Integrative Narrative
Throughout my time final years in high school and up until I started here at California State University Monterey Bay (CSUMB), I pondered a lot on what major I should decide on. Nothing really interested me and none of my hobbies didn't have any stable routes towards a career. After some time, I chose to become a Japanese major due to my knowledge of Korean. I knew of the rocky history between the two countries, and thought it'd be interesting if I could at any point in my life help bridge the two. In the meantime, I just wanted to gain knowledge with a third language that I had the most interest towards. I had some experience in high school with beginner Japanese classes, and retained that knowledge as I moved forward with my education.
I would say my time here at CSUMB has been a bit of a rocky one due to the COVID pandemic, however I still found it to be rewarding with the help of my professors and faculty staff. With some knowledge of Japanese already, I decided to begin in Japn 102 which started off MLO 1 to develop my comprehension skills while also taking some cultural classes at the same time. While I did struggle a lot to stay motivated in my class, I still preservered and did my best to get through each course. I've noticed that my listening skills developed amazingly. Though I was unable to go abroad, I still had the pleasure of making some friends from Japan within the exchange program, and they helped my writing skills a lot. We also exchanged what American's and Japanese people would do in different situations and discuss what we liked better from the other country. This further enhanced what I learned from my MLO 2 courses.
I think my most challenging courses must've been JAPN 311, as that was the start of a more extensive reach into MLO 4. Having to find credible sources for my research paper was definitely a challenge especially when I found that my kanji knowledge seemed very weak when looking at academic Japanese papers. To further my fluency, I would like to be get my grammar structures down as well as learning more kanji. If not being able to write it, at the very least being able to recognize more. This will definitely help me achieve a level of fluency I'd at the very least be satisfied with.
I've definitely seen a lot of growth in myself not with just language, but as a person in general. I feel that the compassion felt here at CSUMB enabled me to put myself out there more by making more friends at this school and from the Japanese schools. I was also able to participate in events and help others through collaborative work to enhance each others skills. I feel that these these skills I've learned ranging from socially to academically are definitely ones I wouldn't have been able to learn outside of this school.
Though I am excited to start the next chapter in my life, I plan on continuing and expanding my knowledge to help others as I learned from my time in service learning. I hope to be able to apply everything my professors have taught me when I become a teacher within the JET program.
I would say my time here at CSUMB has been a bit of a rocky one due to the COVID pandemic, however I still found it to be rewarding with the help of my professors and faculty staff. With some knowledge of Japanese already, I decided to begin in Japn 102 which started off MLO 1 to develop my comprehension skills while also taking some cultural classes at the same time. While I did struggle a lot to stay motivated in my class, I still preservered and did my best to get through each course. I've noticed that my listening skills developed amazingly. Though I was unable to go abroad, I still had the pleasure of making some friends from Japan within the exchange program, and they helped my writing skills a lot. We also exchanged what American's and Japanese people would do in different situations and discuss what we liked better from the other country. This further enhanced what I learned from my MLO 2 courses.
I think my most challenging courses must've been JAPN 311, as that was the start of a more extensive reach into MLO 4. Having to find credible sources for my research paper was definitely a challenge especially when I found that my kanji knowledge seemed very weak when looking at academic Japanese papers. To further my fluency, I would like to be get my grammar structures down as well as learning more kanji. If not being able to write it, at the very least being able to recognize more. This will definitely help me achieve a level of fluency I'd at the very least be satisfied with.
I've definitely seen a lot of growth in myself not with just language, but as a person in general. I feel that the compassion felt here at CSUMB enabled me to put myself out there more by making more friends at this school and from the Japanese schools. I was also able to participate in events and help others through collaborative work to enhance each others skills. I feel that these these skills I've learned ranging from socially to academically are definitely ones I wouldn't have been able to learn outside of this school.
Though I am excited to start the next chapter in my life, I plan on continuing and expanding my knowledge to help others as I learned from my time in service learning. I hope to be able to apply everything my professors have taught me when I become a teacher within the JET program.