Translated from 日本語 • View original 
Hello! This is ISAO's muscle engineer Fukase. I made my hair blonde at the end of the year with Tajima, an intern who decided to join ISAO the other day.
This article is written from Texas, where I am on a business trip.
This time, I would like to share what I have done in advance about English learning, which is inseparable from overseas business trips, and what I started there.
About this business trip
This business trip began when an ISAO group company in the United States consulted us about Business Exchange, and our representative, Nakamura, posted the contents on Goalous, which is being developed by ISAO, and recruited applicants.
If you have seen IsaB in the past, you may know that ISAO holds overseas conferences and events every year. I am participating. However, this is the first attempt of such an exchange program as ISAO.
I was also very interested in overseas and raised my hand every year, but unfortunately the opportunity did not come. This time, I thought I had no choice but to go, so when I saw the post, I replied with a comment, and as a result, I was able to seize a unique opportunity.
I was able to write this article from the United States in this way, and I have nothing but gratitude to the company.
About Working on Business Trips
The main work is
- As an iOS Developer, we work with local junior developers to develop apps and transfer skills.
- Local Scrum support based on experience working as a Scrum Master
- Learn about Scrum in practice
- Inquiries about marketing and collaboration on Mamoru PUSH and Mamoru Biz developed by ISAO
- Find a job to bring back to Japan
Is it a place like that?
What surprised me was that there are quite a few job openings as a Scrum Master in the United States. My personal feeling is that I don't think I can find it in Japan.
There were five Scrum Masters on business trips, and they were stationed at the client's company to practice Scrum as Scrum Masters. It was also a valuable experience to be able to exchange opinions with the local Scrum Master at the right time.
About Current English Proficiency Values
- TOEIC score before moving to the United States is 530 points
- There are foreigners who can speak Japanese on the same team, but they only chat and have simple conversations.
- You can do it with short speeches and presentations.
- You can't enjoy movies and TV without subtitles
- No overseas business travel experience
From here, let's talk about learning English. As you can see at a glance, going on a business trip abroad does not mean that you can speak English much better.
However, among them, I communicate in English with foreign engineers on the same project, and I am working on Goalous in-house. I have tried to add English to the company-wide posts, participate in the one-minute English speech held every morning, and participate in the English course held as a welfare program.
Personally, since I am an engineer, I have many opportunities to watch documents and videos in English, so I guess I am somewhat immune.
At ISAO, as part of our English training, volunteers give a one-minute speech. Recently, the speech has changed to English. The image is an exchange at Goalous at that time
What I had prepared in advance
- 25 minutes of online English conversation every day
- Create and memorize your own word cards
- Grammar books
- Memorization of words
- Watch sitcoms with English subtitles
I haven't decided on this business trip, but I would like to talk about what I was doing when I learned English.
First of all, online English conversation. I use something that allows me to take lessons for 25 minutes every day. The period is about half a year. It's hard to feel the growth every day because it's a little bit every day, but I think it's important to continue and listen to and speak English every day.
I also buy vocabulary and grammar books to study. Also, I like foreign dramas, so I watch them with English subtitles. I write down the phrases I want to try with a native next time and use them with my colleagues.
Missing knowledge and learning that I found out after going there
- Memorization of words to expand vocabulary
- Increase the drawer of phrases that you can use on a daily basis
- Increase the number of English speakers
- Think about the phrase you want to convey to yourself
- Look up words you don't know
- The phrase is on the net
I studied as mentioned above on an overseas business trip, but at first I felt like I couldn't get my hands or feet out.
What was difficult was the words and pronunciation.
Most of the online English conversation teachers are from the Philippines. Of course, there are people who pronounce like native Americans, but they seemed to doubt their ears if it was the same English. What I also felt was the daily iteration, not to mention the lack of input and output. Don't leave words you don't understand as they are. If you want to convey something that doesn't come out of the sky, review it repeatedly. Also, prepare phrases that you will use in the future.
If you are an engineer, I think the same can be said about developing your skills.
