Hi David,

Welcome back to a clean, organized, and efficient country! Sorry, but your story of 'reverse culture shock' was funny, and it made me laugh! I can't imagine that happening in Japan, either. The woman on the gate was NOT kind. Does it often happen in the UK?(or are workers in Japan too kind?) Anyway, I'm glad you didn't miss your plane and you got back safely. I'll keep your bad experience in mind so that I won't panic if I go abroad someday;-)

By the way, have any of you noticed that we've got a new comer called Leo on the last entry? Here's her(his?) comment for those of you who missed it.

『皆様、はじめまして、and Happy New Year!
先日より、読みのみ参加させていただいておりますが、まだまだ読み終わっておりません。（Dec.19のブログを読むだけで1日がかり）
でも、ご挨拶する機会がなくなってしまいそうなので、日本語で・・・。
今年の目標として、英語でコメントが書けるようになることです。
先が見えていませんが（＾＾；）、「あ、そんな人いたね」と思い出してもらえるまでに、デビューしたいです。

一方的ですみませんが、よろしくお願い致します。

Leo』

Hi Leo,

Welcome to the blog!　英語でコメントが書けるようになるには書くしかないです。　‘書けるようになってから’ではなくて、今から参加して、やりながら覚えましょう！　あーでもない、こーでもない、と色々考える時間がとても大事なのだと思います。　私も最初は書けることしか書けなかったし、書きたいことは無理やり書いてきました(笑)　それに、ここは日本語でもOKなブログです。　1行でも2行でも、英語で頑張って書く努力をして、あとは日本語で言いたいことを書いてみては・・？(←最初の頃の私です。　英語が全然浮かばない時は全部日本語で書いていたし)

というわけで、今日がブログデビューですね♪　こちらこそ、よろしくお願いします＾＾

See you soon,

Tomo

PS Leo、読みきれない時は、全部のコメントを読まなくても大丈夫ですよ。　でも、Davidのエントリーは頑張って読んでみてください。　分からない所は質問してもらえれば、私も他のみんなもお手伝いできます(＾_-)-☆

•  Tomo
• 2009年1月 6日 17:38

Hi David,
WELCOME BACK TO JAPAN !

Reading your story always makes me excited and
thrilled.(いつもハラハラします。) I'm glad you managed to get to the gate .
I think Gate56 really looks the same as Gate5B especially on a degital notice board. They should
do somthing before saying "That happens to a lot of people. " ! Thanks to David,I will be careful when I check the degital notice board .

Hi Leo,
Welcome to the blog!
Don't be so nervous about writing in English.
Let's start writing 1 or 2 lines in English as Tomo said. Your writing skill will improve little by little when you keep doing it.

•  Q chan
• 2009年1月 6日 18:23

Hi, David

First of all, let me say greeting to you.
I'm glad to see your first writing for in here this year.
While you were visiting your own country, I wrote it a lot, and had fun.
This is thanks to your blog.
I'm appreciate it.

By the way, You have had a bad experience at the airport, hadn't it?
I'm sorry to hear that.
But you've managed to be in time.
It was good, wasn't it?

You would have many experienced with your family or friends on this holiday.
I'm looking forward to hearing it on this blog.
You must be tired, So take care of yourself and get enough rest.

I'm going to keep writing here and we can communicate whenever in this blog.
So first of all, you might have to take care of what you have to.
Then,write here.

(私はこれからもここに書き込みするつもりなのでいつでもお話しできますね。
　だから残務が落ち着いたらまたここでお会いしましょう）

See you soon.

Kazu

•  Kazu
• 2009年1月 6日 19:41

Hi Leo,
Welcome to the blog!

はじめまして、私もつい最近こちらのブログでお世話になりはじめた一人です。
私も英語の勉強をはじめた頃は短い文章しか書けませんでした。
はじめから書ける人なんていないのですから少しづつ書いて行くことを
お勧めします。とにかく続けて行くことが大切だと思います。こちらで一緒に
英語を言葉として楽しみましょう。＼(^_^)／

Kazu

•  Kazu
• 2009年1月 6日 20:16

Hi David,

Heathrow Airport is huge, so what happened to you really thrilled you and was annoying !
If I were in your situation last November, I'm sure I missed the plane. Actually, I was so nervous about which gate my flight was leaving from because I didn't know about the terminal well; I checked the gate, asked and asked, but I was so lucky that Gate No was not difficult to distinguish.
Anyway, welcome back to Japan safely!!

Hi Leo,
初めまして。そしてあけましておめでとうございます。
いいお正月を、過ごされましたか?
日本語英語どちらでもＯＫ．それが、このブログのいいところだと思います。Have fun together.

Anne

•  Anne
• 2009年1月 6日 22:05

Hi Daivd,

Your story is like a TV drama! As Anne said, if I were in your stuation, I'm sure I missed the plane.
I'm relieved that you managed to get to the right gate. Welcome back! ;-)
I didn't notice how big Heathrow Airport is, when I was there. I had no problem to find my gate at that time. Maybe I was lucky!

Hi Leo,

Welcome to the blog!
はじめまして。一緒に楽しく英語を学びましょう！

Maki

•  Maki
• 2009年1月 6日 22:44

Hi David and everyone,
Kazu asked us about the turning point in English study at the last entry. We talked about studying English, and I'm afraid I repeat the same contents, but here's my turning point in English Study.

I've been learning English, but just for my personal reasons,not for work or some other reasons.
The first one is meeting with " a teacher and classmates" at the community college. I've learned how to look at things from various points of view, and of course,English itself.
The secong one is here "this blog" and David. Before joining this blog, I had felt some kind of " inferiority complex" that I could not write English sentences properly, and I didn't want to face it. It's one year and eight months since I've joined here, and my writings have been improved a little bit even though it's a looong way to go.
Thus, if you can face the facts,notice the encounter could be your 'turning point', and just go for it, it will be your turning point.

Speak to you soon,

Anne

•  Anne
• 2009年1月 6日 23:23

少し訂正；
The socong →the second （タイプミスです）

PS.
Ｔｏｍｏ，Leoのコメント教えてくれてありがとう＾＾）

Anne

•  Anne
• 2009年1月 6日 23:28

Hi Anne,

Thank you for your mentioning it against my question.
I could imagine that my question could be a same thing as before.
But, I couldn't help asking about it as people who are learning English.

