Roomy's One-Year Anniversary (Roomy の１周年記念日)
Nov 08th 2010 03:15
anniversary
１周年
Lang-8
Roomy
Dear Friends,
November 1st was my birthday. It made me very happy that I received congratulatory messages from a lot of people.
11月1日は私の誕生日でした。たくさんの人たちからお祝いの言葉をいただいて、うれしかったです。
November 8th is my first anniversary on Lang-8. Just one year ago today, I joined in this website and wrote my first entry in my "bad English." It was very short and almost embarrassing.
11月8日はランゲートでの私の１周年記念日です。ちょうど１年前の今日、私はこのサイトに参加して「下手な英語」で最初のエントリーを書きました。すごく短くて、恥ずかしいくらいです。
http://lang-8.com/90163/journals/278274/Hello
Thanks to the help of many people, my English skill has gradually improved since then (at least, I believe so). Further to that, I made good friends on Lang-8 and even exchanged personal messages and deepened friendship with them.
多くのみなさんのおかげで、私の英語力はその後だんだん良くなりました（少なくとも私はそう思っています）。それに加え、ランゲートで良いお友達もでき、パーソナル・メッセージを交わしてより親しくなることさえできました。
What I gained from the experience on this site is not just the enhancement of my language skill. Through making corrections and/or suggestions to the entries of Japanese language learners, I myself learned more and more about Japanese--my mother tongue. Those gains bore fruit in some of my previous entries.
このサイトでの経験から得たのは語学力の向上だけではありません。日本語を学習している人たちのエントリーを添削しているうちに、私自身、母国語である日本語について更に多くのことを学ぶことができました。その成果は、今までのエントリーの中に実を結んでいます。
When I started writing entries here, I just followed the ordinary diary style. Somewhere along the line, though, I made a course correction of my journal. To serve for people having interest in Japan, I decided to write my thoughts on the Japanese language and culture.[1]
If I could refine my language skill on top of that, I would have my cake and eat it too![2]
ここでエントリーを書き始めた頃は、私も普通の日記スタイルにしていました。でもある時から、私は方向転換をすることにしました。日本に興味がある人たちのために、日本語や日本文化についての私の考えを書くことに決めたのです。おまけに自分の語学力も磨くことができれば、もう一挙両得です！
Any entry of my journal would not have been accomplished without the cooperation of the people who helped me through their corrections and comments--an important part of journal. I will be very happy if you leave your comments on my entries and let me know what you think of them, which will encourage me to write a new journal entry.
私のエントリーはどれを取ってみても、添削やコメント（それは私の日記の重要な一部です）をしてくれた人たちの協力なしには完成しなかったでしょう。私のエントリーにコメントを残して、あなたのご感想を聞かせていただけるならとてもうれしいし、それは私にとって次のエントリーを書く励みにもなります。
I hope you improve in learning Japanese and your dream come true. Wish us all luck!
みなさんも日本語が上達して夢が実現しますように。いっしょにがんばりましょう！
With love,
Roomy
ﾟ･*:.｡. .｡.:･
☆。・:*゜。・:*゜
Note:
1. Of course, I reserve the right to write about other topics.
2. I know this idiom is mostly used negatively, but I prefer this to "kill two birds with one stone."
November 1st was my birthday. It made me very happy that I received congratulatory messages from a lot of people.
11月1日は私の誕生日でした。たくさんの人たちからお祝いの言葉をいただいて、うれしかったです。
November 8th is my first anniversary on Lang-8. Just one year ago today, I joined in this website and wrote my first entry in my "bad English." It was very short and almost embarrassing.
11月8日はランゲートでの私の１周年記念日です。ちょうど１年前の今日、私はこのサイトに参加して「下手な英語」で最初のエントリーを書きました。すごく短くて、恥ずかしいくらいです。
http://lang-8.com/90163/journals/278274/Hello
Thanks to the help of many people, my English skill has gradually improved since then (at least, I believe so). Further to that, I made good friends on Lang-8 and even exchanged personal messages and deepened friendship with them.
多くのみなさんのおかげで、私の英語力はその後だんだん良くなりました（少なくとも私はそう思っています）。それに加え、ランゲートで良いお友達もでき、パーソナル・メッセージを交わしてより親しくなることさえできました。
What I gained from the experience on this site is not just the enhancement of my language skill. Through making corrections and/or suggestions to the entries of Japanese language learners, I myself learned more and more about Japanese--my mother tongue. Those gains bore fruit in some of my previous entries.
このサイトでの経験から得たのは語学力の向上だけではありません。日本語を学習している人たちのエントリーを添削しているうちに、私自身、母国語である日本語について更に多くのことを学ぶことができました。その成果は、今までのエントリーの中に実を結んでいます。
When I started writing entries here, I just followed the ordinary diary style. Somewhere along the line, though, I made a course correction of my journal. To serve for people having interest in Japan, I decided to write my thoughts on the Japanese language and culture.[1]
If I could refine my language skill on top of that, I would have my cake and eat it too![2]
ここでエントリーを書き始めた頃は、私も普通の日記スタイルにしていました。でもある時から、私は方向転換をすることにしました。日本に興味がある人たちのために、日本語や日本文化についての私の考えを書くことに決めたのです。おまけに自分の語学力も磨くことができれば、もう一挙両得です！
Any entry of my journal would not have been accomplished without the cooperation of the people who helped me through their corrections and comments--an important part of journal. I will be very happy if you leave your comments on my entries and let me know what you think of them, which will encourage me to write a new journal entry.
私のエントリーはどれを取ってみても、添削やコメント（それは私の日記の重要な一部です）をしてくれた人たちの協力なしには完成しなかったでしょう。私のエントリーにコメントを残して、あなたのご感想を聞かせていただけるならとてもうれしいし、それは私にとって次のエントリーを書く励みにもなります。
I hope you improve in learning Japanese and your dream come true. Wish us all luck!
みなさんも日本語が上達して夢が実現しますように。いっしょにがんばりましょう！
With love,
Roomy
ﾟ･*:.｡. .｡.:･
☆。・:*゜。・:*゜
Note:
1. Of course, I reserve the right to write about other topics.
2. I know this idiom is mostly used negatively, but I prefer this to "kill two birds with one stone."
- 671
- 249
- 11
Journals Statistics
| Total | 35 entries |
|---|---|
| This Month | 0 entries |
| This week | 0 enrties |
Latest entry
| Ten Principles for My Journal Entries (237) |
| Roomy's One-Year Anniversary (Roomy の１周年記念日) (260) |
| Passive Voice in English and Japanese (134) |
| Language and Woman (2) (91) |
| Language and Woman (1) (145) |
Latest comments
| Feb 23rd จั๊ก - ジャック -Juk -雅克 |
| Feb 19th Treehugger |
| Nov 18th Arwyn |
| Nov 12th がいか |
| Nov 02nd Syringa Vulgaris |
Entries by Month
| 2011 |
|---|
| - February (1) |
| 2010 |
| - November (1) |
| - October (1) |
| - September (2) |
| - June (3) |
| - May (2) |
| - April (2) |
| - March (3) |
| - February (3) |
| - January (3) |
| 2009 |
| - December (5) |
| - November (9) |
Just one year ago today, I joined in this website and wrote my first entry in my "bad English." It was very short and almost embarrassing.
Further or furthermore, I made good friends on Lang-8 and even exchanged personal messages and deepened friendships with them.
Somewhere along the line, though, I made a change of course correction on my journal. I think this says what you mean a little clearer and more naturally.
To serve for people who have an interest in Japan, I decided to write my thoughts on the Japanese language and culture. (This is more natural. In English, you don't usually hear "having interest," rather it's almost always "have an interest.")
None of the entries on my journal would not have been accomplished without the cooperation of the people who helped me through their corrections and comments--an important part of journaling. (It's more natural to say it this way. I felt like you needed the noun form "journaling.")
I hope you improve in learning Japanese and your dreams come true.
Of course, I reserve the right to write about other topics. (笑 I don't think this disclaimer is necessary. ^^)
おめでとう～♪ Your English entries are always so impressive! I can't imagine how good you'll be in another year. You're be writing like a native ! ^^
一緒にがんばりましょうね～♪
Just one year ago today, I joined in this website and wrote my first entry in my "bad English." It was very short and almost embarrassing.
