Hi David,
Glad to hear you had a nice weekend. I wish I had a holiday house!
My husband is taking a day off on Thursday, so we are planning to go for a ride. I hope the weather is nice and not too cold.

Hi Charlene,
I'm looking forward to hearing from you!

Talk to you soon,

Tomo

•  Tomo
• 2010年11月15日 19:59

Hi David,

A holiday house in Nagano? That sounds great! Good to know you had a nice time with your friend ;-)
You did not mention your nose, so I assume that everything back in normal now!!
I went to the movies with some friends yesterday. We ended up drinking as usual!

Hi Charlene,
Can’t wait to read your story.

Bye for now,
amo

•  amo
• 2010年11月15日 21:07

Hi David,
I'm glad to hear you have a nice weekend with your friend. By the way, does holiday house have meaning of "別荘" in Japanese?

Hi Charlene,
I'm looking forward to your comment!

Amica

•  Amica
• 2010年11月15日 21:38

訂正
I'm glad to hear you have a nice weekend with your friend.　→I'm glad to hear you had a nice weekend with your friend.

•  Amica
• 2010年11月15日 21:39

Charlene just emailed me to say that she tried to write a comment but got a message from ALC saying that her comment would have to be checked before it could be uploaded. I tried to post her comment myself, but I got the same message. Anyway, I hope it will appear soon.

•  David
• 2010年11月15日 21:50

Hi David,

You seemed to have had a great time with your friend in Nagano. Chatting in front of the long-burning stove sounds nice!

Hi Charlene,
I'm sorry to here that your comment was rejected, but anyway, I'm looking forward to reading your comment here soon!

Hi everyone,
When I read the title of today's entry "Roman Britain", I wondered why? I googled "Chester" and got lots of information. Now I got it! I'm very interested in this city.

Bye for now,

Anne

•  Anne
• 2010年11月15日 22:28

Greetings from North Wales. Thank you for inviting me to join your blog.

I am Charlene, as you know, and I live in North Wales with my husband Paul and my son Cellan and my daughter Brianna. Our business is called Roman Tours Ltd. We present Roman History to anyone that wants to listen and watch.

My husband had a fake heart attack when he was working in a very stressful job doing parcel deliveries. He was the transport manager. The doctor told him he had to stop or he would kill himself. He saw in the jobcentre a job going for "Ad hoc Roman Soldier". Ad hoc meaning as and when required. So Paul took the job as he knew a lot about Roman history as his father was an amateur Roman Historian. Paul worked hard and managed to take the position to being self employed and then becoming a Ltd company. We have been doing this for thirteen and a half years now. The business got better and better each year. I do all the secretarial side of things during the week.

We are partners with a few museums where we do tours from, we go into schools, we do meet and greets at hotels and businesses, we do re-enactment living history at Roman sites in Britain and Europe, we do hen and stag parties, we do torch lit parades at certain times of the year and for two years we have done a "spectral legion" at Halloween.

When we do our re-enactment side of things, that is when I dress up as a Romano British Lady. My husband is the Centurio and he is dressed like this all the time for work and re-enactment.

I will send some photos over for you David and I hope this helps with the visual aspect of things. I look forward to answering any questions that you may have.

•  Charlene
• 2010年11月16日 09:53

Hi Charlene,

Thank you for joining us. I'm Tomo. I'm married with three children(two boys and one girl), andI'm a full-time mom.

Your business sounds very interesting! I'm interested in Western history especially ancient and medieval history. It doesn't mean I know a lot about it, but I like to see old buildings, castles, or pictures and to wonder what people in the past were like, what they were doing or thinking about. I've never been abroad, but I'd like to visit World Heritage sites like the Acropolis of Athens, the Colosseum, Sagrada Familia, and Mont Saint Michel someday in the future.
Can I ask you some questions? You said you do re-enactment living history at Roman sites in Britain and Europe. Like where? Does your husband perform as the Centurio with other soldiers(performers)? At your hen and stag parties, are all the people dressed like Roman people? If I have a chance to go to the UK, I'd love to see Roman History!

Look forward to seeing the photos.

Tomo

•  Tomo
• 2010年11月16日 16:48

I have just added a link to Charlene's home page at the end of the entry. If you go there, you can see lots of pictures and read more about what they do.

