Integrated Narrative
I decided to major in Japanese language and culture in the hopes of being able to better understand and communicate with the world around me. We all have unprecedented access to people from all over the globe and I wanted to be able to develop the skills necessary to be apart of an international community that shares knowledge and wants to cooperate peacefully. I also chose this major because I have always greatly enjoyed learning languages and learning about cultures different from mine. A large part of this has come from my love of reading and my desire to read in languages other than English as well as have the culture knowledge necessary to better understand the cultural aspects of the literature. This became a skill set that I was able to develop in Japanese in Japn 402, which was a literature class that helped me to not only learn about something I am passionate about but also gave me the ability to further develop my language skills and met MLO 1. Through my four years as a Japanese major I have been able to take courses in a variety of subjects that all intersect with Japanese language and culture. This ability to become educated in a variety of topics while also keeping a common lens to see them from was a tool that became increasingly useful as I developed a world view that was vastly different from the one that I entered college with. Being able to take the Span 309 course and meet MLO 3 which deals with secondary culture also allowed me to begin to see how different issues overlap throughout cultures but also learn about different histories and increase my exposure to different world views.
I have met a variety of people from all over Japan and been able to have conversations about their life that I would have never though to have had if I had not been exposed to so many aspects of Japanese culture. This was especially true in the service learning course because I discussed a variety of issues with several Japanese exchange students, we spent a great deal of time together and discussed their lives in Japan. We also had to work together to create language and culture lessons for the students we taught and understanding how they see not only Japanese language and culture but also how they believe that students should be taught was very insightful. My language skills also allow me a unique ability to communicate with them in a way that is more comfortable for them and allows for me to get a better understanding of their views than I would if they communicated it in English. My ability to communicate with people from another country also played a large role in my ability to see the world in ways that I had not previously been able to. In a similar way I was able to use the community project which met MLO 5 in order to better understand how Japanese people communicate ideas that they have about themselves and their families and how these word choices show a cultural difference from the U.S. This project allowed for me to better understand informal Japanese which I am not often exposed to but also to psychological terms that are unique to Japan but cross cultural boundaries and are ultimately seen among most families. Learning Japanese has given me the opportunity to see the world through so many others eyes and develop a stronger and more passionate position on issues that I hope to change.
This has developed in to my goal of being a professor. I feel that professors have a special position in peoples lives and have the freedom to teach about topics that would not normally be covered in other forms of education. I hope to use my language skills and my exposure to Japanese culture as a tool in broadening my future students views and allow for a cross-cultural understanding of social issues. I learned this skill during my Japn 311 experience as the class gave me a variety of social issues to learn about while also helping me meet MLO 2 by developing an understanding of Japanese culture and it's intersection with social issues. This course was also extremely helpful in my future research and was already helpful in my development of the capstone project topic and having a base understanding from which I could begin my research. I used the capstone project as a way to develop a deeper understanding of women's movements in Japanese society and how these movements have impacted young people. The course allowed for me to expand my knowledge of the Japanese language and through my exposure to Japanese books as well as scholarly articles. This exposure helped me expand my vocabulary and develop an understanding of grammar structures that would needed to write a college level paper in Japanese. The course was very helpful in my ability to academically present complex ideas in Japanese as well as aided in my understanding of how to conduct research in Japanese as well as finding and using Japanese sources. My research also was very helpful for deepening my understanding of Japanese society and culture. I discussed my project in depth with many Japanese exchange students and this was a great way to understand better how women's movements impact daily life in Japan. I gained a much deeper appreciation for Japanese social movements and the Japanese language as a result of my capstone project. I hope to use the skills learned in Japn 404 and the skills picked up in meeting MLO 4 will allow me to teach abroad in Japan and be able to use technology to better communicate the ideas that I have learned. These technological skills that I have developed will also allow for me to be better equipped to be a successful professor and be more adaptive to a variety of techniques.
I have met a variety of people from all over Japan and been able to have conversations about their life that I would have never though to have had if I had not been exposed to so many aspects of Japanese culture. This was especially true in the service learning course because I discussed a variety of issues with several Japanese exchange students, we spent a great deal of time together and discussed their lives in Japan. We also had to work together to create language and culture lessons for the students we taught and understanding how they see not only Japanese language and culture but also how they believe that students should be taught was very insightful. My language skills also allow me a unique ability to communicate with them in a way that is more comfortable for them and allows for me to get a better understanding of their views than I would if they communicated it in English. My ability to communicate with people from another country also played a large role in my ability to see the world in ways that I had not previously been able to. In a similar way I was able to use the community project which met MLO 5 in order to better understand how Japanese people communicate ideas that they have about themselves and their families and how these word choices show a cultural difference from the U.S. This project allowed for me to better understand informal Japanese which I am not often exposed to but also to psychological terms that are unique to Japan but cross cultural boundaries and are ultimately seen among most families. Learning Japanese has given me the opportunity to see the world through so many others eyes and develop a stronger and more passionate position on issues that I hope to change.
This has developed in to my goal of being a professor. I feel that professors have a special position in peoples lives and have the freedom to teach about topics that would not normally be covered in other forms of education. I hope to use my language skills and my exposure to Japanese culture as a tool in broadening my future students views and allow for a cross-cultural understanding of social issues. I learned this skill during my Japn 311 experience as the class gave me a variety of social issues to learn about while also helping me meet MLO 2 by developing an understanding of Japanese culture and it's intersection with social issues. This course was also extremely helpful in my future research and was already helpful in my development of the capstone project topic and having a base understanding from which I could begin my research. I used the capstone project as a way to develop a deeper understanding of women's movements in Japanese society and how these movements have impacted young people. The course allowed for me to expand my knowledge of the Japanese language and through my exposure to Japanese books as well as scholarly articles. This exposure helped me expand my vocabulary and develop an understanding of grammar structures that would needed to write a college level paper in Japanese. The course was very helpful in my ability to academically present complex ideas in Japanese as well as aided in my understanding of how to conduct research in Japanese as well as finding and using Japanese sources. My research also was very helpful for deepening my understanding of Japanese society and culture. I discussed my project in depth with many Japanese exchange students and this was a great way to understand better how women's movements impact daily life in Japan. I gained a much deeper appreciation for Japanese social movements and the Japanese language as a result of my capstone project. I hope to use the skills learned in Japn 404 and the skills picked up in meeting MLO 4 will allow me to teach abroad in Japan and be able to use technology to better communicate the ideas that I have learned. These technological skills that I have developed will also allow for me to be better equipped to be a successful professor and be more adaptive to a variety of techniques.