Name


I started to learn English when I was a junior high school student. I still have not been abroad. So I have learned to learn English only at school or at cram school.
When I was a JHS student, my homeroom teacher was an English teacher. The teacher taught me for three years. I admired her very much and she motivated me. Because I saw that she was talking with an ALT fluently and naturally. Since then, I was interested in English. Her class was fun every time. At the beginning of the class, it was a routine for us to greet. The conversation was “How are you?” “I’m fine, thank you. And you?” “I’m fine, thank you.” It was a first English conversation I knew. We also played bingo in English and we sang a lot of English songs. She selected songs that were famous and easy to learn for us. We sometimes took listening comprehension test with the songs. We could learn many words and phrases with songs. It was a helpful way for me to improve my listening ability. So I did well in school. There is a proverb of Japanese that says “Sukikoso monono zyouzunare.” I agree with it strongly. At cram school, I studied very much for an entrance of high school.
When I was a high school student, I seldom had opportunities to speak English. We only read a book and solved difficult questions. Moreover, I belonged to the tennis club and played tennis from morning to night except school time every day. So I didn’t have much time to study. I studied English to improve reading and writing ability very hard for entrance of college. To learn English was to pass an examination for me. Therefore, It was boring.
I imagined classes at university were not for study but communication. So I expected to speak English fluently at once through talking very much with natives.. But actually, to my surprise, the class of conversation was less than I expected. I couldn’t sometimes take the class that I wanted to take. I felt dissatisfied that we can’t take the class that we want to do. I was surprised that many of my friends had experience abroad. I got nervous and I felt pressure. In the class, everyone was accustomed to talking with NS, I thought. I felt I’m inferior to them and I couldn’t understand what NS said. So I lost my confidence and I was afraid of making a mistake. I was always depended on my friends to help me. I gradually avoided speaking English, because I was not positive and I was not good at speaking in front of everyone.
But I met a good teacher and thanks to him, not only my thinking and attitude for English, but my ways of learning were quite changed. Now, I enjoy his class and I feel comfortable. I have never had class like this; videoing with playing music, writing action log and juggling!! Everyone has a very good attitude to learn English. In his classes we have to speak only in English. So I always try to speak in English. I think it is good for me to write AL. I can learn new phrases, words, and good grammar. It is very useful to improve my writing ability. I was nervous to video at first. But the more I talk with my partner, the more I get used to it. After recording, when I checked it, I can find the bad points of my English speaking. It is a good way!
Until now, I had thought that the best way for developing my English was to talk with NSs a lot, but to talk with Non- Native Speakers who speak well is helpful. I noticed that it is useful for me to improve my skills and to express my emotions. It makes me happy and relaxed. I’m sure I like to speak English. I can learn a lot of things from my teacher and classmates. I now think that making a mistake is good and natural for NNS.
My goal after graduation is to be a sport journalist. I hope even if the player is a foreign player, I can interview him without his interpreter. I’ll do my best!!