And it's also my father's birthday.
Since my children's school is closed on that day, we can go to my parents' house and celebrate with him every year.
My 7-year-old daughter said,
"I want to make cookies for grandpa!"
I suggested to her,
"Why don't we make a birthday cake for him? I used to make it when I was younger. Do you want to try it?"
"Yeah! I want to try!"
She was so excited to hear that because she loves cooking very much.
We went to the supermarket near my parents' house and bought some ingredients like flour, fresh cream, butter, strawberries, and so on.
My children and I started making his birthday cake at my parents' house.
My daughter said to her grandpa,
"Don't come to the kitchen, it's a secret. Look forward to it!"
Actually, he really wanted to see what we were doing, but he had to wait for us.
My 9-year-old son also tried to beat eggs.
It was rare for to help with the cooking, but it seemed to be fun for him.
The cake was baked well.
My children came to the oven and said:
"What a good smell!"
I sliced the sponge cake into two pieces, cut some strawberries, and put them with whipped cream between them.
My daughter enjoyed applying whipped cream on the cake.
She and I decorated the side of the cake with whipped cream, too.
"Grandpa! Happy birthday to you!"
My daughter said to him and I brought the birthday cake which we made to him.
He was so glad to see that and said,
"Wow! What a wonderful cake! Thank you so much, I am really happy."
I lit the candles, turned off the room light, and we sang a happy birthday song for him.
The taste was good, but I thought we could have improve upon it.
Of course, a birthday cake which is made by a pastry chef is better than our homemade cake.
But I thought it was really good to make a birthday cake because my father seemed to be really happy.
Thank you(^o^) for reading this article!
Hi Kumi,
ReplyDeleteYou and your daughter's bakery skills are very impressive. The photos of the cake look delightful.
I find icing I cake very difficult but you both did a great job.
Here is a list of issues found in your post:
This line:
February 11 is National Foundation Day, one of the national holiday in Japan.
Should be:
February 11th is National Foundation Day, one of the national holidays in Japan.
Or:
February 11th is National Foundation Day, a national holiday in Japan.
This line:
Since my children's school is closed on that day, we can go to my parents' house and celebrate him every year.
Should be:
Since my children's school is closed on that day, we can go to my parents' house and celebrate with him every year.
Reason : Added with because you actually go to the place he is located at and celebrate his birthday with him. Celebrate him could be used if you have a celebration about him but he is not there (in another place, no longer living, ...). But most often you would say celebrate with xxxxx.
This line:
I suggested her,
Should be:
I suggested to her,
Reason: In Japanese would you say: 私は娘に勧めました。 Just like in Japanese where you have to indicate towards whom you are making a suggestion to, you must also do this in English in this case. It is not enough just to say her you must include the equivalent of に(to).
Examples:
I (sang/did sing) to her. (私は彼女に歌った)
She sang to me. (彼女は私に歌った)
To my daughter I recommended singing. (歌うのが私は娘に勧めました)
If the Japanese above is wrong ignore it.😌
This line:
It was rare that he helped cooking, but it seemed to be fun for him.
Should be:
It is rare for him to help with the cooking, but it seemed to be fun for him.
This line:
I didn't agree with that idea first, but my daughter insisted on sprinkling colored chocolate sprinkles on the cake.
Should be:
I didn't agree with the idea at first, but my daughter insisted on sprinkling colored chocolate sprinkles on the cake.
This line:
The taste was good, but I thought we could improve it more.
Should be:
The taste was good, but I thought we could have improved upon it.
Thank you again Terry.
DeleteI have no idea of using "upon" to the last sentence. The usage of prepositions is still difficult for me.
You seem to have a Japanese IME, right? I totally understand your Japanese.
The last sentence: 歌うのが私は娘に勧めました,
Should be: 私は娘に歌うよう勧めました。/ 私は娘に歌うことを勧めました。
The word orders are more natural and easier to understand.
Thank you so much Terry.
Let's keep learning each other!
Hello Kumi,
ReplyDeleteI use an Japanese IME called Wnn Keyboard Lab by Omnicron Software, on my Android tablet. See link for video of it on my tablet. If you have a better IME you think I should use I will certainly be glad to try it.
https://plus.google.com/+TerryWallwork/posts/1oet2YH6Zkg
Also thank you for taking the time to correct my atrocious Japanese grammar. I will study it and report back to confirm that I understood your correction properly. 😁☺😊
Hi Kumi,
ReplyDeleteI forgot to mention that I hope you had a good valentines day 😊. Does your husband like valentines day chocolates?
