Me neither = 私も = I don't either = 私も = Neither do I

Hi everybody,

In my last entry, I wrote about how to say 「私も」 in English in the affirmative (肯定的). This time, I want to teach how to say it when responding to a negative (否定的) statement. For example:

(A) I don't like natto.
(B) Me neither. / I don't either. / Neither do I.

Just like "Me too" in the affirmative, "Me neither" can be used anytime that A's comment is negative and B has the same opinion as A (BはAと同じ意見です). Since this is very convenient (便利), "Me neither" is often used by native speakers. Please remember that "don't" and "neither" are both negative. Therefore (だから), they cannot be used together in a sentence because the result would be a double negative (二重否定).

Like "I do too" and "So do I" in the affirmative, when the verb is in the past tense (過去形) in a negative statement, the responses "I don't either" and "Neither do I" must also be in the past tense. Maybe the following example is true for some of you:

(A) I didn't like natto when I was a child.
(B) Me neither. / I didn't either. / Neither did I.

Also like last entry's affirmative examples, sometimes the verb in B's response must be changed to match the verb in A's sentence. One common example is when "can" is used in the negative:

(A) I can't stand (我慢できない) the smell of natto.
(B) Me neither. / I can't either. / Neither can I.

As I told my elementary-level students, the best way to master 「私も」in English is through practice. I hope that this final example becomes true for all of you: 

(A) I can say 「私も」in English.

(B) Me too. / I can too. / So can I.

See you at E-Style,

Alan

Me too = 私も = I do too = 私も = So do I

Hi everyone,

Recently (最近) in my elementary-level classes, we have been studying how to say 「私も」 in English. Most students can use the phrase "Me too," but many don't know that there are other ways to say this in English. For example:

(A) I like English.
(B) Me too. / I do too. / So do I.

In this case, A's comment is affirmative (肯定的) and B has the same opinion as A (BはAと同じ意見です). Since A's sentence uses the verb "like," the responses "I do too" and "So do I" are fine. However, if the verb is in the past tense (過去形), then the responses "I do too" and "So do I" must be in the past tense also. For example:

(A) I liked English in junior high school.
(B) Me too. / I did too. / So did I.

Sometimes the verb in B's response must be changed to match the verb in A's sentence. One common example is when "can" is used:

(A) I can speak English.
(B) Me too. / I can too. / So can I.

Please notice (気付いて下さい) that in all of the examples, "Me too" can be used. Maybe that explains why it's so popular with students!

See you at E-Style,

Alan

Chibi's ワン-Point English: Abyssinia, Chibiチャン (April 1, 1998〜May 22, 2013)

Hi everyone,

I am sorry that it has been such a long time since I've given you advice. The truth is that I was diagnosed with cancer (がんと診断された) earlier this year and died yesterday morning. I was 15 years old. According to the vet (獣医さんによると), I was 93 in human years. I have asked Alan to write this final blog entry for me. In it I want to teach you some words and phrases related to death.

• Chibi died on May 22nd. (ちびチャンは５月２２日に死にました。) 
• Chibi passed away on May 22nd. (ちびチャンは５月２２日に亡くなりました。)
• His family held a wake for him last night. (昨夜、家族が彼の通夜を行いました。)
• His funeral was held today. (彼の葬式は今日行われました。)
• He was cremated. (彼は火葬されました。)

When someone passes away, we often say 「(心より)お悔やみ申し上げます。」in Japanese. In English, we use the phrase "Please accept my (heartfelt) condolences."

It was a pleasure teaching you English for the past several years. Take care and good luck with your future studies. I have to go now, my brother Maru-chan is calling me . . .

From Heaven with Love,

Chibi

Happy Birthday to Hachiko.

Did you know that November 10 is the anniversary of the birthday of one of Japan's most famous dogs? I love dogs and I love the story of Hachiko. The interesting thing is that Hachiko is world famous. Almost every Japanese schoolchild knows the story: Hachiko greeted his master, a professor at Tokyo University, every day after work at Shibuya Station in Tokyo. One day, his master died while at work and did not return to Shibuya Station. However, for the next 9 years, the dog would always return to the station to wait for his master's return.

It's an interesting story. It also proves the power of the media. At first, apparently many people didn't like to see a stray dog at the station. They used to do mean things to the dog. However, after an article appeared in the Tokyo newspaper about the story of why the dog would hang out at the station in the evenings, people started to feel differently. In fact, many people would give Hachiko snacks, and they began to treat the dog with respect.

