Cherished Memories - Teachers
Masaru Usui

I would like to introduce Ms. Keiko Nitta, a teacher of translation and Spanish at KIFL. She used to be a secretary and lived in the US when her husband was transferred there to work. She lived in the suburbs of New York and took classes at the university to prepare for a future as a teacher and translator while her children were growing up and she was not working.

Her most cherished memory was a series of lectures for foreign teachers of Spanish that she took for 2 weeks of the summer vacation of 2007. The class had four trainee teachers - One American, one Dominican, one Austrian and Ms Nitta.

They learned how to teach Spanish more effectively. Ms.Nitta said teaching American students Spanish is very different to teaching Japanese students Spanish. For example, Spanish verbs are easier for Americans because they are from Latin and therefore similar to the English language. But Spanish vowel endings are easier for Japanese students because it is similar to our language. Ms Nitta improved her skill with the help of these lectures and she is now helping KIFL students improve their skills.

I also asked Ms.Naoko Abe about her cherished memories. Ms Abe is a very experienced teacher of TOEIC and has worked at KIFL for a long time so many students and ex-students will remember her classes. She is also a writer of three English books. When Ms Abe was a first-year student at university, she took a class with an American teacher who used English all the time. Unlike today there was no chance to practice English speaking and listening in high school. When she was chosen to answer a question, she didn't even know what she was expected to answer. She was afraid that she wouldn't get a credit for the class and felt very miserable so she decided to learn through English TV and radio programs. After two years of constant effort she could start to enjoy English classes and her conversational skills improved little by little. Her inferiority complex and upset feelings made her study hard and consequently led to her success of passing the 1st grade of English proficiency test (Eiken) the year she graduated.

Without this experience she wouldn't have achieved her later career as a teacher, translator and interpreter. She believes that negative experiences and understanding that we lack ability can give motivation to rise above our difficulties and improve ourselves.