「si」と「sy」を「し」で発音しないこと

I realized that "celery" isn't so hard for Japanese to pronounce correctly. That's because it doesn't have an "si" or an "sy" sound in it. A lot of people change that to the Japanese-friendly 「し」 sound. You should review the post I did the other day:

http://upgradeenglish.blogspot.com/2010/05/ssh.html

However, I do have a good example for you about why you need to be careful. Someone I know was telling me about her customers. She was saying that they don't respect her as a professional sometimes, such as when it comes to their own children. They always want her to look after their children when they are at her workplace.

× "They think of me as their shitter."
◯ "They think of me as their sitter."

shitter〈卑〉トイレ、便所｛べんじょ｝、下痢｛げり｝〈卑〉う そつき (definitions from Eijiro on the Web)

sitter 付き添い人、看護人｛かんごにん｝、ベビーシッター (definitions from Eijiro on the Web)

Fortunately, the truth wasn't as bad as it sounded, even though it's not so good. Imagine if you told an employment agency you were looking for a shitter.

• employment agency 人材紹介会社 (definition from Eijiro on the Web)

× There are many shimilar words.
◯ There are many similar words.

I hope you all find looking at hydrangeas...

× ...as relackshing as I do.
◯ ...as relaxing as I do. <- pronounce it like ree-LACK-sing, with "sing" like "sing a song"

• hydrangea 紫陽花