The American writer Mark Twain, real name Samuel Clemens, was an interesting and clever man. He was also a humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. His quotes are: funny, “Golf is a good walk spoiled.”, insightful, “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.”, or both, “Lies, damned lies and statistics.”.
Another interesting quote from him may help you overcome the fears of learning a second language, “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.”
Seize the opportunity
I hope the last quote would encourage you to try and fail, but learn. Imagine you’re studying English now and, for some reason, you are introduced to an English speaker. Your self-introduction is fine as it’s something you have done many times and feel confident about but, after that, you don’t say another word. Why? “I’ll be embarrassed if I make a mistake.”. When will you get a similar opportunity to use what you have learnt, to see if what you have learnt is useful? Think of the quote, “…you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.”.
Where will the conversation lead?
This quote reminds me of when I first met Masami at a bus stop in Exeter, England. It was a chance meeting and our conversation quickly started due to a bus timetable. I thought, “This woman is really interesting, and I will never get another chance to speak to her again if I don’t act now.”. This thought prompted me to give her my telephone number which, she accepted. The rest is history.
You may say British culture is different from Japanese culture, so I’m comfortable doing that. Not exactly. I don’t want to be rejected and I have, of course, regretted many things I have said and done. In this situation, I would have been disappointed being rejected. But, I would have been more disappointed for not giving my phone number and forever wonder what happened to that petite Japanese woman. I am pleased to say neither of those situations occurred and I wasn’t embarrassed and I didn’t regret my actions.
In summary, be brave, try, you may be disappointed although you probably learnt something from it. Alternatively, it may not even lead to disappointment.
【あなたの心が伝わるあなただけの英語】
英語でのコミュニケーションをあなたらしい英語で。一人一人のレベル、能力、興味に合った教材や方法での英語レッスンプログラムをオンラインで学べます。
”あなたの英語”でコミュニケートしたい方は、まずは無料カウンセリングをご予約ください。
