The opportunity provided to me during this study abroad period in Kobe is a unique one that I am extremely excited to undertake. I believe that studying in Japan will enrich me in multiple ways, including improving my Japanese language skills, increasing my understanding of Japanese culture, and by providing me with experience in daily life in Japan.

As a Japanese major, the opportunity to improve my Japanese language skills were first and foremost in my mind when I decided to apply for this study abroad. I have always heard that immersion in a country where a language is primarily spoken is the best way to efficiently and naturally acquire that language through constant exposure. My ultimate career goal by majoring in Japanese is to become a Japanese/English translator and as such, I want to become as close to natively fluent as I am able to. To pursue this goal, I believe that in addition to classroom instruction, the endless exposure to the Japanese language through recreational activities, making friends, and living with my host family will be incredibly valuable. While classroom instruction is still a vital part of learning Japanese, I believe it is these numerous opportunities outside the classroom that will help me transition from “learning” the Japanese language to “living” it.

As previously mentioned, my career goal is to work as a Japanese/English translator. However, the way I decided on this career path is probably the opposite of most people’s experiences. I have wanted to learn a second language since I was young, and after working with some translators I became interested in language as a career field. It was only after deciding that I wanted to be a translator that I chose a language to learn, and as such did not have the connection to or knowledge of Japanese culture that most other students had. Even after the Japanese classes I’ve taken up to now, I still often feel that my understanding of Japanese culture is lacking compared to most of my fellow students. Due to this, I believe this study abroad will help by exposing me to various aspects of Japanese culture I have yet to learn about. Learning about Japanese culture is important to me for two primary reasons. The first reason is that I think culture is an important part of learning any language. Culture naturally feeds into a language through things like idioms, expressions, body language, and slang, and as such is necessary in truly understanding a language. The second reason is that I plan to move to Japan after graduating. As someone who has lived overseas before, I have seen many people that make the mistake of not trying to understand the culture of where they are moving to, which often leads to one feeling isolated and out of place. Because of this, I want to learn and experience as much as I can about Japanese culture in order to better prepare myself to adapt to living in Japan.

While I said that my career plan involves moving to Japan, I have not actually been to Japan before. As such, this study abroad will serve as an invaluable chance to experience what daily life in Japan is really like. While the prospect of living in Japan is very exciting, it also makes me a little nervous. Because of this, I think the study abroad program has additional value in that it provides a chance to experience what it is like to live in Japan while also having the “safety net” of the school program, program staff, host family, and a resident director from my university. Compared to the prospect of moving to Japan on my own, I believe that the study abroad will provide an extremely helpful chance to experience living in Japan in a semi-structured manner that will ultimately leave me better prepared to move there on my own after graduation.