[Lang-8] My first English class (2/2)

This is me reading Yukino's lang-8 entry: http://lang-8.com/11102/journals/749579/My-first-English-class-%282-2%29

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"Now that I've stayed in Japan for a week, I'm actually disappointed because Japan is so different from what I had imagined. I was expecting to see ninja, samurai, and people in kimono walking in the streets. But when I look around, there are no such people, and what is more, I can even see cars and trains here."

For some reason I could understand his English well this time, but his words struck me as odd. How can anyone move to a foreign country without doing any research about where they are going to live?

I wish I could say that his joke was funny, but when he added, "Why don't you wear a kimono every day? You should do so because you are a Japanese girl," I rather wanted to ask back, "Are all Canadian people featherbrained like you by any chance?" ...Wow, I'm glad that I couldn't speak any English at all! (I'm sorry my Canadian friends. In my opinion, girls in their so-called "sweet sixteen" are, most often, extremely bitter.) Anyway, all I could say in English were "Yes," "No" and "I don't know." So I said, "I, don't, know......."

Although he was popular among his students because of his appearance and bubbly personality, I didn't like him very much. He would go to Roppongi (六本木: a flashy district in Tokyo) almost every night with his friends or with other students, and he always looked tired in the class. I, on the other hand, worked four days a week after school to pay for the English class and studied literally whenever I had time. I was dead serious about studying English for the first time because:

My parents were opposed to it.

I spent a great deal of the money I earned myself. (10,000 yen per month was a lot of money for a high-school student, for example.)

The class was not very useful for learning new things, but it didn't matter because I could practice using what I learned on my own during the rest of the week. Meanwhile, once I got down to it, I realized that studying English was a lot of fun. I originally liked western literature and American/British pop music, so it was truly amazing that many things started making sense all at once.

Two years passed, and one day, James told us that he was leaving Japan. At the end of his last class, he said to me, "Honestly, I didn't think you would improve your English like this. Keep up the good work. I'm sure your English will be much better in the future." It was the first time ever for me to hear something good about my English. Even though I didn't like him, I was moved and said, "Yes! I will keep studying and improve my English. Thank you very much."

English as a school subject in high-school was quite easy for me compared to the English that people use in real life. I got perfect scores in all the English tests I took in the last term of senior high. My parents and school teachers strongly advised me to get a scholarship and go to college. I thought I did my bit, not knowing that I would still be studying English 10 years after I graduated college. (To be continued, I guess, to infinity...)

Category:

Education

Tags:

• lang-8
• english
• yukino

[forgottenmemories21]

I do think it's sad about what most American children learn in Elementary school about other countries/cultures. I too thought Japanese people wore kimonos and ninjas roamed the streets of Japan when I was 7 or 8 years old. Elementary schools tend to focus on history and tradition when it comes to teaching kids about other countries. It's probably because the teachers themselves have little knowledge or interest about contemporary culture in other countries. It's sad.. that's all I can say.