「schedule」と「appointment」の違い

Recently someone told me:

× Sorry, I can't meet you at that time because I have a schedule.
○ Sorry, I can't meet you at that time because I have another appointment.
○ Sorry, I can't meet you at that time because I have something on my schedule at that time.

Everyone has a schedule. Your schedule is your list of appointments and free time. You might have two schedules: your work schedule, and your private schedule. You can talk about your Monday schedule, meaning the set of appointments you have on Monday.

When you have to meet someone, that is an appointment. When you are seeing a doctor, that is an appointment. Both of these appointments are on your schedule.

Back in March, I visited America. I had a busy schedule. One of the appointments I had in New York City was to meet some people at a restaurant I used to frequently go to. The restaurant is called Veselka, and it serves Ukrainian food like these pierogis. Two of them were cheese pierogis, and the other two were potato, if my memory is correct. There's also a stuffed cabbage on this plate with mushroom gravy. It's a great restaurant, and you should eat there if you visit New York.

「business trip」の使い方

"Where's A-san this week?" I asked.

× "He went to a business trip," someone told me.
○ "He went on a business trip," someone told me.

Use "to" to talk about the destination.

• He went to Osaka.

You can also say:

• He is on a business trip at the moment.

My trip to America in March was partly a business trip. Last week, I didn't take a business trip, but I did go on a daytrip to western Tokyo. It's not like central Tokyo, where there are plenty of trains all of the time. It really pays to check the train schedule in order to catch the fastest express.

• daytrip 日帰り旅行

Business trips can be tough, especially these days when companies are trying to cut costs. I've heard of people having to leave early in the morning and come back late at night, only to have to be in the office again the next day at the regular time. That's hard on the employees for sure. I guess that's a business trip, but your colleagues might just say:

• She's out of the office today on business.

Some of you need to take business trips abroad. I hope that you'll join one of our English classes to help you upgrade your English for success on your trips.

「favorite」の使い方

I know someone who said recently:

• This is my favorite shop!

In fact, she had said the same thing about a different shop only a few days earlier.
It's true that Americans often exaggerate, and in some ways, this pattern isn't so wrong.

• exaggerate【自動】誇張する、大げさに言う (definition from Eijiro on the Web)

However, you should remember that "favorite" is a kind of superlative, and as such, there should only be one thing that is your favorite in a particular category. The better way to say this is:

• This is one of my favorite shops!
• superlative【名】《文法》最上級

This five-spice tofu is becoming one of my favorite dishes. I've been practicing cooking it a lot, and I'm getting better at it. One of the difficult steps is pan-frying the tofu. You have to be careful to keep the heat very low so that the tofu doesn't stick to the pan. It has taken some practice to get used to it, but I'm getting better each time. It helps if you use Okinawa-style tofu (島豆腐) because it's firmer. Sometimes I use the regular firm tofu from the supermarket, which is not my favorite, but if you press it well and fry it carefully, it works, too.

After you cook it, you put it in the refrigerator with the spices covering it. That way the flavor really sinks into the tofu. Mmm! I'm going to eat some tonight at dinner!