What I Say, What They Hear

I decided to make a few illustrations to show what it's like to be an English teacher in Japan. As you can imagine, miscommunication is inevitable...

“You say” sounds like the Japanese word for oil paint.

Pears in Japan are more like apples in shape and light green in color.

“Show you” sounds like a popular sauce.

“Yu” is a very common Japanese name. 

English Testing

Every year, as English teachers, we must test our students on their speaking proficiency. It is the only time we can sit down one-on-one with every student and have a conversation. 

Some students found the test very difficult because English is a difficult language to learn...

Here are some of my favorite test conversations...

Daniel:  How are you?

Student:  I'm thank you and you?


Daniel:  Are you ready?
Student:  Yes. Let's English!

Daniel:  What time is it?

Student:  It's 10 fruity.

Daniel:  What day is it?

Student:  It's Fursday. 

Daniel:  Do you like dogs?

Student:  Yes we can.

This conversation with a 6th grader caused me to lose some sleep...

Daniel:  How are you?

Student:  I like fine. 

Daniel:  What's your name?

Student:  I like Keiko.

Daniel:  What food do you like?

Student:  I like sushi. 

Daniel:  Where is the library?

Student:  I like go straight. I like turn right.



My New Years resolution...


To teach students real good so they can English!

American Life: Part 2

What do you want to be in your future?

Everyone asks themselves this question at some point in their life...

Personally, I would like to become a pilot that transforms into an airplane...

or maybe a food critic...

But along the way there are many life lessons to be learned...

1) You can always count on friends to be supportive...

2) Respect your elders...

3) How to make letters with your body...

creepy

more creepy


4) And deductive reasoning...

It's also important to learn about holidays, like April Fools' Day...

and Easter...

Still trying to find the egg in this picture

I hope you learned some things about American culture.

Disclaimer:  Unless you are a human pretzel or relative of Mr. Fantastic please do not attempt to emulate the pictures above. Transforming the human body into letters of the alphabet is very dangerous. This blog, its authors, and blogger will not be held responsible for any injuries.  

Baby on Board

During the 1980s, somewhere between pet rocks and parachute pants, the now famous "Baby on Board" sign made its debut...

It was not created to increase awareness of baby drivers, but rather to remind drivers that children ride in cars. So if a vehicle has this sign you should probably try to avoid a collision.

Not suprisingly, many parodies soon made their way onto windows...

"Baby I'm Bored"
"Elvis On Board"
"No Baby On Board Feel Free To Drive Into Me"

Many other similar signs can be found all over the world including Japan where I found this...

On some of these it says "I am safety driver" at the bottom. 


So why not create my own sign? One that would let Japanese drivers know they are amongst a foreigner. Some examples...

Yes. I realize they are a band, but they are still foreigners.

'Gaijin' is a slang term for foreigner. I must turn into this creature in public places. That would explain the staring.


And my favorite one that cuts straight to the point...

 Translated, it reads "Foreigner! Dangerous!"

Lost in Translation

Last week at the video store Staci and I left frustrated because we were unable to find a movie to rent. Certain factors make searching more difficult in Japan (i.e. the different language). But, last night we discovered another potential problem...the renaming of English movies...

In many non-English speaking countries a movie title can be “translated” and end up with a different meaning...

In France, do not spend too much time looking for “Home Alone” because the title there is “Mom, I Missed the Plane”

Or in Finland looking for “Bad Santa”, or should I say “Santa is a Pervert”

In Japan, this is also a problem. Here is what we have found so far...

“Jerry Maguire” becomes “The Agent”

“Up” was obviously too abstract so it was changed to the more descriptive “Old Man Carl's Flying House”

“Freaky Friday” becomes  “Fortune Cookie”

 “Shallow Hal” becomes “Beloved Rosemary”

“The Fast and the Furious” becomes “Wild Speed”

 

“Anger Management” becomes “NY-Style Happy Therapy”

“The Blind Side” becomes “Happiness's Hiding Place”

 

And my personal favorite, “Bedazzled” becomes “Let's Do Bad Things!”

Big Gulp!

We have 7/11 here, but no Big Gulps.

A fellow AET's picture.

No Big Gulp = No Happiness?