Name: Akiyo Niwa     

Year: 1996                        

 

                                                                                                           

     My history of English learning started when I was in elementary school. My mother thought that English was necessary for me and I went to an English conversation class for children. It was not like study. It was almost a game. I do not remember exactly what I learned then, but I am sure that it awakened my interest in learning English. However, after two years I finished that class. I studied a lot in the school, but I did not touch English in the rest of the years in elementary school.

     When I entered junior high school, I began to study English again, of course, as a required subject. I was so excited to take English classes and my grade in English was always good. In those days I was so interested in foreign countries and people that English learning became one of my goals, not just a compulsory one. I wanted to learn more and talk to many foreigners. Fortunately, teachers supported us very much. When I was in the ninth grade I decided to go to America to study real live English. I stayed at Wesleyan College with many Japanese students who would study abroad during the coming year. They studied ESL there as a preparation for studying various things at the university in various parts of the United States. I studied ESL with them for about one month. The classes were done all in  English and it was a little hard for me as a junior high student, but it was really good for me to have all the classes without Japanese. Classmates were all older, of course, and they were all kind to me. I was lucky to have such an experience and that experience had a great influence on me when I came back to Japan.

     I entered high school without entrance examination since it was connected to the JHS. I found that was a good way for students to learn English without stopping to study for entrance exams. Especially, I did not like to learn English at a desk. But now, I regret that I did not study grammar or writing. They are also necessary for me to improve my English.

     In the summer of 1993, I went to the United States to study ESL again. I stayed at the same dorm. I thought that the classes were a little easier than before because my English was better than before. I enjoyed my stay a lot and I began to think about studying abroad after graduation from high school. I thought about it seriously, but finally I decided to go to university in Japan. I did not want to study English as a goal, I wanted to use English as  a means to do some other things. For that goal I wanted to improve my English skills and then I would study abroad to get some new skills for my life.

     At university, first, I was surprised at the teachers, because English teachers are from foreign countries except for the teachers of writing class. I got excited to have many foreign teachers throughout my university life. I felt embarrassed to speak English with Japanese classmates at first. So, "no Japanese in class, English only. is the most helpful to get used to talk in English to Japanese friends. I tried hard not to speak Japanese in class.

     After graduation my English learning history is going to continue forever. I am not a native, so my English learning is a never-ending one. There is one thing that I find in almost seven years of English life and I can tell as kind of advice to next year's first year students. That is, "Do not forget the joy you feel when you are doing something you love." I feel that I am lucky. Studying at university gives me many things to write in my learning history.

     Whether I like English, or not is not the point. What is the most important for me is the desire to learn, use, and communicate in English. This is the end of my first year at university, but this is also the beginning of the new pages of my language.