Please help me to read this English sentence:

[Columbine]

"In consequence, I’m inclined to reserve all judgments, a habit that has opened up many curious natures to me and also made me the victim of not a few veteran bores."

I'm very late to this party but I have something to add about the phrase 'curious natures'.

Because he is talking about people, this has absolutely NOTHING to do with 'nature' as in scenery and the natural world/animals. He is talking about ~characters~ and ~personality~. When we talk of someone's 'nature' it's referring to their character or personality, or their habits.
EXAMPLES: "The act of killing," said the snake, "Is in my nature."
"She was shy in nature."
"He had a truly inconsistent nature; sometimes generous, sometimes aloof."
"It is her nature to talk a walk everyday at noon."
Although when we use 'nature' it's a little more than a habit. More like a behavior that is so ingrained that it defines the person who does it.

Curious here is used to show that the people he meets are interesting, not that they are themselves curious about things. It implies that they are unusual people, slightly eccentric maybe. The phrased 'opened up' also suggests that the people are reserved about their differences and it's only because he doesn't judge that they've told him about it.

So the case is "Because of this (advice from his father), I don't judge people I meet right away, which has meant that I've met some really unusual people, and also some terribly boring ones."

This is getting into the heavy side of literature, I think, and judging from some of the huge misunderstandings of the phrase by other posters, not as well understood as plain English. This goes beyond mere words and grammar- this has a lot more to do with literary interpretation. Even British kids spend as much as 5 years or more studying this in school so it's not enough just to speak English competently.
So be careful because you'll get more misinformation for this type of language than you would do normally.

As for books, if you speak/talk like Jane Austen today, you'll sound very odd. Scott Fitzgerald died in the 1940's, that's pre WW2! He might be a 'modern' writer in terms of era, but his English is old; do people in Japan still speak and write like they did in 1940?
Even Hemingway is a little old-fashioned now and he died in 1961. But spoken English has moved on rapidly since then; the general lexicon has changed as fast as technology has. You could still write like him, though, without it seeming too odd.

If you can, try and find something that was published in the last 10 years. If you let me know the kind of book you want, I can maybe suggest some titles.

[YuriTokoro]

Originally Posted by Koir

Informative as always, Yuri. I had thought sharpening both ends of a pencil was odd as well as impractical to use afterwards. Now I know of another meaning for it!

Hi, Koir. Thanks as always.
There are colored pencils which have a red end and a blue end. This type is very popular here. We use two point protectors.
I attach a picture of two colored pencils to this post. Have you seen them?

1) Changed "about" to "held" to show that the events were done involving the god of poverty. This may be my bias, as I believe religious events for a god were done as if the god was taking an active part in the proceedings.

When those events were held to throw the god out from our houses, is “held” OK?

2) changed "became" to "went" to show the act if becoming bankrupt was a result of actions taken (in this case, unluckily joining the company before the bankruptcy happened).

Sorry, I don’t understand.
“if becoming bankrupt was a result of actions taken” ?
What I wanted to say was:
A company went bankrupt just after you joined it, but it was not because of you.
Can I say “if becoming bankrupt was not a result of your joining”?

3) Added "on" to "repeated several occasions" to make the prepositional phrase "on several occasions" which modifies the verb phrase "was repeated". This reads smoother and gives the reader context to the action being described in the sentence.

I see. I didn’t know I needed to add “on”.
Thanks!

As for monotheistic religions versus kami, I think it's more comforting to have only one god that can be praised or cursed depending on a person's life situations. Makes for less confusion maybe?

Can you praise and curse the same god?

[YuriTokoro]

Originally Posted by Columbine

I'm very late to this party but I have something to add about the phrase 'curious natures'.

Hi, Columbine.
Thanks for your in-depth explanations.

So the case is "Because of this (advice from his father), I don't judge people I meet right away, which has meant that I've met some really unusual people, and also some terribly boring ones."

I got it.
Curious natures can mean really unusual people. Thanks.

So be careful because you'll get more misinformation for this type of language than you would do normally.

Unfortunately, I don’t understand English enough, so I can’t tell what misinformation is if someone tells me some ackamaracka

As for books, if you speak/talk like Jane Austen today, you'll sound very odd. Scott Fitzgerald died in the 1940's, that's pre WW2! He might be a 'modern' writer in terms of era, but his English is old; do people in Japan still speak and write like they did in 1940?

