Name: Michiyo Naito  

Year: 1996                          

 

                                                                                                             

     I started to study English when I was 13 years old. At first, I did not know English at all and I did not even know how to study it. My sister, who is four years older than I, taught me how to study it. First, she pronounced the word and I repeated after her. Then I tried to write words. It worked and I became interested in English. My sister was a big influence.

     After I entered Junior High School, I became interested in the Beatles. I listened to their songs all the time, and I sang along with them. I did not know the meanings of the lyrics though. It helped me to pronounce the words correctly, to learn phrases, and to acquire the ability to listen. I think, if I did not like the Beatles, I would not have learned English as fast. Songs are good to help us learn foreign languages faster. Because songs are repetitive, rhythmical, and fun. I often listen to music now, too.

     My English teacher, when I was in seventh grade, was Mr. Inukai. He is a very good teacher. He gave a small quiz every time at the beginning of the class. It made us study vocabulary almost everyday. (I think, to expose ourselves to English is very important when we learn it.) Then English became the best subject which I was good at.      When I was in ninth grade, I was in a little slump with my English learning. My English ability did not improve much around that period. But then that summer, I went to the States. I stayed with an American family. I enjoyed my home stay. But after that, I felt that, "I should have studied harder so that I could have had more conversations and had fun with my host family."  Since then, I studied English harder. That home stay experience gave me a positive attitude for my English learning.

     When I was in High School, I studied English constantly. I tried to increase my vocabulary, idioms, phrases, etc. I also studied a text book for university entrance examination. It was not fun at all. I tried to talk with foreigners and practice.

     Before I came to university, I expected to have many English classes with foreign teachers. And I do! Now I have lots of English classes with foreign teachers. I expected to learn vocabulary, reading, etc. But the way to learn is quite different from my images. My first impression of class was very strong. In the class room the back ground music was on. We were made to have a conversation with our new classmates in English. I was very nervous but now I really enjoy my class. I think all of my classmates are very talented and they all like English. Furthermore, they are almost the same level as I and some of them are much higher level. That means, just talking to my classmates improves my English speaking skill. That is the one thing which I was surprised about.

     I like LL class, too. Our teaching assistant is Mari-san and her pronunciation is very fluent. She is one of my role models right now. The material of LL was interesting but I wonder why we did so many murder stories. We could do different kinds of stories.

     I want to study for the TOEFL test during this coming spring vacation. I would like to study some text books and want to increase my vocabulary. I also want to practice typing. I am a very slow. Not only English but also I would like to study Spanish.

     Last summer, I went to Brazil, Argentina, and Australia. I learned that if we do not know the language of the country, the enjoyment is cut in half. Of course I enjoyed the trip to Brazil and Argentina, but I had a little trouble only to buy some things. One day I went into Macdonald's in Buenos Aires and tried to buy ice cream. But the lady in the counter gave me an apple pie. I made a mistake in Spanish. Because my Spanish ability was not enough. But I tried again and I got ice cream. Another day, I was walking along the main shopping street of Buenos Aires. There were some girls on the street. One of the girls talked to me in English. Her name is Romina. She is Argentinean. She could speak English so that we could have a conversation in English. That is very fantastic. I realized the greatness of English. I want to go abroad again and challenge my English ability.

     I would like to give advice to next year's first year students. I think they do not have to worry about anything. There are lots of new things for them, especially the ways to study English. It may be much different from the ways they have done in High School. I suggest three important things. First, try to make a lot of new friends. They will be your gold. Second, it is important to have self-confidence. Our self-confidence will lead us to success. Third, keep loving English, and enjoy yourself!