Hi everyone,

私も振り返ってみれば英語に対する劣等感ばかり持っていました。
仲間とカラオケに行っても最近の曲は英語が出てこない曲を探す方が難しくて
絶対に英語の歌詞がない曲を歌っていました。だから結局、昔のよく知っている
曲しか歌わなかったんです。歌えなかったし・・(^_^;)
街中で外国人が近づいて来ると話しかけられないように避けていたし、洋楽なん
て聞く気持ちにもならなかったんです。中学、高校の英語の成績なんて最低だった
し、よく授業でたたされていました。(^_^;)
それがある時、知り合いからホームビデオを借りて見た時、知り合いがそのビデオ
の中で英語を喋っていたんです。もちろん私にはさっぱり分かりませんでした。
その時、その人がとても格好良く見えたんです。これが私の心に火をつけたんです。
英語の先生が英語を喋れるのはあたりまえ（その当時はそう思っていました。）
英語の先生じゃない、身近な人が英語を喋った。→ → 自分にも出来るんじゃないか？
これが大きな動機付けになってそれから勉強をはじめました。大切な事だと今更ながら
思うのは、自分よりも少しだけ優れている人がそばに居るって言うのはとっても大切
なことだと思います。手の届く存在をまず目標にするんです。そして少しづつ少しづつ
近づいて行くといつのまにか上達しています。そしてなによりも楽しむ事だと思います。

I really want to say to who is hesitating it.
I never give up.

Kazu

•  匿名
• 2009年1月 7日 00:33

Hi David,

Welcome back! When I read your story at the Heathrow airport, I laughed. I'm sorry! The women on the 56 gate said "I don't know"!? As you said, I can never imagine such a situation in Japan! When I was a student, I worked a part-time job in a hotel, and my boss said even if a guest asked me something that I didn't know, I must not say "I don't know". And he said I had to check about it and give the answer to the guest. I guess the staff who are working in company in service sector in Japan have a rule that you must not say to a guest "I don't know". Anyway, I'm glad to hear that you came back to Japan safely. I'm looking forward to hearing the story about your holiday.

Hi Leo,

Welcome to this blog!
私は一昨年の６月頃から参加していますが、最初は中一レベルくらいの英語力しかなかったんですよ！（３単元のSすら覚えていなかった＾＾；）でも、「正しく書けないから勉強してるんだ！」って開き直って、間違いを恐れずに英語で書き込みをしています。一緒に頑張りましょう！

Amica

•  Amica
• 2009年1月 7日 00:46

Hi David,
Happy New Year!
You told us about your bad experience at the airport and I know you lost your huge energy. I'm sorry about that.
However, I like Shinkansen even better and I seldom fly. Actually, I don't know how to get on a plane at all. Therefore, I might not understand exactly about your trouble.

Hi Tomo,
Thanks a lot for giving me some tips on starting a blog. It looks easier than I expected it to be. I could begin it today but I'll start when I'm in USA. The purpose of my blog is to tell my daily life there to my family in Japan. So, I'll write it in Japanese only.

Hi Leo,
Welcome to this world.
I think Japanese is one of the most powerful languages. I'm sure you'll be able to enjoy writing English soon if you wiil. Don't worry too much.
日本語に比べれば英語なんて楽勝！ 多分・・・
英語のネイティブだって第二外国語は大抵からっきしですよ～。

Hi Anne,
Thank you for sharing your turning point with us.
In my case, it's my job's requirement as I mentioned before. I didn't like studying English and I'd have to say I don't like it even now. Therefore, I consider English as just a tool, symbol, code or sign to communicate. I think mathematics or mathematical expressions could be perfect as an international language. Did I go too far? (laugh)
However, since I noticed that, I can get to focus on English more.

Appoh

•  Appoh
• 2009年1月 7日 01:09

Hello everyone. This would be my "official" debut at this site. :) I kind of stumbled into this site sometime last month and have been enjoying since then. What a enthusiasm you have! It reminds me of when I started studying.

Some of you talked about your turning point & I just wanted to share mine. I hated English when I was in school. My father worked for a small company which wouldn't dream of expanding to abroad. So, in reality, the foreign countries were really foreign to me. I thought I will never leave the country, so why bother to study English?! Off course, that was my excuse not to study. (How stupid was I!?)
I went to abroad for the first time after I started working... Just to Guam for a long weekend. There I saw a Japanese girl speaking English to some natives. Just like Kazu, I thought "that's cool" and signed myself up to some English comversation classes when I returned. My journey of studying English started then.

Kazu mentioned about avoiding western music. I loved to listen those when I was in high school. I didn't understand what they were saying. (Still have hard time!) After how many years of studying, I heard those 80's music I used to listen. Suddenly, wow! That's what they were saying!! This kind of experience make studying fun. :)

Appoh-san. I understand the pressure of "must study" feeling. I hope you find your happy moments through your study, too! That'll get you going positively!

Oops, it's getting too long... Well, everyone - Keep up your great work! (Oh, sorry... That's David's job.) :)

Kunchan the native Nagoyan

•  匿名
• 2009年1月 7日 03:38

Hi Kunchan,
Welcome to the blog!

I'm glad this community has
been growing bigger　lately.

Like Kunchan and Kazu,
looking at someone(Japanese) speaking English fluently insipres me as well.

不思議だよねぇ。『カッコイイ！』って憧れるよね。

ワタシ、そうなりたくて、頑張ってます(笑)

•  Q chan
• 2009年1月 7日 11:53

Hi Kunchan,
Welcome to the blog! I thought I saw your name here before, but you said you found this blog last month, so maybe my memory is wrong. Anyway, congratulations on your "official" debut!

Hi David and everyone,

Anne - Now we have some new comers, so don't worry about writing the same thing. Besides, I think talking the same thing again and again is actually good practice;-) The English you used will be your English, won't it?

Kazu - Thanks for sharing your story. I agree with your idea ‘なによりも楽しむ事’. We have a saying in Japan ‘好きこそものの上手なれ’, you know.(I like this proverb.) I think it's also true for language study.

Appoh - You are welcome. You can put pictures, sound files, and videos on your blog, so you can share a lot of things with your family and other people, and I'm sure it will be fun.

David - Amica's experience is interesting. She was told not to say “I don't know” to customers when she was working at a hotel. I think it was the manual at the hotel. Do you remember us talking about service in Japan before? Japanese service people usually(always?) follow the manual and often(always? Ha ha ha) say the same thing even if they don't mean it, but most of them are very kind, aren't they? So, following the manual is not that bad, I think:)

By the way, have you made any New Year resolutions? I'm still thinking about it, but I want to carry on with my English study and improve my English more and more. I want to try something new as well, and of course I'll try to make this community even better, even bigger, and even stronger!

Talk to you later,

Tomo

PS Q chan、私も同じ。　『カッコいい！』が最初の動機だったよ(笑)　私もそうなりたくて頑張ってます＾＾

•  Tomo
• 2009年1月 7日 12:05

Hi everyone,

I'm glad you liked the story, but it was certainly not 'thrilling'! That word is only used to talk about positive things, and my experience was definitely not positive!

