~1000m with Erika

500s
25s
100s

Total: ~100m 70min.

Two years ago, when I first arrived in Japan, I had told my welcome host family how much I loved swimming. That fall my host mom introduced me to the local pool. Unfortunately, it was a therapy pool and far too warm and too small to do serious lap swimming. As I was attempting laps, I met an elementary school student swimming with her grandmother. We started chatting and through gestures, my inadequate Japanese and her elementary English, we had an impromptu swimming lesson. She was already a good swimmer, so we worked on pushing off the wall and doing flip-turns. It was a great opportunity for both of us. She got a mini-swim lesson with a foreigner, and I received a lesson on how easy it is to become immersed in a new community.

Two years later, that same girl who fumbled over flip-turns while I fumbled over Japanese, was sitting in front of me waiting for an answer. I smiled, pointed to my head, and said, “Yes, of course I remember.” Her eyes were twinkling. We talked about that day, about whether she still swims at that pool, and about her good memory. It was soon evident that her speaking test, a measure of her English knowledge, had become a real communicative experience without the focus on grammar and the ‘right’ answer. We were connecting and she was passing with flying colors. She had communicated and had done it in fluent English. It was not perfect English, but it was fluent! She was motivated to say what she knew without any preparation or prompting. A connection -- inspiring real communication -- is far more meaningful than correct or ‘perfect’ answers on a speaking test.

As she was leaving I said, “Let’s go swimming again.” She turned and beamed as she "Yes".

Today we went swimming together!