カメラの前でポーズをとる英語教室の受講者たち
＝2022年11月８日、ハノイ Reuter
ベトナムの首都ハノイで高齢者を対象にした無料の英語教室が週に１度開かれています。今年で４年目を迎え、受講者の総数は約200人に。仲間との交流を楽しみながら、認知症の予防にも役立つことから人気を博しています。（Asahi Weekly : Sunday, December 18, 2022)
朝日新聞社が発行する週刊英和新聞「Asahi Weekly」からSDGsに関連する記事を掲載しています。（一覧に戻る）
HANOI (Reuters) — Every Tuesday, 79-year-old Nguyen Thi Loc joins a group of gray-haired students to study English at a house in Hanoi, with the aim of socializing and keeping her brain sharp.
The informal classes are free and are taught by Phung Thi Yen, who trained as an English teacher but currently works as an office worker.
It comes as a growing number of scientific studies show the benefits of learning a language to maintain and enhance cognitive abilities, including for senior citizens.
Loc has never studied a foreign language before, but recently in November, with her newly acquired skills she chanted a chorus with her classmates: "Never too old to learn English."
They read out loud, repeat after the teacher and sing songs to try to perfect their pronunciation — one of the hardest parts of their work.
Yen, 30, set up the classes four years ago with the aim of giving the elderly a place where they could meet, socialize and learn something new. The elderly in Vietnam typically live alone or with their children, rather than in retirement homes.
With her employer’s support, Yen takes time off her day job to teach Loc’s class and several others. She and her group of volunteers are teaching 200 elderly students.
English is Vietnam's most commonly taught foreign language after having become a mandatory subject at school in the 1990s.
"These grannies have been trying hard and made a lot of effort to get to where they are now. At the very least, they have built for themselves a sizable vocabulary that they can utilize in their daily lives," Yen says.
語句のヒント
- granny(-ies) （見出しから）おばあちゃん
- socialize(-ing) （社交的に）交際する
- maintain...ability(-ies) 認知能力を維持し、さらに強化する
- newly acquired 新たに習得した
- chant(ed) a chorus 繰り返して声をあげた
- perfect ～に磨きをかける
- retirement home(s) 老人ホーム
- mandatory subject 必修科目
- At...least 少なくとも
- sizable かなりの
- utilize ～に役立たせる
朝日新聞社が発行する週刊英和新聞「Asahi Weekly」（朝日ウイークリー）は日本語ナビ付きで、初級者でも楽しみながら英語に慣れ親しむことができるオールカラーの新聞です。
英文ニュースや英語エッセー、朝日ウイークリー独自の英作文、英文法などの学習コラムから、国内外のニュース、エンタメ、クイズ、人生相談まで、多彩な内容で飽きさせません。美しい写真満載の旅行記、最新映画の英文シナリオと対訳、人気作家による連載小説など、楽しい読み物も豊富です。
朝日新聞社が発行する週刊英和新聞「Asahi Weekly」からSDGsに関連する記事を掲載しています。（一覧に戻る）
