What's the English for "Anyone but Me Would've Missed It"? Quiz Ads Offering a Taste of Extensive Reading with Manga Appear in Takadanobaba

Comment from Professor Hirotoshi Yagihashi, Faculty of Letters, Seikei University

"How would that line be said in English?"

Strong motivation is said to affect how well language learning works, and the curiosity that comes from a favorite manga is an important starting point for learning English. The appeal of manga is that learners can connect English expressions with scenes and feelings, using characters' expressions and the development of the story as clues. The desire to read on and the sense of achievement from having read it in English raise motivation and give learners the strength to keep studying. Extensive reading, continuing to read while enjoying a work without strain, increases the chances of meeting expressions repeatedly in various contexts, deepens understanding of their meanings and usage, and develops the ability to process English smoothly. Through favorite works, English gradually becomes more familiar. I hope that a single line encountered at a station will become a step toward such rich learning.

Comment from English instructor Kumiko

Extensive reading helps build the foundation not only for reading but also for speaking and listening. When you read a lot of English, you get used to understanding it from front to back without rearranging it into Japanese word order. As a result, you become able to build sentences in English word order when you speak. When listening, too, you can keep picking up meaning in the order you hear it, so you can keep up with the speed of conversation.

That said, for those who find jumping straight into English-language books too daunting, I recommend Langaku. With manga, you can learn conversational expressions together with characters' expressions and the scene. If you also check the sound with the read-aloud function, you can connect the written words with their pronunciation, and any word or phrase you want to remember can be saved with just a tap. Since you can review them all together later, you can enjoy the story without interrupting your reading flow and keep moving ahead with extensive reading in English.