From dream to English education business英語発音コーチの明場由美子さん

Alphaの購読者会員サイトClub Alphaにて発音の動画講座を担当する明場由美子さん。発音特化の英語スクール「English Boot Camp」を運営し、口の筋肉を鍛える独自のプログラムを提供している。明場さんを「発音のプロフェッショナル」へと導いたのは、米留学中のある気付きだったという。

In 2010 Yumiko Akeba launched English Boot Camp, an online school specific to teaching and correcting English pronunciation. It was a revolutionary approach to English learning. Japan’s education system emphasizes English as a means to pass the entrance exams, not as a communication tool necessary to navigate an increasingly globalized world.

Hence, the idea of a “boot camp.” Akeba says she got the name from Billy’s Bootcamp, an exercise program created by Billy Blanks in the early 2000s. As with the original Bootcamp, Akeba’s pronunciation program is designed to work out the underused (mouth) muscles of the Japanese. Moreover, it’s fun, engaging and effective. “Before launching the boot camp, I worked at Cambridge University Press. While it was rewarding, I felt the textbooks, designed for Europeans and South Americans, weren’t suited for Japanese learners due to our different language system.” Convinced that Japanese learners need a pronunciation coach, Akeba started her business.

Akeba had always been enamored by English. As a child, she noticed many foreign performers in Japan’s pop culture, from TV ads to manga for girls. “It felt like a dream world – beautiful houses with white picket fences and tea in the garden.”

English was a way of getting closer to the white picket fence lifestyle, and Akeba became an excellent student who aced her university entrance exams. But when she attended a lecture given by a native professor, she was floored. “I could hardly understand what was being said.” To rectify the situation and because she wished to converse like a native, she transferred to Oklahoma City University during her senior year. At the beginning, she couldn’t make herself understood in basic situations, like asking her friend to go to lunch. “I was pronouncing ‘lunch’ as ‘runch.’ There is a very marked distinction between ‘l’ and ‘r’ but in Japan, we were never taught the difference.” That was when Akeba knew something had to be done about pronunciation – her own, and everyone else’s back in Japan.

“Many Japanese are afraid of pronouncing English words out loud, they fear the words will sound strange or they’ll make a mistake. But I think English is like karaoke. When karaoke was first invented, a lot of Japanese shrank from singing in front of other people, but now it is firmly embedded in the culture. The same kind of traction can be applied to English pronunciation. Pretty soon, we may see ordinary Japanese casually chatting with tourists.”

Akeba says pronunciation is key to learning any language. “When I was going to school, pronunciation was not taught at all,” says Akeba. “Learning correct pronunciation should actually be at the forefront of English education.” She remembers how much she enjoyed English when she was enrolled in a kids conversation school in the fifth and sixth grades. “We played games and sang songs – all in English. It was great but then the curtains suddenly closed on that fun world when I got to junior high.”

But why not make English more fun and relaxed? “I feel that when it comes to English, the Japanese school system teaches too much, too soon. During junior high, a little reading and vocabulary should be sufficient and the rest of the time should be devoted to learning how to speak.” Indeed, enforcing high-level reading comprehension takes much of the joy out of English classes. Akeba thinks this should happen in high school, when the students are more used to the language. “Now, more people are starting to realize that having the correct pronunciation makes communication so much easier.” (Kaori Shoji)

Words to live by