I like foreign languages in addition to English. I have studied French, Italian and German just for fun. German has become my favorite one in these five or six years.

I used to listen to only hard rock music in my college days, however, it had to be something dramatic and melodious, because I couldn't endure just loud and noisy music. After I joined the church choir, my music taste has completely been shifted to religious music and then naturally to classical music which was a kind of gate for Bach, Germany and German language.

I have been studying German at a language school in Tokyo. The first teachers were A and S who have later become like my German father and mother because I learned ABC from them. Regretfully, they have already gone back to Germany. They both have become my very important friends.

I manage to speak daily German, though it is very broken, since I started studying conversation. However, when it comes to grammar and reading, they were almost disastrous. I worried that my German might not understandable to other native speakers than the teachers. The year fall before last, I decided to take the German test called "Diplom Deutsch in Japan" for the first time, in order to know my ability objectively and also to encourage myself for further study. For my German ability, it was appropriate to take the 4th Grade's exam. Checking the former exams so far, I found the 3rd Grade difficult for me. I thought that a private German teacher would be needed to prepare for the exam. I wrote a letter to A who was transferred to another branch of the same school. He replied to me in a letter saying that he would be able to be my private teacher if I liked, and also saying that the 4th Grade would be safer for me to take, however, I might pass the 3rd Grade if I studied very very hard. That hinted that it would be almost impossible for me to pass the 3rd Grade.

While I was praying to the Lord, I felt somehow inclined to take the 3rd Grade. Is this " God is always at work in you to make you willing and able to obey his own purpose."? I told A that I would also take the 3rd Grade exam when it was possibly only one month left for the test. I knew my German level and I was not confident for the test. But I didn't even imagine I would fail for the 3rd Grade , though I didn't know the reason.

When I talked with a friend A and her mother in our church, I said to them, "I've decided to take the 3rd Grade exam. I am filled with joy now and can't imagine I will fail for it. Isn't it funny?". Then we all agreed that this was led by God for His purpose. I was not enough for preparing for the exam, since I was very busy at work. I took the exams both the 3rd and 4th Grades and waited for the results for the tests.