トーストマスターズは、
米国カリフォルニア発祥の人前で話すことを通して、コミュニケーション力、リーダーシップを養うことを目的とする世界各国にあるクラブです。
私もかつて
新潟トーストマスターズのメンバーでした。
久しぶりに新潟ーストマスターズ時代に書いたスピーチを見返したらなんだかとても懐かしい気持ちになりました。
というわけでその時書いたスピーチを一つシェアさせて頂きたいです。
このスピーチは、アメリカ人の友達にレビューしてもらってます。
その友達は日本語が本当に堪能でした。その人の日本での経験を聞いて、このスピーチを書いたことを覚えています。
かなり長いですね・・・もっとポイント押さえて書くべきでした。
"Creating good relationships with foreign people in Japan"
Today I’d like to talk about how we can create better relationships with foreign people. Japanese society has internationalized a lot, so better relationships will make a huge impact on Japan. Recently, the government decided to ease restrictions on foreign workers and welcome more skilled foreign workers as doctors, nurses, and engineers to substitute for the lack of Japanese labor power. I’m sure many of you have heard that some hospitals in Niigata prefecture have started hiring nurses from Philippine. This is just one of many examples.
As the need for more labor power rises, interaction between Japanese and foreign labor will also increase. Given this, it will be more crucial to know how to foster good relationships with foreign people.
Sometimes, people think speaking English is the only way to understand what foreign people think. Of course, English makes communication easier, and there are many people who automatically switch into English the moment they see a foreign person. However, before you do that, you might want to consider how that foreign person will react.
Back in my American friend’s statement, relating to the statement let me give you an example.
I have many foreign friends. Some of them are really good at Japanese, and have dreams of living and working in Japan. My friend she is one of them. In fact, their main purpose for coming to Japan is to improve their Japanese and learn more about Japanese culture. As a result of these countless hours of study, some of my friends speak great Japanese. Although their appearance may seem Western, their Japanese is entirely Eastern. You can not imagine how good some of their Japanese is. However, some of my friends told me something the other day, and it caused me to really stop and think.
They said:
Almost all of the Japanese people we meet speak to us in English. Even if those Japanese people know we speak Japanese well, they still continue to talk to us only in English.
Hearing this, I became sad. Those Japanese people didn’t think about my friends, they only thought of improving their own English.
I understand that there are not a lot of opportunities to meet native speakers of English in Japan. Also, I understand their desire to speak English. However, I don’t think that forcing English on foreign people in Japan is the correct way to go about doing things. It would be better if these Japanese people kept in mind what the foreigner is thinking too.
Ever since meeting these friends in Japan, their desire to know more about Japan and learn more Japanese was very clear. I could feel just how much they like Japan, so I always try to speak with them in Japanese. So, even though I’ve been studying English about six years, I make it a point to speak Japanese to them. Of course I want to improve my English, but I don’t want to do it at the expense of my friends. I don’t want to use my friends for my own sake. It is because of this care that I have made friends and stayed friends. From this experience, I would say that to create good relationships with foreign people, it’s always important to keep in mind what they are thinking.
Thank you for listening.
