In Japanese schools and universities, students usually have excellent grammar but can sometimes learn some slightly unnatural English. Here are a few examples of some “typical” Japanese English sentences and some suggestions for how to convert them into more natural British English.
日本人がよく使う言い方
Typical Japanese sentence
自然なイギリス英語での言い方
Natural British English
"Recently,
I have changed my residence"
"I’ve
just moved house"
"I
am not in good condition"
"I’m
not feeling well"
"He
entered the room"
"He
went into/came into the room"
"The
location of my flat is very noisy"
"My
flat is in a very noisy area"
"The
film was a good experience for me"
"I
enjoyed the film"
"I
am employed in an engineering company "
"I
work for an engineering company"
"I
have a good relationship with my colleagues"
"I
get on well with my colleagues"
"He
said to me he was ill"
"He
told me he was ill"
"The
film was very excited"
"The
film was very exciting"
"I
married with my wife last year"
"I
got married last year"
"We
went to Houses of Parliament yesterday"
"We
visited the Houses of Parliament yesterday"
"We
went to there by bus"
"We
went there by bus"
"I
arrived at London in Heathrow Airport"
"I
arrived at Heathrow Airport in London"
"That
dress is very gorgeous"
"That
dress is very beautiful/gorgeous"
"He
is fat and ugly"
"He’s
overweight and rather unattractive"
"My
boss is very severe"
"My
boss is very strict"
"I
received a letter from you today"
"I
got your letter today"
"Thank
you for inviting me to your home"
"Thank
you for having me"
"I
will pay for the drinks for everyone"
"It’s
my round"
"I
want to pay for my own food and drink"
"Let’s
go Dutch"
"The
congestion in London is terrible"
"The
traffic in London is terrible"
"Christmas
is a very difficult season for some people"
"Christmas
is a very difficult time of year for some
people"
"Cricket
is not very familiar to me"
"I
don't know very much about cricket"
"You
are looking very smart"
"You
are looking very slim" (smart usually means "well-dressed")
"I
have a breakfast/lunch/dinner at 11.00"
"I
have breakfast/lunch/dinnner at 11.00"
"I
work hardly"
"I
work hard"
"I
live in London for 4 years"
"I
have been living in London for 4 years"
"I
enjoy living in here"(London)
"I
enjoy living here"(London)
"I
am stressful recently"
"I
have been stressed recently"
“My
office is located near Bank Station”
“My
office is near Bank Station”
“This
is first time for me to visit England”
“This
is my first trip to England”
“This
problem has affected to my company seriously”
“This
problem has seriously affected my company”
“The
film was nice”
“The
film was great/interesting/exciting/"
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