Instruction: Describe in English the outline of the whole video project and what you have learned through the activities.

For the Video Project, we were tasked with creating a video review of a restaurant (with an interesting menu item) for Japanese viewers who are thinking about visiting America. We had to become similar with Japanese restaurant guides (to give a proper greeting at the beginning of the video and comments at the end of the video), tell the viewer where the restaurant is located, why it is named what it is named, and describe the main dish in detail. We also had to work on our communication strategies, which include nodding, saying 「はい」or「うんん」while the other person is speaking, and showing agreement/understanding by saying 「そうですね。」or「そうですか。」

To prepare for creating the video, we read articles and watched YouTube videos that explained how many languages have their own versions of communication strategies. For example, in Canada people say “ehh?” and often get mocked for it. However, saying “ehh” in Canada is actually a way of inviting the other speaker into the conversation! Next, we had to find video examples of speakers saying 「そうですね。」and 「そうですか。」We also prepared for the video review by having conversations with each other about different spaghetti dishes where we practiced using communication strategies and Japanese aizuchi. 

From completing this video project, I learned that while the way people communicate in different languages varies, what remains constant is that there is a way to show your conversation partner that you are listening. In English, we also nod to show our agreement and we say “Yeah” like how Japanese speakers say 「うんん」. I also learned that learning to “actively listen” is hard! It is difficult to focus on what your conversation partner is saying while remembering to speak when they pause.