Reports from the 2015 J.LIVE Winners

Danny Jeon (Johns Hopkins University), the Gold award winner studied at the Naganuma School in Tokyo.

Thanks to the 2015 J-Live talk, I had a wonderful opportunity to attend a Japanese language program at Naganuma School in Shibuya, Tokyo last summer. Through this month-long training, the program at Naganuma School was both enjoyable and insightful learning experience that greatly improved my Japanese ability through intensive focus on Japanese speaking, reading
comprehension, and in-class discussion.

In addition to helpful instructors and intensive training, I had an opportunity to meet students from all across the world who came to study Japanese. In my advanced Japanese class, I was interacting with 10 other students, who came from Korea, Taiwan, Germany, and England. So not only did I get a chance to interact and learn Japanese with Japanese locals at Naganuma School, but also had a chance to interact with international students from all over the world. Special classes and field trips were also very enjoyable, as I had multiple opportunities to engage in cultural activities like calligraphy. Of course, the site visits and field trips further allowed me to discover and explore unique parts of Tokyo and Japan.

Although it was a very short stay, living in Tokyo and studying Japanese at Naganuma School were definitely the highlights of my summer 2016. I really encourage any of the J-Live participants to take advantage of this opportunity.
Best of luck to all participants!

Chieko Quigley (George Washington University) , recipient of Judges' Special Recognition Award studied at Nanzan University in Nagoya.

I loved Nanzan University so much and I feel as though my confidence in speaking Japanese has gone up incredibly thanks to my time there. Everyday I had 3 hours of Japanese language class, and afterwards I would spend my time speaking with Japanese friends at the Japan Plaza. I soon realized that I was speaking Japanese most of the day, and didn’t really need English to get around and hang out with friends. It was fantastic to be so immersed in the language, and I truly feel that my Japanese has gone to the next level. After my time at Nanzan, I have begun watching Japanese dramas and reading Japanese novels with a great deal of confidence.

I attended ISJ500b (Upper Intermediate) from June 3rd - July 15th. The class contents included:

Review of keigo and kenjougo
Vocabulary and kanji building through reading texts meant for native Japanese speakers (newspaper
articles, passages from novels, etc.)
Conversation practice in specific everyday situations with a focus on politeness levels (apologizing to
superiors and friends, turning down invitations from superiors and friends, summarizing events)
Review of basic kanji radicals
Essay writing with an emphasis on connecting words (そうして、それで etc.)

I enjoyed extra-curricular activities such as speaking with Japanese students at the Japan Plaza
Tea Ceremony classes, trips to Hida and a sumo tournament, and participating in workshops (such as making Japanese sweets and how to dance Yosakoi).

I believe that J.LIVE Talk was one of the best experiences of my college career. Working so diligently on my speech really forced me to improve my vocabulary, as well as work on my pronunciation. I retained a lot of the vocabulary I had learned from my speech, and noticed I was able to speak with native Japanese speakers about the Syrian refugee crisis thanks to all of the time I spent memorizing the speech. Additionally, it was wonderful to work with Tsujioka Sensei on my speech, and her support throughout the process is one of the highlights of my Senior year at GW.

Chieko also shares her study abroad experience on her blog.