In addition to that, I have made good friends on Lang-8 and even exchanged personal messages and deepened my friendship with them.
What I have gained from the experience on this site is not just the enhancement of my language skill. >I think you should be using Present Perfect in this sequence of sentences because you are talking about a process which is still continuing.
Through making corrections and/or suggestions to the entries of Japanese language learners, I myself have learned more and more about Japanese--my mother tongue.
Those gains have borne fruit in some of my previous entries. >similar reason here
Somewhere along the line, though, I made a course correction in my journal.
To serve for people who have an interest in Japan, I decided to write my thoughts on the Japanese language and culture. >"maybe it's just me", but I try to avoid that kind of Present Participal if there is any other way to express the idea
None of my journal entries would have been accomplished without the cooperation of the people who helped me through their corrections and comments--an important part of journal.
I will be very happy if you leave your comments on my entries and let me know what you think of them, which will encourage me to write a new journal entries. >I think that our preference for use of plural in generalizations extends this far.
I hope you improve in learning Japanese and your dreams come true.
My journey on Lang-8 also started about 1 year ago, and I think I wouldn't have reached where I am today without the help from you and other friends on this site! Reading your excellent English writings also inspired me to start treating language-learning with a more serious approach (as opposed to "just learn whenever I feel like it").
Thank you so much! ♪ ♪ Happy 1st anniversary!
Wow! It really comes as a surprise that you've only been a member of lang-8 for a year! Judging by the number of corrections you've made, I assumed that you'd been here for at least five years.
You sure polished your english skills since your first entry here, but I don't think it can amount to what you've brought to others.
Even though I only discovered this site two weeks ago, I want to thank you on behalf of all the people you've helped during the past year. I wish that one day I'll be able to speak japanese even half as well that you speak english.
Let's all do our best to improve together. :)
Take care
Thank you for your corrections and comment! Congratulations for coming first~ ^_^
Oh, my goodness! I was going to write "an important part of my journal" but forgot to insert "my." But I think "journaling" is a good solution of course.
I agree you! I like cakes so much, but I don't like killing birds with a stone. It isn't something a lady would do. ^-^;
ええ、一緒にがんばりましょう～♪
I'm always impressed by the size of your entries... and in good English !
I'm not sure my Japanese will be as good as your English on April 2011, but thanks to your so interesting entries and corrections, I improved a lot.
So thank you very much ^_^
Thank you for your corrections and comment! I really appreciate it. As you pointed out, I should have used the present perfect at that place because those gains are still continuing.
You're welcome! Yes, it's very good that we help each other and achieve a win-win result.
Let's share our happiness with our friends! :)
Thank you for your comment! I'm very happy~ :D
Oh, really? So one year ago, we were destined to meet each other. When I first read your entry, I got the impression that you are very fashionable. This impression hasn't changed at all! So I hope you value the good points of your journal. But actually, I'm curious about what you'll write about language learning. ;)
Thank you sooo much! Welcome to my journal!
Oh, yes. The number of corrections I've made is very large, but the number of entries I've written is very small, haha!
I'll be very happy if my corrections could be answered with corrections or comments. You know, comments on my journal means a lot to me. I'm so glad you commented this time.
Is it true that you only discovered this site two weeks ago? I can't believe it! I feel like you're used to using this site. I'm pretty sure you'll be able to speak Japanese before long. :)
I hope you improve in learning Japanese and that your dream come true.
An interesting thing about idioms is that their meanings can be sort of lost along the way (at least in English). For example, the idiom "You can't have your cake and eat it too" has its earliest recordings (in the Oxford Dictionary) as such (from 1562. Don't mind if it's pretty unreadable, natives would also have that problem):
"What man, I trow ye raue, Wolde ye bothe eate your cake, and haue your cake?"
I have no clue what "I trow ye raue" means but note that the clauses are reversed. "Eat your cake" and "have it too" are in the order that you first eat the cake and then asks if you have it. In the modern rendition, somewhere along the line, this flipped and asked whether you could have your cake and eat it too. Of course, one can obviously first have a cake and then eat it, but the original quote was asking for the impossibility of eating your cake and still having it (which the modern idiom fails to convey).
There are other such English idioms that have grown apart from their meaning and how they make sense. "Head over heels" used to actually be "heels over head" which referred to something like a cartwheel or somersault (in any case, actually being upside-down). Other idioms such as "putting your best foot forward" also doesn't make sense in English despite their usage in modern English.
ありがとうございます、oguyさん！！ Welcome back!!!
Yeah, I think I have no parallel in writing large-size entries here, whether my English is good or not! xD
Oh, what does April 2011 mean for you? Is your birthday in that month? Your Japanese is very excellent already. Wish us both luck with learning languages! がんばりましょうね☆
ミ☆ ♪♬♪・★
"I hope you improve in learning Japanese and your dream come true."
Depending on what you mean it can either be corrected as
"I hope you improve in learning Japanese and that your dreams come true."
or
"I hope you improve in learning Japanese and that your dream comes true."
Depending on if you want to emphasize one or more dreams.
あなたはとても親切です。皆さん、あなたのジャアーなるとても好きです！
もちろん、あなたのジャアーなるが特別面白いです。
あなたの英語と（もちろん）日本語はすばらしいです。
勉強はめちゃ意義深いです。そらがなぜならがんばってください。：）
私も！私の日本語はもっといいですよね？ｘ）
それじゃあ、またね～
Roomyちゃんの昔の日記、後でゆっくり読んでみようっと☆
☆♪
質問があります、How do you use "Perfect Tense" in Japanese? For Example, "You have been helping a lot of people," (this implying that you are still helping a lot of people).
Thank you for your correction! I'm wondering if it's possible to say, "I hope you improve in learning Japanese and may your dream(s) come true"?
Oh, you know so much about English idioms! I like looking up idioms, too, because idioms are very interesting in that they sometimes reflect the history of our languages. Japanese idioms are so interesting, too.
Also, I'm so intrigued by the history of English. I've learned that English has changed remarkably in the past 1000 years. William Caxton wrote in the Prologue to his translation of Eneydos (1490):
And certaynly our langage now vsed varyeth ferre from that, whiche was vsed and spoken whan I was borne. For we englysshe men ben borne vnder the domynation of the mone. whiche is neuer stedfaste but euer wauerynge, wexynge one season and waneth & decreaseth another season...
Guess what he was sayingt in this text! ^_-
Thank you so much! I appreciate your compliment. Also, thanks for using a lot of tag questions! ;)
I'm sure you'll be able pretty soon to write your entries beautifully. I think it's more important to spend time writing good entries rather than to write a lot of entries in a short period.
chunicone さんの日本語、すごくお上手ですよ！
顔文字や記号も、とっても上手に使っています。早く日本で勉強できるといいですね☆
As for the perfect tense in Japanese, it's not so easy to explain in a few lines, so I'll give you a few examples below:
昨日、美容院に行きました。"Yesterday, I went to a beauty salon." (Past or Preterite)
私は東京へ行ったことがあります。"I have been to Tokyo." (Present Perfect)
たった今、始めたところです。"I've just started it." (Present Perfect)
がんばって！！！
こんにちは～♪
Brian ちゃん、日本語で書いてくれてありがとう！
すごく上手になったから、少し直せば、もう完璧かしら。
「ジャアーなる」=> 「ジャーナル」
But we usually say 「日記」instead of 「ジャーナル」. So if I correct your Japanese, it will go something like this:
あなたはとても親切です。皆さん、あなたの日記がとても好きです！
もちろん、あなたの日記は特別面白いです。
あなたの英語と（もちろん）日本語はすばらしいです。
勉強はめちゃ意義深いです。なので、がんばってください。：）
私もがんばります！私の日本語良くなりましたよね？ｘ）
Viel Glück! :)
Merci bien! Oh, do you mean my English is too complicated for you? xD
I'll think it over... Thank you for your comment!
Yukorin さん、ありがとう～！
昔の日記の方が短くて読みやすいかも☆ 感想よろしくお願いしま～す！！！
Roomyさん、これからもよろしくお願いします :]
わぁ、すごく日本語が上手になりましたね！こちらこそ、よろしくお願いします☆
I hope you'll get even better at Japanese. Wish us both luck!!!
