英語学習のAaron Teaches　ブログ2008-07-24T10:40:53+09:00英語ヒアリング(リスニング)、発音、語彙、英文法、英会話、英作文(英文ライティング)の正しい学習方法を配信します。JUGEMHouse Swappinghttp://english.aaronteaches.com/?eid=7615342008-07-24T10:38:22+09:002008-07-24T01:40:53Z2008-07-24T01:38:22Z休暇に自宅を交換してみたいですか。英文には、映画 "The Holiday" のあらすじの一部も引用されています。 Intervac started doing home exchanges in the early 1950s. Home exchanges are where two families exchange homes for vacations. The homes could be from...Aaron Teachesアメリカの生活
Intervac started doing home exchanges in the early 1950s. Home exchanges are where two families exchange homes for vacations. The homes could be from different parts of the same country or anywhere in the world. Exchanges are usually for from 2 to 4 weeks. Car exchanges are also usually included. Families can basically enjoy a vacation somewhere with free accommodation and local transportation. Thinking it might be nice to visit Great Britain, I searched their database and found a number of homes that might be available.

There are also other organizations such as HomeForExchange.com. Visit their website and you can see how many members there are in each country. Japan only has 11 members. Homeforswap is another possibility and don't forget HomeExchange.com. HomeExchange.com was featured in the movie "The Holiday."

The following description of "The Holiday" is from Wikipedia:

The Holiday is a 2006 romantic comedy film distributed by Columbia Pictures, starring Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, and Jack Black.

After 3 years of an on-again off-again relationship, Iris (Kate Winslet) is still in love with Jasper (Rufus Sewell), her co-worker at a London publishing house, despite his infidelity and exploitation of her feelings. However, during her company's Christmas party, Jasper announces that he is now engaged to Sarah Smith-Alcott, the woman with whom he cheated on Iris, and Iris is crushed.

Meanwhile, Amanda, (Cameron Diaz) in Malibu, California, has just recently found out that her boyfriend, Ethan (Edward Burns), has been sleeping with his 24-year-old receptionist. She dumps him, but reveals that she is unable to cry. On a whim, Amanda decides to take a break from her hectic job and love life and rent a house somewhere far away. While surfing a house rental site, she finds Iris in Surrey, England, who just happens to be in the same situation as her. Rather than rent the house, Iris says that she's willing to do a home exchange, to which Amanda agrees.

Amanda arrives during a snowstorm at her exchange home in a picture-postcard village in rural Surrey and is extremely bored there, but Iris is pleasantly surprised at the sheer size and luxury of Amanda's house. Amanda decides to pack up and take a noon flight home the next day. However that evening she meets Graham (Jude Law), Iris's older brother, who had come to Iris's house to sleep off his drunkenness. They each take a liking to each other and decide to have a one-night stand, given the fact that they would probably never see each other again. The next morning, Amanda tells Graham her plans to leave. He is clearly disappointed, but invites her to dinner with his friends if she changes her mind. At the airport, Amanda considers the opportunity she could be missing with Graham. Later that night, Graham walks into the pub, and eventually sees Amanda. The two continue to build a relationship over the coming days despite her worries about phone calls he gets from people named Sophie and Olivia.
If you would like to read more about the movie, please click the link above.

Would you like to try swapping homes with someone? Take a look at the links above.

関心がありましたら、ぜひ英文内のリンクもご覧ください。
]]>英語の詩 What children thinkhttp://english.aaronteaches.com/?eid=7572932008-07-22T11:10:36+09:002008-07-22T02:13:06Z2008-07-22T02:10:36Z読み手を強く引きつける英語の詩です。詩の中に幼い娘の心情を推測するような質問がいくつか出てきます。 Hello, Here is a fascinating poem with a question to go along. ****************************** American Life in Poetry: Column 164 BY TED K...Aaron Teaches英語リーディング
Hello,

Here is a fascinating poem with a question to go along.

