Learning Japanese Part II

～ずにはいられない=絶対だめ
不能不、一定要
[ない形]+ずにはいられない する：　せずにはいられない

1. 私を育ててくれた両親に対して心から感謝ぜすにはいられない。
2. この曲を聞くと、子供のころのことを思い出さずにはいられない。

ざるを得ない＝どうしても～しなければならない
不得已
[ない形]＋ざるを得ない する：せざるを得ない

1. 雨で試合は中止せざるを得ない。
2. 急ぐので、高くても航空便で出さざるを得ない。

～と言わざるを得ない=それしかない/～より他に言いようがない
要不~也不能、也只有~的选择

1. 不景気が続くと、わが社にも倒産の危険があるといわざるを得ない。
2. 震度7の地震が起これば、逃げようがないといわざるを得ない。

～かねる
[ます形]＋かねる
难以、很难、不便

1. 私一人の考えでは決めかねますので、他のものとも相談した上でご返事します。
2. その意見には賛成しかねる。

～かねない
[ます形]＋かねない
肯定

1. 今後もこのような問題は増えかねない。
2. 動物をどんどん乱獲していると、近いうちに絶滅しかねません。

Learning Japanese Part 1

These are taken from the exercise in my Japanese class.

➀～限り

• あの人が謝らない限り、彼を絶対に許さない！
• 私が聞いている限りでは、あの今日中はすごく厳しい教授だそうだ。

➁～のではない（でしょうか）

• 自己紹介では、自分のことをちゃんと他人に伝えることが大切なのではないだろうか。
• 初対面で自分のことを自慢する人は、ちょっと虚栄心が強い人なのではないだろうか。

➂～ことを「　」と言う

• 異文化の人の考え方、慣習、生活様式など接した際に違和感（いわかん）を感じることを、「カルチャーショック」と言う。
• 不正が嫌い人を極度（きょくど）に嫌うことを、「潔癖性」（けっぺきせい）と言う。

④～ばかりで

• このコンピュータはお金がかかるばかりで、何でもできない。
• 彼女はあとで連絡するって言ってくれたばかりで、返事をしなかった。

➄～というのは...もの/ことだ

• カルチャーショックとは自分の考え方、慣習、生活様式などに接した際に違和感を感じることである。
• ピジン言語というのは現地人と貿易商人などの外国語を話す人々との間で異言語間の意思疎通（そつう）のために自然に作られた混成語のことだ。

➅このように見てみると　～ということになる
このように考えてみると　～と言える
以上のことから　～ということがわかる

• このように見てみると、初対面では自分のことを自慢するのはだめだと言える。
• 以上からのことから、自己紹介では、自分が得な点だけと相手に伝えがちだということになる。

➆～ば～ほど

• 考えれば考えるほど、その問題が複雑になった。
• 日本語を勉強すれば勉強するほど、うまくになります。

➇～｛例えば/仮に｝～とする／～としよう

• 仮に、一億持ったとして、あなたならどうしますか。
• 例えば、20人前の分を20分以内準備するとします。それはできるでしょうか。

➈～場合もある＝こともある

• たいてい1週間ぐらいで検査結果は出るが、もっと時間がかかる場合もある。
• サラダオイルのボットルで書いてある説明によっては、寒い日に油は固体になる場合もある。

➉～と、なおさら

• もともと甘い物が大好きだから、ダイエットをしていると、なおさら、甘いものが食べたくなる。
• 人見知りする性格なので、初対面だとなおさら、恥ずかしくて、人と全然目が合わせられない。

Learning English from Newspaper

This is an excerpt (quoted in black) of Tough Times, by Hariati Azizan, The Star, 22 March 2009. Meanings of the vocabularies are taken from Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary (in green and blue).



Title: A blessing in disguise



blessing (n)

- something that is good or helpful

e.g. Lack of traffic is one of the blessings of country life in Malaysia.



disguise (n)

- a thing that you wear or use to change your appearance so that people do not recognize you

e.g. The detective disguises himself as a woman in the investigation.



a blessing in disguise (idiom)

- something that seems to be a problem at first, but that has good results in the end

Why me? The question plagued Daryl Wong endlessly when he was retrenched from his job with an American multinational company during the 2002 ecomonic slump.

e.g. The unsolved problem of the project plagued him endlessly, contributing to his sleepless nights during his project development period.

"At first I panicked as I was worried about how I was going to pay my bills. Then self-doubt crept in. 'What is wrong with me? Am I not good enough? I have a Masters, so why was I retrenched?' I became very depressed," recalls the 39-year-old.

As his depression deepened, he says, he holed himself at
home, hiding from his family and friends.

e.g. The failure of his project haunted him, to the extend that he holed himself at home, reluctant to meet his family and friends.

Then one day, he woke up and realised that he needed to snap out of his despair.

I also decided that it was time for me to take the plunge into a career
that I've always been intereted in, even though I has no relevant experience.

plunge in something/ plunge into something (v)

- to start doing something in an enthusiatic way, especially without thinking carefullyabout what you are doing

So, although he originally went into another high-powered corporate job with
a fat pay cheque, he found that he had lost his passion for the rat race and its trappings.

lose passion (v)

-not interested in

fat pay cheque (n)
- getting good salary

rat race (n)
- the way of life of people living and working in a large city, where people compete in an aggressive way with each other in order to be more successful, earn more money, etc.

trappings (n)
- an unpleasant situation

Now I am earning less but I feel happier as I no longer desire expensive and luxurious things. I lead a simple life now. I also get more job satisfaction because I feel like I'm doing something worthwhile to help other people and not just making money.

