Why do we have to write? I really hate writing! (Hiroshima, 5th grade)

Notes from the reader: If all homework and tests were oral, it would be so much more fun!

When you’re at school, you have a lot to learn, and it becomes important to put your thoughts in order. When you write, you’re asked to slowly sort out the thoughts that are spinning around in your head. So, I think writing gives you opportunities to organize your own ideas.

Especially when you want to tell someone your thoughts or feelings, you need to write them in a way that is easy to read and easy to understand, so that the reader really gets what you mean. This is actually a skill you also need when you communicate your thoughts and feelings by speaking, and I think it’s a basic part of communication. If you can both speak and write in an organized way, you’ll have more ways to communicate, and I think that being able to do both will be an advantage.

Original:

学校にいると、学ぶことが多くて、自分の考えをまとめることも大事になってくるよね。字を書くと、頭の中でぐるぐるしている考えを、ゆっくりと整理することが求められる。だから、文字を書くと、自分の考えをまとめる練習になるんじゃないかな。特にテストや手紙で自分の気持ちや考えを伝えるときは、読み手にちゃんと伝わるように、読める字で、わかりやすいようにまとめて書く必要がある。これって、実は口頭でテストや宿題をする時にも求められるスキルで、コミュニケーションのきそだと思う。それを大人になった時に口頭でも、文章でもできるようになれたら、コミュニケーションの引き出しが増えて得だと私は思う。