BGM: Ryuichi Sakamoto - Thousand Knives
One day, a friend of mine said to me (with other friends) about a concern of her. "Why is the English language is hard for us the Japanese?". I've thought that it's an interesting topic. From my experiences, I say that we have to find good places to practice English if we try to learn it. And also, we need tender people who enjoy talking with us. I remember that once it had been really difficult for me to find out those good opportunities.
In addition to, the enemy is also within us... Yes, the shyness. It always stops us to do the things we really want to do. I often had heard this kind of sad comment. "Sorry for my bad/broken/poor English". I can feel them, because once I had thought my English must be bad because I had never used it to any English speakers. Even now, I feel anxious about my skill of English. As the Smiths sings, this shyness must stop us.
So, the problem is really complicated. If we don't have any confidence about our English (or simply, about ourselves), we can't speak English loudly. And if we can't speak English loudly, then we will lose the confidence more. I can feel this. Now... I won't say my English is good (but at least, my English could get better than the past days). But at least, I can enjoy using it to communicate with a lot of people.
Then... where could I change my mind? I can't answer this clearly. But maybe... For me, I could have built a rich friendship with my friends. Even though they are Japanese, and we talk about various things in Japanese... I can feel that I have been accepted by their true humanistic kindness, therefore I can show how miserable/poor I am. I am never a cool guy (as you can learn by reading this).
According to this experience, I might be able to suggest that building a true humanistic, trustful relationship will help us to learn English more. Indeed, the technique of English is simply important, too. But, I guess "basic humanity" is more important.
