英米　２年
Thank you for your presentation. Mr. Morita said that language is innate, and we don’t teach children how to speak but they know the grammar. I had also heard of that if we start to study a second language when we are an infant, we could make a map of the second language in our brain, which means we could think something in second language without transferring into our mother tongue. In my case, I had lived in America for four years. I was so small (2-5 years old), so I wasn’t taught about grammar and couldn’t write with the correct spelling. But I could speak English just like the local kids. I could make small map of English in my brain! However, after I came back to Japan, I didn’t study English until I studied it at school, so I forgot almost every day of living in America and English, and my map had disappeared. Now, my English skills, such as writing, and reading are the same as people who have never been to a foreign country. However, I got compliments on my pronunciation from teachers and friends. So, I think, in terms of pronunciation, we should study second language as soon as possible.

英米　２年
Today I learned more about languages. And I learned how linguistics is important for learning a foreign language. To be honest, I hate studying grammar. It makes me depressed when I hear grammar. After I heard the speech, I feel a little positive about studying grammar. First, I felt that grammar was necessary to use the language correctly and sound cool. Of course, there are rules that do not allow you to deviate from them, but it has come to seem like a kind of rule that controls for stylistic beauty, such as a dress code. As a result, the grammatical rules, which seemed to be rigid rules, have been transformed into a gorgeous and stylish adult culture. Next, I learned that in linguistics, all languages have something in common. Morita sensei told us that the components of the language are common. It was very interesting. I focused on communication and I wasn't very interested in linguistics. However, I regret that I should have learned more deeply by touching a part of the fun of linguistics.

英米　２年
I speak Japanese and study (or major in) English. I thought that English is just a different thing, but I could know another perspective to each language through today’s lesson about linguistics. In particular, I learned the characteristics of language systematically and it was interesting for me because I usually live with some limited languages and do not consider deeply the language itself that I use everyday as one of languages. I take additional classes to get teaching licenses. So, I enjoyed knowing “How to learn foreign language”. Besides the lesson, one good question about Japanese education of English was given to us and it is also important. I will continue thinking the best way. Someday, I want to say, “I choose this study and job because I like this,” like Professor Morita.

英米　２年
Thank you, Professor Morita, for a very interesting presentation. I am an English and American Studies student and I am very interested in linguistics, so it was good to understand the mechanism of language formation. Trying to learn a language is really difficult and this really comes home to me when I study English. I wish I had studied English when I was a child so that I could have learned it more easily. When we speak a second language, we replace it once in our minds with our own language before we speak the second language. I think it's really problematic and this makes it difficult to choose the right language expression for the situation. As Professor Morita said, I would like to steal appropriate English expressions more from dramas and movies to use linguistic expressions according to the appropriate situation.

英米　２年
The presentation by Professor Morita was exciting for me because I am interested in linguistics. One of the contents that I found interesting was that there is a critical period for language acquisition. I knew it is better to start learning languages as early as possible, but I was surprised by the example of the girl who did not hear language spoken or use any language until she was 13 years old, and she had difficulty in learning function words even after she developed some language ability and understood lots of words. In an answer to a question, Professor Morita said it is about ones “mother tongue”, so it is possible to learn and acquire “second language” even after people grow up. I am relieved to hear that.

英米　３年
Firstly, I would like to thank Doctor Morita for his introductory linguistics presentation today. Being a student in the department of British and American Studies, linguistics has been on my timetable since my first year. However, I myself have always regarded the idea of learning languages through grammar as horrendous no matter how many times I tried to put my grammar book into usage. Being honest, I still have the same judgement until this day as I prefer to do the immersive “children’s way”. In other words, I prefer to immerse myself in the language by the means of listening to music or watching films or reading books in that language to acquire them rather than to sit down at my desk trying to figure out how they work. Although I agree with Doctor Morita’s opinion that being younger is better to learn languages, I still think that it is possible to learn a different language later in life and get fluent at it without the grammar getting tangled up in it. As Doctor Morita mentioned at the beginning of his presentation today, language is innate and combined with the appropriate environment it can be acquired quite simply. In fact, my mother tongue in Portuguese but I was still able to learn Japanese and English after the age of 12. As for function words, I must admit I still struggle with them in English, but I have noticed that this happens with writing rather than with speaking and that grammar would only help me here to improve my writing. From this experience I personally think that grammar would not be an efficient way to learn new languages considering its complexity, but I do respect the research Doctor Morita has done so far considering the topic.

