全国の日本語スピーチコンテストに参加することが･･･
約２週間前、来年の２月に、ロンドンで行う第三回全国の日本語スピーチコンテストに参加するかどうか、電話インタービューがあったんだ。
インタービューされる日の朝、早く起きて、ご飯を食べて、ベッドでノートパソコンをひざの上に置いてるままずっと待てた。頭の中はいろいろリハーサルしようとしてたけど、なかなか落ち着けなくて、９時に近づいたら、緊張感が高まってきたんだ。
９時になったとたんに、電話が鳴った。
女性の声が「マイケル･ダウニさんですか」と聞いて、どっきとしてから「ああ、はい。そうです」とおずおず答えてみた。
それから、自己紹介、経験話、僕が書いた作文についての話、それでスピーチコンテストで語りたいことについて、いろいろ聞かれた。たまに焦らずにすらすらと話せた部分があったけど、大体緊張で弱い答え声で話したりしてしまった。
電話を元に戻したら、ほっとして反省した。
やっぱりダメだったなって思った。まあ、来年もチャンスあるから、今回は経験にするかな。
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そしてこの間。２日間ぐらいでメールチェックしないで、メールボックスを開けた。スピーチコンテストの会社からのメールをもらってた。あんまり期待がなかったけど、開けたとき、少しどきどきしてた。
「残念ながら・・・」
と想像したけど、そうじゃなかったんだ！僕は最後の６人に入れたんだ！なぜかできたみたいだ。なぜだろう・・・今年の参加者はそんなに多くなかったかな。
普通に受けた試験とかはうまく行ったかどうか自分の推測がほとんど当たってる。だから、今回は本当にダメだったと思ってて、驚いたものだ。
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今はまた緊張が高まるのが再始まった・・・みんなさんの前でスピーチをするなんて、今まで経験したことよりすごく大きいんだ。ちゃんとした、丁寧で思い白いスピーチが期待されてるから、いつも友達としゃべる馬鹿で、間違いだらけな会話では絶対にダメだと気づいた。しかも、ちょうど１月の試験が終わってから行うので、準備する時間も少ない。もう追いかけられてる感じだなぁ・・・
そのうえ、もう一つショックがあったんだ。その６人の中で、もう一人はリーズ大学からの学生がいた！話す日本語の枠に、俺の最高の競争相手なんだ！ディーブ・タッカーさん！ｗ
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さあ、みんなさん、これからたくさん勉強しないといけないけど、豊かなスピーチができるように、みんなさんにもいろいろ意見を聞かせてもらいたいと思う。
一応、僕が決めたテーマはこれだ:
『日本人の思いやり』
まだ、はっきりしたタイトルが決めてはいないけど、このテーマに近いタイトルじゃないとダメらしい。
さて、よろしければ、今日の質問に書き込みをお願い！
あなたは「思いやり」という言葉を考えると、どんなこと（例えば表現・ことわざ･場面など）が思い浮かぶのでしょう？
よろしくお願いします！
Go on, read more related posts!
Unbelievable! There is nothing related at all?!
Filed under: Japan, 日本, 日本語 by Mike on Monday, December 24th 2007 @ 1:49 am | Trackback |
最後の６人に入れたんだおめでとう…すごいな
去年、俺とくしだ先生はこのスピーチコンテストに行った。
参加した人の日本語能力はすごい。
今年のコンテストはいつ？絶対に行きたい。
夢はいつかこのスピーチコンテストを勝つ。
頑張ってね！
ジェイコブさん
書き込みありがとう!
今年のスピーチコンテストは２月２日に行われるんだよ。せひ見に来てね。俺、緊張してんだけどさ・・・
Hey Mike.
I got some answers about ur question.
U can c what I asked on my English or Japanese blog.
This is the answer from one of my Chinese friends.
He is 22 or 23.
