The article "Students rush for English-language education" (July 18) reminded me of an experience I had when I was a university student in the 1980s.

Most professors at Japanese universities typically gave one-sided lectures that students were expected to sit and just listen to. This always made me dissapointed to attend classes.

Recently, many people are interested in studying abroad to improve their English skills. I hope Japanese universities change their curricula to include more practical work and make their classes more interactive. If they can't raise the quality of education, they may one day find they are losing applicants.

I'm really interested in problems with the education system, and would enjoy seeing more information about it.

The article, "Medical tests increase radiation exposure" (Sept. 5), reminds me of a comment made a long time ago by a friend from Canada.

She noticed that in Japan, many people have regular medical checkups — including X-rays and CT scans — to detect illnesses like cancer at an early stage. However, she figured that many people, in trying to detect cancer, actually end up getting cancer from the radiation they were exposed to during medical testing.

It seemed very ironic to her.

I was surprised by the sentiment, but at the same time I really agreed with her. I hadn't imagined that having medical tests might actully cause cancer while you are trying to prevent it.

I think that advanced medical techniques are really beneficial and we Japanese are truly blessed because we can discover illnesses before people without access to them. But because we don't know what bad effects medical tests can have on our bodies, we should be more prudent, and doctors should inform us more about the nature and risk of the tests.

I hope the article makes people think about the danger of radiation exposure in medical testing.

Starting in August, a friend and I began reading the Japan Times Weekly together.

Right now I'm attending the Kawai Juku Trident Foreign Language School's university entrance course. While I'm just a first-year student, beginning from our second year I've heard we'll be reading articles from the Weekly and using them to debate in class, so I felt it would be helpful to get a head start and read them this year.

I enjoy reading English literature and am considering becoming a translator in the future. One of my instructors explained that there are translators for publishers and also industry translators, and it's difficult to work for a publisher unless you study under a well-known teacher for many years.

I want to know more about translation as a profession, and research which universities and departments I should apply to next year to best propel me on the path toward my dream. I plan to check out your book, Tsuuyaku, Honyaku Career Guide 2010.

The Japan Times Weekly: Sept. 19, 2009
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