Hi Gussan and David,
Thank you for your help! Both are OK, I got it.
私も最初は限定されてないかなと思って 'a' にしたのですが、その後、"I didn't know" で限定されていることに気づいて変えたんです。　いつまでたっても 'a' と 'the' は悩ませてくれます！

David,
I'm very surprised to hear that you are going on a course to study Vipassana meditation. It sounds like 修行！　妄想は得意だけど、瞑想はしたことないですね～(笑) Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing new "David". Good luck!

Gussan,
＞the usage of articles in English offen annoys me.
It annoys me too, very often!

Hi Yuki,
Yes, I'm reading your comments carefully because there are lots of things I can learn:)

As for the changes in gender roles, I haven't seen female firefighters myself, but I often see female bus drivers or taxi drivers. Do you see lots of male teachers at day cares for kids? There is no male teachers at the kindergarten where my sister works(She is a teacher) at the moment, but I think I would find some in the near future.

By the way, the expression "here and there" made me think the difference of word order between English and Japanese. As you know, we say "there and here(あちこち)" in Japanese. I learned some other expressions like this; "ladies and gentleman(紳士淑女)", "black and white(白黒)", or "cats and dogs(犬猫)". I found it interesting. Is there any other expression like this?

Tomo

•  Tomo
• 2010年11月29日 20:25

I think one of Amo's many sisters is a bus driver in Tokyo.

•  David
• 2010年11月29日 21:19

Hi Everyone,
It’s Mai from Hokkaido. I came across David’s books a few weeks ago, and think it’s a good idea to say “Hi” to all here and study English on this blog along with his books, as I have a tendency to hibernate in the winter time. ( I just have no desire to fight the cold and snow)
I and my soon to be husband plan to go to Greece & the U.K. next year, and need to learn English indeed!
I wish you all happiness and love during the opening of this holiday season!
Mai
PS I hope that meditation help you detoxify your body and receive some intuitive feelings.

•  mai
• 2010年11月29日 22:39

Hi David and everyone,

I had a very busy day today due to shortage of manpower. One of my staff called in sick and another one called and said that she would be late. Monday is the busiest day in a week so I ended up not taking a break until six o’clock :-( I just grabbed a hamburger and a cup of coffee and back to work again, and it took me only ten minutes.

Vipassana meditation sounds interesting. I will have a look at the web page later because I am quite tired today. I also thought that it would be difficult for you to keep quiet for so long. If I had a chance I would try it. Anyway hope you get something from the meditation!!

Hi mai,

Welcome to the blog. Going to Greece and the UK next year? That’s great!
Looking forward to your next comment.

Talk to you soon,
amo

•  amo
• 2010年11月29日 23:34

Hi mai,
Nice to have you with us! look forward to reading your comments.

Hi amo,
Have a good sleep tonight.

Good night, everyone.

Tomo

•  Tomo
• 2010年11月30日 00:40

【訂正】
the expression "here and there" made me think... →　the expression "here and there" made me think of

•  Tomo
• 2010年11月30日 07:50

Yes, you are right, David. My oldest sister is a bus driver.

Hi Tomo,

Thanks, but I could not sleep until nearly one in the morning.

Hi everyone,

Have a nice day;-)
amo

•  amo
• 2010年11月30日 08:12

Hi everyone,
Speaking of gender shift on some occupations, incidentally, one thing popped up in my mind: are there any female dentist? Because I never seen one. Have you? Men are physically stronger than women, so some jobs are restricted only male. Of course there are no female Sumo wrestlers or male Geishas. If there are they would be awful!
Tomo gave us an interesting topic which are difference in word order between English and Japanese.　I can't come up with any examples at the moment though in English they say brothers and sisters but in Japanese we say 兄弟. It literally means elder brother and younger brother but it supposed to means elder brother and sister and younger brother and sister. I wonder 兄弟isn't politically collect.

Hi Yuki,
I like your expression:　rice winner.

Hi amo,
You had a hectic day yesterday, and you said you felt a bit out of sorts the other day. Please take a rest when you have time.

Hi Mai,
Nice to meet you. You are going to get marry soon, congratulations! It can't be helped that you tend to hibernate in winter because Hokkaido is so cold.

Hi David,
Well, that is another suprise news that you are going to have secluded life from technology, amusement. I checked the site and thought it's a good program to cultivate one's mind and to be generous to others. Your friend's comment-life changing experience makes me want to try that some day but I'm not sure if I could bear not speaking to anyone so long or not. I'd love to hear your impression about Vipassana when you get back.
All those expressions for 大掃除 are very helpful because I can't get so much materials for learning English expressions for cleaning.
We got your message. Let's see how we could build up our database while you are away for meditation.

Fumie

•  匿名
• 2010年11月30日 09:54

Hi David and everyone,

I haven't writen for long time because I'm busy everyday even lunch time in my office.

David,

You have already been in another world?
I think I cann't live no contact with the outside world at all for ten days!

Yuki and mai,

Nice to have you with us.
My English isn't high level yet but I learn a lot of things from this blog.

Tomo,

I registered for ’じゃれマガ’ yesterday and I've got the e-mail.
The sentences are good for my English level.
I cann't wait to read next!

Green

•  Green
• 2010年11月30日 12:39

Hi everyone,

I just came up with another expressions that have the opposite word order:

*upper right(右上) / upper left(左上)

"Upper right" and "upper left" sound OK in English, but they sound very strange in Japanese!

