伝統、遺産、ルーツ
Your heritage are your roots or your background. You could also use it to describe the
things you’ve received from your ancestors. You could also say it’s inherited things.

【influx into】への流入、殺到
An influx into something is a flow or a rush of a large number or amount of things.

本日飲み会にて欠席。以上。

やさビジ3/15/2002
>>47参照

Sugita: Now Chris, This week’s theme was “Changing populations,” and we talk about
the minorities becoming the majority in fifty years to come.
Chris: Right.
Sugita: But you are really part of the sluggish majority, aren’t you?
Chris: (Laughter) That was sluggish majority market. But, yes, I am part of the
majority. My ethnic background if can use the word also is Germany-English.
Sugita: Hum-hum; that’s the white.
Chris: White, yea, both side.
Sugita: While you’ve been in other country quite a while, but when you return to your
homeland, once in a while, or once a year, do you noticed the change?
Chris: Ah.. not too much. My families are in the Chicago area and they’ve always had
various neighborhoods, mostly from Western Europe. So the Polish neighborhood,
Italian neighborhood. So from that point of view, a lot of people just take it as everyday
kind of the thing. But on the other hand, there are all white people from Western
Europe, right. So nowadays most of the immigrants come from other countries from
Asia, Eastern Europe and, you know, the Hispanic countries. So I don’t notice the big
difference maybe because people are used to various ethnic groups living nearby. But I
think that Hispanic are a little more noticeable.
Sugita: Especially states like California, Florida
Chris: Oh, yea, definitely, yea. I haven’t spent too much time in those, so I can’t really
compare it to the past. But when I have been in Los Angels, yea, it seems very
Hispanic to me.
Sugita: And many immigrants are arrived in California. So if you had lived
in California, you might have changed.
Chris: When I was in high school, my families lived in Portland, Oregon. And that was
in the seventies. We have quite a few Vietnamese and Laotian people settled in the area.
So they were very noticeable, because they’re completely new groups that most people
had little or no contact with.

数年前にPortlandに滞在した事があり、その際おいしいベトナム風の麺を食べた事を思い
出しました。

【ditch】捨てる
If you ditch something, you get rid of it or throw it away. Sometimes people ditch other
people so they escape from them.

【roast beef and potatoes】
Roast beef and potatoes are very typical meal for people within English kind of a
background. My family used to eat roast beef and potatoes on Sunday also. So it is considered
a nice meal.

【first off】最初に
Sandy Liu could have said only "first" to start this. But by saying first off, it's more
colloquial and it also sounds a bit more action oriented, like “First off the mark. Get
started.”

【different kettle of fish】別の問題
A different kettle of fish is used fairly often to mean a different situation. There is
a couple other phrases similar to this. That's a “horse of a different color” means it's
a very different thing.

やさビジ3/18/2002
>>54参照
【trend scanner】トレンド調査
A trend scanner will be someone who keeps track of what trends are developing and how they
are developing. Scanner is kind of interesting verb. It’s ambiguous it has two
contradictory meanings depending on how you use it. It can mean examine thoroughly; check
something very carefully, but it can also mean look at something quickly or casually and
that meanings seem to be the one that’s more common these days. Maybe because of electronic
scanners that work so quickly.

【Washington】
Ben Leonard talks about the Washington office, this is also a little ambiguous. Because
it could be Washington States or Washington D.C. But I think probably for the trend scanning
comes from Washington D.C., although the Washington States is the home of some of the dot
com corporations. And of course the people in the company know which offices they are
talking about.

【homeward】家に向かって
Homeward means go towards home or head home. Some other words also use the “ward” ending.
You could say seaward for towards the sea, and actually could probably attached at
almost any word that your goals of travel, although it would sounds funny if you could
make a kind of joke if you say something like in the morning, “Well, I’m heading
officeward.”

【goofing off】ぶらぶらしてすごす
If you goof off, you fool around, you waste time. You’d do something rather idle or maybe
even foolish. Sometimes people use this just to say we did nothing in particular or we
did nothing special. Say, “What did you do over the weekend?” “Ah, nothing really we’ve
just goofed off at a house.”

