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Group 3 Project 2: Death Note Gendered-Speech Analysis.

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This post was written with the collaboration of Max Aguirre (Intro and Methodology), Elizabeth Chandler (Analysis of L), Zach Parrott (Author List, Tables, Conclusion), and Maggie Wallace (Analysis of Light).

Introduction

December 2003 marked the beginning of the Death Note manga series that would become one of the most popular and famous series to date. It would go on to be adapted into multiple media forms including an anime series and multiple movies, it’s popularity due to it’s well crafted story and distinct, well-written characters. Death Note follows Light Yagami, an intelligent high school student that stumbles upon the “Death Note”, which has the power to kill a person simply by writing their name in its pages. Light, bored with his life, decides to use this notebook to kill those he considered evil in the name of justice thereby becoming the new god of the world. After this phenomenon of criminals dying is discovered, a highly skilled detective, L, is enlisted to help with investigation efforts against Light. So begins a “cat and mouse” chase between the two characters, whose interesting dynamic garnered great praise for the series.

Methodology

For this analysis, we took a look at Volume 3 of the Death Note manga in Japanese, specifically because it is the volume in which Light and L initially meet. We thought it would be interesting to see how they acted on their own, and how they interacted with each other.

We read through the volume, looking specifically for gendered speech (or lack thereof) from the two characters in different situations, in order to see whether or not there were gender dynamics and play, and if there were, how they played out. We also took into account factors such as: What emotions could they be feeling in specific situations? How do they act when being around certain people? How do they talk to each other, and how does their gendered speech (or lack thereof) complement their character, and their rivalry dynamic?

Materials

Here is a table showcasing examples of specific instances of gendered-language in our sample. A key is provided below the table.

Masculine Neutral Feminine
Light 僕 (FPP)
plain + な (neg. command)
plain + か (question)
こいつ
ろ (commands)
うまい
ぞ (SEP)
な (SEP)		 Plain＋よ
よ (SEP)
よね (SEP)
L 私 (FPP)
ください (commands)		 素晴らしい (ADJ)
Both おまえ (SPP) あなた (SPP)
ね (SEP)

Key:
FPP = First Person Pronoun
SPP = Second Person Pronoun
SEP = Sentence Ending Particle
ADJ = Adjective

Analysis and Discussion:


Light Yagami
Light is the main protagonist and the wielder of the eponymous Death Note. He is recognized as a genius and seems like the ideal, polite, and hardworking child and student to everyone around him as he is always thinking ten steps ahead. His primary goal is to rid the world of all criminals and create a perfect, new world by killing them all with the Death Note. In the chapters we analyzed, Light has started working with his father and his team of detectives as well as the world-famous detective L to catch “Kira”, the name created by the public to attribute to Light’s killing of criminals using heart attacks, but of course, no one knows that it is him.

L


L is a brilliant, world famous detective who has worked with various organizations over the years to solve what were considered unsolvable crimes. He has the appearance of a young man, who is quite unconventional in many of his mannerisms, such as sitting in chairs by squatting, his choice of baggy clothing, and his love of sweet things which are oddly contrasted by his polite speech and, at times, disconcerting demeanor. The chapters we analyzed see Light and L interact for the first time in the series highlighting the two men’s different approaches to problems and how their speech patterns differ and express different aspects of their identities.

Click to Zoom

Light Yagami Analysis
In the chapters we analyzed, the manner of which Light most often speaks to others, notably L, is quite neutral and informal, with the occasional masculine form peppered in. He will only use overtly masculine forms and words such as ふざけてる when he is angry. We also found one or two examples of him ending a sentence with ぞ, and using な when wondering about something. Usually, his speaking is otherwise neutral, ending most sentences with plain form and heavy use of the sentence final particle よ. This can be contrasted with how he speaks, or sometimes thinks, in soliloquy, either just to himself or around the Shinigami Ryuk. He also always uses the pronoun 僕. When speaking to himself, he makes a distinct change to masculine speech. For example, he refers to L as あなた to his face (unless he is calling him by his fake name 流河) but in soliloquy, he refers to L as おまえ. He also uses the negative command plain form + な.

