Just don't listen, you can learn how to listen to "home English" books published by veteran translators

The best -selling translator is busy.On weekdays, I sleep at 10:00 pm and get up at 3:00 am.It is said that it is basically 3 hours from waking up to 6:00 am, 9:00 am to 4:00 pm, and other than translation, such as housework and family members.

Due to the balance with work, my 11 -year -old son has entered a general licensed nursery from Zero.

I didn't live abroad, nor did it spend money on early English education.

Although he had to "do his best" or "do not teach", his son passed Eiken 2nd grade (about high school graduation) at the age of 10.I want to widely convey the learning method I practiced with my son.The single book that I gave with such a feeling is "I can do so far at home!

■ "House English" started

Various hints are written, but the most important thing is to listen to English in a natural way, even if you don't understand the meaning since you were an infant.Infant is the same in that sense, as he listens to Japanese without understanding the meaning at first.It is only necessary to prepare CD players and CDs.

However, it doesn't mean that you can hear an English CD.

It is effective to observe children and read Japanese and English books in the fields and themes that children are interested in (only English can be shown), and it is effective.

The point is to give priority to what children want to read and what they are interested in, rather than giving their children the book they want to read.

The same CD is fine, so if you listen repeatedly, you will naturally learn English.

"Originally, I didn't want to teach English. I bought an English song CD with the desire to hear various songs and want to know the fun of the song.It was, "said Kada.

The reason why I made an English song was that I thought it would be fun if I could review the lyrics of Mother Goose."When I was a student, I play musical instruments in my chorus club. I believed in" Books and music in my life ", so I wanted to make my child get familiar with music since I was a baby."

Professor Yasuyo Minagawa (language psychology) of Keio University, who wrote a recommendation in the book, named the know -how of this book "Kada Method".

According to the recommendation, it is scientifically shown that it is not effective for infant language acquisition, so he was initially skeptical of the "listening -centered" method.However, in the book, there is a mechanism and gimmick that makes it possible to learn only listening at home, and parents understand the "skill" to connect English and children and read it crazy.

■ From non -life insurance company to translation business

Kata was born in Osaka.She grew up in a family of her father, who ran a forged company with about 30 employees, and a housewife's mother.She lost her mother at the age of 13 and was shocked.She went to the International Christian University from the pool school, a consistent girl's school, and she studied at the University of California, Santa Barbara, in her third year.She says she has never lived abroad, except for a year of her studying abroad.

After graduating from university, I got a job at a non -life insurance company and changed jobs to a translation company.While working, he did the job of a film magazine writer.Even after becoming an independent translator in 1999, her writer continued to work, but after giving birth to her son in 2009, she dedicated to translation.Her engineer's husband is busy working, and her housework and childcare have been doing almost one operation.

Among the translations I worked on, two books, "The best child -rearing best 55 that can be asserted in the current science" "absolutely good!"ing.There are many translations related to child -rearing, such as "Economics of Child Care" (Keio University Press) and "French children do not cry at night" (Shueisha).

■ English is a door that expands the world

Why did Mr. Kata want to leave the translation, which is his main business, and to make a single book?

He said, "English is a" door "that expands the world, and I want to give the tool to many children in Japan."The population that uses English is 1.1 billion, including non -natives.If you use English, you can communicate with one in five people around the world.If you can read English from the Internet, it will be much easier to get information.

Rather than wanting his son to be good at English, he says, "I wanted to tell you that if you can speak English, your mother will spread and life will be fun," says Kata.。

"There is an idea that in the age of automatic translation, English proficiency is unnecessary, but if you rely too much on automatic translation, you will be away from the most important" mutual understanding "for human society."

That thought is based on experience as a translator.A good translation requires an understanding of the background of the different culture, and the translator is doing a "communication bridge".Instead of simply replacing foreign languages in Japanese, they may check the facts, add translations, or add reference materials that are not found in the original.

Mr. Kata thinks that learning English is to "raise a child who understands diversity."

■ Cherish your native language.The base is Japanese

As Professor Minagawa says in the recommendation, depending on the child's personality and home environment, it may not work even if you go to this method.However, the fact that the native language, which is the most important thing, is not recommended for early education in English, is also helpful from the perspective of "bilingual education".

It is often seen as a blessed environment for children to live in English -speaking countries from a young age due to their parents' work, or to be in Japan and go to an international school from infants, but in fact, Japanese and English.There is a risk that both are said to be "double limited", which does not reach the level of age.The "Kata Method" is an English -language study method based on Japanese, so it seems that there is no worry that children will be "double limited" even if children do not fit into English.

The "Children's English Super Self -Learning Method" appears to be the know -how book of early education in English, but that is not all.They are in the concept of "independence -oriented" to extend the fields that children are interested in while understanding various values and different cultures.If you read this book, it will be a trigger for parents to think about what kind of child -rearing you want to raise in the first place.