[Tsuwabuki]

1. 動名詞 is not a term used for Japanese grammar. It's a term created for the specific purpose of describing the -ing form of English verbs. The term is not even used for other Indo-European languages.

Well, yes, but robhol is using English, and as such I was explaining it in a way in which he could use it to ask for clarification from a Japanese speaker who is familiar with English parts of speech in Japanese.

2. What is 主事? The word you would have wanted to use would be 習字. Check the important (for romaji-users) difference in pronunciation.

Crap, didn't even catch that. This is why I shouldn't let my computer pick kanji for me without reading it over! I know what the kanji should have been. I just didn't bother to read over my post.

3. スケト　＞　スケート. Even with that correction, Japanese speakers still wouldn't say スケートをすることを楽しみます in any natural settings. (English classes aren't natural settings as we are forced to use "strange" Japanese for translation purposes, in case that's where you're coming from.) 「スケート」 alread has the meaning "skating" as well. We would just say スケートが好きです or　大好きです.　

Eh. Let's chalk up the lack of the dash to my forgetting to add it. Even if I double the え my system does not automatically create a dash, I have to manually add it.

As for the sentence example above, I have never used it nor heard it used. I was trying to use a sentence I constructed out of thin air to show how the parts of speech can work together. In this case just grammar, not style. You are certainly correct about the style, but in this case, that wouldn't have explained the すること usage in a way that could be equated with the English gerund, which is the most common usage I hear in daily life.

Feel free to clarify any mistakes I make, as they are going to be largely due to my failure to use my Japanese keyboard effectively. However, you will notice I don't ask questions of others; I am quite content with my own command of Japanese and find that I get enough practice without using it here!