【execs】
Execs short for executives. People probably use it a lot in casual conversation but you
should be careful and not use it in more formal situation.

【feet on a ground】地に足がつく
There’s a phrase he’s got his feet on a ground or firmly on the ground which means people
or that person is solid and reliable and realistic.
So that phrase kind of echoes around when you hear this sentence; “Their feet in the air
is as much on the ground.”

やさビジ3/18続き

【leisure】
Maybe we should also mention that difference in pronunciation of “leisure” between US
and UK. In the UK they say ledgure. You hear that sometimes in the US unlike schedule,
people say schedule in the US they are usually trying to some British way one reason or
another.

【kid】
Most people in casual situation, talk about a child or children as kids, a kid or kids.
It sounds more fun and relaxed. Child and children are used almost always in much more
formal situation.

【occurs to you】
Something occurred to you: comes into existence in your head. It’s an idea or thought
that actually appears in your mind.

【enlightening】啓発的な、啓蒙される
Something that enlightening is educational or informative or maybe even instructional.

【combine with】と組み合わせる
If you combine one thing to another thing, you put them together.

【frenetic】ひどい
involving a lot of movement or activity; extremely active, excited or uncontrolled. She
has a very frenetic lifestyle. There was frenetic trading on the Stock Exchange yesterday.

After weeks of frenetic activity, the job was finally finished.
(Cambridge International Dictionary of English)

【old school】保守派、伝統主義者
Someone who is conservative, traditional, maybe a kind of preservationist.
cf. the old school tie 同窓生贔屓、学閥

【in tow】つれて
If you have someone in tow, you are leading them or dragging them or bringing them with
you.

やさビジ3/19/2002

【rig】手を加える、操作をする
If you rig something, you arrange it or adjust it. Sometimes it can be used also to mean
“manipulate in advance” like decide the election or game show ahead of time.
Rig means arrange. You can also use it negatively to mean manipulate or fix.

【Intranet】
An intranet isn’t internal net. “intra” means within or during if you talking about
time or between. In English, Internet and intranet sound pretty similar. In Japanese it’s
a lot more clear.
Intra, I think it’s used less in English than inter. The main word that I’m familiar
with besides intranet is intramural* and that usually refers to sports or sports team,
they compete with each other within one school or within one organization.
Intra again means within, and mural means wall.

*intramural: within a place or organization: intramural courses at college

【built-in】組み込まれた
in-built / Something that built-in is an intricate part for whatever it built into.
Something that’s built-in is an intricate part of whatever it’s built-in to.

【spot】見つける
If you spot something usually it means you found it or you discovered it.

【old dogs】
The original phrase that Ben Leonard is referring to is, “You can’t teach old dogs new
tricks.” People usually talk about this when older people can’t or aren’t interested
in learning things.

やさビジ3/19続き

【crises】
Crises is the plural for crisis. There’s only a few words in English that make that kind
of a plural; another example is hypothesis, hypotheses; and of course thesis, theses which
is the part of the word hypothesis anyway.
>crises(pl.) , hypothesis > hypotheses (pl.), thesis > theses (pl.)

【turn something off】思考回路を切る
If you turn something off, it means you stop thinking about it or stop worrying about it.
He’s not really gonna turn off M&B [laughter].

【Mrs. L】親近感のある表現
Araki-san also calls Mrs. Leonard “Mrs. L”. He’s still speaking about her respectfully,
because he calls her “Mrs.”, but also by shorting the last name down to the letter, it
makes it a little more friendly and familiar at the same time.

【spelunker】(趣味的な)洞窟探検家
And finally he talks about a spelunkers, adventure tours. Spelunker is a rather unusual
word, I think I remember that since the first time I heard it. You could call a spelunker
a caver, a person who likes to explore and study caves.
Finally, Mammoth Cave is very famous in the US, a lot of people go there on vacation to
see what it is like. It’s in Kentucky State and it’s in the Mammoth Cave National Park.


【agonized about】苦悩する
If you agonized about something, you worry about it; that you worry very strongly about
it

【connive with】共謀する
If you connive with someone; you plan or corporate together with them secretly.
secretly cooperate with

やさビジ3/20/2002

【away at college】
A lot of students in the US choose to go away to college in stead of saying at home. Because
it’s kind of a step on the way to be independent adult. They are not living at home but
they still have some supervision and support if they need help.