I am very glad to answer your question.If I am working here,I will politely tell him or her that there is something wrong about the address. If not, I will do that all the same. As you know, Chinese people are much admired all of the world for their hospitality and we are always willing to help others whenever they are in their difficulties.In the light of this ,Chinese people are always ready to help others whether they are strangers or not .I have not studyied Japanese for a long time ,as a result ,I am not quite familiar with Japanese and the differences between the two countrys ,so I have no idea on what advice to give you in this aspect .
This is from one of my American friends.
He is 23 years old.
First, if I were working at a hotel. Am I to assume the customer is not around anymore to ask about the address? If no, then I would ask the customer for a clear address, if yes (customer is gone), then I would just give it to the postman hoping he is able to read it, as he deals with things like that more than I.
I would do the same, even if it was not a customer. Unless the package seemed to be suspicious. If I thought there is something bad inside I would take it to the police instead.
In both cases I would try to meal the package, and maybe do a little bit to try to make sure it doesn’t get lost, but in the end I wouldn’t worry about it very much. I think that the only reason someone would want me to send their package for them is if they were sending something bad and don’t want to get caught, or if they were just running out of time and can’t do it themselves.
I hope that makes sense. :p
This is from one of my Taiwanese friends.
She is 23 or so.
Dear Tomomi:
久しぶり!!^^～I’m good Tomomi ^^, how are you? Hows Japan?? i’m really bad at thinking but let me try answering these….
ok…just guessing everything here :P…
If it is a customer at the hotel she must have a room there, so I would call the customers room and ask her/him to write the address again.
If it was the parcel of a stranger, I wouldn’t have a way to reach her, so the most I would do is to ask some of my friends to help read the address and help make out what it saids. My attitude would be less serious and maybe even feel a bit bothered and probably wouldn’t care that much, perchance I would just send the package directly, hoping the postman can figure it out!
My behavior and feelings are not always the same, for example when I’m infront of people sometimes I pretend I’m happy even though I’m sad. Or, I have a lot of feelings but don’t do much, don’t show them or react to them but just hold them inside.
I think people are all the same at birth, but then their personalities, behavior and attitude are shaped a lot by their environment. Japan is a unique country that has different customs, social mentality,history and traditions, so the people who live their- Japanese people have many differences between other country people. To me, I think Japanese people tend to be very fixed on details and hard on moral values. They are also hardworking, trusworthy, conservative and very polite.
*In the case of working for a hotel…
Probably I will ask the customer to complete the address because I, as a worker, am responsible for meeting the customer’s need. Of course I will ask the customer gently and politely.
A Japanese girl’s answer.
She is 20.
*In the case of not working for a hotel…
I think it’s case by case…I mean, if I am busy when asked I may refuse the request because I am kind of a self-centered person and I think he/she should ask to someone else. If I am not busy or not in a hurry, I will for sure help him/her.
That’s all, and I hope my answers help your friend’s work in some ways!!
This answer is from one of my American friends.
She is 24 or 25 years old.
If i was working in the hotel I’d take the letter politely but probably ask for a verification as to where it was going and possibly stick it in another envelope.
If I wasn’t working and a stranger gave me the letter I might be a little suspicious, especially if addressed to someone I didn’t know. I’d probably check that it had a return address stamped on it, if it didn’t I’d kindly tell them where they could find a mail box.
Suspicious letters are feared here in the states because of many incidents involving letter bombs, anthrax laced letters, and so on. So many people will often call the postal inspector if a mysterious package or letter appears on their doorstep or desk.
One Day I was contacted up in Canada by the FBI and the US Postal Service about a mysterious letter addressed to my US address. It appeared the letter was covered in a white powder and they shut down the moses Lake post office. Since it had no return address I didn’t know who it was from so they had to bring in a lab team and test the letter.
Turns out someone had sent me a stick of chalk as part of an inside joke about chalk drawings I’d done once. They didn’t think about the white residue the chalk would leave. I added a link to that picture. So most Americans are paranoid when it comes to letters, although it doesn’t bother me.