Hiroshima Bomb Survivor Learned English to Tell Her Story
2023-05-20
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1Teruko Yahata is 85 years old. But she could have died as a girl.
2She was in Hiroshima, Japan on August 6, 1945, when the United States dropped an atomic bomb on the city.
3Tens of thousands of people died immediately, and thousands more suffered long-lasting injuries and sickness.
4Yahata is known as a hibakusha, or a survivor of the atomic bomb.
5People such as Yahata visit the city's memorial sites to tell people about what happened nearly 80 years ago.
6She speaks with those who come to Hiroshima to visit the Peace Memorial Museum, which was built to remember the people who died in the bombing.
7She remembers the day of the bombing.
8The sky turned "bluish white," she said, "I immediately fell to the ground and lost consciousness."
9Starting in 2013, Yahata traveled the world to tell her story.
10However, she only spoke Japanese. An interpreter, or a person who speaks English and Japanese, would tell her story for her.
11But in the following years, she started taking English lessons so she could tell the story with her own voice.
12In 2021 she was able to give her presentation in English.
13She said it was a dream to learn English so she could "communicate in my own words, my own voice" about what happened that day.
14Speaking in Japanese, she called what she saw "miserable" and "tragic."
15During her presentation, Yahata reads from a script.
16The words are hers, translated from Japanese. She practices using a voice recording made by a native English speaker.
17She has small notes on the paper to help her with the correct pronunciation.
18She is not fluent in English, but she speaks well enough so she can read the words and tell her story to people who come from all over the world.
19Denise Hickson recently visited Hiroshima and heard Yahata speak.
20"It feels very real still," she said.
21"When she speaks, she brings it like it's happening today."
22More than foreign visitors are coming to Hiroshima.
23It is the home area of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
24He is bringing world leaders there for the G7 meeting.
25Kishida is expected to bring the leaders to the Peace Memorial Museum where they will hear from survivors like Yahata.
26Yahata said she wants the leaders to work to ban nuclear weapons.
27"I don't want them to just talk about ideals or release a written resolution," she said.
28"I want them to take the first concrete step."
29I'm Dan Friedell.
1Teruko Yahata is 85 years old. But she could have died as a girl. 2She was in Hiroshima, Japan on August 6, 1945, when the United States dropped an atomic bomb on the city. 3Tens of thousands of people died immediately, and thousands more suffered long-lasting injuries and sickness. 4Yahata is known as a hibakusha, or a survivor of the atomic bomb. People such as Yahata visit the city's memorial sites to tell people about what happened nearly 80 years ago. 5She speaks with those who come to Hiroshima to visit the Peace Memorial Museum, which was built to remember the people who died in the bombing. 6She remembers the day of the bombing. The sky turned "bluish white," she said, "I immediately fell to the ground and lost consciousness." 7Starting in 2013, Yahata traveled the world to tell her story. However, she only spoke Japanese. An interpreter, or a person who speaks English and Japanese, would tell her story for her. 8But in the following years, she started taking English lessons so she could tell the story with her own voice. 9In 2021 she was able to give her presentation in English. 10She said it was a dream to learn English so she could "communicate in my own words, my own voice" about what happened that day. Speaking in Japanese, she called what she saw "miserable" and "tragic." 11During her presentation, Yahata reads from a script. The words are hers, translated from Japanese. She practices using a voice recording made by a native English speaker. She has small notes on the paper to help her with the correct pronunciation. 12She is not fluent in English, but she speaks well enough so she can read the words and tell her story to people who come from all over the world. 13Denise Hickson recently visited Hiroshima and heard Yahata speak. 14"It feels very real still," she said. "When she speaks, she brings it like it's happening today." 15More than foreign visitors are coming to Hiroshima. It is the home area of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. He is bringing world leaders there for the G7 meeting. Kishida is expected to bring the leaders to the Peace Memorial Museum where they will hear from survivors like Yahata. 16Yahata said she wants the leaders to work to ban nuclear weapons. "I don't want them to just talk about ideals or release a written resolution," she said. "I want them to take the first concrete step." 17I'm Dan Friedell. 18Dan Friedell adapted this story for Learning English based on a report by Reuters. 19__________________________________________________________________ 20Words in This Story 21consciousness -n. a state of knowing and understanding what is happening around you; being awake 22script -n. the written form of words said for a play, television show or other recorded presentation 23pronunciation -n. the way to say words in a language 24fluent -adj. able to speak a language easily 25ideals -n. (pl.) an idea that is thought to be perfect 26__________________________________________________________________ 27We want to hear from you. Have you ever visited Hiroshima? 28Here is how our comment system works: 29Each time you return to comment on the Learning English site, you can use your account and see your comments and replies to them. Our comment policy is here.