Marie Sugihara

Two years in the UK

I loved English from the time of my childhood. I felt good to speak English when I was in kindergarten even if the phrases are very simple, for example “Hello my name is Marie, how are you?” or something like that.

I think my English learning history has started at that time and was affected by my parents. My parents were sometimes using English just like “Good night” or ”Good morning”. Repeating using English make my great curiosity arouse, so I usually ask them “How to say this in English??” I was interested in English, but my parents never forced me to study English. I think that is why my image to speak English has been always enjoyable.

When I was in fifth grade, I had the chance to live in England. I had lived there for two years. Of course I chose the local school. When I was in Japan, I felt little confidence just because I could speak English more than others. However in England, my confidence was broken down easily. I couldn’t communicate with others and was shocked with the different culture. There were kindnesses, discrimination, and many other things. Through the experience I learnt many important things either good things or bad things. Then I realized that when you speak another country’s language, it is important to know the culture. Others who you speak to are kind so be aggressive to speak. When I was came back to Japan and went to the local JHS, my English skills declined quickly because I didn’t know how to have a chance to speak English in normal days. School English wasn’t enough to keep my skills up. With that and trying to get used to a new place made my curiosity to explore English disappear. But after I belonged to the drama club, the teacher of the club gave me a chance to use English in plays. The teacher helped my skill expand. I became eager to learn English. From then, I used scripts of drama or movies to study. It is really interesting because I can know the grammar and feelings at the same time.

In high school I hated grammar and I thought I didn’t need it for my English but it was wrong. I could realize that the more I understood grammar, the more my English improved.

After entering the university, I could meet friends who love foreign languages, especially English. We share our knowledge and help each other. I expected to become a good English speaker. Then I changed my way of learning. I used to run away from what I’m not interested in. But now, through the classes, I realize that expanding my fields of English is really good to improve my English. So now I’m taking many different classes that I wasn’t interested in before, for example, English for current events, especially politics and economy. I was surprised that there are many people who speak very well. Everyday is exciting. Everyone has their own words so it is nice to exchange ideas. Sometimes I become lazy, but then I ask others about their dream in the future. It makes me try harder again. A friend who I met in England, she is Chinese and when we were together, she also couldn’t speak English. But she is now a medical student in London. She always tries hard and now she is making her dream come true. Her effort always encourages me. I want to use English as a tool in my future work. My goal will be making my dream come true with my English.