- Name: Yoko Morita
- Year: 1997
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When I was in 6th grade, I started to learn
English. I did not go to any private school or juku for lessons, but my
mother and brother taught me English.
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At first, I started to study the alphabet. I did not
know how to write the alphabet and I also did not know that there are two
kinds of letters, capital letters and small letters. After my mother
taught me how to write the letters, I practiced them. Then, my brother
checked and corrected my notebook. He also taught me easy vocabulary.
- After I entered JHS,
I had English class. Most of the classmates had not studied English at
all. I was very happy because I could write some English words even though
most of the classmates could not write them. I could get good score on
English tests, and English was one of my favorite subjects. But after I
entered HS, it was changed.
- The HS that I entered
was a prep school, so the classes were for the exams to enter university.
They were very boring, especially grammar class. The teacher just
explained as the textbook said, and we did exercises in the textbook. On
the other hand, reading class was very hard because we had to prepare a
lot. We had to translate all of the sentences in the textbook. There was
only one teacher who was a native English speaker. He came to our class
about twice a year. He told us a story in English, but it was very boring
because I could not understand what he said. If I could not understand his
stories, it did not matter because our Japanese teacher explained what he
said in Japanese after his story was finished. Even though the American
teacher was in our class, we could not have a chance to talk to him in
English.
- When I was in 11th
grade, I had a chance to go to America because of my father’s business. At
first, I did not want to go to America because I could not speak English
well, and I could not imagine the life in America, but I came to think
that it is a very good chance to study English and experience American
school life , so I decided to go to America with my parents. I was really
worried about my school life, but I was also looking forward to having a
wonderful time in America.
- On the first day that I
went to HS, I met my dean and ESL(English As A Second Language) teacher.
The ESL teacher asked me a few questions, then she decided what level I
should be in. She told me to join a class of the highest level. I was very
surprised because I was thinking that I would be in a class of the lowest
level, so I thought ESL is a class only for the students who can not speak
English well like me, but it was not true. All of the classmates could
speak English very well. I could not believe that I was in ESL class, and
I could not understand why the teacher told me to join this class. I was
very nervous, so I wanted to get out of the class.
- My uneasiness was not
just about ESL. I was very worried about most of the classes that I took.
In science, there were many special vocabularies that we do not use in our
daily lives, so when I read the textbook, I had to look them up my
dictionary many times. Social studies was the hardest subject for me. I
had to read 10 to 15 pages in every day, and I sometimes had to write
essays and give presenta-tions in front of the classmates. This experience
affected my future very much. It made me like and study English. By
reading many stories, writing essay, and listening to the classes, I am
sure that my English abilities were improved, so now I am thinking that it
was a really good experience for me.
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After I entered Nanzan University, I was very
surprised that the classmates could speak English very well even though
most of them have not been abroad. I was ashamed of my English, so at
first, I did not want to speak English. It was very strange to talk with
classmates in English, but I came to feel comfortable to talk in English.
I learned a lot of things in Oral Communication class. I learned to do
shadowing, summarizing, and not to be afraid of making mistakes. To do
shadowing and summarizing help me to understand English. These are very
useful for me to study English.
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Now, I have a dream of my future that I want to work
at an airport. At an airport, I can have contact with many foreign people
and help them. I am sure that I will be able to use my English skills for
the job. In the next three years, I want to improve my English more to
accomplish my dream.
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