新年の抱負は何ですか？

Happy New Year everyone.

During this time of year, many people, including myself, make some new year resolutions. Resolutions are decisions we make to DO something or STOP doing something in our lives. Most people in the US have similar resolutions each year. In fact, the US government recently posted this year’s top ten new year resolutions—which are pretty much the same EVERY year.

The 10 most common American new year resolutions are:

To drink less alcohol
To get a better job
To get a better education or go back to school for more training
To lose weight and become physically healthier
To manage finances or manage debt more
To quit smoking
To reduce stress at work and at home
To save money
To take a trip
To volunteer to help others

Are any of these similar to your new year’s resolutions? Do you know anyone who made these resolutions for their new year? Are most people’s resolutions similar in Japan?

So the question this week is, what is your new year resolution?

I have made a few resolutions this week. One resolution is to become better at Japanese. Each day, my Japanese ability gets worse and worse and that is not right. So, I am going to make a change! Another decision is to travel more in Japan. I have wanted to visit western Japan for a long time but have never taken the time to go there. So, this year, I am going to visit as many places as I can and I will also visit Hiroshima and fill a life-long desire.

I will look forward to hearing about your resolutions or your plans for the new year when we speak next.

Be well,

Keith//

This week's vocabularies:

resolution：（名詞） 決意、決心
a New Year resolution｜新年の抱負
similar: 似ている
post: (動詞）公表する
lose weight: 減量する
debt: （名詞）借金、負債
volunteer:　奉仕する（ボランティアをする）
life-long desire: 生涯の願望