Please help me to read this English sentence:

[YuriTokoro]

Originally Posted by trunker

some minor changes, mostly in composition, but it was all pretty much correct, and was just a matter of making it flow a bit better,.... since i had time to kill

i've seen people sleep on the train in many countries, but none as comfortably or as deeply as they do here.

Thank you for your very kind and clear revision.

Do people sleep on the train in the rush in your country?

[YuriTokoro]

Originally Posted by Koir

So far in my life, I haven't been on any trains and therefore don't have any experience with normal behaviours on them. I imagine sleeping on the train as a matter of habit during the daytime is a reflection of the comfort level the person has in the behaviour of society.

Hi, Koir. Thanks as always.
In your country, you don’t sleep on the train, but sleeping on buses is OK. Hmm. I thought sleeping in public spaces is rude outside of Japan, but it doesn’t seem to have been right.

But yes, I have slept on buses. During my first college experience I "zoned out" a lot, or essentially turned my mind off while keeping my eyes open. There was one especially amusing time when I did so and completely forgot to signal the driver. I remember coming out of one of those dazes to find the bus driver looking at me, and the bus was parked. It's a very good thing the driver knew where I usually had my stop or who knows how long I would have gone around the route!

Most Japanese people are used to sleeping on the train and buses, so we somehow wake up before getting to the station or the bus stop. I usually wake up one or two stations before the station I get off. I don’t know why we can do this.

[Koir]

Originally Posted by YuriTokoro

Most Japanese people are used to sleeping on the train and buses, so we somehow wake up before getting to the station or the bus stop. I usually wake up one or two stations before the station I get off. I don’t know why we can do this.

It could be similar to how a person can be completely asleep, then someone says something or a strange noise is heard and instantly you're wide awake. It usually comes with the lingering feeling that you weren't really fully asleep before becoming fully aware of your surroundings. For whatever sense that makes, heh

[OzukakiBurasuki]

Originally Posted by YuriTokoro

Hi.
Could you correct my English?

"Sleeping on the Train"

Many Japanese people sleep sitting on the train. Some sleep standing. You might not believe this. One of my English teachers from The U.S. has said he hadn’t imagined it before he came to Japan but he saw the people every morning in Tokyo.
I’ve never seen people sleeping on the train outside Japan. I wonder what you think when you see people sleeping on the train. I’ve read some foreign man called it “Japanese siesta”.
When I get on the underground train in New York, I tried to sleep out of habit, and then I reminded I wasn’t in Japan, opened my eyes quickly.
Do you sleep on the train in your country?

Thank you.

Many Japanese people sleep sitting on the train. Some sleep standing. You might not believe this.

It would be better if you slimmed down these three sentences in two longer ones.

"It's hard to believe, to foreigners at least, but many Japanese sleep on the train. Most are sitting down, but some sleep while standing up." (You should probably explain that they hold onto the hooks from the ceiling.)

One of my English teachers from The U.S. has said he hadn’t imagined it before he came to Japan but he saw the people every morning in Tokyo.

We have no idea what you are talking about in this sentence, but it is most likely your teacher's reaction to the Japanese sleeping on their train rides. You should omit the "has" from "the U.S. has said he" because it isn't needed. Also, the "the" in "The U.S." should not be capitalized since it is not a part of the proper noun. Next, "hadn't" is a poor choice for this sentence. It might be better to use "never" and only use "had" instead before "never." You should also change "it" to "that" because "that" is the object and it is being referred to now. Okay, this is the hard part. You did not put a comma after "Japan" and before "but." This screws up the sentence structure while also creating a run-on sentence. Lastly, we have no idea what the people in Tokyo are doing.

This is a better way to phrase that section as:

"One of my English teachers from the U.S. said he had never imagined that before he came to Japan, but every morning he saw people in Tokyo napping on the train next to him." (You can tell I added information onto the sentence, but it finishes it off well.)

I’ve never seen people sleeping on the train outside Japan. I wonder what you think when you see people sleeping on the train. I’ve read some foreign man called it “Japanese siesta”.

The first sentence is perfect. You should add "would" after "I wonder what you" to make more sense. "When" should definitely be changed to "if" because you would not know if the person you were speaking to would ever see someone asleep on the train. It could be some rare occurrence that it did not happen to them. Also, it is in past tence, so "see" is "saw." I think the problem with that sentence is that you thought it would be fine to write in present, yet past tense would be used instead usually if you were explaining a situation to someone. The last sentence needs just one change. "called" should be changed to "call" because of the situation.