I agree with you all that service people in Japan tend to be nicer (although I will tell you a story in the next entry about a fantastic shop assistant I met in Britain), but it can be annoying when people won't say 'I don't know' even if they obviously have no idea. Of course, I want them to check for me, but I don't want to waste time because they are scared to admit that they don't know.

While I was reading your comments today, I noticed some interesting points. I hope you don't mind if I point them out, because I'm sure they will help other people.

Q chan - in the last part of your comment, you said 'let's start writing'. In Japanese, しましょう can be used to suggest things to other people, but in English, 'let's' includes the speaker (or writer) because it means 'let us'. You already write in English, so you can't really say that to someone who hasn't started yet. In that case, it would be better to use 'why don't you' or 'you should'.

The second point is one I have been meaning to write about for a long time. When someone tells a story, many of the regulars on this blog write comments like 'you had a bad experience, didn't you.' I think this is a translation of ですね, but we don't usually repeat the point in English. For example, Kazu said 'you had a bad time at the airport. I'm sorry to hear that', but it would be more natural just to say 'I'm sorry to hear that you had a bad time at the airport'.

Hi Kunchan - nice to have you with us. Your English is fantastic! The only two points I wanted to mention were that 'abroad' does not need 'to' before it, and 'mentioning' is followed by the noun or gerund without 'about', so it would just be 'mention avoiding'.

Hi Leo,

Sorry I missed your comment. Nice to have you with us.

Bye for now,

David

•  David
• 2009年1月 7日 12:56

Happy new year, everyone!
Welcome back to well-organized Japan, David! I know how you feel. I remember running like crazy (I didn’t know that I could run so fast!)) in San Francisco airport, Schiphol (Amsterdam) and Charles de Gaulle (Paris).
The worst experience; I was kept waiting in San Francisco airport for 7 hours and ended up staying overnight at a hotel near the airport, due to a plane swap and overbooking. I visited my sister’s place in Palo Alto and was supposed to leave for Tokyo that morning. Airliners give priority to elderly people, small children and group tourists. I almost cried when I was left alone with several other people. I was exhausted and outraged, but that was until they offered us a 500-dollar check, a hotel voucher with 20-dollar meal coupon and the next day’s first business flight to Tokyo as a token of compensation.
As for Heathrow airport, when I arrive there I always think that I’ve mistakenly arrived at Mumbai, because all I see are Indian people with huge baggage. They seem to pack everything but the kitchen sink.

•  Jazmin
• 2009年1月 7日 14:01

Hello David and everyone 　

David 　　I’ｍ　sorry to hear that you had a bad time at the airport. I've never been abroad and I can't imagine how big an inyrtnational airport is.If I had been there,I couldn't hzve reached a right gate.

This is my first comment.I am May.I send a post card to David long time ago.I wrote my name "A housewife in Kanagawa" in it.I live in Kanagawa and I am almost same age Anne.Anne wrore,"I love more what Iam now than what Iwas in my 30s or 40s.I have the same idea.I've enjoted reading this blog for 2 years.

By the way,I bought three copys of David's new book.One is for me,another is for myfriend.She is living in England.She is being in Japan.（こんな言い方するのかな）The other is for my neice.I'm sure that the book will help us to study English more.

これからよろしくお願いします。

•  匿名
• 2009年1月 7日 14:07

I made a lot of mistakes. May.

•  匿名
• 2009年1月 7日 14:12

Hi May,

Nice to have you with us. Hi Jazmin. It is very difficult to know what country you are in when you are in Heathrow! Britain also has a large Muslim community, and some people now think that there are too many immigrants.

•  David
• 2009年1月 7日 14:39

Hi David,
It is really useful for all of us to read the comments you have re-written, so I don't think anyone mind if you do. It's ‘reformulating’, right? We have tried it before on the blog. Actually, I was going to ask you if we could do it again, so thank you very much!

I agree with you that it can be annoying when people won't say 'I don't know' even if they obviously have no idea, but just saying 'I don't know'(like the woman on the gate) is not a good reaction as service people. I think she should have told you where to go so that you could find the 'somebody else' soon. I don't think service people in Japan are scared to admit that they don't know, but I think they are afraid of making customers feel bad(uncomfortable?).
Anyway, I'm looking forward to hearing the story about the fantastic shop assistant you met in Britain.

Hi May,
Welcome to the blog! You are the housewife in Kanagawa? I remember David talking about you before. It's great to have you with us at last!

See you soon,

Tomo

PS Jazmin, Happy New Year!

•  Tomo
• 2009年1月 7日 15:10

Hi Everyone,
It's really nice that we have a lot of new members recently.
Welcome to the blog,Kunchan and May.
> Kunchan,
I'm not a native Nagoyan, but a Nagoyan now^.^)
>May,
I also remember well David talking about you.
Look forward to hearing from you soon.

Hi Jazmin,
Happy New year!
Did you have a great holidays?
When I arrived at Heathrow airport last year, my honest feeling was," am I in the UK or in some other country?"

Hi David,

Your advice about our writings is really helpful for us all, so I think anyone don't mind as Tomo said.
I'd like to ask you one question, and share my feeling towards words.

Question:
You said," 'thrilling' is only used to talk about positive things",. I used " thrilled" in my comment in a negative meaning.
In a dictionary, it says:
If something gives you a thrill, it gives you a sudden feeling of great excitement, pleasure, or fear.
In general, do native speakers use this word just only in a positive meaning?

Mind Gap:
You explained to us the use of " Why don't you～、you should" instead of" let's".
For me, "You should" sounds a bit "生意気に聞こえる、共に～する、ではなく”.I understand in my head ,but I can't feel comfortable using this phrase. Actually, there are a lot of expressions and ways I feel that way. I know I should clear or overcome this mind gap. Do you have ever experienced these feelings,members?

David's comment reminds me what I've been feeling these days.

Speak to you soon,

Anne

•  Anne
• 2009年1月 7日 16:56

Hi everyone.
Nice to meet you!
I'm tao from hokkaido.

コメント、しびれました。
私は１年前くらいからこのブログを知ってみているのですが、なかなかコメントってできなくて、読むだけで満足してました。
単純に英語がすきなので、読んでるだけでも満足だなーと思ってました。

確かに英語って何故か楽しい！触れるだけで楽しい！
けど、やっぱりコミュニケーションをとりたい！
ってことで、私もコメントに参加することにしましたー♪

みなさんがきっかけをくれました。　Thanx a lot!

