I forgot to say thanks to Amo for posting my dad's comment.

•  David
• 2009年11月16日 21:07

I forgot to say thanks to Amo for posting my dad's comment.

•  David
• 2009年11月16日 21:11

Hi Team,(←I actually prefer this way, though I don't know why.)

David, I remember us talking about 若者不採用問題 a long time ago. In the program, the people from the companies were blaming the universities, and one of the teachers asked them what universities should give their students. The answer from one of the business people was 自立, right? At that time, we talked about the role of universities.

I just read the article, but I haven't read the comments from readers yet. What struck me in the article is this part:

“I’m discovering at job interviews,” says a fourth-year Todai literature student, “that Todai has little appeal to the business world. When I ask why I’ve failed a company exam, they tell me, ‘You people think we’ll hire you just because you’re from Todai?’”

It seems like 東大神話 have really collapsed.
Anyway, I'll try to read the comments from readers later.

See you soon,

Tomo

•  Tomo
• 2009年11月16日 22:51

Hi again,

I found Nao's comment on the last entry, so let me post it here.

『Hi David and everyone

Here is my thirteenth entry.

I got back from Disneyland yesterday.Disneyland and Disneysea were so sweet!I enjoyed Disneyresort decorated for Chrisrmas.Christmas Disneyresort is a romantic place for me.It was rainy and windy for a short time,but the weather got better soon,so I could see the parade.I was really happy and excited.Do you know 'Tower of terror'?It is the most exciting attraction in Disneyresot.I'm afraid of heights,so I don't want to ride it,but my friends let me ride it!I almost cried.I only remember the night view from the seat of Tower of terror.It was very beautiful.If you ride it,please ride at night.You see the special view.Of course I enjoyed riding some attractions and parades,and I was very happy to meet Mickey and Minnie.I love them.When I met Mickey,he hugged me close.He was very warm and soft.I can't forget it.
Today I saw a lot of photos in Disneyresort.To my surprise,I took more than one hundred photos.

I renewaled a driver license today.I'm not a traffic offender,so I got a gold driver licence,but I can't drive well.It's difficult for me to back my car into the garage.How about you?If you know the good way,please tell me.Now I practice to drive a car because I'm going to Hyogo from Osaka on November 28th.I'm worried about my driving.Practice makes perfect!I'll do my best on November 28th.By the way,I felt annoyed with policeman today.When I went to the police station to renewal my licence today,the policeman had a poor support.He talked to me like my friend.Moreover,when I took a photo for a new licence there,I had to pay 1000 yen!It's expensive,and the photo was very bad.Next time I renewal my licence,I'll take the photo at a photo studio.

Today is so cold in Osaka.It's like winter.I'm always in kotatsu.I want to hibernate during the cold season.

Nao』

Hi Nao,
Glad to hear you had a wonderful time at Disney resort. You took more than one hundred photos?! Wow, that's amazing!

•  Tomo
• 2009年11月16日 23:05

Hi David

Not at all!

I had a really busy day today, and I could not eat lunch until 4:30, so I am just fried.
I have no energy to have a look at the article that you mentioned tonight.
I will have a look at it later.

Good night sleep tight!

•  amo
• 2009年11月16日 23:56

Hi everyone

have a look today's Google logo.
today was Isamu Noguchi(artist)'s birthday.

•  amo
• 2009年11月17日 08:52

Hi Tomo

Thanks for posting my comment!
I took 114 photos in Disney.I'm a typical Japanese because I always have my camera.

Nao

•  Nao
• 2009年11月17日 10:32

Hi Tomo. Thanks for re-posting Nao's entry.
I think we did talk about university education before, but it was a long time ago. I have no idea how you remember everything we have talked about!

Hi Nao. Here is my feedback on your entry.

I got back from Disneyland yesterday.
(Okay.)

Disneyland and Disneysea were so sweet!
(We would not use 'sweet' in this way, so you would need to think of another adjective.)

I enjoyed Disneyresort decorated for Chrisrmas.
(I enjoyed the Christmas decorations at Disneyresort.)

Christmas Disneyresort is a romantic place for me.
('for me' is a bit strange because it is a romantic place for everyone.)

