通訳おばさん
"An old dog cannot learn new tricks," goes an English saying. This is
the case with human beings too. We find it more difficult to learn
new things as we grow older. Old people find it very difficult to
adapt themselves to the fast-changing modern world. Most of them shy
away from learning new "tricks." One of the characteristics that make
children different from adults is their curiosity, insatiable desire
to know more, which with irresistible power forces them to learn new
things. Young people are always the first to show an interest in new
fashions and products. They quickly make the fashions their own and
learn how to use the products. Language-learning is a good example to
illustrate the difference between children and adults. Children
quickly learn the names of strange flowers, singers, actors, TV
talents, songs, new friends or foreign words coming into use through
magazines or something. Adults find them hard to remember. So we may
safely say that the amount of curiosity a person has is the barometer
of assessing a person's youthfulness. "How to get old" has always
been a very important matter to me, for I realize each of us has only
a limited period of time to live. I cannot be unconcerned about my
future, how I am going to get old or how I am going to spend the rest
of my life. Now I am getting to be an old man, having gone through
all ups and downs in my life and I have finally come to the
conclusion that happiness lies in contentment. As far as I am
concerned, contentment lies in the realization that I have made the
best possible use of my limited time on this planet earth. Ms○is an
inspiration for me. She, unlike most other people of her generation,
has an insatiable desire for knowledge and skills, always trying to
learn more. She is a perfect speaker and writer of English at 72,
uses her personal computer, plays the koto horizontal harp, the
samisen three-string musical instrument, practice Chinese shadow
boxing, meeting all kinds of friend every day, and inviting to her
home parties many friends from all walks of life, including
foreigners from several different countries. Old woman as she is
physically, she still has a very young mentality that makes her very
popular with all her friends, most of whom are much younger than she.
Both the young and the old can enjoy talking with her. And there are
many things we can learn from the conversations we have with her. The
way she lives is a great inspiration to us. She is the person I would
like to be like in ten years from now. Ms Setsuko Kosaka went to what
is now Tsuyama Senior High School. She loved studying English and
wanted to go to college, but her ill-health prevented her from
achieving her dream. Besides, it was generally believed in Japanese
society in those days that too much education could be a stumbling
block to a woman's happy marriage. So instead of going to college,
she was forced to go to dressmaking school for two years. During two
years, she also learned how to play the koto horizontal harp, tea
ceremony, and flower arrangement art. It was when she was 22 that she
got married to a highly educated bank clerk. The Second World War,
in which more than 2,300,00 Japanese people were killed, had ended
only six years before and it was jokingly said that there was a truck
load of single Japanese women for each single Japanese man. But
luckily, Ms Kosaka was able to marry a highly educated gentleman
working for a big bank operating nationwide. Soon after her marriage,
her husband's job took her to Fukuoka city to live there until they
were transferred to Matsue City on the coast of the Sea of Japan. A
few years later they were again transferred to Tokyo. While there, a
female friend of Ms Kosaka's came to her home. "All you do is
household chores! I can't believe it," exclaimed her friend. She was
shocked to hear what her friend said. "All I do is household chores,
indeed!" said Ms kosaka to herself. She remembered how she wanted to
study English in college. She remembered how long she had neglected
to learn it. She wanted to get back the time she had wasted and began
to study English by using a middle school English textbook. Soon her
husband's job took them to Niigata City but she continued to study
English by going to American Culture Center in the city, making
foreign friends as well as Japanese friends trying to learn English.
In only two years she passed the text for the first grade of STEP
(the Society of Testing English Proficiency) and the next year she
passed the test for an interpreter's license, for which she needed to
study not only English but also history, geography, politics,
economy, cultures and traditions. When the World Fair was held in
Osaka Prefecture in 1970, they had been transferred to Osaka City.
She was with Japan's largest travel agency, Japan Travel Bureau,
working as an interpreter and guide at the fair. Soon after they came
back to Okayama, her husband died at 46, leaving behind Ms Kosaka and
their two sons who still had to go to school. The older son was a
senior high school student and the younger one was a junior high
school student. But thanks to her ability in English, she was able to
get a job with Okayama University's Medical Department. Part of her
job was to proofread a bimonthly medical journal call Acta Medica
which is published by the medical department to be sent to medical
institutions around the world. She retired from the university after
she worked there for 23 years. Now she spends most of her time for
learning. She is one of the founding members of an English speaking
club that meets at C.Hotel in Okayama to discuss topics of interest
in English. Anyone can come and join the club as long as he or she is
interested in English.
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