Photo By Yoshie Makiyama | Kenwa Matsuda receives a completion certificate.... read more read more
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The adult English class hosted by Camp Schwab welcomes all ages with no upper age limit, as long as you have the desire to learn English. Students range in age from new high school graduates to retirees.
Kenwa Matsuda was one of such students. He attended classes once a week for eight years. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and his age, he decided to stop last year. He was 81.
Matsuda, a retired high school principal and science teacher, started attending the class when he was 73 after his friend introduced him to the class.
"I always thought the ability of speaking English was important, but there were not many places to learn English in Northern Okinawa," said Matsuda. "When I heard about the weekly class on Schwab, I was excited."
For Matsuda, who lives in the northern part of Nago, Camp Schwab used to be 40 minutes away by car until new tunnels connected about 2.6 miles from Yohuke area and Isagawa area as part of Nago East Highway. Although the tunnels had shortened the time by half, it was still becoming increasingly difficult for him to drive from his house to Camp Schwab every week.
To present a certification of completion to Matsuda, Col. Matthew W. Tracy, camp commander for Camp Schwab and commanding officer of 4th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, invited him to his office March 8. Matsuda's hard work and enthusiasm to improve his English speaking skills as well as communication techniques with others during the period of April 2013 to November 2021 were recognized.
Matsuda also received a certification of honorary student for his outstanding effort and achievement.
"You are the first student to ever earn an honorary certificate of graduation from our English Class," Tracy stated.
After the award presentation, Tracy took Matsuda on a tour of the headquarters building by showing him the framed pictures of his predecessors on the wall and invited him to the mess hall where only service members are allowed to eat meals.
While eating, Tracy asked Matsuda why he wanted to study English. Matsuda replied in English that because English is an international language and he wanted to travel abroad.
Matsuda revealed that after he stopped coming to the Schwab class he still attended other English classes at Meio University in Nago city, which is offered free to residents over 65, and he even had a private tutor. Tracy was amazed at Matsuda's enthusiasm.
He has been to America a few times. However, he could not understand the words native speakers of English were saying. Matsuda expressed his frustration with so-called “Japanese-English.”
"We don't understand McDonald's or Connecticut when we hear them in English, or pronounce them in English, native speakers of English won’t understand us, even though the words are written in Katakana and we think that follows the sound of the word." Matsuda continued, "That’s why I really wanted to learn real English."
Although he was born during the war and grew up in a difficult post-war era, he was interested in English and had no prejudice against learning English. "People fought against each other, but we are so close now. Bases and English are two different things," said Matsuda.
"English is a tool. Communication is for us to be friends. It is not something you should discriminate against because of a base or because of Americans." His motto is "Art is long, life is short." He will continue to learn and push forward with his beliefs as long as he lives.
キャンプ・シュワブ主催の社会人向け英語教室は、英語を学びたいという気持ちがあれば、年齢の上限を設けず、誰でも参加できる。高校を卒業したばかりの人から定年退職した人まで、幅広い年齢層の学び舎だ。
松田憲和さんは、この学び舎に通った一人だ。新型コロナウイルス感染症の流行と自身の年齢のため、８年間通った週一回のクラスを昨年、やめることを決意した。彼は81歳だった。
理科の教師であり県立高校長を定年退職した松田さんは、73歳のとき、友人の紹介でこの教室に通いはじめた。
「英語が話せることは大事だと思っていたが、（沖縄の）北部には英語を学べる場所があまりありませんでした。キャンプ・シュワブで毎週英会話教室があると聞いて、本当にうれしかったです。」
名護市仲尾次地区に住む松田さんにとって、キャンプ・シュワブは、同市世冨慶地区と伊差川地区を結ぶトンネルが開通するまでは車で40分かかる距離だった。トンネルができたことで時間は半分になっていたが、それでも自宅からキャンプ・シュワブの教室まで車で週一回通うことが難しくなってきたという。
キャンプ・シュワブ基地司令官で第３海兵師団、第４海兵連隊長のマシュー・Ｗ・トレーシー大佐は、３月８日に松田さんを事務所に招き修了証を授与した。２０１３年４月から２０２１年11月までの期間、松田さんの英会話能力の向上と、他者とのコミュニケーション技術の向上に費やした努力と熱意が評価された。
また、松田さんは、その優れた努力と成果に対して、名誉学生の認定も受けた。
トレーシー大佐は、「あなたは私たちの英語クラスから名誉学生賞を受賞した初めての卒業生です」と感慨深げに述べた。
表彰後、トレーシー大佐は松田さんを本部ビル内や飾られている歴代の司令官の写真を見せたりし、隊員専用食堂でランチを交え懇談した。
食事中、トレーシー大佐から、英語を学び始めた動機を尋ねられた時、松田さんは、「英語は国際語だからです。それに海外を旅行したいからです」と英語で答えた。
松田さんは、シュワブ教室に通わなくなった後も、名護市にある65歳以上の市民が無料で受講できる名桜大学の英会話教室に通い、家庭教師もつけていたことを明かした。トレーシー大佐は、その熱意に驚いた。
アメリカに何度か旅行したことがある松田さんは、ネイティブの話す英語は理解できないという。いわゆる「ジャパン・グリッシュ」に対してのもどかしさを口にした。
「マクドナルドやコネチカットは、カタカナで書かれているから、単語の音に従っていると思いがちですが、それを英語で聞いても分かりませんし、発音しても通じません。だから、本当の英語を学びたいと思ったんです。」
松田さんは、戦時中に生まれ、戦後の苦しい時代に育ったが、英語に興味があり、英語を学ぶことに偏見はなかった。「喧嘩したかもしれないけれども、今はとても仲がいいです。基地と英語は別物です」という。
「英語は道具です。コミュニケーションは友達になるためにあるのです。それは、基地だから、アメリカ人だから、という問題ではないのです。」彼の座右の銘は 「少年老い易く学成り難し」だ。彼はこれからも、生ある限り、自分の信念を貫き学び続けるだろう。
| Date Taken: | 05.09.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 05.26.2022 23:23 |
| Story ID: | 421557 |
| Location: | OKINAWA, JP |
| Web Views: | 90 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, NEVER TOO LATE TO LEARN: 82-YEAR-OLD RECEIVES HONORARY STUDENT AWARD / 少年老い易く学成り難し - 82歳、名誉学生賞を受賞, by Yoshie Makiyama, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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