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Language Volunteers Get Lesson in Real-Life Classroom (February 16)
Students concentrating in English at Nakano Nishi High School have been working as volunteer interpreters in nearby Shiga Kogen, where Alpine skiing events for the Nagano Games are being held.The students were anxious at first, not knowing whether their English would be good enough to help visitors. But they soon not only experienced the joy of being able to communicate but also learned some tough lessons about how English conversation is carried out outside the classroom.
Seventeen-year-old Mika Sunohara worked as a volunteer at Yudanaka Station close to the Alpine skiing venues. She regrets having upset an American couple who had a complaint about the different train fares for the express and local. "I couldn't quite get what they were trying to say," she recalls, "and I was probably too blunt with my response."
"People would speak really fast," Mika continued, "and there wasn't any time to think about subjects and predicates--the kind of things you're taught at school. The conversational English we've been learning is very friendly and nice, but the Olympic experience exposed me to the kind of English that's spoken in the real world."
Naomi Machida, 17, worked at the Shiga Kogen information center for four days. She notes that there were a number of frustrating moments when she failed to communicate properly, but she endured her stint with dictionary in hand.
"Before, I never stopped to help foreigners who seemed lost. But I don't think I'd hesitate to help them now. I realized it's not enough just to wait around until you're asked." (Shinano Mainichi Shimbun)
Nakano Nishi High School students make "origami" Snowlets--Nagano Games mascots--to be handed out as souvenirs to foreign visitors.