オーストラリアのホストファミリーに送る「自己紹介英文レター」の一例を書いてみました。（１９９８年４月）
Hello!! My name is Nagatoshi Yasui. I am 40 years old. I am a Science teacher in Shiga Girls' High School. I have been teaching Science at this school for 18 years.
There are six people in my family: my father, wife, two daughters, son,
and me.
My father Michio is retired. He is farmer and raises rice. My wife Hiroko works hard in the house to make our life comfortable. And she is working part-time as a baker. My elder daughter Shiori is a junior high school student. My younger daughter Shizuho and a son Shingo are an elementary school students. They are very lively and like very much to play the piano.
And a dog called “Leon” and four hamsters are also members of our family.
I like very much to run and be doing jogging in the morning or after a
job ended every day. I am participating in a race repeatedly. I am sometimes participating in the races of half and full marathon. And I like listening to guitar music.
I like to drink beer. I drink beer every day. My favorite brand is “Asahi
Super Dry”. And I like to drink coffee.
I use my computer for work and fun. I am sending and receiving many e-mail every day. It is very convenient. I send messages to my friends. And I keep in touch with business associates. My e-mail address is “n-yasui@mx.biwa.ne.jp”. Please tell it to me, if you have the address of e-mail.
I like study English. However, I cannot speak English well yet. I think that I want to study many cases about English conversation with
the Australia visit in this time.
I am looking very much forward to meeting you, your family and your school
students.
＜伊藤さんからのご意見＞
自己紹介をするときに、「英語はあまりうまく話せません」というのを、「I cannot
speak English well」と書かれていましたが、「I do not speak English well」のほうが適切です。
「Cannot」だと、何か身体的な障害があって話すことが出来ないというニュアンスになってしまいます。
英語の「can」は可能・不可能をはっきりさせるコトバなので「うまくできない」という意味を表現したいときには避けたほうが良いコトバです。
英語を話すときには、あまり細かいことは気にしないほうがよいとは思うのですが、相手にうっかり「Can
you speak Japanese?」などと尋ねるとかなり失礼になりますので、覚えておいたほうがいいかと
思い、ご指摘させて頂きました。お役に立てれば幸いです。
でも、全体的にキレイな分かりやすい英語で素晴らしいです。これならば、しっかりと相手に伝わると思います。これからも頑張ってください。
☆伊藤さんのHP → かかってこい英会話！
|
