How to acquire English skills even if you don’t want to. 2. My method of studying English unaided 2-1 How to study in our teens　2-1-5 Mother, English and self-learning

　English has definitely been one of the backbones of my life and work so far. I believe it is thanks to my mother and her influence that I did not dislike English at a time when many junior high school students dislike it.

　My mother, who started her career as a nurse and midwife, had been exposed to German language as a medical language when she was young to prepare for the national examinations. And when I asked her questions about English, she would respond me in a reasonable manner gently.

　Thanks to this, I was able to move on to the next stage of high school without becoming averse to English in junior high school, which was my first gateway, even though I hardly studied outside of school, when there were few students who went to cram schools (although there were a few).

　The high school I studied at was a technical high school, and the number of hours of English classes was less (about half) than that of the regular course, so it was a little easier. I didn't have to deal with strange, stupid, and difficult English like puzzles when young.

　However, during dyeing classes, which was a specialized industrial subject, we were sometimes given the homework to translate the technical journal articles in English into Japanese.

　I was lucky enough to get an Excellent grade for such homework because it was not a strange, silly, or puzzle question, but a factual description in an easy-to-understand manner. The fact that I didn't score relatively poorly (but not absolutely) on English tests gave me confidence in English, and from my first year of high school, I continued to challenge the five-minute English news broadcast on NHK, even though I had no idea what had been broadcasted.

　Furthermore, after graduating from high school, I got into the habit of self-study and memorized an entire thin book of English grammar used at school.  If you study the same thin book many times, you will be able to understand what is written next and what kind of English sentences are written without turning the pages. This is possible with thin books. When you get to this stage, you're done. Fortunately, this self-study cycle worked well for me.

　I don't remember that I was forced to memorize anything meaningless. I used the basic grammatical knowledge and example sentences I learned when they were needed, and since they were useful and helpful as tools for communication, I remembered them more deeply, and since I didn't dislike them, I continued to learn more.

　The first step in anything, the first environment, and continuity are important. The presence and influence of my mother was also very important for me.

Serially posted in English every Tuesday.

毎週火曜日に連載中

For photo data and materials, please refer to the following websites.

写真データ、写真資料は以下のサイトを参照下さい。

https://www.facebook.com/kamamototsuguru