Hi Fumie,
I've never seen a female dentist, either. I wonder why...
As for きょうだい, 兄弟 is the most common kanji in writing, but I think きょうだい mean elder brothers/sisters and younger brothers/sisters when you are speaking. I just typed “きょうだい” on my computer and pressed the change button. My computer gave me these kanji; 兄弟, 兄妹, and 姉妹, but it didn't give me 兄姉, 姉弟 or some other examples.(日本語では兄･弟・姉･妹というのをはっきりさせるのが普通だし、組み合わせを考えるときりがないですけどね。　兄弟姉妹で「きょうだい」にするとか・・？)

Hi Green,
Did you sign up for じゃれマガ? I think it's good for you! Mr. Jarrell writes about a wide range of different topics with simple English, so I think you've already learned most words he uses in the magazine. It also means you can express a lot of things using only simple English. Sometimes it's very surprising how easy it is to say things in English, isn't it? I think it's a very important experience for Japanese learners of English because they tend to make things difficult and complicated.(I was one of them.) It's not that easy to make things simple, but I think that's one of the keys to produce natural English;-)

See you soon,

Tomo

•  Tomo
• 2010年11月30日 14:51

【訂正】
that's one of the keys to produce...　→　 that's one of the keys to producing...

•  Tomo
• 2010年11月30日 15:38

うまく言えなかったので再挑戦。

I think it's a very important experience for Japanese learners of English because they tend to make things difficult and complicated.(I was one of them.) It's not that easy to make things simple,

これだと「物事を難しくする」という風に聞こえてしまうかな、と思ったので。。

↓

A lot of learners tend to translate their difficult ideas into English directly(I was like that at the beginning.), so I think it's very important to get lots of natural(and simple!) English input. It's not that easy to express things you want to say simply,

「自分の言いたいことをそのまま英語にしようとして難しく考えがちだけど、「こんなに簡単に言えるんだ」という英語にたくさん出会って、自分の言いたいことを簡単にする(見方を変える)のが大事だと思います」と言いたかったのです。　少しは近づけたでしょうか。。　う～ん、怪しい･･･。

•  Tomo
• 2010年11月30日 21:49

Hi, everyone.

Can you believe it's December already!

Since I studied feminism at university, I'm more mindful of gender issues. Or, the other way around. I was always interested in gender issues, so I studied feminism. Anyway, anyway, I've known three female dentists. One was my neighbor, so I got to know her a little. Her ex-husband was a well educated man, but had no intention of working. She divorced him and opened her own practice and raised the kids all by herself. I have a lot of respect for her.

I've also known five male teachers at nursery schools. The kindergarten my son's going to attend has many male teachers. They also have a lot of experienced teachers in their 40's and 50's. I really like the diversity. I think it's so much better than having only young female teachers who are right out of college.

Tomo,
I've been meaning to tell you that I can't remember the rest of the month song/chant whatever it was...Sorry, I tried.

"Cats and dogs" and "black and whilte" are pretty much I can come up with off the top of my head...But, I had a mini lesson on word orders the other day.

peanut butter and jelly
cheese and crackers
ham and cheese
wine and cheese
salt and pepper
apples and oranges

Are you hungry now?
Yuki

•  匿名
• 2010年12月 1日 22:16

Hi everyone,
I just stop by to say…
Tomo, Amo, Fumie, and Green, thank you so much for your kind words! I appreciate it.
I finished up Christmas letters tonight, so will be putting them in the mail tomorrow. And…I have most of my presents already, just a few more to go and they are all gifts cards, so will pick them up next week.
Have a great week everyone
Gratitude
mai

•  mai
• 2010年12月 1日 23:20

Hi everyone,
Good morning! So there are female dentists, it's just that I never seen one. Thanks Yuki.

Speaking of gender issue, I think the relationships among couples (both married and not married) are changing. Have you ever heard of these expressions? 'Herbivorous men/women 草食系男子・女子and Carnivorous men/women 肉食系男子・女子？'
I saw the TV program featured about this.
Herbivorous men are: not aggressive in relationship or sex, treat women equal, tend to be fashion-conscious. They don't confess to a girl I love you, don't pick up girl. In the program, a herbivorous man makes his box lunch regularly. And a herbivorous man and a woman couple seems like friends.
I want to know your opinions: do you prefer herbivorous men or carnivorous men? And I'd love to hear about men's opinions about that, how do you think about carnivorous women?
Me hmm...I expect my partner both of traits. Because I become self-centered, a moaner sometimes...I can't explain well. Anyway, I want men to take the first step because I can't confess men I love you but I don't want them to be bossy to me, want them to treat me equal.
I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Bye for now!

Fumie

•  匿名
• 2010年12月 2日 09:16

Hi David and everyone,

David, how are you? Isn't it cold there? I hope you are doing well.

As Yuki said, it's December already, the last month of year again. Time flies! Hope you all have something nice planed for the holiday season.

Yuki,
I'm glad to know that there are also female dentists. As for the dentist you mentioned, I can imagine how hard it was for her to raise her children and earn a living all by herself, but I think she made a right decision. I'm sure her children learned a lot of things from her.

＞I think it's so much better than having only young female teachers who are right out of college.
I agree with you. There are a lot of experienced teachers at my sister's kindergarten too. They can understand and help not only children but also young teachers.

Thanks for sharing your lesson on word orders. So they sound unnatural if you say them the other way around, right?

mai,
It sounds like you are busy preparing for Christmas. I don't send Christmas cards or presents to my friends, but I like looking at Christmas lights and the festive atmosphere. My daughter and I set up our Christmas tree and some other Christmas decorations in the living room a few days ago. By the way, are you going to Greece and the U.K. on your honeymoon? Have a wonderful time!

I did some language gathering, so let me share them with you.

【From the comments on the last entry】

*I tend to just read books, articles, and the like,
(The expression "and the like" was new to me. I'd like to add this to my database.)

*I'm definitely missing out a lot of opportunity to learn!
(I haven't used the phrase "miss out".)

