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- 2008/08/29 10:28Her birthday present
- My husband gave our daughter a birthday present the day before yesterd
ay. It was a pair of roller skates. We went on a picnic and she was ve
ry excited to play skating. Kids can learn things so quickly! It was h
er first time skating, but she seemed to be no problem enjoying it. [続きを読む]
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- 2008/08/25 10:10White Taiyaki
- Have you seen this type of Taiyaki before!? It's white. I was so ama
zed to see it.Taiyaki is one of a kind of Japanese sweets. It often co
ntains red bean paste which is called anko in it, and sometimes custar
d, chocolate cream and or white bean jam. It turned out that this whit
e taiyaki is made from glutinous rice. It tastes terrific and my son a
te three all at once. [続きを読む]
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- 2008/08/22 09:49Happy Birthday
- Yesterday was my daughter's tenth anniversary. Tenth! Time has passed
very quickly. She was always crying all day when she was a baby. I cou
ldn't sleep a wink day and night, and sometimes felt annoyed with her
continuous scream. Oh, yes, this is one of precious memories as a moth
er now. We went to a mall together and had lunch there. After lunch, I
bought a book for her. Purchasing a book is my wa [続きを読む]
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- 2008/08/19 08:19As a Japanese
- This is my son's calligraphy. "KOME" means rice that most Ja
panese live on. My daughter and son have been taking a class of calli
graphy, but he's never been taught how to handle of brush."I can'
t!"At first, he said."Let me try it again!"At last, he
replied.I used to learn calligraphy when I was 7 or 8, but I gave up c
ontinuing because I found it a bit boring. I shoul [続きを読む]
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- 2008/08/13 21:19Used to be
- We went swimming in a river again. My father is over 60, but he hasn't
changed a bit especially in a river with my kids. Rivers in Japan are
a lot cleaner than they used to be, but I suppose they become artific
ial. We enjoyed spending time in an ideal river today. [続きを読む]
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- 2008/08/12 20:26He made it!
- A prospective Japanese swimmer, Kouske Kitajima, won the Gold medal again! ... [続きを読む]
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- 2008/08/09 20:25Parents' place
- In Japan, many people visit their parents' place in summer. It is an
annual event to get together, and grandparents are very looking forwar
d to seeing their grandchildren. I'm at my parents'home now. What am I
doing? You can see my picture. (^^)v ... [続きを読む]
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- 2008/08/07 09:09Another birthday cake
- Although my birthday was half a month ago, my husband came back home
with my birthday cake. My daughter sang a song for me, and my son blew
out three candles on my behalf. My husband gave me a pressure-cooker
that I'd been longing for! I hate getting older, but I love my birthd
ay. ... [続きを読む]
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- 2008/08/01 09:46Be aware of this.
- We need to have fresh air, especially in the boiling summer season. I
picked up some textbooks, prepared our lunchbox and drove to a river
with my children. They love swimming there. We spent a lovely afternoo
n as usual...until they came.They were accompanied by a dog. He looked
decent, but actually he wasn't. Nobody could stop him from barking an
d his mad bark completely disturbed my study. To ... [続きを読む]
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- 2008/07/28 10:06Is this a way of Japanese?
- Since I started to keep a diary in English here, I've been interested
in writing proper English. In fact, I've never really learned how to
do so. My English is probably awful for someone of my age. I went to a
library yesterday and borrowed some books for writing an essay in Eng
lish.I found one of them particularly interesting. The author says in
this book that there is a style of English used by... [続きを読む]
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- 2008/07/24 10:08Harry Potter, at last!
- I've already read the last volume of Harry Potter in English one year
ago. It was an extraordinary story like the previous works. Today, I
purchased this published in Japanese for my daughter.I have a blog abo
ut Harry Potter, and I'm looking forward to confirming whether my tran
slations and explications are correct or not.Harry Potter で English
Timehttp://49286315.at.webry.info/ ... [続きを読む]
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- 2008/07/22 09:54One of Japanese traditions in summer
- そうめん流し ... Soumen-nagashiWe went for a drive and had 「そうめん流し」 for lunch last weekend. Let me try to explain what it is like in English. 1) We use a halved bamboo tube to have 「そうめん流し」.2) 「そうめん」 is a kind of Japanese noodle.3) We scoop up the 「そうめん」, which float by in the water running though the open bamboo tube, with chopsticks.Oh, no. What a poor exp ... [続きを読む]
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- 2008/07/18 17:14This is a fine kettle of fish!
