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Hello, everyone.

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I came here today to talk
about simple English that anyone can use.

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I am a non-native speaker of English.

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I couldn't speak English,

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I couldn't write English,

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but now I can communicate to you

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what I am doing and why it is important.

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In fact, I can write
about difficult things.

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My job is to describe technologies.

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I write about LEDs, smartphones,
or other complicated structures.

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Simple English, meaning speaking
or writing clear and plain English,

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has changed my communication

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and changed my entire career.

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My talk today is for all
the non-native speakers of English,

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including Japanese,

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and those who are natives
may also find my talk interesting

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by watching how non-natives struggle,

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and how your advanced English


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or our complicated English

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can be broken down
into simple and clear English.

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Let me start from my story.

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Back in 1993, I was
at the university in Kyoto.

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I was bored, depressed,
and I had no bright future.

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I studied English,
but I couldn't speak English,

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and life was not what I expected.

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After university, I entered
a company producing chemicals,

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and I did some translation
from Japanese into English,

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but I was still bored and depressed.

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I had no fun at work.

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I couldn't write good English,
and life was difficult.

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In the year 2000, I changed jobs
and became a patent translator.

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I started to write about technical stuff.

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I started to write
about inventions on LED lamps

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or smart keys for your automobiles

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or copying machines, digital cameras.

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Very technical stuff.

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In the process of writing
all those technical things,

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I started to realize

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that I don't need any
advanced or complicated English.

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What I need is simple
and plain, easy English

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to describe difficult things.

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I started to read books
on what is called "technical writings,"

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and I liked their ideas.

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They say, for example:

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"Use the active voice.
Put statements in positive form.

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Use definite, concrete language.

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Omit needless words.
Avoid fancy words."

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I liked their idea.

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So, for example, instead of
"The gas does not have any odor"

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- odor meaning "smell" -

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I wrote "the gas is odorless,"

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by using the positive form.

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"It is interesting to note
that there are seven steps

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that must be completed in order
to make a successful presentation."

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I wrote:

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"To make a successful presentation
seven steps must be completed."

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This revision actually follows
one of my favorite style manuals.

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They say to omit empty phrases

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such as "it is interesting to note that."

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Interestingly, they think that
"it is interesting to note that"

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is an empty phrase.

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That interested me.

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(Laughter)

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They say, "Avoid any unnecessary words,"

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and they say, "Write economically
by using single words."

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Many of you here may want to use,
for example, "in order to"

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in your speaking or writing,

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but then they say
that you should use only "to."

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I liked their idea.

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I'll give you another example.

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This is a piece of writing
from my student, last week.

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He wrote: "According to a recent study,

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it has been shown that stress -

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people are stressful these days -

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can be a trigger of Alzheimer's disease."

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Excellent.

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Advanced and grammatically
correct English.

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But then I rewrote:

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"Recent research shows

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that stress can trigger
Alzheimer's disease."

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In the process of this writing,

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I started to see a bright light.

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I studied hard, worked hard,
and within a year,

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I passed a first level
technical writing test in Japan.

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Luckily, I was awarded by the Ministry
of Education, Culture, Sports,

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Science and Technology, in Japan.

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I was lucky.

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Then things started to change.

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I became a chief instructor at the Japan
Society of Technical Communication, JSTC.

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I worked as a patent translator
on a freelance basis for ten years.

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I published two books:

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one on the basics of technical writing

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and the other on patent translation.

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Last year I founded a company in Kyoto.

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Until the year 2000,

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I was depressed and confused

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and even felt hopeless.

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I had never even dreamed of writing books,

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and I had no way
of speaking in front of people.

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Simple English changed me.

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Simple English motivated me.

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I never gave up.

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Simple English changed my entire life.

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I am here hoping that spreading
this idea will help people.

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Now, I want to share with you
one tip for simple English.

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Very easy, anyone can use this tip.

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If you have your headsets on
for simultaneous translation,

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you can try taking them off,

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and try finding the beauty
or the power of simple English.

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So, let's begin.

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Use verbs!

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Verbs meaning "words to express action."

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"Smile" or "eat" or "run".

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Verbs are powerful, so use dynamic verbs
rather than static ones.

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For example, instead of
"I am a teacher of English,"

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say, "I teach English."

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Instead of "I belong to a soccer team,"

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say, "I play soccer."

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Instead of "It is difficult for me
to speak in front of many people,"

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say, "I cannot speak
in front of many people".

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Instead of "The number of non-natives 
at TedxKyoto University,

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or in the entire world,

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is greater than the number of natives,"

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you can also say,

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"Non-natives outnumber natives,"

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by using only three words.

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See: subject, verb, and an object.

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Somebody does something.

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I also use the active voice
whenever possible.

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The active voice meaning
that the subject is the doer of an action;

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the passive voice meaning that the subject
is a receiver of an action.

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Compare the two sentences here:

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"In the year 2011, I was sad;

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Tohoku was hit by the great earthquake,"

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or "In the year 2011,
the great earthquake hit Tohoku."

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You can see the active voice
is more direct, clearer,

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and uses fewer words.

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In this process of revising,

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black clouds in my head,
in my mind, disappeared altogether,

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and my life got better.

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I thought I should tell this idea


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to anyone who has
less confidence in their English.

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You know, according to a survey
conducted by the British Council,

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72% of business people in Japan think
they lack confidence in their English.

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90% of my students say
they lack confidence in their English.

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From the year 2006,

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I go anywhere to teach
this simple English to anyone,

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including business people,

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translators and engineers,

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and students at the universities.

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I like them.

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I also teach at Kyoto University as well.

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I encourage them
to write or present their ideas

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or their technologies in simple English.

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Amazingly they learn very quickly.

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Their confident smiles
after the course moved me.

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They said simple English
changed their communication.

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You see, they look super happy.

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This is my final message to you:

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try using simple English.

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Talk to people around you,

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especially if you have
a lunch break after this session.

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Introduce yourself in simple English.

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Again, you don't have to say:

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"I am a student at Kyoto University,
I belong to a polymer department,"

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or "I work for a manufacturing company
for diesel engines.

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I am, by the way, an engineer."

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It's difficult.

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So, just say, "I study polymers,"
or "I develop diesel engines."

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Also, talk to speakers
here at TedxKyoto University.

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You'll find them around, talk to them.

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Again, you don't have to say,

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"I was interested in your talk,"
or "I found your idea great."

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You don't have to say that.

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You can also say,
"Your talk interests me,"

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by using a subject, verb, and an object.

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You can also say, and I hope
you would say to me as well,

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"I like your idea."

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Thank you very much.

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(Applause)