現地時間2024年8月11日（日）、13時に起きた。教会に行くつもりだったが、疲れていたのでやめた。今日は外出しなかった。
前日のブログと同様、語学学校を振り返る。今日は、クラスメイトの特徴について触れたい。
生徒の大半は日本、台湾、タイ、中国、韓国といったアジア出身の若者だった。なかでも最も多かったのが韓国人だ。フランス、スイス、ドイツ、イタリアといったヨーロッパ出身の生徒にも会ったけれど、ごくわずかだった。
アジア勢ほど多くはないけれど、中南米出身の生徒も結構いた。コロンビア、メキシコ、ブラジル、コスタリカなどから来た人たちだ。私は彼らとの会話を通じて、中南米の国々に興味を持つようになった。いつか訪れてみたいとも思うが、現地の治安を考えると旅行は難しいだろう。
さまざまな国の人と話すことで、英語の話し方が国によって違うのだと感じた。話すスピードや発音が違う。私にとっては、メキシコやタイの学生と話すのが難しかった。
授業中のアジア人はおとなしい傾向にある。ただし、発言したがらない生徒は、アジア人以外にもいる。
活発な生徒と静かな生徒。何が両者の違いを生むのか。私の見ていた限りでは、仕事をしたことがある生徒の方が、積極的に授業に参加していた。
そうした人たちは比較的、知識が豊富なので、先生が投げかける話題についてしっかり議論できる。学費や生活費を自分自身で出しており、「授業にしっかり参加して、元を取りたい」という心理も働いていたように見えた。
On Sunday, August 11th, 2024, I got up at 1:00 p.m. PST. Even though I intended to go to church, I didn’t go outside because I was tired.
As well as the blog the day before, I would like to review the experience at my language school. While I focused on how effective the school was for learning yesterday, today, I mention the features of students.
First of all, the majority of students were young people from Asia, such as Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, China, and Korea. The group of Koreans was the largest at the school. There were only a few Europeans such as French, German, Italian, and Swiss.
In addition to these groups, there were also students from Colombia, Mexico, Brazil, Costa Rica, and other countries. Through the conversation with them, I became interested in countries in South and Central America. Hopefully, I would like to visit there one day, but it is challenging for me because these countries could be more dangerous than Japan.
Talking with people coming from various countries made me realize the difference in how English is spoken. Accents and speaking speeds vary depending on their national origins. For me, it was particularly difficult to understand what students from Mexico or Thailand were saying.
Among the classmates, Asians tended to speak less during classes than others. However, some students were quiet even though they weren’t Asian.
In my experience, the difference between quiet classmates and active students is related to the fact whether they have work experience. The people who had worked before or were currently working had the advantage of knowledge when discussing topics that the teacher brought up. Moreover, they seemed to understand how important it is to participate actively in classes and how valuable it is to study abroad.