Ayako Umehara

10 months in Australia

It’s been seven years since I started learning English. When I entered JHS at the age of 13, I had no basics of this foreign language. During my primary school days some friends around me had already studied a bit of it through their cram schools. So I was worried whether I would be able to follow English classes in JHS. Nevertheless, now I belong to the English department of Dokkyo University and moreover I’ve been put into Honors English class now.

My English teacher at my JHS was funny and good so his English class was so enjoyable. At first, how to pronounce, grammar, everything was new to me. So as not to be behind in the class, I tried to listen to the teacher and study the vocabulary of the next lesson that we would be doing. As a result I got a good score of the first examination, which gave me confidence in this subject. I kept constantly doing preparations for every lesson. I also focused my attention on pronunciation and accent. When the students were required to read aloud or repeat after the teacher, I always moved my mouth copying him. In addition there were two things related to English in which I was interested: foreign movies and music.
I liked some movie stars. This motivated me to learn because I thought how wonderful it would be to understand what they said directly by myself even a little. I also found some good singers and really loved their songs. All the CDs I bought had lyrics included so I listened to those songs following the words. Of course there were a ton of strange words, but I learned some phrases, expressions and words that my school did not teach.

After entering high school, I started considering going abroad to experience a different culture and learn real English as my enthusiasm about English grew. I applied to an organization for a one-year program of studying abroad as an exchange student. I passed its test, and at the end of my first year, I left for Australia. That was my first time flying overseas. There was no one who understood Japanese where I stayed, of course, so I had to express myself and communicate in my poor English. For the first few weeks it was very difficult to adjust myself to the diverse system of the local high school where I was going. In classes none of teachers seemed to care about me, because they spoke naturally fast and did not ask me whether I understood. But I could not do anything in the classes, so I gathered my courage and went to see the teachers to talk. They explained kindly in simple English, made my assignment easier or gave advice to me. These were unexpected reactions and I realized that the teachers did not ignore me but thought I understood what they said in the classes since I did not ask. I strongly felt that being passive would not change or produce anything. I also had opportunities to learn about other cultures through exchange students from various countries I met during my stay there. These experiences became an occasion to notice some aspects inside me of my identity as Japanese. I do not believe that I would be able to speak like now with only school English. Honestly, after staying there for 10 months I regarded my English classes of my high school in Japan as profitable only for entrance exams.

In Dokkyo University I was surprised that a lot of people have experienced longer lives abroad. I expected there would be lots of classes given in English. In reality there were not so many but I think each subject had an effect on my English somehow. Because we used some materials in English in different classes from time to time and there is a fact that my TOEIC score of this January was better than it was when I entered this university.

Now in the second year, Honors English this time is a conversation class. I can have chances to speak English a lot, and learn from my classmates’ opinions. Through this class so far I have experienced new activities such as videoing, writing “Action Logs” and so on. I am expecting that my English will be improved once again. I have learned English through a variety of ways and I will continue to do so.