•  David
• 2010年11月16日 18:19

Hi Tomo,

Thank you for your questions, it is great to talk to someone so far away. Hope you and your family are well.

The Colossuem in Rome is awesome and Mont St Michel is beautiful, especially the church at the top. I also prefer mediaeval history, we used to do archery re-enactment and the clothes were more elegant.

As for Roman History Sites, other than Chester being a very important site, you have a lot of places like Hadrian's Wall in Cumbria with a lot of forts there. Cirencester which has the Corinium museum. London was a major Roman settlement, Fishbourne Palace on the southern coast of Britain. There are so many to name. Perhaps if you put in your search engine Roman sites in Britain it will list them all for you. To name a few in Europe, you have the Saalburg Fort in Bad Homburg near Frankfurht. They have a reconstructed fort on top of the original one - it's very impressive. There is Raurica Augusta near Basel in Germany, that is reconstructed too. Zanten is a reconstructed fort in Germany. Again there are so many places to go and see. You would need to search for the area you were interested in. We certainly haven't seen them all ourselves yet. Rome is definitely a good place to visit as it has the Forum, Palantine Hill, the Colosseum, the Circus Maximus, I think nearly everything in Rome is ancient.

Paul and I perform with other people who re-enact the Roman period. There are other groups in Britain and all over the world who do this. We have our very own Celts to fight with too and we have our own African/Egyptian dancers to perform for us and the audience too.

Britain has so much to offer history wise. You would be spoilt for choice and I hope that one day you get to come over and have a Roman Tour so that we can show you around.

Many thanks, Charlene.

•  Charlene
• 2010年11月16日 19:10

Hi Charlene,

I'm Anne and live with my husband. My two sons have already grown up and live in different cities.

Thank you for joining us. I'm sorry to hear about your husband's fake heart attack and hope he is doing well.
Your story about Roman sites made me feel "I'd love to visit Chester" more and more.
Actually, I visited North Wales and Cumbria two years ago. It was my first trip to a foreign country and I visited Snowdonia mountain,Caernarfon castle and Lake District. Since then, I've been wanting to visit Wales again.
Last month I saw a TV program about England medieval history and art by BBC ,and it was very interesting and thrilling to know about historical background in England. Again, David introduced you to us and I'm glad to know about Chester. To tell the truth, I've been browsing your site since yesterday.

Can I ask some questions?
* How was "spectral legion" at Halloween this year?

*If I ask you a tour, what kind of activity (tour) do you recommend. By the way, I'm in my 50s and want to avoid a tough activity.

* You are going to have the event "This is DEVA"
on 4th/5th June 2011,aren' you? Is this event held annually?

By the way, the phrase "hen and stag parties" is new to me and interesting!

I asked you a lot.... Looking forward to hearing from you and seeing photos.

Anne

P.S. David, thanks for letting us know about her website and blog.

•  Anne
• 2010年11月16日 23:39

Hi Charlene,

Welcome to the blog, and I enjoyed reading your comment. Your business seems to be very successful. I like to visit Europe and like to see old buildings, like castles, churches and something like that. Even so, I just have been to England, Italy and France. I have never been to Wales, but I’d like to visit there someday. I will take a look at your home page, and I am going to ask about it later.

Bye for now,
amo

•  amo
• 2010年11月16日 23:45

Have you all seen the news about Britain's next royal wedding?

•  David
• 2010年11月17日 00:24

Thanks to Anne and Amo for their comments. Amo look forward to your questions later. Anne thanks for your questions. So glad that you visited some of the most beautiful places in Britain. I adore Wales and the Lake District. Especially Ambleside.

Our Spectral Legion was the first of 3. We did it for charity first. The next two are on 2nd and 9th December for the Mid Winter Watch Parades in Chester. Basically, our roman soldiers added some white flimsy cloth to their costumes. Painted their faces, arms and legs to look like skeletons and covered themselves with talc to finish the effect. The crowds loved it but some of the children got a bit scared, though that was the whole reason behind it.

Chester offer a lot of tours. We have "badged" guided tours by proffessional people that can explain any history of Chester and they take you around certain parts. We offer a Roman Costume tour and take you to all that is Roman. There is also the Deva Experience that will offer you a Roman Tour, but they mainly do school children and unfortunately aren't very authentic with their appearance. Though they do have a building where you can experience what Roman Chester smelt and looked like. All tours aren't too energetic.