******************************

American Life in Poetry: Column 164

BY TED KOOSER, U.S. POET LAUREATE, 2004-2006

How often have you wondered what might be going on inside a child's head? They can be so much more free and playful with their imaginations than adults, and are so good at keeping those flights of fancy secret and mysterious, that even if we were told what they were thinking we might not be able to make much sense of it. Here Ellen Bass, of Santa Cruz, California, tells us of one such experience.


Dead Butterfly

For months my daughter carried
a dead monarch in a quart mason jar.
To and from school in her backpack,
to her only friend's house. At the dinner table
it sat like a guest alongside the pot roast.
She took it to bed, propped by her pillow.

Was it the year her brother was born?
Was this her own too-fragile baby
that had lived--so briefly--in its glassed world?
Or the year she refused to go to her father's house?
Was this the holding-her-breath girl she became there?

This plump child in her rolled-down socks
I sometimes wanted to haul back inside me
and carry safe again. What was her fierce
commitment? I never understood.
We just lived with the dead winged thing
as part of her, as part of us,
weightless in its heavy jar.


American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation (www.poetryfoundation.org), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem copyright (c) 2007 by Ellen Bass and reprinted from "The Human Line," 2007, by permission of Copper Canyon Press, www.coppercanyonpress.org. Introduction copyright (c) 2008 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction's author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006. We do not accept unsolicited manuscripts.

******************************

What do you think?

We may never know, but we can imagine.

Best,
Tom

どのような感情や考えのもとに、子供が行動しているかを知ることは困難ですが、少なくとも推し量ることは可能でしょう。
]]>英語の名詞を動詞に変える ― 英文の文意をはっきりさせるにはhttp://english.aaronteaches.com/?eid=7587422008-07-20T08:56:49+09:002008-07-19T23:59:17Z2008-07-19T23:56:49Z英文の文意を強く、はっきりさせるために、名詞を動詞に変えて表現するという方法があります。具体的には、英文を読んで考えてみましょう。 In the past entry, we have addressed the issue of wordiness. Too many words weaken writing without adding advantages. ...Aaron Teaches英語学習、翻訳のコツ
In the past entry, we have addressed the issue of wordiness. Too many words weaken writing without adding advantages. Today, we would like to examine strengthening writing by changing nouns into verbs.

We have presented some examples below of phrases that we commonly see Japanese writers of English use.

take into consideration
make a presentation
give a lecture
make a request
make an inquiry
provide an explanation
make a decision
make clear

While there may occasionally be need to use such phrases, in general we would recommend the following:

consider
present
lecture
request
inquire
explain
decide
clarify

These verbs provide all the information that the phrases above provide, but they do so with fewer words. The writing is stronger, clearer, and better. We imagine that much of the lengthier phrases above are based on Japanese writing which uses this style. When you write, we recommend that you look at your phrases with nouns that can be changed into verbs. Making the change will strengthen your writing.

英文を書くときには、この方法も思い出してみてください。
]]>Public Colleges, Texas, and Admissionshttp://english.aaronteaches.com/?eid=7526222008-07-17T14:18:01+09:002008-07-17T05:20:35Z2008-07-17T05:18:01Z大学への入学者選定に関する英文です。この英文では、the University of Texas at Austin における例が紹介されています。 Approximately 10 years ago, a federal court told the state of Texas that race could not be considered as a factor for admissions. The ...Aaron Teachesアメリカの生活
Approximately 10 years ago, a federal court told the state of Texas that race could not be considered as a factor for admissions. The state of Texas then announced that the top 10% of the graduating class of each high school would automatically be admitted to state universities. According to an editorial in USA Today, the 10% factor has been a stunning success. USA today provided the following three points from the University of Texas at Austin as examples:

・Students admitted under the 10% policy get better grades than other students and graduate at higher rates.
・Racial diversity on campus has improved: Hispanic students have risen by 29% and African-Americans by 32%.
・The Austin campus now has students from 853 schools, compared to 616 high schools before, adding more economic and geographical diversity.