これからよろしくお願いいたします＾－＾ノ

•  匿名
• 2009年1月 7日 17:18

《アクセス不可なので、とりあえずこれだけ。。》

Hi tao,

Welcome to the blog! I'm glad to hear that our comments encouraged you to join us. You've been reading the blog for about a year? That's great!　でも、読むだけよりも参加する方がずっとためになるし、楽しいですよ。
Anyway, I'm looking forward to reading your comments!

Tomo

PS　私も単純に英語が好きな一人です＾＾

•  Tomo
• 2009年1月 7日 17:47

Hi David,
Thank you for your advice about how to use "Let's~". 指摘してもらって、なるほど~そうだ！と、納得しました。教えてもらわなかったら、気が付かないままでした。

I wrote down David's advice on the book of 『英語じょうずになる事典』　page 199.

たぶん私が使ってたexcited and thrilledも今回のDavidの悪い体験の場合には、そぐわないと思います。。。が。。。
語彙の少ない私には、他の単語が思いつきませんでした。
I'm sorry David if I've offended you.
I must enrich my vocabulary.

I'd also like to know how you express the feeling in this situation?(Anneのquestionと同じです)

Hi Ann,
I understand how you feel when you use the word
of "You should~." I guess one of the reasons why
we feel that way is we learned it as "~すべきだ" .
"~すべきだ" sounds bossy in Japanese.
でも、英語ではそうでもないみたいですね。

Hi May and tao,
I'm glad to have you here.

•  Q chan
• 2009年1月 7日 21:06

Hi David,

Thank you for your advice for all of us.
For me, it was useful.
I don't mind if you point it out.
Rather than that we need it to improve English skill.
On the other hand, I don't want you to be tired to do it.
So don't force yourself,and thank you very much.

備考
For me, it was useful. （強調したかったからこう書きました）
僕にとってはね、とてもためになったよ～って感情が高ぶった言い方
をしたつもりなんですけど～かえって逆効果なのかな～？(^_^;)　

It was useful for me. (ナチュラルな言い方はこれですよね？）

In this case, which sentence should I have used?
この場合どちらを使えば良かったのでしょか？

今回のデイビッドさんの指摘で語順について考えさせられました。
ありがとうがざいました。

•  Kazu
• 2009年1月 7日 23:58

Hi Kunchan, May and Tao,

Great to have you with us.
As a welcome from me, I'd like to write to you something funny that happened to me.

When I was just walking around my neighborhood, I found a cafe. The sign in front of it showed that coffee and tea cost only 260 yen each. I thought this was really reasonable and went in.
I ordered a cup of tea but I felt something strange. The waitress turned around and she just put a tea bag into the cup filled with water. I ended up swinging the tea bag myself.
I was shocked at first because I had never seen such service before. I started feeling that 260 yen wasn't cheap at all.
However, I couldn't help giggling. Maybe I should order a cup of coffee next time. She might give me a scoop of powdered coffee with sugar.

Did you enjoy this story?

Appoh

•  Appoh
• 2009年1月 8日 01:31

Hi there,
I took a jazz dance lesson yesterday for the first time ever. This can be one of my New Year's resolutions. How about you?

Appoh

•  Appoh
• 2009年1月 8日 01:46

Hi everyone,

I'm glad to getting powerful this blog lately.

Hi Appoh,

Wow, you are so cool, you took a jazz dance lesson?
You must be excited and can't wait to take a jazz dance lesson next.
It reminds me of the time when I went to English conversation school for the first time.
Learning something is very exciting.
Once, became an adult, it is hardly to do something.(一度大人になると）
"習い事”　is very exciting.
Especially, the different from a school is there are people who are different generation.
I have a experience, I took a lesson with an elementary school girl.
I felt strange feeling at that time.
But I was exciting.

I have to wake up now to go to work.
See you everyone.

•  Kazu
• 2009年1月 8日 05:42

Hi David,

Thanks for pointing out my mistakes! Those are definitely my weak points. Same as Q chan, I wouldn't have noticed if you didn't do so. I really appreciate it!

Anne & Q chan,

I know how you feel about "should". It can sound very bold. It can be bold depending on how you say it. :) It may help if you think "したら?" instead of "～した方がいい" when you translate it. It sounds softer. doesn't it? :) This is how I use it... I like using "why don't you" since it sounds softer than "should." When I really really want to suggest something softly, I use "you may want to...."

Speaking of difference in nuance, I had an experience with the word "anxious." I learned it as negative tone, like uneasy or worried. Someone asked me "are you anxious to come to the States?" I said "no." He meant as eager or excited. I found out later that he was really confused. Someone had to explain to him that anxious is more commonly used negatively in the other side of the world. :)

Hi Appoh,
That cafe just sounds like the well known coffee shop! I hope the waitress served you with a smile, at least. :) Have fun at your Jazz dance class! That's really cool!

•  Kunchan
• 2009年1月 8日 06:55

Hi Anne,

Anneの気持ちはよーく分かります。　Q chanの言う通り、学校では should ＝｢～すべきだ｣と習ったし。　日常の会話では｢～すべきだ｣なんてあんまり言わないし、最初の出会いがこれだと使いづらいですよね。　日本人の感覚だと、I should...、We should... は言いやすいけど、You should... は言いづらいかもしれませんね。　これと似たようなことで、一般の‘you’も私がなかなか使えなかった表現の一つです。　今でもあまり良くない事を話すときに一般の‘you’を使うのは、｢う・・言いづらい｣と思いながら使ってます（笑）
この間、息子が学校で should を習ってきたんです。　｢なんて習った？｣って聞いたら、やっぱり｢～すべきだ｣と言っていました。　なので、彼の固定観念をくずすべく、普段使いの例文をいろいろ作ってみせました。　そのまま覚えちゃうと、あとで感覚を修正するのに苦労するだろうな、と思ったので。
Why don't you～? は私は初めてこの表現を見た時、｢～したら？｣の提案ではなくて、｢なんで～しないの？｣（←ちょっと非難っぽい）と受け取ってしまったので、この辺の感覚を修正するのには時間がかかりました。　この感覚を修正するまでは Why don't we～? は言えても、Why don't you～? はなかなか言えませんでした。　最初の出会いは大事ですね！

Tomo

•  Tomo
• 2009年1月 8日 10:22

《携帯からなのですが、文字制限に引っ掛かるので分けて投稿します》

Hi everyone,

Here's my translation of the entry.

