12/11 - 12/12

実践ビジネス英語　　　Wednesday, December 11

1) Pearson says people who love their jobs have a sense of accomplishment
when they've done a job well. Breakstone compliments Pearson's use of humor. And Pearson says humor can help smooth over differences and
misunderstandings. Collins praises Pearson's ability to laugh at himself and Pearson cites honesty, transparency and the ability to achieve a rapport with staff as other important qualities for a leader.

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Finding Career Passion (4)

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2) have something in common: This means to share some characteristic. When people "have something in common," it's true of both of them. For example, "Shaun and Mark 'have a lot in common.' They are both from New York. They are into electronics and they are both entrepreneurs."

3) And people who don't share any characteristics "have nothing in common."

4) touchy-feely: Break this word down, and it gives you a good sense of its meaning: "touchy" and "feely." It means very open emotionally and or
enthusiastic about physical contact, not always but sometimes this is
derogatory, indicating something is too sentimental or inappropriately
physical. That's how Pearson uses it. But you could also say, "America is a pretty 'touch-feely' country. Americans hug each other a lot more than many other nationalities do."

5) skill set: This means the group of skills, the different skills a person possesses. You could say, "His 'skill set' includes marketing, computer programming and fluency in French."

6) smooth out: If something is smooth, it doesn't have bumps, wrinkles. So in this case, "smooth out" means resolve problems, obstacles, such as "We had a meeting to 'smooth out' the misunderstandings that had developed. I think everyone feels better now."

7) see the lighter side of things: Pearson means see the humorous part, the unserious element in a situation. For example, "Our boss showed off his lighter side at the New Year's party. He wore a pink suit."

8) self-deprecating: This is to disparage yourself or undervalue yourself. It's often used with words like wit or humor. I like to talk a lot, so I might say, "The energy from my mouth could power an entire city" as a "self-deprecating joke."

9) be up against: When we are "up against" something, we have to contend with it. We are confronted with it. You could say, "'I'm up against' some strong competition for this job. There are nearly 100 applicants."

10) rapport: This is a loan word from French. And it means a relationship of affinity, accord. For example, "I think I might get the job. The interviewer and I established a good 'rapport' very quickly."

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実践ビジネス英語 Thursday, December 12

1) Pearson says he tries to practice HOT communication and adds that
expressing one's thoughts clearly, speaking well in public and asking good questions are important for a leader. He also advocates openly taking responsibility. He goes on to describe the characteristics shared by great companies to work for including strong consistent corporate cultures that transcend national borders.

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Finding Career Passion (5)

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2) under the heading of: Umemura means these things can all be categorized as communication skills. They can all be described that way. You could say, "Personal problems fall 'under the heading of' not to be discussed at work."

3) above all: Most importantly, more than anything else, Pearson means. You might tell someone who's coming to Japan, "'Above all,' have lots of
business cards. You'll give them to many, many people."

4) Here endeth the lesson: "Endeth" is an obsolete word meaning ends. We
often use it to be funny, to jokingly say "That is the end of something."
And Pearson is making fun of himself here. He means that is the end of my
pompous sermon, my lofty advice about how to be a good leader. We also use "goeth" to mean "go" in the same way. Imagine you have a very bad job
interview. You could say afterword, "Well, there goeth that opportunity."

5) get back to: In this case, "get back to" means return to some subject,
task, whatever, that was being dealt with earlier, as in "Let's get back to this topic at the end of the meeting. Uh, we need to choose Julie's replacement first."

6) transcend: Pearson is using this to mean rise above the limits of something. Win out over the bad or limiting aspects of something. Sports are supposed to "transcend" politics, for example. Or this product's appeal has "transcended" age differences, gender, geographical location.

7) make a point of: This is making sure to do something that we consider important, to treat a certain action as essential. You might "make a point of" getting eight hours of sleep a night. Or "make it a point" to save the same amount of money every month.

8) cultural norm: What a certain culture deems to be standard, normal
practices. Different countries have different "cultural norms" about physical contact, for example. Some nationalities hug and kiss in greeting, others don't touch at all.

9) in the eyes of: In the opinion of its employees, Pearson means, from
their standpoint. You could also say, "Zack is the best candidate 'in my
eyes.' He has the most experience and is very articulate."

10) calls for a toast = 乾杯する価値がある
改まった場合の英語の乾杯の文句としては
Let's drink a toast.
I would like to propose a toast to the health and happiness of our guests.
（ご来賓の皆さまの健康と幸せのために乾杯をしたいと思います。）

インフォーマルな場合には
To your health.
Here's to you.
Cheers!
Bottoms up!

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