2006-3

2006年度第3回
大問4
問題文

Dear Kensaku,

How are you? Last week, I read a magazine article about learning foreign languages. It said that children should start studying a foreign language in elementary school or even earlier. What do you think about that?

In Canada, when I was in high school, students could choose what language to study. I remember you said that most Japanese students learn English in school. Do you think students should be able to choose what foreign language they want to study?

In your opinion, what is the best way to learn a foreign language?

I look forward to your answers.

Keira

解答(21分)

Dear Keira

Fine thanks. How are you? Let me answer your questions.

Firstly, I don’t think starting to learn foreign language in junior high school is late. We have little chance to use foreign languages out of school before graduating high school. So I can’t find good reasons to start so early. Moreover, early start without enough motivation may cause many young people hate to learn them.

Secondly, because I think English is necessary to study at university, we need to learn it for some years before entering university. If some students want to learn other languages, they should study them as the third language.

Finally, the best wat to learn a foreign language is to talk to native speakers as much as possible. This is because our object to learn it is to communicate with tem. Why can we use foreign language well without it?

These are my answers. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me again.

Best,

Kensaku

164wds

模範解答例

Dear Keira,

I’m doing well. I’ve tried to answer your questions. I feel that the earlier children start studying a foreign language the better. My parents made me study English from elementary school, and I think this helped me.

Being able to choose what language to study is very important. At my school, we could only study English, but these days I think Chinese and Korean are also important.

Your last question is difficult. For me, going to Australia on a homestay helped a lot. It gave me the chance to speak English ever day and overcome my shyness when speaking to foreigners.

Hope this helps.

Kensaku

107wds