MLO 1: Language and Communication
1.1 Students are able to communicate effectively in Japanese in three modes: interpersonal, interpretive and presentational; and in a culturally appropriate manner in a variety of social and professional settings and circumstances at the Intermediate-High level of language proficiency, according to the ACTFL Guidelines.
1.2 Students gain competency in the Japanese language including phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics and discourse, and compare and analyze the structural differences between Japanese and English.
Because I had to start at a lower level than most of the students my age (due to transferring in to CSUMB), I was inspired to work that much harder at attaining proficiency in Japanese. JAPN101-JAPN201 set up my foundation, but it was the combination of JAPN300 and my time at Ritsumeikan that really helped me to fulfill MLO1. Because I had these programs simultaneously, it is difficult to tell precisely where the influence of one ended and the next began. Much of the material overlapped, but the reiteration helped the information to really stick in my brain. The main indicator of my success in growth happened towards the end of my time in Japan. On a hot, humid day in late July, I found a small little restaurant, empty save for the cook. The cook struck up a conversation with me, explaining what food he was making me, and asking me about my time in country and at Ritsumeikan. The fact that I was able to hold my own (he corrected me when necessary) told me that I had achieved the Intermediate High level of language I had worked so hard to reach. Because of my previous language education, I feel as though I had a bit of a head start on being able to analyze the structural differences between English and Japanese (I also constantly compared Japanese to Latin and German). As such, the second outcome of MLO1 came to me far more easily than the first.
In coming back from Japan, I found JAPN303 and 304 to be quite a shift in what I was used to. JAPN 303, for example, was the first course I had at CSUMB that was taught entirely in Japanese, with little to no English support. Now, coming back from Japan, I was used to the immersion-like classroom but this one was different in that the material was focused on one theme: the world of Japanese Business. At first, the adjustment was a little difficult. However, my teacher was insistent on making sure that we could understand the concepts, even explained in Japanese. In each class, we were challenged to communicate with each other only in Japanese, and in keigo specifically. We learned the difference between talking to someone at work in a professional setting and talking to them outside of work as friends. I know my Japanese was rarely perfect, but it had reached the point that I was able to create sentences and concepts with the collective information I have and build into coherent sentences. At the end of the semester, we broke into groups and created a movie project designed to show the difference between good office behavior and bad office behavior. Although this was not immediately designed to be a comparative course, it was more of an automatic reaction to compare Japanese business practices with American practices: due to the nature of Japanese business practices, this included becoming highly aware of how I interacted with people, what I said, how I said it, and what answers I received in response. For instance, the idea of kushoun kotoba, or 'cushion words' was, at first, a rather difficult concept to put into practice. While I fully agree with the idea of politely letting someone down, the Japanese practice seemed excessive in its use of soft language. Very often, in class, when simulating conversations, I would forget that I needed to soften my language until the words were already out of my mouth. It took major conditioning for me to finally put the words to practice, but by the end of the semester, I managed it.
Classes that fulfill this MLO:
JAPN300: Intro to Adv. Communication
Study Abroad Courses
JAPN303: Business Japanese
JAPN304: Intro to Translation and Interpretation
1.2 Students gain competency in the Japanese language including phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics and discourse, and compare and analyze the structural differences between Japanese and English.
Because I had to start at a lower level than most of the students my age (due to transferring in to CSUMB), I was inspired to work that much harder at attaining proficiency in Japanese. JAPN101-JAPN201 set up my foundation, but it was the combination of JAPN300 and my time at Ritsumeikan that really helped me to fulfill MLO1. Because I had these programs simultaneously, it is difficult to tell precisely where the influence of one ended and the next began. Much of the material overlapped, but the reiteration helped the information to really stick in my brain. The main indicator of my success in growth happened towards the end of my time in Japan. On a hot, humid day in late July, I found a small little restaurant, empty save for the cook. The cook struck up a conversation with me, explaining what food he was making me, and asking me about my time in country and at Ritsumeikan. The fact that I was able to hold my own (he corrected me when necessary) told me that I had achieved the Intermediate High level of language I had worked so hard to reach. Because of my previous language education, I feel as though I had a bit of a head start on being able to analyze the structural differences between English and Japanese (I also constantly compared Japanese to Latin and German). As such, the second outcome of MLO1 came to me far more easily than the first.
In coming back from Japan, I found JAPN303 and 304 to be quite a shift in what I was used to. JAPN 303, for example, was the first course I had at CSUMB that was taught entirely in Japanese, with little to no English support. Now, coming back from Japan, I was used to the immersion-like classroom but this one was different in that the material was focused on one theme: the world of Japanese Business. At first, the adjustment was a little difficult. However, my teacher was insistent on making sure that we could understand the concepts, even explained in Japanese. In each class, we were challenged to communicate with each other only in Japanese, and in keigo specifically. We learned the difference between talking to someone at work in a professional setting and talking to them outside of work as friends. I know my Japanese was rarely perfect, but it had reached the point that I was able to create sentences and concepts with the collective information I have and build into coherent sentences. At the end of the semester, we broke into groups and created a movie project designed to show the difference between good office behavior and bad office behavior. Although this was not immediately designed to be a comparative course, it was more of an automatic reaction to compare Japanese business practices with American practices: due to the nature of Japanese business practices, this included becoming highly aware of how I interacted with people, what I said, how I said it, and what answers I received in response. For instance, the idea of kushoun kotoba, or 'cushion words' was, at first, a rather difficult concept to put into practice. While I fully agree with the idea of politely letting someone down, the Japanese practice seemed excessive in its use of soft language. Very often, in class, when simulating conversations, I would forget that I needed to soften my language until the words were already out of my mouth. It took major conditioning for me to finally put the words to practice, but by the end of the semester, I managed it.
Classes that fulfill this MLO:
JAPN300: Intro to Adv. Communication
Study Abroad Courses
JAPN303: Business Japanese
JAPN304: Intro to Translation and Interpretation