*I was making a care package for a friend
(If I were to say this, I would say "a small present". "Care packcage" sounds nice. I liked this expression.)

*I feel my English is rusty these days.
(I knew the word "rusty", but I haven't used it myself. If you change the part "my English", you can use this pattern in many different cases, so I think it's useful.)

*She was the breadwinner (or I should say ricewinner.)
(I didn't know the word "breadwinner", so I looked in a dictionary, and then I understood why Yuki said "or I should say ricewinner." It's interesting.)

*Both "a" and "the" would work in that sentence.
(If I were to say this, I would say "Both 'a' and 'the' would be OK..." It's interesting to use "work" here.)

I'm going to my kids' school to see their classes today, and there are also a lecture and meetings for parents. On Friday, they have marathon races at school, and I'm one of the volunteers to help the event, so I have to go there in the morning. After that, I have another meeting in the afternoon, so I'm going to be a bit busy for a couple of days.

Anyway, I hope you are all well, and see you soon.

Tomo

PS Fumie - Sorry, but I don't have time to write about the topic you brought up now. I'll think about it later.

•  Tomo
• 2010年12月 2日 10:02

Hi mai,

You are going to get married soon?
My best wishes to you!
You and your soon to be husband plan to go to Greece & the U.K. next year?
Lucky you!
Do you have any reasons for the choice Greece and the U.K?

Green

•  Green
• 2010年12月 2日 12:57

Hi Tomo,
I forgot to mention that I had met a female firefighter. I wouldn't have guessed her occupation if my friend hadn' told me. She was pretty and kind of small!

Fumie,
A few days ago, you said that you would like to translate a novel someday. I thought that was wondeful! You must love books. What kind of books do you often read?

Your question about 草食系男子 brought back memories of my guy friends from college. I'm not sure if they would describe themselves as 草食系, but they sort of fall into that category. They're gentle and somewhat fashion conscious. When we were in college, we talked about various things, and often went shopping together. They were not so different from my female friends in that aspect. One of them is now married to a British woman who's very very strong. I guess you could call her 肉食系女子#笑#.

In Japan, it's less common for women and men to be just friends. But, I'm not a typical Japanese person, and some of my guy friends had international experience #like living overseas#, so we became good friends. It was nice to spend time with them and get different perspective. I still like it when I can talk with my guy friends.

Do you have some male friends you can go to when you have problems or when you need sympathetic listeners?

Yuki

•  匿名
• 2010年12月 3日 16:39

Hi Yuki,
Oh, you saw a female firefighter! It seems that the boundary between men and women about occupations are really narrowing!

Yes, I'm a bookworm. I read wide genre of books, I like touching stories a lot. I published my first novel(love story) this september, wrote it in Japanese, so my biggest dream is translate it into English. Othere than my own book, if I became a translater, I particularly want to try translate materials about developmental problems. Because in Japan it's too way behind in those fields. If there are more materials about developmental problems here, children or adults also who have these problems can get better care or help them to understand how to cope with those problems.

About 肉食系、and 草食系topic, there are more herbivorous men and more carnivorous women now than when it used to be. Women are becoming stronger in a sense, mostly in attitude. So a herbivorous man and a carnivorous woman could be a good couple.

You have some guy friends. I hope I could have some, but I don't have any, unfortunately.
If I have some guy friends, I could get some advice from men's perspective. When I watch English TV dramas or movies, there are scenes that women ask men's oppinions from male friends. So men and women can be friends: that's a nice thing!

•  匿名
• 2010年12月 4日 07:39

Sorry the previous post↑ was mine.
Fumie

•  Fumie
• 2010年12月 4日 07:44

Hi Tomo and David,

Just a quick question, what is the title of the book David wrote about common English errors made by Japanese speakers? I'll see if I can get it in Australia.

To everyone,

What I thought was interesting is: 'there are going to be around 60 people on the course' in one of the David's posts above. He used 'on', and I wondered if you use 'in' as well in the same sentence.

Other examples are: 'I am on the bus.' and 'I am in the bus.' I have heard both was used, but I also read it somewhere that some people prefer 'in' for something larger like a big ship or something. I am not too sure how that is true though.

Reading other people's writing carefully, and build up your own English database is certainly a good way to learn, isn't it? I often make errors, so I will use this method more often, to learn from others :)

•  Michelle
• 2010年12月 4日 23:56

Hi Tomo and David,

Just a quick question, what is the title of the book David wrote about common English errors made by Japanese speakers? I'll see if I can get it in Australia.

To everyone,

What I thought was interesting is: 'there are going to be around 60 people on the course' in one of the David's posts above. He used 'on', and I wondered if you use 'in' as well in the same sentence.

Other examples are: 'I am on the bus.' and 'I am in the bus.' I have heard both was used, but I also read it somewhere that some people prefer 'in' for something larger like a big ship or something. I am not too sure how that is true though.

Reading other people's writing carefully, and build up your own English database is certainly a good way to learn, isn't it? I often make errors, so I will use this method more often to learn from others :)

•  Michelle
• 2010年12月 4日 23:57

Hi everyone,

It seems that many of you were busy this week, so did I. As I mentioned before, I had a busy day on Monday, and it was just a beginning because eventually I found myself having a busy whole week. And it’s not the end, I was out of luck!! There was a phone call from one of our customer and she complained about our service. It turned out that one of my staff made a mistake. My boss did not blame me but this incident made me depressed :( Anyway, it is no use crying over spilt milk, so I just get over it.

