１日１題リスニング：AKIO TOYODA

04/21/202404/22/2024

トヨタ自動車の前社長豊田章男氏の卒業式でのスピーチは、秀逸です。
言っている内容も素晴らしいし、ユーモアもいっぱい盛り込んであって、とにかく、とてもおもしろいのです。使っている単語は教科書に載っているものばかり、発音もネイティブっぽいというわけではありません。それでも、堂々と、自分の思うことを言い、笑いもしっかりとっている。日本人の目指す英語力は、ここにあるのではないか？そう思います。本番の動画もyoutubeにあふれているので、ぜひ一度ごらんください。

ここで取り上げているのは、原文生かし、抜き取ったものです。

Listening Test

When Mr. Toyoda was at Babson, he didn’t really hang out with others. Learning English was tough for him.
Mr. Toyoda basically just went back and forth between his dorm, class, and the library.
After graduating, Mr. Toyoda headed to New York for work, and there he quickly compensated for lost time by enjoying his own “donut”.
Mr. Toyoda urged all of you to seek out your own source of happiness, your own “donut,” if you will.

語彙チェック

It is my extreme honor to speak to you today as ：
「～としてお話しすることができて光栄です」

celebrates its 100th anniversary：「１００周年を祝う」

I had no social life：「自分には勉強以外の時間や生活は考えられませんでした。」

taking classes in English：「英語で授業を受けること」

a real challenge：「本当にたいへんなこと・難問」

It took all of my focus and free time.

「それには私の全ての集中力と自由な時間が必要でした。費やしました。」

dorm：「寮」= dormitory

I was, in a word, boring.：「一言でいうと、つまらない人間でした。」

make up for：「～を埋め合わせをする」= compensate for

I’m here to offer you words of advice.
「私はあなたにアドバイスを提供するためにここにいます。」

Let the first be this, ：
「最初にこれをさせてください。」という意味、文の順序や重要性を示す際に使われます。

figure out：「を理解する」

astonishing= surprising

Script

Remarkable Graduation Speech by Akio Toyoda

It is my extreme honor to speak to you today as Babson College celebrates its 100th anniversary. When I was at Babson, I had no social life. For me, taking classes in English was a real challenge. It took all of my focus and free time. I never went to parties. I never went to a hockey game. I just went from my dorm to class to the library to my dorm to class to the library. So when I attended Babson, I was, in a word, boring.
But once I graduated, I went to work in New York, where I immediately made up for lost time and became “king of the night”!
I’m sure you have enjoyed a very active social life while you were here. But since I’m here to offer you words of advice. Let the first be this, don’t be boring, have fun. Really figure out what makes you happy in life, what brings you joy. When I was a student here, I found joy…”in donuts”. American donuts were a joyful, astonishing discovery. I want to encourage all of you to find your own donut.