Our Chestival Deva event on 4th and 5th June will be the 2nd that is held in the Grosvenor Park. That is if funding is forthcoming. We are hoping this will be a five year plan. We have a lot more Roman and Celtic groups that want to join us next year, as they heard about the first one.

Hen parties are held by the women before a woman is about to be married, her last night as a single woman and the same for men with Stag parties. They both do crazy things. So if a party is coming to Chester for the day, they might book us for a tour before they start their evening of frivolity. Hope that answers your questions Anne.

As for photos I have emailed some to David but I don't know if he can download any.

David - everyone is talking about the new Royal wedding that is probably happening next August.

•  Charlene
• 2010年11月17日 03:14

Hi Charlene,
Nice to meet you! I'm Fumie, married with three children. Thank you for telling us about your business and Roman history. I don't know much about Roman history so it's a good chance to learn about it. I checked your homepage and looked at some photos and get very interested in them. It seems like participants enjoy themselves. I hope to join or see those events someday!
I live in Osaka, near from Kyoto and Nara, both cities are ancient capitals of Japan. They host ancient costume parade or several festivals throghout the year. People wore Kimono in the old days, we wear kimono several occasions only. I thoght Roman history and Japanese history are so different.
Do you offer special events for christmas? How do you celebrate christmas?
Looking forward to hearing from you.

Fumie

•  匿名
• 2010年11月17日 07:29

Just thought you might like to see this, hope it comes through okay. Its on the dailymail.co.uk website.

Another Roman site to vanish under another hotel
Roman settlement unearthed in west London park's new Waldorf Astoria hotel site
www.dailymail.co.uk
Plans to build a new hotel on the site in Syon Park led to the discovery of human remains, 11,500 fragments of pottery, 100 coins and jewellery which were buried half a metre below ground.

•  Charlene
• 2010年11月17日 07:43

Hello Fumie,

Its good to meet you. Hope you and your family are well.

Yes I think you are right about Japanese and Roman festivals being different. The Japanese had beautiful Kimonos though and its such a shame that they aren't worn more. It is good though that people are remembering their history.

Are you asking how do Romans celebrate Christmas? The Roman Christmas is called Saturnalia. It is the festival of giving and light. People could have big parties and not be criticised for it and however they acted. People exchanged roles in some households, servants became masters, vise versa.

In Chester we do a torch lit parade through the city and give out glow lights to the children for free. The soldiers also carry a statue of Saturn, (the God) Then our Emperor does a speech to the audience, then we all go for a meal. The God Saturn is said to look like our present day Father Christmas. Moon and stars have an important role also.

Well off to bed now, so speak to you again tomorrow.

•  Charlene
• 2010年11月17日 08:02

Hello Charlene.

I'm Gussan, an engineer in a company in Japan.
I'm an English learner, so sometime I pont my comment on this blob.

I think your posts are interesting. However, unfortunately, I have some difficult sentences in your posts.
Could you answer my question?

I cannot understand the sentences written by you are as follows:
1) Ad hoc meaning as and when required. (in your first post)
2) That is if funding is forthcoming. (in your third post)

Truly yours.

Gussan

•  Gussan
• 2010年11月17日 12:22

Hi David,

I've seen the news about Britain's next royal wedding!!
I would like to write about it more but I have to go back to work.(It's my lunch time now.)
I will write it later.
Have a nice day!

Green

•  Green
• 2010年11月17日 12:58

Hi Gussan,

'Ad hoc' is a useful expression to learn. I'm sure you will find it in you dictionary. The second sentence is a formal way of saying 'if we get the money.'

Hope that helps.

•  David
• 2010年11月17日 14:27

Hi Gussan,

Glad to be of help with your questions, though I see David has already given some idea as to what they mean. "Ad Hoc" in this instance means that if somebody or a school should phone up and book a tour then Paul is required to go to Chester to do that one tour at the time they required. We might have got one tour that day or maybe two. But we had to turn up when the customer wanted a tour, not when we advertised it. Hence the meaning "as and when required"

"If funding is forthcoming" is as David says. If the money comes in then the event can go ahead. It would need too much money for us to be able to do all by ourselves.

Good luck with your english, Gussan, take care.

•  Charlene
• 2010年11月17日 16:59

Hi guys,

It is interesting to see that the time I have just posted a comment to Gussan it say 4.59pm (I pressume), well it is 8.00a.m. here. Isn't technology great, where we can talk to anyone in the world and the time doesn't matter electronically.

