There's a way.

My 9-year-old daughter has just started to learn English. She says English is interesting. I tried to enjoy some English picture books with her when she was 2 or 3 years old, but she showed her distaste for all of them. She used to say, "Why don't you read Japanese ones? I don't understand what you are saying!"
I got the picture that it would be tough for kids to learn a second language without any need in their daily lives.

Now, she is old enough to study by herself. She has listened to a radio English conversation program since this spring. I let her take an English test for a try, and it turned out she couldn't read English.
"I guess I did well in the listening test, but I didn't have a clue how to deal with the reading test..."

The answer is no mystery. My daughter didn't study how to read English words. She might have relied on me. Of course, I would have been willing to help her. We sometimes listened to a program together. and we went for shopping to buy some textbooks for taking the test. I could have taught her if she had asked me, but she didn't.

「他力本願」 means "to rely on something or somebody for your success." As long as we act 「他力本願」, there is no real success. Who makes a decision? Who wants to achieve? Who knows ourselves? We know the answer.

I have been suffereing from a slight headache recently. My husband says I tend to spend too much time in fron of my personal computer. I guess he's right.
I have weak eyesight, and it sometimes causes my headache. I don't want to strain my eyes. Maybe I need to be careful not to surf an excessive number of websites.
Do you make a rule not to strain your eyes?

I'm not good at writing things in English, but I love trying it here because I can get useful and wonderful information from readers.
The other day, Michael recommended a TV drama to me. It was "Heroes" and actually it was exactily what I'd been wanting to see. In no time, I went out to rent this and immediately loved this.
I've only watched the first episode, but "Heroes" is fantastic! I'm totally into this kind of story,in which some people have unknown powers to save the earth... When I was a child, I really wanted to be a psychic. My longing may have come from an animated film called 「幻魔大戦」. Have you ever seen this? Its story and music are incredibly great....to me.

幻魔大戦 (2008/04/25) 美輪明宏小山茉美 商品詳細を見る

I gave a present to my husband yesterday, because it was "Father's Day." He seemed not to expect anything from me, so he looked confused and pleased at the same time.
Do you have "Father's Day" in your country? What kind of presents have you ever prepared?

We sometimes say 「釣った魚にエサはやらない」 in Japanese referring to someone's attitude after getting married. It actually means "not to give any present to your girlfriend or wife because they are already with you." Umm... Do people tend to rely on presents especially when they need to get someone's attention? In a way, it can be true.
However, no one distastes to have presents. Gifts always help you bond with your loved one, indeed.

We went out to see a baseball game this evening. Our favorite team is Fukuoka Soft Bank Hawks and we won the game! I didn't used to like baseball, because when I was a child, my father always seized of TV to watch baseball games and I had no choice but to accompany him!
However, our preferences seem to change easily. I have been affected so much by my son, who is a real baseball fan.

I'll try to introduce some Japanese expressions, adages and wordings to you in order to improve my English language skills and deepen my knowledge of Japanese.



「四面楚歌」　～Shimen-soka

1)　to be blamed from all side
2)　to be under siege

frequency of usage in daily life .... ★★☆☆☆






We got bowled over by Neo(Keanu Reeves)'s artistic actions in "Matrix." I totally enjoyed it. Actually, I like the idea of unknown powers which people might have deep down inside. It sounds thrilling, doesn't it? If you have trouble being assailed from all sides, you'd be able to get away with it like Neo did!

I planted some flowers in pots and placed them on my balcony today. Our place is one of typical apartment complexes in Japan, so our balcony doesn't have any room to stretch out. However, I'm sure we could commune with nature a bit, and it'll be enough for us to feel seasons...

I love reading books.

Around 10 years ago, I could only speak rudimentary English, and I had no idea how to read English novels. Back then, I corresponded with an Englishwoman, Alison. Actually, she was the one who opened a door for me and led me into a wonderful world.

I got a birthday present from her. It was the first edition of Harry Potter. "I'm sure you would love this," she said. It'd be surely rude to her if I had stayed away from it. I started to read with an English dictionary. It took lots of time for me, but I was immediately immersed in Harry's adventure.

Unfortunately, we haven't written each other for more than 7 years. I don't know where she lives, what she likes and how she raises her two lovely kids. Having said that, whenever I enjoy Harry Potter books, she always comes into my mind.

