Jennifer's school of English

Most nights, after the dinner dishes are cleared away, the other volunteers bring out their English grammar textbooks and electronic dictionaries to study. They like to ask me questions and we often have quite interesting discussions about English, Japanese, North America and Japan. They ask me about various English phrases and expressions. In English, there are a lot of ways to say the same thing and there is not always an obvious reason to choose one way over another (there may be a subtle, technically-correct, grammar rule-based way to decide, but for the average English-speaker, of which I am one, it's a bit more flexible).

Sometimes the questions are challenging. The other day, Kaori asked me to explain the future continuous and the past perfect tense. I was unable to do so. Even after I read about it in her grammar text book. I draw comfort from the fact that, even if I don't know why you say it that way, that's the way English-speaking North Americans say it (and that applies to those things that are technically, gramatically wrong as well). But, when explaining why you can say "Long time, no see" but not "Long time, no taste", I resorted to "just because".

Slang is particularly fun - after the BBQ a few weeks ago we discussed the correct use of the phrases "pissed", "pissed off", "Piss off", and "piss drunk". And my favourite, the difference between passing someone on the street and passing out on the street (and I only explain these things, I don't demonstrate).

I try to be careful to distinguish between North American and Australian slang. In this part of the world, a woman does not get pregnant, she falls pregnant. And you ring someone up, rather than calling them. But alas, I have no explanation for why the Australians insist on referring to chickens as chooks.