受講生4　男性

試験の様子

I was asked to get in an interview room. There are two interviewers, one English native speaker and one Japanese professional tour guide in a room. In front of these two, a chair is set.

質問内容

（以下、J：日本人試験官、N：ネイティブ試験官、A：受験者）

A: Hello.

N: How are you?

A: I’m fine. Can I leave my personal belongings here?

N: Sure.

J: What is your name and where do you live?

A: My name is ... and I live in Kameari, Katsushika Ward, Tokyo.

N: Shall we start?

A: All right. I’m a bit nervous though.

N: I don’t think you are nervous. Well, if I want to go skiing, where would you recommend?

A: Well, there are many ski places in Japan. But since I’m from Hokkaido, if you have some budget, I would recommend that you go to Hokkaido because you’ll have fine, powder snow there. Actually many Australians love to go there for skiing.

N: Really? I’m an Australian. That’s very interesting. Could you tell me how to get there?

A: I think taking a flight is the best way to go there. You can take a flight from Haneda and get to Chitose Airport. From Chitose, there are many bus services to take you to ski places. It would take one and half hours to get to Chitose and also take one hour or so to get to ski places from the airport.

N: Is that expensive?

A: If you go there by yourself, it would be costly, but if you join a group tour, I don’t think it is expensive. You will get some discount.

N: All right. Let’s change the topic. Japanese like hot springs. Tell me why Japanese like hot springs?

A: Yes, Japanese like hot springs. It’s believed to be good for health, and Japanese go to hot springs for a change.

N: Are there many hot springs in Japan? Why does Japan have many hot springs?

A: Japan has a lot of volcanoes. I think that’s the main reason why Japan has many hot springs.

N: Could you recommend one hot spring to me?

A: If you live in or stay at Tokyo, I would recommend to go to Hakone. It’s not so far from here, and there are many hot springs in the Hakone area. And you will see Mt. Fuji if it’s a fine day and you are lucky.

N: That’s interesting. How often do Japanese have a bath?

A: Most Japanese houses have a bath and most Japanese have a bath almost every day. But most Japanese go to hot springs once or twice a year, depending on individuals.

N: All right. I’ll ask a little bit about Japanese history. What is the Edo Period? Could you explain it to me?

A: The Edo Period was an era when the leader of samurai classes called Shogun ruled Japan. It lasted 250 to 260 years or so from the late 16th century to 18th century.

N: What is samurai?

A: Samurai are warriors in Japan and the top of the warriors ruled Japan in those days.

N: Do samurai still exist?

A: I don’t think so. Only on samurai movies and TV dramas these days.

N: （笑って） All right. If I want to go somewhere in Japan and ask you to recommend one place to visit, where would you recommend?

A: As I mentioned, I’m from Hokkaido, Hakodate, so I would recommend you go to visit my hometown.

N: Are there many interesting things other than skiing?

A: There are many. You can see natural scenic beauty there. Shiretoko is listed on the World Heritage List. You also enjoy fresh fish and nice food there. In Hakodate, there are many historical places to visit.

N: All right. Thank you.

A: Thank you very much. I enjoyed having a talk. Thank you.

N: Thank you.

試験を終えて

My first impression was that they were quite friendly. A native English speaker looks young, probably in her late 20s or early 30s and a Japanese woman must be a professional tour guide with plenty of knowledge and experience. The Japanese woman didn’t speak to me in Japanese. I’m not sure but I’ve got a feeling that she has a power to say “yes” or “no”.

I probably made some grammatical mistakes but I don’t think she gave me tough questions. As long as we have practiced answering CEL’s questions, I don’t think we would have much difficulty in answering those questions. However, the hardest part of the exam would be that the interviewer spoke to me in a natural speed, very fast. So if a test taker is not accustomed to that, he or she may feel panic. My classmate also said to me that she had a hard time dealing with it.

I don’t know whether I will pass the second-stage exam but I believe I kept eye contact both to a native interviewer and a Japanese tour guide. I enjoyed having a conversation with them.

Finally, I’d like to express my deepest thanks to all CEL teachers and staff. I really appreciate their advice and supports. I will miss it, though I don’t want to go back to the classes so much.

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