LETTER FROM HAPPY ENGLISH SCHOOL May 11th, 2021

Hello, how are you? Have you been successfully staying away from the COVID-19？　It seems more and more difficult to fight the COVID-19 these days with new variants emerging, so we need to be more careful not to get infected.

I hope every student keeps motivated to study even amid the coronavirus pandemic. Having to stay home, we have more time to read, listen, write and practice speaking English. You can make a difference in your progress in English if you work hard now. It is now, not some other time. The stay-home period allows you to spend time to catch up on your study and your reading.

I myself have a pile of books unread and drills undone, but tend to go easy way idling away without trying to finish the books or to complete the exercises. I am apt to spend extra time binge -watching Korean dramas and K-pop music programs. Now that my craving for free time was satisfied during the Golden Week holidays, I am determined to read, study, practice and learn more. As the saying goes, “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.”, I feel like working hard to develop my skills and increase my knowledge after taking it easy. It is just like maintaining a good balance between pleasure and work, in my case, rather than work and pleasure.

This time I got the carrot first and I have realized I need the stick, but the other way around is usually a case in point to make yourself work hard: you spur yourself to achieve your goal with a view to winning the carrot and you find the achievement itself often can be the precious carrot.

どうstay-home連休を過ごしましたか。家での時間が増えて今までやれていなかった勉強や読書ができたのではないですか。私の場合のんびり過ごしすぎ、読めていない本が山積みのまま、目を通さなければならない問題集も放置したままでした。

それではいけないと、今これからまだ続くstay-homeで挽回する気で満々の気分です。飴が先で鞭が後になってしまいました。当然鞭があって飴があるほうが、やるべきことがスムーズにこなせるでしょう。

しかし、自分のためになるが、差し迫っていないものには、優先権を与えにくいものです。今このstay-homeの期間は、いつもできないことをするように、自分自身を駆り立てるよい機会になると思います。そして、せっかくのこの期間に勉強や読書にフォーカスできることで大きく成長できると思います。とにかく努力は報われる。やってご褒美を自分に与えるということもありますが、その努力が実際は達成感そして成果という飴にもなります。

If you try you’ll succeed, and if you don’t you won’t. Failure is the result of people not trying. (Uesugi Yozan,Yonezawa feudal lord) なせば成る、なさねば成らぬ何事も、成らぬは人のなさぬなりけり。（上杉鷹山、米沢藩藩主）