The weather is absolutely miserable too and in 20 minutes I have to walk my daughter to school before I come home and teach my son for the day. Hope you are having better weather there.

Speak to you soon, Charlene.

•  Charlene
• 2010年11月17日 17:05

Hi David,
Thanks for uploading the links. I went to Charlene's website, and I saw lots of pictures and read about what they do.

I have seen the news about the Royal wedding on TV this morning. I also read the article and watched the video report on the website Charlene told us.

Hi Charlene,
Thank you for your recommendations and the information about Roman sites. I checked all the places you mentioned on the Internet, and I've put some of them into my "I want to visit" list. I also searched for "Roman sites in Britain" and saw lots of pictures of them. As you said, there are so many places to go and see that I can't choose!

As I said, I visited your website and saw lots of pictures there. The pictures reminded me of the movie "Gladiator", and you have "Gladiator school"! I saw the picture where a man is fighting with a big bear. Is it a real bear??(I hope not!)

By the way, thanks for letting us know about the dailymail.co.uk website. It's very interesting, but I was a bit surprised to see the picture of human remains.

I enjoyed reading all your comments. Yes, technology is great!

Speak to you soon,

Tomo

•  Tomo
• 2010年11月17日 21:50

Hi Charlene and David,

Thanks for your explanation about my question.

Honestly, I need some grammar information to anderstand them deeply.

I'm not confident that I understand the meanings of those correctly, so I'd like to use Japanese to express my thoughts to some extent.

If some of other members help me, it would be much appreciated.

1) Ad hoc meaning as and when required.

これは、動詞が無いので句ですよね。
和訳するとすると、
「Ad hocとは、必要とされ状態や（必要とされた）時を意味する。」という感じでしょうか？

2) That is if funding is forthcoming.

このThisは、その前の文'Our Chestival Deva event on 4th and 5th June will be the 2nd that is held in the Grosvenor Park.' 全体を指すのでしょうか？それとも文'Our Chestival Deva event だけ？

また、この文はS+V+C構文でだと思うのですが、だとするとifの品詞は何でしょう？
接続詞とすると、その前がThat isだけなんてアリ？
（これは、文の意味は理解できるのですが・・・）

I'm sorry to stick with grammar in detail.

•  Gussan
• 2010年11月18日 05:34

Hi David,

Yes, I have seen the news! Prince William has given his fiancé his late mother Diana's sapphire and diamond ring. It's very beautiful. BY the way, did you know even Clarence House twittered. Actually, I like this kind of talks^^)

Hi Charlene,

Thank you for letting us know about Spectral Legion and lots of information about tours. Learning about the history of Chester sounds interesting and I can't miss "a Roman Costume tour" when I visit Chester! Costumes on the photos are lovely and I like them.
As for hen and stag parties, I’ve understood it as “bachelor parties” for men, so this use is interesting. I’m not sure, but, hen and stag parties are not so popular in Japan.

I read the article you mentioned about the Roman settlement that was found on a west London building site.
I can’t believe these Roman finds were so close to the surface and were not damaged. The shape of Roman skeletons was very clear, wasn’t it?

Apart from Roman history, can I ask one question?
When I visited North Wales, I saw the signs here and there(at the station and some other places) both in Welsh and in English. I’m wondering if students study Welsh at school or not, and if you study, do you study it as a second language? A guy I talked with at a secondhand bookstore said he had studied a little but doesn’t use it. Actually I bought an English and Welsh dictionary at that bookstore.

It’s around 6 a.m in the morning in Japan and I assume it’s 10 p.m in your place. Technology makes these things possible and it’s amazing!
Good morning from Japan and Good night,

Anne

•  Anne
• 2010年11月18日 05:49

Hi everyone,

As I mentioned in my first comment, I'm going for a ride today(on my husband's bike). It's a bit cold, but the weather is nice!

Gussan - Actually, I couldn't understand those sentences you mentioned when I first read them. Of course, I checked in my dictionary, but they were difficult for me too.

As for this sentence "Ad hoc meaning as and when required", I checked "ad hoc" and "as and when" in my dictionary, and I guessed the meaning like this, “(お客様の)需要･要望に応じて”, but my understanding is the same as yours. I took it as “"Ad hoc" means "as and when required"”.

