Hi, Kumiko-san!

Thanks for the New Year's card. You know, I think I enjoy reading your message about your English learning every New Year's Day.

Now, I know how you feel. It's quite natural for you to feel uneasy about your progress. And, Kumiko-san, my advice is simple: Just take it easy! That's all. Got it?

Hahaha. Using English is not your profession, right? Then, you should just relax and try to enjoy learning it. Learning English could be a blissful hobby. It could be your lifelong hobby. Wow, doesn't it sound great? I envy you.

When you don't know what to do, just read, read, and read! I think reading is the most useful and important skill. There are enormous amount of good reading materials on the Web.

Kumiko-san, you are one of the best English learners that I've ever seen. Yes, in a lot of ways. So, I hope you will keep studying. And I'm always here to answer your questions, and, possibly more importantly, listen to your whining.

P.S. Thanks also for giving me a chance to update this blog. ;)

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I was teaching the "i" sound to sixth graders. After letting them practice how to pronounce "ink, milk, six," I picked on a student to write those words on the blackboard. He confidently came up to the board and wrote, "enk, melk, sex."

Well, here come Nancy and Sally again:

Nancy, May 18

My way of spending holidays, I get up at 10 a.m., wash may face, put on my clothes and do my hair. And around 11 a.m., I go for a walk with my camera. I have a camera. I take pictures of plants and the sky while I walk. After I come home, I make lunch.

How do you spend your holidays?

Sally (^o^)☆,

I like rock. I like BAWDIES and ONE OK ROCK the best in Japanese bands. I like Roy the best in BAWDIES. Rock music is cool and I can be fine. So, rock is important for me.

These days it rains a lot. We can't have club activities. Next week there will be a tennis match, but I can't practice. I'm very worried. It rained a little today, too. Moreover it was so cold that I wanted to go home.

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OK, this blog is still ....alive.

Now I've noticed a striking fact. That is, it's been ten years since I started this blog! You know, ten years is a special period of time. We say 「十年一昔」(junen hito-mukashi), which means a decade is a long time, making epochmaking changes. So... uh, I think I'd better do something special to celebrate this. Something what? Hmmmmn. Oh, posting a new entry itself has become a very special thing for this blog, folks! Come on ....

Well, I remember a student who wrote an English diary, and I posted some of her entries here ten years ago. Yes, ten years ago. That's it! Isn't it a good idea to do that again?

So, I let (not "made", believe me) two of my high school sophomores write English diaries. The two girls are Sally and Nancy. (Haha, they are nicknames, of course.) Here are their works. Enjoy!

Sally, April 27

I went to school today. Friday is the last day of the week. So I try harder than usual. (^o^)/ The English class and lunch are the most fun. Today's lunch was LocoMoco!! (Note: She made it herself) After school, my club activity is until 7 o'clock. So I'm very tired. But, tennis is fun. These days I love the club activity. (´^ω^｀)★ Spring vacation is coming near. I'm going to go shopping in Asahikawa city. Very fun!

Nancy, April 27

This week is finished at last. These days I wake up at five and go out at seven. I went to the morning practice of the Japanese-archery club. The reason is the high school Japanese-archery tournament preliminary is near. The practice is hard every day. But there are funny members in the club, so I can practice hard. Today, I went to school. I don't like math, and there was a math class. Only lunch is pleasure for me.

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Fifth-graders:

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My wife is from Nagoya. So, she is a native speaker of Nagoya-ben.

She talks to me in Nagoya dialect and accent. That hasn't changed a bit since we first met in Nagoya.

After living in Hokkaido for more than quarter of a century, she has acquired Hokkaido-ben quite a bit.

Sometimes I feel she is a more skilled user of Hokkaido dialect than I am. You know, she must have a gift for languages.

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There are a lot of places to see in Hokkaido. And they are not restricted to scenic beauties.

Well, I've noticed recently how little I know about the history of Shari and Hokkaido. Learning about it has become a matter of our interest these days.

奥行臼駅逓

奥行臼駅(Okuyukiusu Eki)

And we drove to Nemuro, the easternmost city in Japan.

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網走オホーツク流氷祭り: Abashiri Okhotsk Ice Floes Festival

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Happy New Year to you all!

Probably the most-read entry on my blog would be "Yoroshiku".

I just started tweeting as my New Year's something new to do. So, Yoroshiku!

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Even though I'm a (supposed-to-be) Buddhist, Christmas is definitely something special. Yes, something white that I dream of every year.

The other day, I let the students in the fifth-graders' class listen to the song "Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town." Interestingly, the words "better watch out" sounded like "belly macho" to them. So they were singing merrily, and jokingly, "You belly macho, belly macho... ."

Merry Christmas!

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斜里
shari: a town in Hokkaido, Japan

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