副詞と形容詞の使い方について・誰かが英語の使い方に注意した方が良い。

I can't say who has to be careful, since it isn't clear to me from my photo. Does it say the train company in the bottom right corner?

Anyway, the sign says:

× Smoothly and Speedy

◯ Smoothly and Speedily (better)

◯ Smooth and Speedy (best)

When you want to use two words that describe something and connect them with a conjunction, they need to be of the same type.

• conjunction - 接続詞

The problem here is that "smoothly" is an adverb and "speedy" is an adjective. The hint here is that "ly" usually signifies an adverb, while "y" alone is usually an adjective.

I hope your holiday journeys are smooth and speedy. 

「raise」と「rise」の違い

A lot of people raise this question: "What's the difference between 'raise' and 'rise'?"

• raise a question 問題を起こす (definition from weblio) 
• http://ejje.weblio.jp/content/raise
• http://ejje.weblio.jp/content/rise

× In March, the temperature will begin to raise.

◯ In March, the temperature will begin to rise.

You should use "rise" for the thing that is increasing in height.

I took this picture from a bridge near my house.

× You can see that the Tokyo Sky Tree has raised a lot.

◯ You can see that the Tokyo Sky Tree has risen a lot.

You should use "raise" when the subject is doing the action to something else.

× If you want to ask me a question, you don't have to rise your hand; just send me email!

◯ If you want to ask me a question, you don't have to raise your hand; just send me email!

私は日本語の使い方に注意した方が良い。(part 4) スペルミスについて

Someone kindly pointed out to me that the headline of my last blog post had a spelling mistake.

• spelling mistake スペルミス
• ×  レソトラン
• ◯　レストラン

Spelling correctly is tough in any language. English spelling is particularly tricky since spelling sometimes seems not to match pronunciation.

• pronunciation 発音

Fortunately, when typing Japanese, the input method will check it. Unfortunately, I just directly converted hiragana into katakana without letting the input method check it. That was my mistake.

Anyway, I am always grateful when someone shows me where I've gone wrong.

While I am talking about recent feedback, someone else said that I hadn't posted any pictures of what I have been cooking.　

• × Here are two currys that I made the other day: chick pea curry and spinach curry.　
• ◯ Here are two curries that I made the other day: chick pea curry and spinach curry.

It's a common mistake to forget to change "y" to "ies" when making a plural noun.

このインド料理のレストランは英語使い方に注意した方が良い。

This curry restaurant in Osaka ought to be careful about their English. Their menu says:

× Arfy Two Curry of your Choice
◯ ??? (Probably, they want to say "Two curries of your choice"'

I am always complaining about English mistakes I see in public. Actually, many times its not such a big deal.

• a big deal 大したこと

The purpose of language is communication. If I can understand the meaning, then at least the basic goal has been reached.

•  reach a specific goal 具体的｛ぐたい てき｝な目的｛もくてき｝［目標｛もくひょう｝］を実現｛じつげん｝する (definition from Eijiro on the Web)

However, if I can't guess the meaning, then communication hasn't happened. In that case, the use of English has failed. That's what is happening here, with the word "arfy". Does anyone have a guess as to what they mean?

I'll bring you another blog post later this week.