It was rainy and windy for a short time,but the weather got better soon,so I could see the parade.
(It was rainy and windy at first, but the weather got better later, so I was able to watch the parade.) COULD & SOON

I was really happy and excited.Do you know 'Tower of terror'?
(Have you heard of the Tower of Terror?) KNOW

It is the most exciting attraction in Disneyresot.I'm afraid of heights,so I don't want to ride it,but my friends let me ride it!
(I'm afraid of heights, so I didn't want to go on it, but my friends made me.) (MAKE/LET)

I almost cried.I only remember the night view from the seat of Tower of terror.It was very beautiful.
(Okay.)

If you ride it,please ride at night.
(If you ride it, you should ride it at night.)

You see the special view.
(The view is great.)

Of course I enjoyed riding some attractions and parades,and I was very happy to meet Mickey and Minnie.
(Of course I enjoyed going on the rides and watching the parades, and I was very happy to meet Mickey and Minnie.)

I love them.When I met Mickey,he hugged me close.He was very warm and soft.I can't forget it.
(Okay, but 'I will never forget it'.)

Today I saw a lot of photos in Disneyresort.To my surprise,I took more than one hundred photos.
(Today, I looked at the photos I took in Disneyresort. To my surprise, I realized that I had taken more than 100!)

I renewaled a driver license today.I'm not a traffic offender,so I got a gold driver licence,but I can't drive well.
(I renewed my driver's license today. I have no convictions for traffic offences, so I got a gold license, but I'm not a very good driver.)

It's difficult for me to back my car into the garage.How about you?If you know the good way,please tell me.
(If you know a good way, please tell me.)

Now I practice to drive a car because I'm going to Hyogo from Osaka on November 28th.
(At the moment, I'm practicing driving because I'm going to ...) (NOW)

I'm worried about my driving.Practice makes perfect!
(Okay.)

I'll do my best on November 28th.
(This is just a straight translation of 'ganbarimasu'. We would not say this sentence in English.)

By the way,I felt annoyed with policeman today.
(By the way, I got annoyed with a policeman today.)

When I went to the police station to renewal my licence today,the policeman had a poor support.
(When I went to the police station to renew my licence, he didn't give me very much support.)

He talked to me like my friend.
(He talked to me like a friend.)

Moreover,when I took a photo for a new licence there,I had to pay 1000 yen!
('Moreover' is very formal. We would not use it in writing like this. I would just use 'and'.)

It's expensive,and the photo was very bad.Next time I renewal my licence,I'll take the photo at a photo studio.
(It was expensive, and the photo was terrible. Next time I renew my license (('renewal' is a noun)), I'll get my photo taken at a photo studio. (HAVE/GET SOMETHING DONE)

Today is so cold in Osaka.It's like winter.
(Okay.)

I'm always in kotatsu.
(I spend all my time under the kotatsu.)

I want to hibernate during the cold season.
(I wish I could hibernate during the cold season.)

Hope that is helpful,

David

•  David
• 2009年11月17日 12:05

Hi amo,
I just checked the Google Japan logo. I didn't know it's Isamu Noguchi's birthday today. To be honest, I didn't know him at all! lol

Hi Nao,
You are welcome:)

Hi David,
＜I have no idea how you remember everything we have talked about!
That's because I have a good memory! ...No, it's not true. I'm kind of forgetful, so I always need a reminder note or something, but I often forget to check it or leave it at home, ha ha..
We've talked about a lot of things on the blog, but most of the topics were things I had never talked about in English, so I had to think long and hard.(Some of them took me hours to write a comment!) That's why I remember them.

Anyway, I'm going to my son's junior high school because there is a parent-teacher-student meeting today.

See you later,

Tomo

•  Tomo
• 2009年11月17日 13:42

Hi David

Thank you for your correction.I learned a lot of thing from your correction. By the way,did we finish the original plan?(We have done four weeks.)Please tell me what I should do.