- One of my favorite books is "Anne of Green Gables." When I
was 27 years old, I visited Prince Edward Island by myself despite my
limited English abilities. I wasn't able to read the original at that
time, but now I'm trying to read "Anne of Green Gables" in E
nglish to improve my reading skills. "This is a fine kettle of fi
sh."This phrase is said by Marilla, one of th... [続きを読む]
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- 2008/07/14 09:04Saturday morning
- I enjoyed reading English newspapers on last Saturday morning. I use
d to subscribe to them for my study, but I stopped it in order to save
some money. So, I read old papers. Around 10 years ago, I couldn't re
ad any article in English at all. Well, I was able to read some of the
m to a certain extent because I studied English as a subject for 6 yea
rs at school. However, I didn't "read" E... [続きを読む]
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- 2008/07/11 17:41An adage
- 「人のふり見て、我がふり直せ」"Hito no furi mite,
waga furi naose"This is my father's favorite saying and it means
, "You should learn from other's attitudes irrespective of rights
or wrongs." 1) 人 ... others2) ふり ... attitude or behavio
ur3) 我（わ）がふり ... my attitude or my behaviour4) 直（
なお）せ ... to change or to think it overWhen you feel much annoye
d with someone'... [続きを読む]
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- 2008/07/09 08:56Today's breakfast
- With my daughter's request, I usually serve a bowl of rice and miso s
oup for breakfast to my children. This morning, however, I didn't cook
Japanese style breakfast. We had spaghetti for a change. Ingredients
・pork・mushrooms・tomatoes・dairy cream・salt and pepperI'm not m
uch of a cook, but it took only 20 minutes to make. On top of that, it
was quite tasty and kids thoroughly enjoyed it ... [続きを読む]
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- 2008/07/06 20:59Easy to make, tasty to have
- My children, especially my 7-year-old son, crave for snacks after sch
ool. I'm a stay-at-home mother. I admit that I have plenty of time to
cook sweets for them, but I haven't done it. I'd rather spend time jus
t for myself (studying English, of course) as much as possible.Dango
always helps a selfish mother like me. It takes only 10 minutes to ma
ke, and you can vary its taste with Kinako or Anko. ... [続きを読む]
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- 2008/07/02 08:40Be a vegetarian
- I have been a would-be vegetarian since last week. I used to have mea
t for dinner every night, but I haven't had any beef or pork for my di
sh recently. I can't be a perfectionist for being a vegetarian, though
. I cook for my family and I have to taste everything that I make. On
top of that, my husband likes meat dishes very much. That's why I call
myself "a would-be vegetarian." Actuall... [続きを読む]
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- 2008/06/26 08:37Do it yourself.
- My 9-year-old daughter has just started to learn English. She says E
nglish is interesting. I tried to enjoy some English picture books wit
h her when she was 2 or 3 years old, but she showed her distaste for a
ll 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 langua... [続きを読む]
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- 2008/06/24 08:55Not to strain my eyes
- I have been suffereing from a slight headache recently. My husband sa
ys I tend to spend too much time in fron of my personal computer. I gu
ess he's right. I have weak eyesight, and it sometimes causes my heada
che. 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 strai
n your eyes? ... [続きを読む]
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- 2008/06/20 10:09I love Heroes!
- I'm not good at writing things in English, but I love trying it here b
ecause I can get useful and wonderful information from readers. The o
ther day, Michael recommended a TV drama to me. It was "Heroes&qu
ot; and actually it was exactily what I'd been wanting to see. In no t
ime, I went out to rent this and immediately loved this.I've only watc
hed the first episode, but "Heroes" is f [続きを読む]
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- 2008/06/16 14:41Father's Day
- 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 c
onfused and pleased at the same time.Do you have "Father's Day&qu
ot; in your country? What kind of presents have you ever prepared?W
e 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 actuall... [続きを読む]
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- 2008/06/15 00:09Take Me Out to the Ball Game
- 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 ba
seball, 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 b
y my son, who is a real baseball fan. ... [続きを読む]
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- 2008/06/13 14:31Do you know 「四面楚歌」?
- I'll try to introduce some Japanese expressions, adages and wordings
to you in order to improve my English language skills and deepen my kn
owledge of Japanese.「四面楚歌」 〜Shimen-soka1) to be bla
med from all side2) to be under siegefrequency of usage in daily li
fe .... ★★☆☆☆We got bowled over by Neo(Keanu Reeves)'s art
istic actions in "Matrix." I totally enjoyed it. Actually, .
.. [続きを読む]
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