July 4, 2014　=========
☆ niece/nephew　姪／甥
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Because I’m the youngest in my family and there is a big age gap between me and my older siblings, I have nieces and nephews that are actually not so much younger than me!! My niece in fact, just turned 30 this year, and she has a son that is 3 months older than my youngest son! (Which using yesterday’s word, makes them “second cousins”) It also means that my mother has a great-grandchild that is older than their grandchild!! Weird!
My niece’s son is called my “great-nephew”, and I’m his “great aunty”. Ha ha, I like that term, I think I am a pretty good aunty, but being called a “great” aunty is fine with me! What about in the Japanese language? Is there a word for “second cousins”? How about “third cousins” or “great-nieces” and “great nephews”? In English, I still get confused and I think it gets very complicated when we try to work out how we are related to others! But at the same time, it would be strange to call my niece’s son my “nephew”…
Bye,
Chris