Nao

•  Nao
• 2009年11月17日 14:10

Hi all,

Hiring ice age is a big issue here in Australia too. It also happened in 90s as well (and some other times too) and those who missed a chance of getting the job they wanted have suffered long time. Some of them are still suffering because having no job offer in their profession back then changed their life completely. So I really hope the newly graduates and also people who lost their job in this recession will cope well.
The other thing grabbed my attention was the comment of GenevaMan on the web site. I agree with his opinion on unrelated degree or major at University and your career in Japan. I know it’s normal for Japanese students to get a job in an industry or area which totally different from your academic back ground. Whereas in Australia and I think most of so called western countries that isn’t as much common as it is in Japan. Of course it doesn’t apply to everybody but many people choose university course or tertiary education course depends on what they want to be later on. So let’s say if you have a science degree you’ll seek a job which is related to your specialty or major in science, or if you have a diploma in cookery you’ll be a cook. So when you start working, you’d usually have certain knowledge and skill of what you do. Of course there are lots to learn on the job. Having said that it’s also true that some people are not sure what they want to do when they finish high school and choose to have a gap year or to take course which seems to be interesting. Then when they graduate they’ll go and find a job. If that the case you’ll learn job related skill and gather knowledge through hands-on training. Yet again it’s common to go back to university or college to get a job related degree to advance your career. I’ve also met people studied something they wanted and changed their career direction completely. However I’m not too sure if those things happen so often in Japan. I remember people often said that going to a good university is the key to get a good job, but it wasn’t said that what is the good university and what is the good job.

•  Michelle
• 2009年11月17日 14:41

Hi amo,
I had a look at the Google logo and it's nice. There is a park in Sapporo, which he designed.

Hi David,
I read the article, but I'm too sleepy to have a look at the comments tonight. So I will do that later.

Good night, Everyone!

Maki

•  Maki
• 2009年11月17日 22:27

Hi amo,
I had a look at the Google logo and it's nice. There is a park in Sapporo, which he designed.

Hi David,
I read the article, but I'm too sleepy to have a look at the comments tonight. So I will do that later.

Good night, Everyone!

Maki

•  Maki
• 2009年11月17日 22:32

Hi David and everyone,

I read the article and all the comments, and were interesting.
As Tomo said, we had a talk about "若者不採用"and "自立", and watched the video about the importance of creativity in education from TED a month ago. Problems related to education and its circumstances are sometimes difficult to solve.
For the last couple of years, it has been difficult for students to get jobs, but last year's "Lehman shock" made the situation more serious and worse as the article showed.
Companies can't afford to use much money and time to train new graduates to work fully as one of the staffs. As we talked before, it is natural for office recruiters to employ more balanced, useful, students with a common sense.
If students from Todai would think their educational backgrounds were the passport to get a good job even in this sinking economy, they don't know the real world, do they?
But it is also true that people value the name of "Todai". Last year, a book "東大合格生のノートはなぜ美しい"　became a big hit, and this year,"東大ノート”　are also sold. People seem to be interested in goods and words " 東大....."
Graduating from Todai and other prestigious universities means less than before as "Goodguy" commented.
I think "imomofo"'s comment is interesting; he or she quit the university and traveled and experienced a lot, and now is running 2 business. I don't everyone can be the doers and I don't mean to recommend, but he (she ) has guts. I agree with his idea" remember school does not equal skills in the world 99.9% of the time."
"5SpeedRacers5" 's comments are different from that of "imomofo", and have negative images.
As Michelle said, it is often the case for students to get a job which are different from what they majored in at the universities. Yet, universities seem to prepare classes for students to get a skill related to jobs. I wonder how students,especially students in the humanities, in Australia or in western countries get jobs related to their educational background. Actually my two sons work for completely different area which they majored in at the university.
What is important for each student is what is the good job for him or her. I agree with Michelle's idea.

amo,
Thanks for letting us know about Mr. Barker' comment .
I had a look at today's logo^^)

Nao,
You seem to have a good time in Disney resort!
That's great!

Bye for now,

Anne

•  Anne
• 2009年11月17日 23:49

Hi Anne

I had a great time in Disney,I think Disney is a dream world!
　
Nao

•  Nao
• 2009年11月18日 14:39

Hi team,
I read the article on the job decrease in these days.