ありがとうございました！
The ending of April 2011 will marks the end of my first year on lang-8.
一緒にがんばりましょ！
「自分の欲しいものは、他人を経由してしか与えられない」
というフレーズを思い出しました。まず無条件で与えること。巡り巡ってルーミーさんのサイトの大繁盛をもたらし、翻って語学の向上に結びついている。
Roomy's room, a jewel on Lang-8をこれからも応援してます。
You're welcome! どういたしまして！
I'm glad to hear you say that. そう言っていただけると、うれしいです。
Come back anytime. いつでもまた来て下さいね。
Oh, I'm terribly sorry for mistaking your birthday!
Now I understand what you mean by April 2011.
I'm pretty sure your Japanese will be perfect by that time. がんばりましょうね☆
Jubay さん、ありがとうございま～す！
そうでしょ？ちょっとお恥ずかしい限りです。。。
私はあまり見返りを期待しないで他の人たちの日記を添削したり、コメントを書いたりしてきたのですが、それが結果的に良かったのかも知れません。見返りを求めると、あんまりいいことがないんです（笑）
Thank you very much for giving me valuable insight! こちらこそ、よろしくお願いします！
I couldn't write English as good as you, though I've been learning it years. 私もう日本語の勉強をもっと頑張ります。
Oh, really? I'm curious to know how your English is. Could you please write your entry in English next time? ^-^
お互いに頑張りましょうね☆
And I'm not particularly knowledgeable about idioms, it's just that some of the interest me because they don't really make sense at times causing me to look them up. Some idioms like "a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush" aren't particularly straightforward and most idioms usually require some kind of foreknowledge to understand them. As for how English has changed, I'm usually interested in how many different languages have changed over the years, written and spoken.
Anyway, here's my attempt at rewriting the passage into current, modern English:
And certainly our language now used varies far from that which was used and spoken when I was born. For we Englishmen were born under the domination of the moon, which is never steadfast but ever varying, waxing one season and waning & decreasing another season...
November 8th is my (first/one year) anniversary on Lang-8.
Just one year ago today, I joined in on this website and wrote my first entry in my "bad English." It was very short and almost embarrassing.
Anyway, you make so few mistakes that I did something that's out of the ordinary this time. I made two corrections but, they're more like suggestions.
Maybe, we can all improve twice as much in the year to come, as we did this first year...(I joined this site about a year ago too)^^
頑張りましょう～！！
Ｒｏｏｍｙさんはさそり座ですね。（私も同じです。）（＾＾）
誕生日、一周年記念おめでとうございます。
いつも助けてくださってほんとうにありがとうございます。（＊＾＾＊）
大変遅れてしまいましたが、お誕生日おめでとうございます!!!
いつも添削していただいてばかりで、なんのお役にも立てず本当に申し訳ありません。
お時間がなかったら、ご添削くださらなくて結構です!!!
ただただ、Roomyさんといつまでも友達でいたいです。↖(^ω^)↗
Oh, I see, thank you! So, may you succeed in mastering languages!
I like useful idioms because they can enrich our life. The experience on Lang-8 made me realize that any friend of my friends is a friend of mine though a friend in need is a friend indeed.
Anyway, "have your cake and eat it too" is one of my most favorite idioms.
Wow, you really understood what Caxton was saying! That takes the cake! If I could ask you about what I want to know regarding older English, that will put the icing on the cake. I suppose it's a piece of cake for you to read such early English texts. :D
Thank you for the corrections!
Oh, I wonder what your first entry is like. I'll come to your journal and read it later. As you say, this website is very helpful for language learners.
I hope so too. How wonderful is it to help each other in learning each other's language! I'm sure you'll get even better at Japanese at this time next year.
頑張りましょうね！
こんにちは～♪
コメントありがとうございます、meihui さん！ここへは初めてですね（＾＾）
へえ～、meihui さんも同じ星座なんですか？もうお誕生日は過ぎたのかしら。
こちらこそ、いつも日記を楽しく読ませていただいています☆
アートボーイさん、いらっしゃいませ！どうもありがとう！！
とってもうれしいです。
絵も日本語も、がんばってね☆
がいかさん、お久しぶり～♪
ありがとうございます！とんでもないです。最近あまり添削できなくてごめんなさいね。
でも、がいかさんの日本語はほとんど完璧です。どこも直す所が無いくらい。私もがいかさんの日本語のように英語が上手になりたいな。
いつまでもお友達でいましょうね☆
路者さん、ありがとうございます♪
コメントしていただいて、とってもうれしいです。日本語を加えて良かった～って思います。＾＾
路者さんの日本語も、すっごくお上手です。一緒にがんばりましょうね☆
笛の魔さん、こんにちは～♪
ちょっと遅くても全然大丈夫ですよ。
元気そうな笛の魔さんのご様子が分かって、安心しました☆
I really appreciate your writing. Thank you!
Happy 1 year anniversary! ^_^ Please continue writing.
Happy 1 year anniversary! ^_^ Please continue writing.
Wish you have a wonderful birthday and 1st lang-8 anniversary. And keep on going, let us know you joy in your life.
いつも添削くれたら本当にありがとうございます。
(I found it surprising as a teenager that Shakespeare was only Early Modern English.)
I use it in a positive sense most of the time, actually. :P
In fact, I use "kill 2 birds with one stone" in the negative sense more. Haha!
But good post, good English, nothing much for me to correct, and happy Anniversary! Sorry for the belated birthday wishes. ><
Happy birthday!
I wish my Japanese can improve as much as your English had within a short span of 1 year....
Let's roll the dice in everything!
Bless you!♪
Roomyさんはいつも私に日本語のご添削やコメントを手伝っていただき、本当に有難うございます。
ここは賑やかですね。Roomyさんはとても人気がありますね。優しい人です。
御免ね、私の英語はぼろぼろですので、Roomyさんにとって、何も手伝いませんでした。
今後もいろいろ宜しくお願いいたします。
I find them not only detailed and informative, but fun to read as well.
＾－＾）
I'm at school right now, so I cannot write in Japanese. >.<
Thank you very much for your corrections!
You're amazing, you always take yourself so much time for all replies. I'm really thankful for that.
By the way, I asked you in an old journal already, but I guess you must've been too busy to reply (don't worry).
How's the coffee? Did you try it? Did you try to read the German or French part on it?
Greetings
Thank you very much for your comment!
It's nice to be congratulated like this. :)
どうもありがとう～♪すごくうれしいです。
Of course! I'm so glad you're back to Lang-8.
Long time no see! How have you been?
Thank you, I really appreciate the compliment. Please don't give it a thought, but I'm so happy you left your comment on here this time.
Thanks to you all, I had a very happy birthday and a wonderful anniversary.
これからも、よろしくお願いします☆
Now please listen to me and hang on to your hat. Since I'm interested in older English, I have learned about Old and Middle English. I have read Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and some Old English sermons. But I couldn't understand Old English texts at all! X( It didn't look anything like Modern English at all.
> I use it in a positive sense most of the time, actually. :P
Oh, really? We seem to get along well together. There are idioms I like as well as idioms I dislike. I like "have your cake and eat it too" but I don't like "kill two birds with one stone."
> But good post, good English, nothing much for me to correct, and happy Anniversary!
How flattering. xD
Thank you for the birthday wishes. I believe your Japanese will improve soon. :)
Oh, did you change your picture? I like bright green very much.
Good luck with your journal. You're a premium member, but I'm not.
ありがとうございます。
これからも、よろしくお願いします☆
Sounds interesting. Unfortunately, I don't have a Facebook account. Even if I had one, my hands would be full with Lang-8. But I'll think about it. :)
Elaine さん、お久しぶりです♪
こちらのコメントは初めてですね。人気があるなんて、とんでもない。ここにコメントを下さるのは皆さん、いい人たちばかりです。今後はコメントしてくれた人たちの日記だけ添削しようかな～
Elaine さん、添削のことは気にしないで。コメントだけでも嬉しいですよ！（＾＾）
Wooow, you are flattering! xD
Thank you, ミチルちゃん♪
Thank you for your comment! I haven't seen you in a while.
You're welcome! I'm so happy just to be able to be of some help to the readers.
Are you OK to write your comment in school? If it's OK, I hope you introduce me to your friends. Haha!
