Since I'm shorter than average, I usually have to take a hem up. Many denim shops offer their customers free hemming service.
The staff told me that longer length look my legs longer, but I didn't like the length as long as touch the floor.
By the way, capri pants and sabrina pants are popular recently. Some say capri pants are three quarter length pants, and sabrina pants are the length between capri pants and ankle length. But they are not definite.
I bought subrina pants by mail order shopping last year, but I wore them only a few times because I was not sure how much I should have cut the hem.

* I'm sorry for my late replies. As I wrote before, both of my PCs don't work well. So I can't use them as often as I want in my house.
Bear with me, please.

日本語訳はこちら
　↓

▽Open more.

裾上げはいつもジーンズショップでしてもらっています。丈が長い方が足が長く見えるからと、ヒールの高さも見込んで裾上げをするのが最近の主流のようですね。
でも靴を脱いだときに床にこするほど長いのは好きじゃないので、いつも少し短めにしてもらいます。
ところで、最近はカプリやサブリナといった短めの丈のパンツも人気のようで街角でよく見かけます。
カプリは7分丈でサブリナは8分くらいらしいですが、明確な基準はないようです。
私も昨年1着通販で購入しました。でもほとんど着ませんでしたね。くるぶしよりは短いのでそのままでもサブリナか？という気もするし、なんか変な丈だなぁとも思うし。
はき慣れないだけなんでしょうか。

※最近コメントの返事が遅くてすみません。
家のパソコンは1台は瀕死状態（苦笑）、もう1台もあまり調子が良くない上に夫と共有なので思うように使えないです。新しいPC欲しいなぁ。

Close.△

You must be surprised about Japanese prime minister Yasuo Fukuda's sudden resignation.
He was criticized about lack of leadership, some said he spoke as if they were not his business that managing a lot of problems in Japan.
I didn't think that he's decided to resign on correct timing, though, I felt sympathy of his announcement at the first time. I didn't see tears is his eyes, but I saw his sorrow. I believed that he had wanted to lead Japan to change better, but what opposition parties had done was only drag him down. The opposition parties' aim had been becoming the leading party, but they hadn't wanted Japan to be better.
I thank Fukuda for his efforts.

日本語訳はこちら
　　↓

▽Open more.

福田首相の突然の辞任には驚かされました。
官房長官だった時には人気だったひょうひょうとしたキャラクターは、首相就任後には「人ごとのように話す」と批判されるようになっていました。
最後の会見ではさすがに無念さが表情に表れていましたね。恨み節でしかないとは思うけど、積年の問題の処理に追われた、野党は反対するばかりで処理が進まなかった、というのは共感できるものがありました。
1年間野党がやったのは本当に足を引っ張ることだけでしたし。（福島瑞穂は変なキャッチコピーをつけて悦に入るだろうと思ったら、期待通りでしたね）
結局リーダーの器ではなかったのかもしれませんが、一生懸命頑張ってくれたと思っていますよ＞福田さん

Close.△

When I woke up early morning of last Saturday, my husband wasn't at home.
The day before the Saturday, he went out to dinner with his coworkers. He had told me that he wasn't supposed to drink so he could have driven home.
He sometimes arrives home about two or three am. when he drinks, but he never arrives after six am.
I thought that he probably drank and slept in his car.
However, it was heavy rain on the Friday. There could have been a car accident?
I sent him an e-mail, but I didn't get any response. Then I called him. After I heard some ringing tone, he answered the phone.
As the same as my imagination, he slept in his car, but he wasn't near the restaurant. He was taken by a Daiko, driving service, and they parked the car in a parking space in our apartment!
I had been worried him been in an accident or leaving me while he was at one minute away.

日本語訳はこちら
　↓

▽Open more.

土曜の朝、目が覚めると夫がいなかった。
金曜は会社の同僚と食事に行ったけど、飲まないで帰ってくると言っていたのに。飲みに行けば時々2時3時ということはあっても朝6時まで帰らなかったのは初めてだ。
多分ちょっと飲んで、車の中で寝ているんだろう。でも金曜はものすごい雨だった。事故にでもあったんじゃないだろうか？
どこにいるのかとメールを送ったが返事がない。運転中かもしれないと、もう30分待ってから電話をかけた。
しばらくの呼び出し音の後、眠そうな声が聞こえてきた。やっぱり車で寝てたか（笑
ところが予想に反して、彼が寝ていたのはレストランの駐車場じゃなかった。結局お酒を飲んだので代行を呼んでアパートの駐車場まで運転してもらったそうだ。
つまり、夫が寝ていたのはアパートの駐車場！
私が事故か家出か（笑）と心配していた本人は、目と鼻の先で寝ていたのでした。ﾁｬﾝﾁｬﾝ

Close.△

The usage of singular nouns and plural nouns is really difficult for me.
Some of mistakes are caused by my carelessness. I forget putting on "a" or "s" with the nouns, but many times the answers are opposite what I thought.
For example, "pajamas" is plural, they have top and bottoms. That's easy to imagine.
"jeans" is plural, they have a right feet and a left feet. We can't buy only the right feet, though it's acceptable.
According to those example, I guessed that "suits" must be plural, but it was a error.
"software" is uncountable, but "OS" is countable.
Maybe there are some rules which I can't understand.