Hi Tomo,

About the sentence that you rewrote, I prefer your original sentence. This is my opinion, so I am not sure how other members think about. When I read your comment, I completely understood what you meant. You put your thought into simple English but I felt that your second one explained too much. I mean, it is easy to understand the meaning from the context.（文脈で理解できるので、そこまで説明する必要はないような気がするのですが・・・）

Hi Fumie,

About your question, sorry but I don’t like to describe people as 草食系, 肉食系 or something like that. Somehow, those words annoy me. So I can’t answer your question. By the way, thanks for worrying about me :-)

Hi Michelle,

David mentioned his book here before, it was March 26th 2010, and you can find the link for his book on that entry.
By the way, I learnt a lot from your comments and here is one of them (the others are already picked by Tomo.)
I’ve been looking for it, but haven’t had any luck yet. (it's really simple but defficult for me to produce by myself)

Bye for now,
amo

•  amo
• 2010年12月 6日 00:04

Hi everyone,

Sorry I couldn't join you for a while. It's been almost a year since my father-in-law passed away, so I'm kind of busy preparing for the first ceremony these days.

Fumie,
I think both types have good points and bad points. If I had to choose one, I would choose nikushoku kei, but I like men who have many different aspects.

Yuki,
I have a friend whose husband is a firefighter, and he is big and burly. He was kind of my image of firefighters, but I have to change it!
As for male friends, I had some when I was in school, but I don't have any now.

Michelle,
Sorry I forgot to mention the title of the book. It's "An A-Z of Common English Errors for Japanese Learners(English Edition)". You can buy it at englishbooks.jp(The owner is called Cameron Nagatomo, and he is David's friend.) According to the website, they can ship products overseas using the Post Office EMS service. Please have a look at the left-hand side of the hope page. There is a box called "Information", and if you click on "Ordering, shipping & returns", you can read detailed information on shipping;-)
If you look at the left-hand side of the blog, you'll find the red book called "英語じょうずになる事典". This book is published by ALC, but the content is almost the same as "Common English Errors". Basically, "Common English Errors" is written for university students, so the ALC version is arranged differently to make it easier to read if you don't have a teacher to help you.

Hope you all had a good weekend,

Tomo

•  Tomo
• 2010年12月 6日 00:16

【訂正】
the hope page　→　the home page

Hi amo,
I just read your comment. It seems like we were writing at the same time. Thanks for the information about David's book, and thanks also for your feedback on my English. I'm glad to know that you understood what I meant when you read my original version:)

Tomo

•  Tomo
• 2010年12月 6日 00:28

Hi Michelle,
I tried to post a comment in Michelle's journal but I failed to make an account so I will write it here.
Congraturaltions for driving home safely by yourself for the first time! I understand your feeling. Even now, it's been almost 20years since I got a driver's license, I become really nervous when I drive unfamiliar places. Always cold sweat break out.
Your story brought back my old memory. That was our wedding night, after our wedding ceremony and party, my husband couldn't drive because he was too drunk. So I had to take the wheel to our new home. I was just the beginner driver back then besides I did't know how to get to our home. When I asked my husband the way, he already fell into a deep sleep.
I managed to get back home after I went round and round the same road. That was the most frightening memory of me. You know, the last thing we want is die on our wedding night!

You are living in Perth, a lovery city. I had a homestay there for a month long time ago. I definitely wanted to go to Perth after I had saw the city on TV. I couldn't stop my urge to go there, so I quit my job and off we go!

Fumie

•  匿名
• 2010年12月 6日 09:50

Hi everyone,

Did you have a nice weekend? I had another busy weekend. I went to get some winter gifts for relatives and close friends. Plus, there was a meeting at the kindergarten my son is going to attend. It was informative, but a bit too much, I thought...I was aware that we were expected to make certain things for kids to use at school, but what I didn't know was that I had to make an apron and five different kinds of bags! Luckily, I have this friend who used to teach at 被服専門学校 and make clothes semiprofessionally. During the meeting, I kept thinking that she's going to be my best friend next year!

Fumie,
You're a writer! I'd love to read your book sometime.

I'm also a bookworm. When I had a long commute, I read one book a week. At the moment, I can't afford much time for reading, and it takes forever to finish one book!

These days, I'm reading the books that inspired me when I was young(er.) One of my professors told me that we should reread good books. She said, "Books don't change, but you do." The last book I read was the one that made me want to go and study in America. I read it for the first time in 20 years or so. Anyway, I thought it was interesting enough, but it wasn't as insightful as I thought back then. Clearly, I've changed!

Last time I was also going to share something and forgot...Anyway, you said something like　日本語でも英語でも分かりやすくいい文章が書けたらいいな. My husband says KISS(Keep It Short and Simple) is important in English. Depending on what you write, but I think good writers/speakers follow the rule. Very often native speakers and advanced writeres write concisely. Just a thought.

Yuki

•  匿名
• 2010年12月 6日 23:43

Hi everyone,
I am wonderling how David is handling a kind of secluded life so far. I'm not sure if I can stand the life without any amusement not talking to anyone so long.

Hi Yuki,
You have to make several things for your son to use at school. But apron is difficult to make, isn't it?
Anyway, you are lucky to have a friend who is good at sewing!

I just wrote my first and only book so far. Please allow me to mention about it. Please check it on Amazon site. If you type "プルトップリング” you can see samples of the book.

It's so true that "Books don't change but you do"
Now I can understand and learn somethings from the same books which I coudn't get anything before. And the same thing happen to movies. I can appreciate some of the movies now which I couldn't do because I wasn't mature enough.

BTW, your husband comment "KISS" is exactly what I should keep in mind when I write or speak English.

Your wrinting are always full of useful, helpful words and expressions. Thank you! もっと書いて～
時間がある時にです。もちろん！（＾＾）

Fumie

•  匿名
• 2010年12月 7日 06:46

Hi everyone,

I went to my children's school to help their marathon races yesterday. We had a heavy rain on Friday morning, so the event was put off to Monday. It was nice(It's always nice!) to see the students get sweaty, try their best, and cheer for each other.