As for the second question, I haven't used that expression myself, but it seems like it is often used. Here's another example sentence from the dictionary Eijiro.

OK... I can be your girlfriend. Of course, that is if you want me to.
「分かった…私、彼女になってあげてもいいよ。もちろん、あなたが望むならってことだけど」

If you type "that is if" into Google, you'll find lots of example sentences. It's also used like "That is, if ..." I'm not sure, but I think it's used when you want to add a condition and "if" is a conjunction.

私も使ったことがないのですが、「ただし、～だったら」みたいな感じで、後から条件を付け加えたりする時に使われるのではないでしょうか･･･？

I'm going out now.

Have a nice day, everyone!

Tomo

•  匿名
• 2010年11月18日 09:14

Hi guys,

Glad you are finding all this information interesting.

Tomo - No the bear is not real otherwise I would not let my daughter fight it in the arena. My husband is actually wearing an eastern sun bear costume. Romans used sun bears as they could stand up on their back legs more easily.

Anne - In some parts of Wales Welsh is a first language again, after years of supression. But where I live and where David is from it is still a second language. Though people have to learn it in schools through primary up to the end of high school. We used to be able to drop Welsh in the middle of high school but now it is compulsory. I speak basic Welsh and I am teaching my son. It is a beautiful language and I wish I could speak it fluently.

Well its 13 minutes past midnight here so I will say goodnight in english and nos da in welsh.

•  Charlene
• 2010年11月18日 09:16

Hi Charlene,
Thank you for the earliest reply. Hope you and your family are well, too.

Oh Roman christmas is so different from Western one; I didn't know anything about Roman christmas.
There is the God Saturn instead of Santa Claus. I like "people exchange their roles " part. If my husband and children did all the housechoirs instead of me, I would be so happy.

You said you teach your son; do you give him homeschooling or just for one day or he's too young to get into school yet?

Yes indeed; it is marvelous that we can connect with each other instantly because of technology. Technology is advancing so fast, maybe some of "Doraemon" 's tools came true in future. FYE, Doraemon is a Japanese anime's character; cat robot who was missioned to today's world from the future to help a clumsy boy.

Engagement of Prince William is a great news. Miss Kate is so gorgeous, she is a commoner. I found some similarity between British royal family and Japanese imperial family.

Hope the weather isn't so terrible in Chester.

Fumie

•  Fumie
• 2010年11月18日 09:41

Hi Gussan,

That sentence would probably be easier to understand with different punctuation:

Ad hoc, meaning "as and when required," ...

Does that help?

•  David
• 2010年11月18日 12:15

Hi David,

Actually, it does.

I think punctuation is very important.
Sometime punctuation makes a different sentence easy to me.

What is your opinion to my understaing of 2)?

•  Gussan
• 2010年11月18日 12:26

"That" refers to the whole of the previous sentence.

•  David
• 2010年11月18日 13:53

Hi, everyone!

It felt so good to walk on fallen leaves when I went for a walk this morning. Yes, autumn's finally come!

Tomo and Fumie,

Thank you for the welcome messages. It was very nice of you. I'm sorry that I'm behind in my writing...I have a little boy, who keeps me quite busy. He'll turn 3 in late January and start kindergarten next spring. I'll be happy to have some free time. Not that I don't enjoy spending time with him. I have a lot of fun with him, but it's nice to be able to have some quiet time alone. You know what I mean, right?

Tomo, you have three kids, and write comments on the blog almost everyday. That's amazing! Another thing I'm impressed is that you write so well. If you don't mind my asking, how have you been studying? When did you start doing whatever you're doing? I teach Englsih, and do self-study seminars, so I'd be very happy if you could share some of the things you've been doing with your English.

Thank you,
Yuki

•  匿名
• 2010年11月18日 15:35

Hello

Another rainy day in Wales, but nevermind.

Hi Fume - yes my son Cellan is home schooled, he is 14 years old and is dyslexic, but he is doing well without the pressure school puts on. He is part of our Roman re-enactment team too and helps out in the office now and then.

I love Japanese animation films, we bought them for our children but my husband and I love them too. We have films like Spirited Away and Howls Moving Castle and loads more.

