Just the other day, I was teaching the first class in an intensive testprep course, and one of my new students asked, "How manyadditional points can I expect after taking this course?" This is a common question, but it's not so easy to answer. We expect that ALL students who take our courses will improve their scores, but by how much depends on the individual. While of course some people have more ability than others, far more important is the effort made not only to understand the Kaplan methods, but to internalize their use every time a test question is answered. At Kaplan, we provide you with the tools you need to significantly improve your scores, but you have to use them!

One point to remember is that all standardized tests are designed to make guessing difficult, and are loaded with traps to attract you to the wrong answers. The test designers know how most people think when taking tests, so they target this behavior. At Kaplan, our methods are designed to avoid these pitfalls, so they often seem unnatural and hard to use at first because they require a new way of thinking. Without a fair amount of practice, many people will revert to their old habits and forget everything they've learned when it comes time to take the test.

Therefore, when you take a Kaplan course, remember that class time is only the first step. You'll also have to use the study resources we provide online, in our texts, and at the Kaplan Center. Do so until the methods feel natural, and until you can use them every time without thinking too much about them. The sooner you get started, the more time you'll have to prepare.

Everything you need to raise your score significantly is here, waiting foryou.
Let's get started!

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こんにちは、勝部司と申します。
国際人道支援組織ジャパン・プラットフォーム（JPF）の4人の受講生がリレーでお送りする本ブログの第2回目の投稿です。この"BEYOND THE BORDER"の主旨については第１回目に田口より「言葉について」という文章の中で説明させていただいたので、ご関心があればそちらをご覧ください。

さて、今回の内容は「英語と仕事」です。私の仕事において英語がもつ大きな役割について書かせていただければと思っています。

私の職場は東京駅近くにあり、働いている上司も同僚も全員日本人です。オフィスでの会話は英語ではなく日本語で行われています。しかし、「国際人道支援組織」と冠する以上、いろいろな国と人々と機関と様々な方法で国を越えたやりとりが生じてきます。こういったやりとりが問題なく進展するように中間に立って交通整理するのが私たちの仕事で、問題が生じた場合に解決するのも仕事です。この交通整理の仕事が国を越えた時、大きな味方になってくれるのが英語です。

私の役割の一つに、地震など突発的な自然災害が発生した際の情報収集があるのですが、このような場合、第一報を伝えるのは英語であることが圧倒的に多く、被害状況などを伝えるレポートも多くの場合は英語で書かれています。実際に被災地に入り人道支援の状況などを確認する場合にもやりとりは英語で行われ、現地における車両やホテルの手配なども全て英語を介したコミュニケーションにより行われます。国内であっても国際的、地域的な会議に参加する場合、ほとんどの場合、公用語は英語になります。外国の機関にレポートを提出する場合、求められる使用言語はやはり英語になります。

と、さも英語漬けの仕事環境のように聞こえるかもしれませんが、日常のやりとりはほとんどが日本語を使って行われています。ただ、ここでお伝えしたいのは、英語が使えることにより上記のように仕事の幅を増やすことができるということです。反対に言えば、英語が使えなければ上記のような仕事をこなすことができないということです。したがって、英語は私が仕事をするなかで不可欠なパートナーなのです。

私とこのパートナーとの相性なのですが、最近どうしてか調子が良くありません。不仲説の浮　　上です。私としては抜群に良いかと思っていました、最近まで。しかし、これが全くの勘違いであり、実際には私の一方的な片想いであることを痛感せざるを得ない例がたくさん出てきました。

つい最近参加させていただいた国際的な会議において大勢の前で自己紹介する機会があったのですが、私は "I am honoured to be here... と当たり前に始めたのはいいのですが、緊張していたこともあり最後の部分で、bra-bra-bra....Thank you very much, BYE"。って締め括ってしまったのです。出席者の皆様からすれば「･･･あなた、朝イチで自己紹介しておいて、これから参加するっていうのに「さよなら」ってどういうことよ？」と思われたに違いありません。最近は電話で英語を話す機会が圧倒的に多かったため、緊張した私は友人との電話の会話を切る時のように、"BYE"を自動的に繰り出してしまったのです。

私は英語が大好きなのに英語はだんだん私から離れていく、こんな気持ちを痛感しています。「恋愛の傷につける薬はない」とはどこかの広告で見たフレーズですが、幸運にもこの薬を石渡さんのセミナーの中で発見しました。

セミナー中に、「現時点で英語ができると思っている人ほど上達は遅いかも」、「ブラッシュアップとはブラッシュする土台があってはじめて使える言葉」、「実際にはネイティブの人からしたらベイビーイングリッシュなのかもしれませんね」という私にとって大きな三つのキーフレーズがありましたが、これが「つける薬」のingredientsになるような気がしています。

パートナーをもう一度振り向かせるために、仕事の幅を広げ質を向上させるためにも、もう一度いちから英語をやり直す努力が必要ですね。カプランに通いながら初心に戻って英語を勉強する所存です。今後ともどうぞよろしくお願いいたします。

*JPFが何かということについて触れずに進んだためご理解いただきにくい部分もあったかと思います。紙幅の関係上、これについて詳細には書かせていただきませんでしたが、ご関心がお有りの方は以下のページにアクセスしていただければ幸いです。国際人道支援組織ジャパン・プラットフォーム（JPF）

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When I first came to Japan about 10 years ago, a lot of people used to ask me, 'What's different between Japan and the U.S.?' It was always a difficult question to answer, for one because I'd just arrived in Japan, and pretty much everything seemed different.

