(せいふく)

school uniform

(じゆう)

freedom, free

(えらぶ)

To choose; to select

(がっこう)

school

(ふえる)

to increase; to grow

(にほん)

Japan

(ちゅうがっこう)

middle school / junior high school

(こうこう)

high school

(いま)

now

(だんし)

male; men's

(ずぼん)

pants

(じょし)

women, female

(すかーと)

skirt

(すき)

liked, favorite

(ほう)

direction, side

(さむい)

cold

(ひ)

day

(あたたかい)

warm

(からだ)

body

(うごかす)

to operate / move

(べんり)

convenient

(そのため)

therefore; for that reason

(せいと)

student (middle/high school)

(おおい)

many

(りぼん)

ribbon (uniform tie)

(ねくたい)

necktie

(ある)

a certain (some)

(せんせい)

teacher

(じぶん)

oneself

(たいせつ)

important

(はなす)

to speak, talk

(これから)

from now on

(いけん)

opinion

(きく)

to listen, hear

(いう)

to say

potential form: can do / be able to do

選ぶ becomes 選べる, so 自由に選べる学校 means schools where students can choose freely; 選べます at the end repeats it politely.

is doing, has been doing (ongoing state/action)

Expresses a continuing action or resulting state. Formed with て-form + いる. Can describe an action in progress or a state resulting from a past change.

until / as far as

Indicates an end point in space or time. Here it expresses how far the balls flew.

can do ..., to be able to ...

Verb dictionary form + ことができる expresses ability or possibility. More formal than the potential verb form. Common in written Japanese and announcements.

when ~

Indicates the time when something happened — when he was in junior high school.

to become (い-adjective)

Expresses a change of state for い-adjectives. Drop the final い and add くなる. Indicates something has changed or will change to a new state.

nominalizer (the act of ~)

Turns verbs into nouns — changing one's awareness (意識を変えること), not over-buying (買いすぎないこと), and using leftovers well (使うこと).

want to ~

Verb stem + たい to express desire.

制服を自由に選べる学校が増える

More schools are letting students choose their uniform freely

日本の中学校や高校で、制服を自由に選べる学校が増えています。

At junior high schools and high schools in Japan, the number of schools where students can choose their uniform freely is increasing.

今までは、男子はズボン、女子はスカートでした。

Until now, boys wore trousers and girls wore skirts.

今は、男子も女子も、好きな方を選ぶことができます。

Now both boys and girls can choose whichever they like.

ズボンは寒い日に暖かいです。

Trousers are warm on cold days.

体を動かすときも便利です。

They are also convenient when you move your body.

そのため、ズボンを選ぶ女子の生徒が多くなりました。

For that reason, more female students have come to choose trousers.

リボンとネクタイも、好きな方を選べます。

As for the ribbon and the necktie too, students can choose whichever they like.

ある学校の先生は「生徒が自分で選ぶことが大切です」と話しました。

A teacher at one school said, "It is important that students choose for themselves."

学校は、これからも生徒の意見を聞きたいと言っています。

The school says it wants to keep listening to students' opinions from now on.