日本語訳はこちら
　↓

▽Open more.

可算・不可算名詞が苦手です。
うっかりミスも多いですが、自信を持って選択しても間違えていることがよくあります。
たとえば「パジャマ」は複数形なんですよね。実際上と下に分かれているし、これは想像しやすいです。
「ジーンズ」は右足と左足で複数らしいです。右足だけ売っているのはみたことないですが、まぁそういうものだと覚えました。
この考えでいくと「スーツ」は当然複数ですよね？形状はパジャマと全く同じですから。
え？違うの？　違うらしいです。なぜか「a suits」。
「ソフトウェアー」は数えられないのに「OS」は数えられたり。
なんか、むちゃくちゃ難しいんですがぁ（涙

Close.△

I'm allowed to work dressed casually. I usually wear a cotton long skirt or jeans to work. They are nice!
A conference was held in our company today and I helped to conduct it. I didn't have to wear suits but I was supposed to be neat. I had planned to wear a knee-length skirt. I rarely wear stockings recently but I should wear them today.
But I didn't.
I chose a long skirt and buckle-sandals with bare feet. I get used to casual wear completely, and I can't bear with formal wear any more.

日本語訳はこちら
　↓

▽Open more.

勤務先は、ジーンズでもOKなゆるゆるの職場です(笑
私も普段は綿のスカートかジーンズで出勤しているのですが、今日は会議の手伝いがあり、来客も多いのでちょっとはましな格好をしなければいけませんでした。
膝丈のスカートをはくつもりだったけど、スカートはともかく、しばらくぶりにストッキングをはこうとしたらなんか嫌になっちゃってｗ
結局、素足にロングスカート＆バックルサンダルでごまかしちゃいました。
カジュアルな服装に慣れ切っちゃうと、もうスーツとか着られないよねぇ（笑

Close.△

There are two PCs in my home and both of its OS are XP.
Two of them are in a bad condition, but I'm hesitant buying a new one. Because of the bad repute about the latest OS, Vista.

Microsoft has announced that they won't support the previous OS, XP, in some years. Even so, many customers don't seem jump at Vista.
Some say that the company will launch the next version of an OS soon. Then Vista will be out of date. Because they did the same thing when ME's repute and sales were poor.

Has anyone used Vista? How is it?
Do you think I have to wait to buy new PC until the new version of an OS on sale?

日本語訳はこちら
　↓

▽Open more.

家にはＸＰのパソコンが2台あります。
2台とも調子が悪いのですが、Vistaの評判があまり良くないので購入を躊躇しています。

もうすぐXPのサポートを中止するんですよね？　それでもVistaに乗り換える風潮ではないようです。
MEの販売が不振だった時に、すぐWindows ２０００を発売してMEを世代遅れにしてしまった。今度もVistaの次のバージョンをすぐに発売するんじゃないかという憶測もあるようで。

全くPCが使えないのも困りますし。
さぁ。どうしましょう。

Close.△

CORRECTED
When you cook pasta, timing is important.
You have to add the sauce to the noodles and serve it as soon as possible. Otherwise, the noodle will become too soft.
I cooked carbonara spaghetti last weekend. I put drypasta into boiling water and set a timer.
A few minutes before the pasta started to boil, I started mixing the sauce. The timing was supposed to be perfect!
However, I couldn't find any cheese in my refrigerator. The timer was ringing. My husband was starving.
If I went to the shop, it would take another 15 min, and the noodles would become too soft.
What should I do?
I gathered my courage and asked him if he could wait a little longer. He told me that it was OK to eat the cheese-lacking pasta.
Even though we finished up every plate that I cooked, it was the worst dinner I've ever cooked.



ORIIGINAL
When you cook pasta, timing is important.
You have to add sauce on the noodle and serve it as soon as possible. Otherwise, the noodle will become too soft.
I cooked carbonara spaghetti last weekend. I put dried pasta into boiled water and set a timer.
A few minutes before the pasta boiled I started mixing sauce. The timing was supposed to be perfect!
However, I couldn't find cheese in my refrigerator. The timer was ringing. My husband was almost starving.
If I go to a shop, it'll take another 15 min, and the noodle will be too soft.
What should I do?
I took courage and asked him if he could wait a little longer. He told me that it was OK to eat the cheese-lacked pasta.
We finished up every plate that I cooked. But it was the worst dinner I've ever cooked.

