My English in English #6｜武蔵野進学セミナー-武蔵野市、三鷹市、小金井市、西東京市、練馬区にある学習塾

For the two weeks after arriving in the United States, I stayed with my father’s friend, whose husband, two little daughters, and grandparents were all Japanese. I didn’t practice any English at all other than watching TV.

I remember American TV commercials often emphasized prices over and over. I was able to enjoy watching Major League baseball games without understanding announcers and reporters’ comments. There were no brass bands playing to cheer players, but people’s cheers were much louder when something exciting occurred.

Then, the day finally came when I (and my twin brother) had to face the reality of living all by myself in English only. My father’s friends took us to the English language school of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She helped us fill out applications for a dormitory we would be staying for the coming semester and left.

That was the very beginning of surviving in the United States without using Japanese.

(to be continued)