As for the coffee, I wrote to you about that quite a while ago. I very much enjoyed its taste and flavor. Thank you again!
Haha! Yeah. :)
You know, I'm still waiting for your skincare/cosmetics-related posts... *waits patiently*
>How flattering. xD
Not flattery at all. I really think so, heartfelt awe at your command of English.
You're the greatest gift we've ever received!
May your anniversary bring you all the joy you bring to others!
毎日、Roomyさんに日記を更新して欲しいなぁ、、、♪
周年記念日もおめでとうございます!
面白い記事をいつもありがとうございます！今回の記事は英語も日本語もですから、素晴らしい例文だと思います。
You inspired me too to keep on my Japanese study and work harder.
I wish my Japanese will be as good as your English on day...
一緒にがんばりましょう！
むしろ居るだけでLang-8がお金を払ってくれますって♪
僕は、、、そりゃあもういっぱいLang-8に払わなくってはなりません。英語が下手すぎてフレンドに理解不能の英文を読ませてしまって多大な迷惑をかけていますから...そろそろ自粛ですって。
Yes it's OK. School in Switzerland isn't like the school in Japan, in Switzerland you can do a lot things which you can't do in Japan.
I'm sorry that I've asked again about the coffee, but I'm very happy that you liked it! :-)
Well, my friends aren't really interested in Japan, they also think I'm a bit crazy because I'm studying Japanese ...
Greetings~
> You know, I'm still waiting for your skincare/cosmetics-related posts... *waits patiently*
I wonder if I made such a promise... xD But I wish I could write about cosmetic stuffs in some way.
>Not flattery at all. I really think so, heartfelt awe at your command of English.
Yeah, as proverb says, "Lacking breeds laziness, praise breeds pith." ;)
Nana さん、ありがとう～♪
今日もお仕事に添削とお疲れさまです☆
Nope, I can't hold a candle to you in terms of correcting power~
Thank you, but for me, the quality is more important than the quantity.
I want you to come back this site again!
ありがとうございます、イーゴリさん！
イーゴリさんの日本語はすごくお上手ですね。
最後の文章は、まるで日本人が書いたみたいに自然です。
これからもがんばってください☆
Thank you for your comment! I appreciate the compliment. It would be such an honor if you interested in my journal and motivated to learn Japanese. I'm ashamed to say, I haven't heard that quote, but I think that is highly suggestive. Thank you for letting me know. :)
Of course, you aren't too late. Thank you for your good wishes. I hope my post could inspire you to study Japanese. This is a very interesting language!!!
プレミアムになってもあんまりメリットが感じられないじゃないかと思って。
「むしろ居るだけでLang-8がお金を払ってくれます」←これ YangYang さんに伝えてくださいね（冗談です♪）
みよみちさんの英語、そんなに下手じゃないですよ。
自信を持って☆
I think you're very happy you're studying in Switzerland.
You can do a lot of things in school.
I think you're a little unhappy.
Your friends don't understand the good points of Japanese. :(
I thought it was just an example, haha. =)
Happy belated birthday!
Thank you, 葉さん!
Come on, don't say that. xD
Yes, it was my birthday.
Thank you, anyway! :D
However, I am the opposite, that is one of the reasons that got me into trying to learn it... (How silly I was!!!) LOL Just kidding....
I actually love learning Japanese, and learning new characters is like an adventure really... You have to find each one some how, especially if you run into one you don't know, don't you?
To me though, Japanese is harder to learn how to read than Chinese, just because you never know the reading of a character, (even in it is one you already know) in a word you have never seen before. Chinese on the other hand, has the same reading every time that character is used.
But look at it this way. We tend to be good at those things we like. I think you'll be able to make the impossible possible if you keep up your interest in Japanese. There are a lot of difficulties in studying foreign languages, but you can get through the difficulties if you find it interesting. When there's something you don't understand about Japanese, you can ask your friends here. So give it your all!!!
そうですね。ＰＤＦ化以外は何も特典が無いと言えます。ただ、僕のように年齢が中途半端な日本人独身男の場合、信頼を少しでも獲得するという点で良いと思います。同じ立場の方にはこの場を借りてお薦めしたいです。＾＾
＞「むしろ居るだけでLang-8がお金を払ってくれます」←これ YangYang さんに伝えてくださいね（冗談です♪）
はははxD もし直接お会いできたら、言っておきますｗもちろん、７割がた冗談で♪
ありがとう、心から＾＾ I think that my friends are really kind, so I'm able to do my best. :)
I'm a typical Japanese man in some sense, so I refrain from commenting in posts written by female friends who are from especially Japan since this is like an e-mail, so to speak, not conversation that is face-to-face. This is why, I'm seriously afraid to be fixedly taken my word in a reversed sense. I only have some dreams. Come to think of them, I even think that I had better to learn about Greek and Latin seriously as I think that my English reading ability may be good enough as daily conversation, so I say to myself, "but what do I'm requested, Requiem?" xD
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
☆Happy Christmas to you, Roomy! ☆
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
・。・゜゜・☆彡*:.。.:*・゜Merry Xmas+.(○・艸)(艸・●)゜+.☆彡・゜・。・*:.。.:*・゜
もし居れば彼氏さんと楽しくお過ごしくださ～い♪
（居るか居ないかは個人情報なので返事しないでねｗｗ）
It made me very happy that I have received congratulatory messages from a lot of people.
On top of that, I have made good friends on Lang-8 and even exchanged personal messages and deepened my friendship with them. "Rapport" is a word that is used in something like this, I don't know the Japanese Equivalent, but I thought I would let you know of a good word. For example, "I have built a good rapport with many people." (It is pronounced as "Ruh-poor" with a short "u" sound), (it is borrowed from French, I believe, which is why the "t" is not pronounced).
What I have gained from the experience on this site is not just the enhancement of my language skill.
Through making corrections and/or suggestions to the entries of Japanese language learners, I myself have learned more and more about Japanese--my mother tongue.
Those gains have borne fruit in some of my previous entries.
I will be very happy if you (could) leave your comments on my entries and let me know what you think of them, which will encourage me to (keep writing) write (more) (new) journal entries. "Could" is optional, and in my opinion sounds a bit more polite, (maybe). "More" and "new" both work in this situation, but I think if you put them both it would be redundant, I thought I would just let you know of this alternative. (More) Also, this tense (I don't know the name) sounds better as "keep writing" instead of "to write" especially when saying "new" because you have already been writing, so you "keep on writing."
I hope you improve in learning Japanese and may your dream(s) come true. Technically, you would want to use, an (s) because obviously you have a lot of great friends, so they have multiple dreams, wouldn't they?
I know this idiom is mostly used in a negative way, but I prefer it more than "kill two birds with one stone." (This is an alternative.) "Idiom" is an interesting word, "idioma," meaning "language" in Spanish is a very similar word, they have the same origin it seems. Also, I prefer the formal idiom you have used, over this one too, because I like cake. ^^ Although, I don't eat it often, do you like cake?
I know what you mean, if you love doing something, it is a lot easier to overcome, because you don't see it as work as much as you do fun, do you? I am glad I have many nice friends who are always happy to help me with my Japanese, that gives me another reason to want to teach others English.
And I will give it my all!!!
頑張ります！(I love this word, it doesn't have an exact English equivalent, but it means "keep on" or "keep trying"/ "don't give up..." etc.) Don't you think it is a great word?
I'm sorry I wasn't able to correct all your entries. If you have any questions about Japanese in particular, you can ask me via messages as you used to do or in your comments on my entries about relevant topics.
Yes, I like cake, too! I love sweets in general. But my mom told me not to eat too much sweets or else I'll put on weight. :(
By the way, you really love using tag questions, don't you? You're just like a Japanese person. :)
I am going to speak on skype with a Japanese person at 8:00 AM Japan time, (5:00 In the afternoon in America). I am thankful for his skillful English, for I am not good at speaking Japanese, but this time I will try my best in talking in Japanese.
Yes, you could say, "Too many explanations," in fact, I believe it sounds better and more natural than my comment. XD
Also, in Japan do you have a chocolate drink called "Yoohoo?" I was asked this question by one of my siblings as I was typing this comment.
I think tag questions sound friendly. It may be because they sound similar to Japanese particles at the ends of statements. Japanese people use tag questions very often even when they speak in English. But I wonder whether you won't come across as weird among your friends if you use tag questions too often.
