Writers’ School is English writing supported by i-osmosis. We are looking for English writers to contribute to “Writers’ School.” All essays will appear on this blog, i-osmosis English Community. What’s more, selected essays are given highlights and tips by an i-osmosis instructor, William!!!!

Writers’ School

Who am I

“Please introduce yourself!”
When you are asked by someone, what will you say first? Especially in English, most of us faithfully followed the sentence which we were repeatedly taught at school: My name is…Now I try to introduce myself not giving you my real name but writing about my name.

My first name is really common in Japan. I could easily find others who have the same name as me everywhere. When I complained about this to my mother in my childhood, she told me that she puts 朋 in my name because she hope that I will be surrounded by many good friends in my life.“In china, this character means friendship and I think good friends are the most important for you to live happily” explained she.Luckily, I am not sure because of this name though, I could have met many good friends so far.

And, my last name is not special one, too.When I was a child, I did not pay attention to my surname. However, when I decided to get married with my partner, I was tempted to continue using my original family name. He also wants to use his own, therefore we selected a dual surname marriage.
Some people praised us that we are a gender-conscious couple while others tried to shy away from talking about this matter.

To be honest, the biggest reason of this was my laziness.For me, changing my name on my bank accounts, passport, and other documents seemed nothing but time-consuming and pain.In this mean, my surname is eloquent of my character with a bit of gender-conscious and a lot of laziness.

Anyway, now I am really proud of my full name because this shows my happy life with good friends and family!

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Today’s Highlights and Tips by i-osmosis instructor William.
Highlight:
I really like the humor you add to this essay – it seems to help “introduce yourself” by giving the reader some more personal information about who you are. The line “In this mean, my surname is eloquent of my character with a bit of gender-conscious and a lot of laziness” shows the reader your personality. Well done!

Tip: In your sentence “Luckily, I am not sure because of this name though, I could have met many good friends so far,” you use the helping verb “could.” We use “could” to show a possibility in the future or in a hypothetical scenario.Example: I could finish my work if my computer was faster.

However, in your sentence, using “could” make sit sound like you might “have met many good friends so far” – but that it’s only a possibility! It’s not clear that you do have many good friends. I’d change it to:
Luckily, and I am not sure if this is because of the name, I have met many good friends so far.

Tip: Throw in a translation of the Kanji “朋” so that the reader knows the significance (you will have readers that do not speak Chinese or Japanese and may not know the meaning).

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tomo-ton

I live in Osaka with my partner and a two-year-old daughter. As a working mother, I sometimes feel overwhelmed with busy schedule. Nevertheless, I added one more in my messy life. Writing English! This routine makes my life more colorful and inspiring. I want to juggle everything as long as I can enjoy all of them.

Writers’ School

We will announce two topics every month! Please take part in this Writers’ School to enjoy English Writing with us!! Please send your essay (including its title), name, and mail address to blog@i-osmosis.com.