Letter to Yokohama Host Family

[ledojaeger]

Hello,
I'm writing a letter to a host family I had in Yokohama. There's a lot I want to express that I feel I don't have the vocabulary for. Because they were a very important family to me, my letter is a bit longer than I normally would write. Thank you for any help you can provide me as I try to translate it all. I'll try to organize it by paragraph and line, what I'll try to express in Japanese and what I'm going for in English, to make it less cluttered.

Paragraph A: Concerning Activities
１：（名前）へ (To the ~)
２： 皆さんお元気ですか。 (How are you all?)
３： 僕は6月に泊まらせてくれてありがとうございました。(Thank you for letting me stay with you in June.)
４：（名前）に会う前に、緊張していました。「どんな家族かなあ」と思っていました。(Before meeting (family), I was nervous. 'What kind of family will they be?' I wondered.
５：そして、皆さんに会ってから、？？？。(Then, as soon as I met everyone, I immediately felt at home.) [Trying to express that I was comfortable right away with all of them, and in their house]
６：お寿司とか大福とかビッグマックなどの食事をありがとうございました。そして鎌倉の大仏まで連れて行ったり、「偏西風」という楽しくて新しい言葉を教えたりしてくださってありがとうございました。(Thank you for the food like the sushi, daifuku, and big macs. Also, thank you for taking me to the Big Buddha in Kamakura and teaching me fun new words like 'henseifuu'.)

Paragraph B: Concerning Host Brother (Q: Address with San, or not? I don't when I am with him)
１：（名前）は、会って嬉しかったです。？？？ (As for (Name), I was happy to meet him. I continue to love speaking with him.) [Do not know how to express second sentence)
２：？？？。言葉の壁は難しいのに、まだ友達でいることができた気がします。(I felt we were very similar people, and even though language barrier is difficult, I still feel we were able to be friends.)
３：（僕の）家族が来年の夏に（名前）を歓迎？？？。(My family is ready to accept him next Summer.)
４：僕は本当に（名前）にミネソタを見せてあげたいです。ぜひ、遊びに来てください。(I really want to show (name) Minnesota. Please come visit!)

Paragraph C: Closing
１：みなさんと一緒に過ごしたのは短すぎたと思います。(I feel the time I spent with you all was too short.)
２：毎日あの時を思い出して、嬉しくなります。いつかみなさんに会いたいと思います。(I remember that time every day and am glad. I want to meet you all again someday.)
３：Facebookをやっているなら、リンクをどうぞ：（リンク） (If you use Facebook, here is my link
４：（ホストブラザー）はいつでもここに歓迎します。みなさんはいつでもミネソタにも友達がいます。これからも連絡しましょうね。お元気で。エレン ((Host brother) is always welcome here. You all always have a friend in Minnesota. Let's be in touch from here on out. Take care. Eren)

I understand this is a lot - it matters to me a lot that I do not say something rude, or imply it, and my feelings are expressed clearly.

Thank you so much.

 

[Toritoribe]

3)
先日は泊めていただきありがとうございました。
僕 is unnecessary. The particle should be を, if you use 僕. (It's obvious from the context, so it's common not to mention it.)
6月に is not wrong, but I don't think it's necessary to specify it.
泊まらせてくれて/泊まらせていただいて is not wrong, either, but ～させてくれる/いただく could sound you put focus too much on your viewpoint.

4)
～に会う前は
You say the impression was changed later, so the contrastive marker は is more appropriate here.

5)
でも、皆さんに会ってすぐ、まるで自分の家にいるように感じました。

6)
連れて行ってくれたり
The same reason as your previous thread.


1)
（名前）さんにも、会えて嬉しかったです。
With -san is more common.
は works as the contrastive marker here, as same as お好み焼きとたこ焼きは.
You once translated "I enjoyed talking with him in English." It's OK just to omit "in English" from it.

2)
similarの意味 - 英和辞書 - 英語辞書 - goo辞書

言葉の壁は高いけど、今も友達のような気がします。

3)
僕の家族も来年の夏、（名前）を歓迎する用意はできています。


1)
みなさんと一緒に過ごした時間は短すぎました。

2)
いつかまたみなさんに会いたいと思います。

3)
Facebookをやっているなら、これが僕のページです。

4)
（ホストブラザー）をいつでも歓迎します。ミネソタにはずっとみなさんの友達がいます。

 

[ledojaeger]

Thank you so much Toritoribe. This translation means a lot to me personally as well as an academic chance.

I am curious (because I didn't discern an alternate option), 泊まってくれて then be better than 泊まらせてくれて?

As for 'I felt we are very similar people', VERY roughly if I try used 'nite iru', （ホースとブラザーは）僕のような人と似ている気がしました。I almost feel sad suggesting that, because I feel I am way, way off.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

 

[Toritoribe]

I am curious (because I didn't discern an alternate option), 泊まってくれて then be better than 泊まらせてくれて?

泊まらせてくれて or 泊めてくれて means "you stayed at the addressee's home", whereas 泊まってくれて is "the addressee stayed at your home". Notice the difference between transitive 泊める and intransitive 泊まる.

As for 'I felt we are very similar people', VERY roughly if I try used 'nite iru', （ホースとブラザーは）僕のような人と似ている気がしました。I almost feel sad suggesting that, because I feel I am way, way off.

Very close.
(名前)は僕と似ている気がしました。 or 僕達は似ていると思いました。

 

[ledojaeger]

So, would the best option to express myself politely be 泊めてくれて？ I'll have to look more in depth to tomaru/tomeru.

I am glad to know that I wasn't too far off the mark with nite iru.

Is there anything else in the contents of my letter that is strikingly incorrect or impolite, or do you think that largely my feelings come across?

 

[Toritoribe]

泊めてくれて sounds a bit less polite. 泊めてくださり/くださって or 泊めていただき/いただいて is more appropriate.

You did quite well, as same as your previous letter.

 

[Majestic]

So, would the best option to express myself politely be 泊めてくれて

I think the best option would be as Toritoribe-san said in his original answer:

先日は泊めていただきありがとうございました。

Your letter is fine, and you've done an excellent job. Any better than this and your letter starts to look less like you, and more like you had a Japanese native write it for you.

Edit: Toritoribe-san beat me to it. Usually its the other way around!

 

[ledojaeger]

Majestic, Totoribe, thank you very much for your help.
Every time you aid me in these sorts of things, I find that I'm able to retain a lot of things, and my Japanese slowly, slowly gets better.