Lang-8

Most of the students in this class are still working on the "Scout and Atticus" Moodle exercises.  Some of you, however, have already finished.  Unfortunately, I have not yet been able to prepare new Moodle exercises about Forrest Gump, the movie we are watching now.  For now, I would like to ask the students who have finished "Scout and Atticus" to go to Lang-8.com, make an account, and begin writing in it.  I will give you more information in class about what I would like you to do on Lang-8.

試験日

今学期も試験を最後の授業日に行います。従って、試験日は1月21日となります。

English Weekend

英語や国際交流に関心のある学生にぜひ勧めたいと思います。

Moodle

この授業ではほぼ毎回Moodleを使います。ここをクリックして、Moodleを開いてログインしてください。ログインができたら「アメリカ文化論Ⅱ」に入って、練習問題を解いてみてください。

Scout and Atticus

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Last week we began watching "To Kill a Mockingbird." The movie is narrated by a little girl called "Scout." "Scout" is a nickname, not the girl's real name. I think it's an unusual nickname. I've never met a little girl in the U.S. who was called "Scout." The word "scout" means "to look for something." So, perhaps Scout's father decided to call her "Scout" because she was always looking around for things.

Scout calls her father "Atticus." This is also unusual because "Atticus" is her father's first name and most American children don't call their parents by their first names. Dill, the little boy that Scout and her brother Jem meet early in the movie, wants to know why Scout calls her father "Atticus" because it's so unusual:

Dill: Why do you call your daddy Atticus?
Scout: 'Cause Jem does.
Dill: Why does he?
Scout: I don't know. He just started to ever since he began talking.

On the other hand, I have heard of other children calling their parents by their first names. As a matter of fact, my sister's children called her "Marti," which is her first name. Still, most American children call their parents something like "Mom" or "Dad."

In the beginning of the movie, a man named Mr. Cunningham brings some nuts for Atticus. Scout calls Atticus when she sees Mr. Cunningham, even though Mr. Cunningham says that there's no need to bother him. After Mr. Cunningham leaves, Atticus tells Scout not to call him the next time Mr. Cunningham comes. Listen to the dialogue:

Atticus: Scout, I think maybe . . . next time Mr. Cunningham comes, you better not call me.
Scout: I thought you'd wanna thank him.
Atticus: Oh, I do. I think it embarrasses him to be thanked.

Atticus is a very kind man and father. He would like to thank Mr. Cunningham for the food that he brings him, but he can see that being thanked embarrasses Mr. Cunningham so he tells Scout not to call him next time. Now, let's listen to the rest of the conversation between Scout and Atticus to find out why Mr. Cunningham feels embarrassed when he brings food to Atticus's family:

Scout: Why does he bring you all this stuff?
Atticus: He's paying me for some legal work I did for him.
Scout: Why does he pay you like this?
Atticus: That's the only way he can. He has no money.
Scout: Is he poor?
Atticus: Yes.
Scout: Are we poor?
Atticus: We are indeed.
Scout: [Are] we as poor as the Cunninghams?
Atticus: No, not exactly. Cunninghams are country folks, farmers. Crash hit them the hardest.

Atticus is a lawyer and Mr. Cunningham was his client. As Atticus explains to Scout, Mr. Cunningham has no money and so the only way that he can pay Atticus is to bring food from his farm.

The "crash" that Atticus mentions is the stock market crash of 1929. The crash of the stock market was the beginning of the Great Depression, which lasted for about 10 years. This movie takes place in the 1930s, during the Great Depression.

During the Great Depression, food prices dropped. This hurt the farmers because they could not get much money for the food they produced. This is one reason that Atticus says that the crash hit the farmers the hardest. Another reason is that the farmers were already very poor before the crash of the stock market.

Now, let's study the dialogue in more detail.

Atticus: Scout, I think maybe . . . next time Mr. Cunningham comes, you better not call me.

When Atticus says "you better not call me" it means the same as "you had better not call me." In English, you can say "you had better do such-and-such" to mean "you should do such-and-such" and some people just say "you better do such-and-such," as Atticus did here.

When people speak they sometimes leave out words that they would include if they were writing. Atticus's leaving out the "had" in "you had better not call me" is one example of this. Another example is when Scout leaves out the word "are" in the question "Are we as poor as the Cunninghams?":

Scout: [Are] we as poor as the Cunninghams?

