- When is your birthday? How do you celebrate your birthday these days?
- Where were you born? How old was your mother at the time? What do you know about your birth*?
- To what generation do you belong to**? Do you feel lucky to have been born into that generation? Why?
- What is your birth order (e.g. first son, second child)? How much older and younger are your siblings? Do you feel fortunate about your birth order? Why?
- Do you have kids? If yes, what do you remember about their birth(s)? If not, would you like to have kids? Why?
- Japan has a rapidly falling birth rate and an impending population crisis. Tell me about one thing you have heard about that families, celebrities, local governments, central government, businesses or non-profits have done to encourage more births in Japan.
Question 1
I was born on August 2nd, 1979. I celebrated my fortieth birthday this year by wearing a hat shaped like a birthday cake at work all day long. It had candles on it and everything!Question 2
I was born at Flinders Medical Centre in Adelaide, South Australia. My mother and father were both thirty-one when they were blessed with a son (I mean me). I know that I was born at about one-thirty in the afternoon and that I arrived after my due date. People used to joke that I was always late, starting from my birth. I resent that, as I do not think I have a problem with punctuality at all. I am never late. Nor am I early; I arrive precisely when I mean to.Question 3
I am a Gen Xer. I feel no attachment to my demographic cohort one way or the other. I do feel lucky to be living in the world of today. There is a lot of great stuff around for us to take advantage of, like medicine and technology. I've heard many scientists describe the modern era as "the greatest time to be alive".Question 4
I am the second-born child and the only son of my parents. My sister is six years my senior, meaning every milestone I hit growing up, she had already been there ahead of me. She was a huge influence on my in my formative years. I listened to a lot of the music that she did and I spent quite a bit of time with her and her friends when I was in high school. I'm thankful for those times and experiences.Question 5
My wife and I have a daughter, and she is the light of our lives. I remember I had just started work at English-Please! when she was born. I remember that my wife was admitted to hospital a week ahead of schedule due to complications. I remember not getting a lot of sleep leading up to the date. And I remember holding my daughter soon after she was born and thinking "Things just got real".Question 6
I know that my wife and I receive a subsidy from the government for recently having a child. The amount has grown less and less over time, though I'm pretty sure we are still receiving something even now. I think "bribing" the population to have kids is potentially very dangerous. It encourages young people who are unprepared to become parents to become parents – babies having babies, essentially. I guess time will tell if this was a good idea or not. Either way, I'm still getting paid.Tough Vocabulary
| - English - | - Japanese - |
|---|---|
| all day long | 一日中 |
| blessed with a son | 息子に恵まれている |
| punctuality | 時間厳守 |
| demographic cohort | 人口統計コホート |
| one way or the other | いずれかの方法 |
| the world of today | 現代の世界 |
| six years my senior | 私より6歳年上 |
| formative years | 形成期 |
| the light of my life | 私の人生の光 |
| government subsidy | 政府補助金 |
| grown less over time | 時間とともに減少します |