Mastering English is the key to global success株式会社フェニクシーの最高執行責任者、飯島由多加さん

株式会社フェニクシーの最高執行責任者、飯島由多加さん。幼少期から海外への興味を持ち、大学時代のカナダ・アメリカ旅行を機に「英語が人生を広げる鍵」だと確信したという。現在、英語を駆使し、起業家支援や国際プロジェクトに携わる彼が考えるキャリアにおける英語力の重要性と学習の秘訣とは。

Yutaka Iijima thinks he has been “internationally orientated” since childhood, in part thanks to his father, who expressed interest in other countries.

Iijima’s curiosity of the world continued as a university student, and a one-month backpacking trip to Canada and the United States brought a realization that English proficiency “would open the door to so much more personally and professionally,” he recalls. At the time, he had never taken a course in speaking English or been abroad but was surprised to find he “got by” on the trip: a cross-cultural experience he describes as “eye-opening.”

Returning to Kansai University, he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in media studies in 2003 and completed an international marketing internship at a trading company in Turkey. As more than 90% of its clientele were North America-based, he was eager for more of the immersion in English language and foreign cultures he had come to appreciate.

By 2009, Iijima had attained a perfect score of 990 in the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC), an international standardized test of English language proficiency for non-native speakers, and was working as global communications manager at Kyoto University’s Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences.

Within a few years he became the school’s international affairs manager before accepting his current position running Phoenixi, a Kyoto-based incubator for aspiring corporate intrapreneurs and social entrepreneurs, where 14% of program fellows are foreign nationals.

“My career would not at all have been what it has been without English skills,” he says, citing all the Japan- and overseas-based opportunities he has gained from knowing the language. His highlights include assisting in quality and environmental management system audits for an ISO (International Organization for Standardization) certification, accompanying a Nobel Laureate from Japan to Sweden for Nobel Week Stockholm 2018 and serving as media content creator at Halcyon, an incubator for impact-driven startups based in Washington, D.C.

With an appreciation that learning never stops, Iijima continued his education online in English with George Washington University to earn his master’s in strategic public relations in 2012, and at Harvard Business School, last year completing a certificate of specialization in entrepreneurship and innovation.

Today, “not a day goes by without (me) using English,” he says. As COO and executive director of Phoenixi, he facilitates sessions with English-speaking fellows and mentors, hosts guests from overseas and crafts English-language material, mainly to call for applications from international founders, academics and college students on owned and social media.

The journey to using English so proficiently involved hard work, but was stimulating and satisfying, too. “It is challenging to learn English in non-English-speaking countries, particularly if you intend to speak the language with natural-sounding pronunciation and collocations,” he says of the difficulties he faced.

“What’s enjoyable is that you get a much wider source of information: news, journals, YouTube videos and so on. It’s like you have 10 times more options to choose from, and that’s not just the amount but the variety, which helps you see things in perspective.”

Using these resources undoubtedly helped in his mastery of English, he says, but he also did three things to help him succeed.

First, he used English-to-English dictionary apps and websites, and called on a “trained native speaker of English who could explain things in plain English.” Having at least one such person “at your fingertips, even when in Japan,” will help when learning, as well as practicing to ‘think in English,’ ” he says.

Second, he immersed himself in English while continuing to do what he usually did. To do this, learners could change the language setting on their smartphone to English or follow English-language accounts about their interest on social media “so they can naturally see posts and videos in English amid Japanese ones.” Another idea is to try to talk to English speakers at work or school. “If there is someone around from overseas who is not confident in speaking Japanese, that is what you two have in common: anxiety and a bit of excitement in trying to speak a foreign language.”

Finally, it’s not necessary to translate everything from Japanese to English, especially if there is no English equivalent, such as with the phrase otsukare-sama, he says. “It helps to ask yourself, ‘Do native English speakers say such things in the first place?’ That is a step toward seeing the culture and people. It will then become increasingly easier, faster and – most importantly – more fun to learn the language,” he concludes. (Kathryn Wortley)

Words to live by