When people speak in informal situations, they also tend to pronounce two or more words together as one word, instead of saying each word clearly. For example, instead of saying "do not" people often say "don't." In the following sentence Scout pronounces "you would" as "you'd" and "want to" as "wanna."

Scout: I thought you'd wanna thank him.

In standard English, this would be "I thought you would want to thank him." When you speak, I recommend that you say "want to" because "wanna" can sound a bit childish, unless you are speaking very quickly. When you write, you should definitely write "want to," not "wanna."

Scout: Why does he bring you all this stuff?
Atticus: He's payin' me for some legal work I did for him.

"Legal" means having to do with the law. So, Atticus is referring to work that he did as a lawyer as "legal work." When Atticus says "paying me" he pronounces it "payin' me." Americans often talk this way in informal situations. However, when Atticus speaks in court, he pronounces the "ing" sound at the end of words clearly.

Now that we have studied the dialogue, I hope you will find it easier to understand. Let's conclude by listening to the entire dialogue one more time.

Atticus: Scout, I think maybe . . . next time Mr. Cunningham comes, you better not call me.
Scout: I thought you'd wanna thank him.
Atticus: Oh, I do. I think it embarrasses him to be thanked.
Scout: Why does he bring you all this stuff?
Atticus: He's paying me for some legal work I did for him.
Scout: Why does he pay you like this?
Atticus: That's the only way he can. He has no money.
Scout: Is he poor?
Atticus: Yes.
Scout: Are we poor?
Atticus: We are indeed.
Scout: [Are] we as poor as the Cunninghams?
Atticus: No, not exactly. Cunninghams are country folks, farmers. Crash hit them the hardest.

What do you mean? (日本語訳付き)

