上記の広告は１ヶ月以上更新のないブログに表示されています。
新しい記事を書く事で広告が消せます。

I'm not sure how many people will watch this program, but I've already decided to watch Red and White Singing Contest, that is, annual NHK sponsored year-end men versus women singing contest, on New Year's Eve. At this time every year, I never fail to watch this & M-1 Grand Prix. (Congratulations, NON STYLE!! You guys made me burst into laughter on Sunday.)

This year, a man is singing a beautiful song on the stage of NHK hall. His name is Yusaku Kiyama, and his song is 'home.' I wrote 2 articles about his song early in March; The song 'home' makes me cry.、I'd like to say 'thank you' to my parents.
So I felt so happy to know that he will sing the song on Dec. 31.

Now, you might think it's irrelevant, let me talk a little bit about my friend. He's working for the company I workd for more than a decade ago. We joined the company in the same year. In short, he is my 'Douki' （同期）. (Just for the record, my husband is my Douki, too.)
Surprisingly, it turned out that he had gone to high school with Kiyama-san. I got to know the fact about them in the end of March. I mean, when I wrote the pieces about Kiyama-san's 'home,' I didn't know the truth at all. It's intriguing, isn't it?

Let me explain the details how I got to know about the truth. Although some of my readers might know this, I published my book on March 19. The title is "Laugh With Sitcoms!: How To Master English With Enjoyment" (FYI: I'm not sure if this translation is appropriate. In the first place, 'Laugh With Sitcoms!' or 'Laugh At Sitcoms!'... I don't know which is a better English translation yet...) Then, my husband informed his colleagues of my publication by e-mail. One of them sent us, my husband & me, a message like this; "Congratulations! I'm happy for you, Rach! It's so wonderful for you to realize your dream at your age. Speaking of a dream-come-true, my classmate in high school recently made his debut as a singer. I guess you might know him, because he occasionally appears on television. His name is Yusaku Kiyama...."

When we received his message, we got really surprised. As I said before, we had been watching how he became a singer. Since I'd read his profile, I knew he is from Osaka and he is the same age as me, but I'd never dreamed Kiyama-san & I have a common friend. What a coincidence!

That's why I'd like to cheer for him much harder than before. I hope a lot of people will listen his heart-warming song at the end of the year. I'm happy for you, Kiyama-san! Good luck!





We're participating in ranking.

We'd really appreciate if you could vote for this blog, which cheers us up so much!

Oh, it's November 22nd today. Today is the eleventh wedding anniversary of ours. I just remembered that I had written about our anniversary here on this blog exactly a year ago. That is the article The tenth anniversary.
I read the article after a long interval, and then I realized I had to write something in English more & more often in order to improve my writing skills. It's not that I can assure you I won't let you down, but I'd like to try to avoid closing this blog. So I wrote an article like this...

It is very cold these days. A wintry blast is wailing outside. When I am riding on my bicycle, the wind makes my eyes water. It's November, it's autumn, but I feel winter has already come around.

A few weeks ago, my family started to use the blankets in sleeping. When I sleep at night, I am snugly wrapped in the blanket. I feel very warm & comfortable. I am on cloud nine. (FYI, 'be on cloud nine' means 'to be very happy about something.')

The rest of the family seem to feel the same way. So they can't get up easily in the morning these days. My husband & son can't get up early regardless of the season, though. My daughter, who is 4 years old, is usually an early riser. But only in the winter, she can't get up early in the cold morning. She wants to stay in bed until breakfast, saying, "The blanket is really warm and feels soft. I can't get out of the bed, Mom. Can I stay longer here?" I replied, "Sure. Snuggle into the blanket and stay as long as you like."

Generally speaking, children are warmer than adults, aren't they? When I go to bed with them, I hug them tightly. They are like a Yutanpo (hot-water bottle). In order to sleep well at cold night, I need the blanket and my children.

Dear my children, I love you, I need you. Especially in winter, the need for you is keenly felt.


We're participating in ranking.

We'd really appreciate if you could vote for this blog, which cheers us up so much!

As I said before on the article: I have another name, another blog, I keep maintaining two blogs in the blogoshere. I don't know how many people are reading my blogs. But just having my own blogs has brought me a lot of happiness.

