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. Of course, I was reluctant. But during the homework, I found the story interesting. It told me why cola was made. I like trivia, so I was surprised and glad to know that cola was produced by mistake. After that, the teacher gave me English sentences one after another. Some of them taught me a little knowledge like cola’s one, the others were funny stories. I could enjoy studying English because of the handouts. I am a university student now, and I keep studying English now. Instead of the handouts, I started to read English comic books because I like Manga. It is sometimes difficult, but interesting. (Especially, I like “FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST”!) These stories and essays gave me various vocabulary. Recently, I started to practice for the TOEIC test. My English experiences help me understand what the problems say. I cannot use English perfectly, even though, it is fun to know what you feel in English. I will keep learning English because I can enjoy it!

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 study English. HOW TO LEARN ENGLISH USING ENGLISH SONGS I introduce that how to learn English using English songs. There are three advantages.

First, it is to be able to develop listening skills. You can improve your English skills by singing aloud, while listening to songs. Also, you can learn English words and phrase. 　　 Second, we can learn about foreign countries. Folk songs express the scenery of the country and the life of the people. For example, “Take Me Home, Country Roads “by John Denver. Lyris to this song mention the names West Virginia, the Blue Ridge Mountains, and Shenandoe River. Finally, we can have fun while learning English. Using English songs, it is easy to keep learning. I think many people who lack the motivation to learn English so, why I recommend using English songs.

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, bullying me in soccer club started. they often threw my belongings away and made fun of my actions and words, exposed features of my body among all students. I couldn’t talk about it with anyone because of shame. So, I felt I don’t belong to anywhere. One day, I had influenza. I wished that I could have made it last. On the 4th from the first absence, I had nothing to do and finally found glee, a musical drama in the U.S., which my mother loves and recorded. I came across an episode that a boy tries to face bullying. I was crying unconsciously. Then, I continued watching episodes. There were teenagers like me who struggled with bullying, LGBTQ etc. Suddenly, facing bullying guys came up to my mind. I made up my mind and did. In conclusion, bullying stopped. What’s more, I became a friend with them. Glee taught me Guts and literally saved my life. After this, I wanted to see a bigger world or studying abroad. Now, I study English education for becoming a teacher and preparing for it. That’s why I study English.

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 took me a long time. At first, I tried to understand English and the rules with the help of my parents, but as I watched the games and interviews with the players, I realized that I wanted to understand English on my own. So, I listened to interviews with my favorite player, Trevor Lawrence, over and over again, and started imitating him. I still cannot understand what he is saying right away, but I want to listen to him repeatedly in the future and acquire enough English skills to be able to communicate with him someday. If you have a favorite player in an English-speaking country, you will be motivated to learn English! Not only athletes, but also singers and models will be motivated! Please try to spread your preferences to the world!

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 don’t think I read it completely accurately, but I am glad to have the fun of understanding the story and I like this novel very much.    Actually, I had a new discovery when I was reading. Here is a sentence from the novel: “‘No, of course she don’t!’ said Mrs Pegg.” (p. 16). If you have been taught grammar at school, you may wonder why ‘don’t’ is used in that sentence, instead of ‘doesn’t’. However, it is not a mistake. Although the expression is not the standard English, you can see expressions like this used in novels. This is very interesting because what we learned as being ungrammatical is used in books written in English!     My experiences with the book are not for study, but for fun. You don’t have to worry about figuring something out completely, handing in some homework, or passing an examination. By reading books in English, you will always find something new, even things which you have never studied at school. Give it a try! 

〈Reference〉 ・J. G. Robinson When Marnie Was There 2016, Kodansha English Library