[YuriTokoro]

Hi!
Would you correct my English, please?


"When we start eating."

I’d like to know what you say when you start eating. We say “Itadakimasu”.
The direct translation is like “I’m eating.”, but it also means “Thank you” to Gods, the farmers, the fishermen, the cooker and the other people involved. (When you are a guest, you say the words mainly to the host.)
I can’t eat before saying “Itadakimasu”.
When I stayed with an American family, I had difficulty to start eating. I hadn’t heard what to say it in English, and I don’t know it still now. My Japanese-English dictionary doesn’t have the phrase.
When we finish eating, we say “Gochisousamadeshita”, which means, “Thank you for a wonderful meal”. (My dictionary says so.) Can I say it every time I finish eating? Wouldn’t I sound strange? What do you say?
Thank you!