One different thing that I really liked, though, was that most restaurants had menus with pictures of the food in them. This was a life saver! Well, most of the time it was. One time I did get into a bit of trouble.

I worked at the local City Hall at that time, in the Board of Education. One of my co-workders was a nice young lady from England, Catherine. She really helped me a lot in my first two weeks or so in Japan.

One day she says, 'Hey Mark, why don't we go out for lunch today?' It seemed like a great idea because I was getting sick of the food in the City Hall cafeteria.

So Catherine takes me to the local food court of the local shopping center, and after perusing our choices, we finally settled on a family style restaurant.

Looking over the menu, though I was grateful for the pictures of everything, I was still a little baffled by all the strange dishes. I really wasn't sure I'd be able to eat anything. So I looked for the one dish I knew I liked, having tried it a few times already: curry and rice.

Once Catherine knew what she wanted she called the waitress over. Catherine ordered, and then it was my turn. Using the little bit of Japanese that I'd learned, I cautiously pointed to the picture of curry and said, 'This one, please.'

The waitress hesitated and gave me a strange look. 'This one?' she asked. 'Yes, this one, curry rice,' I repeated.

'This one?' she queried again. 'Yes, this one!' I said again, poking at the picture with my finger. She quickly jotted down my order and ran back to the kitchen.

'That was strange,' I said to Catherine. Well, whatever. And we began chatting about work, life in Japan, et cetera.

A little while later our food came out. The waitress put it on the table and ran away again. Catherine got the soba lunch special, which she eagerly tucked into right away. I got my curry and rice lunch set and noticed immediately that...everything was a little...small.

The portion was much smaller than I expected. The drink was really small too, and it was not green tea as I'd expected, but juice. There was a little French flag toothpick sticking up out of the rice, which I found strange, and the spoon--also super small and made of plastic--had a picture of Miffy the bunny on it! And next to the plate was a little toy race car. Hmmm... Curious...

Yes, I had ordered the kid's meal. Catherine was already turning red and shaking with laughter. When I looked up I saw all the waitresses standing over in the kitchen looking at us, and I noticed that several other customers had noticed my faux pas as well and were staring in amusement. Catherine just laughed and laughed.

Well, I learned two valuable lessons that day. One, you can't always trust the little menu pictures, so you'd better learn the language just to make sure. And two, Japanese waitresses won't tell you you're about to make a fool of yourself, they'll just let you do it!

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As all of you know from my profile, I'm a major sumo junkie. I choose the word "junkie" mindful of the recent marijuana fracas in the sumo association which has led to the ouster of three Russian rikishi of varying levels of talent and potential: Wakanoho (young and full of promise), Roho (past his prime and slipping into retirement-mode), and Hakurosan (totally washed-out from bad knees and should have quit two years ago).

As a former criminal defense attorney, this trio's opprobrium brings to mind a conversation I once had with a prosecutor over what I considered to be inefficacy of drug laws in general, and of marihuana prohibition in particular. I opined then--and still do--that it is the right of an individual to put what they choose into their bodies, be it alcohol, nicotine, or THC. However, I agreed with my prosecutor friend that, in sports, it was the right of the governing body to regulate the drug-intake of professional participants.

Sumo wrestlers are paid employees under contract, and the Sumo Association has the right to impose certain limitations on their behavior pursuant to said contracts. Also--particularly with regard to performance-enhancing substances like steroids--allowing the substances effectively engenders a harmful imperative to abuse them. Is Wakanoho's banishment a black-mark on the Sumo Association? Yes. Will it diminish sumo? Yes. Did the Association have the right to do it? Absolutely. He knew the rules, and he broke them.

And what does all of this have to do with taking the LSAT, GMAT, GRE, or SAT you ask; good question. The analogy is this: Just as Roho et alii don't get to make their own rules about Sumo, we don't get to make our own rules about the methods used by the test-makers to evaluate us. Just as the Sumo Association uses harsh discipline and hierarchy to keep wrestlers from becoming arrogant and unmanageable, standardized tests use humiliation and our self-doubt to keep us from excelling. The LSAT's games, the SAT's paired passages, and the GRE's antonyms have in common the fact that attempting them makes most of us feel stupid, and no one likes to feel stupid. Those who can't accept that either do poorly on the tests, or end up not even attempting them.

We must approach those tests mindful that we don't just need knowledge to overcome them, but also self-confidence tempered with humility. Bemoan that fact if you like, but--if you want to succeed on your respective test--accept it and behave accordingly.

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