『新年のあいさつが遅くなってごめんね。　でも、今朝日本に戻って来たばかりなんだ。　みんなに5日に帰って来るって言ったんだけど、でもそれはロンドンを発つ日で、日本に着く日じゃなかったんだ。　午後12時ごろ家に着いて、シャワーを浴びて、それからすぐにオフィスに来ました。　長い休みを取ったから、片付けなきゃいけないことがたくさんあって。

休みのことは次のエントリーで話そうと思ってるんだけど、今日はちょっと、昨日ヒースロー空港で危うく飛行機に乗り遅れそうになった話をしたいんだ。

•  Tomo
• 2009年1月 8日 14:03

空港には3時間くらい前に着いたから、本を買って待合所で座って読んでいました。　飛行機が何番ゲートなのか見てたんだけど、出発時刻の40分位前になるまで表示されなかった。　とにかく電光掲示板の近くに座ってたら「56番ゲート」と表示された。　56番ゲートはターミナルの右端の突き当たりで、かなり歩かなくちゃいけなかったんだけど、それでも十分余裕で着いた。　でもゲートに着いたら、ゲートの係員の女性が私のチケットを見て、「ゲートが違います。　ここではないですよ」と言ったんだ。　あわてて、じゃあ、どこのゲートか聞いたら、「分かりません。　他の人に聞いて下さい」と言われたんだ。　驚いたよ！　日本ではこんなことはあり得ないよね。　日本だったら、分からない時は誰かに聞いてくれるか、他の人を呼んで来てくれる。

•  Tomo
• 2009年1月 8日 14:06

そう、ちょっとした「逆カルチャーショック」を受けました。　とにかく待合所まで走って戻ってみたけど、誰も聞ける人がいなくて、それでまた電光掲示板まで戻ったんだ。　近寄ってよく見たら、「56」じゃなくて「5b」だった！　5番ゲートがどこか探したら、まったく逆端だったんだ。　間に合うように走らないといけなかったし、掲示板は‘Gate closing’となってるし、もう本当にパニックだったね。

何とか間に合ったんだけど、すごく腹が立ってたから、そこのゲート係の女性に事情を説明したんだ。　そうしたら、「ああ、よくあるんですよ」だって！　じゃあどうして表示の仕方を変えないんだ？　ゲートの名前を変えるとか。　電光掲示板だと「56」と「5b」は同じに見えるのが分からないのかな？　正直言って、時々、自国の人たちのばかさ加減にはがっかりするよ。　もちろん、名古屋空港に着いたら、何もかもがきれいで、整理されてて、効率的で、今はホッとしています。』

•  Tomo
• 2009年1月 8日 14:09

Hi Ann,

should以外でも
[must]の使い方も、「～しなければならない」みたいに、
強い命令でない時もあるみたいです。
例えば。。。ホストマザーが料理を作ってて、ステイしてる子が
「何作ってるの？」「これおいしいのよ。You must try it.」って
言う場合とかは、強制されてるわけではないけど、ある日本人の子はきつく強制されてると思ったっていうエピソードをどこかで読んだことがあります。Tomoの言うように、日本語訳の最初の出会いって大切ですね。ほんと固定観念ってなかなか離れませんよね。

•  Q chan
• 2009年1月 8日 14:15

Hi David Thank you for your kind mwssage.
I'm very pleased to be here.

Hi Tomo and Anne How kind both of you to remember me.When I read the phrase "at last" in Tomo's comment,I bursted into laughing and it made me happy as well.

Hi Qchan 本に書き足していくのはいい方法ですね。私も真似します。

Hi　　Apooh 　　Thank you for telling us a funny story.
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　May

•  May
• 2009年1月 8日 15:34

Hi Tomo,
To be honest, I haven’t read your entire Japanese version of David’s entry yet, but there’s something wrong with the part 「右端の突き当たり」, I’m afraid.
In this case ‘right’ doesn’t mean 「右」, if you want to say 「右」, I think, it should be ‘ on the right at the far end of the terminal’. I’m not sure. You may be right.

•  Jazmin
• 2009年1月 8日 16:17

P.S. I’m not sure how to say ‘right at the far end of the terminal’ in Japanese, though.

•  Jazmin
• 2009年1月 8日 16:23

Hi Jazmin,
Thanks for your help! Actually, that was the part I was not sure. I think you are right.
そうすると、この‘right’は「ちょうど」とか、「まさに」という感じで、無理に訳さない方がしっくりくるかな・・？

《今日もまたずっとアクセス不可です・・(涙)》

•  Tomo
• 2009年1月 8日 16:30

【訳の訂正】
「56番ゲートはターミナルの右端の突き当たりで、」→「56番ゲートはターミナルの一番奥(端)の突き当たりで、」 or 「56番ゲートはターミナルの一番端で、」

Thanks Jazmin. If you find any more, please help me again;-)

•  Tomo
• 2009年1月 8日 17:00

Hi　Tomo、
Thank you for the translation. Great work as always. But what happened to your PC?

Hi Kazu and Kunchan,
To tell the truth, I ' have to learn ' jazz dancing. Not 'be willing to' but 'be forced to',again? Yes.
But I really enjoyed the lesson this time. It was exciting and a stress reliever actually. I think whatever excercise will be good for a sound mind and body.
Why jazz dance? It's going to be a long and winding story and a little bit embarrassing. So I should keep it in my mind. Please guess!

Hi May,
I'm really glad to see your post!

Hi Anne,
It's been a long time since I last used 'had better'. In my case, I got to say 'you should' without hesitation after I repeated 'you should love me!' hundreds times in my mind.
Why don't you try this?
( ↑　To master this phrase, I repeated 'Why don't you have a little chat with him?'.)

•  Appoh
• 2009年1月 8日 20:21

Hi Appoh,

How are you?
You and me are same generation,right?
Judging from that I can guess it.
I know, maybe.
(^_^;)
Enjoy yourself.

Hi tomo,

Thank you for your translation.
It will help us.

Hi tao,

Nice to have you with us.
私は上記のフレーズ、ここではじめて覚えました。
覚えたフレーズは出来るだけ何回も使うようにすると
無意識に出て来るようになりますよ！
Let's have fun with us.

Kazu

•  Kazu
• 2009年1月 8日 22:33

Hi Kunchan, tao & May,
Welcome to the blog! So nice to have you with us.

Hi jazmin,
Happy New Year!

Hi David and Everyone,
I'm surprised and also glad that the blog is so lively!