英米　４年
Thank you for your great presentation, professor Morita.I learned the structural differences of several languages, which reminded me of the memory of myworking holiday in Australia. Language structure is one of the most difficult factors when students learn other languages, and so I struggled with this as well. While I was in Australia, I was struggling with speaking in English. I had lots of ideas and lots of things I wanted to tell, but I could not translate them into English quickly, and finally I couldn’t say anything and just kept quiet. However, when I considered the reason, I found that I had to just keep trying to translate directly (as it is), which made the sentence more difficult and complex. Now I know that it’s easier to make sentences by structuring with easier words, which make the meaning clearer. As professor Morita told us, I think it’s not the most important thing whether I can select the right word or not but to communicate when I learn and speak other languages.

ドイツ　１年
Thank you for your very interesting presentation. It was a good opportunity for me to think about language and to study foreign languages harder. I learned that linguistics could help me improve my language skills. There were many things to be noticed about language acquisition. Especially, the third topic “No teaching (by adult) is necessary” was impressive. I remembered my childhood. I managed to learn the correct sentence from conversation with others and acquired the expression that suited the situation. This reminded me of how to make the word “Manabu” in Japanese. Also, I became more interested in linguistics because I learned that there are words that we naturally acquire and others we acquire as knowledge. I want to find out more! My biggest determination that I made after class is to practice expressions that are suited to the situation. Sometimes I did word-for-word translation, however I couldn’t communicate well, because it was an unnatural translation. In Morita’s presentation he taught me how to solve this problem. I want to use this method to improve my skills. I’m glad to take today’s class. I’m still nervous to speak English, but I want to keep trying and I’m going to apply for icontact. I was motivated to do my best to improve my foreign language ability!

看護　１年
I was interested in how we communicate with some people who speak different languages through Professor Morita’s speech. So, I searched the Internet for some information relating to my question. Then I found an interesting language that can be used among people from different countries. I will introduce the language below. The language is called Esperanto and it is an international language, created to facilitate communication among people from different countries. Esperanto was created in 1887 by Dr. L. L. Zamenhof to be a second language that would allow people who speak different native languages to communicate, yet at the same time to retain their own languages and cultural identities. Esperanto has 16 regular and exception-free rules of grammar and a regular phonetic spelling. Unlike many languages, we can depend on the rule to be constantly applied. So, it is more quickly and easily learned than any other language. But I think there is a problem. It is that Esperanto was known by limited people. It is necessary to make Esperanto well known. I hope that we can communicate with people from all around world by using Esperanto.

特別聴講生
Morita-sensei's presentation was very interesting and difficult at the same time. It was a rare opportunity to see not only English but also my mother language "Japanese" in an academic way. I also learned that "language is innate". I got surprised by the fact that no intelligence is required as to the mother language as long as there is an appropriate environment. Words include "content ones" and "function ones". I guess it is very hard for people studying a second language to master function ones since even native speakers don't think about them deeply, just automatically use them. I sometimes teach Japanese to international students and some of them speak Japanese fluently, but they often ask about function words. To be honest, it is the most difficult for me to explain from a grammatical view. I realized the reason lays in the system Morita-sensei explained. As he mentioned in question time, English education in Japan should use practical ways to teach English to students and I cannot agree with him more. I wish I had been taught English in that way when I was younger, however, it can be very stiff for Japanese students to adapt to such an environment. The truth is that most Japanese are shy in English class, of course. I know they are never shy after getting closer and they are not in Japanese, but it is sure that they are very quiet and shy in English class. Therefore, I strongly hope that some linguists like Morita-sensei find excellent ways to master useful English for Japanese from the point of view of linguistics.