カナダにいた頃、私は20代中盤から後半くらいの年齢で、それでも日本から私が通っていた英語学校へ来ている人たちの中では最年長だった。みんな大学を出たばかりか在学中くらいの年齢で、私は少しお兄さん的な存在だったかもしれない。ただ私の他に一人だけ飛び抜けて年齢が上だった日本人の男性がいた。恐らく当時40歳か50歳くらいのおじさんだった。正確な年齢は聞いたことがなかったと思う。
　私はそのおじさんと特に仲が良い訳ではなかったが、何だか人気があって皆から慕われていたようだった。日本で早めにリタイヤして、人生を謳歌するためにカナダに来たとか、確かそんな感じだった。好きなことをやるにもカナダではとりあえず英語力が必要と言うことで、たまたま私たちの英語学校に入ってきたのだと思う。

　その陽気なおじさんはやっぱりもう頭の中身が硬くなっていたのか、英語がさっぱり覚えられない。今考えると木製の大きなカヌーを手作りすることに夢中で、そんなに真面目に英語には取り組んでいなかったのかもしれない。理由はさておき、とにかく彼は英語が話せない。もしかしたら一言二言ぐらいしか話せなかった。私たちはそれを面白がっていたのかもしれない。なかなか思うように英語が上達しない焦りが募る日々の中で、おじさんは優越感を与えてくれる希有な存在だったと言える。「少なくともあのおじさんよりは、オレは話せるよ」みたいな感じだっただろうか。

　あるとき皆で街へ繰り出した。特に何の目的もなくブラブラと街を歩き回るだけ。するとそのおじさんがスニーカーを買いたいと言うことで、スポーツ店に入っていった。私は「彼は挨拶くらいしかまだ話せないのに、どうするんだろう」と心配だった。助けようにも私もそんなに英会話に自信があるわけではなく、モジモジしながら遠巻きにおじさんの様子を見守っていた。
　あの時の驚きを今でもハッキリ覚えている。全く日本語なんて話せるはずもないカナダ人の店員と彼は堂々と渡り合っていた。よく聞くと彼が話している英語は「YES、YES！」くらい。大きな声とジェスチャーで立派に買い物を楽しんでいた。あれを人間力と言うのだろうか、彼は「言葉なんて関係ねぇ～」と言わんばかりに、やりとりの過程でむしろ店員を圧倒していた。思い通りの買い物を終えて悠々と歩く彼の後ろ姿は、悔しいけれど、マジでカッコ良かった。

　おじさんがお客様だからその店員は靴を買ってもらうために、下手に出て相手をしてくれたのかもしれない。もし逆の立場だったらおじさんは通用しないのかもしれない。でもそんなことを恐がって怯んでいては、人生を謳歌することは多分できないのだろう。その時々を精一杯生きて楽しめばいい。彼はそんなことを行動で示していたように思う。
　流暢に話せるに越したことはない。そのためにみんな頑張っている。でも習得した言語を話すのはやっぱり一個人としての人間だから、同時に人間力も磨けたらより有意義な学びになるのではないだろうか。一番英語ができない人から、話せるようになるために一番大切なことを学んだ休日だった。

　名前も、もう覚えてないけどね

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An Ironic Holiday

　When I was in Canada, I was in my mid to late twenties, and yet I was the oldest among the people from Japan who came to the English school I attended. They were all fresh out of college or still in college, and I was probably a bit like an older brother to them. However, there was one other Japanese man who was much older than me. He was probably 40 or 50 years old at the time. I don’t think I ever heard his exact age.
　I didn’t get along with him particularly well, but he seemed to be popular and loved by everyone. He retired early in Japan and came to Canada to enjoy his life, or something like that, I think. I think he just happened to come to our English school because he needed English skills to do what he wanted to do in Canada.

　The cheerful man was already hard-headed, I guess, and could not remember any English. Now that I think about it, maybe he was too absorbed in making a big wooden canoe by hand and didn’t take English that seriously. Regardless of the reason, he could not speak English. He could only speak a word or two, maybe. Maybe we were amused by that. He was one of those rare people who gave us a sense of superiority in the midst of our growing impatience to improve our English as much as we wanted. It was like, “At least I can speak better than that guy.

　One day, we all went out on the town. We were just wandering around the city without any particular purpose. Then this guy wanted to buy some sneakers, so he went into a sports store. I was worried about him, wondering what he was going to do when he could still only speak English and say hello. I tried to help him, but I wasn’t that confident in my English conversation skills, so I watched him from a distance, hesitantly.
　I still clearly remember the surprise I felt. The Canadian clerk, who couldn’t possibly speak Japanese at all, was talking to him in a dignified manner. If you listen carefully, the only English he spoke was “YES, YES! He was enjoying his shopping with his loud voice and gestures. I guess you could call it people power, and he was rather overwhelming the clerk in the process of interaction, as if to say, “Language doesn’t matter! It was frustrating but really cool to see the back of his face as he walked leisurely after finishing his shopping.

　Maybe the clerk was trying to get him to buy the shoes because he was the customer, so he took the low road and dealt with him. If it were the other way around, he might not be able to get away with it. But if you are afraid of such things, you will probably not be able to enjoy your life. Just live life to the fullest and enjoy the moment. I think he was demonstrating this through his actions.
　There is nothing better than being able to speak fluently. Everyone is working hard for it. However, it is the human being who speaks the language that they have learned, so if they can improve their human skills at the same time, it will be a more meaningful learning experience. It was a holiday where I learned the most important thing to be able to speak English from the person who couldn’t speak it the best.

　I don’t even remember his name anymore.