駅長（えきちょう）　Station Manager

次は「長（ちょう、ながい）」　

If I would answer this question simply.... １．　か　is always the marker of "this is a question!!", which always appears after 丁寧体（ていねいたい　polite form）. Ex. まいにち、にほんごを　べんきょうしますか。 　　いま、どこに　いますか。 Then, if you change sentences into 普通体(ふつうたい、normal form), your sentences would be... まいにち　べんきょうする　？ いま、どこにいる？ ２．　But sometimes sentences in normal form sound a little strong, direct, or too frank. So, some people (mostly woman, kid but sometimes men too, without any connotation) would like to put の　after the sentences. It is done to show the friendliness, sympathy etc. まいにち　べんきょうするの？ いま　どこに　いるの？ Note: の basically has a some function with んです　（みんなの日本語Lec26）. But after normal form, it can sound differently from んです. So when you use の、it is better to be careful to the intonation of your speech. I hope I explained in a good way !! Very very good and difficult question !

「自信がない」　・・・・・「Subject　＋　は　自信がない。」 Of course, the subject can be omitted in a sentence like... 「自信がないとき、私は日本語で話しません。」 「自信のない」　・・・・・「自信のない　＋　Noun」 Although, the 「が」　can be transformed into 「の」 when it comes in the 「～とき」, so 「自信のないとき、私は日本語で話しません」　is also a good sentence. 難しいですね～！！

Robert さん、かきこみ　ありがとう！

２．私のしゅみはギターをして、ゲームをして、はんをよみます。

この文（ぶん）は、

２．私のしゅみは、ギターをひくことと、ゲームをすることと、ほんをよむことです。

のほうが、いいですね。

「しゅみは～～　V（じしょけい）＋こと　です。」　このフォームです。

I can explain in 2 ways about "imasu". First, if it is a independent verb "imasu", it can be translated as "there is / are (living things)" as some people have already explained. Although, I can add another translation. For example, Heya ni neko ga imasu. "There is a cat/ cats in the room." Neko wa heya ni imasu. "The cat is in the room" So it depends on the situation when you use "there is +Subject+Place ." translation or "Subject + is/are + place". If "imasu" is used with other verbs for compound verb such as "tabete imasu ", "sunde imasu", "warete imasu", it adds something about the state of the verb. Ex, continuity "tabete imasu = be eating" , state "nihon ni sundeimasu = I live in Japan.", continuity of effect "garasu(glass) ga warete imasu= the glass is broken". We should treat the verb "imasu" separately devided into an independent verb and a kind of a "sub verb".

「試験に合格する」が正しいです。 「試験を合格する」　とは、言いません。 難しい助詞のコロケーションですね！！

１と３は　大丈夫です。

2は、「本を読むのも好きです。」や「読書も好きです。」のほうがいいです。