【go away to school】(家を出て寮制などの)学校に行く
My parents encouraged my sister and brother and I to go away to college.

【seriously】まじめな話ですが
Another word people might use in the same situation is really.

【quality time】充実した時間
Quality time is the time you spent with someone that’s really worth spending the time
with them. You’re not just in the same place at the same time, you’re really enjoying
each others’ company.
Quality time is the time that you spend with your friends or relatives that’ meaningful.

【delegate】代表者
delegation: 代表団 Delegate is very similar to representative. But in this case if used
the word representative, it would sound much more clear that Lee Seymour and her husband
Barry are doing something for the company at the conference. If you say delegate, it
probably means their attending the conference but not presenting.

【stop for Hawaii】
break the journey by stopping over Hawaii

【with】
Hiromi Araki talks about his wife and kids traveling with him. He could have said their
accompanying him or they will be in toe.

【on the way back】帰る途中
(⇔on the way to)

【stop for】
Sometimes people say, though, break the journey by stopping Hawaii
break the journey stopping over in Hawaii


【glint】輝き
A glint is something that shines. It’s usually very quick, sharp, burst of light reflected
of something. When people talk about a glint of someone’s eyes, they usually refrain to
some kind of emotion that they can feel that they can read in other persons’eyes.
A glint is a tiny bright flash of light. Another word you could use is glimmer.

【New Orleans】
New Orleans is sometimes confusing city name sometime for Americans. I think of north most
people say New Orle’ans. And that’s the way I learned the name of that city. But I heard
that people actually live there and throughout the south, tend to call it New O’rleans.

【splurge】贅沢をする
If you splurge, you pamper yourself or you please yourself. And it often means by using
a lot of money.
If you splurge, you indulge yourself.

【finalize】最終的に承認する
Finalize is a verb that means finish something, finish it off or maybe even give approval
to.

やさビジ3/21/2002
>>64改正

【fabulous】素敵な
In the past sometimes people would shorten the word fabulous as just say “fab.”
fantabulous.
Fabulous means wonderful, marvelous, incredible, astonishing a whole bunch of those kinds
of really good words.

【I bet.】
American English speakers often say, I bet, when they mean certainly or I’m sure.

【double occupancy】２人部屋の
Double occupancy is the usual phrase that travel agencies use when they’re describing
their package tours and trips. And usually the prices are based on double occupancy.
Double occupancy is an adjective that means a room for two or a very common unit for quoting
travel prices.

【thrifty】(賢く)倹約的な
Something that thrifty is very good value. It’s low cost and almost clever. The person
who finds and uses it is almost considered clever. economical, frugal,
You could say cheapest, but sometimes cheap has negative connotation.

【special weekend package】
Some places in US even offered and advertised special weekend packages for people living
in the city if they just want to splurge a little bit and have a luxurious weekend.

【hotel】
Hotel is a kind of interesting word because different people pronounce with stress in
different syllable. I’ve always have said it the stress on the second syllable; hote’l,
but Gabby Mann and I heard other people do this also say Ho’tel.

【keep someone in mind】に配慮する
If you keep someone or something in mind, you remember it or you’re cautious of it.

【pumping irons】
Pumping irons is the phrase that is used to mean lifting weight. And a lot of people lift
weights to build up their muscles and so you could also say it body building.

【jacuzzi bath】発音注意 [dзэku':zi] Be careful when you’re pronouncing the word
jacuzzi. Often when I hear Japanese people say it, I have to think two or three times to
understand what it is. You really need to carefully stress the middle syllable.
Be careful with “g” sound and “k” sound. In English I don’t think people every say
it with sort of “g” sound.

やさビジ3/21/2002 続き

【be pampered】手厚く扱われる
If you pampered, you are treated with really great attention and care. Some people would
even say extreme or excessive.

【business rounds】仕事中
Business rounds is a phrase that’s often used just to describe meeting and activities
that many business people go through during the day, especially when they are in business
trip.

【do the rounds】仕事をする
If you do the rounds, of course, you’re doing your business; you’re on your business
rounds.
If you do the rounds, you work. It often includes visiting customers or maybe having
meetings.

