1. Reflect on your language learning and acculturation during your SLA Grant experience.
This Japanese summer language program experience really exceeded my expectation. In as short as six weeks, I can say I learned even more than one year of language skills in America. Before the program began, my goal was to acquire basic communication skills so that I can travel through Japan by myself confidently. Through daily classes and lots of small trips on weekends, I not only learned how to buy things, order food and ask for directions, but also tried to do some small conversations with local people. For instance, I visited a Japanese architect who graduated from ND long ago and chatted with him about his working experiences in Japan and his memory of ND architecture school. I also talked to some artists while I was visited art galleries in Ginza. My courage of talking in Japanese is accumulated through conversation practices in class and chatting with professors during tutorial sessions every week. Japanese people I met were all very kind and patient, and it felt good to be treated with smiles. I think I am also kind of influenced by the Japanese culture of being polite that my parents also find me talking more gently after I returned.
2. Reflect on your SLA Grant experience overall
Thanks to the SLA Grant, I was able to fully engage in my language experience. Although at first I thought the required tasks in SLA blogs was a burden, I soon found out that it helped me enjoy my program more. There were lots of Chinese students in the same program as me and it was easy for me to stay in the small friend circle. However, the interesting tasks made by SLA Grant pushed me forward to make Japanese friends and immerse myself in the Japanese culture. I actively participated in the cultural programs and conversation tables offered by my university in Japan after class and got to know many local and traditional beauties of Japan. I highly recommend my fellow ND students to apply to SLA Grant and try a summer language program. Studying language in the target country is a lot more fun because you can see your progress everyday while using the new language skills.
3. How do you plan to use your language and intercultural competences in the future?
I started learning Japanese as an interest outside of university requirement, and I will keep this interest in the future. Since my major is architecture and there are many Japanese architects whose styles I admire, I am planning to go back to Japan on either personal travels or other interesting program opportunities. The Japanese culture also gives me many artistic inspirations. I will keep learning Japanese language classes and literature classes when I return to ND campus. I will also actively participate in Japanese related activities in ND. In the future, I wish to make more Japanese friends and find any internship collaborating with Japanese firms.