Name: Kenji Nagase                                                                                                                                     Year: 1996

 

     When I was in JHS and HS, I learned mainly English grammar and I didn't pay so much attention to English conversation. It was because we have to take the entrance examination. But actually, I liked the grammar very much. It was not so hard for me to study it. As I studied it deeply, I came to think that I had to speak in correct English. It seemed to be my bad stereotype.

     After entering university, I was surprised that there were so many students who had already studied abroad and spoke very good English. I was scared so much whether I could make it here. But gradually this terrible idea was modified. I realized that the most important thing was not to speak perfect English but to communicate as much as possible. It is natural that I cannot speak English well because I am a Japanese. And so are my classmates.

     At first,  I was envious of the returnee students and I felt a sense of inferiority. But they are very friendly and cooperative. They never look down on us only because we cannot speak English well. So it has become interesting to speak English with them.

     There are so many things I found helpful in the first year. First thing is the videoing. At first I was so embarrassed. I felt that I was watched by Mr. Murphey and I had to speak correctly. But gradually I came to enjoy it. Its homework showed me a lot of good and bad points. Thanks to it, I could check and improve my conversation for the next time. The tape proves my improvement.

     A second thing is shadowing. It is very useful to listen to the stories given by the native speakers. Sometimes I try to remember and practice them.

     A third is self-talk. If I speak English only in the OC class, the total English-speaking time per week will be only 2.25 hour. But if I do self-talk, the time will extremely expand. I sometimes do it when I get home, when I was cooking and so on.

     Another thing is what I tried in summer vacation. It is that I recorded the sound of my favorite movies onto tapes and listened to them over and over again. A comedy film was the best. It is very interesting because every scene is remembered. It is almost the same as watching the movie again. Moreover, I can learn a lot of expressions used in an ordinary life. So I think this is a very helpful way of learning English.

     Now I think I have improved my English a lot. I can understand what Mr. Murphey or other native speakers say with more ease than before, and I can talk with my classmates in English with so much fun. But if I had used my free time effectively,  I might have improved much more. Sometimes I waste my time in watching boring TV or chatting over the phone for a long time. So I will  have to try to be stricter with myself. My goal for this year has been to strengthen my listening ability. It is certain that I have improved a lot. Still one of my goals for next year is to listen to much more English. A second goal is to improve my reading ability. We have had only one reading class so far. So I think I should read more English books or something before the third year when we start our research. Probably, I will have to read a lot of English books for that. So I would like to improve my reading speed in order to make my future study easier.

     But my goals for the next three years and after graduation are not clear right now. Although I am interested in linguistics, I am also interested in Japanese and American sign language these days. Furthermore, I am not sure whether I really want to study abroad or not. That is, now I don't know what and how I really want to study. So I am going to spend a long time and think it over.

     Next, I want to think about my social life. This year I have been really busy attending my club, and I will be next year. I am enjoying it very much. When I was in HS, I could not find what I wanted to do, and I also had to study hard. But now I have good friends,  play the keyboard and sing  songs freely. The truth is that I like music better than anything else. I am happiest when I play with them, and now I even think I would like to have a job related to music in the future, if possible.

     Of course, I will study English hard as well, but I really want to challenge and develop my musical capacity. My elder brother told me that the four years in university was so long to do nothing, but so short to accomplish a certain thing. So I would like to do my best for both my studies and the club activity so as not to regret later.

     At last, a comment a for next year's students. I think each student's results of studying will appear clearly so soon in this course, especially when you speak Englis in class. It will easily be found out who has studied hard and who has not. It is certain that the class and the homework are very hard, but they are always useful. So I would like them to do their best.