By mutual consent

We Japanese call a wall socket/outlet "コンセント (consent(o))"

I had no idea that the word "コンセント (consent)"  is
a Japanese-English (Japanglish ) until today.


I thought the word "consent" described a socket/outlet exactly.

Like...

A socket/outlet  and a plug connect with each other by mutual consent!

They say, the Japanese name, コンセント (consento), comes from "concentric plug,"
which may also be scarcely used in english speaking countries.


--To read this post in Japanese, click here.

A walk in the snow

It is fun to walk in the snow, if it is a short distance.

It has snowed a lot in Tokyo today.

We Japanese say "snow falls" instead of "it snows."

<with formal subject>

English: it snows

Dutch: het sneeuwt

German: es schneit

French: il neige

<without subject>

Spanish: nieva

Italian: nevica

<snow + falls>

Japanese: 雪が降る (yuki ga huru)

Korean: 눈이 내린다

Chinese: 下雪

--To read this post in Japanese, click here.

consonant cluster

When I first started to learn English,
I was confused to find that some consonants lie side by side
in a English word without sandwiching a vowel between them.
For example, "s," "p," and "r" lie side by side in "spring."
This scarcely occurs in a Japanese word.

Such a group of consonant sitting side by side is called

"consonant cluster."

They say that Italian language is easy for Japanese people
to pronounce.
I guess one of the reasons is a consonant cluster in an Italian
word is shorter than that in an English word.

In Italian word, sometimes,
a consonant is skipped with staccato rhythm.
And sometimes,

English: n + s + t  (constitution)
Italian: s + t   (costituzione)

English: n + c + t  (instinct)
Italian: n + t   (istinto)

a consonant just disappears without a word.
Sad, though easy...

--To read this post in Japanese, click here.

Vienna Philharmonic New Year's Concert

Vienna Philharmonic New Year's Concert was conducted by
Mr. Welser-Möst.

First I got an impression of him as an elegant serious type.

In a middle of a tune, he took a stuffed animal from a box and
handed it to a performer who had just played a solo part.
He continued with a goose, an elephant, a viking cap, a wood spoon, etc.
He finished the tune with a chef cap on his head and
a wood spoon in his hand.

It was fun.

Japanese: ぬいぐるみ Nuigurumi

Korean： 봉제　인형 (縫製人形)

English: stuffed toy

Chinese： 充填玩具

French: peluches
"peluche" means plush.

Italian: animali di peluche
animals of plush

German: Kuscheltiere
"kuscheln" means to snuggle.

Dutch: knuffeltje
"knuffelen" means to hug.

--To read this post in Japanese, click here.

giorno 31 Iron Road

Italian:  "ferrovia"
ferri=iron, via=road

Japanese: 鉄道
鉄=iron, 道=road

Korean: 철도
철=iron , 도=road

Chinese：铁路
铁=iron, 路=road　

French：chemin de fer  
chemin=path, fer = iron

Spanish：ferrocarril
carril=path, (ferro) = iron

German：Eisenbahn
Eisen=iron, Bahn=road

<wallflowers, or going my wayers>

English: railroad

Dutch: spoorweg
spoor=trace, weg=road

--To read this post in Japanese, click here.

giorno 22: The champion of monsters

Dutch: monster

Of course, it also means "monster"

Italian: campione
Of course, it also means "champion"

Japanese: 見本、試供品、サンプル

English: sample

Well, English and Japanese seem boresome.

Italian time last week：6.5 hours.
Maybe I am too relaxed ?

--To read this post in Japanese, click here.

giorno 19 At a check out counter in a supermarket Vol. 3

At a check out counter in a supermarket
I realized that I had not brought a discount coupon


Then I suddenly recalled when I was an elementary school pupil,
almost all of the teachers at the school were strongly against the introduction of English language classes for us.


I have totally no idea what made me recall that.


At a check out counter in a supermarket Vol. 2

At a check out counter in a supermarket Vol. 1

Italian time yesterday and today: about one hour each in a train and a bus.

--To read this post in Japanese, click here.

A vest for swimming

I took KLM and found out that they call a life vest "zwemvest."

There is no such thing as a heroic resolution,　but just a vest for swimming.

In other languages,,,

Japanese 救命胴衣　vest for saving life

Chinese　救生衣　cloth for saving life

Korean　구명 조끼　vest for saving life

Italian　　"salvagente"
"Salvare" is "to save."

Spanish　"chaleco salvavidas"　 vest for saving life

French　　"gilet de sauvetage" vest for saving life

Well, then only in Dutch..?

--To read this post in Japanese, click here.

My Kindle was broken

My Kindle was broken... by a traffic accident.  Sad.

I am OK, partly thanks to my Kindle, which was in a bag that is hit by a car directly.

Actually, lower half of the screen is OK.

But you can not scroll a page with a Kindle, can you??

When I bought the kindle, My son was immersed in Harry Potter.

And so did I.

And I thought it might be fun reading Harry Potter in English.

And with a Kindle, I might enjoy reading Harry Potter in a commuter train.

So I bought the Kindle.

Then I realized that they do not sell a Harry Potter e-book.

Pity.

Anyway, I enjoyed reading Steve Jobs and other books in a commuter train.

And now I am sure I need another one.

I don't want to say I am busy

--To read this post in Japanese, click here.

Tons of work to do.
Actually, I feel like I cannot afford to spend my time writing a blog entry.

Japanese : 忙しい　[isogashii]
I don't like this Kanji character, which means "no spirit".

Chinese ： 忙碌 [mánglù]

Korean： 바빠 [pappa] Sounds cute.

Dutch： druk

English： busy

Afrikaans ： busy
This does not sounds like Dutch but sounds like English.

French： occupé

Spanish and Portuguese ： ocupado

Italian : occupato

Vietnamese：bận rộn
This one really sounds like busy.

cha cha cha cha

The Cha-cha-cha is of course the name of a cheerful dance.

In Japanese, チャチャチャ　[cha cha cha] sometimes represents
sound of hand claps for example when encouraging a favorite player.

In Korean, 자자 자자 [ cha cha, cha cha ] means
"Let's go to bed, Let's go to bed."

If you pronounce it more plosively,
찾자　찾자 [ cha cha, cha cha ] means
"Let's make a search, Let's make a search."

(J120326)
--To read this post in Japanese, click here.

pastel

--To read this post in Japanese, click here.

Of course, pastel is a stick or crayon with soft gentle color.

In English, French, Dutch, Vietnamese, ... it is pastel.

And also in other languages,

Italian: pastello

Japanese: パステル　[Pasuteru]

Korean: 파스텔 [pastel]


However, in Spanish, "pastel" means a cake.

In Brazil, "pastel" means a deep fried pastry with filling in it.

Yum-yum.

Yes/No

--To read this post in Japanese, click here.

In Korean, "네" [ne] means Yes.

In Dutch, "Nee" [nei] means No.

When I first started learning Korean
after having lived in the NL for a while,
saying "네" [ne] when I meant yes was extremely difficult.

In Korean, "예" [je] also means Yes.

This may be easier for English speakers
since it sounds like English "Yes."


English:  yes/no

Japanese:  はい　(hai) /いいえ (iie)

Korean:  네 (ne)/아니오 (anyo)

Chinese:  是 (shi)/不是 (bushi)

French：  oui/non

Spanish：   sí/no

Italian:   sì/no

German：  ja/nein

Dutch:  ja/nee

Russion:  да/нет