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2017 JLP FOR SPECIALISTS REPORTSEPTEMBER, 2017: BREEZE ISSUE #119
A FREE MONTHLY E-NEWSLETTER FOR FRIENDS OF JAPAN & TEACHERS OFJAPANESE

2017 JAPANESE LANGUAGE
PROGRAM FOR SPECIALISTSIN CULTURAL AND ACADEMIC
FIELDS (SHORT-TERM)BY KAREN TSAI
University of California, Santa Barbara
The two months I spent in the Japan Foundation’s Japanese
language program for specialists was a truly invaluable
experience. As a graduate student in linguistics at theUniversity of California, Santa Barbara, I research the Kansai
dialect of Japanese. Being presented with such an
opportunity to study advanced Japanese geared towards
researchers is very rare, and I am extremely grateful to haveparticipated in a program so ideally suited to my current
research goals.
One unique aspect of this program is the organization ofcourse placement. Classes themselves are all intensive, but students are placed into different
levels for different subjects depending on their individual levels. This reflects the reality that a
student's speaking level may be high, but their kanji level may be low (as in my case), or viceversa. In addition, advanced classes are tailored to a researcher's needs, which made classcontent immediately relevant to my own goals (e.g. increasing my reading speed, learning kanji
for linguistics terminology, grammar for academic writing, etc.). Most importantly, class size wasvery small (3-6 students), which meant individual attention from each instructor and highparticipation from every student. My only regret is that the program only lasted 2 months!
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Studying abroad also provided me with new learning opportunities outside of the classroom,such as watching television or dramas with Japanese subtitles(unavailable in the US). Besides constantly using Japanesewhenever we go out, the program also organized several events
to help create camaraderie between students and makeopportunities to go out and use Japanese. A day touring Osakain small teams (including a list of tasks requiring interactions withJapanese people), visiting a host family, attending a cultural
exchange meeting with Kobe University students, and watching
Bunraku were just some of the activities I participated in.
Another strength of this program was the regular one-onone check-ins with each student. This also included creationof personal goals at the beginning of the program andreflection of your own progress towards those goals at theend of the program. Not only did this give me concrete minicheckpoints to strive towards during the program, but it also
made me reflect on my reasons for participating in theprogram. It left me with a great sense of accomplishment at the end. The individual meetings
also made me feel extremely supported by the center, staff, and teachers.
The program also requires everyone to give a presentationon their research, which is an excellent way to makestudents apply what they have learned. It was also more
one-on-one time with our teachers, which I reallyappreciated. This particular aspect of the program washugely and immediately helpful to me. After completing the2-month program, I remained in Japan for a few weeks toconduct research. I have been recruiting participants andcollecting linguistic data. The speech I wrote for thepresentation has been extremely useful when discussing
and explaining my research to others. After the final presentation, I was also approached by
two Japanese high school teachers interested in my research and willing to help me recruit
speakers of Kansai Japanese.
Overall, networking has been perhaps the most invaluablepart of my experience. Besides the many connections I
made at the Japan Foundation (teachers, staff, classmates,residents of Tajiri-cho), everything I learned during the 2month program has been immediately useful to my research.
As part of an assignment for a class on writing emails, I
found a linguistics conference taking place at NINJAL inTokyo this summer. After the program ended, I decided toattend the conference, and I met many Japanese professors
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who then helped me with my research by recruiting participants for me. Thanks to this program,I have now made several connections with Japanese professors and graduate students in myfield of research (Japanese dialects) at several Japanese universities. I have even been invited
to submit my research papers to dialect journals and future conferences.
Besides academic connections, I also made strong
friendships with my fellow classmates. The other participantsin the 2-month program came from all around the globe -Italy, Hungary, Egypt, Russia, Korea, China, Taiwan, Canada,America, New Zealand -- and we all had a common interestin Japanese/Japan. Meeting people of different cultural (andlinguistic) backgrounds was such a special opportunity. I am
extremely grateful to have made so many wonderful
memories with everyone.
Not only was this program a useful course that improved myJapanese in all traditional areas (kanji, reading, writing,speaking, grammar), it offered unique classes relevant to myresearch needs (reading speed, academic grammar, fieldspecific kanji, presentation of individual research topics).
Besides training in the Japanese language, the various
connections I was able to make with people within andoutside the center are essential to my current and future
research career. I cannot express just how much thisprogram has furthered my research abilities. I will always be
grateful for this amazing and wonderful experience!

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