|
English word |
English Definition |
English Example sentence |
| 1 |
to get one’s point across |
to effectively communicate what you want to say |
I talked for hours, but I couldn't get my point across, for
some reason. |
| 2 |
to gesture |
to make movements with your hands, head, or body |
I like to gesture to the computer screen when I teach. |
| 3 |
to make oneself understood |
to make your speech/main point clear to other people |
I can't speak Japanese perfectly, but I can make myself
understood. |
| 4 |
to get the gist of ~ |
to develop an understanding about something after practicing a
bit |
I read many books, so now I am starting to get the gist of
Japanese sentence structure. |
| 5 |
to express oneself |
to communicate your ideas or feelings |
I express myself best by writing, not speaking. |
| 6 |
to figure out |
to understand, to solve |
I figured out the math problem after a while. |
| 7 |
to make out |
to be able to see something clearly |
That kanji is too small, I can't make it out. |
| 8 |
to infer |
to guess about something using available hints |
By looking at the trend in world population, we can infer that
it will reach nine billion by the year 2020. |
| 9 |
to interact with ~ |
to communicate with, to affect |
I don't really like interacting with teenagers, they are just
too young. |
| 10 |
to pick up ~ |
to learn something accidentally |
I picked up Japanese naturally after living here for 20
years. |
| 11 |
to catch on ~ |
to begin to understand |
After five months of study, I began to catch on. |
| 12 |
to decode ~ |
to understand the system behind something complex |
I can't decode the kanji stroke order. There seems to be a
system behind it, but I can't understand what it is. |
| 13 |
to assume ~ |
to think something is true/for sure, even if nobody told you it
was true/for sure |
Because you like soba, I assumed you like udon, too. |
| 14 |
context |
the surrounding information of a sentence |
The English phrase "Come on!" can have a few different meanings
depending on the context. |
| 15 |
an accent |
a certain way of pronouncing words that non-native speakers of
a language sometimes have |
Italian people have a nice accent when they speak English. |
| 16 |
a dialect |
a sub-language, a regional language in a country |
African Americans sometimes have a totally different dialect
than European Americans. |
| 17 |
to converse with ~ |
to talk with, to have a conversation with |
I conversed with some locals when I went to Fiji. |
| 18 |
to interpret ~ |
to translate one language into another in real-time |
When diplomats visit other countries, local officials sometimes
interpret for them. |
| 19 |
to be deaf |
to be unable to hear |
My father shot guns when he was younger, and he became mostly
deaf. |
| 20 |
to be impaired |
to be unable to function normally or fully |
My judgement was impaired by the alcohol. |
| 21 |
a nuance |
a small bit of meaning, a small clue |
There can be a lot of nuance in a single word, depending on
what tone of voice you use. |