【thrifty】
Something that’s thrifty is economic, it’s well managed.

がんがれNinety-two！　栄光のゴールは目の前だす。

やさビジ　3/22/2002

Sugita: Now this week we heard Benn Leonard say he belongs to the old school, that separated
to business from pleasure. But now, we're seeing more and more young people combining
business with pleasure, right?

Chris: Right. There is a saying in English, "Don't mix business　and pleasure." I wasn't
really sure exactly what that meant, although I could see that maybe doing business would
lower the amount of pleasure you can have, and trying to please yourself might take your
focus away from doing business. But I think, if you keep it really well organized, manage
it well and especially with things like finances and expenses, if you keep those all clear
from each other, separated them from each other. seems like, you know, as long as your
company doesn't mind, it seems like you know, rather elegant way to handle both.
Sugita: Especially if you can increase your productivity.
Chris: Yeah, it seems like a lot of companies are trying to get people to be more productive.
And if having two or three days, you know, added to your travel time, your business travel,
so that you can do it tour or, you know, do some sightseeing, seems like a good deal to
me.
Sugita: And nowadays, it's very difficult to take long vacations like three weeks, four
weeks. So if you are going on a business trip to an interesting place, especially overseas,
you may wanna take a vacation at the end of your trip.
Chris: Right. As long as you are gonna have jetlag anyway, you might as well see what's
over there while you are there.
Sugita: But I guess Japanese tend to separate business from pleasure.
Chris: I think, although this is a growing trend, I think, in the U.S., most people still
do that, most of the time. Like I said before, I think it's easy to mix them up, and you
know, the company doesn't know what it's paying for, you know, is it your business trip
or is it your vacation. I think it's easy to slowly move into an unclear area like that.
Although when I was little, this would have been in the late 60's, there was an advertisement
on the radio from an airline's trying to get guys to buy a ticket for the wives when they
were on business trips. And it was, I think it was advertised as like half price for the
second seat.
Sugita: Hmm, that's neat.
Chris: Yeah, I still remember the jingle. That's probably why I remember it.
Sugita: I see.
Chris: The little song that went with it.
Sugita: I think Japanese executives are always amused by their foreign counterparts, going
on business trips with their wives.
Chris: Yeah, but it's very common to have your wife play some role in your business life
in the U.S., I think.
Sugita: And they are sometimes known as cooperate-wives.
Chris: Yeah, I think that's when they're around too much. But you know, I've read lots
of articles and there's TV shows and movies about how a good wife can really help promote
her husband's career.
Sugita: Right.
Chris: You know, they host dinners for clients and higher level executives from the company
and that. And so if you are an ambitious manager with a wife who is good at managing and
organizing those kinds of things, I think, she can be a real benefit.

やさビジ3/25/2002

【associate】
Associate is one of the words that people often use to describe position; associate director
means he’s probably second in charge of the office. There’s a director, he’s probably
next. Some of the other adjectives that people use in titles for similar position, a
“deputy,” sometimes people use “acting,” that’s a little bit different. It means the
person is doing the work of the associate, but they haven’t actually received the title
in the position yet. They’re doing the work, but they are not the official person. A similar
term is for temp, and that means for the time being. So probably the selection committees
still deciding who would be the final person to actually take that position.

【cross-cultural training】
Cross-cultural training usually includes two main categories; one is general cross-cultural
training, the kind of things that happened to people when they go living
and work in new countries. And the other kind is called specific or often country specific
training, and that tends to focus on the details of wherever you’re going, in stead of
the general process of learning to live in another culture.

【Ben Leonard speech..】
Ben Leonard speaking, a little bit formally and a little bit formulaically(決まり文句
に). The sentences he’s using and the phrases he’s using is a very common in this kind
of situation where you are either welcoming somebody or saying good-bye to somebody
publicly.

【Here’s to】
The phrase, Here’s to, we heard before in a seires. It’s a very common, also, you can
see in a formal situation to use the phrase, “Here’s to..”and then name of the person
or the situation that you’re tosting.

【Hiromi Araki’s words..】
Hiromi Araki’s words are also very common types of phrases and sentences to use in the
situation.

