Learning foreign language opens doors to the world you will going to live in. When I first came to the United States, I didn’t speak English at all. I went to public school for two years and went to Japanese weekend school on Saturdays. It was confusing when I was learning French in English when I was barely fluent in English. Learning English and understanding American culture, I was able to make friends from all over the US. Learning Japanese is not simply learning about the language. You will be learning the culture of Japan, compare with your own culture and customs and recognize that there are different ideas in the different parts of the world. I believe that learning foreign language teaches you a valuable skills that you will not experience in any classes you had in the past. You can go to study at Japanese high school as an international student and stay with Japanese host family there. There are many semester abroad program through colleges. If you are interested in living in Japan, you can be ALT (Assistant Language Teacher) to become an English teacher or CIR (Coordinator for International Relations) through JET program after you obtain Bachelor’s Degree just to name a few.
by Fumiko Brown