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Hello, readers!
I read a newspaper article about bookstores decreasing in number in Japan. It made me think about why bookstores are important and what might replace them.
The Daily Yomiuri reported that the number of real bookstores in Japan has gone down by half from 2004 to 2023. They say this is because of things like more people using digital devices and bookstore owners not having anyone to take over their shops.
But I think there’s something more important that the newspaper didn’t talk about enough. Bookstores have a special job: they help us find new things by accident. When you’re in a bookstore, you might pick up a book you didn’t plan to read. This can give you new ideas and help you learn about new things.
This kind of accidental discovery is very important. It has helped people make new inventions throughout history. If we can’t stop bookstores from closing, we need to find other ways to make these accidental discoveries happen.
These days, most people search for information online. But when you search online, you usually have to know exactly what you’re looking for. This makes it hard to find new things by accident.
For example, I once tried to see all the music CDs in my local library. I was surprised when they told me I couldn’t do that. I had to know the exact CD I wanted to find.
But isn’t it more fun to find something you didn’t know about before?
I have an idea: we should make online search systems that let us look for things in a less specific way. For instance, if you want to learn about a type of book, you should be able to see many books in that category, not just one specific book.
I hope we can make technology that helps us discover new things, just like bookstores do.
Reading English newspapers and thinking about new ideas is fun. I suggest you try it too! If English is hard for you, start with articles about topics you already know. This will help you guess the meaning of words you don’t know.
Enjoy learning and reading English!
See you next time,
Jiro
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