Nagisa Kurihara works at the trading company.

Since April 2014, I have been working as a sales assistant for a foreign trading company. I communicate with the head office in Germany by phone and email using English, which is the common language, and I am sometimes entrusted with Japanese translation. I also serve as an interpreter when customers from overseas visit the company. There are still many things I am not used to, but with the help of the employees around me, I am enjoying my work every day.

What are your memories of KEC?

When I was in kindergarten and had just started attending KEC, I wanted to speak to my native English teacher in English, so I would often go to Ms. Matoba during class time and ask her, “Sensei, how do you say ’00’ in English? When I went to say “Myra, beautiful!” to my teacher at that time, Myra said “Thank you Nagisa! I still remember how happy I was that my English was understood.

What does “English” mean to you?

Thanks to studying English, I have been able to meet many people and opportunities. I became interested in the world when I was in junior high school, and became friends with a foreign student in my high school class for the first time. By using English as a common language, I have been able to expand my friendships around the world, learn new values and ways of thinking, and found a job that allows me to interact with the world. It may be an exaggeration, but I believe that English is life itself for me.

What are your dreams and goals for the future?

My dream is to work at the head office in Germany. I have achieved my childhood dream of working with the world, and now I would like to gain experience on the job and grow so that I can work with employees at the head office in the future.

Message to everyone at KEC

When I was in kindergarten, I used to listen to the KEC cassette tapes every night. I enjoyed imitating and singing English while listening to the songs, so I continued to do so. I was also very excited to be able to speak with native English speaking teachers that I could not meet in my daily life at that time. The feeling I got when my English speech was conveyed to the teachers made me very happy and made me want to learn to speak English. I feel that these opportunities and experiences have led me to where I am today. I want you to cherish the sense of fun and joy you feel when you are learning English.

A word from Matoba

Nagisa was quiet when she was a toddler, but as soon as she entered elementary school and started reading picture books, she showed a lot of ability. Her pronunciation was good and she was an excellent picture book reader. She read by herself every lesson. Her mother was always praising her, saying, “You are very good!” I heard a rumor from a professor friend of mine that she studied international relations at university and was very active in the field. I am glad to hear that it seems to be bearing fruit.