CULTURAL INTERNALIZATION AND LANGUAGE IMMERSION
MLO 5 Description:
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:
JAPN 420: Maximizing Study Abroad
The following courses below were taken at Nagoya University of Foreign Studies in Nagoya, Japan:
Japanese 112: Semi-intensive Japanese Course (Level 1-2)
Kanji 902 F: Beginner Level Kanji
Japanese Studies 203: Cultural History: A Cultural History of Medicine and Diseases in Modern Japan
Japan Studies 206: Modern Japanese Culture and Art
Reflection:
While studying abroad in Japan I have realized how different the social structure is in Japan from my own country here in the United States. I learned that everything in Japan is more organized in a more stricter way. For example, I learned that when going up escalators we have to form a straight line to the right side of the escalators to leave room for the people to run up the right side of the escalators who are in a rush and when going onto buses or trains we have to form a straight line first and wait for everyone to get off the buses and trains first before getting on to be considerate of others. I learned that the Japanese culture is very structured and considerate of others.
When it came to me learning the language of the Japanese culture I learned that there are some expressions or words that are said in English that are never said in Japanese otherwise it would sound weird to the Japanese person. For example, when spending all of your time with a Japanese friend and when trying to thank them for everything that they done for you instead of telling them thank you for everything you have to say thank you for taking care of me because there is the expression in Japanese to say thank you for everything. When meeting a Japanese person for the first time we usually say please take care of me after introducing ourselves instead of saying nice to meet you. I also learned the phrase please come play with me in Japanese which means come hang out with me but in the English language it sounds weird to say please come play with me. I learned that you can never give a direct English translation into the Japanaese language.