Essay 02: Learning English as a second language I read an interesting article about learning English as a second language. What the author wanted to say is that the native language skills is important and necessary for learning other language. In Japan, English is an essential subject at school. And educational reform on English has been done repeatedly. The old English education in Japan is so called typical “textbook English”. We learned English for exams but not for communication. I know many Japanese don’t have confidence to speak English, and so I am. We don’t have chance to use it in daily life. Then people decided to change the current style of teaching English at school. More useful, practical and conversational English. And the earlier English education is thought to be better. The author is afraid that Japanese people tend to prioritize learning English rather than our national language, Japanese. And he thinks that learning English as a second language is based on native language. He said that reading and writing skills in English should be connected to the translating skills into Japanese. Listening and speaking skills in English should be connected to the interpretation skills. He also said that our thoughts are based on native language. And communication is based on how to express our thoughts. Then I remembered my weird experience when I was studying English, I was thinking over a certain English word, and I ambiguously could understand the meaning of it by reading English explanations. But I couldn’t come up with the word that equivalent to it in Japanese, Sometimes there is no exact word in other language, just like a culture, I thinks. But, in this case, I just didn’t come up with the Japanese word. Because I didn’t understand this Japanese word definitely. That means I was struggling with Japanese, not with English. When I realized it, I got a bit shocked. And I felt that I need to learn Japanese too. Learning English tells me how important the native language is. And I appreciate that I can express my feelings in Japanese.