My Favorite English Teachers
In 1961 I entered Seikei Junior High School located in Kichijo-ji. Masafumi came to our class in September. Up until then, he lived in Seattle, USA with his family. His father worked as a representative of Mitsubishi Trading Company for three years. It goes without saying his English was excellent. He spoke English just like cool American guys, although he sometimes used slang words.
Everyone was impressed when he stood up and made a speech. At the same time all classmates envied him and wanted to speak English like him.
Of all the classmates he sat next to me by chance. He was friendly and especially nice to me. Moreover he didn't bother to teach me English. I learned English from him during a break and lunch time.
First of all he corrected my pronunciation. I practiced the word "hungry" 100 times.
He commuted to Kichijo-ji by Inokashira Line. One day he told me an interesting story.
I was surprised to hear Masafumi telling off a nasty American kid in the train. For the kid spoke loud English which is unfamiliar to the Japanese and behaved impolitely. On top of that he blew off a bubbling gum and spewed it onto the floor. Immediately Masafumi told him, "Cut it out! I don't believe you did that!" as he was so mad at him. Other Japanese passengers pretended not to hear the quibbling and took a distance from this incident. But at the bottom of their heart, they were very glad to see an American being defeated by a Japanese and running away to the next car.
Well this idiom "Cut it out" meaning "Stop it" was new to me. You could also say, "Knock it off" by the same token. For instance, to "Punks" you could say "Shut up, you guys! Knock it off! I've had enough of your music."
Back in the classroom Masafumi was called upon to say something by our old English teacher. For he was late getting back to the classroom. The teacher was a survivor of the battle of Gudalcanal in the Pacific War. He reported to Vice Adm. Chuuichi Nagumo who had turned Japaneses carriers toward Pearl Harbor when the war broke out in 1941. He boasted that he could swim miles underwater while sucking air from hollow reeds. But his English pronuncation was so terrible that I could not put up with.
Meanwhile Masafumi stood up and talked English so fast, the old man didn't catch a word.
In the end he resigned and told Masafumi, "You may sit down." While I was listening to Masafumi intensively, I recalled him saying "I goof off" or something like that. This is an American slang for "waste time". Was Masafumi a skiver?
Then the old man went on, saying, "Let's start today's lesson." Everyone opened an English textbook, "Jack and Betty". I took a glance at Masafumi. He yawned. He seemed to be sick and tired of the lesson.
One day Masafumi introduced to me one of his American classmates in Seattle. His name was Jim Austin.
He said to me, "He used to be my good friend. Write him a letter. But don't send your photo!"
I wrote him and sent my photo at the same time. I got no answer from him. Masafumi was right.
"All right, " said the old teacher, "if a Yank jumped from a tree, what would you do?"
"Kick him in the balls!" came the answer, almost in concert, and he grinned and dismissed the class.
He really struggled for survival.
Everyone was impressed when he stood up and made a speech. At the same time all classmates envied him and wanted to speak English like him.
Of all the classmates he sat next to me by chance. He was friendly and especially nice to me. Moreover he didn't bother to teach me English. I learned English from him during a break and lunch time.
First of all he corrected my pronunciation. I practiced the word "hungry" 100 times.
He commuted to Kichijo-ji by Inokashira Line. One day he told me an interesting story.
I was surprised to hear Masafumi telling off a nasty American kid in the train. For the kid spoke loud English which is unfamiliar to the Japanese and behaved impolitely. On top of that he blew off a bubbling gum and spewed it onto the floor. Immediately Masafumi told him, "Cut it out! I don't believe you did that!" as he was so mad at him. Other Japanese passengers pretended not to hear the quibbling and took a distance from this incident. But at the bottom of their heart, they were very glad to see an American being defeated by a Japanese and running away to the next car.
Well this idiom "Cut it out" meaning "Stop it" was new to me. You could also say, "Knock it off" by the same token. For instance, to "Punks" you could say "Shut up, you guys! Knock it off! I've had enough of your music."
Back in the classroom Masafumi was called upon to say something by our old English teacher. For he was late getting back to the classroom. The teacher was a survivor of the battle of Gudalcanal in the Pacific War. He reported to Vice Adm. Chuuichi Nagumo who had turned Japaneses carriers toward Pearl Harbor when the war broke out in 1941. He boasted that he could swim miles underwater while sucking air from hollow reeds. But his English pronuncation was so terrible that I could not put up with.
Meanwhile Masafumi stood up and talked English so fast, the old man didn't catch a word.
In the end he resigned and told Masafumi, "You may sit down." While I was listening to Masafumi intensively, I recalled him saying "I goof off" or something like that. This is an American slang for "waste time". Was Masafumi a skiver?
Then the old man went on, saying, "Let's start today's lesson." Everyone opened an English textbook, "Jack and Betty". I took a glance at Masafumi. He yawned. He seemed to be sick and tired of the lesson.
One day Masafumi introduced to me one of his American classmates in Seattle. His name was Jim Austin.
He said to me, "He used to be my good friend. Write him a letter. But don't send your photo!"
I wrote him and sent my photo at the same time. I got no answer from him. Masafumi was right.
"All right, " said the old teacher, "if a Yank jumped from a tree, what would you do?"
"Kick him in the balls!" came the answer, almost in concert, and he grinned and dismissed the class.
He really struggled for survival.
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