No, we don’t speak like them.
You are right.

If you can, try and find something that was published in the last 10 years. If you let me know the kind of book you want, I can maybe suggest some titles.

Please help me and suggest some.
I’d like to read a book which is narrated from the first-person standpoint.
Not young or casual. (I prefer polite English.)
A lot of conversations as much as possible.
A book which has been translated into Japanese (this is a must), and has its audio book will be great. (I want to listen to pronunciation.)

Thanks a lot!

[Columbine]

Originally Posted by YuriTokoro

Please help me and suggest some.
I’d like to read a book which is narrated from the first-person standpoint.
Not young or casual. (I prefer polite English.)
A lot of conversations as much as possible.
A book which has been translated into Japanese (this is a must), and has its audio book will be great. (I want to listen to pronunciation.)

Thanks a lot!

There aren't so many fictional books written in the first person, but you could try "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel. Amazon.co.jp： パイの物語: ヤン マーテル, Yann Martel, 唐沢 則幸: 本. There's some big sections of dialogue, but also some large sections of narrative and the story is really interesting.

Otherwise, the other book I have that mostly ticks all your criteria is Long Way Down/ Long Way Around by Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman. It's not fiction, but it's written in the first person and has lots of conversation. It's a little more colloquial, however, with shorter sentences and a number of idioms (because the authors aren't professional writers). In a way, though, it makes the english a little more real than normal book-english.

I'll have a think and see if I can't think of any more.

[YuriTokoro]

Originally Posted by Columbine

There aren't so many fictional books written in the first person, but you could try "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel. There's some big sections of dialogue, but also some large sections of narrative and the story is really interesting.

Thank you for your prompt response.
This book seems to be nice, but I prefer an older narrator and more numbers of people in the story.
Someone says that you need to know about an accident of a certain ship in England in order to understand this story. Is this right?

Otherwise, the other book I have that mostly ticks all your criteria is Long Way Down/ Long Way Around by Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman. It's not fiction, but it's written in the first person and has lots of conversation. It's a little more colloquial, however, with shorter sentences and a number of idioms (because the authors aren't professional writers). In a way, though, it makes the english a little more real than normal book-english.

Sorry, but I prefer a story about your daily life. Many words you say while you are riding may be different from words in your daily life.
And I think I need more numbers of people.
I want to know many variations to say hello when you meet friends.
It may be that I should read some scenarios of movies. So I thought I would read The Great Gatsby’s scenario after I read the book.

I'll have a think and see if I can't think of any more.

Thanks!!

[Koir]

Originally Posted by YuriTokoro

Hi, Koir. Thanks as always.
There are colored pencils which have a red end and a blue end. This type is very popular here. We use two point protectors.
I attach a picture of two colored pencils to this post. Have you seen them?

This is the first time I've seen that kind of pencil. Very neat, especially offering two colours to write with!

When those events were held to throw the god out from our houses, is “held” OK?

I believe it's correct.

Sorry, I don’t understand.
“if becoming bankrupt was a result of actions taken” ?
What I wanted to say was:
A company went bankrupt just after you joined it, but it was not because of you.
Can I say “if becoming bankrupt was not a result of your joining”?

You could add some words in parenthesis.

"Nowadays, if a company which you just joined went bankrupt suddenly (not from your actions), and this situation was repeated on several occasions, you would be called binbohgami as a joke.

I suppose not having that information in parenthesis does leave the sentence up to reader interpretation. One person would think the individual in the sentence wasn't at fault, others would think he/she is at fault.

Can you praise and curse the same god?

People do that, and sometimes frequently. It depends on the individual's situation.

Hope that is of some help, Yuri!

[YuriTokoro]

Originally Posted by Koir

This is the first time I've seen that kind of pencil. Very neat, especially offering two colours to write with!

I see. Two color pencils are too popular here. When I was a student, teachers correct students’ answer seats with these pencils.

You could add some words in parenthesis.

"Nowadays, if a company which you just joined went bankrupt suddenly (not from your actions), and this situation was repeated on several occasions, you would be called binbohgami as a joke.

I suppose not having that information in parenthesis does leave the sentence up to reader interpretation. One person would think the individual in the sentence wasn't at fault, others would think he/she is at fault.

Thanks!
Japanese people often drop words when speaking in Japanese, so I don’t how I can tell you things exactly. Saying clearly is very hard to me.

People do that, and sometimes frequently. It depends on the individual's situation.