People used to say that Japan was the safest country in the world. Now that a 25-year-old Japanese man ran down two young men with a truck and then proceeded to stab several people to the death in the middle of the day, can you still agree with it?

They said the murder had been struggled with his life. He didn't get a dream job, and it made him uneasy. He couldn't stand with his hapless situation any more, and made up his mind to end his life...with someone else. There are lots of fatal accidents similar to this case here in Japan.

I cannot understand others' problems completely. I can only guess how tough their lives might be. However, I'm confused about his way to make a decision. Did he really think that it was his best solution? Was he confident enough to say it'd be his final answer? He might have been suffering from mental problem, but it seems to me that he chose a rash action.

The hardest thing in our lives is to choose something. The decision depends on us, it also makes us owe full responsibility. You might be unhappy right now, but how about next year? What about in five years or ten years? Are you sure you'll end up having unfortunate life forever?

We are too vulnerable to make a perfect decision. we should know this. Everybody can't be flawless, and that's okay. We need to know how to clear up our lives, not give up.

My son seemed a bit tired last night. He had a fever. He had no appetite. It meant that he was coming down with a cold.

He was much better after his ten hours' sleep. However, my husband let him be absent from school for a fever.

As I anticipated, my son got bored soon.
"Boring."
"Sorry to hear that."
"How can I deal with this?"
"Try to get some sleep."
"I did, but I can't!"
He had no choice but to read books in bed.

We shouldn't consider our sick leaves to be joyful occasions, my son. It would be terrible if they could be. You have to take it easy during your sick leave. Everybody wants to keep away from hectic days and we need a break all the time.

While I was waiting for my daughter to finish her trial test at a cramming school, I spent time studying English at a nearby doughnutery. When I was reading an English paper, someone with a little boy took a seat next to me.
Wow! She is blond!
...........Okay. I'm ready. If she needs some help, I'll try to break the ice.


I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but I couldn't help doing. She spoke to her son......in truly fluent Japanese! If I hadn't seen her face, I wouldn't have recognized that she was a foreigner. Her little boy responded in Japanese. When one man sitting next to them spoke to the boy in English, she answered in Japanese, "Sorry, he doesn't understand English at all." Before long, it turned out that her mother tongue was not English. When she spoke by cell-phone, I couldn't understand what she was saying.
Oh, okay. There is no room for me here.....

At any rate, in what way did she conquer Japanese? Where? How long did it take? I was so amazed at her advanced Japanese level.

魔女の宅急便 (1997/11/21) 高山みなみ佐久間レイ 商品詳細を見る

This is my favorite film and I have an English edition. "Kiki's delivery service" directed by Hayao Miyazaki is pretty popular among kids in Japan. If you are interested in learning a second language, I think you should pick up several animated films as one of your educational tools. That's because voice actors' pronunciations are always easy to follow. Compared to live-action films, each line tends to be spoken with articularion in most animated films. What's more, there so many animated films with moving scene! It would be wasteful if you keep away from animated film because you are grown up. Try them some time just for the heck of it.

I enjoyed having lunch with my neighbors today. I usually stay at home and spend time alone, so it was quite refreshing. We had an all-you-can-eat buffet and there were variety of cuisine. I was so excited that I totally forgot to take pictures of my lunch, except for my lovely dessert! Getting along with neighbors is quite important for us, and it surely work wonders over lunch.

If I had not seen this film, I probably would not have had any interest in learning English. "Titanic" is one of the most well-known blockbusters in the world, so sometimes I feel a bit awkward when I am asked what my favorite movie is. Almost 10 years ago, I was moved by its story and strong visuals. Back then, I knew that the Japanese subtitles didn't always follow the original lines because there was limit on the number of the words.
"I'd like to understand their lines word for word."
That was the reason I took up studying English.

If I had studied without any radio English program, I wouldn't be able to speak English at all. I was a working mother when I realized how fun learning English was. I had to work from morning till night, and I could scarcely have some time just for myself. Under such circumstances, programs just 20 minutes long were very useful to me. I kept listening to them every day and tried to review whenever I could grab an opportunity. People say you can't teach an old dog new tricks, but I don't believe this. After all, we are not dogs. It's much better to say, we are thinking reeds.