やさビジ続き(3/25分)
【Ben Leonard speech..】
Ben Leonard speaking, a little bit formally and a little bit formulaically(決まり文句
に). The sentences he’s using and the phrases he’s using is a very common in this kind
of situation where you are either welcoming somebody or saying good-bye to somebody
publicly.

【Here’s to】
The phrase, Here’s to, we heard before in a seires. It’s a very common, also, you can
see in a formal situation to use the phrase, “Here’s to..”and then name of the person
or the situation that you’re tosting.

【Hiromi Araki’s words..】
Hiromi Araki’s words are also very common types of phrases and sentences to use in the
situation.

【Thank you again for everything.】
It’s also a very common phrases in this kind of situation.

【all the best】
All the best is another phrase that you’ll find again, again and again, means in greeding
or formal situation.
You can write this I greeting cards. People often use it as a closing. When they like a
Chrisetmas when they writes Christmas cards or birthday cards, for example.


【hold still】
Hold Still is the phrase people often use in English to tell people don’t move. Sometimes
they use , Don’t move.” But I think probably “Shod still “ is more common.

【be promoted to】
Be promoted to could describe moving from one job to a higher level getting promotion.
But you could also use this phrase to talk about a selling your products or resenting
merchandize to your buyer..
【take up a posting】
Take up means accept or enter upon something, and posting of course is a job or position.
Ofter away from where you started.
【have someone on board.】
If you have someone’s board they’re part of your group or member of association or
organization.

【head office】
The head office i

やさビジ3/26/2002
>>72参照
【moping】意気消沈する
Moping is feeling sorry for yourself, feeling unhappy and not doing anything to try to
change it. And it sounds like Japanese uses similar phrase , as in English, "Having a
tail between your legs." It just like the dog, that either knows that done something's
wrong or has been scolded.

【expat】海外勤務者 < expatriate
Mickey Ramires also talks about expats, that shorts for expatriates. "Ex" means outside
of, "patriate" means your country. So expatriates are people who are living out side of
their own countries.

【can’t hack it】耐えられない
And she mentions expats who can't hack it. "Hack it" provably two main meanings; one
is "cut" the other one is "manage successfully." In this case she is using "Manage
successfully," meaning. But she's talking about expats who can't handle it. This word,
when we talks about management, usually is used negative, "Can't hack it."

【fit in】順応する
Fit in is a verb that means get along with, be harmonious with a situation or people.

【come and go】人がどんどん変わる様
You'd also tend to imply that they had no impact, they have no effect on wherever they
have came to or left from.

【Ugly American】
The phrase "Ugly American" comes from a book that was written in 1958. That was the
title of the book, and it had very short stories about American and foreign countries,
having and causing a lot of trouble.

【Rome】
There’s a phrase in English when in Rome, do as the Roman do. And it means wherever
you are try to fit in, the people that you’re with.

【dispatch】派遣する
If you dispatch something, you send it or send it off, if you dispatch a person, it's
provably an official business.

【be up against】
If you're up against something, you're being challenged by something or you are facing a
problem or something large that difficult to handle.

【meet in person】個人的に会う、じかに会う
When you meet someone in person, you see them face to face or live.

【go too far】
Another way to say go too far is over due.

【one of the boys】お仲間になる、同朋の士
Becoming one of the boys is, or being one of the boys means　"You're very in intimately
with that group.."

やさビジ3/27/2002
>>76参照

【the same】
The same of course means the same as the people you’re living amoung.

【mentor】良き指導者
Mentor of course means teacher, basically. But in this situation I think the word is used
not only for teaching but also to mean someone to talk to. More like a councilor maybe
than a teacher; someone that can help you keep up with what's happening in home or office,
and also watch out for how your work is going abroad, so that you can fit in smoothly so
that you have the latest information when you return to your company.

【keep an eye on】監視する
If you keep an eye on something, you watch it to make sure it’s fine, you just make sure
there's no problem’s coming. Sometimes parents ask a neighbor to keep an eye on the kids,
that’s usually a short like baby-sitting request.

