As a manager, is tough good or not?

I currently work as an administrative manager in an Athletic Club. I'm not an English native speaker.

 

One day I was having lunch with my boss who is American and I said "I'm not a tough person.".. Then my boss hesitated for about 2 seconds, and asked "Oh really?" and after another 2 seconds.. And he said "Oh, it's OK.."

 

So far, I haven't made any mistakes of my work, but it didn't seem my boss were happy with it.. I'm a person who believes in good communication rather than being imperitive.. And my boss is also a very polite person!

I even forgot why did I say that.. T-T

 

So I'm confused.. Is not being a tough person that bad??  Or I just used the word in a wrong way?

 

Thanks!

What does "get lean/ tone up" actually mean in fitness programmes? I often hear these two phrases in fitness programmes but don't know what they actually mean. Like "strong" means not thin, but healthy, and have muscles, or, have big power, etc. What kind of the fitness results do "get lean" and "tone up" mean? (such as skinny, thin but with nice muscle lines.) Thanks in advance!

Are [～なければなりません]、[～ないといけません] interchangeable? Both [～なければなりません] and [～ないといけません] are translated as have to.. / must ... But [～なければなりません] is a little bit difficult for me to read fluently, so I prefer [～ないといけません] . Is it OK? Are they interchangeable? Thanks!

请问，台湾的日语学习者用什么教材应考N2呢？ 在内地普遍用的是本叫作《标准日本语》。 我现在在用的是《大家的日本语》，感觉对我来说还是日本人出的日语教材例句更丰富一些。 不知台湾的学生用的是什么教材入门呢？冲击N2的话，你们用的是什么后续教材呢？ 谢谢噢！

What is the pronunciation of "が,ぎ,ぐ,げ,ご" when they're not coming first of a word? My text book says there is a rule of the pronunciation of が,ぎ,ぐ,げ,ご which is that when they come first of a word, they're pronouced as "ga, gi, gu, ge, go" but when not, the "g" part pronunciation change into "n" in "going"(the / η /), they would be pronounced as "ηa, ηi, ηu, ηe, ηo". Like 学生 is pronounced "gakusei" because が comes first of the word, whereas はがき is pronounced as "haηaki" not "hagaki" , かぎ is as "kaηi" not "kagi", 仕事 is as "shiηoto" not "shigoto" because in these case the が,ぎ,ご are not coming first of these words. However, that's written in my text book. The thing is, I still hear many Japanese people just pronounce はがき as "hagaki", かぎ as "kagi", 仕事 as "shigoto",not as "haηki", "kaηi", "shiηoto", etc. So I'm confused which one is the standard pronunciation of が、ぎ、ぐ、げ、ご when they're not coming first of a word? Thanks in advance!

What's the difference between "自動車（）じどうしゃ）" and "車（くるま）"? 「じどうしゃ」 and 「くるま」 both can be translated as "car", what's the difference? Thanks!

Which sentence is correct? "Sono stata a passeggiare sul fiume, e le zanzare mi hanno punta dapertutto." & "Andavo a passeggiare sul fiume, e le zanzare mi puntavano dapertutto." Qual è giusta? Grazie!

"non so / non lo so", "(non) l'ho capito / (on) ho capito", what's the difference? As you can see in the title, what's the difference these sentences? Non so.. / Non lo so. (Non) Ho capito. / (Non) L'ho capito. Grazie!

Gli esercizi: mini-storie Construite delle mini-storie con le seguenti informazioni. 1.Mio fratello/ vivere molto tempo fuori Italia/ dimenticare come mangiare italiani. Mio fratello è vissito molto tempo fuori dall'Italia e ha dimentiato come mangiano gli italiani. 2. Ieri/ bar sotto casa/ incontrare Nicola/ prendere caffè insieme/ andare in giro negozi/ Nicola comprare una cintura/ io non comprare niente. Ieri, sono andata al bar sotto casa per incontrare Nicola e abbiamo preso un caffè insieme. Poi abbiamo pensato in giro per i negozi. Alla fine, lui ha comprato una cintura, io, invece, non ho comprato niente. 3. Questa mattina/ noi non potere andare lavoro autobus/ sciopero mezzi trasporto/ ma non restare a casa/ telefonare Piero/ andare lavovare sua macchina. Questa mattina, c'è stato uno sciopero dei mezzi di trasporto, così non siamo potute andare al lavoro in autobus. Ma non siamo putute restare a casa, invece, siamo dovute arrivare in ufficio prima delle 9 perché c'è stato un incontro (meeting) importante. Poi ho avuto l'idea di telefonare Piero, un mio amico, per domandare se è potuto mandarci. E siamo state fortunate: lui è stato propio a casa. Alla fine, siamo andate in ditta con la sua macchina. Pensa che siamo andate in ufficio un minuto prima dell'inizio dell'incontro! È stata una mattina intensa insomma.