野村英語維新塾

ゴールデンウィークの期間中何もすることがなかったのでダラダラ本を読んで過ごしました。

読んだのはこの2冊。

「１３歳からの地政学　カイゾクとの地球儀航海」田中孝幸著

中学生の頃社会科が大嫌いでした。ただ知識を詰め込むだけの教科にしか思えなかったからです。この本は、地理、歴史、公民で習うことがそれぞれ どうやって結びついているのかを易しく教えてくれます。こんなふうに教えてくれたら 私ももう少し社会科が好きになれたかもしれないなと思いながら読みました。

そしてもう一冊、

英語が出来ません　刀祢館 正明著

日本人は何年学校で勉強しても英語を話せるようになれないのは何故なのか？

これは今に始まった疑問ではなく、明治時代からあったことを知り驚きました。

そんな中、夏目漱石が「日本人の英語力が下がったことはむしろいいこと。それだけ国力が上がったことだ。」と述べたことが面白いと感じました。

下の記事を前もって読んでポイントをまとめておくこと。

Rescuers said that 10 people who were retrieved Sunday from the frigid sea and the rocky coast of a northern Japanese national park had died, a day after a tour boat with 26 aboard apparently sank in rough waters, triggering questions why it was allowed to sail.
The search for the others is still ongoing after the boat sent a distress call on Saturday afternoon saying it was sinking. The location, near the Kashuni Waterfall, is known as a difficult place to maneuver boats because of its rocky coastline and strong tide.
There were two crew and 24 passengers, including two children, on the the 17 tonne Kazu 1 when it ran into troubles while traveling off the western coast of the Shiretoko Peninsula. The coast guard said the 10 victims — seven men and three women — were adults.
The Transport Ministry launched an investigation into the boat’s operator, which had two accidents last year. The ministry said it was looking into safety standards and the decision to conduct the tour despite rough weather on Saturday.
The operator, Shiretoko Pleasure Cruise, had been instructed to take steps to improve its safety following earlier accidents in which it ran aground in June without causing injuries, and another in May, when three passengers suffered minor injuries when the boat collided with an object.
“We will thoroughly investigate what caused this situation and what kind of safety oversight was involved to allow the tour in order to prevent another accident,” Transport Minister Tetsuo Saito, who visited the area Sunday, told reporters.

名寄市立大学の図書館には現在の社会問題に関する本がたくさんあります。その中の1冊を手にし読んでみました。外国人労働者の実態について書かれた本でした。

要約すると

①外国人労働者たちが日本企業で差別的な扱いを受けている。

②過酷な労働、安い賃金、時間外手当不払い、そしてパスポート取り上げ。(逃げないようにするため)

③ブラック企業だけでなく、結構有名な会社でも上のような実態が報告されている。

④ この問題がなくならない理由は、2つある。1つは外国人労働者たちが職を失うことを恐れている。現行の法律ではいったん勤務先を辞めるとそれが自己都合であれ、会社都合であれ、国内滞在が認められなくなる。そしてもう一つは差別を厳しく取り締まる法律が日本にはないことだ。

そんなにひどいことが起きているとは知らなかった。

だがこのことを知人のフィリピン人たちに聞いてみたら意外な返事。

①日本はとても良い国。みんな日本で働きたいと言っている。

② Facebookなどで既に日本で働いているフィリピン人のグループアカウントがあるが、待遇について文句を言っている人は誰もいない。もし不満があればSNSに書き込みがなされるはず。

なるほど確かにそうだ。日本での待遇に不満があるならSNSに匿名で投稿する事は可能だ。それがないのはどう受け止めれば良いのだろう。

不思議でしょうがない。

The top artists in music hit the red carpet for the iHeartRadio music awards in Los Angeles. The show honors the “most played” artists and songs on its network of radio stations. However, most say social media is just as important as air time.

Award show host and music legend, LL Cool J, said “I think it’s all, it’s land, sea and air.” He added, “I think social media is extremely important, obviously, because you get to talk to your fans directly and then it’s also nice to touch some other platforms.”

Peytan Porter said social media was her path to getting on the carpet with a series of TikToks called “Songs I Forgot I Wrote.”

“I got nominated for this a year later and I finally started putting out music as an artist,” said Porter, “TikTok is what took me from just writing songs to get to be an artist last year. So it’s been amazing.”

Coi Leray understands the value of social media but feels that radio is just as important as an artist.

“It has to be super powerful to live throughout, you know, over the digital content because if they can’t see, they hear you, so they have to feel you. So, you know, I keep that in mind about the radio,” said Leray.

A Czech zoo has welcomed a critically endangered eastern black rhinoceros baby that has taken the name of Ukraine’s capital Kyiv in honor of that country’s resistance to invading Russian forces.

