Course Reflection

Outcome

Aside from grammar and vocabulary, I learned many things in regards to Japanese culture and natural communication. This was largely thanks to the multiple podcasts and TalkAbroad assignments. Not only were these assignments a chance to hear first-hand what communication strategies are commonly used by native Japanese speakers, but being able to converse with people in Japan also allowed me to gain insight on how life is there.

Experience

Outside of assigned course activities and assignments, I was able to attend a Japanese subtitling workshop. Through this workshop, I learned of the many things that go into translating and creating subtitles for Japanese TV shows and anime. I learned how huge of a difference different translating styles can make on a show, and that there are many guidelines to follow in order to make “good” subtitles. I was able to create my own personal translation for a scene of a Studio Ghibli movie, and later got to work together in a small group where we compared our translations and came up with a sort of consensus on how different phrases in the scene should be translated. In the end, all groups’ translations were compared, and a final translation script was made and put into a subtitling software in which the final agreed-upon script was added into the scene. It was a very fun and interesting experience, and I was able to learn a lot. It allowed me to have a much deeper look into the Japanese language, and made me realize that there are countless Japanese phrases that possess nuances that can be impossible to translate into English in a way that makes sense, especially to people with no background knowledge in Japanese. I was also able to recognize the use of pragmatic features in different examples of Japanese media, and how it compares to the use of pragmatic features in English.

Transfer

I have had multiple opportunities to apply the information and skills I learned through the course work in situations outside of this course, and it has led me to develop a great relationship with others. I am a fan of gaming and sometimes play social games online through virtual reality. Through this, I was allowed to meet and do virtual language exchanges with many people. I was able to practice speaking with these people in Japanese, and made many new friends because of it. I was even able to meet someone from a different state that is planning to study abroad at the same university in Japan that I am planning to study abroad in, and it turns out we were both aiming to go during the same semester too. These experiences served as a sort of personal wake-up call as to how much my Japanese has actually improved as a result of this class, as I was able to hold conversations in Japanese without having a pre-planned topic to discuss or any sort of conversation guidelines. If it weren’t for this course’s coursework, I would not have the confidence to try something like this on my own. Without that gained confidence, I would have missed out on those positive experiences and would not have been able to meet so many new and amazing people.