息子のジョセフ（24歳）は赤ちゃんをかかえこむ。「抱え込む？」

Vocabulary

• 息子「むすこ」my son
• 〜歳「〜さい」〜years old
• 赤ちゃん「あかちゃん」baby (literally, the little red one)

Generally Speaking

My son, Joseph, (age 24) holding the new baby. Is there a special word for holding or carrying a baby in Japanese? I keep getting different results from my online dictionary.

一番若い孫は2003年7月18日に生まれました。

男の子です。名前は「Daniel」です。

大きな赤ん坊です。

病院に生まれませんでしたが、家に生まれました。

写真は母が左手で、おばさんが取っています。

Generally Speaking

The youngest grandchild was born on July 18th, 2003. It's a boy! His name is Daniel. He is a big baby. (He weighed 10 pounds 7 ounces at birth.) He wasn't born in a hospital; he was born at home. In the photo, his mother, my sister Jenny, is on the left and his aunt, my sister Mary, is holding him.

両親は五十年前に結婚しました。

日曜日にパーティーがある。

七子供と十孫がいます。

今日ジョセフといしょうに[Las Vegas] へ行きます。

Vocabulary

• 両親「りょうしん」my parents
• 五十年「ごじゅうねん」50 years
• 前に「まえに」ago (literally, before)
• 結婚する「けっこんする」to marry

Generally Speaking

Fifty years ago, my parents were married. This Sunday we're having a party for them. Their seven children and ten grandchildren will be there. Today, JQS and I are flying home to Las Vegas.

私たちはGrasmereからEasedale Tarn までハイキングしていました。

イギリスの英語はアメリカの英語とちょっと違っている。

私はクンブリアにたくさんことばがあるのをしりませんでした。たとえば、

• a fell: an alpine meadow
• fellwalking: to hike (walk) in the fells
• a tarn: a small, mountain lake
• a gill (or ghyll): a ravine
• a beck: a mountain stream, a creek
• a force: a waterfall

夏休みに英語を勉強するのがちょっと変と思いませんか。

Vocabulary

• 私たち「わたしたち」
• 英語 「えいご」the English language; English
• 違う「ちがう」to differ from
• 私「わたし」I
• 夏休み「なつやすみ」summer vacation
• 勉強する「べんきょうする」to study
• 変（な）「へん」strange
• 〜と思う「〜と思う」to think that〜

Generally Speaking

Here we are hiking from Grasmere to Easedale Tarn. British English is a little different than American English. The Lake District, in Cumbria, has a lot of words that I didn't know. Don't you think it's a bit strange that I spent my summer vacation studying English?

こちらは夫の家族です。

左「で／に？]一番左が弟のリチャードと自分です。

私の前に夫の息子のシャンドンです。

シャンドンの後ろにリチャードの妻と息子です。

つぎは祖母です。

祖母のとなりに妹のカーチイーと息子のベンです。

後ろにカーチイーの夫のジェズです。

みぎに祖父です。

妹のジャネはいませんからオーストラリアに住んでいます。

夫はどこですか。写真を作っています。

Vocabulary

• 夫「おっと」my husband
• 家族「かぞく」family
• 一番左「いちばんひだり」on the far left
• 弟「おとうと」younger brother
• 自分「じぶん」myself
• 私「わたくし」I
• 前「まえ」in front of
• 息子「むすこ」son
• 後ろ「うしろ」behind
• 妻「つま」wife
• 祖母「そぼ」grandma
• 妹「いもうと」younger sister
• 祖父「そふ」grandpa
• 住む「すむ」to reside, to live in
• 写真「しゃしん」a photograph
• 作る「つくる」 to make

Generally Speaking

This is Alex's family. On the left is his younger brother, Richard, and me. In front of me, is Alex's son, Shandon. Behind Shandon is Richard's wife and son. Then there's grandma. Next to her is Alex's younger sister, Katie, and her son, Ben. Behind Katie is her husband, Jez. Finally there's grandpa. Not pictured is Alex's other sister, Jane, who lives in Australia.

しゅうとめとふたりで「Bramall Hall」へ行きました。

しゅうとめは高校のフランス語の先生でしたか、いま修学旅行のガイドです。

「Bramall Hall」は「Tudor」世代の建物。

Vocabulary

• 「しゅうとめ」 mother-in-law
• 行く「いく」to go
• 〜語「〜ご」suffix for language
• フランス語「ふらんすご」the French language = French
• 修学旅行 [しゅうがくりょこう] an excursion, a field trip
• 高校 [こうこう] a high school, a senior high school
• 世代「せだい」an historic period, an age; (I don't know if this is the correct word in this instance)

Generally Speaking

AJM's mum and I went to Bramall Hall. She used to be a high school French teacher, but now she volunteers as a guide on school field trips (to historic houses). Bramall Hall is a Tudor period building.

質問とコメント

1. Parts of Bramall Hall are over 400 years old. It was built during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. The house has been added on to and remodelled over the years. Many rooms were redone about 100 years ago in Victorian times.

2. Watching the English school children learning their history was fun. They dressed up in Tudor clothes and tried to write with a quill (a pen made from a goose feather).

夫の両親を見るから、先週の土曜日にイギリスへ着きました。

両親はマンチェスターの近く村の「Mobberley」に住んでいます。

今日「the Lake District」へ運転する。

イギリスに一番きれいな所と思います。

Vocabulary

• 夫「おっと」my husband
• 両親 [りょうしん] my/his parents
• 先週「せんしゅう」last week
• 土曜日「どようび」Saturday
• 着く「つく」to arrive
• 近く「ちかく」near
• 村「むら」village
• 住む「すむ」to live in, to reside in
• 今日「きょう」today
• 運転する「うんてんする」to drive
• 一番「いちばん」the most (literally, number one)
• 所「ところ」place
• 〜と思う「とおもう」to think that 〜

Generally Speaking

Last Saturday we arrived in England to visit my husband's parents. They live near Manchester in the village of Mobberley. Today we are driving to the Lake District. I think it's the most beautiful place in England.

質問とコメント

I intend to post more photos and links, but it will have to wait until we're back in Austin. Like Japan, the phone service in England is charged by the minute. So it is very expensive to use the dial-up modem to the internet.

In the Lake District, we always stay in Elterwater, which is about 5 miles from Grasmere where the famous English poet, William Wordsworth, lived. Two other famous writers who lived in the Lake District are Arthur Ransome and Beatrix Potter.

オクスフォード大学は有名な大学ですね。

夫はここに物理学 [ぶつりがく]が勉強しました。

夫の頭がいいのはときどき忘れました。

Generally Speaking

Oxford University is world-famous, isn't it?

My husband studied physics here.

Sometimes I forget just how smart he is.物理学 [ぶつりがく]

Vocabulary

• 大学「だいがく」university
• 有名「ゆうめい」famous (literally "has a name")
• 夫「おっと」my husband
• 物理学「ぶつりがく」physics
• 勉強「べんきょう」to study
• 頭がいい「あたま」head; ("has a good head" = is smart)
• 忘れる「わすれ驕vto forget

質問とコメント

Sorry I didn't finish this post, yesterday. We are in England now and it is a little difficult to get on the internet. Also I don't have any of my Japanese reference books, so I can't look up words or expressions.

We drove down to Oxford (about a 3 hour drive) so that we could show Alex's son where his Dad went to school. It's an amazing place! I've never been any place like it. If you want a good idea of what it is like, watch the first few episodes of "Brideshead Revisited".

This photo is taken from the main courtyard of my husband's college, Brasenose. The domed building behind is the Radcliffe camera.