I know what you are thinking now. What the heck is that? You said you would need to express the situations you were describing in past, then you changed it to present. English is just screwy like that.

So here:

"I've never seen people sleeping ont he train outside Japan. I wonder what you would think if you saw people sleeping on the train. I've read some foreign man call it 'Japanese siesta.'"

When I get on the underground train in New York, I tried to sleep out of habit, and then I reminded I wasn’t in Japan, opened my eyes quickly.
Do you sleep on the train in your country?

There is a bad run-on sentence here. I think for this one, I'll just type what I would've said. The last sentence is fine though.

"When I get on the underground train in New York, I try to sleep out of habit. That usually reminds me that I'm not in Japan, so I open my eyes quickly. Do you usually sleep on the train in your country?"

_______

I hope this confuses........errr......... helps you more.

P.S. If you were a girl sleeping on a bus in New York, you'd probably get snatched up and raped. Then again, that's just my southern stereotype of New York. XD

[KyleGoetz]

Why hasn't anyone corrected "underground train" to "subway" yet? I've never heard any native call it that. It's definitely "subway."

[girigiri]

Certainly "subway" has common usage in America. Sydney and Melbourne it's underground. London it's commonly "tube".

[trunker]

bugger, cant believe i missed that one.

[YuriTokoro]

Originally Posted by OzukakiBurasuki

It would be better if you slimmed down these three sentences in two longer ones.

"It's hard to believe, to foreigners at least, but many Japanese sleep on the train. Most are sitting down, but some sleep while standing up." (You should probably explain that they hold onto the hooks from the ceiling.)

Hi, OzukakiBurasuki. Thank you.
Is this correct?
“Most are sitting down, but some sleep while standing up holding onto the hooks from the ceiling.”

We have no idea what you are talking about in this sentence, but it is most likely your teacher's reaction to the Japanese sleeping on their train rides.

Thank you for guessing.

"One of my English teachers from the U.S. said he had never imagined that before he came to Japan, but every morning he saw people in Tokyo napping on the train next to him." (You can tell I added information onto the sentence, but it finishes it off well.)

Thank you.

I think the problem with that sentence is that you thought it would be fine to write in present, yet past tense would be used instead usually if you were explaining a situation to someone.

Yes, you are right. I didn’t know I must have used past tense when I explained a situation to someone. I have never noticed that at all.
My English book said that when the situation was likely, I should use present tense. So, I’m confused. I don’t know how to know how likely a situation is.

The last sentence needs just one change. "called" should be changed to "call" because of the situation.

Yes. My English book said like that. This is my mistake.

I know what you are thinking now. What the heck is that? You said you would need to express the situations you were describing in past, then you changed it to present. English is just screwy like that.

Kind of.

There is a bad run-on sentence here. I think for this one, I'll just type what I would've said. The last sentence is fine though.

I’m so sorry.
I should have written “When I got on the underground train in New York, I tried to sleep out of habit, and then I reminded I wasn’t in Japan, opened my eyes quickly.”
Not “When I get on”, because I’ve been to New York only twice. The situation was my first ride on subway there.

I hope this confuses........errr......... helps you more.

Too educational.

P.S. If you were a girl sleeping on a bus in New York, you'd probably get snatched up and raped. Then again, that's just my southern stereotype of New York. XD

When I first visited to New York, I was a girl. (I’m a woman, now.) I thought sleeping on the train was dangerous outside of Japan.
You say that’s your southern stereotype of New York, so isn’t napping on the train dangerous in your town?

Thanks, again.

[KyleGoetz]

Originally Posted by YuriTokoro

Hi, OzukakiBurasuki. Thank you.
I should have written “When I got on the underground train in New York, I tried to sleep out of habit, and then I reminded I wasn’t in Japan, opened my eyes quickly.”

Couple of notes. First, "to remind" is passive—think 思い出させる. For some reason, Japanese-English dictionaries provide 思い出す as a translation for "to remind." This is pretty much incorrect. If you want to use "to remind" upon yourself like 思い出す, you need to say "I am reminded." However, I think this only works with nouns, such as "I am reminded of the summer" or "I am reminded of rain." It doesn't work with verbs, or at least it sounds awkward.

In your case, you should use "to remember." 思い出す is "to remember."

Just to provide a few examples,
私は日本にいないと思い出す。
I remember I am not in Japan.

He reminded me that I am not in Japan.
彼は私に日本にいないと*思い出させた。 <-- *not sure if I should use と or ことを there.