Hi Anne & Appoh,
I also have such a feeling with "should", and I used to use "had better" instead. But one day a native English speaker told me that sometimes "had better" has stronger meaning than " should". So after that, I was confused it and I'm careful to use these phrases.
Anyway, Appoh's way to used to "should" is FUN!!
I should try it!;-)

By for now,

Maki

•  Maki
• 2009年1月 8日 22:55

Hi Kazu,
‘for me’ですが、私も「私にとっては」を強調したい時は前に持ってきたりします。　でもこの場合は私だったら普通に It was really useful for me. と書くと思います。　理由は、このケースで「私にとっては」強調すると、「じゃあ、他の人にとっては？」という疑問が浮かびそうなので(笑)、強調するなら‘useful’かな・・。　でもこれは私の感覚なので、一意見として聞き流してください＾＾

Hi Q chan,
「これおいしいのよ。You must try it.」←たしかに、mustは「～しなければならない」って学校で習うし、こう言われたらきっと「食べなければならない」って思っちゃうね(笑)　‘You should try it.’ ‘You/You've got to try it.’は聞いたことがあったけど、must のそういう使い方は知らなかった！

Hi May,
Did I make you laugh? Davidからパソコンが得意じゃないと聞いていたので、「at last!」と思ったのですよ～＾＾

Hi Appoh,
It's not my PC but the server. I can access the Internet and see any other site, but I can't post my comment here from my computer. I can read the blog and make a comment, but it says, ‘You can not access this page’ when I click on 'post'. It sometimes happens to anyone when the blog is getting a lot of spam comments, but I don't know why, it often happens to me even when other people can post their comments. Maybe I'm making too many comments, and the sever might think my comment is a spam one..
By the way, I loved the example sentence you repeated hundreds times in your mind, ‘You should love me!’ Good one!

Hi Maki,
I was wondering how you were doing, so I'm glad to see your comment! Yes, it's great to see the blog getting so lively, and you know, it makes me sooooo happy;-)

Good night and see you tomorrow.

Tomo

•  Tomo
• 2009年1月 8日 23:18

Tomo,
Thank you for your comment!
Yes, I know you are HAPPY!!

Good night.

Maki

•  Maki
• 2009年1月 8日 23:46

Hi,
Thank you for sharing your feeling about 'should' or other expressions.
> Kunchan, "You may want to～" I see. Thanks!
>Tomo,
私もrightについて考えてみました。
「ずっと、はるばると」の意味を表す副詞じゃないかと。。。
at the far end of を強調しているのかな、と思いました。
少し後の所にcompletelyと言う単語もあるのことですし。
いずれにしても、fa---r end　の感覚では？

Hi tao,
Nice to meet you!
Look forward to hearing from you soon.

Today,a bit unusual thing happened to me. Can I share my experience with you?
Have you ever heard of " it's me fraud( おれおれ詐欺、振込み詐欺）"?
This morning I got a phone call from a person "it's me fraud";he said," Hi mum,it's me,oooo(my son's name). Are you at home at 5 this evening?"
I said," Yeah, but what happened ?" He said ," mum, I got into trouble with my work.~~"At first, I was shocked to hear that, but at the next moment I felt something different. After hanging up the phone, I checked the phone number , and it was completely different from that of my son! After that, I went out, but I was curious to know how he proceed his talks. Actually, he dialed 6 times while I was out, and never called me again.
I often hear these kind of stories on TV or read the news in the newspaper,and now I partly understand why some eateries have been deceived ,and transferred much money to a bank account.
Anyway, I never imagined these things would happen to me!

Bye for now,

Anne

•  Anne
• 2009年1月 9日 00:04

Hi Tomo,

Thank you for your comment.
Sure enough, There is a people who take it so.
やはりそう受け取りますよね～(^_^;)
迷ったんでが～。
Needless to say.
I didn't mean to give a cold shoulder to Dived.
改めて、語順って難しい～と思いました。

Thank you Tomo.

Kazu

•  Kazu
• 2009年1月 9日 08:21

Hi David and everyone,
It's a cold and rainy day today, but my daughter's kindergarten has just started, so I'm enjoying a few hours free time.(which is great!)

Hi Anne,
You experienced ‘ore ore sagi’?? Wow! Yes, I often hear those stories on TV, too. It really happens to anyone! I have to be careful. Anyway, I'm glad you found out it was not from your son.
Speaking of frauds, my sister's husband has experienced a one-click fraud. He and my sister were very upset(at that time, they just started using the Internet.), and they called and asked me, “What should we do?”. Of course I said, “Don't do anything, just ignore it!”　嫌な世の中ですねぇ・・。

Hi Kazu,
You are welcome, but it was just my idea, so I might be wrong. As you say, word order is difficult because you can change the nuance of your words a little bit, but it's also interesting, isn't it?

Hi Appoh,
I'm very interested in the long and winding story!(笑) You said you wanted us to guess, but I have no idea. Maybe I should ask my husband because he is around your age, I guess.（He was born in 1965.) Anyway, I'm glad to hear that you had a good time at the jazz lesson. Have fun!

Appoh and Kazu, thanks for your kind words about my translation, but I know you guys don't need it. I've been trying to do it for readers, especially beginners - it was me two and a half years ago. I don't want to put them off, and I want them to join us, so if you find any mistakes, please help me!

Speak to you later,

Tomo

PS I can post this from my computer, yay!

PPS I'll tell you all about the event I mentioned before on the next entry.

•  Tomo
• 2009年1月 9日 10:42

Hi Tomo,
I thank YOU. Actually I look forward to your version in your natural and comfortable style of Japanese.

Hi David and Anne,
London/U.K. is a very cosmopolitan city/country, isn’t it? I’ve read somewhere the U.K. is more tolerant to immigrants than most of other EU members, in particular, to foreign workers from Eastern European countries like Poland. And the U.K. has accepted hundreds of thousands of foreign workers only in recent years to boost economic growth.

What a relief, Anne!

•  Jazmin
• 2009年1月 9日 11:02

Hi everyone.

Let me say my way to improve my English.
It is worth if you would focus on starting words.

to tell you the truth.
Needless to say.
Judging from that.
I can't come up with anything.
I don't know exactly, but.....
What I wanted to say to you.

This is a way what I found to improve my English.
These of words help you when you speak something.

Is there anything way to improve your English skills?

こんにちは、みなさん。

私の英語上達方法を話させてください。
出だしの言葉に焦点をおくと良いですよ。（個人的な意見ですが）

本当のことを言うと・・・・
言うまでもなく・・・・・・・
それから判断して・・・・・・・
私は何も思いつきません・・・・・
正確には分かりませんが・・・
私が言いたいのは・・・・・・・・

この方法は私が英語を上達させるために見いだしたものです。
あなたが何かを話すとき、これらの言葉は役に立ちますよ。

あなたの英語の勉強方法、何かありますか？

To all of people who are learning English.

Kazu

•  Kazu
• 2009年1月 9日 11:57

Hi Tomo,
Thank you for your translation.
It's interesting to think about how to translate 'right'.

Hi Kazu,
Thank you for sharing your tips .
To tell you the truth,I'm not good at using these
phrases. I've been struggling to improve my English
skill,especially writing skill lately , so your suggestion is helpful for me. Tomo also advised me
to imitate David's writing, and I thought it was an efficient way.

Hi Ann,
Wow! You had a call from a 'It's me fraud'!?
I'm glad you noticed it was not from your son.