I think in some respect the Christians have adapted some parts of the Roman Christmas celebrations and that's why we give presents today. I think the giving of light at this time is because the day is so short and gloomy, it is to say that Spring will soon be on its way. I think they used to dress up trees outside the house too.
Perhaps that's where the Germans get it from, who knows.

I'm happy that Prince William is getting married, I just hope it lasts longer than Charles' and Andrew's marriage. She seems really nice.

Well must go for now. Cellan's Maths teacher has just gone, so I have to start now.

Take care

•  Charlene
• 2010年11月18日 20:37

Hi Charlene,
Thank you for your reply. I'm relieved to hear the bear is not real, but it was your daughter? I'm so sorry! I thought the bear must have been a fake, but it looked so real that I had to ask. Thanks:)
By the way, you love the films "Spirited Away" and "Howls Moving Castle"? Me, too!(I read an original book of "Howls Moving Castle" in English too.) I love Miyazaki Hayao's movies, and I have almost all his works. Have you seen "Castle in the Sky"? I like this movie best of all his works.

Hi Yuki,
Thanks for your comment. I know exactly what you mean about your son. I felt the same way when my kids entered kindergarten. When your son goes to elementary school, you will be able to have more free time. I love my children, but I also like(and need!) to spend some time on my own.

As for my study methods, of course I don't mind your asking at all, so let me share them with you here.

I didn't go to university, so basically, I studied English in junior high and high schools. I've liked English since I was in junior high, and I was good at it at that time. I wanted to be a good English speaker, but I lost my motivation when I was in high school. I didn't study hard, so my English grades were not good. Well, I think have to say they were terrible.

After I finished high school, I didn't study English for a long long time, but I started to study again when my first baby was around 2.(It's about 14 yeas ago.) I wanted to go to an English language school, but as you know, it was difficult for a mother who was bringing up a baby, so I had to find some other ways that I could do at home.

First, I bought a workbook for high school students and tried to study myself, but it was too difficult for me, so I gave up soon after. At that time, I was interested in how babies learned to speak, and I wanted to learn English like them. I thought to myself, "If I speak English in my everyday life, it would be good speaking practice for me, and my son might learn to speak English as well as Japanese." Then I started trying it, but it was not as easy as I had thought. I couldn't speak English at all because I had never tried it out of schools. I read a lot of phrase books and how-to books, watched TV programs for children like "eigo de asobo" and "Sesame Street", and listened to native speakers every day for several months, but I lost my motivation again when I had my second baby. I had morning sickness and couldn't keep it up, so I just studied for about a year.

After I gave birth to my second son, I didn't study English for a looong time.(again!) When my youngest daughter was around 2, I decided to do it again.(It's about 5 years ago.) I started to talk to my children in English, but please don't get me wrong. I talk to them mostly in Japanese, and I only speak simple English like "Wash your hands", "Brush your teeth”, or “Get ready for school”, things like that mothers always tell their children. Oh no, they are all orders!(lol) Anyway, I started using English every day, but my English was still very poor. Maybe I was in a point where it was difficult to go further. I thought I needed to do some different things. I started trying to write my diary in English, but I gave it up after a week because it was not fun for me. I was looking for some good ways to learn English. Then, one day(It was May in 2006), I found David's blog by chance. I wanted to communicate with native speakers, and David seemed to be nice and friendly, so I decided to join the blog. I've been writing comments here since then.

Apart from taking part in this blog, I sometimes watch movies or dramas(I like "Full House", and I have all the DVDs.) in English with English subtitles(transcript?). It helps me to catch the English. I also read English books when I feel like to it. I like children's books like Harry Potter. Sometimes I listen to native speakers on my MP3 player and do shadowing while I'm cooking or doing housework. It's one of the ways of my speaking practice. I teach my sons and my nieces English, and to teach them, I review junior high school leveled English again and again. Now my first son is in high school, and English he learns at school is getting difficult more and more, so I have to say I study with him(only when he has English tests). I talk to myself or my children and think in English every day. I started my blog in April 2008, and I wrote my diary in English, but I haven't uploaded it since February. Maybe I have to say I gave up.

I tried(am trying) a lot of methods, but the most effective method for me is taking part in this blog. There is lots and lots of comprehensible input in the entries and comments, and there are also a lot of people I can talk to. When I read the blog, I try to look for English which I can understand, but which I couldn't have produced myself. I sometimes re-read the old entries too, and I always find something new for me. I try to write comments as often as possible, and before I post my comment, I read it aloud as if I was talking to someone. Sometimes David gives us feedback on our English, and it's very helpful for me. I didn't think writing was a good way to learn a language before I joined the blog, but it was actually a great way.

