知ってる内容を英語ルートで理解。
＜英語版＞
Hello there!
I hope this letter finds you well. I want to share some interesting stories about how meeting people from different countries can change our perspectives.
Once, when I was teaching at a junior high school in Japan, I invited a guest from Nepal to talk about his country. One student asked, “Have you ever climbed Mt. Fuji?” This might seem like a normal question for someone from Shizuoka prefecture, where Mt. Fuji is famous. But the man from Nepal calmly replied, “Yes, I climbed it last Sunday, for the third time.” I was surprised! For him, coming from a country with incredibly high mountains, Mt. Fuji was just an ordinary mountain for weekend exercise.
In another story, about 30 years ago, I joined a government-sponsored international friendship cruise that visited Southeast Asian countries. In Mumbai, locals asked us, “Have you seen the Queen’s Necklace?” They were talking about a highway along the coast. Some Japanese, including me, went to see it in the evening. However, it wasn’t as impressive as we expected. Perhaps it has changed over the years, or people stopped mentioning it to visitors.
Lastly, let’s talk about “strong winds” in Japan. We often hear about winds with a speed of 50 km/h in weather forecasts. But did you know there’s a windier place in Patagonia, South America? A world-famous aviator and novelist, Saint-Exupery, once joked about not being allowed to land when the wind exceeded ninety miles per hour. That’s twice as strong as the winds we hear about in Japan!
Sometimes, stepping outside our comfort zone helps us see things differently. The world is full of surprises, and each new experience brings us a bit closer to reality.
Take care, and see you soon!
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