August 2, 2014 =========
☆ confidence 　自信
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This month our topic is “Trust your voice”. In order to trust your voice, you need to have confidence, right? You need to believe in yourself and have confidence that what you have to say is just as important and meaningful as what someone else has to say.
When I was teaching at an Eikaiwa in Japan, I noticed that some students had a lot of confidence, but others didn’t. Yet, the students who seemed to lack confidence in the classroom were perfectly fine when they were outside the classroom speaking Japanese with friends or with the staff. I thought this was interesting because when foreigners in Japan try to speak Japanese, they seem to have a lot of confidence.
Have you ever noticed this? Why do you think foreigners who can only speak a little Japanese have confidence to speak Japanese, even though Japanese people with a lot more English skills don’t have confidence? I’m not sure why… but I’m definitely curious! So if you have an answer, let me know!
Bye,
Chris