I wish you good luck with speaking on skype with that person. 頑張って！
I'm here just to say first: お誕生日おめでとう！(Feliz cumpleaños!)I hope you have aten a delicious cake. I send you a huge and a kiss. and second: おめでと～～～っ！for your first year in Lang-8. Well you're an amazing girl. bye bye.じゃ、またね！
I'm still looking to make my way to Tokyo, but if you come to Osaka please let me know!! ^__^
モイセスさん、ありがとう～♪ Muchas gracias! Thank you so much for the birthday wishes and for the kiss! :D
Yes I did eat delicious cakes. I look forward to reading your posts again. Hasta luego! またね～☆
Thank you, Jesse! Don't worry. I wasn't able to wish you the best on your birthday, either. So there is no need to apologize.
I hope you enjoy your stay in Tokyo. I live in Hokkaido and for some reason, I'm stuck in here. But I hope we can meet at last someday.
おいしいね！
Than you for the reply!
すごい人気ある日記！！
一周年、おめでとう♪ *花火打ち上げ*
そうだね。ここで単なる日記を書くことだけではなく、友達ができるんです。
しかも皆は熱心で、親切にしてくれました。
わたしもRoomyさんと同じように、それを励みにして、頑張りたいと思います。
日記を応援してます☆
これからもよろしく：）
コメントありがとう～～☆
うん、こんなにたくさんの人たちからお祝いしてもらって、すっごくうれしいです！
日記を書いて勉強するだけではなく、お友達もできるって、素晴らしいことですよね。
うみさんは日記がとても楽しくて、日本語もお上手です。
これからも頑張って下さい！！！
私も応援してま～す☆
ランゲートでの１周年記念日もおめでとうございます！！
Roomyさんのおかげで、たくさんの人々の日本語力が良くなると思います。
添削はとても詳しくて、いろいろなことを勉強になりました。
Roomyさんに感謝しています。^＿^
本当にありがとう～～！
誕生日と１周年記念日が近くて得した気分です☆
私の添削でお役に立てるなら、とってもうれしいです！
ChiehYu さんも日記、頑張って下さいね～
期待していますよ☆
Yes you're right! Well the most people here think that all Japanese people are like the Japanese people in the game shows. T_T
Sorry for my late reply, I'm busy with work :-/.
Greetings
Thank you for making the time to write here.
No problem! I try to find enough time for my friends, but it's very difficult at this time frame :(
I hope it'll change soon! :-)
Greetings!
I don't know about human tetris programs. At least there's no such a game show on Japanese TV. There are a lot of Japanese programs or movies on YouTube. I hope your friends could see how Japanese people are in real life.
ヒロさん、ありがとう～♪
忘れずに書き込んでくれて本当にうれしいです。それでこそ、マイフレンドです☆
Thank you for correcting my every Japanese essays. And I'm looking forward to reading your new English journals soon.
I'm very glad you commented here. You look like Ghengis Khan!
Thanks for your kind answer. Yes, it'd be great if the people here would see how Japanese people are in real life. I think the most people here are not so interested in Japan and because of that they'll never go there. So I think the most will always think like that forever... it's very sad. But I always give my best to show then that Japanese people are different.
But, do you know some talk-shows from America? The people here also belive that all American people are like that... it's ridiculous.
Anyway I'll give my best to show them the difference!
Wish you a nice day and a nice weekend :-)
Sorry for being late,
but "Congratulations on your first anniversary of writing journals on lang-8!"
I myself always feel your efforts on this site, and saying, "Hats off to you!!"
Wish you all luck!!:D
Pinky
Sorry to bother you again and again.
I think you alredy know the fact that she is her.
Please look at her statement in her entry on "2011年3月29日 17:27".
http://lang-8.com/245925/journals/853225/%2522My-First-Diary%2522
Thank you very much for your help.
Could I ask another big favor of you?
Hmm... it'll be very difficult if not impossible to change the pigheaded people's attitudes, lol They look like living in the bottom of a well and ignorant about the outside world.
However, I appreciate your effort.
Thank you. Take care and have a great weekend!
Hi Pinky,
Thank you very much for your good wishes!
You don't need to apologize at all.
I'm sooo happy that I confirmed our friendship again.
Wish us both luck!!!
Looking forward to reading your next entry. :)
Roomy
Yes I can just agree. And I think every folk on this planet has very good and positive aspects. Everyone should know that. Not just America and Japan. But it's very difficult to show that to people.
I hope in your next journal we can have a more happy topic to talk.
Or maybe in my next journal. I think I will write one again tomorrow.
Greetings & Thank you for always replying.
~
Just one year ago (with the same month and day), I joined in this website and wrote my first entry with title "bad English." It was very short and almost embarrassing.
November 1st is my birthday. (since it will be your birthday every year.)
I will be very happy if you (can/could) leave your comments on my entries and let me know what you think about them, which will encourage me to write a new journal entry.
I hope you have improvement/improve in learning Japanese and your dream comes true.
Thank you for your corrections! The title of my first entry was not "bad English." It's just that my English at that time was bad.
おめでとうございます（＾ｖ＾）
私も一年後るみさんのようになりたいです。
３４歳おばちゃんもがんばるぞー！！
わあ、ありがとうございます！！！（*＾▽＾*）
おばちゃんだなんて。。。
でも半年間で私の倍も日記を書かれたんですね。
すご～い！私も見習わないと。
私の方こそベティーさんからいろいろ教えてほしいくらいです☆
私は書こうと思ってそのまま書いてしまうので、学習能力は低いまま。
いつまでも幼稚な文章しか書いていない気がします。
パソコンにばかり向かっていると子供に突っ込まれたり。。。
もう少ししっかりしないと！！
がんばります
ありがとう(^_-)-☆
本当にすごいです！
私は英語だけで精一杯。それ以外の言語も片言程度には勉強したけれど難しくて。。。
お子さまがいらっしゃると、そのうち外国語を教えたり一緒に勉強したりして張り合いが出てくるかもしれませんね☆
多くのみなさんのおかげで、私の英語力はその後だんだん 良くなりました/上達しました/向上しました （少なくとも私はそう思っています）。
それに加え、ランゲートで良いお友達もでき、パーソナル・メッセージを交わしてより親しくなること さえ/も できました。
このサイトでの経験から得た の/こと は語学力の向上だけではありません。
その成果は、今までのエントリーの中 に/で </FONT>実を結んでいます。
でもある時から、私は 方向転換をする/方針をかえる ことにしました。
代替表現をたくさん調べてみましたの。
全て使えますかなぁ？
教えてくれてやって下さい！
ありがとうございます！
添削ありがとうございます！
わあ、すご～い！！！＠＠
全てバッチリですよ☆☆☆☆☆
日本語を添削できるまでになったら、もう完璧です！
私こそ、いろいろ教えて下さいね♪
Happy belated Birthday! And Happy belated Anniversary! I feel terrible for saying this so late... I'm really sorry.
I don't believe it's possible that "Roomy" and "bad English" can be in the same sentence, haha. You've always astounded me with your command of the English language. Your entries sound better than what I write for my English teachers, haha. :P
I'm glad that your past year on Lang-8 was a good one. I hope there will be more to come. ^^
It's been a while. How have you been? I'm so happy to receive a comment from you. It isn't too late at all (please don't delete it, haha!) I'm sorry if I offended you in my comment on your latest entry.
Oh, how flattering. My English was really bad when I started my journal on Lang-8. You helped me a lot to improve my English. Did you read my previous article about passive voice? I think I realized the importance of active voice in English. I owe you so much for this.
I'm looking forward to reading to your next entry. See you there!
Oh, no no, I was worried that it was ME who offended you! I'm so glad you're not mad. I feel so relieved!
Oh, I just read it right now. You really do go all out when you're learning aspects of a language, huh? So much stuff that I didn't know before... but I'm glad I could help. *^^*
I'm also looking forward to your next one too!
I'm relieved to hear from you, too!
It's nice of you to say so. I haven't written a lot in my journal, but I've always tried to go all out for each and every entry. Warm comments have been my emotional support.
I can't thank you enough, Kathryn.
Then I start to wonder what I did and try to fix the problem. I had friends who went weeks without talking to me, and they ended up not having a reason of why they weren't talking to me.
