その他

My Dream

When I was at senior high school, I decided to become a teacher, but the reason must seem very strange.

My history teacher was not a human being. He was a machine in humane shape. He wrote meaningless words on a blackboard automatically and told things without content. I didn’t listen to his lecture because it was boring. I believed (and still believe) that history was the most interesting of all the subjects I had at school. But why could his lecture make me so completely fed up? I thought I could teach history better than him. This belief made me a history teacher.

However, when I became a teacher I had to face up the severe reality. Of course I was interested in history and my belief that history was the most intriguing subject hadn’t changed. But students didn’t show any interest in it. Some students were just sitting in my class reluctantly; otherwise, they couldn’t have finished school. Their attitude to my class discouraged me.

I taught Japanese at schools in Australia and Canada. One of the things which impressed me was this: when I was in Canada I went to elementary school as an assistant Japanese teacher. There I found pictures of students in old times displayed on the wall. Some graduates might go to the school occasionally to recollect old times and they would find they are still there!

My dream school will be a place where teachers can teach their subject freely. They talk to their students from heart (not like a machine), and they raise good citizens who always think about politics, economy, peace keeping, welfare and so on and who try to make our world better.

It will be also a place where students can enjoy their school life, where graduates receive a hearty welcome, and where they can look back on their old days longingly when they come back to school.

百人一首の英訳を紹介します。

“Ogura Hyakunin Isshu” is an ancient anthology of one hundred tanka,
Japanese poem of thirty-one syllables, by one hundred poets.

きみがため　おしからざりし　いのちさえ　ながくもがなと　おもいけるかな
I didn’t used to be afraid of losing my life for you, but now I love you so
dearly that I would rather live long with you.

わすれじの　ゆくすえまでは　かたければ　きょうをかぎりの　いのちともがな
You promised me that you would love me forever but it is not guaranteed because human mind changes easily. I would rather die today when I’m happiest.

みせばやな　おじまのあまの　そでだにも　ぬれにぞぬれし　いろはかわらず
I’d like to show you my sleeves. Their colour has changed with my tears
because I always miss you and can’t stop shedding tears. Even fishermen’s sleeves in Ojima never change their colour though they get wetter and wetter.

さびしさに　やどをたちいでて　ながむれば　いずこもおなじ　あきのゆうぐれ
One day in autumn I left home at sunset time in too much loneliness and
looked around, only to find there was loneliness everywhere.

英訳する場合、歌の裏に隠された読み手の心情も説明しないと理解できないので、どうしても長い文になってしまいます。もっと簡潔な英文にまとめられるのかもしれませんが、これだけの心情をたった31文字におさめた短歌というのはすごいと思います。

さて、梅雨が続いています。うっとうしいものですがこれがないと夏に水不足で困るわけです。どんなことにもそれなりに意味があるのですね。雨で外出しなくなる分、家で英語の勉強ができるのでは？！

The rainy season has set in. It could be unpleasant but make the best of it!

さて皆さん英語学習はどこでしますか。極端なことを言えばどこでも出来ます。例えば電車で、最近はいろいろな情報が英語でも書かれて（あるいは放送されて）います。先日こんなのを聞きました。

All for your informations will be displayed in English.

これはどこがおかしいのでしょうか？考えてみるとおもしろいものです。

英語を学習する動機付けいろいろあると思いますが、音楽はどうでしょう。楽しいメロディーに乗って英語を覚えられることも多いはず。例えば：

Such a feelin’s comin’ over me
There is wonder in most everything I see
Not a cloud in the sky
Got the sun in my eyes
And I won’t be surprised if it’s a dream

何だかわかりますか。そうですね、カーペンターズのTop of the Worldです。乗りのよい曲で英語がわからなくてもなんとなく記憶に残りやすい歌です。でも上の歌詞を文法的にきちんと理解しようとすると結構難しいのです。そうなんです。歌詞というのは、省略を使ったり、倒置を使ったり、俗語を使ったりと、学校文法だけでは対処しきれない部分があるのです。けれどもやはり面白いと思います。メロディーの良い歌なら。リスニングにも役立ちますから、完璧に理解しようとせず、わかるところだけでもうまく利用して学習に役立てましょう！