ケネスのすらすら英文速読教室
目次
- Summer Vacation -ああ、夏休み！
- Teen-agers Who Do Volunteer Work -高校生のボランティア活動
- An Allowance -おこづかい
- Japanese Names and American Names -日本人の名前、アメリカ人の名前
- Sleeping in Class -授業でいねむり
- Intelligence and Eagerness -能力と熱意と
- Increasing Your Vocabulary -単語を増やそう！
- "Tachiyomi"-本屋で「立ち読み」
- Sneezing, Coughing and Blowing One's nose -くしゃみと、せきと鼻水と
- The Most Important Smile-最高のほほえみ
- Learning English with Hawaiian Family -ハワイの、ある家庭にて
- Pictures on the Walls of Heaven -天国の壁画のはなし
- A Young Girl with Konjo -根性の子
- Time and Life - 時、そして人生
- Escaping to a Lager World -より広い世界へ向かって！
The Most Important Smile ー 最高のほほえみ
ほほえみ合えば、幸せな気分。マナーとしても、たいせつなのです。
イラスト 西岡周造
Don't you think a smile is a very important thing in life? We all need a smile and we all want a smile. We should also give a smile but sometimes it is very difficult to give one. When you are tired, when you are angry or when you are sad, it is very difficult to smile.
Japanese very often smile when they feel embarrassed. When I ask my students a question and they are unable to answer, they smile. Sometimes I go to the department store and ask the clerk something in English. The clerk smiles and smiles but does not answer. This puzzles me because I don't know if he is going to answer or not.
Sometimes Americans smile when Japanese don't smile. For example, in Japanese restaurants, waiters and waitresses don't smile. Japanese waiters and waitresses bow and bow deeply. But in America, waiters and waitresses smile. They smile and they say, "May I have your order?" Then they smile again.
Americans smile at strangers. This smiling is considered friendly and is considered good manners. In general, Japanese don't smile at strangers. Once I was sitting in a hotel lobby with a Japanese friend, waiting for another friend. A small group of American tourists came into the lobby and smiled at us. I smiled too but my Japanese friend did not. He said, "Do you know those Americans?" I told him that I had never seen them before. My friend said, "How strange. Then why did you smile at them?" I told him that smiling in America is part of good manners, even for strangers.
In America we like to smile at young children. One day I was riding on the Yamanote line and saw a cute little boy of about five. I smiled at him and also winked. The little boy did not smile at all but stared at me in a curious way and then put one finger on his cheek and pulled down. I did not know what this meant so I asked my Japanese friend. He laughed and said that Japanese children do that when they want to say, "I don't like you." I was surprised but I smiled.
You should smile as often as possible. If you smile at your friends, they will feel happy. If you smile at your teacher, he will like you. When there is someone of the opposite sex whom you like, smiling can become the beginning of friendship. The more you like the person, the harder it is to smile because you have never talked to each other. Try to smile at that person everyday and then you will find it easier to begin a conversation. Begin with a small, shy smile and make your smile bigger everyday.
Perhaps the most important smile and yet the most difficult smile is the smile for your father and mother. They are the most important people in your life and yet very few high school students smile for their father and mother. Most of my students tell me that they don't smile at their parents because "it's not necessary." I don't agree. I think your father and mother are human and any human being likes to receive a smile. If you smile at them, you will bring them so much happiness. It will make you feel very good and if you feel good, you will be able to study better. Try it.