A good line to give opinion.

I lead a simple and yet satisfying life.

Elaborations: earning less but feel happier, more job satisfaction, doing something worthwhile

"I quit my teaching job and applied for a job at a woman's magazine. It was early 1997, so my father blew his top. He scolded me for making such a reckless decision at a bad economic time. Sure enough, nine months later, the magazine folded and I found myself without a job," she recalls.

blow one's top (v)

- to get very angry

The year 1997 was a year which Malaysia faced its economic crisis, many lost their job at that time. The narrator's father got very angry with her, as a teacher is considered as a secured job and has very good welfare.

I swallowed my pride and moved back home to cut costs. I remember the disappointed look my father used to give me but I just held on. Luckily, I
got a lot of support of my mother and sisters.

Sanchita admits that she was lucky she had no financial commitments when she was retrenched and was able to use her 'hiatus' from the workforce to explore herself.

hiatus (n) [hai-EI-tes]

- a pause in activity when nothing happens

When a person has no financial commitments, he/she does not need the money urgently, as no one is dependent on him/her. A person which has family dependent on him/her is said to have financial commitments.

Commitments can be used on other aspects, such as family or partners.

When I think about it, I could have gone down a completely different road in life. It was all glamorous at the magazine and I was enjoying the high life. But when it was cut short, I had to re-adjust.

The narrator was enjoying her good life and suddenly it ends unexpectedly. She is expecting something different from her current life, had she had taken another way of life. Possibly indicicating that she might have strayed away from the life now.

Now I lead a simple life because my work is half voluntary. Although we are funded by an international humanitarian group, the pay is just enough to sustain our daily expenses. But I have never felt more contended.

Yet another good line to express ourselves:

e.g. I have never felt more contended, by doing the voluntary work.

Another man in his early 50s, meanwhile is just happy that he survived the down-turn.

Bad situation can be paraphrased as down-turn. Here it means that he is happy that he lived through that bad period of his life.

I did not become depressed like most people but I became angry and vengeful, which almost destroyed me and my family.

vengeful (v)

- showing a desire to punish somebody who has harmed you

Well... depressed is not good, as you would not want to do anything. But vengeful will be too aggressive that you might have hurt others.

I was inexperienced in business and over-ambitious. I didn't want to start small. I wanted a grand restaurant and spent most of my savings, including the severance pay I got, on the renovation and other frills for the restaurant.

frills (n)
- things that are not necessary but are added to make something more atractive or interesting

This paragraph elaborates what caused the down-turn of a restauranteur.
over-ambitious, doesn't want to start samll, grand, spent most of saving, spend on frills

However, the recession, in addition to the competition, made it difficult for his restaurant business to take off.

take off (v)
- an idea, product, et cetera to become sucessful or popular very quickly or suddenly

This rationalises what made his business failed.
...in addition to...
made it difficult for...

The nasi lemak business slowly grew and a few years later he decided to try his hand at the food business again. Now, he is a proud owner of a modest food stall.

The business of the subject is getting better. He wanted to try something new (in this context, back to the food business he failed earlier). In the end, he is a successful owner.

It was a hard experince but I learnt a lot from the recession, not only about business but also about life. I learnt to be a better husband and man. I owe a lot to my wife for standing by me through it all, even when I made bad decisions that almost detroyed our lives.

A good line to elaborate your experience and gratitudes, with examples. The 'destroyed our lives' in the last line can be paraphrased as 'ruined our lives'.

For trainer Hui Shan, 43, getting retrenched from her management job in 2000 also led her to discover her real passion and purpose in life.

This can be used as a good starting line in an essay.

The experience led her to re-evaluate her goals in life.

Use this when you would like to describe about the decision to change one's life.

Hui Shan learnt the hard way that although it is easy to start a business, sustaining it is a different matter. With a full-time job, Hui Shan was not able to commit fully to her business. Consequently, her business flopped and she decided to focus on her full-time job.

Consequently = as the result
flop = to be a complete failure

When you would like to express the hardship of an experience, you can use 'learn in a hard way'.

Sustaining something would mean keep something running, in a continous manner.

Here we see yet another example of commitment, a commitment to job.

This time round, she decided to find her real niche in business and put every effort into making her endeavour success.

niche (n) [nish, nich]
- a comfortable or suitable role, job, way of life, etc
e.g. He eventually found his niche in sports journalism.

endeavour (n) [in-DEE-ver]
-an attempt to do something, especially something new or difficult
e.g. Please make every endeavour to arrive on time.
e.g. The manager is expected to use his or her best endeavours to promote the artist's career.

You can use this line to express your decisions.
I have decided to put every effort into making my endeavour success.

They were happy with my work and subsequently I got some paid assignments writing more manuals and conducting business and soft skills training from them.

Subsequently = next

I know I cannot compete with the big companies, so I decided to venture into this sector which they are not interested in. At the same time, it allows me to give back to society because I can help empower disadvantaged people, like single mothers, and help them to get a better life.

to venture into = to go into
to give back to = to repay
to help empower disadvantage people - to support the under-privileged people, to give them power, to help them

A good line to use to express your ambitions.

Currently, Hui Shan is developing a community website and an entrepreneur training programme to reach out to people who are interested in learning more about small business management.

to reach out to somebody
- to show somebody that you are interested in them and or want to help them