今はしている –> I am doing it now.
今はしているところ –> I am in a state of doing it now.

Technically, it means the same thing. But the second one seems to emphasize on the state of doing it.

I don’t understand what the difference would be between between
ima ha shiteiru and
ima ha shiteiru tokoro

they both mean, doing now.

Is this right? Am i Crazy?

Personally, think I wouldnt’ mind having my hubby do more housework as I can have more time learning Japanese that way. But kitchen is my territory, he is not not allowed to mess around with it. We might end up eating too much high fat, high energy food if he was in charge of cooking.

I don’t need someone to cook me breakfast!

Actually, I’m usually quite fine with doing the cooking and cleaning. BUT, my kitchen’s usable area is about 3ft by 1ft…. which makes cooking nearly impossible. And my apartment is a disaster because I have no furniture– so I just have piles everywhere.

So, maybe you’re right- I don’t need a house-husband, just a new apartment. moving in 2 months, can’t wait.

I’m a very independient person so I don’t like people to do me everything so I prefer to do it my self and for the other person if they don’t mind of course! S_R_C

みんなさん、今日のレッスンはどうだったの？楽しかった？
「low intermediate」のものだから、前の練習よりもっと難しいのをやってみようか？
指導は英語か日本語かどっちがいいかしら…
まあ、とりあえず英語のほうがいいと思う。練習は全部日本語からだ～☆

Today’s theme was 「専業主夫」, but besides baking bakes and cleaning, what does a full-time husband do anyway? For practice, I found the blog of one in Japan: http://shufu.ti-da.net/

First, take a look at the text in the header (it reads 「２００４年３月に、１２年間勤めた職場を退職しました。 その後、再就職しないで「専業主夫」という生き方をしています。 家事・育児をするお父さんの日記です。」 When did the writer stop working? How long did he work at his old job? What two things does he say he does now?

Here is the link to his 1/8 entry: http://shufu.ti-da.net/e1257047.html . Other than some vocabulary (listed below), the entry itself is pretty simple gramatically.

七輪 【しちりん】 earthen charcoal brazier (for cooking)
ベランダ balcony; veranda
木炭 【もくたん】 charcoal
お雑煮 【おぞうに】 A New Year dish
海苔 【のり】 dried seaweed
みそ汁 【みそしる】 miso soup
団欒 【だんらん】 sitting together in a circle; happy circle

Where do they grill? How do they prepare the mochi? He explains two different ways his family eats it… Oh, and how many people are in his family? Why does he like sitting around the brazier?

Moving on, what does allabout.co.jp say about full-time husbands? See here: http://allabout.co.jp/children/papaikuji/closeup/CU20060518A/index.htm

This is more difficult reading material than the blog, but depending on your reading ability, you might want to take a stab at it. And in fact, once you have a certain vocabulary base, more “formal” writing isn’t all that bad.

For starters, 「急増」 means “proliferation” or “surge” so the meaning of 「専業主夫が急増」 is easy to get. Next, 「内閣府」 is Japan’s cabinet office, and 「男女共同参画社会に関する世論調査」 is the public opinion survey about gender equality. In the explanation of the survey questions, 「夫」 means husbands and 「妻」 means wives, while 「家庭」 refers to a household.

Knowing this, what statement did 48.9% of respondents object to and 45.2% agree with in 2005? What were the results to the same question in 1979? The remainder of the paragraph explains why the cabinet office thinks this shift occured (「分析」 means analysis). From this section, 「社会進出」 means advancement in society while 「意識変化」 is a change in thinking or consciousness. 「夫婦」 is a couple, meaning a husband and wife. 「経済状況」 means economic conditions.

You can try the rest on your own if you’d like (rikai-chan is your friend) ^_^ 頑張ってね！

A note on 手作り… When you romanize it, it is technically tezukuri, but in hiragana, it’s てづくり because “to make” is つく. When you see “zu” in romanji it may be the hiragana ず(zu) or づ (du). Which of these is correct depends on how the word is written when it stands alone (i.e. is not in a compound).

Another example is 「意味付ける」 which is composed of 意味 (いみ) and 付ける (つける). However, when you put them together, you get いみづける, which is romanized “imizukeru.” Oh, and 意味付ける is a verb meaning, “to give meaning to.”

of if your question is why 作り changes pronunciation…

When you add a つ　onto something from the t- line, the つ　almost always changes to づ…. i think because it’s just natural for it to be pronounced that way.

so て　つくり becomes てづくり

and i totally want a house husband. or really, anyone who will come and clean my apartment and cook me dinner.

専業主夫、いいなー。

ところで、think we missed the Romaji for 手作り(handmade), which is ‘tedukuri’. ??? Weird, however that is how I managed to type the Kanji. Any explanations?

よろしくお願いします。

ななか