English Tip: Romanization

I. Romanization = Spelling Japanese words  I want to start with the Basics. And romanization of Japanese words is very basic, yet I often see mistakes by Japanese people writing… Read more

English Tip: Spelling Long Vowels

Spelling Long Vowels  Spelling long vowels has been and will always be a permanent problem for all of us. There is no perfect way to spell long vowels in Japanese… Read more

Hyphens

Hyphens  Continuing my English tips on romanization, my next topic is hyphenation.  A hyphen is used to indicate a connection between two different units of meaning. At the same time,… Read more

Interpreting

Let me talk briefly about how to be a good interpreter.  Obviously, you must be bilingual. But this is not enough. You also need to have good knowledge of the… Read more

Koka’s English Web site

Koka finally has an English Web site: http://www.city.koka.shiga.jp/english/index.html It’s not bad. However, one common error is “Koka City.” It should just be “Koka.” If you say “Koka City,” it means… Read more

How to spell 東近江?

When Higashiomi was first established, I wondered how they would spell the name of the city. I thought that “Higashi-Omi” would be the best way to spell it. However, I… Read more

Misspelled sign in Maibara

After the towns in Sakata-gun merged to form the city of Maibara, they had signs with a misspelled word: “Distract” should be “District.” I wonder if they fixed it by… Read more