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Statement of Purpose – JET Program
My interest in Japan and Japanese language developed when I lived in Switzerland
during middle school, where I had a Japanese friend who taught me a few Japanese words (cold,
warm, etc.). When my family moved back to the US my parents chose where we lived based on
whether or not the local high school offered Japanese. I am very interested in foreign languages,
but after four years of studying Japanese it has become my favorite, and my current goal is to
become a Japanese-English translator / interpreter.
I am also interested in foreign language acquisition, specifically how languages are
taught and what problems students have in learning them. Being an ALT would provide an
excellent opportunity to see how English is taught in Japan while at the same time letting me be
immersed in Japanese and see Japan. As I said before my goal is to be a translator or interpreter
and in order to gain experience towards this end I would, if accepted into the program, hope to
switch to the CIR position after a year when I’ve gained experience in spoken Japanese.
In the fourth year language class I took last spring as well as the one I am currently taking
we have broken away from textbook Japanese and begun to read actual Japanese texts of varying
difficulty. After a semester of this, I now get concrete images when reading in Japanese as
opposed to vague ones. I need immersion to increase my vocabulary and to help me converse in
Japanese more readily. My Japanese friends say that my spoken Japanese is quite good and have
told me that they do not have to dumb down what they are saying when they speak to me.
To be a translator or interpreter one needs to be able to wield the languages without
hesitation both written and verbally, and this is one of the main reasons I would like to go to
Japan. Having lived in Switzerland and studied French and German there, as well as having seen
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others studying those languages I have seen the difference that immersion can make and at this
point in my study of Japanese the most beneficial thing would be immersion.
For the past three semesters I have met with Japanese exchange students once or twice a
week to help them with their homework, reading comprehension as well as to provide them
chances to speak English comfortably, without having to worry about any mistakes that are made.
These experiences as well as those when I was first learning French and German have made me
patient when dealing with others in foreign languages because I am not always able to say
exactly what I want to and frequently have to reword what I want to say, and the same applies to
those I’m speaking with.
My interest in Japan does not solely revolve around language, however. Through friends
who have been to Japan as well as through the classes about Japan that I’ve taken I’ve heard and
read quite a bit about various famous temples, shrines, monuments and festivals that I would like
to see in person.
If accepted I would hope to increase the understanding of western holidays of those I
work with as well as help in their English acquisition. I hope to have a better understanding of
Japanese holidays that I’ve read about, see as many of the famous buildings and areas that I’ve
read about, get to know Japanese people’s customs and greatly increase my Japanese language
abilities.