Uma Musume: From Being Knocked Ten Meters Away

Chapter 619 A Different Way of Learning

Thinking of this, Yasui Makoto nodded:
"I think I understand... How about this, let's try a simple one first to understand your current situation."

He switched to English, speaking slowly and clearly, and asked:
"Xiao Bei, can you tell me what your favorite training activity is? Please describe it briefly in English."

Caught off guard by the sudden question, Beifang Xuanju paused, blinked nervously, and frantically searched his mind for words, attempting to piece together a sentence in fits and starts:
"I...I like...morning...running? In the...park. The air is...good."
Yamato Akaki also became interested and asked a follow-up question in English:
"What about the weather? Do you prefer sunny days or rainy days for training?"

Yamato Akaki speaks quite fast, and Kita Genko struggles to understand him. He catches the keywords "weather" and "training," but doesn't quite understand the whole sentence.

She looked to Yasui Makoto for help.

Yasui Makoto repeated the question in Japanese: "She's asking you whether you prefer sunny or rainy days during training."

"Oh! Sunny!"

Kita Genko blurted out the answer almost without thinking, then smiled sheepishly and quietly added in Japanese:
"Because... the track gets slippery when it rains..."

Yasui Makoto and Yamato Akaki both smiled.

After gaining a more intuitive understanding of Genkobuki's current foreign language proficiency, Makoto Yasui nodded thoughtfully.

His gaze fell on the shoulders of the Northern Black Horse, which were slightly tense due to nervousness. He pondered for a moment, and then a flash of inspiration suddenly appeared in his mind.

He recalled that the Northern Black Horse came from a musical family and had been exposed to music since childhood, possessing a natural sensitivity and outstanding talent for melody and rhythm.

This may be the breakthrough point.

"Xiao Bei," he asked after a moment's thought, "when you relax lately, do you still listen to those festival music? Or do you hum anything to yourself?"

"Eh?"

Northern Black Horse was taken aback, looked up, and didn't understand why the trainer had suddenly asked this question:
"Ah...yes, it does. When I'm running or resting, listening to rhythmic music makes me feel more relaxed...and when I'm happy, I'll unconsciously hum a tune."

Yasui Makoto nodded, a knowing glint in his eyes:

“I think I understand. In that case... perhaps we can try a different approach that suits you better, instead of having you memorize textbooks and vocabulary lists by rote.”

"Another way?" Northern Black Horse blinked curiously.

“Use your sensitivity to melody and rhythm to learn a foreign language by singing foreign language songs.”

Yasui Makoto explained:

"Music itself can help with memory, and the repetitive sections and rhyming patterns of songs are also very suitable for mastering pronunciation and intonation."

What do you think of this approach?

This suggestion initially surprised Beifang Xuanju, but then he suddenly understood, and his eyes lit up instantly.

Yes! If it's singing, that's something she's familiar with and good at, so it doesn't seem that intimidating!
"Yes, that's a good idea."

Yamato Akaki, standing beside him, nodded in agreement.

"I remember when I was in school, in order to master complex medical English terminology, I also tried to turn some difficult-to-remember content into simple songs to help me remember it."

“When Vodka went to study in Europe, she also complained to me about the language problem, and I gave her the same advice.”

"My music is definitely fine!"

Northern Black Steed's confidence returned instantly, his voice brimming with energy, but then he scratched his head a little sheepishly:
"But... how come I didn't think of such a simple method? I should have asked you, Ah Zhen, from the beginning."

Yasui Shin smiled but didn't say anything, while Yamato Akaki said with a smile: "Well... because 'learning' and 'teaching' are two different things."

"Furthermore, when Satomi and her classmates tutor you, they may be using their own familiar and effective study methods."

"Especially the Satomi sisters, who come from wealthy families, likely hired professional foreign language tutors for systematic learning at a very young age, probably in a manner similar to traditional elite education like that of Megumi McQueen."

"As for your predecessors..."

As she said this, a slightly amused expression appeared on her face:
"Suzuka-senpai, Kusa-senpai, and Seio-senpai are fine; they are all top students with strong learning abilities, but they probably didn't immediately connect it to the trick of music."

"As for Senior Little Te and Ah Chuan..."

Yamato Akame shook his head:

"forget it.

"Back then, Suzuka-senpai, Kusa-senpai, and I had a lot to worry about with their homework. Even so, they still failed and had to retake the exam."

"As a result, I was misled by my senior, Fukuro Okabe, during the make-up exam. I didn't study properly and made an 'answer pencil' to decide the options by throwing the pencil. In the end, I failed the make-up exam as well."

"As for what Ah Chuan said... just take it as a passing breeze."

"She is actually very smart, but... most of the time, you have no idea what she is thinking."

Upon hearing the new anecdotes about their studies, Beibu Xuanju found them both interesting and heartwarming, and couldn't help but laugh, completely dispelling his previous sense of frustration.

With a plan in mind, the three quickly got to work.

Yasui Makoto and Yamato Akaki quickly selected some upbeat English songs with simple lyrics on the computer as their first lessons.

Meanwhile, Beifang Xuanju's musical talent was on full display. She could hum along accurately after only one or two repetitions, and her pronunciation was quite good.

"Impressive..." Yamato Akaki watched as Kita Genko quickly got into the zone and nodded gently in rhythm, and couldn't help but murmur his admiration.

Yasui Makoto's eyes also revealed amazement and satisfaction.

After thinking for a moment, he found a few more songs with slightly more complex lyrics and a faster tempo, as well as one or two simple folk songs in other languages.

Northern Xuanju can still quickly grasp the core of the melody. Although she can't immediately keep up with the complex lyrics, her innate ability to control music makes her feel like a fish in water in this learning process.

Seeing that Kita Genko was able to grasp the melody and pronunciation so quickly after only a few attempts, Yasui Makoto and Yamato Akaki exchanged a glance, both seeing surprise and relief in each other's eyes.

"It seems that this direction is feasible."

As Yasui Makoto spoke, he organized the list of songs he had just selected that were suitable for beginners and copied them into a USB drive.

He deftly ejected the USB drive, turned and handed it to Beifang Xuanju, his tone gentle yet firm:
"Let's start here and familiarize ourselves with the melodies and basic pronunciations of these songs. If you have any questions, feel free to come to me or Yamato."

Yamato Akaki smiled and encouraged him, "That's right, the language environment is very important. We can chat in simple English or French later, and you'll get used to it gradually."

Northern Black Horse stretched out his hands and solemnly accepted the small USB drive, as if it were some precious secret manual.

She gripped the USB drive tightly, nodded emphatically, her face radiant with the light of having found the right method, and her voice filled with eager energy and determination:

"Yes! Thank you, trainer! Thank you, Yamato-senpai! I will definitely practice hard!"

(End of this chapter)