What Are Error Patterns? How I Diagnose Your English
You’ve been studying English for years. You know the grammar rules. You’ve memorized vocabulary.
But when you speak, the same mistakes keep appearing:
- “I went to shopping.” (instead of “I went shopping.”)
- “He is very like sports.” (instead of “He really likes sports.”)
- “My job is teacher.” (instead of “I’m a teacher.”)
You know these are wrong. But in the moment, they slip out anyway.
Why?
Because you’re not dealing with random mistakes. You’re dealing with error patterns—systematic mistakes rooted in how Japanese and English work differently.
And if you don’t identify the pattern, you’ll keep making the same mistakes forever.
What Are Error Patterns?
An error pattern is a mistake you make repeatedly because of:
- Language transfer (Japanese grammar influencing English structure)
- Incomplete rules (you learned part of the rule, but not all of it)
- Overgeneralization (you applied a rule too broadly)
Example: “I went to shopping.”
This mistake comes from language transfer.
In Japanese, you say: 買い物に行きました (kaimono ni ikimashita).
Literally: “Shopping to went.”
So Japanese learners naturally translate it as: “I went to shopping.”
But in English, you don’t use “to” before gerunds in this pattern.
Correct: “I went shopping.”
This isn’t about being “bad at English.” It’s about your brain applying Japanese logic to English structure.
Why Error Pattern Analysis Works
Most English lessons focus on teaching new things. You learn a grammar point, practice it, and move on.
But they don’t focus on fixing what’s already broken.
In the 1-Day Domestic Immersion, I take a different approach:
- I listen to you speak for 45 minutes in the diagnostic session.
- I note every repeated mistake—not random errors, but patterns.
- I analyze the root cause (Japanese transfer? Incomplete rule? Overgeneralization?).
- I create custom exercises targeting those specific patterns.
By the end of the day, you’re not just learning new English—you’re unlearning the mistakes you’ve been making for years.
Common Error Patterns for Japanese Learners
1. Particle Transfer (“to,” “for,” “at”)
Japanese: 学校に行く (gakkou ni iku)
Incorrect English: “I go to school.” ✓
Incorrect English: “I go to home.” ✗
Why? In Japanese, you use に (ni) for all destinations. In English, you don’t use “to” with “home.”
Fix: Home is treated as an adverb, not a noun requiring a preposition.
2. Missing Articles (“a,” “an,” “the”)
Incorrect: “I am teacher.”
Correct: “I am a teacher.”
Why? Japanese doesn’t have articles. Your brain doesn’t register them as essential.
Fix: Train yourself to hear the rhythm of “a teacher,” “an apple,” “the book.”
3. Adjective + Verb Confusion
Incorrect: “He is very like sports.”
Correct: “He really likes sports.”
Why? In Japanese, すき (suki, “like”) functions as an adjective. You say: 彼はスポーツが大好きです (kare wa supōtsu ga daisuki desu), which feels like “He is very like sports.”
But in English, “like” is a verb, so you need “really” (adverb) instead of “very” (adjective).
4. Word Order in Questions
Incorrect: “You are from where?”
Correct: “Where are you from?”
Why? Japanese questions keep the same word order as statements and just add か (ka) at the end. English requires inversion (moving the verb before the subject).
How I Fix Error Patterns
Step 1: Awareness
Most learners don’t even realize they’re making the same mistakes repeatedly. The first step is hearing them pointed out.
During the diagnostic session, I’ll say:
“You just said ‘I went to home’ three times. Let’s talk about why that happens.”
Step 2: Understanding the Root Cause
I explain why your brain makes this mistake. It’s not stupidity—it’s language transfer from Japanese.
Once you understand the logic, you can start catching yourself.
Step 3: Targeted Practice
I create exercises that force you to confront the pattern:
- “Tell me five places you went last week. Use ‘went’ correctly every time.”
- “Describe your job using ‘a’ or ‘an’ in every sentence.”
These exercises aren’t from textbooks. They’re built from your mistakes.
Step 4: Real-Time Correction
Throughout the day, I’ll gently correct you when the pattern reappears. Not aggressively—just a quick reminder:
“Ah—’I went shopping.’ Try again.”
By hour 10, you’ll be catching yourself before I do.
Why This Is Different from Group Classes
In a group class, the teacher can’t focus on your individual patterns. They teach general lessons for everyone.
But your mistakes are unique to you. Your brain’s Japanese-to-English transfer is different from another student’s.
The 1-Day Immersion is 100% personalized. The entire curriculum is built around your error patterns.
The Result: Permanent Improvement
The goal of the 1-Day Immersion isn’t just to correct you once, but to train your brain to catch its own mistakes.
Imagine catching yourself mid-sentence: “I go to… no, I went home.”
That moment of self-correction is when true fluency begins. It means your brain finally understands what is wrong.
That’s the power of error pattern analysis.
Ready to identify your patterns?