【cross-cultural training】
I heard that more and more companies offer cross-cultural training to their employees,
but the number that also offers that to the families even the children is a little bit
smaller. But a lot the of problems that business people have abroad are because of the
families having trouble adjusting.

【looked Pakistani】
Actually this kind of a situation it might cause more trouble the fact that he looks
Pakistani. Because people would see him and assume he is Pakistani and then when he’s
behave didn’t match the way he looked as they get a stronger shock in maybe a more negative
reaction.

Pakistan > Pakistani, Israel > Israeli, Iraq > Iraqi, Saudi Arabia > Saudi

【derail】挫折させる
Something that's derailed has been pushed off course or it's come off (はずれる) the track.

【taxing】苦労の多い
Something that taxing is trying(ひどく骨の折れる) or requires effort or it's vigorous.

【assign】任命する
If you assign someone to a post, you appoint them, you give them that position. You can
also assign a duty or task.

【cold-shoulder】冷たくあしらう
If you cold-shoulder someone, you ignore them or ostracize them or exclude them.

やさビジ3/28/2002
>>77参照

【ethnic homeland】ルーツのある国
Your ethnic homeland is the country or area where people of your culture originated. So
in my case, my ethnic homeland would be whether England or Germany.

【move on】どんどん進む
Something that’s moved on is usually grown or changed.

【rear one’s head】頭をもたげる
It’s sounds like the phrase Japanese is very similar to the English phrase “rear its
head.” Something that rears is standing up or leaning backwards which put the head up
in a higher position. The phrase is often used to mean “appears” or “comes alive” or
“stirs”(かき立てる). This phrase is usually used to describe things that are unwelcome.

【be bound to】する運命である
The phrase bound to be means inevitably.

【go native】現地化する
Go native is the phrase that people use to talk negatively about people who become
successful at living in the second culture. I think the phrase is used because the home
office people feel a little bit betrayed, because the person who’s caught in the middle
develops sympathy from both sides.

【happy medium】折衷案
A happy medium is phrase people use fairly often when in argument or disagreement or two
point of views becomes very polarized, at far ends from each other.　A happy medium would
be a middle ground or some kind of a compromise.

【skirts of edge】の危険を避けて通る
If you skirt the edge of something, you’re usually trying to get passed it by going around
the outside edge. It’s usually something dangerous or contentious that you’d really
rather avoid it as possible.

【in parallel】平行して
In parallel means along the same lines or in step with (足並みを揃える)

【in dismay】失望して
If you do something in dismay, you do it because you’re disappointed or may even shocked
and disappointed.

【side with】の方を持つ
If you side with someone, you take their part; you join or support them.

【fall into a trap】わなに陥る
If you fall into a trap, you’ve been tricked or you’ve gotten into your trouble.

やさビジ3/29/2002

Sugita: This is the day of the current Hiromi Araki series. So let’s talk about them. Araki-san
changed job in Japan and he was sent to the States, and now it looks like he’s developing very nice
as a global executive.
Chris: Right.
Sugita: How do you describe him?
Chris: I was impressed how he well adjusted. He probably had some training before left. But it still a
big step coming to live in a different country. I think some of his characteristics that help him adjust
were a strong interest in what’s happening around him.
Sugita: Good intellectual curiosity?
Chris: Hum, not just a in work but also his families in how they adjusting and neighbors. Quite a few
of the episode he got involved in neighborhood project.
Sugita: Right.
Chris: Like charity work and..
Sugita: Voluntarism..
Chris: Right. Yea. So people who can do that kind of things fairly easily I think tend to adjust to new
situations more easily, too.
Sugita: I think he’s also flexible, he learned a great deal from his work and his neighbors and from
living in the United States.
Chris: Right. And it sounds also like Atsuko was a good support also because she was going through
the same thing at the same time. But they were able to work together to help themselves adjust I
think.
Sugita: And Hiromi Araki has gone through good times and bad times.
Chris: Right. Yea. I think He’s shown his flexibility and, I think, his way of looking are changed,
whether it would be good or bad. He seems to be able to find the good part of it, no matter what it is,
even if it wasn’t something he was expecting or hoping for.
以下>>78参照

【keeping employees abroad】
Keeping employees abroad means assigning them to post to outside regular country and supporting
them there.

