January 2024 archive

　The event that made me decide to study English more seriously was when I went to Tokyo last summer to support high school students in their English activities as a university student mentor. 　I had always liked and studied English, and I was invited to participate in this activity by a friend of mine who was attending a university overseas. To be honest, I felt envious that I could acquire English skills because I had studied in a fulfilling environment. I also felt a little depressed because I had always assumed that my English skills were limited because I did not have the money to study abroad and did not …

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Hi, I am Tomoka, a freshman in Humanity and Social Science at Hirosaki University. I will talk about how I was learning English until now. In summer vacation, I went to the Philippines and experienced speaking English throughout the day. I got some new perspectives and realized speaking English is not difficult. Before my summer trip, I mainly attended seminars, but I seldom participated in Conversation Corner in English Lounge. However, after spending my time in the Philippines, I would like to talk with international students in English, so I tried to join Conversation Corner in my second semester. For this essay, I collaborated with Yusrin from Indonesia, a doctoral …

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I had no interest in English when I was a junior high student. English was so confusing for me that I do not want to study it. But now, I do not think I am poor at English, and I attend classes more actively. Something that helped me were interesting stories and essays. I managed to enter high school. Although I had studied hard for the entering exam, I did not have high motivation to learn English. “I must study English, but I don’t want to.” When I was losing my way, my English teacher gave me a great present. It was a homework handout, which is written in English. …

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My motivation to study English comes from English songs. When I listen to English songs, I want to understand the meaning of its lyrics. I LIKE ENGLISH SONGS！ One of my favorite songs is “Let it Be” by The Beatles. Their pleasant singing voice and rhythm makes me relax. They created many hit songs, like “Yesterday” and “Hey Jude.” Their songs are still popular around the world. In Japan, young people know them because their songs have been used in TV shows and commercials. I discovered their songs “Let it Be” and “Help!” on TV shows. I want to know about the lyrics of their songs, so I want to …

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This is the story of why I decided to learn English. During my elementary school, I struggled that I couldn’t fit in my classmates. This is because I’ve dreaded opening myself up. To be honest, I thought I would be made fun of if I showed who I am. I had no self-esteem, I think now. It is painful that we can’t express ourselves while caring how people see us. So, I decided to change myself to a cheerful person when graduated from elementary school. At the beginning, it seemed that I succeed to pretend a bright boy. However, I gradually came to realize that it’s not me. Worse still, …

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Do you know American football? Even if you know about it, there are many people who have never seen it. I love watching American football games because of my parents’ influence. I support the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Jaguars’ QB is Trevor Lawrence, who is my favorite player on the team. He is a young player who joined the club with the No. 1 pick in the 2021 draft, but he is also very calm and charismatic during the game. It was in 2022 that I started watching while understanding the rules of American football. To understand the rules, I had to be able to understand the English play-by-play, so it …

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When you hear the word ‘reading,’ readers who study English may imagine reading for study. This is, however, only partly correct; you can enjoy reading for fun.    I am a huge fan of Studio Ghibli movies. One day, when I was watching “When Marnie Was There,” which is one of my favorite movies, I came to want to read the original book of that movie in English. Therefore, I soon bought it online and began to read it little by little. I enjoyed the detail: the beautiful scenery of rural nature, the description of the main character, Anna’s changing of her delicate feelings… all differences from the adaptation. I …

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