Language test 2

My 7-year-old son told me last night when we were taking a bath:

"Mom, can you press your elbow to Tatsumaki?"

"What?? What do you mean? Maybe you are talking about Tsumuji (a hair whorl), right? "

"Oh, I mistook it."

"Why do you think that you misunderstood it? "

"Because both are in a whirl! Don't you think they are similar?"

"Yes, I agree!"

His misunderstandings were really funny.

When we ate snack yesterday evening, my son was eating small chocolates.
s
"I want to eat all of these by myself, but if you want it, I can give you one."

He said.

"OK. Why don't you barter? I have a small chocolate pie."

"But, can I exchange this chocolate? It isn't pimply."

I couldn't stop laughing.

Barter is called Butsubutsu-koukan ( 物々交換／ぶつぶつこうかん) in Japanese.

This Butsubutsu has a lot of meanings in Japanese : mutter / nag somebody / grumble about something / have a rash /cut into small pieces  /make holes in a piece of paper with a pin

Those are wriiten in Hiragana, but Barter is written in Kanji like 物々, and it means thing and thing.

He mistook 物々for a rash.

It is difficult to learn the language, but fun.


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Language test

My seven-year-old son asked me yesterday:

"What does Otome (maiden) mean?"

"Otome? Well, it means young girls, maybe about from10 to 20-year-old girls. Do you find the word in the comic?"

"Yes."

He often asks me the meaning of the words which he doesn't know.

Other than that, he asked me Simei-tehai (fugitive warrant) yesterday.

He can read books by himself if there are Furigana above the Kanji which indicate how the Kanji sound.

 

But he still has a lot of words which he doesn't understand the meanings.

 

He sometimes misunderstands the meaning of Japanese idioms.

 

For example, I told him before:

 

"I want to fly there."

 

It means I want to go there as soon as possible, but he asked me:

 

"Do you really fly to the sky? How?"

 

It was so funny that my husband and I couldn't stop laughing on hearing that.

 

It takes a long time to master a language even if we are native speakers of it.

 

Whenever I answer his question, I feel like taking a test of Japanese language.

 

It is a little difficult to explain so that children can understand, I need to chose the simple and plain words.

 

But I think that it is also a good opportunity to  acquire Japanese language skills.

 

 

 

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I miss those days

Friends of ours came to our house yesterday evening.

They got married about four years ago and she gave birth to a baby boy last month.

But since the baby was born more than 1 month ahead of her due date, the baby was still in the hospital.

I was relieved to hear that he is fine.

They showed us their son's photos.

She said his weight is still under 2,000g.

But from what I could find he is fine though he is very small.



I remembered the days when my children were babies.

When my son was born, I didn't know anything about taking care of a baby.

I was nervous when I washed his body.

He was so small that it was difficult for me to hold him while washing him.

I had a dilemma because I couldn't feed him well.

It was hard he was often still awake after midnight not wanting to sleep.

I was always sleepy and I faced brand new happenings every day.

When my children smiled at me for the first time, I was really glad to see them.

Though they couldn't speak and they just  lay down on the bed,  I talked to them like I was talking alone.

It was the time that I had begun to live for a person except myself.



When my son was three months old, he suffered from Kawasaki disease and he had to be hospitalised for 12 days.

At first, I noticed that he had a high fever.

He kept crying.

We had just moved to Tokyo, so I was not familiar with our neighborhood and roads.

I was not used to driving my husband's big car and I didn't know how to use its car navigation system.

But I had to take him to the hospital.

I was about to be crushed with anxiety when I was driving nervously while listening to him crying bitterly.

I said:

"It's OK. We will soon reach the hospital. I know it is hard. Please wait for a moment!"

I tried to calm down myself.

After we got to the hospital, the doctor took him to the examination room to put him on a drip.

They said I had to wait in the waiting room.

I heard my son crying terribly.

I was worried about him and became more anxious. 

Since it was too hard for me to endure the situation alone, I called my husband and asked him to come to the hospital.

After 5 days, my son was finally diagnosed with Kawasaki disease.

It was a long long 5 days for us because we had been very anxious.


Neither of our children have health problems now.

I still have some worries about my children, but I almost forgot about my worries when they were babies.

I really miss those days.

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My recommended sightseeing spot ~ the latest AEON mall ~

My family went to my parents house to pick up something I forgot to bring yesterday afternoon.

Then we went to AEON mall in Tokoname which was opened last December for the first time.

It is near the Chubu international airport (Centrair) and there is a free shuttle bus from the airport to the AEON mall.

I thought this AEON mall is quite different from other normal AEON malls.

It is completely for foreign tourists.

There are several tax-free shops and souvenir shops where you can find many things made in Japan like snacks, clothes, even cars!

You can see some typical Japanese scenes.

Fortunately, my hometown Tokoname-city is often represented elsewhere in the mall.

