Name: Nami Komada

Year: 1997

 

 

     I started to study English when I entered JHS. In JHS, an AET came to class once a week and talked about her country and played games.   One day, my English teacher recruited  pen pals. So I applied for it and wrote to a girl who lives in Canada. It was then that I had an interest in English. And this correspondence continued for a few years.  Every time I got a letter, I looked up the words in the dictionary and enjoyed writing to her. I learned not only English but also lots of things like her country and school. Thanks to this correspondence, I came to like English and have an interest in foreign countries.

     In HS, I studied mainly grammar. It was boring. Even in the OC class, I learned grammar. And the teachers gave us a lot of homework. But as I could get better grades in English than in other subjects and did not dislike English class, I wanted to study English at university. So I was very happy I could enter this university. But I could not imagine what the class at this university was like.

     After I entered this university, I was surprised at the classes. Because the classes in this university were quite different from those of JHS or HS. In April, as soon as I started to learn English in the OC class, I didn't want to speak English and I was at a loss for what to do. Because I could not understand what the teacher said and I had to speak only in English. Moreover, I was shocked that most classmates spoke English well even though some of them had never been abroad.

     But thanks to this class, I changed my ways of thinking toward studying English. I found it important to enjoy speaking English. At first, I was nervous about speaking English. Because I was afraid of making mistakes. I realized if I care about making mistakes, I cannot speak English positively. Juggling also changed my ways of language learning. I practiced juggling hard. So I believe if I study English harder, I can speak well. The classmates' attitudes toward learning English encouraged me. As they have the same goals to study English, they tell me many things. Some tell me about American movies and music. So I came to have an interest in them recently. And some tell me how to study English out side class. So I think classmates are important in learning English. Thanks to them, I can discover new role models.

     In this class, I learned many helpful ways to learn English. First is shadowing. If I do shadowing, I can understand what the partner says easily and communicate more smoothly. Second is being videoed each week. I was embarrassed and ashamed of it at first. However, after I watched the video again, I can learn from the partner and see how I speak and the points that I should correct. Third is making stories. As I am not good at memorizing, it is very useful for me to learn LL vocabulary. At the first LL test, I got a very bad score. So before the second test, I made stories with LL vocabulary.  Then I could memorize easily and get a good score.

     Recently, I heard a lecture given by a Canadian who lives in Japan now. He talked about the motive to come to Japan and the differences of cultures between Japan and Canada. I was impressed by his lecture. Though he speaks Japanese well, he made many mistakes in Japan at first. I was surprised to hear that. Then I thought mistakes were important to improve something. And I want to go abroad someday and see these differences.

     During my next three years at this university, I'd like to try a lot of things. I'd like to study abroad. As I have never been abroad, I do not know the differences of cultures. So I want to go abroad and touch other cultures and customs. To go abroad, I am saving money now. And to study abroad, I want to improve my speaking skills and enrich my vocabulary especially.

     Finally, I'd like to give some advice to next year's student. At first, you may be at a loss and you cannot speak at all. But don't be afraid of making mistakes and have fun!