Name: Kazuko Matsuno  

Year: 1997

 

 

     When I was in the seventh grade, I studied English for the first time. Since English didn't attract me, I hardly studied English. I studied English only before examinations. In order to memorize new words and important sentences that were in my textbook, I did nothing but write them over and over again. This meant I did not read English aloud and listen to any English cassette tapes. I didn't

think I needed to read aloud and listen because I considered only what I needed for passing exams.

     In HS, I had one English class that aimed at communication in English. I took this lesson once a week for one year when I was a tenth grader. Though the teacher of this class was Japanese, he spoke English fluently like a native speaker. Because I was not used to listening to English and could not understand well, English was mysterious for me, like a spell. I wanted to understand this spell. The more I listened to his English, the more I got interested in the sentence stress. As Japanese is monotonous, I was attracted by something like rhythm. That is why I came to read my English textbook aloud and study English more. I got interested in English. To my surprise, I could learn words and sentences by heart more easily than before. However, there was one problem in class. The teacher gave us a chance to talk with  classmates in English and sometimes asked a student to speak English in front of other classmates. But I didn't want to talk with someone in English because I was worried about my poor pronunciation and afraid of mistakes. Needless to say, I don't like to speak in front of others. I was nervous during the class.

     After HS graduation, I fortunately entered this university. I have four English classes here. They are OC, writing, workshop and reading. These classes are different from those of JHS or HS. At OC class, I learn not only some useful strategies but also positive ideas. The ideas are that making mistakes doesn't matter and I can enjoy learning English. Since the teacher sometimes takes us outside, I relax and enjoy learning English. We sing English songs in class. I write E-mail to a partner in Chicago. The LL cassette tapes are entertaining (I noticed the cassette tapes help me improve my hearing ability.) After I learned not to care about my mistakes, I came to talk with my partner in English with enjoyment. In writing class, I am given one topic and have to write my own idea in English. It's difficult for me to hit on ideas and write my own English sentences because I had studied passively before going to the university. In workshop class, we study four topics in English. This is my first experience to study in English. Every topic is interesting. So I can learn English while enjoying myself. In addition, when I took the class on Asia I learned it doesn't matter to speak Japanese English. In reading class, each of us reads the reading of our own level. Therefore, we don't worry about the difficulty.

     After all that, I want to have my own opinions and express them in my own English. I think I can't learn language only by myself. I thank the people who help me learn English.