[Translation from Japanese to English ] I have been asked "If you gained the ability to speak English, what would you...

Original Text / Japanese

「もし英語が話せるようになったら、何をしたい？」と聞かれることがある。
この質問に対して、「海外旅行に行きたい」と答える人が多い気がする。
実は観光が目的の海外旅行に、英語力はほとんど必要ない。
今まで色々な国に旅行したことがあるけど、英語が通じないどころか、文字が全く読めないギリシアに行った時も全く不自由せずに旅行できた。
もし英語が話せるのなら、やはり世界中の人がどんなことを考えているのかを聞いてみたい。日本人とは全く違う考え方をする人が世界にはたくさんいるはずだ。

Translation / English

I have been asked "If you gained the ability to speak English, what would you like to do?"
I think many people's answer to this question is "I would like to travel overseas."
In reality, when traveling overseas with the purpose of sightseeing, the ability to speak English is almost not necessary.
I have been to various countries, but there no problem traveling in Greece, where you cannot converse in English, and I could not even read any Greek.
If I could speak English, I would like to ask people all over the world what thoughts they have.
I'm sure there are many people around the world who think in ways that are completely different from Japanese.

Translation / English

Sometime people ask me "what would you like to do if you could speak English?".
I fell like that lots of people answer the question like this "I want to travel abroad".
In fact over sea travels don't need much English if the purpose is just sight seeing.
I've been traveled many countries but I had no problem even when I went to Greek where English isn't spoken and letters are not legible to me .
If I could speak English, I wish I could ask people all over the world what they think about.
I bet many people are out there who think totally differently from Japanese do.

english_japanese- about 14 years ago
@hirolog thank you.

Translation / English

People often ask me, “What would you do if you speak English?” I think there are many people answer the question by saying, “I would like to go travelling abroad.” But in fact you do not need much English ability to do sightseeing abroad. I have made trips to many countries so far, and I had no trouble even when I went to Greece, where not only people did not understand my poor English but also I do not read Greek at all.
If I could speak English, I would love to hear what the people around the world are thinking about. There must be many people who have totally different ideas from the Japanese.

Translation / English

I have been asked, “If you become able to speak English, what do you want to do with it?” To this question, there are many people who answer, “I want to go traveling overseas.” In truth, in order to travel overseas, there’s almost no need to be proficient in English. Up until now, I have traveled to many countries, but in places where English isn’t understood, or when I went to Greece, where I can’t understand the writing at all, I was able to travel without any trouble. If I become able to speak English, I want to ask what the people of the world are thinking about. I expect that there are many people around the world whose way of thinking is completely different from that of Japanese people.

yukue- about 14 years ago
Thank you!@hirolog