The rhino was born early on March 4 in the Dvur Kralove zoo, a rare occurrence for the facility even if it has the most rhinos belonging to the subspecies.

“The name is another expression of our support for the Ukrainian heroes,” zoo Director Premysl Rabas said.

Kyiv’s mother Eva has been taking care of him in a best possible way, the zoo said, with the baby gaining 1 kilogram (2.20 pounds) a day. It currently weighs about 50 kilograms (110 pounds).

Poaching has reduced the number of the eastern black rhinos living in the wild to around 800. The Czech park has 14.

Only three other such rhinos have been born in other zoos around the world in the last year.

A total of 47 eastern black rhinos have been born in Dvur Kralove since the park received the first one in 1971. Many of them are now in various zoos around the globe but nine have been returned to Rwanda and Tanzania to live in the wild.

小3のサキちゃん（仮名）からLINEがきた。

Saki lined me a message. She’s in the third grade.

NHK朝ドラ「カムカムエブリバディー」を見ていて前日習ったばかりの フレーズ、オブコースが聞き取れた、と言っていた。

While watching the TV series titled “Come come everybody “ , she noticed “Of Course” was spoken there – the phrase she had learned in my lesson the day before.

大きなことではないけれど彼女がなぜそんなに興奮したのかわかる気がする。習ったばかりの表現を聞き当てることが出来て嬉しかったのだろう。

Although it’s not a big thing but I can tell why she’s so excited. She was happy she was able to identify what she just learned.

I made a small donation to Ukraine.

ウクライナにわずかながら寄付をしました。

Ukraine and Russia have been at war for almost a month.

この１ヶ月、ウクライナとロシアは戦闘状態が続いています。

I had a few chances to get to know some East Europeans and Russians while I was working for a trading company. They were very friendly, open-minded and easy to deal with.

1990年代に貿易会社で働いていたとき、東ヨーロッパやロシアの人々と知り合う機会がありました。

みんなフレンドリーで、開放的で、近づきやすい人たちでした。

Now it makes me sad to see them killing each other.

両国が殺戮を繰り返しているのを見ると悲しくなります。

Luckily or unluckily, I have never seen or experienced a war directly. But I remember having been told by my father how atrocious war is.

幸か不幸か私は戦争を見たり体験したことはありませんが、どんなに悲惨なのか父から聞いたことがあります。

He was in Chiba on March 10th, 1945.

父は1945年3月10日、千葉にいました。

He witnessed a part of the sky turn blood red in the direction of Tokyo. He soon realized it was an air raid by the US army.

東京方面の空が血の様に赤く染まるのを見て、米軍による空襲だと気づいたそうです。

Before long, there was a smell – similar to the one in cremation center.

It was so strong – strong enough to tell that a countless number of human bodies were being burned during the attack by the U.S. Air Force.

まもなく付近ににおいが立ち込めました。火葬場と同じにおい。米軍の攻撃によって無数の人々の体が焼かれているのだと思った。

This story was told to me by my father about 50 years ago. It was so shocking that it still remains vivid in my memory.

この話を父から聞いたのはおよそ半世紀前。子供の頃でした。とてもショックで今でもまだ記憶から消し去ることができません。

I want them to stop killing right now. The revenge spiral must be stopped somewhere before it is too late.

もう殺し合いはやめてほしい。復讐のスパイラルはどこかで止めなくてはなりません。

少し前になりますが英国の男性と会話する機会があったのでアップします。シェークスピアのことを偉そうに語る資格などないくせに、と思われる御仁もいらっしゃるでしょうが、ぜひ聞いてみてください。

One of my students sent me a photograph.

“Nomura Sensei. I’ve made a sweater for my dog. Take a look.”

“How cute it is! How did you learn to make it?” I asked her.

“I saw some YouTube tutorials and got interested in a handmade work called crochet.”she replied.

“Do you use the machine or your hands?”

“I do it all by hands. It gives me a chance to sit , relax , and enjoy my time.”

I like the way she puts it.

Doing things in a traditional way surely gives you something special.

I remember my childhood days. My mother was weaving yarns to make me a muffler for the upcoming winter. It took her many days to finish the handmade job. It didn’t matter to her how long it would take. She was just enjoying her time.

Mom did not care if her cat played with her yarn balls and ended up in tangled messes.

ひょんなことからアメリカ人と話をする機会に恵まれました。趣味と実益を兼ねて写真屋をやっているそうです。残念ながら顔出しはダメと言うことで、2人の話している文章を載せることにしました。

会話内容は昨日見てきた映画ドライヴ・マイ・カーについて。

少し聞き取りにくいこと、そして聞き取った文章に一部誤りがあることをお許しください。

https://youtu.be/6Fq9bBrdoxg