[YuriTokoro]

Originally Posted by sarvodaya

ゆりさん、こんばんは。

覚さん、こんばんは。

I am still here! Sorry for disappearing, I have been buried under work and a couple of other matters, but I have now tunnelled to the surface and I am poking my head out...

Your expressions seem to be very unique.
Do British people usually speak like you?

Hmm... I didn't know this. So does the "women's way" come from the -て form with ね added to the end?

Sometimes, yes.
However, there are some other ways to make women’s way.

For example:
Could you pass me the salt, please?：
≒（Both men and women）　「塩（しお）をとってくださいませんか」「塩� ��とっていただけますか」
（a little less polite）　「塩をとってくれませんか」「塩をとってくだ さい」
(women sometimes)　「塩をとってくださいません？」

Pass me the salt!：
≒（both）「塩をとって」
（a little politer than　「塩をとって」）　「塩をとってくれる？」
（men: a little politer than 「塩をとって」）　「塩を(とって)くれないか」
（men）　「塩を(とって)くれ」
(women)　「塩を(とって)ちょうだい」「塩を(とって)くれ� ��い？」「お塩ちょうだい」「お塩とってくれる？」

Salt!：
≒（Both）「塩!」

I think there are too many expressions.
So, at first, you should learn only polite expressions. Otherwise, you would go insane.

I know that you have some other expressions like “I was wondering if you could pass me the salt” or something, but the Japanese language is a little more complicated.

You don’t need to learn all the expressions I have written above.
I just want you to know there are too many expressions in Japanese.

By the way, Professor Sashimister advised me that you shouldn’t try to learn too many kanji within a short period of time, or you would get fed up with the Japanese language.
So, don’t care kanji I write for a while. I will write in hiragana or katakana too. I just hope kanji will be familiar to you.

Wow, thanks for this. Once I learn this the music will help me to remember the new words.

I just want you to listen to the Japanese pronunciation many times.

Once, I had an American friend. (He is not my friend any more, I think.)
He started studying Japanese and came to Japan for a week.
A cat is “neko” in Japanese, but he said it “neekou”, shoes is “kutsu”, but he said “kuutsuu”, so I didn’t understand what he said at all.
I just want you to get used to Japanese sound. I think you understand what I mean. After you listen to the sound a lot, you say it easily.
By the way, he(my ex-friend) was an attorney and very sure he would learn Japanese soon. However, he seems to have threw up Japanese and become dislike Japan.

I have toiled over it, and I think I have translated the first verse:

In life there is comfort; there is hardship too,

Great!!

After tears a rainbow will appear.

Genius! You are talented!

In order to proceed along the path, walk and step firmly.

I'm really not sure about those last two lines. I know あるいて is "walking", ゆく is "to proceed" or "to move forward", しっかり is "firmly", じぶん is "self", みち is "way" or "path" [through life], を means "along" and ふみしめて is "step firmly", but I'm really not sure how it all fits together...!

Japanese lyrics are very difficult to translate into English, and yet you have done excellently.
あるいてゆくcan has many meanings. In this song it means like “carry on living”.
ふみしめて can be step firmly, but the Japanese sentence has something more, you know, this song is about a life, not just some roads.

So I would translate these two lines as:
Carry on steadily
Keeping your foot firmly on your way
(This is liberal translation, thought)

However, my English is really bad. I’m not sure my English makes sense.
Frankly speaking, I can’t tell your translation’s hidden shades of meanings or something.
Your's must be really great.

I will tackle the next two verses next time.

人生　涙と笑顔あり（じんせい　なみだとえがおあり）
そんなに悪くは　ないもんだ　（そんなにわるくは　な いもんんだ）
なんにもしないで　生きるより　（なんにもしないで　 いきるより）
何かを求めて　生きようよ　（なにかをもとめて　いき ようよ）

Thank you for reposting my comment, now it can be seen properly; but what I meant was that my editorial comment:

was left in the body of your composition; it just needs to be removed.

Thank you! I forgot.

Kanji - Tangorin.com Japanese Dictionary

This seems to be very good.
When you study kanji, you need to know the stroke orders to write them. The stroke orders are very important.
Still, you shouldn’t study kanji too hard for now.

I should get a proper dictionary once I start using kanji regularly...

You don’t need to buy one now. The web site will do.

Originally Posted by sarvodaya

I wasn't really trying to argue and prove that multiculturalism is decisively the best course, but merely to explain what I believe is the thinking behind multiculturalism as a plausible premise. We can have a bit of a to and fro debate if you like though!

Thank you for correcting my English. I will study where you’ve corrected.

If you feel like saying something about my comment, I will accept your challenge!!
However, I’ve never learned how to debate at all. Most Japanese schools don’t teach it. In Japanese society, it is supposed that the silent type is better than silver tongue.
In addition, I don’t even know what real debate is. So, when you find my comment is strange, tell me, please.

Perhaps it's different in Japan, but in the west we refer to the Japanese policy of isolationism during the Edo period as the "bamboo curtain". Here are some examples:

I didn’t know this. The dictionary says bamboo curtain is of china after WW2. I believe that most Japanese people haven’t heard the word.
Now, we are talking in English, then I respect your way, so OK, you can call it Bamboo curtain.

Of course this is also used to refer to the isolationist policy of communist China, so it can be confusing. I think you call it 鎖国 or 海禁.

It’s鎖国. I’ve never heard the word海禁. This may be Chinese?


New Expressions:

You say 「いただきます」when you start eating.
This 「いただきます」is usually translated as “Let’s eat!”, but this expression is not only a call, but an expression of thanks to the cook, the person who has afforded the food, the gods, the nature and all the things which have produced the food.
So you should say this with a sense of gratitude.
The person who has made the food also says this.

Besides, いただきます has many other meanings.
“いただきます”の検索結果（290 件）：英辞郎 on the Web：スペースアルク

You should learn this as a saying when you start eating today.

When you finish eating, you say 「ごちそうさまでした」, and its literal translation is “That was a delicious meal”.
When you say it casually, it’s 「ごちそうさま」.
“ごちそうさま”の検索結果（11 件）：英辞郎 on the Web：スペースアルク
You should say it with a sense of gratitude too.

After you say ごちそうさまでした, the cook replies;
「おそまつさまでした」
そまつ（粗末） means meager, but when the food was not meager, the cook still says this.
I believe this original was;
When you have guests and cooked for them, you say 「おそまつさまでした」meaning “Don’t mind about the food. You don’t need to repay. You can forget.”
These days, this expression has become daily words.

それでは、日本語、がんばってください。Take it easy!
ゆり