First, when I write something both in English and in Japanese on my blogs, I can meet new people. In my real life, I can't meet & talk to so many people. I only have a chat with other mothers who have pre-school children while we are waiting for them at the school-bus stop. Most of my school friends live far away from where I live, so I can't meet them very often. That's why there's no chance to talk to many people or to get to know new friends in my daily life. In this blogoshere, however, I can meet & talk to a lot of people, such as native English-speakers, people living abroad, or Japanese English-learners.

Second, I can speak English & talk about English-learning stuff a lot on my blogs. In my life, it's so hard to find people who are really interested in learning English. Unfortunately, my husband has no interest in English. I don't intend to teach my children English right now. So I don't have any friends I can talk in English or about English with. However, once I get on the Net and become a resident of this English-blog world, it becomes easy to find those kinds of people. I truely appreciate this environment.

Third, I can express myself and share my thoughts with others. When I talk with other mothers in my life, we are talking about only our children, or sometimes about inflaration of prices. I'm not saying those topics are worthless, but I'd like to exchange academic ideas and opinions with other learners. I think that reallly inspires & stimulates me.

Finally, writing blogs makes me feel that I am working at home. About a decade ago, I quit my job before my marriage. Because I didn't think that I could juggle two responsiblities, having a carrer and being a mother. But then, I was thinkng, "Probably in the near future, the advancement of technology could make it possible for me to work at home using the Internet." Although I haven't worked at home, I feel as if I could participate in paid work from home by writing my blogs. I believe this blog thing is the beginning of new working life of mine.

When I am connected to the Internet through my PC, I can feel I am connected to the world. I believe I'll be able to make a contribution to society some day. The feeling makes me really happy. Do you understand my feelings?




We're participating in ranking.

We'd really appreciate if you could vote for this blog, which cheers us up so much!

Long time no see! I am kind of suffering from the summer heat. I've lost my appetite. I feel I've lost the power to write something in English. So I've been absent for a long time. Do you remember me & my blog? If so, I'm really happy.

Every summer vacation, I think I'd better stop studying English. I am a full-time housewife with two children. Especially in the summer vacation, it's so hard to find my own time to study English, which really irritates me. In mid summer, I have to be a mother all day long. So I really want to be just an English-learner once in a while. Maybe I'm a selfish mother. Sometimes I think, "If I'd spend as much time improving my cooking skill as I do studying English, I'd be able to become an excellent cooker & a respectable mother."

There are a lot of English learners out there who asked someone, "I'd like to improve my English skills. What should I do?" It might sound so arrogant, but I DO know what to do in order to improve my English skills. I have a lot of things I want to try. It's just that I don't have enough time to do all kinds of stuff. If I had enough time to study... If only I had 48 hours a day!

I am juggling three roles right now. A mother, a wife and an English-learner. Needless to say, the most important thing on the planet to me is being a mother. My childrren are so young that I should focus my mind on my children. Since every day we hear the news about tragic accidents, we, parents, have to watch them carefully. At the same time, we have to listen to them closely, spending a lot of time together.

Being a mother is my job? Defenitely not. That's my life. As long as my children need me, I'd like to spend as much time as humanly possible. Maybe I should forget English-learning stuff at least in the summer vacation... but I can't.

I'd like to read great English novels. I'd like to watch wonderful English dramas & movies.
I know if I get up earlier than usual, I can have much more time to study. But unfortunately,
I can't wake up early in the morning because of the summer heat.

Autumn is the best season for learning something, right? I can't wait for it.




We're participating in ranking.

We'd really appreciate if you could vote for this blog, which cheers us up so much!

When I started this blog about a year ago, I wanted to suggest that I was maintaining another blog in the blogosphere. Then an idea of the title just occurred to me. That is 'Karen's blog supplemental.'

I didn't know if the title 'Karen's blog supplemental' is natural or not. But I decided to use the phrase because I knew that sci-fi (science fiction) series Star Trek uses the phrase 'Captain's Log, supplemental' in the narration.

I always try hard to write natural English as much as possible, but sometimes I think, "What is natural? How do you know if it's natural or not?" I thought, "If the expression 'Captain's Log, supplemental' sounds natural to native English speakers, the title 'Karen's blog supplemental' must sound natural to them, too."

The narrator is the lead character of Star Trek, Captain Picard.
The narration is like this;

(Chapter 1)
Captain's Log, Stardate 41209.2:
We are running at warp 7 to rendezous with the science vessel S.S. Tsiolkovsky--

(Chapter 2)
Captain's Log, supplemental:
We are downloading the research information gathered on the collapsing star nearby.

