Essay 1-03b: Language Learning Histories

I'll tell you about my language learning histories. Of course, I'm a Japanese, so I learned Japanese first. I have learned English for about eight years. As a second language, I learned French last year. Let me explain step by step.


For several years, after I was born, I learned Japanese by my parents and my grandparents. Without consciousness that I want to learn these words, I memorized them. I don't remember what word I memorized at first. I guess that word was mama or papa. Possibly I gave a word, banana for the first time because I loved bananas then!

In my pre-school years, I learned so many words. I could put my thoughts into words. However, I also learned that expressing all of my thoughts in words sometimes hurt someone's feelings. I had to choose words when I talked with my friends. It was so difficult for me.

When I was an elementary school student, I learned the proper way to write hiragana, katakana, and kanji. It was difficult to memorize kanji. There are many kanji in Japan, so I couldn't memorize them soon. I suppose that I learned about 1,000 kanji in my elementary school days. I don't know I still can write them without mistakes!

After I entered a junior high school, standard English classes started. When I was in the first year, my homeroom teacher was an English teacher. She was very strict, and she made us do writing practice of English vocabulary. It was so hard, but I could remember many words. I liked reading English the best. In my junior high school, the recitation meet has hold once a year. First, we have to learn a part of text book by heart, and take a test of recitation. Then, a student whose pronunciation is best and most fluent is chosen as the representative of the class. Finally, these representatives take a test again, and just one person can go the recitation meet in our hometown. Although I couldn't go to the meet, I have chosen as a class representative three times. This is my good memory and my pride. While I didn't like speaking English. I couldn't express my feelings in English. I remember that my results of speaking tests weren't good.

English which I learned in the high school was so difficult! However, I like studying English, and I understood basic, so I could keep up with my English classes. I took the trouble to understand grammar. I had many things to memorize. High school English was learning for entrance examinations of university, so I didn't felt that it was fun. There was few chances of speaking English in my high school days. After all, I couldn't improve my skills of speaking in English. Still, I love studying English, so I decided to major it in university.

I took French as second language in KGU. I learned listening and reading. It was very difficult, and I couldn't understand well! However, Mr. Hamada often told us about France. When I heard his story, I wanted to go there. In that year, we didn't learn how to take communication with French. After the second year, we can learn it from French teacher, but I couldn't understand French grammar last year, so I didn't take its lectures. I'm thinking I should take French speaking class or not.

About English classes, writing, listening and reading classes are very interesting. I'm glad to study in high level classes. I'm not good at speaking English, so I want to have chances to talk with exchange students. In addition, I want to go abroad to study English and cultures of foreign counties. I'm studying to take enough scores of TOEIC and TOEFL now.

I really like studying English and other languages. I can't stop study them still! I'll take lectures of Korean next year. I think I'm short of study. I must study harder!

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