Are you interested in English?
I am interested in it. However,

 My parents cannot speak English at all.
 I have never lived in a foreign country.
 I have never attended any English 

conversation school.

I think that it is most important to be interested in 
English first.
Then let me tell you about my dream. Actually I’m
not sure about the future yet, but I am thinking of 
going to a foreign university to study English. It 
was not that I liked English until 8th grade. In my 
junior high school, we read aloud from a textbook 
in front of our classmates in every English class. 
To present well, I practiced at home, even when I 
was in the ladies room. (lol) I was practicing it so 
much, it was like a spell.
Finally, I could show the fruits of my labor. Then 
many people praised me. I was very glad to be 
praised by my classmates and teachers. At that 
time, I thought that I should practice English more! 
This was the opportunity that I fell in love with 
English!
After that I took part in a variety of English events, 
for example, English camp, homestay to LA, 
speech contest and so on. Especially, the speech 
contest was a wonderful experience to brush up 
my English!! I participated in an English speech 
contest as a representative of my school when I 
was a third year student in junior high school. The 
representative was elected from candidates 
through a preliminary contest. I was interested in 
English and wanted to be able to speak English 

fluently, so I thought the more challenging this 
contest is the bigger chance to brush up my 
English. I had to pass a test to be a 
representative. The test was reading a script. 
Fortunately, I was elected. It was hard work to 
prepare for the final competition. At first, I made 
my script in English by myself. My teachers 
guided me at some points, such as pronunciation, 
accent, speed, expression and body language, 
among others. On a basis of these points, I 
practiced many and many times, even after 
school. I realized that it’s really hard work to 
become a representative. It was beyond my 
imagination. In the end, I was satisfied with my 
result. I got no medal, but I got a wonderful 
experience instead. Since that time, I’m no longer 
afraid of making any mistakes when I speak 
English. This experience strengthened my feelings 
for English.
I heard that foreign universities have so many 
choices of majors. Therefore, I think I’ll be able to 
find the perfect choice to me. Not wasting my 
efforts so far, I want to get a job using English in 
the future.
I want to be a person who can be active in the 
world, not only in Japan. I think it is hard work to 
study abroad, but I’ll do my best!
Also, my study in Canada was a wonderful 
experience for me. We cannot speak English well 
because Japanese have little opportunity to use 
English. If you want to brush up your English, you 
have to communicate with many people who 
speak English, not only be a tourist. Don’t be shy. 

Don’t be negative. You don’t have to be afraid of 
making any mistakes. You can learn a lot of things 
by communicating with them. Of course 
everything was not perfect in Canada. I had some 
trouble there, but I tried to cope with it. 
In addition, I made a lot of foreign friends there. 
Then I had many conversations with them. Also 
we had some tours of the companies named
“Knife wear“

 “JACOS“ and university of 

Calgary. They are pretty different from those of 
Japan. We had some questions there and I was 
able to learn a lot of things from them.
These experiences in Canada strengthened my 
desire to improve my English.

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  Kana Matsuno