Help with notes please?

[edG]

Hi!
My name is Roald, I am from South Africa. I was an English teacher in Japan for a year teaching at five elementary schools. I have been studying Japanese on and off for the past 2 and a half years or so from books and CDs and now a little from experience in Japan.

I am currently in the process of replying to many many notes that were given to me from some of my elementary school students back in Japan when I left. I am not a 100% sure about how correct some of the sentences are that I am planning on using so I thought it would be a good idea to ask around first so if you are willing to help it will be greatly appreciated! Please keep in mind that the students are still quite young and not all of them know kanji all that well yet... Let us start at the beginning:

I wrote "おてがみありがとうね。" to thank them for the notes first. Would "tegami" be appropriate? Most of the messages they gave me where just little notes or small decorated letters. Also would the "ne" at the end really be appropriate? Also how could I say thank you for the letter and picture (drawing) instead?

Next does this make 100% sense? "えいごがすきになりましたよかったです。" (to say I am happy that you started to like English)

Also "えいごがたのしんだよかったです。" (to say that I am happy that you enjoyed English)

Also "いつまでもがんばってください。" (Please always do your best)

Also "バスケとおにごっこをしてくれて、ありがとう、とて� �もたのしかったですよ。" (to say thank you for playing basketball and onigokko with me, it was lots of fun)

Also "わたしもにほんごをがんばります。" (to say I will do my best to learn Japanese too)

And "ありがとう、カメラマンをがんばります。" (to say thank you, I will do my best as a photographer)

And a more challenging one, one of my students wrote "外国の人にあたらせっきょくてきにはなしかけてみた� �いとおもいます。" and I would like to reply that it is great that he has found interest in foreigners. Or maybe any other suggestions for replies?

And finally "しんせつなことばありがとう。" (to say thank you for your kind words).

Thank you for any input or help in advance! 本当に感謝しています。

[Nagoyankee]

Originally Posted by edG

I wrote "おてがみありがとうね。" to thank them for the notes first. Would "tegami" be appropriate? Most of the messages they gave me where just little notes or small decorated letters. Also would the "ne" at the end really be appropriate? Also how could I say thank you for the letter and picture (drawing) instead?

With kids, you can use おてがみ even if it consists of one phrase.

Go ahead and use ね, but do drop the う for the best balance with the casual ね. Keep the　う if you aren't using the ね.　

Letter and drawing: えとおてがみありがとう。

Originally Posted by edG

Next does this make 100% sense? "えいごがすきになりましたよかったです。" (to say I am happy that you started to like English)

Close! すきになりました　＞　すきになって or すきになってくれて

Originally Posted by edG

Also "えいごがたのしんだよかったです。" (to say that I am happy that you enjoyed English)

Same mistake as above. たのしんだ　＞　たのしんでくれて

Originally Posted by edG

Also "いつまでもがんばってください。" (Please always do your best)

Perfect.

Originally Posted by edG

Also "バスケとおにごっこをしてくれて、ありがとう、とて� �もたのしかったですよ。" (to say thank you for playing basketball and onigokko with me, it was lots of fun)

Nearly perfect. The first と ＞　や (assuming you played other games as well. If you only played the two mentioned, your sentence is perfect.)

Originally Posted by edG

Also "わたしもにほんごをがんばります。" (to say I will do my best to learn Japanese too)

Excellent.

Originally Posted by edG

And "ありがとう、カメラマンをがんばります。" (to say thank you, I will do my best as a photographer)

Kinda slangy but okay. Kids (under 11 or 12) actually would say something like that.

Originally Posted by edG

And a more challenging one, one of my students wrote "外国の人にあたらせっきょくてきにはなしかけてみた� �いとおもいます。" and I would like to reply that it is great that he has found interest in foreigners. Or maybe any other suggestions for replies?

I'm not you but you could say 外国人にきょうみをもってくれてうれしいです, better yet, 外国のことにきょうみをもってくれてうれしいです。

Originally Posted by edG

And finally "しんせつなことばありがとう。" (to say thank you for your kind words).

Nearly perfect. Place を　right after ことば. Another way is to place a comma after ことば.

[edG]

Wow thanks Nagoyankee! I really appreciate the quick reply! Everything you said makes perfect sense, I always struggle to just get the finishing touches right to make it sound more natural and I think you have completed it for me perfectly!! With this I feel happy to finish and send off my notes.

[aki11]

I wrote "おてがみありがとうね。" to thank them for the notes first. Would "tegami" be appropriate?
-Yes. It's correct and appropriate. also the "ne" at the end is. It adds a feeling of kindness to the word "ありがとう". At least I feel so.

Also how could I say thank you for the letter and picture (drawing) instead?
-You can say "てがみやえをどうもありがとう。"

Next does this make 100% sense? "えいごがすきになりましたよかったです。" (to say I am happy that you started to like English)
-"えいごをすきになってくれてうれしいです。"

Also "えいごがたのしんだよかったです。" (to say that I am happy that you enjoyed English)
-"えいごをたのしんでもらえてよかったです。"

Also "いつまでもがんばってください。" (Please always do your best)
-"これからもがんばってください。"

Also "バスケとおにごっこをしてくれて、ありがとう、とて� �もたのしかったですよ。" (to say thank you for playing basketball and onigokko with me, it was lots of fun)
-There's no need to fix!

Also "わたしもにほんごをがんばります。" (to say I will do my best to learn Japanese too)
-"わたしもがんばってにほんごをべんきょうしようとお� �います。" (I think this is more natural expression for Japanese.)

And "ありがとう、カメラマンをがんばります。" (to say thank you, I will do my best as a photographer)
-"ありがとう。カメラマンとしてがんばります。"

And a more challenging one, one of my students wrote "外国の人にあたらせっきょくてきにはなしかけてみた� �いとおもいます。" and I would like to reply that it is great that he has found interest in foreigners. Or maybe any other suggestions for replies?
-"外国の人にきょうみをもったのは、すばらしいとおも� �ます。"　(I'm not so confident.)

And finally "しんせつなことばありがとう。" (to say thank you for your kind words).
-"しんせつなことばをありがとう。"　

I wish this could be your help.

[edG]

Thank you so much for your reply aki11! Your input really makes a lot of sense, I admire how good and natural it sounds the way that you have reformulated my sentences! I am so happy right now that I found this forum, I really appreciate the input!!!

[KyleGoetz]

Originally Posted by edG

Thank you so much for your reply aki11! Your input really makes a lot of sense, I admire how good and natural it sounds the way that you have reformulated my sentences! I am so happy right now that I found this forum, I really appreciate the input!!!

Welcome to JF, edG!

[edG]

Thank you KyleGoetz!