Is it safe?

Max: I should go to bed. I have to wake wake up early to get to the airport by eight tomorrow morning.
Naomi: Don't worry, Max. I'll drive you.
Emi: Uh-oh.
Max: Uh-oh?!
Naomi: Don't listen to her, Max. I am a safety driver.
Max: Okay...but I hope you are a safe driver.

Lots of Japanese people say they're safety drivers. I am sure they are but actually, they mean they are safe drivers. Drivers is a noun so you need an adjective -- safe.

When can you use safety? Well, this familiar sign uses "safety":


Can you translate it? Right, it says "Safety first."

Of course, I always think in terms of movies. Here is the scariest use of the word "safe" you will ever hear. "Is it safe?" You tell me.

English Lesson "Pick Up vs. Pick Out"

"Pick up" has many uses:


My friend's son picked me up at the airport.


Harvey Milk picked up Scott Smith in the subway
in the beginning of "Milk."


Oh, no! The baby made a mess.
Can you pick up the clothes on the floor?


Please pick up some milk on your way home.

• • •

But be careful! "Pick up" doesn't work here:

Ken: Can you help me?
Naomi: What's the matter?
Ken: I can't decide. Help me pick up a tie.
Naomi: ???
Ken: Which tie should I wear?
Naomi: Oh...pick out a tie! That one.

"Pick out" = choose

English Lesson: Tastes Great! Less Filling!!

Max: How is your ice cream?
Naomi: It has good taste.
I love green tea ice cream. Wanna try it?
Max: Thanks, but no thanks. I prefer chocolate.
Naomi: You only like chocolate?
Max: Yup. By the way, you should say, "It tastes good."
Naomi: Why?

It is a matter of style. Americans most often use "taste" as a verb when we talk about food:
Your spaghetti sauce tastes great!
This bread tastes stale.
I don't like tofu because it tastes bland.

We do this with the other four senses:
You look great in your new jacket!
The popcorn smells so good.
My voice sounded raspy after five hours of karaoke.
I feel so tired every day after work.

•••
How about "good taste"?

One situation where people do say "good taste" is when someone agrees with your choice in something -- fashion, movies, cuisine -- and that choice shows you have an appreciation for sophisticated things. Of course, it also means you have have "bad taste."

For example --

Hugh Jackman has good taste when it comes to picking suits. Of course, when you look like Jackman, just about anything you wear is going to look good. (I don't know about that pose, though. Where was this picture taken? Japan?)


Cher, on the other hand, had bad taste the year she decided to pick this dress. But of course, if she hadn't dressed like that, we would have had nothing to talk about when watching the Academy Awards.

English Lesson: comparatives

Most students have no trouble making a sentence such as this one:

My dog is bigger than your dog.

But then, they make mistakes with sentences such as this one:

At McDonald's, US sizes are much bigger than Japan.






Huh? What are you comparing? In the first sentence, you are comparing your dog with my dog. In the second sentence, you are comparing US sizes with Japanese sizes. So, you need to use "Japanese sizes" at the end of the sentence. Or you can do this:

At McDonald's, US sizes are bigger than Japanese ones.

•••

Do you know how to use these?

• mine
• yours
• his
• hers
• ours
• theirs

His voice is louder than mine.

Where are you going to stay, at my house or his?

Our team practices more often than theirs.

English Lesson: Learning English with Google

Recently, I looked at how Japanese people use English words differently from Americans -- specifically, I talked about the word "challenge." In fact, there are many words that fit this category. Today, let's look at "renewal" and "reform."

In Japan, these two words are often used to talk about fixing a building, a business or a home.

renewal -- Here is a site about improving Koshien Stadium in Hyogo Prefecture, home of the annual Summer HS Baseball Tournament.

reform -- Take a look at this site for a company (with an impressive-sounding name) that will fix up your home.*

(from here)


Well, Americans use "reform" and "renewal" very differently. We don't use these words to talk about homes or stadiums. How do we use them? OK. Try this. Go to Google News and do a search for "reform."

What did you find? Lots and lots of stories about healthcare reform. It's the hot topic of the year. And it makes some people in the US very emotional.

So, reform is a word we use to talk about improving or changing political processes and government programs. And there are lots of programs and processes that need change: Social Security reform, immigration reform...

How about renewal? Did you check Google News? Did you find anything about buildings or stores or stadiums? Nope. Renewal has to do with licenses:

Every few years, I have to renew my driver's license.

Some married couples renew their wedding vows on their wedding anniversary.

So, what should you use when you talk about buildings? Try "renovate," or "refurbish."

• • •

* I started to notice the word "reform" in Japan while watching a show called "Before/After," which is similar to "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" except without all the excessive emotional manipulation.

English Lesson: "Have you seen 'The Last of the Mohicans'?"

We use "the" in noun phrases with the word "of." This often appears in titles. For example, have you seen the Indiana Jones movie where he goes to India? It's called Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
















It's not my favorite one but the dinner scene is fantastic.

Book titles also commonly use "the" and "of":
"The Count of Monte Cristo" is discussed in a funny moment from The Shawshank Redemption. It happens around the 5-minute mark of this clip:


I tried to think of song titles too but I couldn't come up with any. Can you think of one?

Let's finish with the title of this blog entry. Michael Mann's remake of "The Last of the Mohicans" tells an old-fashioned love story but with such beautiful images and well-chosen music that the movie feels fresh and new. I can watch the final sequence of the movie over and over.



I think the secret to its power is that there are so few lines of dialogue in the end. Here, actions speak. And the pace of it, measured by the music, is slower than most action sequences. The Mohicans do a lot of running at the end, and as they run, anticipation builds and builds.

