7月11日号 1面
English: I Did It MyWay!
カリスマ講師に聞く英語上達の極意
Mastering spoken English involves a lot more than sitting in a classroom and passively following a teacher's instructions. Students should seek materials they find personally interesting and then absorb the content until it becomes second nature.
That was the message delivered June 21 by two celebrity English instructors, Takeoka Hironobu and Yasukochi Tetsuya, at an event sponsored by The Mainichi Newspapers.
"I once spent hundreds of thousands of yen on English textbooks, but I realized that books are only one type of material," Takeoka told the audience of about 160. "So I listened to the speeches of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher over and over again until my tapes wore out."
Yasukochi's personal turning point came after a fruitless period of study. "While at university, a friend who had lived overseas recommended that I listen to FEN (Far East Network) and English subchannels on TV. But after six months, it just sounded like noise."
His solution: He bought a set of tapes, which he listened to repeatedly until their content became no longer noise but words that made perfect sense.
Throughout the event, the speakers, both of whom write regular columns in the "Mainichi Weekly," cracked jokes as they answered questions.
(Mainichi Weekly)
◇ ◇ ◇
【WORDS 単語をチェック】
master 習得する spoken English 英会話力 passively 受動的に follow one's instructions ～の指示に従う seek 探す material 教材 absorb 吸収する become second nature 身に付く spend hundreds of thousands of yen on ~ ～に数十万円をつぎ込む former ~ 元～ Margaret Thatcher マーガレット・サッチャー（英最初の女性首相、在任期間１９７９‐９０） wear out 擦り切れる turning point 転機 fruitless 効果のない FEN （米軍）極東放送（現在は AFN） English subchannels （音声二カ国語放送の）英語放送 noise 雑音 make perfect sense 完全に意味を成す crack jokes ギャグを飛ばす
Glen S. Fukushima, a native of California, is President & CEO of Airbus Japan and former President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan. From 1985 to 1990, he was based in Washington, D.C. as Director for Japanese Affairs and, later, Deputy Assistant USTR for Japan and China at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. 
Michael Jackson, the gifted child star who rose to become the "King of Pop" and the biggest celebrity in the world only to fall from his throne in a series of scandals, died June 25. He was 50.