Eventually, Hachiko succumbed to cancer and heartworms (「フィラリア」 in Japanese) and died in 1935. Hachiko received a grand funeral, and eventually a statue was placed in front of Shibuya Station.

Almost 10 years ago when I visited Shibuya Station, I had to find the statue and have my picture taken with Japan's most famous dog. Here I am with my son, Kei, standing next to the statue in the rain. I will never forget this moment. Do you have a picture of yourself in a similar pose?

E-Style Kids Classes Prepare for Halloween.

Well, it's finally starting to cool down this year. It seems like autumn has come, and before long it will be winter. At E-Style, I have been the main teacher for the kids classes. One thing that we always do at this time of the year, is start to celebrate Halloween. It's a big holiday in America for kids, but adults like to join in the fun, too.

In the kids classes, we talk about all the scary things associated with Halloween. There are black cats, owls, ghosts, vampires and of course, jack o'lanterns that are made from pumpkins.

One of the highlights of the Halloween kids classes is the Halloween TV special called It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (In Japanese, the title is スヌーピーとかぼちゃ大王). We always watch the DVD in the kids classes on the last week before Halloween. Already, many of the kids who have been in the class for more than a year are asking me every week, "Are we going to watch the Snoopy Halloween DVD today?!" I have to tell them to wait.

Well, some of my adult intermediate class students asked me about the show and the kids classes. They wanted to know what we do on Halloween. Here is a great 3 minute video of highlights from the Peanuts Cartoon special. Have a look and enjoy!

I like stargazing

What is your hobby? One of my hobbies is looking at stars and planets in the night sky. This is called stargazing. I like to use my telescope, my binoculars and my camera. But, mostly, I just use my eyes to look up at the sky.

May and June of 2012 brought us 2 exciting stargazing events in the daytime. The first event was the solar eclipse. There are 4 types of solar eclipses:

A total eclipse--where the Moon completely hides the Sun.

An annular eclipse--where the Moon cannot completely hide the Sun around the edges. Annular means circular. You get a circle of light around the Moon.

A partial eclipse--where the Moon only partially covers up the Sun.

A hybrid eclipse--where depending on your location on the Earth and the angle of the alignment of the Sun, Moon and Earth, you can see both a total eclipse and an annular eclipse.

On May 21st, for a few hours in the morning, and annular eclipse was seen over many places in Japan. Unfortunately, it was not a total annular eclipse in Takamatsu, although other cities in southern and eastern Kagawa could see a pretty ring. I took this photo through the clouds from my apartment in Saiho-Cho. Luckily it was cloudy, because I was able to take this photo with only a dark filter on my camera. The clouds actually make it look cool.


Later, On June 6, Venus passed in front of the Sun. We were lucky in Japan, because we could see the entire thing. It lasted from about 7:15 in the morning until about 1:45 in the afternoon. It took more than 6 hours. This time, without a filter on my camera, there was no way to see it. The Sun is just too bright. I used the darkest camera filter you can buy. It is specifically made for taking pictures of the sun. This was my first time to take a picture of the Sun. The big black dot is Venus and the smaller dots are sun spots.



Finally, on the evening of June 4, there was a lunar eclipse. I was sad because I had to work and couldn't go out and see it. In the end, though, nobody in Takamatsu could see it because it was too cloudy. Typhoon number 3 was approaching Japan and brought many clouds with it.

One piece of trivia about solar and lunar eclipses is that they always come in pairs. Either 2 weeks before or after a solar eclipse, there will also be a lunar eclipse. It all has to do to with the way the Sun, Moon and Earth line up.

Chibi's ワン-Point English: Frequency Adverbs

Hi everyone,

The other day, a dog in my neighborhood (近所) asked me how often Alan walks me off (my) leash (ひも [リード] なしで). My answer was "Never." I then started to think about other frequency adverbs (頻度の副詞) and came up with the following examples:

Always (いつも) - Alan always walks me on a leash.
Almost always (大抵、ほとんどいつも) - He almost always drinks coffee after breakfast.
Usually (普段は) - It is usually still cold in March.
Often (しばしば) - She often oversleeps (寝坊する).
Sometimes (時々) - I sometimes go fishing.
Rarely (めったにしない) - I am rarely late for work.
Hardly ever (めったにしない) - We hardly ever eat out (外食する).
Never (ぜんぜんしない) - They never go drinking.

Did you notice that the frequency adverb came after the verb "be" (be動詞の後) in two of the above sentences?

Bye for now,

Chibi