Yuka's recent posts

I am curious about common grammatical mistakes made by English native speakers.

I only know that some native speakers confuse "look forward to doing" with "look forward to do".

Are there any other common mistakes that native speakers tend to make or you have encountered? 

I am a native Japanese having learned Mandarin and English. I learned Mandarin at a very young age when I lived in China. The earlier you learn the language, the easier it would be to learn it. Even after more than 15 years since I was actually immersed in Mandarin-speaking environment, the comprehension level of Mandarin is good enough to understand native speakers. 

I started learning English on the 1st year of secondary school and mainly learned it to pass an enrolment exam for University. As you may know, most Japanese do not speak fluent English even after learning it for at least 5 years at school. Without exception, I was also the one who was bad at speaking English. Many Japanese people feel that English is not an easy language to master for them as these two languages have by far different grammatical structure and pronunciation. Through studying abroad, and working in an English-speaking environment, I gradually have been improving my English speaking ability. However, I think it will take another 5 years to reach C2 level. 

Thank you for giving me an exact answer for this question! I would like to ask you one more question relating to Spanish language. Do Spanish speakers understand different Spanish spoken in South American countries? One of my Chilean friends told me that Chilean Spanish is by far different from original Spanish. Do you understand what Chilean people say perfectly? 

 There are several ways to express future tense in English.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

will

be going to do

will be doing

 be doing (continuous tense)

be about to 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

All of them are used as future tense and I found them a bit tricky.

Are there actual differences in nuances between them?

Recently, I heard native speakers of languages that have similar roots, such as Spanish and Portuguese, Italian and French are able to understand each other more than 50%. Does anyone have an idea for this?

I do almost the same routines except using Google translator which I did not even come up with! I use online dictionaries to search unfamiliar words and phrases. One of my favourite online dictionaries offers unlimited free vocabulary check tests to every user. Making use of this feature, I can check my vocabulary level consistently and maintain my motivation towards vocabulary build-up. Like google translator you mentioned, modern technology helps us a lot with learning languages!

I also want to know the answer of this from native English speakers! For example, the phrasal verb of 'cancel' is 'call off' and similarly, 'postpone' can be said 'put off'. Which sounds more natural and is frequently used ? 

I haven't used the method you mentioned, but I just got an idea. What about making phrase or work cards and starting a conversation with someone ? In this way, you can use the phrases and words you have already learnt and make sure if you memorize them perfectly. I hope my idea is useful for you. 

That's an interesting question! For example, in my native language, Japanese, we pay attention to our language style especially in a business situation. We only use polite language so-called 'Keigo' in Japanese. We talk to customers/clients in Kigo let alone to our colleagues and bosses. Every person working at Japanese companies is required to master and use polite language all the time because it's important way to make the business go smoothly. This is because Japanese society put value on respecting those who are in the higher position. For this reason, if one meets those who cannot speak in a polite way especially in a business situation, he/she will regard them as un-educated, rude people. To avoide this situation, we are encouraged to master how to use polite language properly before starting to work in a real working environment. 

As I learn English more and more, I realize English has numerous interesting metaphorical phrases like Japanese language. For example, people mean they stay late at night for studying by saying "burn the midnight oil". Metaphorical phrases using animals and fruits, veggies such as " eat like a horse", "as cool as a cucumber" and "lemon" imply that we have a completely different image towards such things. For example, in Japan, a pig is regarded as a big eater and veggies and fruits are not used as a metaphor. Instead, we use many phrases relating to our body parts. We say "Your mouth is stiff." to indirectly mean "You always keep a secret" and "My nose is crooked." to mean "It's stinky." Don't you think these phrases sound funny? 

If your language has unique metaphorical phrases like these, share on this forum :)

みなさんが日本語をべんきょうしようとおもったきっかけ・りゆうをおしえてください。

また、日本語でいちばんむずかしいとおもうことをおしえてください。

Konnichiwa! 

こんにちは！

I am Yuka from Japan. If you want to learn Japanese language, I am here to assist you :)

わたしは日本出身のゆかと言います。もし日本語を勉強したいなら、私がサポートします:)

I am looking for useful learning materials and passionate learners on this platform.

このプラットフォームでは役に立つ教材(きょうざい)と熱心(ねっしん)な学習者を探しています。

I hope we can brush up our language proficiency together! 

一緒に語学力をみがけると嬉しいです！

In Japan, people use different dialects depending on the region they are originally form and the same thing is true in other country. Today, I would like to get an answer of the topic "Do native English speakers from different countries understand each other smoothly?". It is apparent that people from different regions speak in a different accent and use unique slangs, but does it make them difficult to communicate with each other? If you have any idea, please share on this forum! Thanks :)