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  • Mastering English will open doors, chances and opportunities in your life. I'm sure you

  • know this.

  • But knowing it and making it reality are very different. At school were taught languages

  • in a certain way. It’s all about passing tests and getting a good score. But this doesn’t

  • prepare us for the real world.

  • And it wasn’t until I was forced to master Japanese that I figured out how to help people

  • who just like me was stuck with their English.

  • All through my childhood I loved art.

  • I didn’t like school much, and I got terrible grades. Especially Frenchour second language.

  • It was all boring grammar explanations that I didn’t understand and copying from the

  • blackboard. I spent most of my time reading science-fiction novels hidden in my textbookUnsurprisingly

  • I failed the subject.

  • I just wasn’t talented at languages, I decided. For me, art was the opposite of French. I

  • did well, got great grades and I went on to study at university.

  • After university I decided to go to Japan with my wife.

  • I managed to get an interview for a job working in a gallery in Harajuku, a fashionable part

  • of Tokyo. I thought this is it.

  • THIS is what I would to do. THIS is the life I was going to live.

  • Four months later, I was on the plane.

  • But I didn’t get the job. I had everything they wanted, except one thing. My Japanese

  • wasn’t good enough.

  • I met someone who was working for a famous artist. I was shocked to learn he had no qualifications,

  • or even experience with artBut he got the job because could speak Japanese at a native

  • level.

  • I couldn’t do that.

  • I felt totally lost, and didn’t know what to do.

  • Then before I knew it everything changed dramatically. My son was born. If I’m honest, I wasn’t

  • ready for that kind of responsibility. But it just happened.

  • Life became serious, fast.

  • I got a job as an assistant English teacher working in a school. The wage was lowbut

  • it was the best job I could get. I enjoyed the teaching, but I HATED all of the other

  • work.

  • I felt embarrassed about my bad Japanese. I felt humiliated almost every day. The other

  • teachers were busy and always seemed annoyed at having to deal with me. I had to join meetings

  • and I had lots of ideas, but I didn’t understand what people were saying. I was afraid of saying

  • something stupid, so I always just sat in silence, nodding and agreeing with everything

  • if asked a question.

  • Home life was getting harder as well. I had to write and send a lot of emails but I was

  • always embarrassed about making mistakes. Sohad to get my wife to check everything.

  • Writing a simple email took so much time. My wife was busy working and looking after

  • the baby all day. And she was getting pissed off at having to spend so much of her time

  • helping me. I was more like another kid she had to look after than a husband.

  • I thought that if only I could improve my Japanese, my life would get better. I just

  • wanted to forget that Japanese wasn’t my first language, and just live a normal life

  • like I had done in England. But even afterpassed the highest level of the Japanese

  • proficiency test I couldn’t do that

  • On paper I was there! But I didn’t FEEL good at the language!

  • And to make it worse, I had no idea what I should do to improve. I felt like I’d tried

  • everything and nothing seemed to work.

  • I often thought about school French, and how I’d failed the subject. I obviously just

  • wasn’t talented at languages. Perhaps it was time to give up?

  • I think one of my co-workers had noticed that I was having a hard time supporting my family,

  • because he asked me why I didn’t consider doing a masters and teaching English at university.

  • The money would be much better, and the job more interesting, he said.

  • All this time I’d been focused on Japanese and not going anywhere. Getting an English

  • teaching qualification sounded like a good idea. After several months of talking about

  • it with my wife, I decided to apply. It was difficult to afford the feesbut it was

  • an investment for the future.

  • The course was really hard work. But something totally unexpected happened. I took my masters

  • to become a better English teacher and to help my students learn EnglishBut actually

  • the biggest benefit was for ME.

  • For the next three years I became totally absorbed in the topic of second language learning.

  • I read hundreds and hundreds of books, research articles. I attended seminars, I talked to

  • professionals and researchers. I learned how languages are learned, the things successful

  • language learners doand the things that they don’t do. I studied how the human brain

  • works, I studied language learning psychology and conducted my own research.

  • All this time the barrier that had held me backwas doubt.

  • I’d been doing a lot of stuff, but everything was so random and messy. I’d start things,

  • but never finish them. I’d gone from studying textbooks to just watching TV in Japanese

  • all day. I’d gone from trying to practice my Japanese with native speakers to trying

  • to learn just by listening. I’d bought countless courses that promised instant resultsNothing

  • worked. I was constantly looking for a better way to improve my Japanese.

  • I realized that the reason my Japanese wasn’t improving wasn’t because I wasn't "talented"

  • at languages. But simply because I was putting all my time and energy into the WRONG things.

  • I needed a clear, structured path to follow that I knew would work. Free from doubt.

  • From that point on, a lot changed in my life for the better. I got a job in a Japanese

  • company and eventually left to start my own business. I’m able to do simple things I

  • couldn’t before: like take the kids to the doctors when they get sick, or call a maintenance

  • man when something stops working. I’m able to be a much better husband, somebody who

  • my wife can rely on. It's like the barrier that had held me back disappeared, and I was

  • free to move forward.

  • For a long time after coming to Japan I lost interest in art.

  • I stopped going to art galleries and doing art myself. I sold all of my art and photography

  • books. I completely turned my back on that part of my life.

  • Art is something that I take great pleasure from again. I go to art galleries as often

  • as I can, and it’s something that I do with my kidsMy office walls are covered with

  • their drawings.

  • While I was in my first year at university, I was offered a chance to go to Switzerland

  • for 3 months. I would study at a university there and study, all expenses paid. It was

  • a once in a lifetime opportunity.

  • But at the last minute, I dropped out.

  • I made all kinds of excuses as to why I couldn't go. The reality though was that I was afraid.

  • I was scared of being in an environment where I couldn't speak the language.

  • There were so many times I wanted to quit Japanese.

  • But I'm so glad that I didn't. Because if I had… I wouldn't have the life that I have

  • now. Drawing pictures and playing with my kids in the evening. Running my own business

  • here in Japan. Going to art galleries. Cycling. Running. Doing all the things that I do.

  • If I wanted to I could easily go back to that art gallery in Harajuku and get that job.

  • But I CHOOSE not to. Instead I chose a different path in life.

  • I decided to start a business, helping people just like me who are struggling with English

  • and failing to reach their full potential in life.

  • The goal of Doing English is simple: to help you forget that English isn’t your first

  • language.

  • So the question is, are you being held back by English?

  • If you're an intermediate to advanced English learner who feels stuck and unable to progress

  • with their English, don't worry.

  • I can help you.

  • Just leave your name and email address in the boxes provided, and I’ll send you a

  • series of emails that will help you to break through the barriers you face, and reach your

  • full potential in life.

  • But be warned: this is not some magic, “instant fluencymethod. The way that I teach takes

  • time, and it takes work. And I DO expect you to do the work. But if that's OK, go ahead

  • and sign up - I'll see you on the other side.

Mastering English will open doors, chances and opportunities in your life. I'm sure you

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A2 初級

英語が第一言語ではないことを忘れる (Forgetting that English Isn't Your First Language)

  • 989 57
    Lui Kwunhim に公開 2021 年 01 月 14 日
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