ESSAY OF THE MONTH

 こんにちは

こんにちは！

GWは皆さまいかがお過ごしでしたか？
私は休暇を利用して、アメリカのミシガン州に行って来ました！
海外に行くと、毎回、自分が「日本人」であることを意識させられます。
そして、海外の方々にとって、日本＝サムライ、ニンジャというイメージがとてもとても強いことに驚かされます。何だか面白いですよね

ということで、今回は日本人の“サムライ魂”について…☆
（写真は、映画『Last Samurai』のポスターを拝借させていただきました）


Is Japan losing "samurai spirit?"

I think Japan has almost lost "the samurai spirit" these days. Times have changed and now we have accepted various kinds of foreign cultures and customs. However, "the samurai spirit" is still well known all over the world as being distinctly Japanese. One of the reason is samurai seems to have created a boom in movies. "Last samurai" is the most famous samurai movie these days. In this movie, the samurai spirit is shown as a virtue. I've heard that loyalty, bravery and honor were needed to be a samurai. Samurai learnt mental concentration through sword play, Japanese archery, tea ceremony and Zen. From the cultural view point, I think we won't lose "the samurai spirit" yet as long as these traditional cultural practice continue.
 Also, samurai had a strong connection with death. The way of dying seems like it was the most important part of life. I was very scared when I heard about suicide by disembowelment in Japanese history. But I can understand why  they placed such important on dying honorably. The samurai spirit reflects Japanese society and life at that time.
 I think we should adopt the good points of "the samurai spirit" as virtues.

教師より
I sometimes read about Japanese, usually older people bemoaning the loss of "the samurai spirit". I'll bet it still exists, although perhaps it's harder to recognize it in modern society. I enjoyed the movie! Nice work.



By ウィルイングリッシュスクール

 

I agree “the best things in life are free.” I think you don't have to pay for the best things in life, which are friendship, love, etc. Can you buy happiness with money? If so, rich people must be happier than poor people. But we know it is not true. The best things in my life are health, love, and nature.

Keeping good health is necessary to enjoy life. I didn't care about my body before marriage because my mother paid attention to our health. I keep trying to buy good food for my health, not from China.

Nobody doubts love is priceless. My parents gave me a lot of love without expecting me to return it when I was a child. I was seeking to gain their love in my childhood, but now I am thinking about how to show them I love them very much.

The extraordinary landscapes of Monument Valley have stuck in my memory. How much would you pay for making something like that? Nature give us a lot of things that have value beyond money.

Therefore I agree “the best thing in life are free.” I am sure that believing this makes me happy.

教師より

This is a great essay.

I agree with what you said. If you were to ask many people if they would rather be rich with no family, or poor with a loving family, most would choose the latter.

When I was working at the bank “Wells Fargo” in America, it seemed like the richest customers were the least happy. They were frequently very rude, stressed out and angry. I don't know the exact reason for this, but it led me to believe that it was related to their income.

This doesn't mean money isn't important, but sometimes a life of excess just leads to problems.

WILL ENGLISH SCHOOL

People are different from each other in liking, thought and character, and it's difficult for almost all people to change them. To change character is difficult because it depends on the environment when you are a child. You can pretend to switch your character. The base of your character never changes, I think.
Character has strong points and weak points. For example,  a quick temper is a person's weak point. The quality of consideration is a strong point: Everyone has both good and bad points.
My Achilles' heel is I'm shy. Usually, I pretend to be a sociable person in my work place. But I am not sociable person. I am poor at talking to strangers. It is my Achilles' heel, too.
People are supposed to have an Achilles' heel. But many people  try to hide it. But you can't remove it. 
That's what it's all about.


教師より
Interesting essay! Don't be afraid to be sociable. I understand the feeling of shyness because I used to be a really shy person, but then I learned people are generally good.
There is no need to fear people.


BY WILL ENGLISH SCHOOL

What is your "Achilles' heel"?
私は最初にこのtopicを見た時
「あなたのアキレス腱は何ですか？ん？？？？？？」という感じでした。

教師に質問すると、アキレス腱、つまり弱点・泣き所という意味だそうです。
何だか「なるほど！」とものすごくしっくり感じたのを覚えています！＾＾

そこで、生徒様の"Achilles' heel"を今回・次回と二回にわたって紹介させていただきます！



I am indecisive person. That is my Achilles' heel. When I saw this topic, I don't know my Achilles' heel so I asked one of my friends "What is my Achilles' heel?" To my surprise, she answered quickly, "You are indecisive. Because you cannot decide what to eat for lunch often." I was a little shocked but I cannot help accepting it. My other Achilles' heel is that I am easily moved to tears, especially when I watch a movie. Therefore when I went to the movie theater, I couldn't leave the theater to go to the lobby for a while.
However, I don't care about my Achilles' heel so much. I enjoy choosing something unhurriedly, and to be moved while watching a movie.


教師より
You must have honest friends to tell you your weakness so quickly. I think it's a great you are so happy with who you are. Your Achilles' heels aren't actually that bad so you must be a very good person! Next time you go to the cinema bring some sunglasses...


それでは、次回もお楽しみに♪

BY ウィルイングリッシュスクール