Impressions of Miho: Shibaura Institute of Technology Global Issues 1 Assignment 2

This image was created by Michael Stout using a frame from The Daily English Show 320 and Corel Painter

For their second assignment, students in the Global Issues class watched an interview with Miho, a Japanese returnee (帰還者). Miho made a strong impression on the students. Below are some examples. Again, I have edited the students' writing for accuracy and clarity. This time I had to edit a lot. However, I did my best to stay true to the content and to retain the students' voice. Some teacher's may object to this but I decided it was better to edit the work than not present it at all. Few students would have agreed to let me post their work unedited. Even still, some students asked to remain anonymous (匿名).

"I was impressed by her willingness to study abroad alone. However, I didn't like her merry talking and big gestures because I thought it was over the top. Perhaps I experienced culture shock watching and listening to her.
I was also impressed by what her friend said. She said, "Where do you come from in Birmingham?". Many Japanese think that Japanese are a single race and foreigners are separate but her English friend doesn't think so. I think this shows a difference in thinking between Japanese people and English people."

Shunsuke Miyashita

"My first impression of Miho was that she was just an ordinary girl but my impression of her changed a lot once I heard her speak English. I was impressed by her English speaking. When I closed my eyes, she sounded just like someone in an English-speaking area. In particular, she uses gestures well. "

Takahiko Hasagawa

"I think her English is like that of a native speaker and I want to speak English properly like her. I think she is very patient and hard working because when she actually mixed with native English speaking people and had to do group work with them, they didn't want to work with her. I if were in that situation I wouldn't want to learn English and I would return to Japan. However, in that situation, people are really able to learn the language. She struggled to learn English properly. I think we need to be n severe situations in order to learn English properly."

Yusuke Tsukui

"Miho is a very good English speaker. At first I thought she was a native English speaker because she talks very fluently and her gestures are very good. I want to be like her."