The 10% policy has resulted in many talented students not in the top 10% being unable to go to the Austin campus as they may have been able to some years ago. Rural and inner-city Texans have replaced many of them and appear to be doing well. Even though race is no longer a factor in admissions, there are other ways to try to achieve fairness and diversity.

And that is a good thing!
]]>I acknowledge that ugly things have happened - 英文における否定形の使用についてhttp://english.aaronteaches.com/?eid=7546352008-07-15T15:44:15+09:002008-07-15T06:46:42Z2008-07-15T06:44:15Z英文を書くとき、留意したいことがあります。否定形の英文は、文意が弱くなります。反対に、肯定形にすることで、文を強くすることができるという点です。 Hello, Where do you think today's title of 'I acknowledge that ugly things have happened' came from? ...Aaron Teaches英文校正
Hello,

Where do you think today's title of 'I acknowledge that ugly things have happened' came from?

It started out as something like the following:

I will not pretend that ugly things have not happened.

The original sentence was a bit different, but I can't remember exactly what it was.

I changed the sentence because it started out as very negative:

I will not pretend that ugly things have not happened.

In general, positive writing is stronger. Look at the following sentences:

President Bush was not a success.

President Bush was a failure.

Which one looks stronger?

Yes, the latter one. When possible, try not to use negatives. Your writing will be stronger.

I have done it again. That should read as follows:

Yes, the latter one. When possible, use positive writing. Your writing will be stronger.

Writing always requires revision...

Best,
Tom

]]>Working things outhttp://english.aaronteaches.com/?eid=7489472008-07-13T16:35:17+09:002008-07-13T07:47:04Z2008-07-13T07:35:17Zそれぞれの文化にみられる行動についてみてみましょう。人間関係が壊れたときの行動パターンは、アメリカの文化と日本の文化では、どのように異なるでしょうか。英文を読みながら、考えてみましょう。 Both American and Japanese cultures value human relationships ...Aaron Teachesアメリカの文化
Both American and Japanese cultures value human relationships highly as many cultures do. However, American and Japanese cultures have different values and behaviors about what to do when relationships break down. In Japan, when a relationship breaks down, repair is often not valued. People simply stop speaking together and carry a grudge that may last indefinitely.

American culture used to do this. Westerns, for example, are full of feuds between families where each family hunts down and kills people in the other family. The Hatfields and McCoys were two families in West Virginia and Kentucky that feuded for almost 30 years at the end of the 19th century. At least 12 people died in the feud, and the National Guard was called out! This was probably the most famous and longest grudge in American history.

Today in America, however, many believe it is a sign of maturity to repair relationships and work things out. If there is some trouble or problems between two people or families, we view the people who try to repair the relationship, or work things out, as trying to do the right thing. This is an important and valued social skill today. Unfortunately, it is not a skill everyone has.

Westerners who come to Japan are often surprised by Japanese simply terminating relationships when the relationships go wrong. In America, pretending that the other person no longer exists may be viewed as childish behavior.

How values and behaviors change...

関係が壊れたとき、そのまま関係を終わらせずに、関係修復の努力をするのは、より分別のある行為と言えそうです。
]]>イタリア語翻訳 - 「 耳 」 を駆使した翻訳作業http://english.aaronteaches.com/?eid=7504992008-07-11T14:55:32+09:002008-07-11T05:57:47Z2008-07-11T05:55:32Zイタリア在住のイタリア語翻訳者のエッセイです。音、リズムの大切さについて述べられています。 イタリア語の学習を始めた理由は、もともとイタリア旅行が好きで 「 旅行中にイタリア語で会話したいから 」 という単純な動機だった。それが高じて今ではイタリアに在...Aaron Teaches多言語翻訳 ・ 校正

イタリア語の学習を始めた理由は、もともとイタリア旅行が好きで 「 旅行中にイタリア語で会話したいから 」 という単純な動機だった。それが高じて今ではイタリアに在住し、現地で仕事をしているのだから自分でも驚きである。

