The first few
years I studied Japanese, it was mainly in the classroom. While I feel it was a good way to learn
basic grammar rules, writing and basic vocabulary, I soon learned that unless I
started using Japanese outside of the classroom, my speaking would never
improve. The reason is because traditional
classroom language learning is extremely limited.
私の最初の日本語の勉強した経験は大体教室の中でした。それは基本の文法、書き方、基本の単語を学ぶなら一番いい方法だと思いますが、すぐに気付いた事は教室以外の所で日本語を使わなくては、日本語力は上がらないという事でした。理由は従来の教室での外国語の習得には多くの限界があります。
Even though my
Japanese skill is far from perfect, 17 years after I first started studying
Japanese, I now feel competent performing daily activities in Japanese, and
also even not-so-daily activities (from filling out forms at the hospital and
talking with a doctor to watching TV to filing my income taxes to work-related
discussions....) This level of Japanese can mainly be attributed to language I
learned while living and working in Japan, talking with Japanese friends and
students, and doing things I like to do in Japanese.
私の日本語力は本当に完璧ではなくても、最初の日本語の勉強から１７年後で、今は日本語で日常生活を行う事が出来ると感じます（日常生活だけではなくて、病院での書類の記入や医者との相談、テレビを見る事、確定申告書の提出、仕事関連の相談等）。この日本語のレベルは主に日本での生活と仕事、日本人の友達と生徒との会話、日本語で好きな事をして来た結果です。
What do I like
to do? Well, lately it’s yoga,
having lunch/dinner/drinks with friends, running, watching TV and movies, going
to art museums, painting and cooking!
In the past, it was learning kimono, traveling/ sightseeing such as
visiting temples, shrines, and castles, going to dance clubs and singing
karaoke. And all of these things I
have done and still do in Japanese.
私の好きな事はなんでしょうか？ 最近はヨガ、友達と一緒にランチ／ディナー／飲み会、ランニング、テレビや映画観賞、美術観賞、油絵や料理です！前は着付け、旅行／観光（寺、神社、城の見学等）、ダンスクラブ、カラオケ等でした。また、これら全部は日本語でしてきました。
My point is that
language learning will be extremely slow and limited if only occurring in a
traditional lesson and only once a week or a couple of times a
month. I want students to realize
that there are so many activities (that they already enjoy) that they do can in
English beyond English lessons that will help them improve their skills.
要点は従来のレッスンで週1回か月２回学ぶ場合は、習得に限界があり、 スピードが非常に遅くなります。生徒さんに色々な英語を使ってスキルが上がるアクティビティ （もう日本語でやって楽しんでいる）がある事 を気付いて欲しいです。
Even if it’s
just talking with friends, singing English songs or watching movies in English,
it’s the little by little everyday use of English that will help far more than
the occasional instruction by a teacher or using a textbook. (I figure students
are probably sick of “study” by now anyway, right?)
友達との会話、英語の歌、英語で映画鑑賞等でも、毎日少しずつ英語を使う方が教師からの指導や教科書の勉強よりもっと英語力のアップに役に立ちます。（生徒達はもう「勉強」に飽きているでしょう？私はそう思います。）
I have created
classes like cooking in English and painting in English, etc. that help
transition students between a typical English lesson and “real life” English
application (because English
is not just a subject in itself, but a vehicle for learning more about the world,
traveling with ease and meeting new people.) Of course, this is just a starting
point. There are many opportunities out there to use English in this way, so I
don’t expect students to just take my lessons. I want students to be satisfied with their English learning
and improvement, but if that instruction is infrequent and limited to one kind
of English opportunity (and the boring situations, in particular), they will
never feel they have improved.
従来の英語レッスンから生の英語へ移行させるために「英語でクッキング」、「英語で絵を描く」等の授業を考えました （英語は、授業科目だけではありません。世界についてより多くのことを学んだり、旅行の際に助けになったり、新たな人々との出会いをもたらす伝達手段です。）もちろん、こういう授業は出発点です。色々な所で英語を使う色々なチャンスがありますので、生徒達が私のレッスンを受ける事だけを望んでいません。生徒さんに自分の英語の学び方、進歩に満足して欲しいです。その学習頻度が少なくて、英語を使う方法が1つに限られていたら（また、特につまらない経験なら）、全然自分の進歩が見えないと思います。
Happy language
learning, in every sense and every way!
どういう方法でも英語を楽しんで下さい！
Thank you for
reading!
Cara Phillips
Homemade English