As a proverb says, "Good words anoint us, and ill do unjoint us."
(I'm into idioms and proverbs these days, lol)
thank you for your comment! I appreciate the compliment.
Well, I have made nearly 5000 corrections until now, but don't you think it's enough for me? XD Okay, I'll think about it.
Do you like to listen to any music? I was wanting to know if you could introduce me to any songs?
Of course, I love listening to music! I listen to various kinds of music from today's J-pop songs to classical music. What kind of music do you like?
（分かりました。実は少しイディオムしか知っていません。いくつかのイディオムは他の場所に来てました。 日本語のイディオムは？私には無し知ってませんよ。でも、「猿も木から落ちる」しか知ってます。Garyさんの日記でルミちゃんのコメントから読みました。ちなみに、昨日イディオムについて日記を書きましたよ。
I usually listen to English and Japanese music. I listen to some Chinese Music too. I prefer J-Pop like GReeeeN and AAA as opposed to Visual Kei. I don't know many Classical Japanese songs. I love the koto and other traditional Japanese instruments though. ^^
いつも、日本語と英語音楽を聞くのが好きですよ。中国語の音楽も聴きますよ。JPopはお気に入る。例えば、GReeeeNとトリプルエーが好きですよ。クラシックの日本語の音楽を知りません。特に琴が好きですけど。
ルミちゃんの好きなバンドは何ですか。
There's no shame in not knowing many idioms, but I feel it in your interest to learn about them. Actually, it was not until very recently that I learned about English idioms.
If you want to know more about Japanese idioms (proverbs), the following site may be relevant to you
http://thejapanesepage.com/kotowaza.htm
I like GReeeeN and AAA too. My other favorite J-pop bands are Ikimono-gakari, Kobukuro, Arashi, etc.
This is Hana wa Sakura by Ikimono-gakari.
I like it. ^^ I can only understand little bits and parts.
I can't fully understand it though, even if I know the words. Japanese songs are always a mystery to me, that is why I don't get tired of them.
Thanks for introducing this song and group to me!
http://www.lyricstime.com/ikimono-gakari-hana-wa-sakura-kimi-wa-utsukushii-lyrics.html
That video isn't the original version by Ikimono-gakari, but I like the beautiful voice of this singer very much!!!
You seem to know a lot of English words. Do you ever use a dictionary to write you Journals and comments? I don't use one most of the time, but I sometimes need one; I use a dictionary more often when I am reading than when I am writing in Japanese.
I sometimes use online English dictionaries when I don't know how to express what I want to mean. Recently, I look up phrases rather than single words.
That reminds me, when I listen to a song in Japanese and it has the lyrics in the Japanese text, if there is a word I don't know I have to listen carefully to know what letters make up that word.
The use of English words in Japanese songs is interesting, isn't it? I used to not be able to catch the English words, but now if I listen to a Japanese song I can almost always catch the English words.
Do you listen to English music?
Many Japanese songs have English parts. The composers supposedly want to make them sound like Western songs. I sometimes wonder if native speakers can understand what they're meaning.
I listen to English music, too! I tend to listen to ballads, but I like songs with a good beat as well :)
Do you know of them? Do the lyrics in the video help to understand?
I think these song lyrics are conveying important messages to us.
My favorite Simple Plan song is called "Holding On."
Do you know the song "Save You?" I will try to find the video for it if you haven't seen it yet.
Thank you very much for the comment and the birthday wish! I'm so glad you commented on here, even though you didn't have a chance to correct my English. It doesn't matter at all if it's a little belated. Yes, I'm really happy a lot of friends celebrated my birthday and anniversary on Lang-8. I owe the improvement of my language skills to those kind people. I really want to say thank you! :)
すごいですね！！！！ ＊＠０＠＊
Ｏ000o
(⌒⌒)
) ／
(＿/
ペタンッ！！
o000Ｏ
(⌒⌒)
| (
（＿)
ペタンッ！！
コピペですみません、、、f(^^＊
リアルな足跡を見つけたので、私もペタンコしました☆
明後日で「1年と1カ月記念！」ですよね！
I can't wait!!! ＞。＜＊
早く次のネタを考えないと。。。
I find your English extremely good. It's certainly better than mine, even though I'm quite confident in my English communication skills. To be frank, I don't think that perfect English is actually necessary for everyday work and casual conversations.
One of my friends once said that most people in the world don't speak real English when they claim to be doing so - instead, they speak so-called Globish. And there's nothing particularly bad about that - it's sufficient to communicate.
It may sound cruel, but I accept the thing that I'll never be on a real near-native level of English skills. My choice of tenses (present perfect vs. past simple, for example) or articles (the vs. a/an vs. nothing) is probably incorrect half of the time, but I don't really have motivation to correct this. My English is quite natural and intuitive, I can think in English, which, despite having many advantages, have the disadvantage of having it harder to fix bad habits.
But enough of talking that much about myself. I told you all that to stress the respect I have for your determination in perfecting your English, even though it is already on an very high level. Even though - as I suspect - purely for self-realization, you still work hard. And that's amazing.
The topics you have been writing on your journal are quite interesting, and often useful for us "gaijins" [*] learning Japanese. Sadly, I don't have so much time to read it all at once, but I'll try to read some old entry from time to time :)
Anyway, thanks for everything and keep up all your good work!
[*] I know that "gaijin" (外人) sounds somewhat negative and is often viewed as a politically incorrect term in Japan, and the word "gaikokujin" (外国人) is usually used instead in official talk. But at the same time I realize that some of the Japanese see us (or at least those of us who try to settle in Japan permanently) just as mere "gaijins" who steal your workplaces and so on ;) And there's nothing wrong with it - you just love your country and want to protect it preciously :) And so, I don't dare to call myself more than a mere "gaijin".
PS That's quite interesting how does the relatively closed appeal of the Japanese society relates to the apparent popularity of "gaikokujin talents" (外国人タレント) on TV or more serious foreign artists active in Japan (frankly, the only one I know is Natasha Gudziy, and I don't really know if she's that popular ;) ).
I am envious of you, because you can write such a long English comment in a short period of time! It would take me so much time to do the same thing. I think it's a matter of getting familiar with it. I also admire you for being able to think in English.
I don't think my English is that good. My English is not extremely good nor extremely bad. In a way, most Japanese people who are interested in Egnlish are very good at English.
I've sometimes read English journal entries written by other Japanese members until now, but pretty much all of them have received good compliments from native speakers saying, "your English is really good," "your English is excellent," etc.
Most Japanese students have (had) studied English at least for six years in high school, so it's no wonder that they are pretty good at English as far as they follow what they have learned in school.
Unfortunately, part of them tend to think that using as many 'slang' words and phrase as possible sounds like native speakers, and they are overexposed to 'bad English' swarming around on the Internet (for example, using 'i' and 'u' instead of 'I' and 'you' respectively). Their English will end up being corrected by native speakers.
I'm very pleased to know that you have an interest in my journal and that it could be useful for you. I don't really like the word 'gaijin' because it's more of a discriminatory term meaning 'a foreigner with a strange appearance' than a simple word meaning 'a person from a foreign country ("gaikokujin").'
Honestly, I didn't know much about Natasha Gudziy（ナターシャ・グジー）, but you made me curious about her. She is beautiful and speaks Japanese fluently. I heard a song she sang while playing the bandura, which touched a string in my heart! Thank you for letting me know about her. :)
Roomy: You have corrected some of my English is entries before, haven't you? Those sentences you corrected were just simple mistakes that I had made.
I wish that I could read a Japanese novel. XD I can't read any book that doesn't have 'furigana' on every kanji for a convenient way to look up unknown words. :D
So... Even though I am not truly a manga fan, I would like to be able to read a couple of Japanese Manga (In Japanese) to help me with my reading.
I have seen a lot of corrections of both English and Japanese entries made by native speakers on this site, and I noticed that proofreaders with the high level of language skills made more detailed and accurate corrections.
If you want to improve your Japanese skills so as to be able to read Japanese novels, I would suggest concentrating on reading and writing rather than listening to songs and funny videos. Fortunately, you can read a lot of Japanese blogs and articles on the internet. Reading Japanese sentences and writing articles in Japanese will improve your skills in Japanese.
