I went on a trip to Singapore when I was a junior high school student. It was my first overseas trip, and I was overwhelmed by the country’s multiculturalism. There are so many people with different backgrounds, and they respect each other. For example, in restaurants, there are some menus for people who cannot eat special ingredients for religious reasons. Also, in the city, there are many signs written in different languages. I was fascinated by the country and searched a lot of things about the country after I came back. Singaporeans mainly speak English in public, but they also use their mother language when they are with people with the same ethnicity. Because of that they all have different accents, and it is sometimes called “Singlish”. I remember they pronounce words so shortly, and it was really fast. I couldn’t speak anything at that time, so it was a bitter memory for me. I was jealous that they could acquire two different languages growing up in the country. It is hard to make English the common language in Japan, but it has some benefits to the country as the Singapore’s great success. I didn’t feel any peer pressure in a multicultural country, so it was comfortable for me.

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