Yuki - It seems like you(and your friend!笑) are going to be very busy preparing for your son's kindergarten. I didn't have to make an apron, but I had to make a lot of things for my kids when they started kindergarten, too. A bag for a cup, lunch box, chopsticks, indoor shoes, gym uniform, and a big bag for all these things, and of course I had to wrote my kids' name on everything they used at kindergarten. It was very tiring... I like sawing and knitting, but I don't like to make something I have to do.(lol) I used to make simple pants, smocks, or caps for my sons. It was fun, but now I can make lovely things for my daughter, so it's a lot more fun! Actually, I'm knitting a jumper skirt for her with my favorite colors brown and beige now. My daughter is interested in everything I do, so I taught her how to knit a chain, and she is making lots of strings every day! Then my middle son got interested in knitting too, so I'm teaching him how to make a muffler now. He started to learn sawing at school this year, and he seems to like it as well as video games or soccer. Anyway, I hope he can get his muffler finished before the winter is gone!

I like Yuki's professor words, too. I like reading, and I used to read a lot of books, but I don't read many these days. Like everyone else, I have lots of things I have to do and things I want to do, so I can't afford much time for reading.(←I was going to write "I don't have much time to read", but I learned another expression from Yuki's comment. Actually, I still can't use "afford" properly myself.) These days, I only read English books that really interest me. I like reading my favorite books or watching my favorite movies again and again. The other night, I had a chat with a friend on Skype(Skype is a bit dangerous for us because we often forget the time!), and we talked about the Disney movie "Beauty and the Beast". I love this movie and watched it countless times, but I never get tired of it. The chat made me want to watch it again, so I did it.

Talking of books and movies, my 15 year-old niece is really into "Twilight" now, and she told me I should read it too. It seems like she wants to talk about it with someone who is fan of "Twilight", and she thought that I will like it. I'm too busy to read at the moment, but I'm thinking of reading the Twilight books in English. It's nice to have something in common with my lovely niece, and it will be good for my English study as well.

As for "KISS", I remember David saying the same thing before. I also think it's very important, and it actually helped me a lot. As I said before, I couldn't express myself in English at all when I joined the blog, and it was really difficult for me to write only a few sentences. I first tried to make short sentences, and then I learned how to join simple sentences using conjunctions like 'and', 'but', and 'so'. David also taught us some rules for conjunctions, so I've been following the rules since then.

Talk to you soon,

Tomo

PS Fumie - 私も「もっと書いて～」に1票です＾＾

•  Tomo
• 2010年12月 7日 11:00

【訂正】
Yuki's professor words　→　Yuki's professor's words

•  Tomo
• 2010年12月 7日 11:07

Hi Tomo,
It's always nice to hear from you. You are a woman of many talents! Sewing isn't my area of expertise. When people tell me they make their own clothese, I'm in awe!

Just for the record, I thought I should tell you "I can't afford time ..." is kind of my idiolect. I think it's more common to say "I don't have much time to do..." I picked up the expression from an American friend of mine. She's also an English teacher and very very diligent (almost workaholic). I heard her say it many times, and started using it.

I haven't lived overseas long, so I've been mostly doing language gathering using books and movies. I can always pick up some expressions from my husband, but I need to be careful because he uses old idioms and expressions! When I learn new expressions, I do pay attention to what kind of person said them in what situation. (実は特技はものまねなんです。) Just because he or she is a native speaker, it doesn't mean what's been said is right. Once again, I will be more careful with what I write.

Fumie,
What you said made me want to read some of the books that were above my head.

Have you read anything written by Gail Tsukiyama? She writes so beautifully. Her stories are very emotional and often heartwarming. The settings are old Japan, so you get to learn how she describes Japanese things in English. One thing I don't like about her books is that she makes strange mistakes with Japanese. For example, she would write "genken" instead of "genkan." It's annoying to see that kind of words here and there, but if you can ignore that, her novels are full of lovely writing.

I'll have a look at your book. Thank you for the information.

Yuki

•  匿名
• 2010年12月 7日 22:22

Hi Tomo,
Your daughter and your middle son also like knitting,
that's cute! I'm thinking I am going to knit a vest for me.
Just for the record, you meant sewing in stead of sawing, wasn't it?

"Twilight" is the story about vampire and human's love story, right? The story about these series are popular among teens.

Hi Yuki,
It's absolutely right about "I do pay attention to what kind of person said them in what situation". If I used some expressions what I'd learned from TV for teenagers, people may feel I'm an idiot or strange woman.

I've never read anything written by Gail Tsukiyama.
I read the first page of some of her works, and it seems that the writting isn't so difficult. I was worrying that the level might be too high for me.
Besides story are about Japan, it easier to guess the story, I suppose. Could you recommend one? Which one did you enjoy reading most? I've been looking for something to read in English, so thanks for the information.
I talked with my friend and she told me about the book "The Railway Children" by Edith Nesbit. She said it's a heart-warming story and the book is for children. I'll read one of Tsukiyama's novel and The Railway Children.

Bye for now.

Fumie

•  匿名
• 2010年12月 8日 07:32

Hi David
You join such a interesting program. Did the meditation finished yet? How do you feel? Do you find something new? I'm looking forward to hear a story about what you got in the program.

Hi Tomo
I bought English version "Twilight" before. I have only read second chapter, I think it is interesting. But it is too long for me and my reading speed is very slow, thus I stop to read now. If you read it, please let me hear your impression.

