日本人が化学英語を聞いたり話したりする際の障害の一つは単語の発音とアクセントである。カタカナで教科書に書かれた化合物名などの和製英語の発音が、若い時にまず頭に入るためにその後の改良は難しい。英語で苦労した私の頭に多くの例がすぐ浮かぶ。留学中に薬品倉庫の試薬係にUreaやSulfuric acidを理解してもらえなかった経験がある。メチル、エチルをアメリカ人にわかるように発音できない。KetoneやBenzeneもｅの発音が曲者だ。Xyleneとキシレンでは大違いだ。ブタジエンもかなり難しい。また日本人にはｒとｌの区別がつかない。RelativeやParallelなどｒとｌとが混在した単語の正しい発音は不可能に近いと思う。こんな例をあげたらきりが無い。つくづく日本人は英語の発音で損をしていると痛感する。しかし努力をしないとさらに大きく損をする。

　このような日本人固有の困難と悩みを自覚して、その克服のため福山教授がたいへんな努力をされ、化学英語の正しい発音を実際に聞いて学べるようにまとめられたのが本ソフトである。折角こんないいものが出版されたのだから、学生も研究者も座右において必要に応じ、何度も何度も繰り返し聞いて欲しい。WittigやLeucineのような人名、試薬名,さらにEquilibriumなどの発音に自信が持てない多くの研究者に本ソフトはよく答えてくれる。他に類のないユニークな内容の本ソフトを、有機化学専攻の学生に早期に聞かせて、メチルとMethylやケトンとKetoneとは違うのだということを実感させるのがよい。米国生活２２年の福山教授でさえ英語は苦手とのべておられる。ましてや長期の外国滞在の経験はないが、国際的集会で英語で講演し外国人との交際が必須と自覚している研究者は、謙虚な気持ちで本ソフトから正しい発音を学んでほしい。

　有機合成化学協会の出版物としてふさわしい本ソフトを編纂された福山教授の先覚的、啓蒙教育的努力に感謝したい。

　　2007年1月

出版委員会委員長
辻二郎

There are many reasons why I decided to do post-doctorial research in Japan, foremost of which was to do natural product synthesis under the guidance of Prof. Fukuyama. So far, it has been a tremendous academic experience and I admire Prof. Fukuyama's commitment to educate aspiring chemists and to conduct research with the highest of standards. In the same vein, it was sometime near the completion of my first year in Japan when Prof. Fukuyama described his vision for the Interactive English Learning program, and with it, his ambition to help organic chemists across Japan, communicate in the international language of English.

Cutting edge research can be exciting and extremely rewarding, but no matter how much time or money you spend on research, its true value is not fully realized until it is disseminated to the broader scientific community. Today, it is clear that English is the language for scientific discourse. Not only is this the case for the majority of scientific journals, but journals with the greatest impact on their targeted audience, and consequently, the most sought out by authors and readers alike, are written in English. Similarly, presentations at international conferences are in English, even if none of the attendees are native English speakers themselves. And even though oral presentations are less frequent than reading or writing an article, they carry considerable weight and reflect heavily on both you and your research. All mistakes and mispronunciations - even if you instantaneously correct yourself - stick with the audience, and unfortunately, can be the most memorable parts of your presentation. Herein lies the goal of the Interactive English Learning program, to improve your pronunciation of terms, phrases, reactions, and names commonly associated with modern organic chemistry. Apart from acting as a resource, I hope that this program will promote scientific exchange in conferences and the like, and even allay any hesitations that you may have for traveling abroad to conduct scientific research.

I have tried to be accurate with my pronunciations, but maybe you will find other native English speakers pronounce words differently, such as the distinct differences between the British and North American accents, or even between the different regions within the United States. Lastly, I apologize in advance if I have mispronounced a term or proper name, and request that you email any comments or suggestions so as to improve the utility and accuracy of the program for subsequent versions. "Ganbatte!"

Aditya Unni was born in New Delhi, India, but soon thereafter immigrated with his family to the United States, where he was raised and educated in the Midwestern state of Minnesota. He completed his Ph.D. in chemistry in 2005 under the direction of Prof. Viresh H. Rawal at the University of Chicago, and in the summer of 2005 he started his current position as a Japan Society for the Promotion of Science post-doctorial research fellow in the laboratory of Prof. Tohru Fukuyama at the University of Tokyo.

My respect and encouragement to all users of Professor Fukuyama's software. Organic chemistry is a wonderfully complex and challenging subject, the study of which will reward you in many ways. Modern chemistry evolved from alchemy during the Age of Enlightenment in Europe and America, so much of its early terminology originated in different languages. As chemistry matured, many Latin, German and French words were incorporated or anglicized, resulting in the international language now used by most scientists. The glossary and pronunciation guides offered here are a uniquely valuable resource for every serious student.

Professor Fukuyama has chosen to use my Virtual Textbook for many examples. I thank him for this accolade, and I hope that you will find my presentations as useful and informative as I found pleasure in creating them. Please let me know if you find errors or have suggestions for improvement.

William Reusch
Professor Emeritus
Michigan State University