常時英心:言葉の森から 1.0

約10年間,はてなダイアリーで英語表現の落穂拾いを行ってきました。現在はAmeba Blogに2.0を開設し,継続中です。こちらはしばらくアーカイブとして維持します。

Report from Calgary

Dear Dr. Tanabe,

I have one week left to the end of the 2018 spring term. Let me share my feelings now.

First and foremost, I strongly felt a necessity of making the basics solid, such as vocabulary and grammar.

In the first half of my writing class, I wrote four types of essay: a descriptive, cause and effect, compare and contrast, and an argumentative essay. An instructor always pointed out my grammatical and word choice errors with a comment, such as “an awkward sentence”.

I should have reviewed vocabulary and grammar before coming here; however, I think it’s not too late to learn the ABC of them during a summer intensive course. All of the instructors in charge of my classes said, “the summer course is much easier than the spring one." Therefore, I will take time by the forelock to study the basics of English for myself.

Secondly, I realized my lack of knowledge of society. I don’t know how many times I discussed social issues with my classmates and was asked about Japan, but I remember I was stuck for a word. Thus, one of the teachers articulated time and again, “you’re the worst representative of Japan”. I believe it was a joke.

On the other hands, two of my classmates from Saudi Arabia and Iran quickly answered questions and told us the situation of their home country with their opinions with much confidence. It seems to be harder to stop talking for them rather than responding to the questions.

Lastly, I noticed the difficulty in writing an academic paper, taking notes, and giving a presentation as an exchange student in undergraduate courses.

Honestly, I thought that's something I was able to manage when I was in Japan, but the course that I’m taking called ACC (Academic Communication Certificate) enabled me to realize that it was an overoptimistic view. I’m sure this course will help me in undergraduate courses.

This coming Friday is the last day of the spring term, and it’s certain that the day is one of the transitions in my challenging life; however, my journey is not completed!

Best regards,

Daiki