I wrote "Modern Japanese is mixture of the traditional Japanese "やまとことば", classical Chinese, and European languages." in a previous journal.(id:yagian:20110409:1302298443) Soseki Natsume "夏目漱石"(http://goo.gl/V9n1Y), who is though…

Recently I write journals on my weblog in both of English and Japanese. Although Japanese version of my journals isn’t a literal translation from English version, I try to make a close translation. It might be useful for learners of Japane…

I was listening to the latest Keisuke Kuwata's cd "Musicman" on my way to my office. I am not a big fan of his, but this cd made me realize that he was one of the most important rock musicians in the Japanese rock music history. In early 1…

I wrote a journal about cherry blossoms and spring. (http://goo.gl/2IGI6) This is a short and simple journal, but I tried to give it a deep meaning. In Japanese literature, cherry blossoms traditionally have symbolized beauty and death. Ch…

I have read a critic about Haruki Murakami's short story "Super-Frog Saves Tokyo" and this earthquake in The New York Times. ("Super-Frog" By JOEL LOVELL March 22, 2011 http://goo.gl/ZiS6k) "Super-Frog Saves Tokyo" is contained in his anth…

I talked with an Australian and a Chinese about multiculturalism and nationalism on lang-8 (http://lang-8.com/). The Australian wrote as follows. (http://goo.gl/lzlrw) Don't call us "foreigners". Since they are in Australia, maybe you thin…

I've finished reading Minae Mizumura's books "When Japanese Language Dies", "The Meaning of Reading in Japanese" and "The Meaning of Writing in Japanese". She thought of the meaning of reading and writing in Japanese as a local language an…

I've read Katsuya Sugawara's "Between English and Japanese". An international survey discovered that the competency of Japanese people in English language was lower than most other countries, so English education in Japanese public schools…

Recently I enjoy writing in English on my weblog and Twitter. Although I've written it before, trying to express what I mean in English is fun like solving a puzzle. It's fun to think work out which word best conveys what I mean and which …

I made Yahoo translate my Japanese journal into English in order to test how adequately Yahoo could translate (http://goo.gl/nJz0). The original text is here (id:yagian:20110126:1296032849), and the text translated into English by me is he…

I had my journal translated from English into Japanese by Mr. Google. the original text: id:yagian:20110126:1296033242 the translation by Google: id:yagian:20110126:1296046593 the translation by yagian: id:yagian:20110126:1296032849 Honest…

Recently I have tweeted in English and written journals on my weblog in English and Japanese. I have posted my journals on Lang-8 (http://goo.gl/fuyN), and native speakers have made many corrections to my journals. Most of these correction…

I listen to English as a Second Language Podcast (http://goo.gl/Qih6) in order to improve my listening comprehension. In the ESL Podcast they answer some questions from listeners. There are many questions about how to use similar words or …

Recently I am learning English and becoming interested in people who are in between different cultures. I have read stories of drifters from Japan to foreign countries in the Edo era and of diplomats coming to Japan from Europe at the end …

I am reading Ernest Satow's book "A Diplomat in Japan". It is very interesting. Ernest Satow was the first interpreter between English and Japanese. When he became an interpreter, there wasn't anyone who could speak both English and Japane…

I had studied in New York to learn English for three months. While I was there, I sent many letters by airmail (There wasn't e-mail and the internet! It took four or five days to send a letter from America to Japan. It is a story from the …

I exaggerated the title of this journal, but I have not used English in business and I don't think that I am "learning" English. I am just playing around with English without any goal. I am trying to increase the input and output of Englis…

I read the news that a new edition of “Huckleberry Finn” which replaces the word “nigger” to “slave” has been published by the New York Times. (http://nyti.ms/eIkby) I think that it is a very complicated problem. The editor who made the ne…

ウェブログの文章を書くとき、なるべく散文的で平易な文体で書こうと思っている。それでも、微妙なニュアンスを表現したくなる時もあり、レトリックを駆使することもある。 I try to write journals on my weblog in prosaic and simple text. Sometimes I w…

In my entry of New Year’s Day (id:yagian:20110101:1293808032) I linked a video in which Satchmo was singing “What a Wonderful World”. How wonderful his voice is! I can’t look away from his deep smile. He lived in the American South where r…

Today is the very last day of this year. I will write about a reflection of this year and a plan for the next year. At first I will start from my jobs. I could not work well suffering melancholia in several years, so it is great for me to …

My company had given me a travel coupon for my twenty years' service, so I stayed at a luxury hot spring Japanese-style accommodation in Hakone. I wondered what kind of people stayed such a luxury accommodation, and most of customers were …

I had a dream last night. In it, I am in a tropical big river. It might be Amazon River. I board a small boat with a local guide. Water of the river is cloudy white, and I can't see under the water. The guide says that you can swim with a …

I have seen the movie "Norwegian Woods". Because I love Haruki Murakami’s novels, I can't miss a movie based on his novel. Because I love his novels and have my own impression and interpretation, I was worried that I would be disappointed …

Recently I am interested in writing English. (I don’t know how long it will continue.) I used to like to translate English to Japanese and Japanese to English. Fun of translating English to Japanese and Japanese to English is a little defe…