Language

Like most language textbooks, those available in Japan for the dedicated student of English aren’t exactly what you’d call inspirational. The words fun and interesting don’t usually spring to mind either.

So any attempt to buck this trend by putting a bit of entertainment into English is to be commended. And incorporating quotes from popular films is probably a good way of achieving this. Plus it makes the language a bit more real.

But a bit of care is needed as far as selection goes, and some quotes are obviously better suited than others.

(Apologies for the poor picture quality. It was a bit rushed due to a rather stern looking shop assistant nearby.)

Kill you

After receiving a call on Monday night about a man walking around Tokyo’s Taito-ku district with a knife, a police officer quickly arrived at the scene and confronted the criminal. But rather than give up his weapon, the man began to walk towards the policeman, brandishing the knife and shouting “Kill You” in English.

Whilst it wasn’t reported, I presume I’m right in guessing that the officer didn’t correct the man’s shoddy English. Perhaps helpfully suggesting that I’m going to, or I want to placed before his outburst would make for a grammatically correct (and more intimidating) sentence.

Instead the policeman simply shot the suspect in the arm, bringing the incident to a swift and decisive end.