英語は書くのが一番難しい。
英語に限らず、どんな言葉でも同じかもしれません。
じゃあ何が一番簡単かと言うと、実は英会話だと思っています。
「そんなわけない」と思う人は英語のライティングをして、みっちりネイティブに添削してもらえば「ライティングの難しさ」がよく分かると思います。ただ面白いのは、ライティングが一番難しいのにライティングをしっかりやると、英会話も上達するということ。
英会話が難しいと思っている人はライティングを練習するといいです。
今は
Lang-8（ラングエイト）というサービスがあって、自分のライティングをネイティブに無料で添削してもらえます。僕も一度試してみたことがあるのですが、本当にきっちり添削してくれてかなり驚きました。（相互添削コミュニティなので、相手の日本語も添削してあげると友達を作りやすいです）
もちろん、話せるようになるには「実際に話す練習」も必要なのですが、
書けるならあとはそれを口に出すだけなので、ハードルはぐっと下がります。英語が書けるなら、言いたいことが頭に浮かぶという状態なので、あとは発音の問題とか、しゃべるときに緊張してしまうとか、そういうソフトな問題だけ。これは慣れが必要なだけで、確実に「なんとかなる」わけです。
ライティングとスピーキングの難易度は全然違うけど、両方ともアウトプットする行動という点で上達の相関性が高いのかもしれません。（リスニングとリーディングはインプットする行動です）
ただ、ガチにライティングを勉強しようとすると挫折すること間違いなしなので気をつけてください。僕もさっき英語のライティングをアメリカ人に添削されて挫折しました。さっきまでアメリカ人の友達とスカイプで話していたのですが、ほぼノリで「一緒にライティングの練習しよう！」と言ってきたのです。彼も日本語の勉強をしていているし、僕も将来的には英語の記事を書けるくらい英語力を上げたいと思っているのもあって、第1回目の練習を本当にやってみました。結果はこちら。
これが僕が最初に書いた英語原文↓
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Title:
Don't expect people to ask you questions.
I started working in Japan 3 years ago and many people taught me a great deal about work.
First year was especially the tough one because I didn't understand most of the things.
People in office tell me what needs to be done and how I'm supposed to do it and they always did not forget to add this phrase at the end.
"Ask me questions if you don't understand"
I undoubtedly accepted the phrase and i even appreciated it.
Yes. I have to ask questions if I don't understand. That's natural.
After the first year, I started teaching about work to the new employees, the fresh graduates.
And of course, they don't know anything just like I was a year ago. Now I'm the one who need to teach them.
I did teach them and I, of course, did not add the phrase. "Ask me questions if you don't understand"
They seemed to understand just like I did.
The next year was different. I started working with customers communicating through phones, emails, and sometimes directly in the meeting.
And I couldn't miss to notice that the customers often say that phrase. "Ask me questions if you don't understand"
But this time, I didn't accept it like the previous times because their instructions didn't make any sense.
If you are in a business field, it is your responsibility to make people understand what you want to say.
By asking others to ask questions, you are basically ignoring the responsibility and wasting their time.
When you give instructions, tell them something that is simple and perfectly clear so they don't even have to ask questions.
You will find It more efficient and time-saving in a long term.
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そしてこちらが、添削されて返ってきた英文↓
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Title:
Don't expect people to ask you questions.
When I started working in Japan 3 years ago, many people taught me a great deal about work.
My first year was especially tough, because I didn't understand much about the job.
People in office would tell me what needed to be done and how I was supposed to do it, and they never forgot to mention,
"Feel free to ask me questions if you don't understand"
Of course, I accepted their offers and even appreciated them.
Yes. I have to ask questions if I don't understand. That's natural. (here you could also say "that makes sense")
After my first year, I started training the new employees, the fresh graduates.
And of course, they didn't know anything, just like me a year ago. Now I was the one who needed to teach them.
I did teach them, and I told them to "Feel free to ask me questions if you don't understand."
They seemed to understand, just like I did before.
The next year was different. I started working with customers communicating by phone, email, and sometimes directly in in-person meetings.
And I couldn't help but notice that the customers would often say that phrase. "Feel free to ask me questions if you don't understand."
But this time, I didn't accept their offer like I did in the previous times, because their instructions didn't make any sense.
If you are in business, it is your responsibility to make sure people understand what you are trying to say.
By asking others to ask questions, you are basically ignoring your responsibilities and wasting their time.
When you give instructions, tell them simply and perfectly clearly so they don't have to ask questions in the first place.
You will find it more efficient and effective in the long term.
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めんどくさいので内容は翻訳しませんが、赤文字が多いことはご理解いただけるかと思います。20分くらいでかなり焦って書いたとは言え、外大卒とは思えないポカミスが多くて本当に恥ずかしい。
繰り返しますが、英語のガチなライティング練習は難しいです。
僕から言えるアドバイスは、「
ゆるくライティングを練習して、英会話を上達させる」ということ。本当に日記程度のライティングで十分です。英会話ができるようになりたい人はぜひがんばってくださいね！ 応援しています。
僕はこの英語レベルから英語の記事が書けるライターを目指します。たった今挫折したところですが、何年かかけて再トライしようと思います！
