There were ethnically mostly white workers in the ticket booths of London Eye, the Tower of London and Tower Bridge. On the other hand, simple work like the inspection of tickets, the lending and collecting of the audioguides were for non-whites. The simple jobs which wouldn't apparently make so much money seemed to be for non-whites. The workers for the most part in convenience stores in the big cities of Japan are from other countries. The situation is likely in Japan too, leaving questions of right or wrong.
I often listened carefully to conversations which were being made around me and strongly felt difficulty in understanding them. It would be a matter of getting familiar with them. I don't feel so much difficulty in reading English literature, but my skills of listening to English are surely at the beginner level. I decided to spare the time for listening at least 30 minutes a day after this trip. We didn't have enough time and were just able to sightsee only in the center of London. I'd like to visit other places on the next trip to the U.K.
雑感
ロンドンアイ、ロンドン塔、タワー・ブリッジでチケットブースには白人が多かったが、チケットの確認やオーディオガイドの貸出や回収などの単純作業はほとんど有色人種だった。日本人はいなかった。たいした稼ぎにはならないだろうと思える仕事に彼ら、彼女らが多いように感じた。日本でも都会のコンビニは外国人が多いが、似たようなものか。
周りで話されている言葉に聞き耳を立ててみた。アメリカの英語に比べ聞き取りがかなり難しい。慣れの問題だろうが、自信喪失。英語を読むことについては、よほど難解なものでない限り苦労はしなくなったが、リスニングはまだまだ。帰国後、１日３０分のリスニングを心がけようと思う。今回はロンドンの中心部しか歩けなかったので次回があれば、もっとロンドン市内を歩き回ってみたいと思う。
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