Akoさんのブログ

I had not been working on LingQ for a few month. During my rest, it made a big progress.

A few days ago, I received an email from LingQ Support about my active assignment which I was not totally unfamilier with. What is Active Assignment ?? I opened the website which changed front page, and logged in. I then went into each section and found a lot of new things.

Actually, I am still used to The Linguist. Also, it will probably take me for a while to utilize LingQ which has a lot of detailed funcions. The biggest change that I like is new membership system. It is certainly more convenient for every member.

I just have amazed with all of the new system.  

It has been the whole two months since I last posted.

I am now in the middle of three day holidays. Since I started a new job, I was feeling a little lethargic on every weekends, particulary on Saturdays, I had done nothing like just sitting on the sofa as watching TV. There was no energy left to do something for learning English.

I believe that to keep learning make my English skills advance, so I have been concerning about myself. The time, that I do nothing for it,  discourage me and my English will never develope any further.

Today, I joined a discussion after a few months. There was no other participants, so I just talked with a tutor. Our new system of the Linq had started, only fifteen minutes passed very quickly. I definitely enjoyed speaking English and so I am going to join a discussion by the motivation, thanks to this conversation.

I hope that my motivation for English goes on.

I had an interesting discussion a couple weeks ago, which is called " Read Aloud". I guess that most of the other learners, at The Linguist, probably have seen this title at the events section. I missed out the opportunity to sign up this discussion. I could finally attend it and enjoy myself.

I felt like I was in class as if I were a student in some languges school. This reminded me of taking classes face to face in schools. After joining The Linguist, no paper and no reading was very usual in discussions.  Like back in schooldays, this would be memorable.

The story which the tuter e-mailed us was heart-warming, and the vocabraries were literary-oriented which had some metaphorical expressions. I have not been reading this kind of English story recently, and so I had a lot of fun. Also, the tutor's explanations were really understandable.

Here are the vocabraries in the story

・catch O off guard

・neurologist

・tinglins sensation

・stall  ：　to try to avoid doing something or answering a question so that you have more time

             ( I did not know the usage of this word in this way.    interesting!!   )

・herniated back disc

・reiterate

・flee

・paralyze

・exhilarate( H has no sound.)

・insecurity

・bubble wand

Today, my certificate of Eiken pre-first grade arrived in my mailbox. I firstly had the result card a couple weeks ago, and then this sheet came over to me.

I reflect back on the time of last year when I had never imagined passing this grade at the first occasion. At that time, I had no plan to take this grade and did nothing for this test. From this point of view, I think I did make a great progress. Also, the way of learning English at The Linguist, which has the most efficient method, gave me this great success, and it remind me that continuing this method would give me further progress of learning English.

However, I am now struggling with my laziness for learning English. My great excuse for this is my new job. It has been a month since I had started to work in full time. I know I would find the time for it after work or even in the morning. I really regret to spend waste time of just watching TV on the sofa, which I would do something for English with my left power at the end of the day.

I would like to say that my next goal is to gain more than 800 score at the TOEIC test in spite of the fact that I have been neglecting my work on English. With this pace for it, I would have its score a few years later sadly. Yet, I still have a mind for advancing myself to develop my English skills, and I have not been content with my level.

With all motivation from other learners or The LingQ, I do want to make it!!

Yesterday, I took the speaking test of Eiken pre-first grade.

I did a little preparation for it with a textbook, which has practice examinations. I pictured the situation of the interview and murmured English on my own with the textbook.

I was not too nervous, but a little bit excited although I do not know why.

There was a male examiner who difinitely looked Japanese.

At first, he said " Please introduce yourself beleifly."

I knew that we was supposed to have a short conversation, but I did not imagine this question. So I took a little bit pause, and then started my introduction as I do at The Linguist discussion.

Next, he asked " How do you learn English?"

I explained The Linguist immediately, but he seemed not to have heard of not only The Linguist, but also Skype.

Then the main part of the examination began in the silence. He handed me a card which has four small pictures of a certain situation. The story was about a business man who has old parents running their apple farm. He had two difficult choices. Whether or not he go back to his parents home to run the farm instead of them.

I had to narrate the story for two minutes and answered four questions about this story.

Here is one of the question;

Do you think his parent have too much expectation on him?

