実践ビジネス英語 ディクテーション (2/14, 15)
NHKラジオ「実践ビジネス英語」”Talk the Talk”のディクテーションです。 Lesson 21のテーマは、’Aging Together’（共に老いる）でした。アメリカではミレニアル世代の600万人以上が親や義理の親、祖父母を介護しているそうです。Vignetteでは、いわゆる「老老介護」が介護者に与えるさまざまな影響などが話題になりました。今回のvignetteとTalk the Talkに似た昨年のNYTの記事があり、そちらも読みごたえがありました。
Aging Together
（S: 杉田敏先生 H: Heather Howardさん）
S: In our current vignette Steve Lyons talks about how his 65-year-old sister has moved in with their 90-year-old mother to take care of her.
Your parents are in their seventies now, right, Heather?
H: They are. My parents were both very young when I was born: just 23 and 24, I believe.
So as I approach fifty (Ugh!) they are coming up on their mid-seventies.
My father remains active physically though, as I mentioned in an earlier conversation, he has had some heart trouble in recent years.
My mother, unfortunately, isn’t able to get around much these days, but she uses her computer to stay in touch with people and pursue different projects.
They don’t live together, I should clarify, they divorced back when I was eight years old.
S: Living in Japan as you do, is moving back home to take care of your parents an option for you?
H: That would be pretty much impossible, to be honest.
My life is here, from the majority of my friends and family to all my sources of income.
I’d have to completely upend my life to go back to the States.
I don’t think it could be done, frankly, and my parents don’t expect it, either.
We’ve talked about various options for what they’ll do when they need regular care and such, but never once have they asked me to consider going back.
S: In Japan, aging together is sometimes called “roro kaigo.”
Old people having to care for an elderly spouse, sibling or parent is a real serious problem here.
As you know, more than a quarter of the population in Japan is 65 or older, which makes this the most aged society in the world.
In the old days when we lived in big families, there was always a relative who would take care of an aging parent.
But that’s not the case anymore, as we have nuclear families and there are fewer children.
H: That’s very true.
You know, it’s wonderful that people are living longer in today’s modern world.
I like to read history, and it always strikes me how so many people used to die relatively young.
Today, if we hear that someone has passed away at the age of 65, for example, I think our first reaction is often to be surprised, to say “What? Why? What happened?” And yet while it’s great that parents and siblings and such tend to be with us for many more years than they used to, that also brings new issues that we have to deal with.
S: Right. Many late-in-life caregivers suffer from their own failing health, which can worsen with the stress, physical tasks and isolation that often accompany caregiving.
And the financial picture can become dire, too.
H: I can easily imagine that I can already feel myself slowing down at almost fifty.
I get tired so much more easily than I used to.
Sometimes keeping up with my seven-year-old daughter is just exhausting.
And after a full day of work and/or child-rearing I just want to collapse in the bed.
So it’s hard to think how I could manage, 15 or 20 years from now, caring for an elderly relative who could do far less for themselves than my daughter can.
That’s a daunting prospect and society needs to do everything it can to help caregivers in that position.
Words and Expressions
upend : ひっくり返す
sibling: きょうだい
nuclear family: 核家族
お疲れ様でした。
お読み下さり、ありがとうございました♪