The funny thing is that people who are in charge of hiring in some bigger companies didn't experience this tough situation when they were hunting jobs. They were in the middle of the bubble economy.

I think that job shrinking is partly due to the global economic downturn but mostly due to this incredibly huge national debt.

The debt is so massive that Japanse banks can't offer suficient interests for us to grow economically. If they increased their interest rates, the national debt would become out of order. Our rates are unreasonably low.

Why did we come to this point ?

Even after the bubble bursting, we were forced to waste much money to buy overseas products to help a big country recover financially. That was stupid. In addition, we were imposed to set our central bank rate at almost zero to flow money back to that country. These led us to only add up the national debt.
We've been suffering a long-term deflation since then.
We buy less, companies only focus on cost-cutting, then the job market is getting weaker.

In my opinion,our government need to sell off all the foreign bonds to survive.

•  Appoh
• 2009年11月18日 14:50

Hi Nao,

We have done four weeks now, so we have finished the original plan. If you have time, could you write something about your experience of doing this project? (What was the most useful for you? What did you learn? etc.) As I told you at the beginning, I was thinking about doing this as a business in the future, and I wanted to find out how useful it would be for learners like you. Anyway, thanks for helping me out with the experiment.

Hi Appoh. It's funny that you should mention the national debt. While I was back in the UK, my dad showed me an article about Japan in the newspaper he was reading. The writer was saying that Japan is basically in deep, deep trouble because of its huge national debt, and he thought there would be a crisis in the next couple of years. I hope he is wrong!

Bye for now,

David

•  David
• 2009年11月18日 16:42

Hi David and everyone

I read the article and the comment.I think it's natural that the private sector don't hire just because the applicant is from Todai.The same thing happned in my company.A Todai student came to my company to get a job,and my boss rejected after a job interview,but he asked my boss why he was rejected.He was so sure of himself,but he didn't know the difference between academic ability and social skills.Of courese,Todai (academic ability) has much appeal to everything,but that is not enough.There is no guarantee that Todai students work well,but I think most academically-gifted students are able to show thier ability in various field,so I hope that they make Japan's bright future.
By the way,when I read the article,I remembered a book written by 外山滋比古.It is '思考の整理学’.The book is quite interesting.He writes about education.Many Japanese students receive passive lessons focused on rote memory,so it's difficult for them to think themselves,but people that apply the knowledge are needed in society.He writes about thinking in this book.It may be the key to get a job for students.
As Michelle and Anne said,what is important for students is what is the good job (or life) for them.I agree with Michelle and Anne's idea.

Nao

•  Nao
• 2009年11月18日 16:46

It's me again!

Hi David

Okay,I'll write something about my experience of doing this project later,but I'm not able to write about it well in English...,so I may write in English and Japanese.Please forgive me!

Nao

•  Nao
• 2009年11月18日 16:54

Hi Nao,

In Japanese is fine.

•  David
• 2009年11月18日 19:45

Hi David and everyone,

I read the comments from readers. As David said, they were very interesting.(It was not easy to read them, though.) My oldest son is a third year junior high school student, and he is going to take entrance exams in January and February, so this kind of topic is very close to my heart. To decide which high school to go to, my son and I attended some orientation for junior high school students and their parents, which is called 学校説明会. At the orientation, every school(both public and private ones) showed us how many students in their school passed the entrance examinations for national and private universities, including Todai and some other famous private universities. It seems like that the struggle to pass entrance exams for universities has already started..
Why do many students go to a university? Is it because they want to study more? I think there are a lot of university students studying hard to make their dreams come true, but I also think that there are more students who don't study much and are always busy with their club activities(サークル活動）, their part-time job, and some other things. It seems that they just want a college degree. ‘Todai shinwa’ is gone, but I think Japan is still an academic career-based society. It's true that university graduates have more chances to get a job and better pay than high school graduates, so I can't blame them. Having said that, there is no guarantee that university graduates can get a job in this bad economy even if they have the ability to work. I feel sorry for them and hope things get better soon.

