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大学の授業、「異文化間コミュニケーション」のために書いた、『折り紙』についてのレポートです。
ネイティブスピーカーの友達に文法チェックをしてもらってあります。
英語の勉強をされている方に読んでいただけるとうれしいです。
Introduction
This project is about origami, which is a Japanese word that combines the verb oru (to fold) and the noun kami (paper). It’s a part of Japanese culture, but the origami culture has spread out around the world now. Origami is an activity that involves folding a piece of paper and making figures like animals, insects, flowers, boxes, and so on. Standard origami paper is usually cut into 15-cm (6-in) squares; it is generally plain white on one side, with a color or decorative pattern on the other. However, sometimes two-sided color paper or rectangle paper is used, and you can also fold gift wrap, cloth, napkins, or newspaper.
Origami is amazing art made from pieces of paper. Besides, we can make origami figures for practical uses. Moreover, learning origami helps education and communication between parents and children, seniors and juniors, and people from different countries.
Tips on Origami
There are some secrets to make attractive origami figures. I’ll introduce two of the most important ones.
1. Select the paper you use for origami carefully. Color plays an important part in success of many of origami projects. The thickness of origami paper also makes different impressions. For example, I select thicker paper when I make a box. Sometimes thinner paper is better to make origami figures light enough to move smoothly.
2. Fold origami paper firmly and accurately. If you don’t fold it firmly, it’s easier to get lost moving on to the next step. If you don’t fold it accurately, it’s easier that origami figures become awkward.
Origami for Communication
Origami helps intercultural communication. When Japanese stay abroad and think about how to introduce Japanese culture to foreign people, origami is a good option. One of my Japanese friends, who worked at a nursing home in America, introduced origami to the residents at the nursing home and entertained them. When I stayed with an American family, I taught some children origami. The mother was very impressed with origami art, and all of the children enjoyed making origami figures. After I made a lot of origami figures for this project, I put them on the shelf in my apartment. One day, a girl, who is nine years old, asked me if I know how to make origami when she came to my house and saw origami figures on the shelf. I taught her how to make a flower. She enjoyed making it and it was my pleasure that I could teach the cute little girl origami. On another day, my roommate’s grandson, who is almost two years old, enjoyed watching a jumping frog and a flapping bird I made. I liked seeing his happy face with smile when he saw them. By contraries, I have an experience that I was impressed with a foreign person, who learned origami. When I was in Japan, I met a person from Malaysia, who learned Japanese culture at university. I was very impressed because he made a frog and a morning glory with pieces of paper without seeing origami books. He showed me the origami frog jumped? and I enjoyed pushing the frog and making it jump. I didn’t know how to make a jumping frog and a morning glory at that time, and I thought I wanted to learn more origami figures, which express a part of Japanese culture. Even if we cannot communicate with foreign people by languages, we can teach them amazing origami arts and enjoy communicating with each other.
Origami helps not only intercultural communication but also communication with people in the same culture. When I was in a hospital for a few weeks in my childhood, a young man, who was in the same room, taught me how to make a paper crane. I didn’t know how to make it and wanted to know that, so I was happy when the man taught me how to make it. It’s still a good memory for me. Also, when I was in junior high school, my friends taught me how to fold letter paper attractively. I enjoyed seeing pretty letter folding from my friends and tried making it. Thus, particular origami figures remind me memories about particular people both from Japan and other countries. You can also learn origami from origami books, but sometimes it’s difficult to learn them even if they have colored illustrations. One of tutors at the Tutoring Center told me that she bought a calendar with origami instructions and enjoyed making one origami figure in a month. However, she stopped halfway because some of origami figures were difficult for her only with the instructions. Even me, who learned some basic origami skills, sometimes tried hard to figure out what instructions say when I learned origami figures from origami books. Origami is one of what we cannot learn only from books. Therefore, origami gives us opportunity for communication between parents and children, teachers and students, seniors and juniors, friends, and people from different countries.
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