シンガポールには、良い食物がいっぱいある！

Singapore is a great place to eat Indian food. Though the majority of the population in Chinese, there's a large number of Indians as well.

• the majority of the population 人口の大半 (definition from Eijiro on the Web)

This restaurant has an interesting concept. It's a kind of charity.

• charity 施し,慈善,博愛,善根,仁恵,仁愛,慈悲,篤志 (definition from jmdict)

There are no prices on the menu. People just pay what they feel they can or should pay. Someone who is down on their luck can pay 50 yen. Another person who isn't having trouble making ends meet might pay 500 yen. Both of them could eat the same meal.

• down on one's luck 運が傾いて、つきに見放されて (definition from Eijiro on the Web)
• make ends meet 生活の収支を合わせる、収入の範囲内でやりくりする［やっていく］ (definition from Eijiro on the Web)

My host felt that 200 yen was appropriate. That sounds great for people in Tokyo, right?

So, what's in the photo? On the plate, there's rice mixed with lentil curry. Next to the plate, there are three vegetable curries, each of which had a very different flavor. This was a south Indian meal.

• lentil レンズ豆

Because of all of the great food I ate in Singapore, I gained 2 kgs!

• gain weight 重さ［重量・体重・目方］が増える［増加する］、太る◆【反】lose weight

Mustafaは英語の使い方に注意した方が良い。

I guess I caught a cold on the plane on the way back from Singapore, because last night I had a fever and a sore throat. I took it easy all day today and took Chinese medicine. Now I'm feeling much better, and hopefully tomorrow I'll be back to normal.

Singapore is a really interesting place. English is an official language, and a lot of people speak it really well. However, I could still find mistakes like this one at Mustafa, a 24-hour discount store in Little India:

× please put back after trythanks

◯ Please put them back after trying them on. Thanks!

Spaces between words and punctuation are basic rules. Nothing more needs to be said.

"Put back" needs an object. Because the simplest object in this case is "them", which is a pronoun, we should put it between the two parts of this phrasal verb.

• phrasal verb 句動詞 (definition from Eijiro on the Web)

The last point is about using "after". It can be a preposition or a conjunction. My correction uses it as a preposition. A preposition must be followed by a noun, so we need to use "ing" with the verb.

On top of that, we usually don't "try" clothing or shoes. We "try it on". <- "try on" is another phrasal verb

• try on 試着する、着てみる、履いてみる  (definition from Eijiro on the Web)

When I'm back to 100%, I'll show you the delicious stuff I could eat in Singapore.

恵比寿駅は英語の使い方に注意した方が良い。「because」と「because of」の使い方

As a blogger talking about English, I like Ebisu Station because I can consistently find English mistakes there.

The sign says:

× The restroom cannot be used because of under construction.
◯ The restroom cannot be used because it is under construction.

• under construction 建築｛けんちく｝［建設｛けんせつ｝・建造｛けんぞう｝］中で (definition from Eijiro on the Web)

"Because of" is a phrase ending in a preposition. Because "of" is a preposistion, you need to follow it with a noun.

• Because of their English mistakes, I have something to blog about. <- "mistakes" is a noun

"Because" is a conjunction. It should be used to connect two sentences.

• Because they made an English mistake, I have something to blog about. <- "they" is the subject, "made" is the verb

Because the restroom at Ebisu Station is currently closed, you will probably have to go into the department store above the station to find one. Some people are likely to be inconvenienced because of this construction.

Because "because" can be used in two ways, be careful!

「～によって」は英語でどう言う？「depend on」の使い方

A few weeks ago, somebody was telling me about Japanese pickles. They told me:

× The flavor is different by each prefecture.
◯ The flavor is different in each prefecture.
◯ The flavor differs according to the prefecture.
◯ The flavor depends on the prefecture.

• depend on ～によって決まる、～次第｛しだい｝である

That last pattern is really useful! Take a look:

• _(n/noun phrase)_ depends on _(n/noun phrase)_

You probably know I like chocolate by reading my blog, which has posts like this one:

• http://upgradeenglish.blogspot.com/2010/05/3.html

This is some dark chocolate that I was eating the other day. It's a bit sweeter than I like, but the flavor was really rich.

• rich flavor 《a ～》豊かな風味 (definition from Eijiro on the Web)

Dark chocolate is one of my favorite things to eat. I should learn more about why dark chocolates can taste so different. What factors does the flavor depend on?

• factor 因子, ファクター, 因 (definition from jmdict)

If I were a rich man, I'd sample a different kind of dark chocolate every day. Right now, the kinds of chocolate I eat depend on what people give me. I seldom have the time to wander around the basement of a department store sampling chocolate. Some day...

この店は、英語の助けが必要だ。

This shop really needs help with their English (I'm not sure, but I might need help with my Japanese in today's headline).

× Suit Get! Fair
◯ "Get a Suit" Sale!

First, for fairness, let me compliment them on their use of "suit" and not "suits". Good job! The explanation of "suits" can be found at this old post, which happens to be about the same shop:

http://upgradeenglish.blogspot.com/2010/07/blog-post.html

Remember English word order. In almost every case, the subject comes before the verb. That means their suit is getting something, but suits don't usually get anything, except:

First, my suit got stained.
Then my suit got torn.
After that, it got repaired by a tailor.
When it was too old, it got thrown away.

Their next mistake is using "get" with an exclamation point in the middle of the phrase. I talked about this punctuation mistake, which is so common in Japan, in this old post:

• 感嘆符 (かんたんふ) (n) (ling) exclamation point; exclamation mark; (definition from Edict)
• 
  
  http://upgradeenglish.blogspot.com/2010/01/blog-post_29.html

Finally, Japanese retailers love to talk about "fairs" and "festas", but really, if you are selling stuff, what's wrong with sticking with "sale"? If I am looking for a good deal, I don't go to a "fair" -- I go to a sale.

• fair カーニバル (definition from Eijiro on the Web)... I know there are other definitions, but I promise you that the feeling is like The World's Fair: http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/国際博覧会
• 祝祭 [しゅくさい] (n) festivals feasts <- do you say this in Japanese? A festival, like a fair, sounds like a really big gathering in a town, not an event at a shop.
• stick with 【句動】～にくっついて離れない、～とずっと一緒｛いっしょ｝にいる、～のそばを離れない、～を手放｛てばな｝さない、～を堅持｛けんじ｝する、～を続ける、～にあくまでも忠実｛ちゅうじつ｝である、～にこだわる、～の一点張りで通す (defintion from Eijiro on the Web)
• a good deal 安い買い物 (defintion from Eijiro on the Web)

With luck, their sale will work anyway, and they will make enough money to be able to hire someone to help them with their English in the future.