What I started new in the field
- Identify words you don't understand and put them on the walls of your accommodation
- When you're in the room, keep the TV news playing with subtitles
Based on what I felt on the spot, when I returned to the hotel where I was staying when I felt that my daily input and output were insufficient, I first put it on with English subtitles for the TV. Live news programs are displayed on the screen with delayed subtitles, so I try to watch them while checking whether my hearing is correct.
I also wrote down the words I didn't know on sticky notes and pasted them in my hotel room. I try to read all the sticky notes once a day. If you do so, you can feel the effect of repetition, such as hearing this word today or trying to use it in this situation next time.
Like muscle training, continuation is power.
The photo shows the bathroom door of the accommodation
Difficulty of Communicating in English by Situation
Next, I would like to write about my subjective feelings about each situation where English is used.
- Business
- Email, chat
- One-on-one conversations
- In-person meetings
- Online meetings
- Private
- Uber and Lyft
- Chat
I divided it into business and private scenes, but the difficulty increases as you go from top to bottom. After all, the context is better understood in the business scene, so even if there is something I don't understand, I feel that the hurdle to make a judgment or ask questions in the context is low.
I think this is common to all languages, not just English, but I have the impression that it made me realize it again. Even in business, email and chat don't require that much instantaneous power, so if you look up and ask what you don't understand, there will be no problem.
The rest is face-to-face communication. With one-on-one, you can stop the conversation and check the parts you don't understand. I think it's quite difficult to do it each time when there are multiple people.
Of course, the style of MTG in the West is interactive, so if you have a question or opinion, you will always have to speak up. So, in my case, I wrote down what I wanted to ask in my notebook and tried to listen to the key points.
It's not a trick, but I try not to miss the beginning of the sentence and the verb. That way, I feel that even if a word comes up that I have never heard of, I don't understand it at all. Also, online meetings that are not face-to-face are the most difficult. I often can't hear what the other person is saying due to communication, and I have a hard time because I can hardly understand the movement of my mouth.
The company I am indebted to has introduced Scrum and connects daily Scrum with remote locations through online meetings. I am also allowed to participate in it, but this is quite difficult. Of course, as you repeat each session, you will be able to understand the context, so it will improve. First of all, I would like to continue to communicate face-to-face without any problems.
Private life is even harder. As a premise, you need to start by understanding what you are talking about. Among them, when using services such as Uber and Lyft, what you talk about is usually decided, so your drawers will increase.
As for the content of the conversation,
- Greetings
- Where is the destination
- Where did you come from?
- Tokyo
- How long does it take to fly?
- Why did you come to the United States?
- Weather story
- Family story
I feel like there are a lot of them. Therefore, if you are prepared to answer when asked about these contents, you will not be unable to communicate at all. In a month, I will be able to do a light chat. Of course, it depends on the other person.
Personally, I think small talk is the most difficult. First of all, it is difficult to understand what topic you are talking about. Even if you understand the rest, it is difficult to continue the conversation because there are many things you don't know about it in the first place. I can't enter into a conversation about movies, actors, and local American TV because I don't know the context at all. I think the context is important in everything.
However, with a little courage and the help of alcohol, I was able to communicate with people I met for the first time as much as exchanging LinkdIn accounts.
Conclusion
What did you all think?
When I actually communicated in English in the field, I realized once again that English is just a tool for communication. Each person has their own English, and their pronunciation, intonation, grammar, and tone are all different.
So, instead of hesitating to do what to do if my English is wrong, I want to use my current English.
It's subjective, but I feel like I've gotten used to talking on the premise that what I want to do in one more episode won't work. English is not our first language, and I think it is necessary to divide it in a good way. It's nice to be able to feel that your opinion is being conveyed to the other person, and even if your grammar and pronunciation are a little wrong, you can manage it with a smile and a desire to convey it to the other person. Fortunately, ISAO has international friends, so you can enjoy such an environment while in Japan.
After returning to Japan, I will continue to actively work on learning English. I would appreciate it if you could share some good advice.
Here is a shot at a gym in the United States. It was a really happy time surrounded by machines and equipment that I had only seen in Internet videos. This is exactly what "Jimny Land" means!
Last but not least, ISAO is looking for people who want to bulk up both the appearance and the contents. If you are even a little interested, please contact us here.