My Pledge
(日本語訳は下にあり)
Someone might be surprised to see me writing this Note in childlike, awkward English.
You probably know, but I'm (at least I was) the kind of person who dislikes over-influenced people like a girl who posts an Instagram story in English, saying, "Japan should learn fucking a lot of things from America." even though for just one month she had lived in America.
I feel "fucking" disgusted to see such guys because I'm a genuine Japanese. I love Japanese culture, landscapes, sushi, tempura, and "Yamato-damashii," which sometimes seems so polite that people feel rude.
Then, why did I start to commit this outrageous crime? The reason is as simple as a man's behavior in front of a beautiful girl. I couldn't get enough scores on the last GBC test compared to my expectations.
I couldn't set aside time to write an article recently as I had to focus on studying English for the GBC test. I thought I had practiced extremely hard---- continued to take Learnship's session three times a week, talked about sensitive political issues with Vikas, who was one of the most assertive people in the world (sometimes he put every effort on winning an argument with us beyond the scope of ordinary "English lesson") in Berlitz group lesson, and made more than 130 answers for GBC sample questions with my friends.
These untiring efforts must have improved my GBC score, I believed. However, this assumption found a water grave. At first, I thought I was looking at another one's result instead of mine, but there was my holy name at the top, no matter how many times I checked. There seemed to be a long way to go to exceed the criteria.
Analyzing the result, I found that my poor vocabulary and business idioms were severe problems. I regreted running away from the pain of remembering new words, but at the same time, paging through an English dictionary was too dull to continue for more than three days.
To avoid being a "Three-days priest," I devised this fantastic idea---- writing Note in English. This proposal kills three birds with one stone; I can practice writing English, learn a lot of new complex expressions, and engage in artistic activities with less guilt.
Anyway, I understand the embarrassment of exposing my poor English the most. (I hope Grammarly helps me conceal this.)
Please keep a warm eye on me if you find any mistakes. I would be dying of happiness if you could give me some advice or impressions about my English. (I'm waiting for your opinion about each article's topic, of course.)
The interesting point is that my sense of writing differs between Japanese and English -- more lyrical in Japanese, and more cynical in English.
For example, I used an over-influenced girl in the first paragraph as a metaphor. In this section, what I wanted to say was how this situation is unnatural; in other words, writing in English requires massive bravery from me.
If I wrote in Japanese, I wouldn't describe my feelings in such a way. I would add the heartwarming story which tells us the importance of transcending all hesitation. However, I changed my mind while writing in English---- my devil started to whisper that I should have been more sarcastic and cynical since it would have been more exciting and English-like.
I don't know where this mind comes from, but I suppose this relates to stereotypes that English jokes are more sarcastic than Japanese ones. This implies that these language stereotypes affect my way of thinking, thus I may be able to make totally different novels if I write in English, not Japanese.
I really want to test that hypothesis with this Note in the future.
Honestly, writing English spares much time since I'm unfamiliar with doing this. I don't think I can post multiple days in a row, but keeping trying is the best way to improve something.
If I could keep this endeavor going for as long as I have, I would love to have a standing ovation in the American way.
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