Fri.,June 3rd

It was sunny day.

I have a lot of free time.

If she's not busy, I will ask go to the movies.

Every day I made a mistake.

But now I enjoying(←？）study English.

S

MatthewHi S,

It's great that you are writing every day. Remember, your sentences are on the left. My corrections are on the right. The red parts are your mistakes. The orange parts are ways to make your English better.

Here are some study points:

1. Please remember "a": "It was a sunny day"; "It was a good day"; "It was a cold day"...etc. You need "a" in these phrases.
2. You should not call your girlfriend "she", or you will be in trouble! You should say "my girlfriend" or use her name.
3. You have to use "I am ~ing" for the continuous (進行形). The continuous in English is "be" + "-ing". For example, you can say "I am sitting"; "She is watching"; "They are eating".
4. When you use "enjoy", then the sentence is SVO. E.g. "I enjoy tennis" or "I enjoy school". But, when you want to use an action, you need to change the verb into 動名詞 (also "-ing": "studying", "eating", "playing"). So you can then say "I enjoy playing tennis" or "I enjoy going to school". If you add the continuous, then you can say "She is enjoying playing tennis" and "They are enjoying going to school". So: I am enjoying studying English".

Have a nice night.

Matthew

Hi Poligo,

Please check my diary.

Year end party　(忘年会）

I'm going to have a year end party with my co-workers in my office. There were about thirty employees in our office. Most employees will join the party, so it will be a big party.

By the way, year end party can be translated "忘年会”. The meaning is that "年（1年）を忘れる会”, we can forget everything, especially some bad things what happened the year at the party. In other words, it means that we soak ourselves and become like an amnesia. After year end party we can welcome a new year with fresh feeling.

Apparently, some foreigners feel funny when they saw the Japanese drunken office workers, who are sleeping at a station, outside of a building and and some cold places. This month we will be able to see a lot of drunken people who are sleeping in the cold weather.

G

MatthewHi G,

Thanks for writing your diary again today. I am sure your English will be great soon!

Your orginal is on the left. My corrections are on the right. The red parts are your mistakes. The orange parts are ways to make your English better.

Please be careful and don't drink too much. I don't want you to sleep in the cold. Here are some comments on your English:

1. Usually we talk about "people from work" or "friends from work" when we are talking casually. "Co-workers" sounds unfriendly and "employees" is too business-like. These words are OK though.
2. If you say there were 30 employees, then it sounds like someone got fired!
3. It is better to say "come to a party", not "join".
4. When you want to translate something and talk about what it means in another language, you can use the pattern: "___ is ___ in [LANGUAGE]". For example, "Ciao" is "Goodbye" in Italian; "Merci" is "Thanks" in French.
5. It is OK to say "soak ourselves in drink...", but maybe we would say "have a few drinks to forget the year". But your image of amnesia is a good one!
6. Start with a "clean slate" is a good expression. We also say "wipe the slate clean". A slate was a kind of small blackboard that people used in the classroom. If you have a "clean slate" it means you have no trouble or problems from before. When you "wipe the slate clean" it means you reset a situation.

This is a good diary entry. Well done! You have a little trouble with word order. Please study the correct sentences. If you have any questions, leave a comment.

I hope you enjoy the party season OK!

Matthew