語学習得に必要なのは根気、努力、そして「耳」だと思う。コツコツ覚えると同時に、耳からネイティブの発音、表現を聞き取ってこそ上達するものである。翻訳という仕事はなによりもこの根気が必要な仕事だと思われがちである。実際、翻訳とは地味な仕事であるし、一人で黙々と作業していると孤独な仕事だと感じることもある。好きでなければできない仕事だろう。そしてイタリア語翻訳の場合には、文章の世界の仕事ではあっても、根気だけでなく「耳」も使う必要があると実感している。

留学生時代によく言われたことが「文法が完璧でもダメ。イタリア語特有のイントネーションが自然に出てこそイタリア語を習得した証拠」ということだった。確かにイタリア語のアクセント、イントネーションは明瞭であり、平坦な日本語に比べれば強烈とも言える。イタリア語を知らない日本人が彼らの会話を聞くと 「 喧嘩をしているのか」 と思えるほどオーバーにわめきたてているように聞こえるのは、このイントネーションのせいだと思う。また、日本人には歌っているように聞こえ、さすがカンツォーネの国だと妙に納得してしまうかもしれない。

このイタリア語を翻訳対象言語とする場合、完璧に文法に従ったとしても、時として翻訳文としては何かおかしいと思えることがある。訳文を声に出して読んでみると明らかなのだが、どうもしっくりこないのである。何か耳に心地よくない、つまり文章の途中でどこかつまずく感じがし、良い文章とは思えないことがある。極端に言えばイタリア語ではないようにすら思えるのだ。イタリア語翻訳に限らず、日本語から外国語に翻訳する場合には、ネイティブの表現を重視するということは重要ポイントであるが、イタリア語翻訳の場合は特にイントネーション、リズムに注意する必要がある。耳に心地よい翻訳文に達するには、ネイティブではない限り、かなりの時間と経験が必要になるのだが、現地でイタリア語に囲まれて生活していると、ネイティブには到底及ばないが、幸いにも 「 耳 」 は発達してくるようである。

私のイタリア語翻訳の経験の中で一番 「 耳 」 を使ったのが短歌、俳句のイタリア語翻訳である。限られた文字数に込められた日本人ならではの情緒をイタリア語で表現するだけでも大変な作業であったが、イントネーションやリズムも美しいイタリア語に翻訳するには、正直とても苦労した。翻訳文が長くなっては短歌、俳句の本質である簡潔さを失い、ただの説明文になってしまう。いかに簡潔で、そして美しいリズムのイタリア語に仕上げるか、それは声に出して読みながらの翻訳作業だった。イントネーションやリズムといった音に関する要素を考慮し、完成した翻訳文を何度も音読する。こうした経験はイタリア語特有のイントネーションとリズムが翻訳においていかに重要であるか、同時にいかに難しいかを再認識するよい機会となった。

もちろん社外文書などの書面では、内容の伝達が第一であるから、ここまでこだわる必要はないかもしれない。しかし、イタリア語の翻訳者として仕事をするからには、やはり音の域にまで達したいものである。

留学中、お世話になったホームステイ先の家族が 「 本当のイタリア語はリズムが命。イントネーションがおかしいと聞き取りにくいし、何を言っているのかよくわからないのよ 」 と教えてくれたことが、今となってはイタリア語翻訳の教訓となっている。


ALS サイトでは、この他にもたくさんのエッセイを掲載しています。画面左の英語翻訳、英文校正、多言語翻訳、校正サービス をクリックしてALSサイトへ是非アクセスしてみてください。そして、メインページの左にあるメニューから翻訳関連エッセイをお選びください。

Hana
ALS
]]>イタリア語翻訳に携わるということhttp://english.aaronteaches.com/?eid=7478612008-07-09T10:36:34+09:002008-07-09T01:38:47Z2008-07-09T01:36:34Zイタリア語翻訳者のエッセイをご紹介します。楽しんでいただけたら幸いです。 イタリア語翻訳を主体としたフリーの翻訳者として独立して丸4年がたちました。それ以前はイタリア企業で日本との業務連絡を主体に、必要に応じて和伊翻訳や伊和翻訳をこなしていました。 ...Aaron Teaches多言語翻訳 ・ 校正

