I was not ready. Work made English necessary.

A first step into an English career
英語が先ではなく、仕事が先だった

Transcript

1. ENGINEER ENGLISH CAREER MEETUP #2 — STEP ONE I was not ready. Work made English necessary. A first step into an English career 英語が先ではなく、仕事が先だった Tetsunori "Teppan" Matsubara, Bring Out 1 / 13 #DevEnglishJP
2. SELF-INTRODUCTION 自己紹介 / ABOUT ME Tetsunori “Teppan” Matsubara Sun → Microsoft → Amazon/AWS → Money Forward → Bring Out 英語が苦手な、普通の日本人エンジニアでした 35+ years building software, across the US, Japan, and Vietnam. Now: CTO at Bring Out — an AI Transformation (AX) firm. 現場の対話に埋もれた一次情報をAIで構造化し、経営の意思決定基盤に変える会社です
3. PART 1 — THE MESSAGE MY TAKEAWAY, UP FRONT Do not wait for perfect English 完璧な英語を待たない Start from your engineering skill. Find a real reason to use English. Repeat it in real work.
4. PART 2 — THE STORY WHERE I STARTED I did not start as a global engineer 最初からグローバルを目指していたわけではなかった Born and raised in Japan No passport TOEIC 660 No clear plan to work abroad
5. PART 2 — THE STORY THE FIRST CHANCE My English was weak. My work gave me a chance. 技術の信頼が、先にチャンスを作った I kept saying, "I want to try the US." My technical work created trust. The chance came before my English was ready.
6. PART 2 — THE STORY PALO ALTO, 1993 I jumped in before I was ready 準備不足のまま、現場に入った Sun HQ “PAL-1” · Palo Alto, 1993 I could not follow many conversations. No smartphone. No translation app. No Zoom. Some days, I cried at my desk. But the work did not wait.
7. PART 2 — THE STORY WHAT REALLY WORKED A daily 30-minute call 30 min. Every day. Voice only. California · Hong Kong · Japan — the same real project, on the phone. 毎日30分、声だけの実務英語 Same project, same people, real context — not small talk. Listen hard, speak badly, repeat.
8. PART 2 — THE STORY ABOUT TOEIC TOEIC was not my training — it was a result 660 → 825 → 950 I never studied for TOEIC. Real work trained my ears and mouth — the score just followed. 点数は目的ではなく、結果だった
9. PART 2 — THE STORY MY SIMPLE FORMULA The pattern was simple Skill → Trust → Chances → Real work → English Skill creates trust. Trust creates chances. Real work creates context. Repetition builds the English. 技術 -> 信頼 -> チャンス -> 文脈 -> 英語
10. PART 2 — THE STORY THE PATTERN REPEATED The same pattern worked again 場所が変わっても、型は同じ Microsoft: worked with a Texas team Amazon: worked with global teams Money Forward: led a Hanoi team in English Skill and trust came first — then English became necessary.
11. PART 3 — YOUR TURN FOR YOUR GENERATION Today, you have more tools 道具は増えた。でも手を挙げるのは自分 AI can help you prepare and check your English. Remote work and global peers are within reach. But the tools won't raise your hand for you.
12. PART 3 — YOUR TURN THREE SMALL STEPS Start small — starting is enough 1 Ask one question in English. まず英語で1つ質問する 2 Discuss one real work problem — better, with a non-Japanese mentor. 雑談ではなく、実務の課題を英語で相談する 3 Move closer to English work. Even abroad, if you can. より英語が必要な場へ近づく。できれば海外を狙う
13. THANK YOU Start before you're ready. The English will follow the work. 準備不足でも始める。英語は仕事についてくる。 Teppan, Bring Out We're hiring! Scan for open roles hrmos.co/pages/bringout/jobs — Bring Out で一緒に働く仲間を募集中