English training was a wonderful time and a very special experience for me.

　　　While it made me aware that I’m not good at English, it also motivated me to learn English more. It made me happy when my English got across to a partner. It made me want to use and speak much English.

　　　The best activity for me was the Frisbee golf. We divided into two teams. The forest around the cottage was the course. On the way, there was an accident which smashed the Frisbee and made us laugh out loud. I was happy because we were able to play in a wide open natural space.

　　　The three days training was different from English lessons at school. It gave us the fun of speaking English. There was a mysterious feeling of being in an overseas country though we were really in Japan. I will never forget the wonderful time.

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2017 Short-term English House Report(April 7)

This year, I participated in the Short-term English House program, a regular event of the English Support Lounge. Seven students and four university staff leaders took part and the trip ran from March 23 to 25.

A great environment!!!
We practiced English at Shima, a place just next to the famous tourist city of Ise. Shima has become well known recently as the setting for last year’s G7 Summit of leading countries. But we enjoyed the wonderful natural scenery of Ago Bay. The cottages we had arranged to stay in looked very cool on the outside so I was bubbling with excitement.

Great group members!!!
I joined the trip with just one friend so we didn’t know the other members of the group, but we soon made friends by taking part in some warm-up activities and a game.

Great activities!!!
A lot of activities were put on by the staff leaders. We sang English songs with Mr. Bray and his guitar, and we read the words of another English song with Ms. Shoko . We also took part in an outside treasure hunting game run by Mr. Kirk. I can’t speak English very fluently so I have always thought that English was difficulty to use, but I found the English songs a sociable activity so using English was a lot of fun.
The best activity, though, was Frisbee golf. We broke a hole in the Frisbee while we were playing and it ended up speared on a tree branch. It was very funny and we had a good laugh.

Great meals!!!
Cooking in English was a little difficult. We had to start by reading the recipe – in English. But once we got cooking together, we had an enjoyable time. The meals we made here were better than you can find anywhere else in the world.

A special impression!!!
I saw some fluorescent bacteria, cypridina noctiluca for the first time in my life. We found them in the sea when we were having our campfire in the evening. I found the glow very soothing. I was glad that we were able to share this special experience together.
My impression before the trip that “English is difficult” was wrong. But I did realize the importance of trying when you face a challenge like talking with people in English.
One of the things to find in our outdoor treasure hunt activity was “Something you think is a treasure.” For me, I found that the trip itself and the time we spent together was the treasure.

P.S.
Thank you, all the organizers, for your great support. I won’t forget the gratitude that I feel to Mr. Kirk, Mr. Bray, Mr. Dykes and Ms. Shoko for their arrangement of this trip..

To be honest, I haven’t been so good at English but through traveling I have gotten onto good terms with a lot of friends and English teachers so I thought I’d like to join in again and decided to participate.

For the three days we communicated in English most of the time. I could make myself understood, but it wasn’t at all easy to speak.

The cottage where we stayed was very fashionable and I felt at home. We played frisbee, listened to music, did a skit, made a campfire, and made all our meals ourselves.
The starry night sky and the fluorescent bacteria in the sea were very beautiful .

We stayed up talking the whole of the second night so I was very sleepy for the third day. As soon as I arrived home from the English training camp at three, I just fell asleep and slept right through until the morning of the next day .

It was great fun and the three days went by in no time!

First of all, thanks for a very beneficial time. I was very uneasy at first because I am not good at English. But I felt that I grew a lot through this living-in English trip.

In one way or another, the three days of our stay were full of smile. The funniest was when we played flying disk but smashed up the Frisbee. The sight really creased us up, it was so funny. Another high point was our all-night talk. It was great fun although it hampered activities a little the next day, which was slightly a pity.

Anyway, I made a lot of friends and I certainly want to go next year too.
Thank you.

　　This training camp was a very good experience and left me with a lot of memories. This is a picture of us all having dinner together. We cooked all our own meals at this camp and everyone took part. Eating felt more enjoyable than usual because normally I eat dinner by myself.

　　　The memory which remains most is when I smashed the frisbee. I hit it at full force against a tree and the center dropped out . But that only made the frisbee golf more fun.

　　　Looking back , this English camp taught me the pleasure of talking in English. From now on , I want to make a big effort to speak English well.

　　The event that left an impression on me was cooking meals with everyone. I don’t usually have this chance to make breakfast, lunch and dinner together with friends so it was a fascinating experience for me.

　　　An added challenge was that all of the recipes were written in English. It was difficult for us to read and understand them so we just had to imagine what we were supposed to cook from the ingredients and from the menu instructions. These cooking times make a good memory for me.

　　　I was kept tuned to English all the time for three days and two nights. As a result, I found I could also understand the talking between the teachers, although there were still a lot of parts that I couldn’t follow . From now on, I’d like to increase my vocabulary power and then participate again in the training next year .