First notebook entry: Introducing myself

My native language is Japanese and I grew up in Japan.
I was raised in Osaka and then moved to Kyoto.
I worked for 15 years but quit working last Spring. So I'm enjoying life as a stay-at-home mom.
I have several reasons for learning English.
1)
I'm eager to work as a volunteer translator for a nonprofit organization. 
2)
I'd like to apply to become a host of the "home-visit program" provided by the municipal international center for foreign tourists.
3)
I want to learn English to widen my knowledge of the world we live in. 
Thank you for reading, and I'm looking forward to enjoying this italki community.

Yay!! My iPhone/iPad game was released yesterday!

Please take a look (US link): http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id493016737

Or just search for Coco Loco from your iPhone/iPad/iPod...

The game involves the story of a petty dispute between happy Marshmallows and cranky Cocoa Beans, regarding hot chocolate :))))

It's been getting great feedback, I would love for all my friends on italki to take a look, give me their thoughts and tell their friends, if they like it!

I have attached an image of the game characters. The game itself is based on hot chocolate (fluids) and soft bodies (jellies), ropes, steam... we have it all! :)

" made out of ten kinds of darkness " - it's a creative way of saying the drink has ten dark ingredients. Presumably this is why it's called the Coalminer's Daughter, coal being black. " leaves her lips black " - the residual of the drink made her lips black momentarily after drinking it. To leave something in a particular state, means to have it remain that way. e.g. I left my car on the side of the road. (I am gone, but the car is still on the side of the road). "sugary pungency" - pungent means an intense taste/smell, and this sentence is describing the sugary nature of the drink, as having an overwhelming intensity.

It means to continue through difficult times until they're over. e.g. In times of financial recession, it might be better not to sell your shares. It might be better to just weather the storm.

In that case it generally means that someone is showing apathy from overwork or overexposure, that they have become inured and disconnected. For example, if someone is working in a menial job, and consequently exhibits an overall disinterest and lacklustre attitude, you might describe them as jaded.

My girlfriend is a non-native English speaker doing graduate studies here in Australia. Her English is very good, but it seems there are always subtle mistakes, and unfortunately in formal writing a lot of scrutiny is placed on perfection. My advice would be to have an educated native speaker proof read every article you write. With every correction, try to get an explanation either from them or by doing your own research. In other words try to establish if it's something that can be generalised or if it's an exception that needs to be remembered. Make a list of the common errors you make, and each article try to remember them and avoid those mistakes. Repeat this process. Your English seems to be of a high aptitude, and at that level I think this is the only way to perfect it. It's the way native speakers also learn to write well. We go through this exact process while at school (but less formally, as the list of exceptions is subconsciously absorbed). I think all the conversation in the world won't help a great deal. Conversation is very forgiving, terse etc. There are a lot of native speakers who write poorly. Writing is definitely a much more difficult challenge.

Both describe transitions, but "across" is related to traversal, "through" is related to penetration, going into something. For example, "he walked across the bridge" - meaning, he passed over the bridge. "he walked through a tunnel" - meaning, he passed inside the tunnel.