6/12 〜 6/14

実践ビジネス英語　　　Wednesday, June 12

1) Lyons says people make a conscious choice to be busy. And Nissen says everyone wants to manage their time more efficiently. He says he's begun to keep a time log, which has shown him he needs to focus more on results at work rather than working long hours to impress his colleagues. He also says he's been paying attention to his biorhythms to identify when his energy and alertness are best suited to certain tasks.

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Crazy Busy (4)

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2) I don't think so: Lyons uses this literally to mean he doesn't think someone would say their health wasn't a priority. However, it can also be used in the sense of "That's not going to happen." Or "I'm not going to do that." Such as "They want me to work overtime every day this week? 'I don't think so.'" Or "He is sick, but he won't go to the clinic? 'I don't think so.''

3) Truer words were never spoken: Some statement is very true. I agree completely, Nissen is saying. A more casual way to say this is the deliberately ungrammatical "ain't it the truth?" So if someone said to me, "Cameron's marketing proposal was really innovative, wasn't it?" I could reply, "'Ain't it the truth?' That was fantastic."

4) keep track of: This means to stay informed, to monitor what's happening with something or someone. I use a smartphone app to keep track of my appointments, for example.

5) The opposite expression is "lose track of." I often "lose track of" time when I am reading. I get engrossed and I don't realize how much time has passed.

6) Good for you: Well done, Lyons is saying. Your action deserves praise. You could also use "good for" about third parties or things. If a company made a huge donation to a charity, I'd say, "'Good for them,' making a contribution to society like that."

7) Good for は別の意味でも使えます。
Good for two years. = 有効期間は2年間

8) enable: Make it possible to do something, in other words. "The government subsidy has 'enabled' us to continue our research." Or "Doing freelance work 'enables' me to work from home."

9) complement: Nissen is using this word to mean make something complete, bring it to perfection. "That necktie 'complements' your suit very well," for example. It can also be a noun, as in "That necktie is an excellent 'complement' to your suit."

10) Even native speakers often confuse this word with compliment, c-o-m-p-l-i-m-e-n-t, because they are pronounced the same way. "Complement" with an "e" is to complete etc. while "compliment" with an "i" is to praise someone. "He 'complimented' her on her excellent presentation," for example.

11) identify: One common expression using "identify" is "identify with," and this means sharing other people's feelings, situations, feeling that those feelings and situations are similar to our own. For example, "I can 'identify' with people who worry about saving enough for the future." That's an issue I face too and when I think about a lot.

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実践ビジネス英語　　　Thursday, June 13

1) Collins says she is trying to spend less time reading during her work,
skipping over sections that may not be important in various documents. She
and Lyons agree they spend too much time reading emails, and Collins says
it's now her policy to only handle emails once. Lyons says he is making an
effort to write faster by first preparing a rough draft and then going back
to polish it.

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Crazy Busy (5)

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2) cut down on: Reduce, in other words, decrease. Collins also could have said "cut back on." "A company might strive to 'cut down on' its personnel expenses." "A person might try to 'cut back on' their sugar intake."

3) in the course of: During the process of something, Collins means. "She came up with fascinating information 'in the course of' her research." Or "We made several decisions 'in the course of' the meeting."

4) become totally immersed in: If we "immerse" something in a liquid, it's completely covered by that liquid, submerged in it. So to be metaphorically "immersed" is to be completely absorbed by something, engaged by it, as in "I was so 'immersed' in my new book, I missed my stop on the train."

5) skip: Omit, pass over, in other words, you know, the images of jumping over something to something else. You could tell someone in your office, "I think I'll 'skip' the party tonight. I'm too tired."

6) you and me both: We use this expression to mean what you just said also describes me. I feel the same way, I do the same thing, etc. So if someone said to me, "I love reading about history," I'd reply, "Oh, 'you and me both.' I'm especially interested in 19th century Europe."

7) Another way to say this is "Same here." If someone said, "I still haven't gotten my tax return together," you could reply, "'Same here.' I've got to do that this week."

8) fire off: Collins means write and send something quickly. "Shoot off" would also work in the situation. "I 'shoot off' an email right away."

9) make a conscious effort to: An intentional effort, a deliberate effort, such as "He 'made a conscious choice to' live close to his company to have a short commute.

10) trim: Collins is using the image of cutting something off, something else like when we "get our hair trimmed," little bit cut off the bottom, to mean reduce it. "Companies can 'trim' their expenditures." Or "'Trim' their guest list for an event."

11) presentable: "Presentable" means fit to be seen by others. It's fit to be shown to them, ready for their scrutiny, as in "I need to fix my hair and makeup so I'll be 'presentable' for the meeting."

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実践ビジネス英語　　　Friday, June 14

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Crazy Busy (6)

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1[S]: In our current vignette, members of the H&B staff discuss how many people today have fallen into what Collins calls "the busy trap." She says even her sister's children are extremely busy, taking dance and music lessons and playing sports in addition to their large amounts of homework.

2[H]: I was just reading an article about this very subject, actually. Apparently, American children today have far less free playtime than previous generations -- in other words, playtime in which kids determine what they're going to do, not adults, and where they play for the sake of playing, not as part of an organized activity.

According to the article, this kind of play has been on the decline for nearly 60 years now. And some experts believe there are serious consequences for children's emotional and mental development.

3[S]: Really? Such as?

4[H]: The psychology professor cited in the article mentioned a number of benefits to free play, such as children acquiring a sense of mastery over their own world. According to him, children who grow up without this sense of control are at greater risk for anxiety and depression. He also said unstructured play taught kids how to pursue their own interests and interact with others as equals. It must be vital for developing creativity as well.

I remember building castles in my bedroom by draping blankets over chairs and making up stories with my dolls inside them, and digging in the backyard for rocks that I pretended were dinosaur fossils.

5[S]: The conversation later turns to managing one's time more efficiently. Bill Nissen, for example, talks about tracking our biorhythms to identify when we do our best at specific tasks. Do you pay attention to your body clock this way, Heather?

6[H]: My body is like a Swiss watch. The very same cycle, occurs at almost exactly the same times every day. I'm a morning person, so I get my biggest rush of energy then, often very early in the morning. I found I do some of my best work preparing for this show, for example, from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m.

My lowest point, on the other hand, is around 3 in the afternoon. My vitality just plunges around this time; I can feel myself drooping. So I usually get up and move around to shake off my lethargy. My office is on the fifth floor of my building so I often go downstairs to get a bottle of water from the convinience store on the first floor and then take the stairs back up.

7[S]: Alyce Collins also suggests handling emails only once to save time. She decides whether it's necessary to reply the first time she reads an email, and if it is necessary, sends a reply right away.

8[H]: An excellent idea. Another good tactic is setting fixed times for checking and answering our emails, maybe three or four times a day. It's very easy to get addicted to checking our inbox constantly, and that can distract us, delaying the completion of other work.

9[S]: Finally, Steve Lyons describes how he saves time on his writing by first preparing a rough initial draft and then going back to polish it.

10[H]: That's exactly what I do when I'm translating. My first drafts are always very literal and clunky. I just focus on accurately translating all the information in the original, then I go back and start polishing, rephrasing things and adjusting the order of different sentences so the whole thing sounds more natural in English. It's easier to do that without making mistakes when I first familiarize myself with the literal meaning of the original text.

【原稿チェック： Hiroko, Cecile】
【ディクテーション： Sanae】