Why should Japanese study English?

English studying is essential for us, Japanese, today. Because we cannot get along without English for our daily life. In Japan, children normally start to study English from junior high school. Some of them continue studying until to high school. Half of them still continue it to university. Eventually most of Japanese study English for a long period. Afterward we have to use English in various social activities.

For instance, let's think about the business such as trading, manufacturing, constructions or whatever the business would be. English went deep into every field, even into wholly domestic business. If we want to get promotion in the company, we cannot avoid English.

We can pick up another example. Nowadays we can enjoy travelling abroad easily and comfortably. There are exceptional countries where English is not available. However it's true that English is the most useful language. If we can use English freely, the travel would be much fun.

In conclusion, now the question whether we should study English cannot be hot issue. Because it's very obvious and natural to study English in Japan.

First trip to Seoul

This march I made a first trip to Seoul. That was marvelous and very exciting. At first I hesitated to go to Seoul,Korea. There were several reasons for that. First of all I was worried about the Korean language, the Hangul. I know that I can not make myself understood at all in Korea without using the Hangul. Actually I could not find either alphabets or Chinese characters. Accordingly I had to recognize Seoul only through eyes and ears.

Second reason is the similarity. I thought I could not find distinctive atmosphere. In that sense , my wrong impression did not arouse curiosity to go there. However Seoul was quite different from the city in Japan. I found that it is rather near to the city in the U.S , especially in terms of buildings and vehicles.

Thirdly I had prejudice about Korean food. Of course, I like kimchee and BBQ. But I can not eat the same two to three times a day. Needless to say , I don't want to have anything all through the staying .

But I found I had foolish preconceptions about Korea. Everything I experienced was very fresh and curious and I fully satisfied myself .

After retirement

I have been looking for my life-work after retirement. Some people want to be free from any restriction ,without any routine job and simply to live on a pension. What should I do in my remaining life? The crucial condition is to keep myself healthy both in mind and body. It might be important to be wealthy enough.However, buisiness is stressful.I finally came to the end ; it is making a contribution to society through education by English teaching at school.

Another reason to study English

I have been studying English since junior high school. It means countless time has passed since I touched English.Nevertheless my English is not good enough yet.I thought this result might not be special to me,but appliicable to common English learners in Japan. If so,there could be some linguistic reasons or educational failure but for individual competence. This awareness of the issues stimulated me to study English again.