Hope that is of some help, Yuri!

Thanks, Koir!

[YuriTokoro]

Hi.
Could someone correct my English?


What I was astonished recently.

One of Japanese TV stations broadcasted a course in philosophy of Harvard University from last April to June. The title was Justice with Michael Sandel (a heated class in Harvard).They talked what the right things to do are, and this program was very interested.
However, what I was most astonished in the lecture was the professor’s this words (This was said when they were talking who should enter Harvard. )；
The common good is served, is advanced, if there is a racially and ethnically diverse student body. Everyone benefits.
He said this as if this was common sense. On this premise, they were discussing. I was really shocked.
Is this global standard?
I’m sure that most Japanese people would not understand or agree with the Idea.
I don’t know about any great professors, but common Japanese prefer non-diverse society; so Japan absorbs few immigrants.
Japanese people generally prefer not saying all what you think, and listeners supposed to understand what the speakers left unsaid. Many Japanese people aren’t used to say all the things we need to say. This is possible when people have the same values and cultures.
I know that other countries have many immigrants and I have thought that you just like it. I didn’t imagine someone thinks diverse people are everyone’s benefit.
I think Japanese can’t speak English fluently without overcoming this cultural difference.
The other hand, learners of Japanese language should know Japanese culture is much different than you guess.

Thank you.

[Koir]

Originally Posted by YuriTokoro

Hi.
Could someone correct my English?


What astonished me recently.

A Japanese TV station broadcasted a course in philosophy at Harvard University from last April to June. The title wasJustice with Michael Sandel (a heated class in Harvard). They talked about the right things to do, and this program was very interesting.
However, what I was most astonished about in the lecture were these words from the professor (This was said when they were talking who should enter Harvard. ):
The common good is served, is advanced, if there is a racially and ethnically diverse student body. Everyone benefits.
He said this as if it were common sense. The discussion was on this premise. I was really shocked.
Is this a global standard?
I’m sure that most Japanese people would not understand or agree with this idea.
I don’t know about any great professors, but common Japanese prefer a non-diverse society; so Japan absorbs few immigrants.
Japanese people generally prefer not saying all of what they think, and listeners are supposed to understand what the speakers left unsaid. Many Japanese people aren’t used to saying all the things we need to say. This is possible when people have the same values and cultures.
I know that other countries have many immigrants and I have thought that you just like it. I didn’t imagine someone thought diverse people are to everyone’s benefit.
I think Japanese can’t speak English fluently without overcoming this cultural difference. On the other hand, learners of Japanese language should know Japanese culture is much different than you'd guess.

Thank you.

Very interesting post, Yuri. Most of my revisions were small ones that make the sentences read smoother and focus the reader's thinking while reading them.

Other revisions:

1. "They talked what the right things to do are"

was changed to

"They talked about the right things to do"

The verb "talked" modifies the prepositional phrase in a more direct way. This means "are" can be removed and the sentence still retains the central concept.

2. "However, what I was most astonished in the lecture was the professor’s this words"

was changed to

"However, what I was most astonished about in the lecture were these words from the professor"

"About" was added for the same reason as the previous revision (adding directness), and "was" became "were" because the action being described occured in the past.

3."He said this as if this was common sense. On this premise, they were discussing."

was changed to

"He said this as if it were common sense. The discussion was on this premise."

"Were" is used as the observation made by the professor occured in the past. This revision and the previous one using "were" are more of a formal way of speaking that is grammatically correct. Most English speaking individuals use "was" and "were" interchangeably depending on preference.

The sentence after it was rearranged to read smoother. "Was" is not serving the same function as previous sentences, instead it is a state of being connecting the subject (discussion) to the subject modifier (on this premise).

4. "I didn’t imagine someone thinks diverse people are everyone’s benefit."

was changed to

"I didn’t imagine someone thought diverse people are to everyone’s benefit."

"Thought" read smoother and more correct as it describes an action in the past. "To" was added to complete what is an expression in English that describes a state of being applied to an abstract concept (everyone's benefit).

Hope these revisions are of some use, Yuri.

[YuriTokoro]

Originally Posted by Koir

Very interesting post, Yuri. Most of my revisions were small ones that make the sentences read smoother and focus the reader's thinking while reading them.

Hi, Koir!
Thanks a lot as always.
Thanks for your kind revision.

I’m having a recital of dancing next week.
I’m so excited now!!