Activity 7

ざっと読みするために文章を読むときは同時にリスニングを行う。音声を途中で止めたりせずに、話されるスピードについていこう。これはあなたにいくつかの単語をスキップさせることになるだろう。それは実は大事なスキルだ。章は短いので、１０分費やすために何度も同じ章を繰り返しざっと読みすることになるだろう。

Listen to HNT Chapter 1 on YouTube in another window as you follow along the written text below.  Don't pause. Just allow the audio to continue smoothly and do your best to know where it is up to.

Repeat until the 10 minutes are up. It isn't your job to understand every word. Your job is simply to spend the time.

So listen softly, lightly. 


HNT Chapter 1
 
Hi. It’s nice to meet you.
 
I want to tell a story. Would you like to hear it? It’s a true story. If you read it, your English will improve. At the same time, I hope you will enjoy it. It’s easy. It has simple words and short sentences. (Slowly, the sentences will grow.)
 
This story starts in 2004, in New Zealand. I come from New Zealand. I was born there, so New Zealand is my country. I am a New Zealander married to a Japanese woman. At the start of the story, she was in Japan, and I was in New Zealand.
 
“Why was she in Japan?” you ask. “Why weren’t you together?” Well, those are good questions. Let me answer them.
 
My wife, Mami, went to Japan to spend Christmas and New Year with her family. She also wanted to prepare for our trip. Mami and I like making trips. We enjoy traveling together.
 
We don’t like traveling by car. We enjoy walking much better. A few years ago, we did a very long walk. We walked all of New Zealand. New Zealand has two big islands, and we walked each island from top to bottom. Now, we want to travel the length of Japan.
 
New Zealand and Japan are both island countries. They’re both long, with mountains, rivers and cities. But Japan has many more people and cars.
 
I wish to walk in Japan, but Mami will ride a bicycle. South Japan to North Japan is a long way. It may take us 100 days.