I know most education systems are only measuring one tiny aspect, but I'll be very happy if my son gets(maybe I should say 'got') into Tokyo university because it's a national university and costs less than private ones.

「勉強ができる」のと「社会で通用する・仕事ができる」のとは違う、これはその通りだと思います。　大学名だけで人材を選ぶ、ということはなくなって来ていても、他の所はどうでしょうか。。　企業は変わってきているようですが、学歴社会はそのままだし、‘とりあえず’大学に行く人も多いような気がします。　何かがおかしいですね。

I have 2 meetings today, and there are 3 more school(and kindergarten) events in the next three days, so I will be very busy and might not be able to join you, sorry!

Hi Nao,
challenge お疲れさまでした！＾＾

See you soon,

Tomo

•  Tomo
• 2009年11月19日 09:43

Hi David and everyone

I have done four weeks,and my challenge has finished!I write a comment about my challenge.
At first,I thank David for help,and thanks to all of you for your kindness and support.I was glad to help me.

この4週間で私は自分の英語力の低さを改めて実感しました。今までの英語の勉強では自分のレベルすらわからなかったのでそれがわかったというのは、私の英語力が進歩したのかなと思います。

私の目標は海外の友達と自然に会話ができるようになりたいというものでした。そのために自分で色々勉強してみたのですがそれはあまりうまくいきませんでした。でも、今回このチャレンジをして前よりスムーズに会話やメールができるようになりました。この勉強方法で自然な英語が学べたということが、私にとって一番のいいことでした。自然な英語を習得するためのハウツーをこのチャレンジをしながら理解することができました。日本語を英語に置き換えるのではなくて自分の知っている英語のフレーズを組み合わせていくことで自分の英語のライブラリーを増やすというやり方は、とても実践力のつく方法だと実感しました。ただ、この方法で難しかったのが自分の知っているフレーズを組み合わせてみても状況によって不自然な英語になってしまう点でした。この点をどうクリアするかはまだ私の課題になっています。（もっともっと英語のフレーズを覚えていくことが必要なんだなと思います。）でも、訂正をしてもらうことでそれを覚えていくことができるので少しづつ自分の英語のライブラリーが増えていったとも思います。このチャレンジでは自分の英語のライブラリーが増えていくのを実感できます。それが嬉しくてまた文章を書きたいと思えるので、週に3回程度文章を書くのは楽しみでした。楽しみながら学べたことは予想外でした。それに週に3回程度英語と向き合うことで英語脳が出来てきたように思います。会話をしていても頭の中で翻訳することなく、英語がぱっと口からでてきたときは感動しました。

このチェレンジで私の英語がどれくらい皆さんに伝わる英語に変わったのかは自分ではよくわからないのですが、自分の中で英語の習得方法が変わったことはよくわかります。それは私の英語の勉強においてとても重要なことになると確信しています。このようなチャレンジに参加させてくれたDavidと皆さんに本当に感謝をしています。Davidの親切な指導がなかったらきっと途中で挫折していました。皆さんにも私のつたない英語に色々とコメントをいただいきまして本当にありがとうございました。

It's too long！Thank you for reading!

Nao

•  匿名
• 2009年11月19日 13:30

Hi Tomo

Thank you for your warm comment.You were always kind during my challenge.これからもよろしくお願いします。

Nao

•  Nao
• 2009年11月19日 13:35

Hi David and everyone.

Nice to meet you.
Today I found this blog first, and enjoyed reading it.
And it's very helpful for my English.^^

I'm Tatsuya. I'm university student and interested in English and traveling.

But I know that my English is bad, so please correct my comment if it is okay.^^

Now I'm the second grade student. So next year I will do job-hunting.
So especially I'm interested in this article.^^

Have a good day, everyone!!
Bye-bye^o^

•  Tatsu
• 2009年11月19日 15:46

Hi David and everyone.

Nice to meet you.
Today I found this blog first, and enjoyed reading it.
And it's very helpful for my English.^^

I'm Tatsuya. I'm university student and interested in English and traveling.

