外国でも平和を話し合うために

アダム・ベック

米国イリノイ州出身。ニューヨークの大学と、サンフランシスコの大学院で演劇を勉強。大学院生のときに「ピースコール」というボランティアとして、ヨーロッパのチェコで英語の先生をした。広島市東区在住。

English Challenge

松井一実広島市長と湯崎英彦広島県知事のインタビューは楽しく読みましたか？　今回の課題は、このリーダー２人にちなんだものを考えましたのでお楽しみに！

まずは前回の課題「あなたが平和を感じたり、考えたりする場所はどこですか。それはなぜですか」についてです。多かった回答は「自宅」でした。私も同感です、子どもが大泣きしているときは別ですが。

中でもすてきだったのは、広島市中区の yukki さんのエッセーです。「As a housewife, I'm busy doing housework and taking care of my children. So my most relaxing time is at night, before bed. Though I'm so tired, I feel at peace when I look at my children's sleeping faces. Thinking back on the day's events, I often feel blessed. I'm thankful to be alive, and for all living things.（主婦として家事や子育てで忙しくしています。最もリラックスするときは夜、寝る前。疲れていても子どもの寝顔を見ると心安らかになります。一日の出来事を思い出し、ありがたく感じます。生きていること、生けるものすべてに感謝します）」。この「生きていることに感謝する」というのは、私たちが心に留めておくべきことでしょう。

今回の課題へジャンプ

　　前回の日本語訳

What places give you thoughts or feelings of peace? Why?

あなたが平和を感じたり、考えたりする場所はどこですか。それはなぜですか

There are two kinds of places that give me a feeling of peace: places outside myself and a place inside myself. For example, the places outside myself might include my own home and locations in nature. These places outside myself are important for a feeling of peace, but I actually think the place inside myself is even more important.The place inside myself is a little hard to explain, but it's connected to doing the thing I sense I should be doing in my lifetime. And for me, that thing is writing. When I'm writing, even when it's hard work, I have a feeling of peace because I believe writing is a big part of my destiny. When I write, I feel calmer; when I don't write, I feel restless. In my opinion, everyone has a destiny of some kind, and when we do the things that are a part of that destiny, we naturally feel more peaceful inside.

私が平和を感じる場所には２種類あります。私自身の外面、そして内面です。外面は、自分の家や自然に囲まれた場所です。こういった場所は大切ですが、内面の方がもっと大切です。平和を感じる内面の部分は、少し説明しにくいのですが、自分がやらなければならない、と感じ取っている物事と関係しています。私にとっては、書くことです。執筆中は、しんどい時もありますが、書くことが自分に与えられた定めと信じているので平和を感じることができるのです。執筆中は心穏やかになります。書いていない時は落ち着きません。私の考えでは、誰もがそれぞれ定めを持っていると思います。その定めに関係したことをやっている時は心の内面が平和になるのだと思います。

ベックさんのコメント

Ms. yukki :	Thank you for your essay. I really enjoyed it. I especially like the idea: "I'm thankful to be alive." That's something important for us to remember often. By the way, there is an important difference between a "housekeeper" and a "housewife." A stay-at-home mother is a "housewife"; a "housekeeper" is someone who gets paid to do housework for someone else.
Ms. tambourine :	I hope you're enjoying your life in Kyoto! It sounds like you're having some interesting experiences there! As for your writing, this part would be more natural like this: "Recently, I've had many opportunities to talk or eat with someone who I don't know well. At the end of our conversation, I feel we have come to understand each other better than before." Keep up the good work!
Ms. Mackey :	Actually, I enjoy going to coffee shops, too. I sit there and write for a long time. It's one of my favorite activities. Your coffee shop sounds like an interesting place. The English in your essay was generally good. Here's an example, though, of more natural writing for one part: "The owners of the shop are an old couple. They have had this shop for 30 years! When we come to the shop, I always take my big baby carriage..." I hope your baby is happy and healthy!
Mr. SOS :	I generally feel at peace when I'm at home, too. (Especially when my children are at school and the house is quiet!) Again, your writing was quite good. Just one suggestion: In the sentence "The peace that I feel...is only a short-lived phenomenon," my feeling is that the word "phenomenon" is too "academic" a word for this context. I think it would sound more natural to say, simply, "The peace that I feel...is only short-lived."

さて、皆さんは松井市長や湯崎知事と直接話す機会がほとんどないと思います。今回の課題は、絶好のチャンスです。「松井市長や湯崎知事に伝えたいことは何ですか。メッセージを寄せてください」です。おそらく２人は皆さんのエッセーを読んでくれるでしょう。私の回答例は、複雑な考えを簡単な言葉で表すのが難しいので、いつもより読みにくいかもしれません。でも頑張って挑戦してください。応募を待っています。

What message would you like to give to Mr. Matsui, the mayor, or Mr. Yuzaki, the governor? Write a message for one (or both) of them.

The city of Hiroshima takes pride in being an "International City of Peace and Culture." I believe, though, that the city could fulfill this role more strongly in the future if English language education was an even higher priority. What if children in Hiroshima had greater opportunity to learn English from a young age? What if more children here learned to speak English well? Wouldn't this help Hiroshima become an even stronger "International city" with a stronger "International voice" in the world? The introduction of English classes in elementary school, starting in the 5th grade, is a step in the right direction, but it probably isn't enough to have a significant impact. So I encourage Mr. Matsui and Mr. Yuzaki to imagine: What more can be done to expand English language education in Hiroshima?

＜Vocabulary＞
take pride in＝自負する, higher priority＝もっと高い優先順位,
fulfill this role＝この役割を果たす, greater opportunity＝より多くの機会,
English language education＝英語教育, significant impact＝大きな影響

　※締め切りは７月１８日（必着）です。

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