I selected Japanese as my major as part of a life-long desire to learn it. From playing Pokemon and watching anime as a child, to playing Pokemon and watching anime as an adult, I had always held the desire to enjoy these things in their own language. My strong respect for the country and people of Japan only grew as my interests did, and whether it was cars, books, technology, games, folklore, food or whatever, my interests always lead me back to Japan.
Starting at CSUMB, I dived headlong into my classes, first focusing on MLO 2 through my Japanese Literature and Japanese Cinema classes. I quickly learned many new and surprising things about the land and the culture. Many things I had thought to be true were proven false, and much new information filled my mind. At the same time as I was learning about the culture, I was also learning the language.
At the same time, I started my work on learning the Japanese language itself. Starting with Japanese 201, then 300, 302 and finally 401, I learned quite a bit about the language, in order to fulfill MLO 1.
Japanese has always come slow to me, which is frustrating because when I was in high-school, I learned Spanish without desire or effort. It didn't seem fair that the language I wanted to learn was one of the harder ones to achieve basic fluency in. I kept surrounding myself with Japanese books, each day trying to read them, and each day failing...but I kept going.
Now that I am graduating, I pick up those old books, and for the first time, they are starting to make sense. I know now that with the groundwork I have built at CSUMB, I have the ability to self-start and continue my learning. One day, soon, those books will be within my grasp.
Studying abroad in Japan was one of the most exiting things I have ever done, and completely re-enforced my desire to learn Japanese. I had considered moving to Japan after I graduated, but once I spent a semester in Nagoya, fulfilling MLO 5, I knew beyond a doubt that I wanted to stay.
Japanese is not the only thing I learned at CSUMB. Through my Global Lituratures GWAR class, and my secondary culture (MLO 3) History and Politics of Latin America class, I learned about parts of the world I had been ignorant about previously. I feel as though these classes were even more important to who I am than my Japanese culture courses, because they allowed me to see the world through the eyes of non-western, and unaligned cultures. These classes helped me step outside of my own culture, so as to understand better the entirety of the world.
My final semester at CSUMB was spent fulfilling MLO 4, through the WLC 400 and JAPN 404 Capstone and Presentational speaking classes. These classes were very difficult, but through them I learned a tremendous amount about giving presentations, and the technology used to do it.
Although my degree is done, I have no desire to stop learning. I look forward to where the future will take me.
Starting at CSUMB, I dived headlong into my classes, first focusing on MLO 2 through my Japanese Literature and Japanese Cinema classes. I quickly learned many new and surprising things about the land and the culture. Many things I had thought to be true were proven false, and much new information filled my mind. At the same time as I was learning about the culture, I was also learning the language.
At the same time, I started my work on learning the Japanese language itself. Starting with Japanese 201, then 300, 302 and finally 401, I learned quite a bit about the language, in order to fulfill MLO 1.
Japanese has always come slow to me, which is frustrating because when I was in high-school, I learned Spanish without desire or effort. It didn't seem fair that the language I wanted to learn was one of the harder ones to achieve basic fluency in. I kept surrounding myself with Japanese books, each day trying to read them, and each day failing...but I kept going.
Now that I am graduating, I pick up those old books, and for the first time, they are starting to make sense. I know now that with the groundwork I have built at CSUMB, I have the ability to self-start and continue my learning. One day, soon, those books will be within my grasp.
Studying abroad in Japan was one of the most exiting things I have ever done, and completely re-enforced my desire to learn Japanese. I had considered moving to Japan after I graduated, but once I spent a semester in Nagoya, fulfilling MLO 5, I knew beyond a doubt that I wanted to stay.
Japanese is not the only thing I learned at CSUMB. Through my Global Lituratures GWAR class, and my secondary culture (MLO 3) History and Politics of Latin America class, I learned about parts of the world I had been ignorant about previously. I feel as though these classes were even more important to who I am than my Japanese culture courses, because they allowed me to see the world through the eyes of non-western, and unaligned cultures. These classes helped me step outside of my own culture, so as to understand better the entirety of the world.
My final semester at CSUMB was spent fulfilling MLO 4, through the WLC 400 and JAPN 404 Capstone and Presentational speaking classes. These classes were very difficult, but through them I learned a tremendous amount about giving presentations, and the technology used to do it.
Although my degree is done, I have no desire to stop learning. I look forward to where the future will take me.