Second note:
I assume you want to say the English equivalent of something like
ニューヨークで地下鉄に乗った時に、習慣で寝ようとし て、日本にいないと思い出して急に目を開けた。
If so, I think it would be better to say
When I got on the subway in New York, I tried to sleep out of habit, but then I remembered I wasn’t in Japan, so I opened my eyes quickly.

The subway change is because we call it a subway in the US and this particular tikatetu is in NYC. I suppose you could call it the underground or the tube, but I think it would sound funny since that's not what it's called in NYC.

The and->but change is because "and" sounds like a plain old laundry list of actions (I woke up, got dressed, ate breakfast, went to school, studied, came home, etc.), but in this case you are contrasting two things. You tried to sleep. You opened your eyes. These actions are opposites, so "but" sounds more natural here. It makes it sound more like a story and less like you're just listing boring stuff you did.

I already explained the remind->remember change. You could have said "but then I was reminded that I wasn't in Japan," but that sounds like something caused you to remember. Maybe someone told you or you heard someone speaking English or something.

The "so I" is added because the remembering caused you to open your eyes, so you need a conjunction there. "So" is the correct conjunction here because you're showing cause and effect. "But" shows opposites, "and" shows a list of things, etc.

As an interesting mnemonic, the way schoolkids in America are taught the main conjunctions is by remembering the term FANBOYS, which sounds a lot like ヲタク (do オタク still use that ヲ like that in Japan?).

For (kind of like "because") He and Janie danced, for they were boyfriend and girlfriend.
And (a list) He went to the store, and he bought a newspaper.
Nor (the opposite of "or") He is not smart, nor is he funny.
But (shows an opposite) He is not smart, but he is funny.
Or (shows options) I will go to the store, or I will stay home.
Yet (kind of like "however") He is tall, yet he does not play basketball well.
So (shows cause and effect) He is tall, so he plays basketball well.

[KyleGoetz]

Originally Posted by KyleGoetz

Couple of notes. First, "to remind" is passive—think 思い出させる. For some reason, Japanese-English dictionaries provide 思い出す as a translation for "to remind." This is pretty much incorrect. If you want to use "to remind" upon yourself like 思い出す, you need to say "I am reminded." However, I think this only works with nouns, such as "I am reminded of the summer" or "I am reminded of rain." It doesn't work with verbs, or at least it sounds awkward.

In your case, you should use "to remember." 思い出す is "to remember."

Just to provide a few examples,
私は日本にいないと思い出す。
I remember I am not in Japan.

He reminded me that I am not in Japan.
彼は私に日本にいないと*思い出させた。 <-- *not sure if I should use と or ことを there.

Second note:
I assume you want to say the English equivalent of something like
ニューヨークで地下鉄に乗った時に、習慣で寝ようとし て、日本にいないと思い出して急に目を開けた。
If so, I think it would be better to say
When I got on the subway in New York, I tried to sleep out of habit, but then I remembered I wasn’t in Japan, so I opened my eyes quickly.

The subway change is because we call it a subway in the US and this particular tikatetu is in NYC. I suppose you could call it the underground or the tube, but I think it would sound funny since that's not what it's called in NYC.

The and->but change is because "and" sounds like a plain old laundry list of actions (I woke up, got dressed, ate breakfast, went to school, studied, came home, etc.), but in this case you are contrasting two things. You tried to sleep. You opened your eyes. These actions are opposites, so "but" sounds more natural here. It makes it sound more like a story and less like you're just listing boring stuff you did.

I already explained the remind->remember change. You could have said "but then I was reminded that I wasn't in Japan," but that sounds like something caused you to remember. Maybe someone told you or you heard someone speaking English or something.

The "so I" is added because the remembering caused you to open your eyes, so you need a conjunction there. "So" is the correct conjunction here because you're showing cause and effect. "But" shows opposites, "and" shows a list of things, etc.

As an interesting mnemonic, the way schoolkids in America are taught the main conjunctions is by remembering the term FANBOYS, which sounds a lot like ヲタク (do オタク still use that ヲ like that in Japan?).

For (kind of like "because") He and Janie danced, for they were boyfriend and girlfriend.
And (a list) He went to the store, and he bought a newspaper.
Nor (the opposite of "or") He is not smart, nor is he funny.
But (shows an opposite) He is not smart, but he is funny.
Or (shows options) I will go to the store, or I will stay home.
Yet (kind of like "however") He is tall, yet he does not play basketball well.
So (shows cause and effect) He is tall, so he plays basketball well.

Let me know if you didn't understand part of my explanation. It's been five years since I was an English teacher.