【Speaking of 】
The way Lee Seymour changed in his topic is fairly common in English. Someone says one word
and it connects you to the same word in a completely different situation.

ビジネス英会話4/1/2002

Sugita: Susan, why don’t you introduce yourself briefly?
Susan: Sure, thank you. I work for a Japanese electronic company in Human Resources
where as we mostly expedite ministration training development and recruiting.

【executive recruiter】
I think I should look at executive recruiter. It’s also known as headhunter. Headhunter
is a nickname for that. There’re a few different ways to say executive recruiter. You can
say executive search consultant. But headhunter is a nickname that sometimes has a
negative connotation. Some other nicknames for jobs we can think of are maybe shrink
for psychologists, although a lot of psychologists probably don’t like that nickname.
Being counter for an accountant; you might call a very bad doctor a clerk; or a
mechanical grief a murky. Also what was an executive recruiter I think was assigned, as
a lot of companies are relying on them, especially when they’re looking for a top position
like CEOs or Vice Presidents. They’re relying on executive recruiters, because they have
such a wide network, and they can easily find the people that are very tangible(?), really
fit the job well.

【What can I do for you?】
Another way saying this would be, “How can I help you?” or “What can I do for you
today?”

【colleague】
I think the colleagues, there are a few different ways of words that could be used. We
can also say co-workers, co-horts (仲間), associates, things like that. Most of these words
are interchangeable. And for me, personally, when I’m talking about people in my
company I often use “co-workers,” though I use colleague to describe people in the same
field maybe working for other company, but that’s just my on my personal purpose.

【high-caliber】優秀な
I think high-caliber first to something; that’s the best or “top notch.” It can be used to
describe people or job candidate it can also be used to describe services, things like that.
caliber: 銃の口径

【tall order】難題
A tall order is a something that is challenge, something that is very difficult. As a
negative expression, that is a “tall-tell” and that’s kind of a number of readable stories
we use it often to describe something like that.

【must admit】
For “I must admit,” you can say, “I feel I need to tell you” or “I must confess.” And we
sometimes use this as a way to connect with the listener I think it is a funny expression.
It means, “To be honest with you,” or “I feel I should tell you.”

4/1あげ。

ゴールして終わりかと思ってました

なんか、惰性で...(w

でも今期からはもう少し肩の力を抜こうと思います。一人でスレを
占拠するというのは、あまりにも周りの雰囲気と違いすぎるしねえ。

ビジネス英語4/2/2002

【New York】
New York has a few nickname. I think the most popular one is the Big Apple, but it’s
also known as Gotham.

【to cast a pall over】暗い影を落とす
To cast a pall over something is to cast a shadow or to change the atmosphere to
something that’s sad or gloomy.

【second thoughts】
Second thoughts means doubts. And when he says second or even third thoughts, he’s
changing the standard expression to provide some emphasis.

【bounce back】立ち直る、回復する
You can use bounce back to mean recover from something. You could say that Sales
bounce back, or I bounce back from injury, something like that.

【at all time low】
At all-tine low or its related expression, at all-time high is often used to describe things
like sales, morals or crime. at the lowest point

【just our of curiosity】
Just out of curiosity one of the get transition sentences it indicates that you have
interested in something and you’d like to ask a question about it. I have often times, It’s
not necessarily related to the central part of the conversation maybe just the side
question you have, you can also say, I was wondering.

【resume】
We use resume in North America but common term in UK would be CV, which means
Curriculum Vitae. In North America, we also use CV but it’s usually at academic circle
for professional resume, things like that.

There are couples of differences between resume s in the US and resume in Japan. For
example, in the US, we don’t usually put information about health status or marriage
status as it seems to be fairly irrelevant to the job, unless of course you’re going for
something that’s dangerous maybe work as a police officer, something like that would
definitely considered to be part of the job.

なんかすごいね。　　あげ。

終了？？

９２！！！

あいや、聞いてますよ。galbanizeとかpitch inなど、知っていそうで
正確にわかっていない単語が沢山ありますのでとても卒業出来たとはおもって
ません。

どなたか私の代わりにやってみませんか？私がここでやったようなことを半年続ける
と格段に英語力伸びますよー。

I have a dogs