This Lucky Cat is the biggest in the world.

Tokoname city is famous for its pottery, and one of the most famous  areas for the production of Lucky Cats in Japan.

You can buy various kinds of Lucky Cat!

The big decorated lantern is at one of the entrances of the mall.

There are not only many shops but also several entertainment spots.

My 5-year-old daughter and I enjoyed ice skating outside the mall!

My 7-year-old son and my husband enjoyed kart racing!

There were a lot of foreign tourists and they were enjoying these entertainment activities.

Besides these, we can enjoy field athletics, cycle rental, Onsen, and so on.

I heard that they would change some attractions depending on the season.

It is located near the sea, so you can walk around the mall and you will see beautiful views all around.

 

The illuminations were very beautiful!

 

Since we went there in the evening, it was not as crowded as I expected.

 

We had a very fun time there.

 

If you come to Chubu international airport and you want to go shopping, I would recommend a visit.

 

You will surely enjoy it!

 

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Journey to our hometown

Happy New Year!

We would like to extend the best wishes from our family to yours.

May the New Year bring only good things to all of you!


Our family visited my husband's parents house in Kagoshima prefecture during the New Year's holiday.

We could see his parents after one year.

They were good and glad to see their grandchildren.

We helped them to get ready for the New Year.

My 5-year-old daughter especially helped them a lot.

They raise about twelve Japanese black cattle in front of their house.

She used to be scared of them because they were bigger than her and the black color of their body made her frightened, so I had to carry her when we went through in front of the cattle barn.

But this year, she swept around the cattle barn with a broom and fed them.

I was surprised to see her do this

She brought her small apron and helped her grandmother.

She was so glad to see that her granddaughter helped her a lot.


We paid a visit to a shrine on New Year's Day.

A lot of people were in a long line to worship toward the main building of the Shinto shrine.

My husband and I explained to our children how to pray.

We threw coins into the offering box in front of the main hall, rang the bell, made a bow twice, clapped twice, put our hands together, closed eyes and prayed for our wishes.

We drew Omikuji (a paper fortune).

I picked the "Kichi" (blessing).

In my case, when the prediction is not so good, I fold up the strip of paper and tie it to the wires where we can attach bad fortunes in the shrine grounds.

We enjoyed the kite-flying at the ground near their house.

Kite-flying is one of the popular New Year's activities for children in Japan.

 

 

We went to the aquarium this year again where we go on New Year's Day every year.

We enjoyed watching the dolphin show.

It was funny that trainer wore Kimono during the show.

This time, we visited Uchinoura Space Center for the first time.

It is a space launch facility established by JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency).

 

 

 

I was impressed that the washrooms inside and outside the facility were well-cleaned and kept comfortable though it is in the countryside.

I could feel residents' effort to welcome tourists.

It was a really nice trip.

We could see our parents and helped them, visit many places and meet relatives.


When we arrived at the Central Japan airport, many Lucky Cats welcomed us at the baggage claim of the domestic arrival.

These Lucky Cats are famous ceramic products of Tokoname city where the airport is located.

My father came to the airport to pick us up, then we went to my parents house to stay one night.

My sister and her husand came to our parents house yesterday morning and had lunch together.

After lunch, we enjoyed playing "Donjyara" together.

It is a picture matching game like mah‐jongg for families.

I wrote about Donjyara my previous post : http://a-o-j-m.blogspot.jp/search?q=donjyara )

We got very involved in the game.

It was really fun!

My son turned seven during the New Year's vacation.

He got presents from his grandparents and aunt.

He also enjoyed painting a dinosaur figure which he bought with his Otoshidama (New Year's money) which I gave him.

The dinosaur was white at first and children can enjoy painting it using acrylic paints which are packed together.

Everyone in our family was surprised at his sense of color!

A long New Year's vacation will end soon.

I will be happy if you visit my blog again this year!


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Looking back on my studying English of this year 今年の英語学習を振り返って

My family will leave for Kyusyu to visit my in-law's house today.

This is my last post of this year.

Looking back on my studying of English of this year.

It was hard for me as a mother, a housewife, and a woker, to make time to study English, but it has been enjoyable for me.

My target is to be able to speak English fluently to express my feelings well.

In order to make my dream  come true, I have been working on these challanging tasks:

1. Taking Skype lessons of online English conversation school

2. Writing this blog in English

3. Listening to the NHK radio English conversation programs every day

4. iKnow ( application for remembering vocabularies. I am studying with it in preparation for the  TOEIC test.)

5. Reading some online news written in English

6. Talking to an American frined with Skype

7. Practising listening using the application called TOEIC upgrader

It has been two years since I started studying English.

Thanks especially to the online English school, I think maybe I no longer have trouble with everyday conversation in English now.

But it still takes a long time to write this blog and I often have gramatical mistakes.