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Today, I'd like to talk about three ways in which the word "mean" can be used.	今日は”mean”という言葉の３つの使い方について話したいと思います。
The first way is to talk about the meaning of a particular word.	まず、特定の言葉の「意味」を指す、という使い方があります。
For example, if you are reading a book and you find an English word that you don't understand, you might point to the word and ask, "What does this word mean?"	例えば、本を読んでいて、知らない言葉が出て来たら、その言葉を指差して「この言葉はどういう意味ですか」と尋ねるかもしれません。
I strongly recommend that you ask questions like this about words that you don't understand.	理解できない言葉が出てきたら、このような表現を使って意味を尋ねることを強くお勧めします。
It's a great way to learn.	本当にいい学習方法だと思います。
The other two ways both come up in The Wizard of OZ several times.	残りの２つの使い方は「オズの魔法使い」という映画に繰り返し出てきます。
Here's a conversation between Miss Gulch and Uncle Henry that is an example of the second way in which the word "mean" can be used:	次のMiss Gulch（犬を連れ去ろうとした意地悪なおばさん）とUncle Henryとの間の会話は２つ目の”mean”の使い方の例になります。
Gulch: I want to see you and your wife right away about Dorothy.	ガルチ：ドロシーの件で、今すぐにあなたと奥さんに会いたい。
Henry: Dorothy? Well, what has Dorothy done?	ヘンリー：ドロシー？ドロシーが何をしたですって？
Gulch: What's she done? I'm all but lame from the bite on my leg!	ガルチ：何をしたって？私は足を噛まれて、もう少しで足が不自由になるところだったのよ。
Henry: You mean she bit you?	ヘンリー：ドロシーがあんたに噛みついたってこと？
Gulch: No, her dog!	ガルチ：まさか。犬よ。
Henry: Oh, she bit her dog, eh?	ヘンリー：ああ、ドロシーが犬を噛んだのかね？
Gulch: No!	ガルチ：違う！
It is clear from what Miss Gulch said that she has been bitten on her leg but she did not say who or what has bitten her.	足に噛まれたことは最初のMiss Gulchの話からわかりますが、だれ（それとも何）が噛み付いたのかは言いませんでした。
Since Miss Gulch began by saying that she came to talk about Dorothy, Uncle Henry asks if Miss Gulch is trying to say that Dorothy bit her.	Miss Gulchはドロシーのことで話したいと言うので、Uncle Henryは「ドロシーに噛まれた」ということか、と尋ねます。
It's difficult to hear all of the words but he is saying "You mean she bit you?"	言葉は少し聞き取りにくいかもしれませんが、”You mean she bit you?”と言っています。
This is the second way in which the word "mean" can be used -- to talk about what someone is trying to say or talk about.	これは「mean」の２つ目の使い方、つまり、人が言おうとしていることについて尋ねる使い方です。
Here's another example from the movie of this way of using the word "mean."	映画の中にあるこの使い方のもう一つの例を見てみましょう。
Dorothy is talking with Professor Marvel:	ドロシーはMarvel先生と話しています。
Dorothy: Oh, please, Professor, why can't we go with you and see all the Crowned Heads of Europe?	ドロシー：Marvel先生、先生と一緒にヨーロッパの貴族に会いに行けませんか？
Professor: Do you know any? Oh, you mean the thing . . . Yes, well, I -- I never do anything without consulting my crystal first.	Marvel先生：君、ヨーロッパの貴族に知り合いがいるのか・・・ああ、あのことか・・・そうですね。私はまず、占いの水晶玉を見ないと何も決められないね。
Dorothy asks about going to see the "Crowned Heads of Europe" (that is, kings and queens in Europe) because she saw the sign on Professor Marvel's wagon.	Marvel先生の荷馬車の看板にある「ヨーロッパの貴族の前で魔法を披露した」という文字をドロシーが見たので、「貴族に会いに連れて行って」と言います。
For a moment, Professor Marvel does not know what Dorothy is talking about but then he remembers his sign and says "Oh, you mean the thing" written on my wagon.	一瞬、Marvel先生は何のことかわかりませんが、看板のことを思い出し「ああ、荷馬車にあるあれ［看板］か」と言います。
So, in this case "Oh, you mean the thing" means "Oh, you are talking about the sign."	ですから、「ああ、あなたはあのことを言っているのか」というのは「ああ、あなたは看板のこと言っているのか」という意味になります。
Finally, here's an example of the third way in which the word "mean" can be used:	最後に、３つ目のmeanの使い方の例です。
Please, Aunt Em, Toto didn't mean to.	ドロシー：Emおばさん、お願いします。（犬の）トトはわざとやった訳ではありません。
He didn't know he was doing anything wrong.	悪気がありませんでした。
Dorothy is telling Aunt Em that Toto didn't intend to do anything wrong to Miss Gulch.	ドロシーはトトには悪いことをする意図がなかったことをEmおばさんに言っています。
Here's another example:	もう一つの例です。
Witch: Who killed my sister? Who killed the Witch of the East? Was it you?	魔女：だれが妹を殺したんだい？だれが東の魔女を殺したんだ？あんたかい？
Dorothy: No, no. It was an accident! I didn't mean to kill anybody!	ドロシー：いいえ、いいえ。事故でした。私はだれも殺そうとしていませんでした。
Dorothy uses the word "mean" in the same way after she kills the Wicked Witch of the West:	西の悪い魔女を殺した後に、ドロシーが同じような意味で”mean”という言葉を使います。
Guard: She's dead. You've killed her.	番人：死んでいる。あなたが殺したですね。
Dorothy: I didn't mean to kill her, really I didn't. It's just that he was on fire!	ドロシー：わざと殺したわけではありません。本当に。ただ、彼に火がついてしまい・・・
Here, too, Dorothy is saying that she didn't intend to kill anyone.	ここでも、ドロシーが人を殺す意図がなかったと言っています。
To review, the first way in which the word "mean" can be used is to talk about the meaning of a particular word, as in the sentence, "What does this word mean?"	おさらいしましょう。最初の"mean"の使い方は特定の言葉や表現の意味について話す使い方です。例えば、「この言葉の意味は何ですか？」という用法。
The second way is to talk about about what someone is trying to say or talk about, as in the sentence, "Do you mean that Dorothy bit you?"	２つ目は人が言おうとしていることについて尋ねる使い方です。例えば「ドロシーがあんたを噛んだってこと？」。
Finally, the third way is to use the word "mean" to talk about what someone did or did not intend to do, as in, "I didn't mean to do it. It was an accident."	最後に、３つ目の使い方は人がやろうとしていたこと、またはやろうとしていなかったことについて話す使い方です。例えば、「わざとやった訳ではなかった。事故だった。」

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