Charge Forward and Fear Nothing

To most Japanese people, the Himalayas are, despite their stunning landscapes, often regarded as remote and somewhat dangerous. Fearing altitude sickness or heights, many Japanese college students opt to spend their time abroad in safer, more tourist-friendly English-speaking places such as Malaysia and the Philippines. However, for 27-year-old Shoichiro Kudo, who currently works as a senior consultant at Sparta English, his passion for learning English has driven him to explore different things in life.

One day, by pure chance, Kudo saw a Facebook post promoting a hockey coaching camp in Ladakh, a region in northern India that is off the beaten track and forms a part of the larger, disputed Kashmir region. Seeing it as an opportunity to practice English and to play hockey, he decided to throw himself into the unknown by spending one month on the highest plateau in India, Ladakh.

"I had nothing at that time...no money, no girlfriend. It would have been okay even if I had been killed", he said jokingly with a chuckle when asked why he had chosen to stay in a remote place in India instead of a big city elsewhere.

During his first three weeks in Ladakh, Kudo spent most of his time going to different villages and talking to the locals in English as well as teaching them how to play hockey. Despite having difficulty understanding the villagers' heavily accented English, the time spent there was very precious because, for the first time in his life, he was in an English-only environment speaking and doing things entirely in English every single day.

"I couldn't get accustomed to their accent(s) and, honestly, I understood only 30 to 50% of what they said most of the time. But they were very nice and would always talk to me in simple English," said Kudo.

Besides discussing lesson plans and coaching methods with the villagers, he recalled having been invited to meetings with the mayor and that was another memorable experience for him.

"During those short meetings with the mayor, which were all done in English, I was asked different questions including why I came to Ladakh and if I was a professional hockey player,” he said, adding that they also talked about Japanese traditional sports and food.

For Kudo, the one-month stay in the high-altitude desert of Ladakh was just one of several attempts made in the past to create English-speaking opportunities for himself. Kudo's eagerness to improve his English has also seen him go on an unplanned trip to the Philippines and talk to random strangers in English, as well as flying to Canada to watch a hockey tournament and striking up conversations with other spectators in the stadium.

We all agree that it is difficult, if not nerve-racking, for anyone to talk to strangers, not to mention doing so in a foreign or second language. But Kudo has never let fear get to him and has always tried to look for different ways of improving his English.

"It doesn't matter how high or low your English level is... what matters is that you pluck up the courage to speak to foreigners and use English whenever you can," said Kudo.

Keywords
Altitude Sickness: 高山病
Disputed (adjective): 紛争(地域)
Plateau (noun): 高原
Throw (oneself) into the unknown: 未知の世界に自らを投げ込む
Off the beaten track/path: 〈場所など〉よく知られていない
Remote (adjective: 僻遠
Fear of heights: 高所恐怖症
Strike up a conversation: 会話を始める
Not to mention: は言うまでもなく
Pluck up the courage: 勇気を出す

Author 

Name: Brian Yap
Nationality: Canadian
Education :
M.A. in Pacific Asian Studies, SOAS University of London (SOAS: School of Oriental & African Studies)
Past Work Experience :
- Tokyo Correspondent - Bloomberg Industry Group (An affiliate of Bloomberg L.P)
- Asia Reporter (Hong Kong-based) - International Financial Law Review, UK-listed Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC
- General News Reporter (Internship) - Thomson Reuters Corporation
Areas of journalism :
Sports, Entertainment, Politics, Finance, Trade, Business. etc

著者:
Brian Yap ブライアン・ヤップ
学歴:
クワントレン工科大学の新聞学科 (バンクーバー、カナダ)
ロンドン大学東洋アフリカ学院の太平洋研究科 (ロンドン、イギリス)
職歴:
ブルームバーグBNAー東京特派員
ユーロマネー・インスティテューショナル・インベスターアジアレポーター (香港駐在)
トムソン・ロイター (インターン) レポーター
報道の経験/分野:
スポーツ、娯楽、政治、金融、貿易、ビジネス

Brian講師が活躍するスパルタ英会話法人部HP：
https://corp.spartan-english.jp/

3ヶ月で英語が話せるようになるスクール スパルタ英会話HP：
https://spartan-english.jp/