My bedtime routine is to read books to my daughter. She's already seven years old, but both she and I enjoy the mom-daughter storytime. I told you I read books to my daughter, but actually she reads to me as well. Sometimes in English, sometimes in Japanese. Her reading is getting better and better day by day. I'm so proud of her.

It's a bit cold and gloomy day here in Japan today. It's so autumnal weather, don't you think? I like autumn very much. The colors of the leaves are beautiful, the smell of the air is so nice and the most I like about this season is the atmosphere made by the color of the sunlight that is so good to read books. When it's sunny, I can read them feeling the warmth of the sunlight. When it's rainy and gloomy like today, I can enjoy reading over a cup of hot tea or coffee. Also, this air of the season somehow reminds me of my younger days a lot. Do I feel this season too much in a melancholy way? Tell me how you enjoy autumn, if you like, and I'd be happy if you share your story. Thank you for reading my notes.

Do you take some tests to know your level of the languages you are learning sometimes? Actually, I don't do it usually because I've already been enjoying things in English and I haven't had to prove my English level to do it. But this time, I decided to try one of them, and it's TOEIC because I happened to have become an English teacher at a small English school in my neighborhood. I know it's not such an effective one like IELTS or TOEFL in global perspective, but its score is going to work in Japan. Another reason why I'm going to take TOEIC, it's much easier to prepare for than others. So, anyway I'm taking it in a month! This is my first try to take a big test, so I'm not sure if I could finish it well, but I'm going to do my best!

What is your most recent accomplishment? Wow. That's a big topic. I need some time to find the answer for today's topic. . . . Okay, I'm ready. My most recent accomplishment is that I've kept learning English every day. Literally every single day. I don't mean learning English is only sitting at the desk with a textbook, but reading books, talking with my daughter, watching some shows or YouTube videos, etc, that I do all of them in English and I've kept doing at least one of them every day. That probably doesn't seem such a big thing as I can say "accomplishment". However, that's significant that to keep doing something related to your targets/goals when you really want to improve them. I can say to do something in English is almost my habit, so that won't change in the future as well.

What are the things I am grateful for? Today's topic is: What are the things I am grateful for? I am of course grateful for my family and the people around me, but this topic wants me to talk about the things, so, in that case, I am grateful for the internet. Thanks to the internet, learning English is getting so much easier than before. I actually didn't have the proper internet environment when I started learning English. So I had to put much efforts on finding good materials for practicing listening, reading and all other skills. Of course, taking lessons was out of reach for me. Somehow I've kept learning fixing the way time to time, but I can't avoid to think if I had the internet back then. If I had the internet from the beginning of when I started learning English, it's crystal clear for everyone, but just definitely much faster to get the level now I'm in. There are hundreds of good materials on the internet. You can reach "real English" whenever you want like on YouTube. That's amazing. That's why I'm grateful for the internet.

Describe the person who inspires you Today's topic is : Describe the person who inspires you. The person is always learning a lot of things, working hard, considering feelings of others, very supportive. When I talk with her, I am able to realize there're many different opinions and views. It doesn't mean she and I press our own perspective. We can talk or discuss properly. And her attitude toward learning makes my motivation for learning English keep in high level. I'm so glad to have gotten known her and be able to interact with her. I hope I am also the person who inspires someone like her.

What do I like about myself? This question is a little hard for me to find an answer, actually, because I haven't thought about it that much. Since this is a good chance, I'm going to think about it. First, I can say I like myself basically. So, what is it? When I tried to find one of the answers, something came into my mind. That is : I think things well. I can have many perspectives on a situation. That expands possibilities and prevents from diving into worse conclusions. As a matter of fact, I have been thinking about it as one of my weaknesses because many people around me are always decisive. They can decide things immediately, for example they buy things right away when they want, they go somewhere when they want, and so on. I like the way as well, but it's not good for me. When it comes to my case, I can get only what I really want. That's so comfortable. I like myself about being able to think well, deeply.

What I am passionate about I'm going to write about what I am passionate about. It is reading books. Not to mention books for myself, but for my five year-old daughter. I have been doing all in English. I started reading books for her when she was about one month old because I wanted to have some fun with her and also thought it was going to help my English improve. Long story short, it worked. To tell the truth, I couldn't read books in English without a stress, but now I can do that with much less stress, even enjoy it! For my daughter, she's only five years old, so I'm not sure she can keep it up, but I can say she is totally bilingual so far. We enjoy spending time on every night's bedtime story and talking in English. I'm going to keep doing it as far as I can.

Trying to read English books I like reading. However I thought I couldn't read books in English until a couple of years ago. Actually, I read just a few books two years ago, but 25 books last year! It's not much big deal for other bookish people, but for me, that was a huge step. I set my goal for this year to read 30 books in English. I'm not sure if I could make it because I'd like to improve my English speaking fluency too. It needs practice absolutely. The time that I can use for doing them is limited, but I should manage and somehow make it.