But I know that my English is bad, so please correct my comment if it is okay.^^

Now I'm the second grade student. So next year I will do job-hunting.
So especially I'm interested in this article.^^

Have a good day, everyone!!
Bye-bye^o^

•  Tatsu
• 2009年11月19日 15:47

Hi Tatsuya

Welcom to this blog:)
You are a second university student,aren't you?
I think this article is especially interesting for you.

Nao

•  Nao
• 2009年11月19日 15:56

Hi everone, hi David

I read the article that David had said and your comment here.

For me, Michelle's comment was interesting because she wrote about the circumatances in abroad.
I didn't know that university students in europe were getting their job deeply related to their major...

And now, I realized this difference may be the reason why Japanese university students tend to not be able to get skills that will need in their future.(i mean, if you have a vision about what you want to be, like students in europe, it may be easier to improve their skills needed than students without their visions)

As a matter of fact, when I chose which university I would go, I didnt so much about what I want to be or something like that...I decided it just because I was ability to "pass" the entrance exam of the university.

Although I don't regret about the choice I made, but now I hope japanese high school students to be more serious about what they want to be in the future.

•  tanizawa
• 2009年11月19日 18:45

Hi Nao,
いつもたくさん書いてあって、すごいな～と感心していました。　Naoの文とDavidのcorrectionを比べながら読むことは、私にとってもすごくいい勉強になりました。　Naoのおかげで覚えた表現もたくさんあります。
＜自分の知っているフレーズを組み合わせてみても状況によって不自然な英語になってしまう
フレーズはすぐに覚えられても「使い方・使い時」を覚えるのには時間がかかりますよね。　私もまだまだ使いこなせない単語や表現がたくさんあります。　これからも一緒にがんばりましょうね！

Hi Tatsuya and Tanizawa-san,
Welcome to the blog! It's nice to have you with us.

Tatsuya,
Glad to hear that you enjoyed reading this blog. Are you going to do job hunting next year? I hope everything is going well with you. Good luck!

Tanizawa-san,
＜I hope japanese high school students to be more serious about what they want to be in the future.
My son will be a high school student next year, so I will tell him your advice in the near future. I hope he will find his dream or some vision for the future and work toward it.

Look forward to hearing from you again.

Tomo

•  Tomo
• 2009年11月19日 21:29

Hi David and Everyone,
I couldn't post my comment last night, because of 「アクセス不可」. So before reading today's comments from other members, I post mine I wrote yesterday.

I read the article and all the comments. They are interesting. As Michelle and Anne said, it is very
common in Japan that students get a job unrelated their degree or major at the universities. Companies used to have enough money and time to train them
after employing them. At that time, graduation from Todai or other prestigious univetsities was a big status and advantage for getting a job.
Nowadays, it has been difficult for students to get jobs, especially after "Lehman shock", the situation is getting worse, so it's quite natual that companies want to employ useful students with a common sense.
What concerns me is that some students who are even in third-year, attend Job fairs, and also this part of the article, "Classrooms are empty, theses are going unwritten." makes me feel something wrong, even though I can understand it's really tough to get jobs. I wonder what kind of jobs students get, who in the humanities in western
countries, as Anne does.
Actually, I have a job unrelated to my major at a college. "What is important for each student is what is the good job for him or her." I really
like this idea, Michelle and Anne. ;-)

I will read today's comments and talk to you later.

Bye for now,

Maki

•  Maki
• 2009年11月19日 22:36

Hi Nao,
チャレンジ、お疲れさまでした！
私も、いつもたくさん書いていてすごいな～って思ってました。
お仕事もしているのに、いつ考えて、いつ書いているのかな？って。Tomoが言っているように、私も両方の文章を読んで勉強されてもらっていましたよ。ありがとう！
Naoにとって、とってもよい経験になったよね。これからも一緒に楽しみながら勉強を続けていきましょうね！＾＾ｖ

Hi Tatsu and tanizawa-san,
Welcome to this blog!
It's so nice to have you with us.