You know ,its' trick has become complicated recently. First of all, a fraud pretending a son calls a mother to inform that his cellphone number has changed .A few days later,another fraud (of coure
they are the same group) calls her and says that her son gets into trouble and needs money. The mother calls back to her son to check if it is true or not,but she is supposed to call the fraud and he says ' It's true,please send me money quickly.' with crying.
みなさん、気をつけてください。

Hi Maki,
I was also wondering how you were doing.
Glad to see your comment.

•  Q chan
• 2009年1月 9日 13:32

Hello, David and Everyone,
My name is Mary. It sounds like English name but I'm Japanese.
I found this blog last year and I sometimes visited to read.
I want to improve my English so I try to write a comment from this year. I think writing English is a good practice to keep or improve my English. I want to write a long comment like everyone someday.
みなさん、よろしくお願いします。

Mary

•  Mary
• 2009年1月 9日 16:27

Hello, David and Everyone,
My name is Mary. It sounds like English name but I'm Japanese.
I found this blog last year and I sometimes visited to read.
I want to improve my English so I try to write a comment from this year. I think writing English is a good practice to keep or improve my English. I want to write a long comment like everyone someday.
みなさん、よろしくお願いします。

Mary

•  Mary
• 2009年1月 9日 16:28

Hi Kazu,
Thank you for writing your comment half in English and half in Japanese. It makes it easier for beginners to read, and also it's good for English study, so that's a good idea. Maybe we should do this when we have time so that everyone can keep up.

As for your question, here are some pints David taught us before and I've been trying.

・Keep looking for language which you can understand, but which you couldn't have produced yourself.(comprehensible input)

・Build up your bank of English - a ‘bank’ of useful words, language and expressions.(Get a lot of input of natural English.)

・Keep practicing.(output - writing or speaking)

The other day, Q chan asked me, “What methods worked for you to improve your writing?” I said ‘真似’. I've been trying to copy David's English because his English is easy to understand for me.(and natural English, of course!) I can usually read his entries without a dictionary, but there are always lots and lots of sentences which I couldn't have produced myself. I don't copy just his expressions but also how to start sentences, how to join them, and how to finish them. That's how I improved my writing, and I think it has a good effect on my speaking as well.

Here's Japanese version of my comment above.

『Kazu、コメントを英語＆日本語で書いてくれてありがとう。　ビギナーの人たちも読めるし、英語の勉強にもなるし、いい方法ですね。　時間がある時はみんながついて来れるように、こうした方がいいかもしれないですね。

Kazuの質問ですが、Davidから教えてもらって、私がずっと続けているものをいくつか紹介します。

・｢読めば(聞けば)分かるけど、自分では言えなかった｣表現に敏感になること。(理解可能なインプット)

・自分の英語バンク－役に立つ単語・言葉・表現の英語バンク－を作ること。(ナチュラル英語のインプットをたくさんする)

・練習を続けること（書く・喋るのアウトプット)

この間、Q chanに、｢Tomoはどんなことが英作文力アップにつながった？｣と聞かれたので、私は｢真似｣と答えました。　私はずっとDavidの英語を真似しています。　Davidの英語は分かりやすいので。（そしてもちろんナチュラルEnglish！）　大抵Davidのエントリーは辞書を引かなくても読めるのですが、でもそこにはいつも自分では言えなかった文がたくさんあるんですよね。　真似するのは表現だけじゃなくて、文の始め方、つなぎ方、終わり方なんかも真似しています。　それが私のライティング上達法で、スピーキング力にも影響していると思います。』

Hi Mary,
Welcome to the blog! I'm sure you will be able to write a long comment if you keep writing comments here, so I hope you will become one of the regulars.
こちらこそ、よろしくお願いします＾＾

See you soon,

Tomo

•  Tomo
• 2009年1月 9日 18:48

【訂正】
here are some pints → some points

•  Tomo
• 2009年1月 9日 21:29

Hi everyone,

To tell you the truth.
I'm not good at grammar.
So sometimes I lose my confidence.
I know that grammar is important.
I can't face it as a study.
This is my weak point, I know.
That's why I make it a rule to memorize some phrase.

Hi Q chan,

I'm glad to hear that my suggestion was helpful for you.
I just wanted to help people who are learning English same as I do and I wanted to share it.
Because I know that studying English is hard.

Hi tomo,

Thank you for your advice including one point from David.
Sure enough, it wasn't wrong to study English on my own way.
I made a English data base for myself.
Of course, this site is my big data base in order to improve my English skill too.

Bye for now, (まねして使ってみました ;-)

Kazu ;-)

•  Kazu
• 2009年1月 9日 23:08

Hi Anne,
I'm relieved that you realized the call wasn't from your son! The trick Anne had seems to be orthodox(though I don't know I can call it orthodox..). As Q chan said, there are some different types of trick and they become complicated.
どうしてこんなこと思いつくのでしょうね。。。

Hi Q chan,
Thank you for your comment! I was just lazy!;-)
I'll go sking during a three-day holiday, thus I can't post my commnet until next Monday.

Hi Mary,
Welcome to the blog! Let's have fun!

Have a lovely weekend!

By for now,

Maki

•  Maki
• 2009年1月 9日 23:19

Hi Maki,
I hope you have a nice holiday and enjoy skiing!

Hi Mary,
It's nice to have you with us.

Hi Kazu,
I'm curiouse about your English date vase.
Do you collect any words or phrases which you think important ?

•  Q chan
• 2009年1月10日 09:45

Hi Q chan,

Thank you your response.

Actually, I've been collecting words, phrase, idiom, line, poem, and so on.

This is data base, so I can search with a lot of category.
I made category like this.

※ 情報元　

リトルチャロ
チャロの英語実力講座
e-chat Vancouver
ラジオ英会話
ビジネス英会話
テレビ英会話
デビッド・バーカーブログ
インターネットより
新感覚ダリオのひとくち英語
１００のツボ
NOVA
文法書
映画
自分自身で作った文
歌詞より
その他

※ 身につき度

完全に覚えた
時々忘れるかも
まだ不完全
全く覚えていない

※ 感情

喜
怒
哀
楽
皮肉
警告
依頼
提案
同情
愚痴
願い
恥ずかしい
高飛車な感情
疑問質問
感嘆
感情の高まり

※ ジャンル

覚えておきたい文
通常文
疑問文
命令文
感嘆文
倒置文
祈願文
ピボット文
受け身の文
付加疑問文
関係代名詞
推測、推量
断定、決めつけ
皮肉
依頼文
提案文
イデオム
文句を言う
フォーマルなあいさつ
カジュアルなあいさつ
丁寧に何かを断るとき
男女間での会話
使役文
否定文
部分否定文
天気予報関連
政治関連
有名な台詞
身体の動き
動物の動き
個人メール
ドラマや映画の台詞
似ている発音、注意する単語
接続詞として使う場合
セクシャルな文やスラング
一度覚えて忘れた言葉

※ 重要度
１
２
３
４
５

※ 覚えようと試みた回数

１
２
３
４
５

※ 対応

後でじっくり考える
完全に理解した
後で質問する

I think that important thing is whether you use it as a data base or not.
This data base is useful for me.
Maybe you can make a data base with Excel.
I don't know exactly about Excel.
But, What I want to say is you should use your computer effectively.