Although Captain's log is translated 恒星日誌 in the Japanese version, it actually means 艦長の日誌. So 'Captain's Log, supplemental' means 艦長の日誌・補足.

In the first place, the word 'blog' originated from the word 'weblog.' 'Weblog' means a log on the web. The word 'blog' always reminds me of the word 'log' or 'Captain's log.' That's why I wanted to use the phrase 'Karen's blog supplemental' as a pun of 'Captain's Log, supplemental.'

I also intended to suggest that Karen is one of those Trekkies (Star Trek fans), but my attempts had apparently ended in failure....

Anyway, I like the sound & the rhythm of 'Karen's blog supplemental.' That might be way too long as a title, but 'Karen's blog' would be indistinguishable from others' blog, right?

You might get surprised to know Karen is a Trekkie. Actually, I love Friends, Ally McBeal and Star Trek. Am I weird? But that's me. I've learned a lot of useful expressions & phrases from those favorite dramas. "We tend to be good at those things we like." Yes, that's true, definitely!




We're participating in ranking.

We'd really appreciate if you could vote for this blog, which cheers us up so much!

Hi, dear readers. This is Karen. Today, I have a confession to make.
In the blogosphere, I have another name and another blog.

Another name of mine is 'Rach' and another blog of mine is シットコムで笑え！ 海外ドラマ「フレンズ」英語攻略ガイド .
When I checked a while ago, シットコムで笑え！ ranked 7th in the ranking site にほんブログ村 英語ブログ . (FYI: 'Karen's blog supplemental' ranked 14th.)

Do you know that blog? Has anybody noticed this 'Karen = Rach' secret?

I've just posted an article written in Japanese もう一つの私のブログ on Rach's blog. I'll be glad if you read the article as well.

I'm SO sorry to have kept my identity secret for more than a year. I didn't intend to lie to you. I'd just like you to read my English without bias and without favor.

If you had known my detailed profile, you might've thought, "Karen successfully passed Grade 1 of the EIKEN Test. Karen's TOEIC score is 945. I don't know if her writing is good or not. But considering her 'brilliant' qualification, her writing must be excellent."

So I decided to conceal my qualification and background. If you happen to visit Karen's blog and feel like reading my diary, I feel so happy. If you wouldn't like to read it, which means that my writing is not attractive enough to engage your interest. I'd just like to know if my writing is worth reading or not.

I didn't say 'Karen is Rach' thing before. However, a lot of readers have made a lot of compliments to me. I felt so glad & honored. You guys just judged my English ability ONLY from my writing.

Your heart-warming & encouraging words have got me going. I can never thank you enough.

Oh, before I forget, one thing; Both 'Rach' and 'Karen' are named after the leading character on the popular U.S. sitcom Friends. Her name is "Rachel Karen Greene (or Green)."

Some might realize that there's a co-blogger named Joe on this blog. I'm sorry to say this, but today I don't talk about him and our history.

I've been writing this blog as Karen, which has made it possible for me to meet a lot of people. I feel so happy to have met you in this 'English diary' category.

I'm looking forward to talking to you here & there as a diarist Karen. I'll keep writing. I hope you'll also keep writing there.




We're participating in ranking.

We'd really appreciate if you could vote for this blog, which cheers us up so much!

About 6 months ago, I wrote an article: The Karen identity

On the article, I said;
"I might tell you about my and our history in detail in the future. It could be 2 weeks later, six months later, 20 years from now, or NEVER."
Do you realize this? 'Six months later' is now.

I've been thinking about this whole 'revealing' thing a lot for a long, long time. And now, I finally decided to talk about the detailed profile of mine. I don't know if you are interested in it or not. But I'd like to tell you how I learn English every day and how I spend my English-learning life.

I don't know why, but I kind of feel that this is the last chance to reveal my secret to you, my dear readers. I'm pretty much ready to sacrifice anything for my blog. You might say, "Sacrifice? Don't make such a big deal out of it, Karen!" though.

If you are curious about my story, meet me here this coming Tuesday. See you then, bye!




We're participating in ranking.

We'd really appreciate if you could vote for this blog, which cheers us up so much!

Continued from the previous article; He is worried about his own future.

