英語を学ぶ人はツイてる？＜英語版＞

以下は大雑把な英語版です。
知ってる内容を英語ルートで理解。

洋画で字幕を読んで英語を聞くように。

日本語の内容はこちらから
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中国語には、単語毎に一つ一つイントネーションがある。中国語ではイントネーションとは言わず四声（しせい）と呼ぶ。四声とは「4種類のイントネーションの型」。中国語の単語は、四声のどれか一つを持つのだ。例えば「マー」。日本語だと、どう言おうが「マー」は「マー」で同じ「マー」。

Many people say singing songs is a great way to learn a new language like English. But did you know for some languages, like Chinese, singing songs doesn’t really help you learn?

I’ll explain why Chinese songs aren’t useful for beginners. Understanding this will help you see why English songs can be so helpful.

In Chinese, there are four different tone patterns that every word follows. Learning these tones is crucial because the same sound like “ma” can be four completely different words just by changing the tone!

The four tones are:
1st tone – A flat, sustained high pitch
2nd tone – Rising pitch, going from low to high
3rd tone – Dipping pitch, going down and then back up
4th tone – Falling pitch, going from high to low

So for “ma”:
1st tone (flat high pitch) means “mother”
2nd tone (rising) means “hemp”
3rd tone (dipping) means “horse”
4th tone (falling) means “to scold”

To speak Chinese properly, you have to memorize which of these four tones goes with each of the million or so words! The order of the tones is very important.

I thought learning songs would help me pick up on the tones naturally. But I realized the melodies don’t match the word tones at all! Composers ignore the tones to create beautiful melodies.

The key part of a song “What Day Will You Return Again” , consisting four words, has these tones: 2nd, 4th, 1st, 4th, 2nd. But the melody goes: rising, falling, falling, rising, flat – very different from the word tones!

I was disappointed to learn songs don’t help for beginning Chinese. The melodies clash with the crucial tones.

Luckily, English is a “stressed” language, not a “toned” one. We distinguish words like “desert” and “desert” by stressing different syllables, not changing the pitch pattern.

Since English rhythm doesn’t clash with melody the same way, singing songs is actually very helpful for learning English pronunciation.

So if you’re an English learner who enjoys music, you’re in luck! Singing songs reinforces the sounds and stresses. Make the most of this advantage over toned languages like Chinese.

So until the next time
Jiro

Jiro（今村二朗）

私立学校に英語教師として勤務中、40代半ばに差し掛かったころ、荒れたクラスを立て直す策として、生徒に公言して英検1級に挑戦することを思い立つ。同様の挑戦を繰り返し、退職までに英検一級（検定連合会長賞）、TOEIC満点、国連英検SA級、フランス語一級、スペイン語一級（文科大臣賞）、ドイツ語一級、放送大学大学院修士号などの成果を得る。

アメリカで生徒への対応法を学ぶ為に研修（地銀の助成金）。最新の心理学に触れた。4都県での全発表、勤務校での教員への研修を英語で行う。現在も特別選抜クラスの授業を全て英語で行っている。「どうやって単語を覚えればいいですか？」という良くある質問に答える為、印欧祖語からの派生に基づく「生徒には見せたくない語源英単語集」を執筆中。完成間近。常日頃洋書の読破で様々な思考にふれているが、そうして得た発想の一つを生かして書いた論文がコロナ対策論文として最近入賞。賞品の牛肉に舌鼓をうっている。元英検面接委員