Transfer & Connections to Discipline

I am fairly multifaceted, maybe more than a little ADHD, so I have a lot of interests and hobbies. Careerwise I’m pursuing being a freelance voice actress and graphic designer. School wise I’m getting a BA in world cultural studies, with a double minor in Japanese and communications. My hobbies are watching and making youtube videos, and Instagram Reels. Also, it’s always been a dream of mine to visit, and more recently, live in Japan.

This class not only taught how to communicate in Japanese, but taught the very basics of Communication in general. Active listening, making sure you and your speaking partner understand one another, giving details about what you’re talking or asking about so that the conversation continues. These basic things really help a lot with many of my interests.

A business owner needs to be able to communicate effectively to potential clients, and clients on what they can do for them, how, when, and navigate how much without coming across as a pushover or being too callous. Not to mention, I want to live and work in Japan someday, so a lot of these basic “Aizuchi” rules will help me feel more like a person to my potential future coworkers and clients! Sensei is very keen on us understanding the ins and outs of using and understanding Aizuchi so she makes it a requirement for any conversation activity we have. I don’t think a textbook would stress the importance of this as well as Sensei does in her classes.

My advisor for my major studies is very excited that I am taking Japanese as a minor. She says it will mix very well with the things I’m learning in the major courses. Not to mention all of the cultural information we learn in order to use and understand our language partners! There is so much more to this class than grammar and vocabulary. We learned a lot about basic culture in Japanese because language is tied to culture. One of our Irodori textbook chapters was on asking about and commenting on cultural differences. That week we got to speak with the Japanese Exchange students to really ask them about cultural points we learned in our textbook, and ask them what culture shocks they had about coming to America. 

I watch a lot of Youtube videos on Japan and its culture, specifically a lot of Abroad in Japan and Tokyo Lens. Both channels explore aspects beyond what you hear about normally from textbooks, or TV. They find weird and or interesting places to go. Norm of Tokyo Lens went to a not-so-abandoned School nestled in the mountains near Tokyo. A man named Shin-chan lives there, and he runs a coffee shop out of it! It’s also a hostel! While he speaks English, I would love to visit, and talk with him in his native language. I feel it’s the best way to communicate with someone on their home turf. Chris of Abroad in Japan cycled from Yamagata to Hiroshima! He stopped at many places in between, which sparked a desire to visit myself! Which led to a rabbit hole of me wanting to vlog my own adventures in Japan. What I’d like to do though is to speak in Japanese for at least some of my videos. 

Though, surprisingly I learned how to view my own accomplishments more positively. Small steps are still steps. Messing up is just learning. Something is better than nothing, and you can actually do it. The 311 and 312 classes specifically really helped my speaking and writing communication in a more practical setting. I was able to test my skills with real, non-teacher Japanese students. I found that it was difficult, but that I can actually use and understand this language. My efforts have not been in vain.

Self-Assessment and Reflections

This semester I tried to get a part-time job as well as go to school, on top of being a wife and a freelancer. So I hadn’t realized my time management skills were abysmal and lost about 4 weeks of time. It was like I walked into work at the library one day at the end of September, and walked out and it was somehow the start of November! 

I quit my job at the library pretty quickly after that. I was trying to do way too much, all at once. I don’t value my own personal time at all, let alone my work. That job was also cutting into time I had started the semester using for homework. It was a squeaky wheel in my life. 

After quitting my job I used my google calendar more to keep up with important dates, and made sure to set aside time for work and home life things. I learned what was actually a priority in my life. 

I think figuring out what was wrong, and being able to admit to myself and others that I was doing too much will help me later in life. I have a lot of interests and hobbies, as well as mental health issues that sometimes cause me to think I can do literally anything and everything. It taught me to slow down and evaluate my choices before they become a real problem, rather than just forcing myself to burn out and being useless.