This speaking test was almost same as I had expected because I prepared for this with that book.

I thought my interview relatively went well.

Yet, the examiner added a comment at the end.

" You should not say your age in your introduction, after you turn over twenty five."

"In English"

What did it mean??  Is it just an kind advise? 

I usually say my age at The Linguist discussion, so I said it as usual. I certainly do not say my age when I speak with Japanese.

Anyway, I am just waiting the result.

Last friday, my friend asked me to go drinking with her friend from New Zealand. I have been to New Zealan twice, so I gladly went to there, even though I can not drink at all.

The pub's vibes was like in some foreign country. Roughly a half of people were foreigners. When I went to overseas, I have visited this kind of pubs. But this was my first time to go to this kind of pub in Japan. I looked around the pub because of different looking from Japanese, and I then knew It was an Irish pub. There was also famouse Irish beer which color was almost black.

Note: pint....... I learned this word then.  Pint is the biggest size of glass.

I have been speaking English only through the internet with Skype, so I could speak English by face to face after a long time. There was a question that I wanted him to answer whatever it is good or bad to us.

my question to him

What is strange to you about Japanese culture or anything of Japan?

He said, nothing. He meant probabry it was almost same with that he had imagined.

I guess he could not tell me his honest impression about Japan because it was our first gathering. I think people would not rather open their mind at the first stage.

Quite sadly, he is going back to  New Zealand this week.

I could enjoy that night very much.

I have been so happy with my result of Eiken since the day before yesterday.

Until I receive this result, I had been anxious about it. Right after this examination, of course, I checked out my answers. But I could not feel confident that I passed it. Although we can see answers on the website, we can not know right score because this grade has a writing test, which I got only 8 points out of 14 points.

I have just started to do next preparations for the second stage which has speaking test. I knew of the content of the speaking test for the first time, even though there is only a week. We have to narrate as looking at a card of situational pictures and we then answer intervewer's 4 questions. I ordered a text book for this preparation on the Amazon site.

I do not want to miss this grade ! I know I should be confident with my skills then. I have attended The Linguist discussions once a week more than a half year. So I would like to believe what I have done for this.

My new job started on last Friday, as I mentioned before in this blog. I am now experiencing new things everyday .Whenever people try to do new things, extra energy is needed and we would be more stressed out than doing what we already are used to.

At this moment, the most frustrated thing I am feeling is traffic jam in every morning. It was so heavy that I was almost

late yesterday for my new workplace. If I had been late, this would have been a very ashaming happening as a new

employee. Besides, I can not predict whether traffic is bad or not. I arrived there too early on Monday. I had boring

time in a busy morning because of impossible prediction to it. How come?? What is related to it? I have no idea!

Yesterday was the first day of my new job. I quit my last job in the end of January, so around four and a half month had passed.

As I posted at this blog before, I had been looking for a job using English as a dispached employee. During the period that I was looking for, I saw a lot of job classified advertisement on the internet in dispatching companies' sites. I required to use English as much as possible as my first term. However, I realized my English skills had not reached to the level that I would have been required. As long as I choose an English job which would be included more than 50% of English usage,  more than at least 800 score of TOEIC would be needed. Although my best score is practically at this level, my last score was not good. Therefore, I decided to choose my job using English a little.

My first impression to my new workplace was good !! They were tremendously well organized and my boss and co-workers looked kind. Anyway, I would like to learn my job as fast as I can and I would be happy if I could try new jobs which can improve my skills.

Recentely, I have been thinking about becoming a translator.

My interests to translating have been growing bigger and bigger, especially these days. When I first had curiousity to it, I was a student in a college. However, when it comes to translating as a proffessional,  not only quite a high English skills must be required, but huge Japanese competence also be needed for sure. In that way, I think it would not be the right job that I could  make a commitment. Yet, I realized that I enjoy creating English writings, including this blog. I know there must be a long long distance to make money in translating. Also, a lot of endeavor should be done. In other  words, I would have the chance if I made a huge effort to it for at least a couple of years.

 I think that there is not a big difference between creating English writings and translating. I cannot mention it any more because I have never translated. Just wondering will not cause anything, so I did some research about a few correspondence course at translating schools and asked to send me some imformation about the curriculums in mailing.

 I am just waiting for their mails.