Kazu

•  Kazu
• 2009年1月10日 21:03

Hi Everyone.

This is the first time to write here.
I'm Yumeya.Pls call me Yume or Yu.

Dear.Ms.Tomo

ともさんの方法素敵ですね。
仕事で英語のメールを書かなければ
いけないのですがとっても苦手なので
勉強方法はとても参考になりました。
まねさせていただいても宜しいですか？

•  匿名
• 2009年1月11日 10:55

Hi　Yume，
Glad to see your comment! You are the one who gave me some messages on my blog, right? I'm happy to have you with us!

もちろん真似してください＾＾　自分に合った方法で続けると効果がありますよ～。(それを見つけるのが大変なんですけどね）

I'm going out now. Speak to you later,

Tomo

PS Call me just Tomo;-)

•  Tomo
• 2009年1月11日 12:21

Hi Kazu,

Thank you for showing your data vase.
いろんなジャンルで細かく分けていて、頼もしい味方ですね。
I'm not good at PC.　もっぱらオーソドックスな学習方法でいってます。（笑）

Hi Yume,
Welcome to the blog!

•  Q chan
• 2009年1月11日 13:30

Hi David,

How are you doing? You said you had a lot of work to catch up on, so you might be working this weekend. How's your jet lag? Is it OK now?

By the way, I went to Kinokuniya Shoten in Shinjuku today, and I saw your three books(英語と仲直りできる本、もしも英語ができたなら・・・、英語じょうずになる事典) lined up on a display shelf.(本棚の前の陳列スペースに3冊の本が並んでたんです） There is a young man reading your first book next to me, and I wanted to say to the man, “That's a good book, too, and I also have one, but this(your new book) is his new book. I highly recommend this one!” Of course I couldn't do that because the man would have thought I was a strange person if I had done such a thing(or should I have done it?(笑)), but I was happy to see someone reading your book in a book shop.
I'm not sure whether he bought it or not because I had to go, but I just wanted to tell you this story.

Hope you have a good rest.

Speak to you soon,

Tomo

PS Maki - I hope you are having a great time at the ski resort!

PPS Kazu - Wow, you made that database all by yourself? That's amazing! I don't know how to use Excel or Word..＾＾;

•  Tomo
• 2009年1月11日 21:34

Hi David and everyone,

Are you having a nice holiday?
Again about "thrilled":
After posting my comment last time, I've been thinking about"thrilled." As David have always mentioned , it is dangerous to depend on a dictionary too much, and I wanted to use this word which I thought I had read somewhere else,but actually I didn't get it properly. Sorry,David, of course I never meant that you had a good experience there, but I just wanted to say,"それは大変な事でしたね。”　In my understanding, there are two meaningsin it;a feeling of excitement(positive) and a feeling of fear or panic(negative), but I didn't get it right.
Anyway,"それにしても大変な事でしたね。"

Hi Mary ,Yume,
Nice to have you with us. Look forward to hearing from you soon.

Hi Kazu,
Thank you for sharing your ideas.
私は、怠け者で、アナログ人間ですので、data base　にはびっくりです。
単純に、何度も読んで、使う、真似する、ノートに、覚えておきたい事をメモする（それもなかなか。。）
そんなところです。

Maki,
I hope you are having a good time!!

Bye for now,

Anne

•  Anne
• 2009年1月11日 22:10

Hi　Mary　and Yume,
Glad to have you here.
You might want to hear a short story. No? Please stay with me for a little while.

I know someone who's been doing Yoga for ten years and she started teaching it lately. Now she wants to go to a higher level so she begins to study harder about stress management for the certification. She has to submit a report of 50 pages every two months. She almost gets crazy as the deadline comes. In addition, the reports has to be written with PC, but she is not good at it. She's always complaining about the inconvenience of Windows software and she has headache and stiff shoulders after using her PC.
Whenever I see it, I just say 'You are really great to learn how to control stress but studying about stress seems to be becoming stressful.'
Now it's time to fight.

マリーさんユメさんこんにちは
ようこそいらっしゃいました。
小噺しましょうか？必要ない？まあちょっとお付き合いください。

もう１０年もヨガをやっている人を知っていて彼女は最近人にも教え始めました。もっとヨガを究めたくなってストレスマネジメントの勉強も始めたんです。資格を取るために2か月毎に50ページのレポートを提出しています。締切が近付くと頭を抱えるんです。加えて、レポートはパソコンで書いて提出しなければならないのに、彼女はそれが苦手です。いつもウインドウズは使いづらいと文句ばかり並べるし、終わった後は頭が痛くなったり肩が凝っています。
私はいつもそんな彼女を見て、「ストレスコントロールの勉強なんて本当にすごいね。でも、ストレスの勉強がストレスになってるみたい。」
さあ、ゴングが鳴りました。

I hope you enjoy this story.

Appoh

•  Appoh
• 2009年1月11日 23:35

Hi Tomo and Kazu,
How is your weekend going?
My age is part of the reason I'm interested in jazz dance but that's not important. I was born when The Beatles came to Japan,though. The truth is ... to be continued.
By the way, I'm really impressed with how seriously you guys take English. I'm going to get a lot from you. I'm lucky to see you here.

Hi everyone,
I'm happy to see you all.

Appoh

•  Appoh
• 2009年1月12日 00:22

Hi Appoh,

I'm here and I'm not bad.
Thank you for kindness.
My weekend had to work like a dog.
It's joke.
I had to work this weekend, but don't worry about that.
It is usual for me.

By the way, I'm interested in your reason to do the dance.
I'm looking forward to your writing it.

I Just wanted to answer to you then I'm going to next topic.

Wait everyone.
I'm following everyone. (^_^)／／ 待って～！

•  Kazu
• 2009年1月12日 18:31

Hi Appoh

Thank you for your nice story.
I actually enjoy reading this blog.
Yeah, It's time to fight. I'll do my best!

Mary

•  Mary
• 2009年1月22日 10:58

This is really interesting, You're a very skilled blogger. I've joined your feed and look forward to seeking more of your wonderful post. Also, I have shared your website in my social networks!

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