成田空港は英語の使い方に注意した方が良い。「the」の使い方

I haven't posted in a while because I took a trip to the US. It was interesting to visit, especially because it had been a while.

It's been a while since
～して以来ずいぶん日がたつ。／久しぶりに～する。／～するなんて久しぶりだ。／ずいぶん長い間～していなかった。／最近［ここしばらく］～していない。(definition from Eijiro on the Web)

On the way back, I was waiting for the Narita Express when I noticed this sign.

• This is the terminal 1 of Narita Airport.
• This is terminal 1 of Narita Airport.
• This is Terminal 1 of Narita Airport. <- treating it as a proper noun might be best

Some people think "the" is tricky, but actually there are not so many special cases, and only a few rules. One of the rules is this:

Don't use "the" in the case of a name with a title.

You don't say the Mr. Bell (usually), nor do you say the Queen Elizabeth; you say Mr. Bell or Queen Elizabeth. In the same way, we don't say the Mount Fuji; it's Mount Fuji.

Numbered buildings, platforms, and terminals are the same.

• The train you want is at platform 3.
• His office is in building 5. <- one building in a complex of buildings

If the building my classroom is in were a giant space station or complex of some sort, I could say that my classroom is on level 6. However, our building is a rather small one between Shin-nihonbashi Station, Mitsukoshi-mae Station, and Kanda Station. As a result, I can just say that our classroom is on the sixth floor. Make an appointment with me and come by for a visit!

アメトーークは英語の使い方に注意した方が良い。

I was watching this Japanese comedy program called アメトーーク last Thursday. I think it's a pretty funny show. I have to give them some credit for improving my Japanese listening ability. That's because I watch it regularly, and now their quickly moving Japanese is getting easier for me to understand. I still don't catch 100 percent of what they say, but things like this take time.

• give someone credit （人）を正しく評価してやる、（人）に掛け売りをする、（人）に信用で貸す (definition from Eijiro on the Web)

Anyway, they had given gifts to their guests last week, and when they showed the gift (a hip bag) on the screen, I got excited! That's because the gift had this English printed on it:

× I am Japanese traveling comedian.
○ I am a traveling Japanese comedian.

• comedian 【名】コメディアン、お笑い芸能人｛げいのうじん｝(definition from Eijiro on the Web)

There are two problems here. The first is the article "a". "Comedian" is a countable noun, so we need a number or an article. Since they are talking about the kind of thing ("comedian" versus "teacher"), we should choose "a". Like this:

• Ken Kobayashi is a comedian. <- I explain his type.
• He was not one of the comedians on アメトーーク last week. <- I am pointing out the comedians on the show, which you know about since I was talking about it.

The second problem is the order of the adjectives. The adjective that is more essential to the character of the noun goes closer to the noun. The comedian is definitely Japanese, and changing that is difficult. As a result, "Japanese" goes closer to comedian than "traveling". If the comedian stops traveling for a year, he will still be Japanese.

This problem might be tough to understand, so I think I'll talk more about it in my next post. Until then!