イタリア語翻訳を主体としたフリーの翻訳者として独立して丸4年がたちました。それ以前はイタリア企業で日本との業務連絡を主体に、必要に応じて和伊翻訳や伊和翻訳をこなしていました。

社内翻訳で扱っていたイタリア語翻訳の書類がごく限られた領域におさまるのに対し、フリーのイタリア語翻訳者となると、特に産業翻訳分野において、扱うフィールドは比較の仕様がないほど広がります。

イタリア語翻訳者は食品業界や観光業から各種製造業、ファション業界と、イタリアと日本が関わる幅広い業界のビジネステキストを読みこなし、翻訳する能力を要求されます。

継続して一業種の仕事を受注できれば翻訳能力を高める上でも理想的なのですが、イタリア語翻訳ではこれが難しいのが現実です。業種が違えば使用するイタリア語と日本語の語彙も変わり、そのたびに一から調べなおすこともあり、翻訳作業の能率が上がらないこともあります。

イタリア語と日本語間で専門辞書や参考文献が少ないというハンディーも見逃せません。このためイタリア語翻訳者は英語の文献や辞書を使い、それを仲介としてイタリア語翻訳の作業を進めることもあります。

私はイタリア在住のため、日本の図書館などの利用はできません。反面イタリアの図書館で文献を調べ易いメリットがあります。またイタリア在住でイタリア語を毎日の生活で使い、イタリアの社会背景や習慣に触れていることが、イタリア語翻訳作業をするとき、辞書が少ないハンディーを補ってくれます。

ヨーロッパの翻訳業界では外国語のテキストを自分の母国語に翻訳する 「 一方通行の翻訳 」 が一般的です。しかしイタリア語 ・ 日本語翻訳の場合においては、この原則が当てはまりません。日本人翻訳者が伊和翻訳と和伊翻訳の双方で働くケースが良くあります。 ヨーロッパ人からみると、日本語という全く体系の違う言語を日本人以外が完全に理解するのは難しい、という感覚が普及しているようです。このため、イタリア人が訳した和伊翻訳文を校正する依頼も良くあります。固有名詞や人名の訳 （ 読み ） そして専門用語の解釈が間違っていないかを確認する為です。

イタリア語の文章では 「 語調を整える 」 ことを非常に重視します。技術系の文章や契約書などは別ですが、商業文を翻訳するときに、イタリア語のリズムを重視して書かれたテキストのスタイルをどう日本語に移し変えるか、苦労させられることがあります。

乱暴に言ってしまえば、イタリア語テキストの意味が間違いなく伝われば、翻訳できたことにはなります。イタリア語の文章で言葉が吟味され、語調を整えることに心を配って書かれていれば、それを日本語の翻訳文に反映することが、プロのイタリア語翻訳者としての良心ではないかと思っています。

意味を伝えるだけではなく、イタリア語又は日本語原文のスタイルにあった、読みやすく理解しやすい翻訳文に仕上げることを心がけて、仕事を続けていきたいと思うのです。


ALS サイトでは、この他にもたくさんのエッセイを掲載しています。画面左の英語翻訳、英文校正、多言語翻訳、校正サービス をクリックしてALSサイトへ是非アクセスしてみてください。そして、メインページの左にあるメニューから翻訳関連エッセイをお選びください。

Hana
ALS
]]>F Market - 英作文問題 9 : 英作文を勉強しましょう！http://english.aaronteaches.com/?eid=7540582008-07-07T15:07:29+09:002008-07-07T06:07:29Z2008-07-07T06:07:29Z下記の英作文問題について、英文を書いてみましょう。何を書きたいかをいろいろ考え、調べ、想像力を発揮させ、リライトし、読み手が興味をもちそうな文章を目指しましょう。 Where will the F Market take you? Write a composition about a trip you are taki...Aaron Teaches英作文の学習方法
Where will the F Market take you?



