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?




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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!




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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.




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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!




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It's been a while, like more than three weeks, since I posted the last piece. Meanwhile, many people left a lot of encouraging comments on my blog. Thank you sooo much. And so sorry for taking me so long to answer your comments.

I sometimes think, "What do I want to do by posting English articles?" Maybe I'm just trying to make myself understood ONLY in English. There's no Japanese sentences or pictures on my piece. It might be helpful to readers if I put Japanese translation under my English piece... but I don't do it. I'd like to see if my English sentences can convey my feelings or opinions. I'd like to see if readers can feel my personality through my English. So I don't give any hints except English.

When I write English, I can't express myself well and it's so frustrating. English is still a foreign language for me. On the other hand, Japanese is my mother tongue. So I don't have to feel that frustration and I feel I can express my thoughts thoroughly.

But I keep trying to express myself only in English. Because I'd like to get to write & speak English like a native English-speaker.

If you want to improve your English, keep writing, anyway. I have no chance to speak English in my daily life, but If I can write English at natural speed, I'll be able to talk to native speakers naturally, I believe.

Oh, before I forget, if you post your comments in Japanese, I also feel happy. So feel free to leave comments in Japanese. When I read your Japanese comments, I'm so glad to know that you read my piece so carefully and that you understood what I want to say.

As I said above, the chief aim of my blog is to make myself understood in English. Your comments, in English or even in Japanese, teach me the fact that you've read my piece carefully & closely. That's my pleasure. Your comments make me so happy.

Oh, I'm not trying to invite your comments. If you just read my pieces, I feel so happy. Now I can feel someone's reading my blog. So I don't feel lonely. I can feel you anytime, anywhere on my blog.

Thank you for visiting & reading my blog, dear readers.




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