Do you look forward to White Day when he has to buy you chocolates or do you not do the chocolate buying in your family.
Here it is the men that have to buy chocolates for their girlfriends/wives. But I think it is sweet that wives give chocolates to men in Japan. Here men would generally rather have beer or wine.
On your point about the word Upon. It can be used in a lot of different ways:
It can be used as the introduction to a children's fairy or folk story:
Once upon a time ..... (similar to 昔々).
It can be used to mean that something has been placed on to a surface of an object or person. In this use Upon can be shortened to on:
I (placed/put) the clock (upon/on) the table.
My daughter wore her hat (upon/on) her head.
Upon can also be used to indicate a starting point when something happens. In this use the word when can often replace upon:
Upon hearing the earthquake alert I telephoned my husband.
When I heard the earthquake alert I telephoned my husband.
Upon hearing the fire alarm I left the building quickly.
When I heard the fire alarm I left the building quickly.
Upon graduating he became a doctor.
Upon the first day of summer we celebrate by having a festival.
Upon can be used to indicate that a certain property has/is increasing or improving, or could be increased or improved
He build upon his previous success to increase his power.
He was able to depend upon his skill with languages to do translations much more efficiently.
I am skilled but I will need to improve upon my ability to learn at a faster rate if I do not want to fall behind.
I am sure there are more ways to use Upon, but those are the ones that I immediately remember.
If any of the above is unclear or you need more information, please let me know.
Hello Kumi,
ReplyDeleteI read your Japanese sentence correction:
私は娘に歌うよう勧めました。
I am a little unsure about one part of it:
私は娘に歌う [よう] 勧めました。
When I look up よう in my English Japanese dictionary multiple answers are displayed, but two of the answers seem like they could be used in your sentence:
様 [よう]:
1 (P, n, n-suf, uk) appearing ..., looking ... (usu. after the -masu stem of a verb),
2 way to ..., method of ...ing (usu. after the -masu stem of a verb),
3 form, style, design (usu. after a noun),
4 like, similar to (usu. after a noun),
5 (P, n, uk) thing (thought or spoken)
And this one:
よう [よう]:
1 (aux-v) indicates speculation (non-五段 verbs, e.g. 食べよう),
2 indicates will,
3 indicates invitation
Is the よう in your sentence
様 [よう]:
5 (P, n, uk) thing (thought or spoken)
And if this is correct would your sentence translate to:
私[I]は娘に[to my daughter]歌う[to sing] [よう][the thing] 勧めました[did recommend/recommended]。
Japanese Word Order English: I to my daughter to sing was the thing recommended.
English Word Order: To my daughter the thing I recommended was singing.
English Natural Order: I recommended singing to my daughter.
Sorry for the very basic question, but I get confused easily.
Thank for your time and help Kumi. ☺
Hi Terry.
DeleteI didn’t know the meaning of よう, we usually say it unconsciously.
I searched it on the internet.
It is my understanding, よう means appearance/ state in English.
If I say it in detail,
私は 娘に 歌うという様子(ようす)/状態(になること)を すすめた。
We usually omit such a long explanation by using “よう(様)“.
Other example :
主人にすぐに電話するよう言っておくよ。I will ask my husband to call you soon.
彼女に早く帰るよう伝えてね。Please tell her to come home early.
一日も早く回復されるよう願っています。I hope you will recover it soon.
I hope your question would be clear.
Hello Kumi,
ReplyDeleteI tried to understand but it is difficult.
Do these two sentences mean the same thing:
私は娘に歌うよう勧めました。
私は娘に歌うように勧めました。
While I was trying to learn the rules had this post sent to me:
https://hinative.com/en-US/questions/6737050
So does that me that よう is the abbreviation of ように？
Hi Terry.
DeleteI'm sorry for making you confused more.
In this case, "よう" and "ように" are the same meaning.
As you said, "よう" is the abbreviation of "ように".
I hope you will be able to make it more clear.
I realized that to explain Japanese grammers are difficulut, maybe you already know that.
This example of the differences between よう and ように
is quite a small error, native speakers will never mind.
But Japanese(English)learners are usually interested in such a differences, I'm also curious with such a differences.
It's a good opportunity to explain to you, I could review my Japanese.
Thank you so much!
Hi Kumi,
ReplyDeleteYour explanations were clear. I just managed to get myself confused because I assumed よう/ように were doing something different from what it was really doing.
Also I did not know that ～～～ように進める was a set phrase.
These misconceptions and lack of understanding on my part, combined to make me follow the wrong path. ☺
I am glad you have the patience to answer my very basic questions. Thank you. ☺