Secondary School attached to the Faculty of Education, the University of Tokyo

【行事レポート】ブリスベンスタディツアー

8月14日から24日まで4.5年生の希望者44名を対象にオーストラリアブリスベンスタディツアーを実施しました。

今年で3回目となるこのツアーで生徒たちはホームステイと現地の高校のスクーリングを経験します。

以下生徒のレポートをご紹介します。

I had never been abroad before. I wanted to participate in this study tour because I wanted to be exposed to native English speakers, to get used to listening to and speaking English, and to gain confidence in these skills even just a little bit. However, I was not sure if I would be able to achieve this goal. I am not a good communicator, and I was worried about whether I would be able to communicate in surroundings where Japanese was not spoken.

When I finally dove into the world of English, I was surprised that native speakers spoke faster than I had imagined. Everyone spoke English so fluently that it was difficult to understand even a few words. And I was nervous on the first day. I got panicked because I could not understand and could not speak. However, my host family and school buddy were very kind to me. They understood my English ability and patiently tried to communicate with me. They answered my questions politely and spoke slowly when I could not quite catch what they said. Because I felt a little relieved by their kindness, and also because I saw my friends who spoke actively without being afraid of making mistakes, I gradually began to try to speak actively.

She is my buddy, Anh. She is easy-going and so kind. She has a warm atmosphere, so I could not believe that she was younger than me. I liked the time I spent playing card games with her and her friends.

I realized that I could communicate even if I could only say a few words. When I went to buy ice cream after school, I wanted to order Boysenberry ice cream in a cup. However, all I could say were the words “Boysenberry” and “Cup”. I wanted to pay by card, but I could only show my card and appeal to pay with it. Nevertheless, I could get what I wanted in the way I wanted. I felt relieved. Certainly, it would be better if I could say “I’ll have a single, boysenberry with a cup, please.” “I’ll pay by card”, but I think I was able to order it because the staff filled in my lack of English skills with his kindness.

I could spend 10 days in Brisbane thanks to the kindness of Australian people. I am not sure if my English listening and speaking skills improved, but I am sure that I got used to English and was able to use English more actively than before. I would like to use this experience in my daily English classes because I have not been able to speak English actively in class until now. Learning English in Japan and actually communicating in English are quite different, but I think the importance of an active attitude to use English is common between the two.

When I can use English better than I do now, I would like to go to Australia again and meet my host family and my buddy.

reported by Ayumi