いちばん改善の余地が大きいのは、文と文のつなぎ方です。3問を通して so がほとんどすべてのつなぎ役になっているため、それが理由なのか、結果なのか、話題の切り替えなのかが聞き手に伝わりにくくなっています。まずは so を and に置き換えるところから始め、慣れてきたら because, although, when, which なども使い分けていきましょう。
A: Uh, I cook at home maybe three times in a weekthree times a week頻度は three times a week の形が定型句. So I'm not so goodnot very good否定文で程度を下げるときは not very が自然 at cooking, so I usually make a simple dish like a pasta or a curry. Uh, but on weekendon weekends I have more time, so I try to make a something new. Last week I tried to make a Thai food, and it was very difficult but interesting.interesting は最初の音節を強く、やや長めに読むと伝わりやすくなります。日本語のように音を平坦に並べず、モデルアンサーの音声で高さや長さの違いを確認してみましょう。
モデルアンサー
I'd say I cook three or four times a week, mainly on weekdays when I get home early enough. I'm not a confident cook, so I stick to things I can throw together quickly, like pasta or a simple curry. At the weekend, though, I've got a bit more time, so I like to try something I've never made before. Last weekend I had a go at a Thai green curry. It took me about twice as long as I expected, but it was good fun.
Part 2Cue Card を見て、2分間のスピーチ。ここは冒頭のおよそ40秒
Q2: Describe a skill that took you a long time to learn.
You should say:
what the skill is
how you learned it
how long it took to learn
and explain why it took you a long time to learn it.
A: Uh, I want to talk about driving. I learned drivinglearned to drive「運転できるようになる」という意味では learn to do の形が自然 when I was twenty years old. Uh, I went to a driving school near my house, and I took the lesson maybe two times in a weeklessons about twice a week. Uh, it took about six monthmonths to get my licence. Sowhy it took a long time is becausethe reason it took so long is that理由をまとめて説明するときは the reason ... is that の形が使えます I was very nervous. When I drivedrove on the big roadmain roads交通量の多い一般的な道路を指す場合は main roads が自然, my hand wasmy hands were shaking, and I couldn't check the mirror. So my teacher always told me to relax, but it was difficult for me.箇条書きの4項目すべてに触れられているので、この構成はそのまま残しておきましょう。さらに、いつ怖さが消えたのかという結果を加えると、話をもう一段広げられます。→ It wasn't until I'd driven my father's car on the motorway a few times that I finally started to relax.
モデルアンサー
The skill I want to talk about is driving. I started learning when I was twenty, at a driving school just down the road from my parents' place, and I went along for two lessons a week after my university classes finished. The lessons themselves were fairly standard. We spent the first month or so going round a quiet industrial estate, and once my instructor was satisfied that I wasn't going to hit anything, we moved out onto proper roads. Alongside that there was a written test on the rules, which I revised for on the train to and from campus. All in all it took me about six months to get my licence, which is a good deal longer than most of my friends took. A couple of them managed it in six or seven weeks. The reason it dragged on was simply that I was terrified of the whole thing. The moment I pulled out onto a main road my hands would start shaking, and I'd be so busy watching the car in front that I'd forget to check my mirrors. My instructor kept telling me to relax, which is the one piece of advice you can't really follow on demand. I also failed my first test, and that knocked my confidence back quite a bit. What finally sorted it out was practising with my father. He'd take me out on the motorway at the weekend, and after a few of those runs I stopped gripping the wheel quite so hard. I passed on my second attempt.
Part 3Part 2 と同じ話題を、社会の側から掘り下げる
Q3: Do you think schools should spend more time teaching practical skills?
A: Yes, I think so. Because students learn many knowledgea lot of knowledgeknowledge は数えられない名詞なので a lot ofin the schoolat school「学校で」は at school が定型句, but they don't know how to use it in the real life. So for example, many young people can't cook, and they can't manage their money. So I think schoolschools should teach more practicalskillskills, like cooking or how to save money. But in Japan the entrance exam isentrance exams are very important, so teachers must focus on the exam subjectexam subjects. So it's difficult to change.賛成の立場で始めたあと、最後を「変えるのは難しい」で終えると、自分の立場が分かりにくくなります。入試という事情を認めたうえで、最後にもう一度自分の立場を示して締めるとよいでしょう。→ It won't be easy while the entrance exams are what they are, but I still think schools could make room for one or two practical subjects.さらに、自分が学校で受けた授業の具体例を加えると、回答に厚みが出ます。→ We had a home economics class once a week, and it's honestly the only thing from school I still use.
モデルアンサー
I do, yes. At the moment students come out of school knowing a great deal, but not much of it is the sort of thing you can actually put to use on a Monday morning. Plenty of people in their twenties have never cooked a proper meal or worked out how much they're spending each month, and those are exactly the things that catch up with you. So I'd like to see schools set aside an hour a week for that kind of subject. I know it's easier said than done in Japan, where the entrance exams take up so much of the timetable, but even one hour would be better than nothing.