Write a composition about a trip you are taking. Imagine you are in San Francisco, but you are going somewhere else. You are taking the F Market as the first step on the next leg of your journey. Tell the reader about it.

Composition hint:

Again, it is only in school and writing classes that we have assignments. If you really want to be a writer, you need to think about what you want to write about. The reason this assignment is so vague is because we would like you to decide what you are going to write about it. Will it be adventure or science fiction? Will it be a romance or a comedy? Will it be something almost real or something in your imagination? You are the writer. You decide!

Good writing comes from a combination of many factors including imagination, research, reflection, brain-storming, and rewriting. Good compositions are not magic. They come from hard work. If you work hard at your writing, you can get better and better at writing. Practice makes perfect!

While rewriting is essential, the heart of writing, it is also very helpful to get feedback from others. Can you find someone to read your composition and give you feedback?

英語で文章を書く力を向上させるにはどうしたらよいでしょうか。その一つの方法は、自分の書いた英文に対し、英文ライティング指導経験の豊富な英語ネイティブからフィードバックを得るというものです。インターネット英語 ( 英文ライティング ) 通信講座 は、このようなご要望にお応えします。
]]>Turabian'shttp://english.aaronteaches.com/?eid=7478592008-07-05T12:42:24+09:002008-07-07T04:28:36Z2008-07-05T03:42:24Zタイトルの英語は何を表しているか分かりますか？ Hello, Have you heard of Turabian's? Many students writing term papers at high school and college, theses, and dissertations refer to the manual they use as Turabian's. They are referring to A Man...Aaron Teaches英文校正
Hello,

Have you heard of Turabian's?

Many students writing term papers at high school and college, theses, and dissertations refer to the manual they use as Turabian's. They are referring to A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations by Kate Turabian. Turabian was the dissertation secretary at the University of Chicago for 28 years from 1930 to 1958. The book is now in its sixth edition.

Interesting how things get started.

Best,
Tom

英語の論文を書くときに使用するマニュアルです。
]]>Summer is time for picnicshttp://english.aaronteaches.com/?eid=7490562008-07-03T11:24:34+09:002008-07-03T02:26:41Z2008-07-03T02:24:34Z夏もすぐそこです。夏の食べ物というと何が思い浮かびますか？英文を読んでみましょう。 Hello, Summer is here and Americans are busy eating summer foods! You may ask what summer foods are, which is a difficult question to answer. Watermelon is certain...Aaron Teachesアメリカの食べ物
Hello,

Summer is here and Americans are busy eating summer foods! You may ask what summer foods are, which is a difficult question to answer. Watermelon is certainly a summer food and so is barbeque. Many foods that we think of as summer foods though are eaten year round but just taste best in the summer.

What differentiates summer foods may be that we eat outside. Food always tastes better when you are outside or picnicking. And summer is the time for picnicking.

Mmmmmm...

Best,
Tom
]]>英語の特徴 ― Being specifichttp://english.aaronteaches.com/?eid=7489362008-07-01T11:53:00+09:002008-07-01T02:55:05Z2008-07-01T02:53:00Z英語では、明確に述べることが重要です。一方、一般に日本語は言葉の曖昧さに対してかなり寛容に思われます。 For a variety of cultural reasons, English is often spoken and written more specifically than Japanese. This has nothing to do with the language b...Aaron Teaches英語総合情報
For a variety of cultural reasons, English is often spoken and written more specifically than Japanese. This has nothing to do with the language but everything to do with the culture. Japanese have much more tolerance for vagueness than English speakers, and English speakers inquire about specifics more often than Japanese speakers.

The differences become an issue when translating as information not necessary in Japanese writing is often better to include in English writing. Examples that illustrate this include Japanese directions with vague descriptions of how far something is while English descriptions often clearly state the time or distance. Japanese often uses the expression 適当に where English would demand an explanation.

When you write in English or translate, this difference should be remembered.

