ELL essay by
MEGUMI NOMIYAMA
This semester, my goal was to become a volunteer who reads picture books in English. I’m doing this because I love picture books and reading to people. I feel especially happy when reading to children. There are many picture books translated into Japanese by famous authors, so I have read them to my children and many other children.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey
Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans
Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
My Father’s Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett
I have introduced some of my favorite book titles, but there are many other books that have been loved for a long time. I would like to read some of these books in English someday.
It has been three years since I started studying English at IVCC, but I still can’t converse, and I only know a string of words, so I sometimes use the Google translation app. I don’t speak English on a daily basis, so my vocabulary remains limited. But I set a big goal this time because I was inspired by the young people in my ESL class who study while working and work hard to learn English in order to advance their careers.
Now, to achieve this goal of reading to children, I have a lot to practice. First, the pronunciation of words. Second, the pronunciation when reading a sentence. Third, reading while occasionally looking at the children who are listening. There may be more to do. I have been taking private online lessons for a while now, so my pronunciation has improved, but I’m still struggling with R, L, S, C, B, V, and F. It is very difficult to know what to say in a sentence, what to say with less stress, what to omit, and how to say other sounds that do not exist in Japanese.
However, I feel that it is important to have time to speak only English, with one hour of online lessons every week and three hours of IVCC classes twice a week. In addition, I occasionally attend Bible study meetings. The group work there is also very stimulating.
Actually, IVCC teacher Nancy introduced me to a friend, and I decided to volunteer to read picture books at a nearby elementary school starting March 13th. A social worker will be with the teachers and will write down the picture books selected by the teachers on a schedule and contact me by email. I saw the list of books and decided to go to the library to borrow a book and practice. At the Ottawa Library, I asked the librarian to look for the book. I also found out that if the library does not have it, they will contact another library and get it for me. I thought it was a very convenient method. It will be good for me to go to the library frequently and practice shadowing.
I didn’t feel ready, yet, when the first day finally arrived to visit a second grade class. The book we read was Miss Nelson is Missing by Harry Allard. After lunch, the children came back to the classroom and were curious about me, a guest. Some of them suddenly started talking to me, but the teacher urged them to gather and sit on the carpet where the book would be read to them. I sat on a chair and looked at the children’s faces, and they were all looking at me. I was nervous, but I gathered my courage and introduced myself. I taught the children two Japanese words.
HELLO こんにちは (ko n ni chi wa)
THANK YOU ありがとう (a ri ga toh)
Then I read the book. The children listened very quietly. When I finished reading, the teacher asked if anyone had any questions. Many hands went up.
“Why do you live in America?”
“How old are you?”
“Write your name in Japanese!”
“Why can you speak English?”
“Have you ever climbed Mount Fuji?”
“Do you know Hokusai?”
I was surprised by the many questions, but I managed to answer them. I was also surprised that the second graders were learning about old Japanese culture, and I was very happy that they wanted to know more. They seemed to have more questions, but we ran out of time and had to move on to the next session. I will soon be visiting the first and third grade classes, so I will practice the new book. I will be there almost every week, so I want to practice more to read better and deepen my interactions with the children.
I hope that through this volunteer work, the children in my town of Ottawa will experience the joy of having picture books read to them, and that more children will gradually be led to enjoy reading books on their own. If that also helps me improve my English skills, nothing would make me happier. I am also grateful to the people who are helping me make this happen.