Talk to you later,

Maki

•  Maki
• 2009年11月19日 23:19

Hi Nao,
おめでとう！今はものすごい充実感を覚えているのでは、と思います。Tomoが言うように、すごいなーと感心しながら読ませていただいていました。その間のNaoさんの心の動きも感じられてドキドキしたことも。。。
私もNaoさんの文章とDavidの文章を読みながら勉強させていただきました。ですから、私にとっても充実した1ヶ月でした。ありがとう。思ったことがいえないもどかしさはつらいですね。
私も言葉のストックを構築中。

Hi　Tastuya and Tanizawa-san,
Welcome to the blog!
>Tatsuya,
You are sophomore, right? How's your college life?
Good luck in your job hunting.
>Tanizawa-san,
I agree with you. But it's difficult to decide what you really want to do in the future or your job before entering the university,isn't it? I'm wondering how many people can visualize their future.

Looking forward to hearing from you again.

Bye for now,

Anne

•  Anne
• 2009年11月19日 23:21

Hi David and everyone

I read the article that you mentioned, and it was quite interesting. I also enjoyed reading the readers’ comments.
I think there are a lot of reasons that people want to go university and I came up with these three reasons.
1) It is needed for their future job, like a doctor, a lawyer, or something like that.
2) For their interest, like if he/she likes English, then studies at university more.
3) Do not want to work yet, or do not know what to do yet, so go to university to look for something.
As Tanizawa san mentioned, if you have a concrete vision for the future it is easy, just go for it. But if you do not have any, it is difficult for you to what to learn.

As for me, I did not go to university, and I never felt sorry for myself about that like “Gee~, if I graduated university I would get a good job” or something like that. I am glad that I have a job now.

By the way, I agree with Michelle and Anne’s idea as Nao and Maki said.

Hi Tatsuya and Tanizawa san

Welcome to the blog.

Hi Nao
You did it!! I am really happy for you.
Your challenge was really helped me to improve my English.
I really appreciated your effort.

Bye for now.

•  amo
• 2009年11月20日 01:11

Hi Tomo

Tomoさんのおっしゃるように「使い方・使い時」を覚えるのには本当に時間がかかりますね。
今、悪戦苦闘中です。新しい英語の表現を覚えて使ってみてもなんだか不自然な英語になってしまっています･･･。
Tomoさんのように英語を貪欲に覚えていって皆さんのレベルまで追いつけるよう頑張ります！

Hi Maki

本当によい経験でした＾＾この機会がなかったら「日本語→英訳」という方法しか知らなかったように思います。

このチャレンジの間は家にすぐに帰って英語と向き合うという日々が多かったです。夜、9時から11時くらいは英語の時間になっていました。私の人生の中でこんなに英語のことを考えて過ごしたことはなかったです。

まだまだつたない英語ですが、これからもよろしくお願いします！

Hi Anne

Anneさんをどきどきさせていたとは！？そんなことも露知らず・・・お騒がせしました。ちなみにAnneさんがどきどきされていたのは初めのほうでしょうか？今振り返ってみると、初めの2週間ほどは「英語で考えて英語で表現する」ということがどういうことか私の中でしっくりこなくてどうしたらいいものかと混乱していました。「日本語を英語に変える方法しかできない・・・」と悩んだりしていました。でも、Davidと皆さんのフォローのおかげで少しづつ「英語のフレーズを使って表現する方法」が見えてきたように思います。本当にこちらこそありがとうございました。言えないもどかしさを前以上に感じるようになったのも英語の世界に一歩大きく踏み込めた証拠のように思います。これからもよろしくお願いします。

Hi amo

Thank you for your kindness！I did it.I'm really happy to do this challenge.
I feel my English world changed.
これからもよろしくお願いします。

Hi team

今回のこのチャレンジをしている間、「皆さんはどうやって英語を勉強してるのだろう？」「どうやって自分の言いたいことを英語で表現しているのだろう？」という疑問がありました。皆さんの英語の勉強の仕方をまたどこかで教えていただけたら嬉しいです。

Nao

•  匿名
• 2009年11月20日 11:09

Hi David and all,

I was watching the news last night and saw the finance report was briefly explaining about Japanese economy. He basically pointed out that Japanese government is deep in debt and how that has been affecting Japanese economy. I don’t know about economy well enough to form any particular opinion on this matter but it sounded like Japan’s suffering a lot in this recession. I hope things will look up soon.