Hi everyone
I have an question. Please tell me meaning and usage of "If someone ever ~". What does "ever" means? Only emphasis?

trmr

•  trmr
• 2010年12月 8日 08:13

【訂正】
*and of course I had to wrote...　→　and of course I had to write...

*sawing　→ sewing (Thanks Fumie:)　見事に全部 sawing になってました。。(汗) I wish my spell checker could tell me this kind of mistake as well!)

*with someone who is fan of...　→　with someone who is a fan of...

Hi Yuki,
Thanks! I like making something by hand. I like tolepating and DIY things too. I think I was influenced by my mother. When my sisters and I were little, my mother made almost everything we wore, even underwear!
Thanks also for your explanation. The word "afford" still doesn't come naturally especially when I'm speaking. I thought the expression would be useful for me because it could be used in many different cases if you change the part "for ..."
I laughed when I read your comment about your husband's English, but as you said, learners need to pay attention to what kind of person said the language in what situation. I also try to do it when I learn new expressions from books, dramas or movies, but I often skip the "what kind of person" part on this blog. When I pick up some expressions from David's entries, I just focus on the situations and the feelings, but maybe I should be more careful!笑 (Just joking, David. Hope you are well:)
I think ものまね is a great skill, especially when you learn something.　語学ではすごい強みですよね。　羨ましいです！ By the way, do you do impressions of celebrities? If you do, what's your favorite?

Hi Fumie,
Yes, it's a story about the love between a vampire boy and a human girl. As you said, it seems to be popular among teens. I first thought it might be too "young" for me, but I like children books, so it might be too "mature" for me!
By the way, you like knitting, too? It's nice to knit sitting under a kotatsu around this time, isn't it?

Hi trmr,
Glad to hear you read(or tried to read) "Twilight". OK, I'll let you know what I think when I finish the books;-)
As for your question, I think "ever" is used to stress the meaning, to emphasize "if" as you guessed. For example:

*If someone ever said that to me, I would punch them in the face!
「もし、誰かがそんな事言ったら殴る！」

*If you ever forget your password, please click here.
「パスワードをお忘れの場合は、こちらをクリックして下さい」

*If my boyfriend ever cheated on me, I would break up with him.
「もし(万が一）彼が浮気なんかしたら別れるわ」

とか。 どうでしょう・・？

Hi everyone,
My son has tests tomorrow, on Friday and Monday, so I was helping him with his English study last night. He just learned 仮定法, but there are so many structures to remember that he seems to have trouble with them. Some of them are the ones I've never used like "If you should visit Japan, please let me know " or "It's time I were going". He also has to remember 倒置 versions, so I understand how he feels... 仮定法 is very difficult for English learners, so I think they should teach students these kinds of structures step by step, not all at once!
Anyway, there is a question I'm not sure about in his workbook, so it's my homework today.

Tomo

•  Tomo
• 2010年12月 8日 12:27

Today, My son and I went to a playground and saw lots of my ママ友 and their kids. Among them, I saw a family I hadn't seen for a while. My son's friend K and his grandpa. K's mother works, so she leaves the child with her parents. The interesting is that her father is the main caretaker! The boy loves his grandpa so much that he gets angry when grandpa talks to other people. He even gets jearous of his grandma when she is affectionate to grandpa!

Fumie,
I like "The street of a thousand blossoms." It's a thick book, but a page-turner. I hope you'll like it.

Tomo,
I do impersonation of my friends and neighbors. I wish you knew my landlord and my friend Mrs. M! I do them really well.

Just for fun, I sometimes call my mother and say things like "Hi, I'm sorry to interrupt you, but do you have time to answer some questions? I'm with X company and conducting a survey...." She starts answering my questions! I've done that with my father, too, and he bought what I said. They can't recognize their own daughter's voice! But, don't worry I'm not going to do anything bad with my impersonation skills.

Yuki

•  匿名
• 2010年12月 8日 21:46

Hi Trmr,
David said "The course finished on saturday, December 11th. So he is still in Kyoto for meditation.

Hi Tomo,
Your mother made even underware! Wow you seems inherit her gift of making things. I used to tolepaint, self learned though. And I used to knit a lot too when I was a child. My mom knitted a lot so I learned it from her, just like your son and daughter. But I don't do much of 手芸(craft) things recently, I'm more into learning English now.

You teach your son English, I do too, only before the test. He is also a highschooler, 1st grader.
Sometime it's difficult for me, especially grammer.
Plus my son isn't a good student, he doesn't try to learn hard while I try to teach him hard. That's annoying!

Hi Yuki,
You play a joke on your parents. Oh Yuki, you are funny person! My elder brother and mother used to play a joke on me together when I was a child.（兄が妹にいたずらするのに、母親なら普通は止めるだろうに、グルになってやられてました。－笑って済ませれるようなことですが）

I checked "The street of a thousand blossoms". There are several words I don't know, but lots of Japanese names and words also. I will read it, thanks!

Fumie

•  匿名
• 2010年12月 9日 06:47

Hi Yuki,
You are a naughty girl!(笑) I mean, you have a mischievous side(いたずらっ子･茶目っ気がある). I laughed when I read your parents' stories. It's so funny! Actually, I've done the same kind of thing with my sister's boyfriends. People say my sister and I sound a lot like each other on the phone, and even our parents often get us mixed up. When we were young and if we wanted to call a friend, we had to call him/her home, so we used to play a trick on each other's boyfriends. If they made a mistake, we got angry.(Half jokingly, of course lol) We were young and naughty girls, too.
By the way, your son's friend K-kun is so cute!

Hi Fumie,
You use to tolepaint too? Wow, we have a lot in common! I taught myself tolepainting through books, too. My sister also likes making things by hand. She is too busy to do it now, but we used to make a lot of things including paintings, and we had a two-day shop once a year with some other friends. After we moved to our new houses, we sold things we made on the Internet. There are lots of people who sell handmade things on the Net, but we don't do it any more. We just make something for our kids when we feel like it.