日本語訳はこちら
　↓

▽Open more.

週末カルボナーラを作りました。
パスタが茹で上がるタイミングを見計らってソースを作り始めます。のびたパスタなんて食べたくないもんね。
手際が大事なのだ。

ところが、冷蔵庫のどこを探しても粉チーズが見つからない。
キッチンタイマーが鳴って麺は茹で上がった。
これからチーズを買いに行ったら15分はかかる。その間に麺はまずくなるだろうし、夫も飢えちゃう！
だけどメイン料理のメインの味がなかったらどうにもならないよね（涙
恐る恐る夫に買い物に行くと告げたらそのままで良いよと。

いいやつ（ﾎﾛﾘ
何も言わないで全部食べてくれたけど、チーズの入っていないカルボナーラは一二を争う失敗作だっったなぁ。

Close.△

I could have a seat on a rapid train this morning.
Many workers would take their Obon holiday this week.
Some Japanese Buddhists believe that their ancestors' spirit would have come back to their house during this season. And families who live away from their hometown will return to their family place to visiting graves.
So the Obon holiday isn't one of the public holidays, though, a lot of companies close to business.
Obon is one of the biggest reunion holidays in Japan the same as a New Years holiday.
By the way, I decided that I won't take summer (or Obon) holiday this year.
The price of transportation tickets will rise and a lot of place will be crowded.
If I go to the office, I'll be able to use free air-conditioner and the business will not so busy that I can write this diary.
Working in the Obon holiday is great!
It's not sour grapes, right?

日本語訳はこちら
　↓

▽Open more.

今週がお盆休みの人、多いんでしょうね。今日はいつもは座れない快速電車に座って出勤しました。
勤務先は特にお盆休みはないんですが、この時期に有給を使う人も多くて、社内もいつもより静かに感じます。
今は仕事も忙しくないし休んでもいいんですが、どこへ行っても混んでいるだろうし、高いしね。冷房の効いた事務所で日記でも書いているほうがいいや（笑
ま、負け惜しみじゃないもん。。



Close.△

Learners of English sometimes discuss about the differences among British English, American English and Australian English.
I rarely care about them. When I can't understand the English, it would be caused by only my listening skill.
I have to learn various pronunciation.

The same can be said for learners of Japanese. There are many dialects in Japan and to learn some of them is necessary for advanced learners.
TV is one of the best way that you can hear various dialects and mimic them.

But this movie won't work!
Don't mimic their pronunciation!




日本語訳はこちら
　↓

▽Open more.

時々、イギリス英語、アメリカ英語などの優位性を話題にする人がいます（○○英語は勉強する意味がない、とか）。本人が特定の国の人としか会話しないと決めているならそれでいいですが、私には勉強不足の言い訳にしか思えないんですよねぇ

同じことは日本語学習者にも言えるわけで。
標準語のほかにも特に関西弁なんかはあちこちで耳にするので、上級者を目指すならある程度理解できることは必要ではないでしょうか。

最近ではテレビや映画のほかにインターネットでたくさんの動画が見れるので、バラエティにとんだ発音聞いて真似するのもいい勉強になりますよね。

ところでリンク先の動画はアメリカで人気のドラマ「ヒーローズ」から“日本人”のセリフです。
でもこの発音はマネしちゃだめですよ（笑

Close.△

I had a digital perm last weekend.
The process is different to a normal perm. The digital perm uses hot rod, so it's also called hot perm.
Since Ebi-chan, a famous model, got the perm, it became popular among girls.
A hair designer offered me the perm. The cost was higher than the normal one, but the wave'll keep about six months. That'll be nice.

The wave was looser and more natural than the one I had last time.
I liked it, but I found the wave was getting disappear in only a few days.
I have been going to the hair salon for years, and I didn't want to have any problem between him. But I have to make him to reform it.
I called him and he kindly accepted my request. I was really relieved.
Please make me Ebi-chan this time!

日本語訳はこちら
　↓

▽Open more.

週末行った美容院で、デジタルパーマというのを薦められました。
ホットロッドを使って巻く、別名ホットパーマとも呼ばれるそのパーマは、モデルのエビちゃんがかけて以来人気なんだそうです。
従来のパーマよりも料金は高いのですが半年ぐらいもつとのこと。

熱いので根元から巻けない反面、変なボリュームがでなくて自然な感じ。
気に入ったんだけど、かかりが悪かったみたいですでに取れかかってきてます。。
半年のつもりのパーマが1週間で取れたらもったいないですよね。
いやな顔されるかなと心配しつつ、もう一度かけなおして欲しいと電話をしたら、快く了承してくれてホッとしました。

よかったぁ。今度こそエビちゃんにしてね！（違

Close.△