LETTER FROM HAPPY ENGLISH SCHOOL　　April 17th, 2021

Hello, how is everything going? It is spring, but cherry-blossoms season is over.

Instead, the COVID-19 is gaining its momentum and going rampant by mutating into variants. A variant from Britain is reportedly spreading in Osaka. The strain is said to be more infectious and deadly. With the vaccine supply long overdue, we still need to continue to combat the virus in the conventional ways: washing hands and avoiding the 3Cs(closed space with poor ventilation, crowded spaces with many people nearby and close-contact setting such as close-range conversations).

The new school year has just started and I hope everyone feels refreshed and is further motivated to study English. It is said that there is no royal road to learning, particularly learning languages, but using English in daily life certainly helps improve English skills. People who need to use English in their lives will acquire it faster than those who do not need to use it. It is important to make your brain recognize that using English is necessary.

I usually use as much English as possible to communicate with students so that I can provide them with opportunities to be exposed to a lot more English and try to encourage them to use it. Even if you know some English, when it is not used, it does not become your tools for communication. Learners must go through the process of practicing using English in order to acquire it in a true sense.

When speaking English, you may stammer or you may be stuck without being able to come up with proper words or expressions, and you may make mistakes, but they are really common things for learners and you need to go through the process of this hands-on learning. You can learn from those experiences and you will become able to cope better with the similar situations next time. The thing is that you need to put yourself in as many situations as possible where you must try out your English skills.

As for speaking skill, first, you should start with speaking English for 30 seconds and gradually extend the time to one minute and longer. Practice makes perfect. Learn by doing. You should take every opportunity to use English, what is more, even create opportunities to try it. You can practice speaking by yourself anytime and anywhere as you like by sometimes whispering or making sentences in your mind. Express yourself and describe any situations you see and you are in.

In a way, you can see yourself objectively even when you believe you are in chaotic situations, which are often not and you can find ways to get them through by trying to express yourself in English. It should give you a time-out to see things in different angles.

Take it easy and enjoy the process of learning English. Try to better handle any troubles and worries by just thinking about how you can describe the difficult situations in English, which could find ways to deal with them by putting you in perspective. Indeed, this is the way I have sometimes managed to solve problems.

桜も終わり新緑の季節です。新年度が始まりしばらく経ちましたが、学校生活や新しい環境に慣れましたか。英語の学習は、英語の環境に身を置き、英語をどんどん使うことにあると思っています。何でも自分でこれならできるというものやってみて、覚えたものを使うように心がけることが肝心だと思っています。要するに英語をたくさん読んで聞いて、そしてしっかり身につくように自分で自分の言葉として話す、そして書いて使うことです。

間違ったり、詰まったり、適切な言葉が出てこなかったりする場面があるのは英語を学ぶ上で当然のことで、その過程を経なければ英語の上達はありません。

たくさん英語で表現する機会を持つことが大切です。つぶやいたり、頭の中で考えたりして英語で表現することを、どこでもいつでも気の向いたときにしてみてください。

英語で表現することで自分のことも客観視できます。心配事や不安も違ったアングルで見ることができるようになります。それが問題解決に結びついたりすることになるかもしれません。