My Love for Japan!

I chose to take Japanese because of my love for Japan's culture as well its proximity to my own country, South Korea. As I begin to research more of Asia's diverse history and its role in global relations, I found that an ability to directly analyze primary resources was necessary. Thus, as I broaden my understanding of US and East Asian relations through English as well as Japanese, Korean, and Chinese texts, I hope that the interactions between the four countries will become easier to analyze with a command of each language. 

Regardless of my studies, I have had a great respect for Japan's culture ever since I was young. As many children of immigrants can relate, I grew up watching Japanese animation like Sailor Moon with my sister as my parents were more familiar with media from Asia and not those from the states. My grandfather also spent much of his life in Japan, speaking the language as a child and a young adult. Whenever I heard him speak in Japanese, I was captivated by the nuances of the languages that were simultaneously similar but different from my own mother tongue. That's why I love Japanese!