Excuse me. I'm gonna watch it again.

English Lesson: "Let's try it!"

Kelly: Have you ever played darts?
Naomi: No, never.
Kelly: Me neither. There's a British pub in my neighborhood. It has a dart board. Do you want to play?
Naomi: Sure! Let's challenge!
Kelly: ???

The Japanese language uses a lot of English words. But Japanese often uses these words in ways different from their original meaning. One example is "challenge." In the case of Kelly and Naomi, "challenge" doesn't make sense. Naomi should have said:

Sure! Let's try it!

We use "challenge" for starting a contest or a battle:

I challenge you to a game of darts.
The contender challenged the champion but lost.

"Challenge" is often used as a noun for a task or goal that will require a lot of hard work and luck:

Getting astronauts to the moon is a big challenge for NASA.

You can also use "challenging" as an adjective:

The most challenging part of this exam is the vocabulary section.

You got it? Okay. I challenge you to make three sentences using "challenge."

English Lesson: "What a rally!"

Did you watch the final game of the Summer High School Baseball Tournament?

Here are the highlights:


Of course I was rooting for the team from Niigata.　Which team were you cheering for?

The game was really exciting in the 9th inning. The team from Niigata was behind, 10-4. They needed a big rally -- six runs! -- to tie the game. They almost made it but lost 10-9. It was an impressive effort.

Sometimes, when a team is behind and needs a rally, the players wear rally caps:


I wonder how often that strategy works.

***
Do you have a favorite baseball player? Which star do you root for?
I follow Major League Baseball so I'll introduce a few Major League stars to you.


Joe Mauer plays for the Minnesota Twins. He is one of the best hitters in baseball. This year, his batting average is even higher than Ichiro's. Plus, he has 25 home runs and 78 runs batted in (RBI) so far. The most amazing thig is, he is a catcher. Usually, catchers are not great hitters so Mauer is an exceptional player.


Albert Pujols is the best hitter in baseball. He plays first base for the St. Louis Cardinals. Pujols hits over .300 every year with lots of home runs and RBIs. This year, he's leading the National League in home runs, but it's a slim lead. If he stays healthy for his career, he can break a lot of records. Take your vitamins, Albert!


My favorite player is Mariano Rivera, the closer for the New York Yankees. In November, he will become 40 years old. That's not so old, except when you're a baseball player. No matter. Rivera is still the best closer in baseball.

When he enters the game at Yankee Stadium, it feels like this:


Rivera and Metallica's "Enter Sandman" are a perfect match.

English Lesson: "The de Young Museum is in Golden Gate Park."

Articles drive students of English crazy. How can you learn to use them correctly?
Practice, my grasshopper, practice.

Learn the rules. Here's one:

Museums use "the":
I've been to the de Young Museum many times.

It was great living just ten minutes away from one of the best museums in San Francisco. Yuki and I went to a bunch of terrific exhibits, including the Gilbert and George exhibition and the Chihuly exhibition:


The tower of the de Young also has a great view of the western part of San Francisco. If it's a foggy day, you can admire the photo mural instead:

Nope, this photo wasn't taken on a foggy day.

My favorite museum in Japan is the Hakone Open-Air Museum. It's a bit out of the way, which makes it an even more worthwhile trip. I've only been there once, and I would love to go again.

Museums with nicknames also use "the." For example, the Met is the biggest museum in New York City. Just about every time I go there, I start in the cluster of rooms that contains Masterpieces of Western Art and I get exhausted making my way through them.

A nickname that doesn't use "the" is MoMA. It stands for the Museum of Modern Art. New York has a MoMA. So does San Francisco. Do you know of any other MoMAs?


Parks don't use "the":
Golden Gate Park is the biggest park in San Francisco.

Did you know that buffaloes live in Golden Gate Park? Or that you can play golf there...

Yuki's mom is approaching the tee!

...and a get a good BBQ sandwich? Right, Phil? Next time, let's try the BBQ ribs.

The U.S. has a bunch of great national parks. I've been to a number of them. Yuki and I saw Yosemite National Park and Zion National Park. Joe and I hiked in Lassen Volcanic National Park. Which one do you like better, Yuki?


Yuki in action in front of El Capitan in Yosemite.

Do you have a favorite park or museum?

English Lesson: All about "Back"

Bo: What did you do last weekend?
Abe: I backed to my hometown.

Let's look at Abe's answer because it doesn't make sense. What is the verb in the sentence? "Back." When we use "back" as a verb, it means to support or endorse. For example:

Newspapers in the U.S. always choose to support a presidential candidate a few days before the election. Last year, The New York Times backed Barack Obama while The New York Post backed John McCain.

You can also use "back" at the racetrack for the horse you gambled on.
I backed the wrong horse in the last race and lost $100.

So, what should Abe have said?
Abe: I went back to my hometown.
go back = return

Phrasal Verbs
back up (driving) - During the driving test, you have to show the proper way to back up while parking.

A while back, my co-workers and I got into a conversation about what specific things turned each of us on. Yes, we were talking after work. I forgot most of the answers but there's one I still remember. One of the teachers said she really liked watching her boyfriend park his car. She said there is something very sexy about watching a guy look over his shoulder while turning the steering wheel, especially because he uses just one hand to steer. I wonder what the other hand is doing.


sexy?

back up (computers) - You should always back up your files. If your computer crashes, you may lose all your work.

back off - After their first date, John called Kelly every day, sometimes twice a day. That's just too much. He needs to back off a bit.