Recently, I found a very interesting and useful site. If you enter the address of a Japanese website you want read, you'll be automatically redirected to another page that has 'furigana.' This is really amazing!!!
http://www.hiragana.jp/
My Japanese is still very bad and I can't imagine reading a Japanese novel - whether it has or hasn't got furigana - yet, but I think that reading a book (in a real, paper form) without furigana can be benefitious for learning kanji.
Modern computer operating systems are quite good when it comes to handwritten kanji recognition. Both Windows and Tegaki on Linux make a decent job at it. I don't know how is the situation on Mac, but I expect it to be on par with it. When you have some basic experience with kanji, ie. know at least, say, fifty of them, you should already know the basics of stroke order and such, so it shouldn't be hard to copy a kanji onto the computer. While it involves more work than simply typing the word in kana, it makes you actually write the kanji, get to know the shape of it and I think that after spotting a word a few times, it will be stuck in your mind, and you'll recognize the kanji in a moment - and probably also be able to write them. In the case of furigana, you may also start to recognize the word, but more by the furigana and not the kanji, which is not that benefitious.
@ルミさん:
Hm, do I write long comments in a short period of time? I don't really know if it is a short period ;) And sometimes I think that writing long comments is not that good, because later readers will see them as too long to read ;)
I wonder about your skills at speaking too, but more because of being curious about your pronounciation. Well, the stereotypical image of a Japanese person speaking English (which evoked from funny videos like this famous clip from a comedy show - ) is that he's speaking like he's trying to transcribe English into katakana ;) Of course I know that this image have to be nothing but an extreme exaggeration, but I wonder how does a real Japanese accent in English sound like - especially by a person who "is interested in English", like you put it.
Like I said, I was aware of the fact that "gaijin" is a discriminatory and negative term, but didn't realize that it has something to do with "strange appearance". Thanks for pointing that!
I learned about Natasha Gudziy when I watched Miyazaki's "Spirited Away" (「千と千尋の神隠し」) and became impressed with the film's ending song 「いつも何度でも」. When searching for the song on YouTube, I stumbled upon a version sung by her, and it made me curious about who she is ;)
The hiragana website you pointed out may be helpful, but my favorite tool is rikaichan - http://rikaichan.mozdev.org/ - it's an extension for Mozilla Firefox, which gives you instant help in Japanese - pointing a word brings up a popup with all the possible readings in hiragana (for kanji words) or spellings in kanji (for hiragana words), guesses the grammatical form the word is in, and gives the translation of the word in English. It also has names and kanji dictionaries. It's a wonderful tool, but has a one main drawback - it makes you lazy. When everything you have to do to understand a word is to put your mouse over it, you don't really learn anything :/
Most of my journal entries are result of longtime contemplation, so they are not the kind of impromptu speech. I'd be glad if could look to what I've written in my articles, not to how they appear.
From my experience here, most long comments are more informative than short ones, so I don't think readers think of them as boring. Unfortunately, my English ability isn't good enough to think in English and put it into a long comment in a short period of time.
The English of those miserable guys in that video is really awkward. I'm pretty sure they've never studied English seriously.
Most high school students in Japan speak much better English than they do. It's my view that in general female students are better at foreign languages than males.
I've sometimes heard of rikaichan, but I've never used it. I'll try it when I get a chance. Probably that tool won't be necessary for me to read and write kanji at the moment, though. xD
When I was a little kid, most books I was reading had furigana printed beside each kanji, but as I grew up, I gradually became able to read all kanji characters without the help of furigana. Ah, I miss the days of reading picture books! :D
I just wonder, because Japanese has a very limited set of sounds. There is no sound like "v" in Japanese, "l" and "r" are treated as a single sound (and should be pronounced differently than either of these), the "f" sound (as in the フ mora) is also something a bit different than the English "f". And it is natural that the sounds which do not appear in our mother tongue, are hard to pronounce for us. Many of us Poles have hard time pronouncing the "th" sound, our "r"s, "sh"s and "ch"s often sound unnatural, too (this is quite ironic, because Polish has got hard "sz" and soft "ś" sounds, the same for "cz" and "ć", but the English "sh" and "ch" sounds are something like just in the middle between our sounds :D). And Japanese has much fewer sounds than Polish, English aside, so mastering the pronounciation must be hard for you.
The point you made about females being better at studying foreign languages than males is interesting... Statistically, it seems that men are better at sciences and maths, while women are better at languages, history and natural studies... Probably because women are better at feeling the harmony with their environments :)
When I studied about the human brain, I learned that there are differences between men's and women's brain. Women's brain, when compared to men's brain, has got more access to each hemisphere in the brain. As a result, women have language talents spread over both hemispheres, whereas men tend to have language concentrated in the left brain. One theory has it that the left-brain, which controls speech and language functions, is more dominant in women while the right-brain more dominant in men. I suppose that these facts may explain why women are better at languages than men are.
Something interesting is that the mother tongue of the people in question - as far as I know - uses much broader set of sounds than Japanese. Maybe the fact that Japanese people are generally better at English should be accounted to the fact that the Japanese culture puts much greater stress on qualities like self-discipline and self-mastery...?
One of the reasons is the closed character of the Japanese society. They still believe that the study of foreign cultures and languages is unnecessary to live in their closed society.
The other is the perfectionist mentality of the Japanese people. They tend to be afraid of failure and feel ashamed to come across as bad at foreign languages. Consequently, some of them try to study hard to improve their language skills, while some are reluctant to study foreign languages.
On the other hand, it seems like people from some other countries worry little about their mistakes. They don't care about their thick accent when they speak foreign languages. They easily get used to a foreign language, but their language skills improve at s sluggish pace. I think such is the case with the people you are talking about.
書くのも読むのも話すのもみんなみーんな大変だけど、やっぱり言語って面白いんですよね。
出来る人はたいてい根気があるんだなー。
頑張ります。:)
I totally agree on this!
Although the linguistic competence of the proofreader does not necessarily equate or reflect his/her ability/aptitude in learning another language...
コメントありがとうございます！！！
わたしの場合は１年もかかって書いた日記の数がすごく少ないのですが、１つ１つを大切に、コメントしてくれたみなさんには最大限の感謝をしています。
一緒に頑張りましょう☆
これからも、よろしくお願いします ｄ(*´∀｀*)ｂ
> Although the linguistic competence of the proofreader does not necessarily equate or reflect his/her ability/aptitude in learning another language...
I'm so glad you agreed with me!
Yeah, I totally agree with you because although I have made a lot of corrections for other people, my language skills remain still low~ *_*
I'm so sorry I missed wishing you happy birthday on 1st Nov! :( I wish you a very belated one now... Thanks for wishing me happy birthday on my birthday! You're a really sweet friend. :)
I haven't been here for so long...you even changed your profile picture!
Anyway, I think your English is really so good and fluent now! You're a great student I think! ^^
Hope life is going good for you~! :D
Long time no see!!! (This is our greeting every time, haha!)
How thoughtful of you to remember my birthday! Of course, I didn't forget your birthday!
I missed you. I changed my picture a little, but I'm just me. You can see my old one.
Thanks to my friends and other kind people on here. my English has improved since the first time I met you.
My best wishes for your future happiness! Come again to Japan!!! （＾▽＾）
Oh dear! Please don't say that! ><
I am much, much worse... In fact, I think you are doing much better than me. I mean, I can't remember my mistakes, I repeat them, and sometimes I even forget the basic grammar! Worse, I use wrong words, wrong expressions.. haha!
Too many 'linguistic crimes' that I'd committed... I am a "heinous sinner".. ;p
Oh, my goodness! Please don't say that! xD
Actually, my English is not that great, as you well know. Your English is much better than mine. On top of that, you have a good command of Chinese, Japanese, and... Singlish(?), lol
In my view, Singaporeans are good at English on average and have an international sense. :)
My English is better than yours because I've studied it since young. If you study a language for 30 years, you would be good at it too!