Sometimes I lost my motivation, and I took a break from English for a while, but I didn't give up studying and practicing. I think that worked for me. Actually, I didn't like the saying “継続は力なり” when I was in school, but I have to admit that it was true.

Sorry, I wrote too much... If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me again:)

Thank you for reading.

Tomo

•  Tomo
• 2010年11月19日 00:14

Hi again,

Hope everyone is okay.

Tomo - I didn't realise there was a book for Howls Moving Castle, is it in comic form or just words? We have a shop in Liverpool that just deals with everything Japanese anime, its great, I will have to go and visit the shop again. I do have Laputa - Castle in the Sky, with Nausicaa, The Cat Returns, Pom Poko, Kiki's Delivery Service, My Neighbour Totoro, Grave of the Fireflies (which is extremely sad, it made me and my husband cry), Whisper of the Heart, Only Yesterday, The Girl who Leapt Through Time, Origin, and Princess Mononoke. I guess you can say we love them.

I was just reading the rest of your post and its impressive. It's amazing how you've perservered with it. I am like that with learning Welsh. I wish I had more time really. English can be a hard language to learn. Especially when writing it. Some words don't sound right, my son is often confused with being dyslexic and can't understand why they aren't written the way we say them. Phonetically. But maybe when your children are in school full time you might be able to learn the way you'd like to. I personally think your english is excellent.

If you like to read Harry Potter, have you listened to the audio cd's being read by Stephen Fry. They are excellent, he is so good at reading all the books and it will be great for your english too.

Anyway, the Roman theme is nearly over, but I have enjoyed talking to you all immensely. David has invited me to join in on other topics, so hopefully will speak to you again soon. It's 7.10 p.m. here, I am going onto facebook for a bit and then I will watch a movie. Maybe How To Train Your Dragon.

Take care. Charlene.

•  Charlene
• 2010年11月19日 05:13

Hi Charlene,
Your son, Cellan is home schooled. I've never heard of anyone who is homeshooled in Japan. If the children couldn't fit in ordinary school (I'm not sure ordinary is a politically correct word), they enter special school for handicapped. My middle son is ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) and manages to ordinary elementary school.Though he is 6 grader and will enters junior high school next spring. Now we have to decide if he goes to ordinary junior high school or special school. I'm not sure if my son was home schooled, if I will be able to teach him well. I am very much concerning about whether he could be independent or not in the future. Cellan is helping out in the office, that's wonderful. Finding something good at and praising them is effective to boost children's self-esteem, I believe.

Glad to hear you and your husband like Japanese anime.

"~the Christians have adapted some parts of Roman christmas celebrations and that's why we give presents today."-I like presents giving custom.
Some houses put on decorations and illumination during christmas season in Japan, too-that brighten me up. I'm not a christian but I like the festive mood of christmas.

Charlene, I really enjoy talking with you and exchanging ideas and learning different cultures and also finding similarities. I hope I can get my meaning acrossed.

Hi Yuki,
Yes yes I understand how you feel, I felt the same way when my children were your son's age. Your son is now 2? Oh, he must be so adorable but he is in terrible twos? Do you teach English? Raising little children and also working? That's great.

Fumie

•  匿名
• 2010年11月19日 07:34

Hi Fumie,

In Britain, we can choose to home school our children, they don't have to have a handicap of any kind, though we do have to let the local authority check up from time to time, to make sure we are teaching the children something at home. I have kept all my son's work for proof. My daughter was home schooled too, but she decided that she wanted to go to high school, so we put her in the last year of primary school so it wouldn't be a big shock when she does go. Brianna absolutely loves school. She is so sociable. Cellan's confidence is getting better, he was severely bullied at school, that is why we chose to take him out as he became school phobic. But both children are doing fine now.

I love Christmas time too. I am a Christian but I don't go to church, I just believe with my heart and my relationship with God is not through man. I also have an open mind and like to research other religions too. I love learning about other people's traditions.

It has been great talking to you too. I think the roman topic is over with for now but no doubt I will talk to you on the other topics.

Take care, Charlene.

•  Charlene
• 2010年11月19日 18:07

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