Name: Yumiko Kato

Year: 1997

 

     When I entered JHS, I started learning English for the first time. At first, I did not like English, because it was difficult for me to remember the spelling of each word and the grammar. I still remember that I had much difficulty in learning the spelling of "chair" and "picture" by heart. Besides, we had to prepare for the next class. It took me almost one hour. (It is extraordinary that doing homework takes JHS students one hour!) I wondered why we had to learn foreign language in spite of being Japanese.

     But the way of thinking changed when I was in third grade of junior high. Since I was in second grade of elementary school, I had belonged to a chorus group in my home town, Tajimi. And our chorus group went to hold concerts at Terra Haute city in America. Terra Haute is the sister city of Tajimi. It was the first time for me to go  abroad. During the trip, I stayed with an American family for a week. But my English was too poor to communicate with my host family.

     I came back to Japan with much regret, and decided to learn English harder. I spoke to foreign teachers by myself in English at my school, while I started watching "Sesame Street" at home. I enjoyed the way of learning English and came to like English little by little. I got interested in foreign cultures too after my stay in America. They kept their shoes on in their home in America, and each of the children had his/her own room in spite of their young age. I was quite shocked by such differences.

     At my HS, English teachers gave much more homework than junior high. English class was boring in HS, because we were forced to study just for our entrance examinations of universities. What was worse, we learned only grammar and did not have any chances to learn speaking English in HS. As a result, my ability of speaking English did not improve in classes at all.

     What made my English improve was my club. In the club, we played many foreign games and watched movies in English with teachers from America and Britain. Sometimes the teachers introduced different cultures of their countries to us. The club activities were a lot of fun and useful for me. Thanks to the club, I became more interested in English and foreign cultures, which made me decide to keep studying English.

     When I entered Nanzan university, what most surprised me was the number of foreign teachers. Most of our classes are given by native English teachers, and even Japanese teachers speak English in class. The content of classes is also quite different from HS. In this faculty, we have the oral communication class as many as three times a week. We can speak nothing but English in this class, and we also have to write a comment (of course in English) after each class. In April, it was hard for me, but I do not feel it hard now. The situation matured me. I believe Nanzan has the best environment for English learners. In Nanzan, I feel as if I were in a foreign university.

Not only the environment around me, but also my way of learning English changed a lot. It is because I could decide how to study English by myself. In junior high and HS, we were told that making mistakes was bad. As a result, we were always afraid of making mistakes. But in this school, we do not have to be afraid of mistakes. We were told that making mistakes was fantastic and we became more active to learn English. In my case, I started listening to foreign music and English radio programs. I sometimes watch TV spoken in English. I wrote a letter to my host family in America after a long break, and I received a reply from them soon. I was so happy and I thought English was so useful to communicate. I often think of many things in English! For example, "Oh, I'm so sleepy today. I don't feel like going to school." or "I'm getting hungry. Let's finish class earlier, please!" and so on.

     I think it depends on me whether my English will improve or not here. The more I make efforts, the better I can speak English. I like talking to foreign people in English very much. I want to keep learning English forever.