(THis means I need to study Japanese for another 25 years to be as good as others! OMG)
Hmm... I've studied English for less than nine years, so I have to study for another 21 years to be as good as native speakers? It's a long way to go! x(
Anyway, in order for us to speed up the improvement of our language skills, we'd better get as friendly as possible with the language we study. Nicole, you'd better use Japanese as much as you can. xD
Ah... I still prefer to use English actually.. it's just so much more convenient. In any case, this is your journal, so I can comment in English, right? :P
Can I comment in Japanese in your journal? It's just more convenient for me. ;P
最近、日記を書いていませんでした。＾＾クリスマスの日記を書くかも知れません。おそらく、クリスマスのイベントか他のクリスマスの物について書きます。
I want to try to write this in a different form, (casual) can you check it for me to make sure it is correct?
最近、日記を書いていない。＾＾クリスマスの日記を書くかもしれない。おそらく、クリスマスのイベントか他のクリスマスの物について書く。
I don't know the sentences endings, and how they are used, so I left it plain. ^^ I will probably do that for a while....
> 最近、日記を書いていない。＾＾クリスマスの日記を書くかもしれない。おそらく、クリスマスのイベントか他のクリスマスの物について書く。
This is about right, but it sounds a little brusque.
It would sound more friendly to write as follows:
最近、日記を書いていないね。＾＾クリスマスの日記を書こうかな。おそらく、クリスマスのイベントか他のクリスマスの事柄について書くことになるよ。
Can you check out my Journal? It is written in the same form, which again can sound a little brusque, as you call it. ^^ The reason why, is because I am not so good at writing in casual form. LOL
Do you like her? Do you think it is weird that I do?
If I had ever meet someone who was like you, I think I would have a 'crush' on that person. (This is hypothetical...)
...I'm sorry!!
Sorry for my late reply, but I spent the New Year's with my family last night. I hope this year will be a wonderful year for you!!!
今年もよろしくお願いします。
Happy New Year 2011!! :>
P.S. Sorry for my late!!
お久しぶりです。
ขอบคุณ มากค่ะ
ไม่เป็นไรค่ะ
Thank you for remembering me.
nice to meet you~
i felt surprise when i read your articles because you are so kind to
write such many informative articles for us Japanese learners about how
to master the usages which puzzle us often .
I spent almost the whole day reading your entries and the corrections
from your friends. The entries you wrote are really helpful to many
people who have the chance to read them and they were written in pretty
good English.
Thanks a lot for such great work~~
thank you for visiting my journal and reading my entries!
I really appreciate the compliments~ ^^
I'm very happy if my articles could give you clues about how to understand the Japanese language.
Please visit my journal again anytime you'd like~
新作の日記はまだですか？待ち遠しくて私の首が伸びて伸びて、、、、
、、、ブラキオサウルスみたいになっちゃいますよ～ ^^;
もう～そうやってみんなでプレッシャーかけるんだから。。。
次回の Nana さんのニックネームはブラキオサウルスで決まり～～！
でも、本当に私が化石になる前に、お願いしま～す（笑）
考えておきま～す♪
Any entry of None of the entries in my journal (or, "None of my journal entries) would not have been accomplished without the cooperation of the people who have helped me through their corrections and comments--an important part of my journal.
Nah, it's not too late. I'm so glad to hear from you~ :D
It should be: "None of the entries in my journal would have been..."
(I had left the "would not have been", but it should be "would have been".)
I'm so sorry, Roomy!!
Thank you for letting me know! ^_^
http://lang-8.com/topics/70
I am Tohina, a new commer. I found you on the ranking list. I just wanted to say, your are amazing! Not only your essays have nice contents but also you write flawless Englsih.
I am impressed at your writing skill. You must be a very inteligent lady.
keep up your good work!
はじめまして、るみさん
新人のとひなと申します。ランキングからたどり着きました。
すばらしいです。 エッセイの内容も英語もすばらしい。るみさんにすこしでも近ずけるよう、私もがんばります。
よろしくお願いします。
Nice to meet you~ Welcome to my journal!
Thank you for the compliment, I'm sooo happy to hear that :)
I still have a lot to learn.
Let's do our best!
とひなさん、はじめまして＾ようこそいらっしゃいました！
お褒めをいただき、ありがとうございます。とってもうれしいです＾＾
私もまだまだ勉強不足です。
一緒に頑張りましょう！
November 1st was my birthday. (I guess you were referring to your birthday this year)
It made me very happy that I received congratulatory messages from a lot of people. /It makes me very happy that I have received congratulatory messages from a lot of people.
Just one year ago today, I joined in this website and wrote my first entry in my "bad English." It was very short and almost embarrassing.
Thanks to the help of many people, my English skill has gradually improved since then (at least, I believe so).
What I have gained from my experience on this site is not just the enhancement/improvement of my language skills.
For the benefit of/ To help people with interest in Japan, I decided to write my thoughts on the Japanese language and culture. ("to serve" can apply to businesses, organisations, waiters or people serving food, etc., but it is sounds unusually humble outside of these kinds of situations)
If I could refine my language skills on top of that, it would be like having my cake and eating it too![2] (This resolves a slight problem with tense. "would have" is an ongoing state, but "would eat" is an action occurring in a single moment, so the two cannot be governed by the same "would.")
November 1st is my birthday every year, but when I wrote this entry, my last year's birthday had passed. This was why I wrote "November 1st was my birthday."
丁寧な言葉遣いすごく美しく見えます。＾＾
ルミさんのように。
そうですか～？自分ではそうは思わないんだけど。。。
でもそう言っていただけると嬉しいです♪
言葉美人って言われたいですね☆
ルミちゃんの住むところは北海道ですか？きれいなところだ。ルミちゃんとみたいに～
I am sorry I can't use English and Japanese well,誤りがたくさんあります。
新作 楽しみます。~\(≧▽≦)/~
そんなに言ってもらえると、照れちゃうな～（笑）
はい、北海道ですよ。自然が綺麗で、おおらかな所です。
コメントは日本語で大丈夫ですよ。
本当に嬉しい☆
新作、できました！！！（*＾▽＾*）
ただいま\(^o^)/~
お帰りなさい☆
お昼ごはんは、もう食べましたか？
ルミちゃんは？
返事が遅くなって、ごめんね！
Merci. C'est gentil. :)
It made me very happy to have received congratulatory messages from a lot of people. (Natural = It made me very happy that so many people wished me a Happy Birthday.")
Furthermore, I have made good friends on Lang-8 and even exchanged personal messages that have helped deepened my friendships with them. (instead of saying 'and' twice, you could say 'that' because 'personal messages' probably lead to 'deeper friendship' so you should connect them with 'that' instead of 'and' which could mean they're unrelated.
I hope you continue to improve your Japanese and that your dreams come true. Or, "continue learning Japanese"
I wish us all luck!
The most common situation I think of when people congratulate others is on anniversaries/promotions/winning at sporting events. Almost never for holidays, which includes birthdays. The only exception I can think of are anniversaries. Also one of the most common phrases you'll hear, or see on banners is, "Congratulations, it's a girl!" (or boy) These banners are almost always at baby showers.
Also, "Wish us all luck!" is more like a command. As in, you're asking someone else to wish you (and a group of people) good luck. Was that your intention? I think it would be better to say, "I wish YOU all luck" because your previous sentence is about "others" saying you hope "their" dreams come true.
Usually people will reply back, "I wish you luck too!" or "I hope your dreams come true as well!!"
I hope your dreams come true Roomy! ^^
As you know, we Japanese people think of birthdays as congratulatory, so we say, お誕生日おめでとう(ございます) to celebrate someone's birthday. おめでとう means "Congratulations!"
Even a new year is a congratulatory event, where we say, (新年)あけましておめでとう(ございます). I don't know why, but we never say, クリスマスおめでとう(ございます).
Anyways, I'm glad to know there's a difference between Japanese and English in when to say "Congratulations (おめでとう)!"
By "Wish us all luck!" I wanted to say, "I wish you (= language learners or, at least, my friends on Lang-8) and me both luck!" It would be (みんな一緒に)頑張りましょう in Japanese. This is, more or less, a command to both you and me. Yeah, I wrote "I hope you ~" in the previous statement, but actually, I meant to say, "As you hoped me, I hope you ~" as I wrote みなさんも in its Japanese counterpart.
Thank you again for your wishes. I also hope your dreams come true!!! ^_^
I hope to have as much success on Lang-8 as you do!
Good luck!!
Happy birthday to you Roomy-san! ))
お元気で過ごされているのでしょうか。いつかこのサイトでまたお会いできますように♪ ...