MLO 5: Culture Internalization & Language Immersion
Outcomes
5.1. Students demonstrate that they have actively immersed themselves in authentic Japanese cultural and linguistic environments and have internalized the language and cultural experience, from which they have developed a personal understanding and new perspectives of the community.
Courses Taken
Selected Course Work
This slideshow is a selection of photos from my contribution to the LESCANT project.
Also, see any of the course pages listed above (aside from JAPN 420) to learn more about the classes I took at the University of Kitakyushu and access evidences. |
Reflective Narrative
5.1 I was fortunate enough to pioneer the new exchange program between CSUMB and the University of Kitakyushu. I loved my experience both for the location and the classes as well as the people.
Before leaving for Japan, I made a list of goals—mostly trivial things, but I also thought about what I should do in preparation for those goals as well. Some were pretty outlandish (visit all 47 prefectures), some were expected (make friends), some were nerdy (see Detective Conan movie in theaters), and some were pretty standard (visit cat cafe, eat kaitenzushi, ride shinkansen, etc). I’m happy to say that I was able to complete 10 out of 12 goals—and even though I didn’t get to all 47 prefectures, my tally is up to 17 (including those I just passed through), so only 30 more to go! It was through my various travels that I also completed my goals of “being able to guide myself around town” and “ride the shinkansen.” I still want to travel to the remaining 30 prefectures, with the central-northern as my first priority. Hopefully I can accomplish this somehow when I return to teach English after graduation. The first main adjustment I dealt with abroad was living on my own and paying monthly bills for the first time. Even when I came to CSUMB for college, I still lived with a roommate and had everything provided for me on campus (e.g. food). However, in Japan from the start I was responsible for making sure there was money in my local account, paying the bills at combini, and making all my meals. Honestly, it wasn’t a difficult adjustment, but I did end up eating the same types of food over and over because I’m not that creative in the kitchen. I did have support for the other stuff though—mainly help setting up the local bank account and an explanation of what bills to expect (the orientation was very thorough!). Some language learning strategies that I found most helpful were taking notes in Japanese as much as possible in class, getting involved outside of class (for me, this was mainly work and club events), and simply exploring. When literally everything around you is in Japanese, it’s easy to find language-related things to learn about—even things as simple as using the ATM or ticket machine were an adventure because it’s all in Japanese! Actually meeting with my tutor was another language learning strategy that I took advantage of. By meeting with my tutor every week, I was able to converse about a variety of random things. Some culture learning strategies that I employed were listening to others and sharing my own stories as well. A major cultural learning experience for me during study abroad was being able to interact with other exchange students from a variety of other cultures, including the UK, Australia, Korea, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Both inside and outside of class, we often shared and compared cultures; questions like, “Is this the same in your country?” were often starters for interesting conversations. I usually ended up being the only American at times like that, so I would often point out that “I’m from California” and “Other parts of the United States are very different from my experiences.” I also had the opportunity to shake some stereotypes about Americans; one of the other exchange students even said that I was “the nicest American” she’d ever met (implying that the stereotype is that Americans aren’t very likeable). Overall, from this study abroad experience, I’ve felt that my language ability has improved (though not drastically by any means), which makes me even more excited to return to Japan and continue my language development. I also feel that I’ve been able to gain more authority over my knowledge of Japanese culture. For example, rather than referring to things I’ve learned second-hand in class or through media, I can recount my own first-hand experiences. I’ve already done such in my tutoring sessions when students ask “Is it really like that?” and I can give my honest opinion from experience in addition to learned materials (with the disclaimer that everyone’s experiences aren’t the same). |