I have a lot of unknown vocabularies and expressions to learn.

I often can't express what I want to say and I often feel frustrated.

I felt like I couldn't go on any longer several times.

But thanks to all of you who visited my blog and gave me comments,  I was encouraged a lot.


I wrote that I have dreams in my blog before : http://a-o-j-m.blogspot.jp/2015/10/i-have-dreams.html

I have had the dream since I was a child.

I know this is an endless dream.

Actually, I like my current job very much though I have some complaints.

Since I am experienced in my job and I am blessed with my colleagues and office environment, I am hesitant about changing my job.

I think I don't need to change a job soon.

If I can find a job which I really want to try, I will try to apply for it.

Studying English is my life work.

But all I can do isin keep studying.

I think that English is a tool to communicate with a lot of people.

I might change how to study, but I will keep studying English next year.

I wish you all the best in the coming 2016!


I would like to write today's post in Japanese, too.

It is the first time since I started this blog because I want to leave a note of my feelings now.

( It is not a direct translation, but the meaning is almost same. )

今年の英語学習を振り返って

今年一年英語の勉強を頑張ってきました。

母であり主婦であり労働者である私にとって、英語の勉強時間を作ることは本当に大変でしたが、それもとても楽しいことでした。

私の目標は、「自分の気持ちを英語でスムーズに伝えられるようになること」です。

そのために、以下のことに取り組んできました。

　１．オンライン英会話レッスン

　２．このブログをできるだけ毎日書くこと（時々お休みしていますが・・・。）

　３．NHKのラジオ英会話を毎日聞く

　４．iKnowでの単語増強

　５．ネットの英語ニュース記事を読む

　６．アメリカの友人とスカイプで話す

　７．TOEIC Upgrader を聞く


英語の勉強を始めてから約2年が経ちました。

特にオンライン英会話のレッスンのおかげで、日常会話には困らない程度にはなれているかなぁ・・・と勝手に思っています。（aim talkさん、大変お世話になりました！）

けど、このブログを書くのにはまだかなり時間がかかりますし、しょっちゅう文法的にミスもしてしまいます。

知らない単語や表現については山ほどあります。

言いたいことが言えずに詰まるのはしょっちゅう、そのたびに悔しい思いをします。

何度も何度も挫折を感じ、自分には英語がペラペラしゃべられるようになるなんて、無理なんだ。。。としょっちゅう落ち込んだりもします。

けれど、このブログの読んでくださる方々がいらっしゃり、コメントや励ましの言葉をいただいたりしたことに、私は本当に励まされ、「また頑張ろう！」と思えるようになりました。


以前ブログの記事に、英語を活かした仕事に就きたい！と大それた望みを書いてしまいました。

それは私の子供の頃からの夢なんです。

そして、見果てぬ夢であることも分かっています。

今経験が必要な仕事についていることもあり、また今の仕事の環境や良い同僚に恵まれていることもあり、転職は私にとってリスクが大きく、さらに英語力に大きな不安もあり、挑戦したいことではあるけれどもためらっている、というのが実情です。

また自分のスキルに不安がある今、すぐ転職に踏み切る必要はないとも思っています。

今私にできることは、ただ勉強を続けることだと思います。

英語はコミュニケーションをとる上でのツールでしかなく、さらに仕事ではそれ以上の能力を求められます。

勉強方法は模索しながら変えていくかもしれませんが、来年も勉強をあきらめずに続けていきたいと思っています。

一人の平凡な母親の長い長い日記を読んでくださった皆様、本当にありがとうございます！

来年もよいお年をお迎えください！

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Happiness depends upon ourselves

We cleaned our house again yesterday, and it was more or less completely cleaned, though I compromised.

I also finished writing New Years cards to my relatives and friends.

I was so tired that I become pessimistic last night.

To tell the truth, I want to stay at home and relax during New Year's holiday with my family because I am usually busy with my work, housework, and taking care of my children, so at least only during the New Year's vacation, I want to relax at home.

My parents in law are very good people, but five days stay at their house is a little long for me.

But they live far from here and they can only see their grandchildren only once a year, so I think it is important that we take them the children to see them.

I believe that it depends on how I see it.

Actually, I have mixed feelings, I am reluctant to visit them, and I also think that it is a rare precious opportunity to thank my parents in law and help them.

I want to become a person who is positive thinking.

I think positive thinking makes my life happier.

I am basically positive, but I often become pessimistic when I am tired.

Since I noticed I was too pessimistic last night, so I slept longer than usual.

Happiness depends upon ourselves.



According to the Chinese zodiac, next year is the year of the monkey.

When we make a draft of the New Year's card, we usually use the illustrations of the zodiac of the year or lucky items like Mt. Fuji, pine, bamboo, plum, seven deities of good luck, and so on.

I tried to make two Japanese-style samples.

 

 

 

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