Yes, the English high school students learn at school is difficult and complicated. I learn a lot of new words from my son's textbooks. I used to teach my son English once a week when he was in junior high, but he is very busy with his club activities every day, so I only help him before he has tests now. When he has a test week, I ask him whether he needs my help or not. I say to him, "If you need my help, bring your textbooks, workbook, handouts the teacher gave you back home."(He always leaves everything at school!) If he brings them back home, I'll help him. If he doesn't, I won't. It means that I only help him if he is going to study. Like your son, my son doesn't like to study, either. He is totally into music now. He plays the bass clarinet(sometimes the tenor sax) in the club, but he also likes playing the piano and the guitar. Well, to tell the truth, I would be happy if he studies more, but I want him to enjoy himself too. It's nice if your children find something they are really interested in and keep trying, isn't it?　黙って見守るのってすご～く忍耐が要りますが。。　つい口出ししたくなるので(笑)

Tomo

•  匿名
• 2010年12月 9日 12:08

Hi Tomo,
You like and are good at making things by hands. That's great, handmade things have warmth...手作りのものは心がこもってる. Your children must be like the things that their mom made for them. You used to sell handmade things on the net, awesome! I can make those things but mines are not so good.

Your eldest son seems enjoying his highschool life fully. I totally agree with you said that "It's nice if your children find something they are really interested in and keep trying". Your son is really into music, that's great! I heard todays's highschoolers don't study much in general. As for my eldest, he is still struggling to adjust to high school life and can't find anything he devotes himself to. You know if your children worried about something or suffering badly, you also become worry about it. Children's pain is our pain!子供の悩みは親の悩み、子供が苦しんでいるのを見てたら、ほっとけないし自分もその悩みを抱え込んでしまう。(今日は、頭が英語モードに切り替わらない、、、いつものことですが）

Fumie

•  匿名
• 2010年12月10日 10:06

Hi Fumie and Tomo,

Fumie, you have a son of high school student?

I have a daughter and she is a 2nd gread high school student.
She is just at a dificult age now!
How are your sons?
I envey you that your sons are obedient.
My daughter and I have some arguments almost everyday・・・
I know it is a process of growing but sometimes I'm disappointed.

Green

•  Green
• 2010年12月10日 12:58

Hi Fumie,
Thanks for your comment. My boys have grown up a lot, so they are not happy with things I make anymore(except things fill their bellies!), so I just make clothes or hair accessories for my daughter now. She is 7, but she is very interested in fashion already, so it's fun to make something for her. Of course, things I make are not as good as ones sold in stores, but I like the idea of "the only thing in the world".

＞Children's pain is our pain!
Yes, indeed. Actually, my oldest son was bullied when he was in elementary school. It was not that serious, but he said to me, "I don't want to go to school...", so I was really, really worried about him at that time. We moved when he was in the third grade, so he had to change his school. I think he is kind, but he is a bit shy(or I should say timid), so it always takes him a long time to get used to new things. Fortunately, things changed when he was in the six grade, so he enjoyed his last year in elementary school. When he started junior high school, he was very, very nervous about his new life, but his friends helped him a lot. He also met a really nice teacher when he was in the second year. The teacher was his homeroom teacher and a sub-coach of his club(the baseball club). I remember some of the teacher's words. He said, “失敗を恐れないで挑戦しよう。　自分で考え、行動し、そして失敗することが何より大切だと思う。　失敗からたくさん学ぶことができる。　失敗は｢挑戦の代償｣であって、みんなの能力に対する評価じゃない。　僕と一緒に大失敗しよう！” I think my son learned a lot from the teacher. He also tried some new things that he had never tried before. He was nervous again when he started high school, but I think he has changed and become stronger than before. Now he has found something he really loves and is enjoying his high school life, so I'm very happy about that.

Hi Green,
No, no, my son is not obedient at all! These days, I'm trying not to say too much to him.(He is out most of the time, though.) He was a bit difficult when he was a second or third year junior high school student, but he seems to have gone through that stage.(I hope!) It seems like my sister has some problems with her 15 year-old daughter now.(同性同士っていうのも、また違った難しさがあるみたいです) Sometimes it's hard being a mother, isn't it?

I'm going to my husband's hometown this weekend to make final arrangements for the ceremony for my father-in-law.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Tomo

•  Tomo
• 2010年12月10日 16:17

Hi David and everyone,

Does anyone meditate regularly? I sometimes think I should to make my mind calm. I have a monkey mind; I tend to think several things back and forth.

Ten years ago when I was in between jobs, I took a ten-day meditation course. It wasn't like the one David has done. I went to a Zen temple early in the morning and meditated for about 1 hour. Did it help? I'm not sure. It wasn't long enough for me. If/when I have time, I'd love to do what David did, so I'm very interested in what you got out of the course.

Tomo and other mothers,

My son isn't even three, but I'm learning he has a mind of his own. We went shopping a few days ago, and he asked me to buy a Thomas toy. I had said 'no' and 'not today' at least four times on this issue, so I figued he really liked that particular toy. But, I didn't. It was made of plastic #I try to avoid plastic stuff as an evvironmentalist# and bulky. I tried to persuade him to go for another toy, but he didn't change his mind. I'm sure I'll have a lof more experiences like this. I need to remind myself that "you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink."

Fumie,

FYI, I heard that if there are more than 10 unfamiliar words (固有名詞を除いて) on a page, the book is a little above your level. If there are less than 5 unfamiliar words, it's going to be easy to get a good grasp. If you're the type of person who is comfortable with guessing, I think you are going to be ok with the book I recommended. Good luck!

