実践ビジネス英語 ディクテーション (3/1,2)
こんにちは。NHKラジオ「実践ビジネス英語」”Talk the Talk”のディクテーションです。
Lesson 22のテーマは、‘Unwritten Rules’（暗黙のルール）でした。Vignetteでは、エスカレーターに乗っている時には、右側では立ち、左側を歩くというのは誰が決めたルールなのか、という疑問に始まり、一般に受け入れられているさまざまな暗黙のルールが話題になりました。
“Talk the Talk”では、Heatherさんが来日して知った日常生活での暗黙のルールについて、また人づきあいの場でのマナーについても話されています。
Unwritten Rules
（S: 杉田敏先生 H: Heather Howardさん）
S: Our current vignette talks about the unwritten rule of standing on one side of the escalator and letting people walk on the other side.
It’s now more or less universal to stand on the right and walk on the left.
People in Osaka follow this rule.
But we stand on the left and walk on the right in Tokyo and most other parts of this country.
No one knows for sure why these unwritten rules have been established in Japan and elsewhere in the world.
H: The vignette also mentions the ‘No Walk’ campaign that was introduced in Japan a few years ago to reduce accidents and injuries.
Well, it seems it’s also more efficient overall for everyone to stand still on the escalator.
The London Underground found that in stations with escalators taller than 18.5 meters a lot of the left side wasn’t used, and that caused blockages and lines at the bottom.
An experiment on the underground in 2015 found that standing on both sides of an escalator reduced congestion by about 30 percent.
S: We certainly see long lines in Japan’s train stations, don’t we?
And whether we walk or stand, people should definitely not run on escalators.
H: Please, no, don’t run on escalators.
I had a scary moment with that when I was pregnant.
I was going down on an escalator and a man came tearing passed me running down on the other side at top speed.
He didn’t collide with me, but my heart just dropped into my stomach when he rushed by.
In his defense, it was hard to tell from behind that I was pregnant, but even if I wasn’t, he still could’ve caused me and himself serious harm if he crashed into me.
S: You told me before, Heather, that it was something of a culture shock for you to learn soon after your arrival here in Japan that Japanese don’t say “Bless you” when someone sneezes.
I think that’s another good example of an unwritten rule.
What else have you noticed?
H: Let’s see－I also had to get used to the much lower level of physical contact.
Not eating while I walk along the street, or on a commuter train.
Not crossing my legs while sitting on a commuter train.
Oh, and offering to let the other person sit with their back to the wall in restaurants and such.
And getting in the cab first, so that the other person doesn’t have to scooch over.
I think in the States, a lot of people would think it was more polite to let the other person get in first.
S: Nissen mentions not texting during a movie or in church.
H: See, now, that I just don’t understand.
Why would you want to text during a movie?
You’re gonna to miss the movie.
That’s like throwing money down the drain.
I paid for a seat so I could watch a film on a big screen at specific time, not stare at the tiny screen I have access to during all other hours of the day.
And Good Lord, literally, I’d be afraid to text in church.
S: Nissen also says he dislikes it when native speakers of another language talk in that language as if he’s not there.
H: Yes, I did something like that at a dinner once, many years ago now.
There were three of us: me, a Japanese person primarily in Japanese, just because that was easier for them to understand.
And I was conveying most of what I said to my Japanese friend in English to the American.
But before too long, she abruptly said: “Could you please not speak Japanese like that? I don’t know what you’re saying.”
And I was glad she spoke up.
I think a lot of people wouldn’t, they’d just simmer angrily.
But she was right－it wasn’t polite, I was making her feel excluded－and because she said so, I’ve made sure not to do that again in the following years.
Words and Expressions
scooch over: （座ったまま）滑るように移動する（横に詰める）
simmer: コトコト煮える、（感情などが）今にも爆発しそうである
excluded: 疎外されて
お疲れさまでした。お読みくださり、ありがとうございます♪
