(この記事は、『札幌英会話ニュースレター #12」の英語訳です。） Welcome Foreign Tourist We Have Many Resort Short Stay      Condminium Long Stay       Cottage Niseko           Guesthouse Otaru             And More!! No Commission                   X I happened to come across this English sign on the window of a real estate agency that recently opened on the main station road in Sapporo. If you took the phrases and words on this sign and translated them back into Japanese, this is roughly what you would get: 外国の観光客、あなただけ、ようこそ。たくさんの行楽地を一つだけ持っている。短期滞在。コン？？ミニアム。長期滞在。一つのコテージ。ニセコ。一つのゲストハウス。小樽。それからもっと!!　手数料はない。 (Gaikoku no kankoukyaku, anata dake, youkoso. Takusan no kourakuchi o hitotsu dake motteiru. Tanki taizai. Konminiamu?! Chouki taizai. Hitotsu no koteeji. Niseko. Hitotsu no gesutohausu. Otaru. Sore kara motto! Tesuuryoo ha nai.) People who understand English would take one look at the English in this sign and go, like, “What the heck?!” Why? Well, when using English, the plural form is indispensable. Grasping the full importance of the plural form can be pretty difficult for a lot of native Japanese speakers, because the Japanese language doesn’t really have one. However, English-speaking babies are able to use the plural form in simple phrases…