My son, who is 8 years old, said that he was worried about his own 'career & marriage.' I said, "You don't have to worry about it right now because you are so young." But he wouldn't withdraw.

He said, "When I got to be in the third grade in April, you said, "You are already in the thrid grade! It seems like just yesterday you were a little tiny baby! It's just like the proverb Time flies like an arrow." SO, you might say when I reach the age of 30, "You are already 30 years old! It seems like just yesterday you were a little tiny baby ...."

Oh, that's a good point. I am so glad to know that he has gained that wisdom from his experience.
He has grown up enough to point out my inconsistencies. Good job, honey!

"So... what kind of girl would you like to marry? Maybe beautiful, kind & smart... like your Mom?" I asked teasingly.
"Yes, I'd like to find somebody like you, Mom! But there's no one like you in my class. Besides, you've already got married to my Dad, so..."
"Don't worry, sweetie. I bet that you'll find a beautiful, wonderful, excellent girl like "me" in the near future. I swear. But if you find that girl, you have to make her love you. That's so difficult. If you'd like her to love you, you have to become a very attractive man. In order to do so, at first, you have to stop being a picky eater. Do you understand?"

He replied, "Oh, come on. Not again! I hates to hear the complaints about picky eating. Well, forget my worries. It's about a far-distant future, right?" The talk was over.

I don't know if he's still worried about his own future. I just hope that he will be able to meet the right woman and to have a happy life with her in the future.




We're participating in ranking.

We'd really appreciate if you could vote for this blog, which cheers us up so much!

When my son & I took a bath together, my son said anxiously, "I am worried about a few things."
"Tell me what makes you worry, honey," I said.
He started to talk about his own worries. "First, about my carrer. I wonder if I will be able to work at the office, because I don't know how to get there. I haven't got on a train alone, I don't know what to say to my collegues."
I was about to burst into laughter, but I saw his very serious face and I tried very hard not to laugh at his remarks.
"Second, about my marriage. I don't think I'll be able to find somebody I could marry. Because it is so hard to say, "I love you. Would you marry me?" I'm too shy to say such embarrassing words. "

Wow, carrer & marrige, that's very serious problems!

I started to soothe him, saying, "Now you are only eight. You have about 14 years by the time you start to work. Assuming that you get married to a girl when you are 30 years old, you have 22 years to find Miss. Right. See? You don't have to worry about it at all, at least right now. You are SO young!"

However, he wouldn't withdraw.

To be continued...




We're participating in ranking.

We'd really appreciate if you could vote for this blog, which cheers us up so much!

My daughter, who is 4 years old, is really interested in makeup. When I put on my makeup in front of the mirror, she leans over to me and stares at "her Mom in the mirror."

Yesterday morning, as usual, she watched me putting on makeup. She held up a powder puff and asked, "Can I use this one?" "Sure, go ahead," said I, and then she started to powder her face with the puff. She kept powdering & powdering. She seemed to enjoy it. Maybe she felt as if she is an adult.

She wanted to put on red lipstick （口紅）. But I didn't let her use it. She sometimes sucks her thumb when she is sleepy. So if she puts rouge on her lips, her thumb might get red and her outfit might get dirty with rouge. It's so hard to remove rouge from clothes, you know.

"You are a kindergartener. So you can't wear red lipstick. If you want to put on something on your lips... How about this?" I showed her a transparent & colorless chapstick （リップクリーム）.
"Oh, I love that!" she said, and she started to use that chapstick. She put so much chapstick on her lips that her lips shone too brilliantly.
"Do I look pretty?" she asked. "You're so beautiful like a princess!", I answered.
She looked so satisfied with my answer. She kept watching herself in the mirror for a while.

She is so young that her skin is very smooth & clear. Her cheeks feel like marshmallow. When I look at her face, I automatically touch her cheeks and brush my cheek with hers. So soft & comfortable...

She doesn't have to put on makeup at all, but she really wants to. On the other hand, considering my age, I HAVE TO put on makeup especially when I go out. But truth be told, I don't like makeup. I sometimes want to wash my face with cold water, which really refreshes me. But if I wear makeup, I can't wash my face. I hate that.

I envy the smoothness of her skin very much. It's good to be young... and when I look at myself in the mirror... sigh...




We're participating in ranking.

We'd really appreciate if you could vote for this blog, which cheers us up so much!