What I wrote to my students after a business trip to Cambodia
In the previous article, I talked about how I remembered I wrote about the eagerness to learn I encountered from students in Cambodia when I saw the same thing in Vietnam.
After the business trip, I wrote a diary for my students studying English. In Japan, your boss will be very strict. I remember the owner of the English school liked my letter very much she printed it out and shared it with her surroundings.
I thought it might be meaningful to translate what I wrote into Japanese and share it in English. It might help some people to love learning something new:)
My letter to the students studying English
実は先日、お世話になっているとある会社の代表がカンボジアに現地法人を立ちあげるのを検討中とのことで、通訳として現地に同行してきました。学生時代にも一度訪れたこの国のイメージは、貧困、ポルポト、クメール文化、地雷。当時から５年経過した今、そのイメージは完全に覆されました。めまぐるしい経済発展。予想を遥かに超える経済成長に驚きました。
I accompanied a company representative to Cambodia as an interpreter. He was considering starting a business there. I had been to Cambodia before when I was studying at university, and my image of the country was poverty, Pol Pot, Khmer, and landmines. 5 years have passed since then, and I was shocked to see so much difference. Enormous development! I was amazed by the growth I expected.
その中でも、今日は言語の大切さを実感したことについてお話できればと思います。皆様もご存知の通り、ポルポト政権により、知識人がほとんど虐殺されてしまったカンボジアの今の最優先課題は、教育です。社会における各分野の牽引役の育成が急務なのです。
Today I want to share that I felt language is very important. As you may already know, Pol Pot was the leader of Cambodia who killed the educated to keep his power. So now, Cambodia has one focus and it is educating the people. They need to educate the people that will handle the growth of their country.
ただ、それを教える技術者は残念ながらカンボジア国内だけでは限られています。それを踏まえ、プノンペン王立大学では、言語能力強化に力を入れています。プノンペン王立大学の日本語学校の生徒さんたちと交流する機会を得たのですが、とにかく日本語が上手です。
Unfortunately, Cambodia is scarce of skilled and educated workers. That is why The Royal University of Phnom Penh focuses on language studies. I had a chance to interact with the students there, and their Japanese is very good.
それに加え、素直で、学ぶことにどん欲です。「なるほど」と思いました。先進国から学ぶツールとなる言語を習得し、素直な心を持って技術を学び、それを基にとにかく「やってみる」ことによって経験を積み、成長を重ねる。
On top of that, they are honest and eager to learn. That's it, I thought. They will study languages that will help educate the learning generations. They will then take that knowledge and try it, to gain experience. They will repeat and improve.
今日よりも明日、明日よりも明後日成長する。自分が成長を続けることで、それがカンボジアの発展に直結することを自覚している生徒たちを目の当たりにして、自分の身が引き締まる思いでした。
They will grow a little more tomorrow than today. Then more the day after tomorrow than tomorrow. Interacting with the students in Cambodia who know that educating themselves directly connects to the growth of their country made me look at myself.
勉強熱心で、素直な心を持ち、失敗を恐れず挑戦と改善を続ければ人間は無限に成長します。英語は人生において目標ではないのです。目標を達成するためのツールなのです。皆様は、英語というツールを使って何を成し遂げますか？
Eagerness to learn. Honest feelings and trial and error will develop an endless growth of knowledge and experience. Studying English is not a goal for your life. Studying English becomes a tool to fulfill your goal. So I have one question. What do you want to do, using your English Skills?
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