Ok my new revised letter.

[Azure]

Hi Chisa Chan,

I hope you are well. It is raining here in England. What is the weather like in [hometown]?

Your favourite food is Pasta, my favourite food is raspberries.

I am very sorry I was late when speaking to you. It was very rude of me.

The coins make an interesting gift I hope. Do you like the music I sent? Can you follow the lyrics?

Take care.

[me].

こんにちは　ちさちゃん

おげんき　で　いらっしゃいます　か　 どしゃぶり　は　いん　イングランド どく　です

あなたわ　は　すき　パスタ です　ね　わたし　は　すき　キイチゴ です　よ

@@@すみません　......................................... あなた？＠＠＠＠＠ あわせる　かお　が　ない。

........................................
わたし　は　おんがく　を　おくりました。 　すき　でした　か。　かし　は　わかりました　か。

おからだ　お　たいせつ　に そして　おへんじ　おまち　して　おります

Could anyone throw me a bone please?

[sei]

Hmm... You probably meant こんにちは.
The rest... i don't know.

[Azure]

Where?

I wrote こんいちは first off..?

Can you elaborate please?

Edit nevermind I am blind.　　I have to find a decent text book soon, this Pimsleurs audio is ok for phrases but it is killing my writing as you can see.

I would have written

こんいちわ

Going off Pimsleur.

[clay]

If you know the person well, ちゃん may be alright, but I would use さん just in case.

I hope you are well.

Keep it simple like お元気ですか？ I know you are trying to be polite, but after calling her ちゃん, お元気ですか？ is just fine.

It is raining here in England. What is the weather like in [hometown]?

どしゃぶり is a specialized word. Use words you are familiar with to avoid using words that don't sound right in that context. (This reminds me of Wada Akiko's 「どしゃぶりの雨の中」... I need to listen to more enka... Sorry...)

The following is a common way to say 'it is raining'.
イギリスでは雨が降っています。igirisu dewa ame ga futteimasu.

あなたわ　は　すき　パスタ です　ね　わたし　は　すき　キイチゴ です　よ

Skipping a bit... To say 'you like...' use this construction:
あなたは＿＿＿＿がすきですね。

Try revising that sentence by plugging in what she likes and changing to わたし for the second part。

Also remember when used as a particle 'wa' is the hiragana 'ha'

[AJBryant]

I need to listen to more enka...

Hell, yeah.

People want to learn Japanese? Learn to listen to ENKA instead of pop music. You get slower, more grammatically normal and more easily comprehended Japanese (except for Yoshi Ikuzo's "Sake motte koi" when it really helps to understand how drunk people sound first...).


Tony

[sei]

Azure wrote:
Where?

I wrote こんいちは first off..?

Can you elaborate please?

Edit nevermind I am blind.　　I have to find a decent text book soon, this Pimsleurs audio is ok for phrases but it is killing my writing as you can see.

I would have written

こんいちわ

Going off Pimsleur.

It's こんにちは. See the hiragana well, it goes konnichiha, but is read konnichiwa.

See?

Edit: Ah, i see you edited the first post. Now it's fine.

[clay]

It's こんにちは. See the hiragana well, it goes konnichiha, but is read konnichiwa.

See?

He/She had corrected it in the original post.

People want to learn Japanese? Learn to listen to ENKA instead of pop music. You get slower, more grammatically normal and more easily comprehended Japanese (except for Yoshi Ikuzo's "Sake motte koi" when it really helps to understand how drunk people sound first...).

Good idea! I enjoy watching のど自慢 (amateur singing contest), but watching the enka specials are even better since they usually have subtitles. Enka lyrics aren't nearly as nonsensical as pop music.

I like 天童よしみ.

[Azure]

Thanks for your feedback guys! I thought I was being too formal after using ちゃん。

She says Chan is fine, and for the record I am a "he" [in case anyone was wondering].

[AJBryant]

I like 天童よしみ

She's good, but I really have a thing for the "classics" -- Misora Hibari, Kitajima Saburo, Yoshi Ikuzo,

Although when I was in Japan I had a MAJOR crush on Sakamoto Fuyumi. Mmm. She made her debut at 19 in 1987 while I was there with Abare Daiko.

I really like the old songs -- Hakodate no onna, Matsuri, Akogare Hawaii no Koro, Yosaku... And heaven help me, I like a lot of gunka, too.

Tony

[tanuki]

"Sake motte koi", what a lovely title.

[Yudan Taiteki]

AJBryant wrote:
People want to learn Japanese? Learn to listen to ENKA instead of pop music. You get slower, more grammatically normal and more easily comprehended Japanese

The downside being, of course, that you have to listen to Enka.

[lalaith]

Azure wrote:
and for the record I am a "he" [in case anyone was wondering].

Well, this makes a lot more sense now:

Azure wrote:
I must admit, this was a foolish endeavour looking at it again. She thought I was trying to solicit her when I said off handedly "You're going to fall asleep on me aren't you?" when we were chatting at like 0200 JPY time.

Not, let me clarify, that I have anything against homosexuality. I just didn't know if being openly homosexual is a part of current Japanese culture.

[Azure]

Can anyone help with the Coins and music section at all please?

[lalaith]

Azure wrote:
Can anyone help with the Coins and music section at all please?

Are you saying you need help with this thread:
Suitable gift for language partner?

I'm sure if people thought your idea of the coins totally sucked, they would have said something. That no one has, means it's a good idea.

[Azure]

Yeah, but the problem is I have no idea how to say that

All I have got so far for the coins is labelling them with

あなたに対するプレゼント

Literally "A present for you" I think. I suppose that is good enough though : /