Q: What is a common mistake Japanese students tend to make?
A: One of common errors is actually the incorrect choice between or combination of three different phrases. Those phrases are:
・After a long time (this is not commonly used by native English speakers)
・For the first time in a long time
・It’s been a long time
I often see sentences like “I ate kimchi after a long time” or
“I petted a cat since a long time”.
The correct form of these sentences would be:
・I ate kimchi for the first time in a long time.
・It’s been a long time since I petted a cat.
Let’s look at the phrases.
“After a long time” focuses on the wait, not the occurrence or incident. For example, if we say “My friend came out of the classroom after a long time”, it means we were just sitting around, waiting endlessly for this person to reappear.
“It’s been a long time” means this has happened before, but a lot of time has passed since it occurred. In this phrase, the focus is not on our wait, but on the time itself. “It’s been a long time since I took the train”.
“For the first time in a long time” means literally that. This is a thing that has happened before, but not in quite some time. The focus is on the fact that it’s a re-start. For example: “I went to visit my sister for the first time in a long time.” or I watched a VHS tape for the first time in a long time.”
So let’s look at the same information, said 3 ways:
・It’s been a long time since I went skiing.
(Many years have passed since I went skiing.)
・I went skiing after a long time.
(I waited and waited and waited, but I finally got to ski again.)
・I went skiing for the first time in a long time.
(I have started to ski again.)
(和訳)
A: よくある間違いの一つに、以下の３つのフレーズが適切に使われていないということがあるわ。
・After a long time (＊このフレーズはネイティブスピーカーはあまり使わない)
・For the first time in a long time
・It’s been a long time
以下のような（間違った）文をよく見ます。
“I ate kimchi after a long time.”
“I petted a cat since a long time.”
正しくは以下の通り。
“I ate kimchi for the first time in a long time.”
“It’s been a long time since I petted a cat.”
各フレーズを見ていきましょう。
“After a long time”では、焦点があてられているのは待つこと。出来事ではないのね。
例えば、“My friend came out of the classroom after a long time.”と言ったとすると、この人物がもう一度現れるのを延々と待って、時間を過ごしていたことを意味するの。
“It’s been a long time.”は、これは、ある事が以前起きて、それからたくさんの時間が経っているということなのね。このフレーズでの焦点は待つことではなくて、時間そのものなの。
“It’s been a long time since I took the train”.
（電車に乗ってから随分経った。）
“For the first time in a long time” は文字通りの意味で、以前ある事が起きた事があるけど、しばらくはなかったということ。焦点は再スタートだということね。
例文
“I went to visit my sister for the first time in a long time.
（久しぶりに妹のところに行った。）
“I watched a VHS tape for the first time in a long time.”
（久しぶりにVHSテープを見た）
それでは同じ情報について、３つのフレーズを使って言うとどうなるか見てましょう。
It’s been a long time since I went skiing.
（スキーに行ってから何年も経っている）
I went skiing after a long time.
（私は、ずっとずっと待っていて、ついにもう一度スキーをやった）
I went skiing for the first time in a long time.
（またスキーを始めた）
