I have had a lot of substantial opportunities this semester. It has been one month since I came here. I have had two exciting opportunities happen so far.
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| exciting opportunity |
First, I could have more elevated feeling by going to Washington State University. On Tuesday, September 25th, I visited WSU and participated in a ESL student class. Every student in the class studies English as a second language, so they are same as me. I talked with four ESL students who are from China, Taiwan, and Saudi Arabia. It has not been one year since they came to America, so almost all of them have been here just months. Then, I felt that conversation is difficult again. When I talk with my RA and teachers, they can understand what I want to say, because English is the first language for them. However, when I talked with these students at WSU, it was extremely difficult to understand each other. For example, when I said something, they didn't know I had to explain or use an easier ward. Also, when I couldn't understand their English word, they explained that word for me. Most difficult things were pronunciation. MFWI teachers often say “Don’t talk Japanese English”. I could understand this meaning more and more now. Each country has dissimilar pronunciation, so comprehension is sometime problematic for me. However this opportunity stimulated me to study English. ESL students gave me high motivation. If I can meet them again, I want to talk fluently with them. Also, I reaffirmed that I am always helped by native speakers when I talk with them. After this opportunity, I thought that I want to study English more and more, so this is uplifting things for me.
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| my funny pen-pal |
Second, I was exhilarated when I went to a high school. On Thursday, October 4th, I met my pen-pal who is studying Japanese. Before I entered to the school, I was surprised at the building. I couldn't believe that this was high school, because Japanese high school are't big like that building. Inside also everything was big. After I walked a little bit, I could see some students who were studying Japanese and met my pen-pal. His name is Joe. He was so funny, so I enjoyed talking with him. For example, the ward "heaven" means "Tenjou" in Japanese. The pronunciation is like the number "Ten" and "Joe" which is his name, so he said "10joe!!" In our conversation, I knew that he was interesting about Japanese. I didn't know that these high school students were so interesting in Japan, so I was joyful, and I thought that I have to know more about Japan as Japanese. Also, I had never visited to a high school in America, so everything was very interesting for me, so everything was very exciting for me.
I may have more a lot of stimulating opportunity, so I want to have good experiencing with each one. Also, I want to have good relationship with everyone who I meet. With that I want to improve my English skill for talking and have an enjoyable time with people.
