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Best Friends Discover They Are Biological Sisters After 30 Years

親友同士の女性2人が30年の時を経て実の姉妹であることが判明

#dna test#adoption#family reunion#sisters
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Two women who grew up near each other in the Netherlands and became close friends as teenagers have discovered that they are full biological sisters. Meena Geltink, now 43, and Minal Tijssen, 44, were both adopted as babies from different orphanages in Mumbai, India, in the early 1980s.

grew up near each other= 幼少期にお互いの近くで育ったことを表す表現

The two first met 30 years ago at an event hosted by their adoption agency. They immediately noticed uncanny similarities in their looks and mannerisms, including having the same laugh and nose. They stayed in touch for years by writing letters and often called each other "Sis." However, they lost contact 15 years ago after Minal moved to France and Meena had her first child.

stayed in touch= 時間をかけて連絡を取り合い続けたことを示す表現

Their relationship changed after Minal took a DNA test while visiting her parents in the Netherlands. The test showed a 100 percent match, proving that the two women share the same biological mother and father. On May 20, Minal sent a message to Meena on Facebook with a screenshot of the results, confirming the intuition they had shared for decades.

confirming the intuition= 長年抱いていた直感や予感が正しかったと証明すること

The sisters reunited in person in August for an emotional meeting filled with hugs and laughter. Today, they speak every other day, and their families have met each other. Moving forward, both sisters hope to travel together to Mumbai to visit the city where their lives began.

every other day= 1日おき(2日に1回)に発生することを表す表現

学習ノート

表現パターン

パターン意味
grew up near each other幼少期にお互いの近くで育ったことを表す表現
stayed in touch時間をかけて連絡を取り合い続けたことを示す表現
confirming the intuition長年抱いていた直感や予感が正しかったと証明すること
every other day1日おき(2日に1回)に発生することを表す表現

語彙

語意味
uncanny不思議な力が働いているような;超自然的な
mannerisms16世紀後半のヨーロッパで栄えた美術様式。空間の不自然な構成や、人体を極端に引き伸ばして描くことなどを特徴とする。
intuition直感。論理的に考えたり、十分な根拠を挙げたりすることなく、物事の本質や正しさを感じ取る力。
reunited(離れていた人や家族などを)再び一緒にする;再会させる

言語メモ

  • •英語圏では親しい友人同士が互いを "Sis"(sisterの略)と呼び合うことがあり、血縁関係がなくても深い絆を表現する愛称として使われます。
  • •養子縁組や家族の背景を語る際、「full biological sisters」という表現は異父・異母兄弟姉妹(half-siblings)と区別し、実の両親がともに同じであることを明確にします。

練習

読んだ内容を確認しましょう。

  1. On May 20, Minal sent a message to Meena on Facebook with a screenshot of the results, confirming the   they had shared for decades.

  2. How did Minal and Meena confirm that they were biological sisters?

  3. What does the pattern "grew up near each other" mean in the article?

Source: BBC World