My name is Maxine, and I am a Junior. I am a Japanese and Computer Science major, because while I was initially only intending to earn a minor in Japanese, I felt like my studies would have been incomplete if I did not take the fourth year. So, since I am a Japanese major, I decided to take this class because it seemed more interesting to me than a literature class. I also found myself interested in delving into the nuances of the Japanese language, and so far the course has already delivered in that aspect. I have never taken a linguistics course before, but with Japanese being an entirely different language than English or Spanish, in which I am fluent, to me, it’s a very foreign thing that I am hoping to get to understand better with this course.

The main reason why I began studying Japanese in highschool was because I was (and still am) interested in anime and games as a hobby, and in this general entertainment area, the West and Japan have become very intertwined since Japanese media started to break into the world stage in the 90s and 2000s. Moreover, since Japan is well known for its technological advances, as a Computer Science major, I felt it could also help me professionally.

As I mentioned, my main hobbies involve video games, and recently I have begun watching more anime. My favorite franchises are currently Danganronpa (Japanese-made) and The Witcher (European-made), which shows how mainstream Japanese media has become.

Looking forward to working with y’all!