Hi Nao,

You did really well this past four weeks! Well done 

•  Michelle
• 2009年11月20日 11:54

Hi David and all,

I was watching the news last night and saw the finance report was briefly explaining about Japanese economy. He basically pointed out that Japanese government is deep in debt and how that has been affecting Japanese economy. I don’t know about economy well enough to form any particular opinion on this matter but it sounded like Japan’s suffering a lot in this recession. I hope things will look up soon.

Hi Nao,

You did really well this past four weeks! Well done 

•  Michelle
• 2009年11月20日 11:55

Hi Nao,
お疲れ様でした。Naoのコメントを読むたび、すごいなぁと感心していました。英文を作っているとあっという間に二、三時間経ってしまうでしょう？日々の生活の中でその時間を工面することはとても大変だったと思います。私もたくさん勉強させてもらいました。ありがとう。

私はかなりのんびりペースで英語を勉強しています。やりたくないときは全くやらないし。今週も、Davidの紹介した記事のページを開いたまではよかったけれど、びっしりの英語を見て『…無理』とさっさとリタイア(笑)
でも、このブログに参加する前は、中学生レベルの英語すら理解できなかったんです。ここに参加して二年半くらいですが、中二くらいまでには進歩したかな(^-^;もっとNaoを見習わなきゃいけませんね。これからもよろしくお願いします。

•  Amica
• 2009年11月20日 12:22

Hi Nao!
チャレンジ、お疲れ様でした。
（今日は、全て日本語で・・・）
毎回、毎回、楽しく読ませていただきました。
そして、Naoさんのがんばりに、拍手の連続でした。
私も、いつの日か、Naoさんと、ジャニ事を、英語で自由自在にお話できることを夢見て、勉強を続けたいと思います。

ところで、年末年始のコンサートは、もう申し込まれましたか？

Ｇｒｅｅｎ

•  Green
• 2009年11月20日 12:27

Hi Michelle

Thank you very much!I did it thanks to the team.I also learn a lot of things from now on.
これからもよろしくお願いします。

Hi Amica

そうなんです、英語の文を書いているとあっという間に2,3時間たっています！それでも満足いく英語が書けないのが悲しいかぎりです。でも、2,3時間英語の文を考えるという習慣がついたおかげで長文を書くことが億劫ではなくなってきました。これは大きな成果だなぁと思います。（しかし、英語を書く時間はいっこうに短縮されませんが。笑）

英語の勉強方法を教えてくださってありがとうございます：）自分のペースでやるということは長く続けるにはとても大事なことだなと思いました。私は熱しやすくさめやすいのでAmicaさんのように長くこのブログでも勉強をしていきたいと思います！
（2年半も続けられているというのにびっくりしました。）
これからもよろしくお願いします。

Hi Green

あたたかいお言葉ありがとうございます。つたない英語で読むのも大変だったかと思うのですが、読んでいただけて本当にうれしかったです。
私もジャニーズのこと、堂本光一のことを思ったまま英語で話せるようになる日を楽しみに英語の勉強を続けたいと思います。是非、英語でジャニーズの奥深いお話をしましょう。笑　それをひとつの目標にします：）

年末年始のコンサートは申し込んでないんです。一度行ってみたいと思っているのですが。今年もきっとテレビの前でカウントダウンを一緒に過ごすと思います。笑
Greenさんは年末年始のコンサートへ行かれたことありますか？

Nao

•  Nao
• 2009年11月20日 14:31

Hi everyone, Hi David!

Actually,I was a those who without future vision in my school days even though I graduated a university in last year.

And after reading your comments, I reconsidered the reason why Japanese students(including me,unfortunately　haha) have less visions in their future.

When I looked back my school days, I think I was lacking a sense of crisis. At that time I never realized how hard it would be to make my living, and that might be the reason why I didn't think much about my future in school days.

On the other hand, in Europe or U.S, I guess that many students work to make money to go to uniersities,and I think they know how hard it is to live.

And this difference between japan and europe may affect the visionary of students in both Japan and Europe.

Tanizawa

•  tanizawa
• 2009年11月20日 22:35