Name: Yuka Ogisu                                                                                                                                   

Year: 1996

 

     My history began at my junior high school. At first, my English score was bad, however, I had quite a lot of interest in English. So I kept on doing my best. To begin with, I asked my friends who did better than me the ways to prepare for tests. For the next test, I remembered all the words written in the textbook. To remember them, every night when I had English class, I read all the words I learned that day out loud repeatedly. In this way in the first year, I got from 70 to 85 percent in each test.

     Next year, my English teacher changed. The new teacher had studied English abroad for a year when she was 17 years old. Because of that, her pronunciation was so good and I really hoped to become able to pronounce English like her. She taught us how to translate English into Japanese, or the English grammar like other teachers did. Although, the most different thing that she taught her students (different from other teachers) was the very subtle intonations by moving her hands and making waves. She did not mention it, though it was enough for me to know that she wanted to acquaint us with intonation.      For that year, I often practiced reading out loud. With such a strong hope, I could improve my pronunciation a lot. In the third year, I had a very strict teacher. He made us know English grammar. He walked around the classroom pointing and asking some English questions to each student. If the student could not answer his question,  then he used to call out only the student's name all through the class. All the students were afraid of him,  and prepared perfectly for his class. I also had fear and studied very hard. The year was a hard and unenjoyable year,  but my English reading and writing ability became much better and I became very good at grammar. In this way, I could get to know how to pronounce English,  translate it into Japanese, read English, and write English. By the end of the JHS, my basic English knowledge was almost complete, and very naturally I was fond of English.

     At HS, I could improve by reading many materials, or watching English movies in my English classes. When I was a second year student at HS, I selected English studying course. Since I had five kinds of English classes, in total I had sixteen English classes a week. I had two native speaker teachers, one from America and one from Australia. They let us do some debates (of course in English) or presentations in front of my classmates. They were very hard work for us, however, I really enjoyed them and they helped increase our vocabulary.

     Now I am a student of at university. Through this year,  I could get rid of any hesitation whenever I speak English, and I am never afraid of making mistakes. It is a very big change for me.

     Before I entered the OC classroom, I had been thinking that at university, we will study very difficult things with very strict teachers. However, the class was so enjoyable and I felt relaxed and free by the teacher’s soft voice and the nice background  music. I was really surprised at the very big difference between the reality and my imagination.

     This year I learned three very helpful things. One is "self-talk". I could do it outside the class, walking around the campus, taking a bath, or even just before going to sleep!

     The second thing is “shadowing". Just speaking after my teacher or my classmates taught me so many useful expressions or good English phrases.

     The last thing is acting as if "you are a native speaker." Not to be afraid of mistakes, to be relaxed makes you a very nice English speaker. All I had to do then was just believe "I can do it!" They helped me a lot.

     By those ways, I could use my mind and try hard. "Yes, I can speak English!"  Although, I have a few points to improve still, by next year I want to make my vocabulary much bigger. I am sure that the bigger my vocabulary becomes,  the better my English will be. By the third year, I want to speak more correctly. Now my English is full of mistakes. I do not care about them,  however, to be a better English speaker, I want to correct them.

     By my graduation, I want to be like a native speaker mentally and also in my skill. After studying,  I want to use English to help those people who are in trouble in Japan or abroad. To become such a skilled person, I will need so many people's help. So if I could be so, then I want to help others with a heart of thankfulness.

     Finally, I want to give new freshman students some advice. Believing is the most important thing in your learning. When you believe you can speak English, you can do it! When you believe you can listen to English,  you can do it! When you believe you can be like a native speaker, you can be that!!  Never give up and keep on trying!  When you feel sad or disappointed, always remember that there are so many good friends and teachers around you. They can help you and they also need you. Do your best!