Yuki

•  匿名
• 2010年12月10日 22:17

Hi David and everyone.

Nice to meet you all.
I'm a university student.
I decide to comment, becouse I want to improve my English skills.

If there are incorrect points ,Please give me explanations.

Hi David
I am bad at cleaning a room.
so it takes time to clean a room,too.
But my room has gotten messy recently,
I have to clean my room.

•  Yusuke
• 2010年12月10日 23:51

Hi David,

This is your last night of your meditation course. Hope you had a great experience, and I can’t wait to hear what it’s like!!

Hi everyone,

Have a wonderful weekend

amo

•  amo
• 2010年12月11日 00:51

Hi Green,
About child rearing,
My eldest son is high school student, 1st grade. As you said, it's a phase of growing up. So parents just be patient for awhile until it(rebellious attitudes of children) over. I want to be a mother like a friend for my children. I try not to be bossy,talk to them a lot.

Hi Tomo,
Ha ha ha, your boys only likes homemade things which fill their bellies!
Girls are more fashion conscious. I envy yoy that you have a daughter, you can dress her up. I dressed my sons in pretty girl's clothes when they were babies, babies don't say anything! I have a niece, I bought a fancy clothes for her but she said she didn't like it because she is a tomboy, I was a tomboy too.

I'm grad that your first son is enjoying his high school life. Actually my eldest is a lot like your eldest: shy, timid... Maybe first children tend to have such characteristics.

Thank you Yuki for the tip for choosing books to read. It's a very helpful way to know the book is my level or not.

Fumie

•  匿名
• 2010年12月11日 06:40

Hi Green
Nice to meet you.
My freind say she didn't like her father when she was a high school students.
But she tell me that now she appreciate her father having reared her, and she love her father.
(「彼女は父を愛している。」のを　"love"　か"like"のをどっちを使うか迷いました。）

I think that you don't have to worry about it.
あなたが娘を愛していれば、大丈夫だと思います。

But it is difficult problem for me.
If I have a daughter in fature, I will face　this　problem.

Yusuke

•  Yusuke
• 2010年12月11日 14:06

Hi team,

I just got back from my meditation "boot camp." I have been getting up at 4 a.m., meditating for 10 hours, and going to bed at 9.30 for the last 11 days! I'll tell you all about it on Monday.

Thanks for keeping the blog lively.

Bye for now,

David

•  David
• 2010年12月11日 16:23

Hi David,

Welcome back :-)
I am looking forward to hearing about your story.

Hi Yusuke,

Welcome to the blog, and I am happy to have you with us. By the way, what is your major?

Bye for now,
amo

•  amo
• 2010年12月11日 17:04

Hi amo.

Thank you for your message.
Please let me briefly introduce myself.
I am a Tohoku university student.
I study electronic technology there.
Now I study fundament things, but I want to study Therapeutics and Engineering(医工学).

I play "a cappella" in group activity(大学のサークルで）

For example, we sing "You Raise me up", "Pretty Woman", and so on.

I like "westlife" ,vocal group.
But a few freinds of mine know this vocal group.（知っている人は私の友達では少数しかいません。）

I feel that I am bad at pronunciation of English,
when I sing an English song.

Yusuke

•  Yusuke
• 2010年12月13日 01:14

Welcome back David, and a big welcome to Yusuke!

David, I'm looking forward to hearing about your meditation "boot camp" tomorrow. By the way, I read 語学力アップマガジン from ALC, and I found your message and advice to English learners. I liked this part “努力をしないでそのレベルまで行ける人はいないし、努力をしてそのレベルに行けなかった人もいない”

Yusuke,
＞あなたが娘を愛していれば、大丈夫だと思います。
I agree with you. There are times when things don't go the way you hope, and some problems take a long time to be solved, but things will work out as long as you love your children, I believe.

Hi Yuki,
I also think children have a mind of their own even if they are very small. Maybe they have some character as well before they are born, from the time when they are in their mother's belly.

＞"you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink"
Very true. I try to lead my children to the right way, but I also give them choices if they are big enough to decide for themselves.

By the way, my son loved Thomas toys, too. There were trains with magnets in front and on the back, and my son loved to put them in a line. Thomas, Percy, Edward, Henley, Gordon... I still remember their faces!

Hi Fumie,
Thanks:) I hope your son will get used to the new environment soon and enjoy himself too!

I'm going to bed now.
Good night,

Tomo

•  Tomo
• 2010年12月13日 01:18

Hi David,
Welcome back! You are back from meditation "boot camp". I can't wait to hear about it. ビリー隊長のあの訓練のような体験だったのでしょうか？

Hi Yusuke,
Welcome to the blog! You study electronic technology and want to study Therapeutics and Engineering. That's nice. You want to be a doctor or to work for medical development in the future?

You are in a capella group of your university, I want to hear your singing. I've never heard of "Westlife" so I googled it. It's an Irish vocal group very popular in UK.

Hi Tomo,
Thank you for your warm words for my son. I learned a lot of natural ways to express things and 感動しました(I'm not sure yet about in what situation I should use 'moved' or 'touched') about what you said towards children from your yesterday's post.

Fumie

•  Fumie
• 2010年12月13日 07:22

Hi David,

Welcome back! How was the seminar?

Hi Yusuke,
Nice to meet you! I know ゛WEST LIFE゛, and I love this group! Their voice are so wonderful, right? I have two CDs of them.

Amica

•  Amica
• 2010年12月13日 10:10

Hi Tomo, Fumie, Yuki and Yusuke,

Thank you for your comments.
Yes, my daughter is the precious treasure all of the world for me!
I want to write more but I have to go back to work.
I'll write later.
Anyway thank you.

Green

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