BY MASAHIRO SHIBATA

Forty-five students, including myself, in the English Study Tour visited five British cities, London, Stratford-upon-Avon, Liverpool, Carlisle, and Edinburgh, and Paris in France for thirty-two days from July 30th through August 30th. For three weeks in London, we stayed separately with our host families and went to Shane English Schools. These schools were located on Molton Street near Oxford Street which is famous for its shopping centre and at South Kensington near Hyde Park which is by far the largest park in London.

Lots of students from various countries studied at Shane English Schools besides Japan, mostly Italy, Spain, Switzerland, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Slovenia, and the Russian Federation. On the first day, we were given a placement test and a simple interview to divide us into from five to six classes - approximately ten students per class according to our proficiency in English, and began taking lessons. They scheduled grammar and vocabulary lessons in the morning and conversation lessons in the afternoon. These lessons were similar to those of high school. However, it was difficult to give own ideas in English. European students made remarkable progress in English on account of the similarity between their mother tongue and English. Consequently, Japanese students were overwhelmed by them when speaking in English. Some of them, especially Italian students, spoke very fast in English with their strong accent and took the most active part in lessons without worrying about their poor grammar. For a specific example, they expressed their opinions in short sentences. At any rate we Japanese should learn their positive attitudes of speaking freely in English.

I stayed at Shepherds Bush for three weeks. It was a comfortable city from which it was approximately twenty minutes by underground to the centre of London. The host family were friendly. There were already students staying there when I came, Rolenzo, who was Italian, and Marco, who was Slovenian. I owe it to them that I was able to become friends with students of Shane immediately. I always enjoyed London to the full with them in and out of school. They spoke English fluently. I became frequently a laughingstock to them because of my poor English. The feeling that I was eager to overcome my frustration created the sense of crisis that I must improve my English. That triggered my desire to try to speak to natives as much as possible. The more actively I tried, the more my horizons broadened and the more fruitful the life in London came to be.

The people who visit the U. K. for the first time will be surprised that there are lots of blacks and Asians in this country. The reason is that it has accepted a large number of immigrants from former colonies. The U. K. with a rich international flavour is obviously fascinating. It boasts of and lives by its long history, often displaying a original concepts to pave the way for the future. The Dover Castle especially which was a strategic fortress in battles with France was the grandest of all. As there was a time when it was called the key to England, it has great authority in the Dover straits with its fortress atmosphere. The inside, where there were many weapons displayed, hadn't seen many changes since the 11th century. There was a continual succession of surprises when I found the deep hidden history of some town - a town which continued to fascinate the whole world, or a small, small village which wasn't known to anybody. It is one of the biggest attractions of the English Study Tour that you can find such fresh amazement firsthand.

In the morning I was leaving London after staying on the homestay program for three weeks, Rob, my host father, readily promised to see me again, even though it was impossible to say when. Opening the bus window a little unconsciously, with a lump in my throat I thought of the life in London and my appreciation of his kindness. It was good that I had participated in this tour as I reflected on that hard but pleasant thirty-two days. I was able to comprehend not a little the British sense of values and the meaning of current events I couldn't grasp before. I was also able to reconfirm Japan's merits and demerits after returning to Japan. Everything was an irreplaceable experience for me. I recommend you participate in the English Study Tour. The travel expenses, including the expenses of the voyage, the hotel, the homestay program, and the school, was approximately forty-five thousand yen. In addition, I took traveler's cheques worth twenty thousand yen as my pocket money with me. It might be difficult to improve linguistic knowledge fantastically. But most important is, as mentioned above, how actively you try. Having a concrete purpose and speaking to natives without the slightest hesitation, you should participate in activities organized by the English language school. It is up to you whether you make the English Study Tour fruitful or not.