At 60, looking at the exam results with blurry eyes. Eiken Grade 4 and the words of my daughter who was by my side

Hello, I am an around-60-year-old man.

Although the calendar says spring is near, it is still the kind of season where your fingertips feel numb when you touch the soil in the field.

Hot coffee during a break from work, and a strawberry daifuku that my Bosswife secretly bought for me.

This moment of "something sweet" is, for me right now, more of a nutritional supplement than anything else.

Today, please let me talk about the English studies I have been doing by stretching myself just a little bit.

Bifocal contact lenses and a blurry field of vision

Actually, today was the announcement of the Eiken Grade 4 results.

To give you the conclusion, I was able to pass safely.

My Eiken CSE score was 764 points.

Personally, I feel half like I want to tell myself "well done," and half like I am smiling bitterly after looking at the breakdown and thinking, "Ah, I knew it."

When I remember the day of the exam, I still break into a cold sweat a little bit.

I prepared bifocal contact lenses for this day to take on the challenge.

I wanted to cover the reality of "presbyopia" as much as possible and take on the challenge in perfect condition, but...

Unfortunately, it seems that the fatigue from my intense studying until the day before (though it was intense for an old man, at least) hit me all at once on the day of the exam.

The moment I sat in my seat at the exam venue, my eyes became terribly blurry.

The question paper in front of me and the small ovals on the mark sheet both looked blurry, as if I were looking through frosted glass.

"If I make a mistake marking here, all my efforts so far will..."

Fighting against that anxiety, I blinked my eyes repeatedly and desperately followed each question one by one.

The moment I clicked with my daughter

The passing results were to be checked online.

Since my daughter had just returned home to Kyoto, we decided to look at the smartphone screen together.

“Dad, here we go?”

My daughter’s finger tapped the smartphone screen.

When the screen changed and I saw the two characters for “Pass”.

“That’s great! Congratulations!”

My daughter was overjoyed for me, as if it were her own success.

That made me happier than anything else, and I felt something welling up inside me that was different from the blurriness in my vision.

I usually spend my days as the number one subordinate to my wife, the boss, working in the fields and making canvas bags.

But at this moment, I felt like I could be a father who was just a little bit proud.

“Eigo no Tomo” and the next challenge

I am certain that the reason I scored 403 in reading this time is thanks to Obunsha’s app, “Eigo no Tomo”.

I used the paid version to go through the “Deru-jun Pass-tan” over and over again, with something like sheer tenacity.

Perhaps because I am a former IT salesperson, an environment where I could easily learn using gadgets suited me well.

However, the score of 361 in listening revealed my own lack of discipline.

I feel that the price of putting off listening practice showed up directly in that number.

It might sound like a platitude, but seeing my weaknesses means I still have room to grow.

Telling myself that, I am now starting to study for Grade 3.

Next, I plan to incorporate English into my daily life more, such as by listening to audio while commuting in my car.

Steadily, one step at a time

The distant summit of passing Eiken Grade 1 in 2030 is still hidden in the fog.

I have finally finished my warm-up and am standing at the foot of the mountain.

From here, I will aim for the summit of Grade 1, which is far in the distance.

This is the article from when I drew this illustration.

But I believe that this step I took today will one day clear the vision that was blurry that day.

Believing in that, I want to continue steadily building up my vocabulary again today.

Tonight, I will treat myself a little, brew some tea slowly, and savor the lingering joy of passing with my daughter.

See you in the next article!

This was an 'Ara-Kan' (around 60) man.

Eiken Grade 4 #Relearning #Around60 #Presbyopia #Eigonotomo