英文を書くとき、また、和英翻訳する場合には、この英語という言語において要求される明確性に留意する必要があります。
]]>The Graduatehttp://english.aaronteaches.com/?eid=7468162008-06-29T20:27:13+09:002008-06-29T11:29:14Z2008-06-29T11:27:13Zアメリカの映画トップ100の7番目にくる映画です。 Hello, The Graduate with Dustin Hoffman from 1967 is No. 7 on the list. The movie featured a number of Simon and Garfunkel songs and was one of Dustin Hoffman's greatest performances ever. Mr. Rob...Aaron Teachesアメリカの出来事 (映画)
Hello,

The Graduate with Dustin Hoffman from 1967 is No. 7 on the list. The movie featured a number of Simon and Garfunkel songs and was one of Dustin Hoffman's greatest performances ever.

Mr. Robinson offered one word of advice to Dustin Hoffman: plastics. Look at today's world. He was right.

Best,
Tom

Mr. Robinson の予測は当たり、現代はプラスチックの時代ですね。
]]>英文に変化をつけるには - Replacing 'and' with the gerundhttp://english.aaronteaches.com/?eid=7478562008-06-26T10:22:21+09:002008-06-26T01:24:39Z2008-06-26T01:22:21Z英文ライティングを向上させる一つの方法は、各文の型に変化をつけることです。 Hello, Japanese to English translations often connect two sentences, or a sentence and a clause, with and. As we have explained elsewhere, sentence variety makes for bette...Aaron Teaches英文校正
Hello,

Japanese to English translations often connect two sentences, or a sentence and a clause, with and. As we have explained elsewhere, sentence variety makes for better writing. One way to do this is by replacing and with a gerund.

Our examples here are very simple, but the same style can be used with complex writing.

Example with and: John ate spinach and walked down the street.
Example with a gerund: John ate spinach, walking down the street.

Many Japanese writers who write in English are not familiar with this style, or not comfortable using it. We recommend it highly.

Happy writing!

Best,
Tom

英文中の例では、動詞を walking に変えて文と文をつなげています。この方法を使用すれば、英語で文章を書くとき、and の使用を減らすことができます。
]]>Strawberry creativity - 英作文問題 7 : 英作文を勉強しましょう！http://english.aaronteaches.com/?eid=7467982008-06-24T14:15:27+09:002008-06-24T05:17:30Z2008-06-24T05:15:27Zおいしそうないちごの写真です。下記問題について英文を書きましょう。英作文のヒントの中で、Be creative! と繰り返されています。事実を述べるより、むしろ興味深い事柄をたくさん加えて何か話を作り上げることが、魅力ある文章を書くための一歩のようです。 What is...Aaron Teaches英作文の学習方法
What is your favorite fruit?



Doesn't that sound like an extremely boring topic? What can you do to write an interesting composition with such a topic?

Composition hint:

Be creative! One option is to use strawberries as a jumping off point to tell something else. For example, perhaps strawberries are your favorite fruit because that was what you ate when you first looked into the eyes of your true love. Tell us the story.

Be very creative! Being creative means to make something up. Strawberries could be your favorite fruit because they give you magical powers, enabling you to leap giant buildings, rescue children from burning houses, or dive deep under the water to rescue drowning people. You may have created a new kind of strawberry, maybe bigger or sweeter than any other kind of strawberries. Hollywood stories are rarely true. Writing does not always have to be something real.

Good writing comes from a combination of many factors including imagination, research, reflection, brain-storming, and rewriting. Good compositions are not magic. They come from hard work. If you work hard at your writing, you can get better and better at writing. Practice makes perfect!

In the sixth assignment we asked you how much rewriting you did. Rewriting is the heart of good writing. We suggest that you write again and again. Some famous authors rewrite each page 10, 20, 50, or even 100 times. Now, we would like to ask you if you had trouble looking at what you had written before? Did your writing look the same to you? Well, put it aside for a week. Don't look at it. Then take it out and have a fresh look. Often, not looking at your writing for a long time will help you to get a fresh rewriting start on it when you do look at it.
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