Maybe We Can Understand Each Other, Even in Broken English

It happens every year, but early September is somehow quiet, so I get more free time than usual.

So this year I thought, "OK, I'll use this time and let ChatGPT teach me English." I gave up after three days.

(I wrote this in Japanese and asked AI to translate it. My English is broken when I speak, and much worse when I write..)

Why is studying English so boring? I really don't know.

Some guests from other countries come to my salon. To be honest, I'm not sure why we can understand each other.

If I took an English test, my score would be pretty low, I think.

But they still come back. So maybe pain, loneliness, and feeling safe are not things we understand with words.

A few native speakers told me, "AKI, your English is not bad." So maybe it's not really about English. Maybe it's more about how you meet the person.

For example, if someone has a different skin color or different eyes, many Japanese people get a little nervous. That's normal, I think.

It's the same with famous people, or very rich people, or people with power. Most of us get nervous, or feel a wall.

It's not good or bad. I read that our brain is just made that way. We are careful with people who look different, and we worry "what does this person think of me?" when they have money or power.

But in my case, that feeling is just.. missing.

Famous, rich, from another country — it doesn't really change anything for me. I just see one person who is tired in body and mind. I don't know why I'm like this.

Maybe because, even as a kid, I was never interested in famous or rich people lol.

And maybe because of this job. After many years, I feel that people's pain, and the relief they are looking for, are almost the same for everyone.

So, back to the start: maybe I can talk with guests from other countries not because of my English, but because I meet everyone the same way.

Well.. this is starting to sound like an excuse for not studying.

When I really need to, I just put words together and it works. For difficult things, I use Google Translate. So it's hard to keep studying, honestly.