Click to Zoom

L Analysis
In stark contrast to Light Yagami’s (aka Kira’s) more masculine and aggressive forms characteristic of someone of Light’s age, L, a brilliant detective, is far more neutral, polite, and even at times feminine. The first and most obvious difference is in his choice of first person pronoun. L opts for the more neutral 私 (watashi) in comparison to Light’s more masculine 僕(boku) which is characteristic of a young man in his 20’s. L also uses a lot of honorifics and polite forms of speech: he almost always ends his sentences with です・ます(desu masu) with few exceptions, mainly when he is talking to himself. He commonly makes polite requests, ending with ください (kudasai), お願い(onegai), ましょう((mashou), or excusing himself with terms such as 失礼します(shitsureishimasu). He also uses full expressions, such as したのですが (shitanodesuga) instead of shortening them to their more colloquial forms common in Light’s speech patterns. In proper context, most of these forms aren’t strange in and of themselves, but given how he uses them, even toward status equals or inferiors, it makes L come off as slightly femnine or submissive in comparison to Light.

Conclusion
Although the use of gendered language isn’t too frequent throughout the story, the little bits of gendered speech that we do get help to exemplify the character’s personalities and emotions. Light’s use of mostly male speech and informal forms shows his character as rather confident and dominant, while L’s use of formal forms, neutral gendered expressions, and uncertain speech styles gives off the appearance of a more polite, submissive, and passive character. All of this information can be gleaned through their speech styles, rather than the actions and physical interactions between them.

Group 4 Group Project 1 – Japanese Pokemon Website vs. Japanese League of Legends Website Comparison

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Welcome to our group project! Our group’s members consists of Elaine Sun, David Xiang, Zach Parrott, and Ira Reese-Thornton. We’re really excited to bring you this project!

Every one in our group likes to play video games in some capacity, and we figured it would be fun if we covered the websites for two video games which are not only different stylistically, but games which target audiences are also quite different. We chose the Japanese Pokemon and League of Legends websites for this exact purpose. We figured that since Pokemon targets a younger audience while League of Legends targets a more mature audience, there would be plenty of differences to compare and contrast. Let’s see if this is the case!

CONTEXT

Game Pokemon League of Legends
Audience Young Children
All Ages		 Teenagers
Young Adults
Tone Exciting
Energetic
Happy
Bright/Colorful
Vibrant		 Epic
Mature
Gritty
High Fantasy
Word Choice Varies by page, but primarily uses 和語 with a mix of 漢語 and 外来語 in smaller proportions. Varies by page, but generally includes a high portion of 漢語/和語 and relatively few 外来語.
Writing Style Mostly in casual form, with a bit of polite form sprinkled in. Mostly in polite form.

Although both of these websites cover video games, the style of video game as well as the target audience determines the type of language used as well as the style of communication. As Pokemon is targeted towards a younger audience, the website is bright and upbeat, with colorful picture and informal language in order to appeal to a wider audience. League of Legends on the other hand almost exclusively uses the polite form of verbs in its writing, which signifies that the website is aiming for a more mature audience. This is backed up by the design of the website over all, which uses a lot of dark colors, as well as a lot of screenshots from the game’s environment (which looks like a medieval forest), giving off a sort of high fantasy vibe.

Pokemon


Quote 1: “シェルダーに噛みつかれた刺激で、ガラル地方に生息するヤドンの脳から分泌される化学物質と体内にあるスパイスが変質し、どくタイプのヤドキングに進化。シェルダーの知能も飛躍的にアップし、ほかのエスパータイプのポケモンを圧倒するほどの強力なサイコパワーが使えるようになっているぞ！ヤドキング（ガラルのすがた同士がコミュニケーションを図る際に呪文で会話をする様子が確認されている。さらに、ヤドキング（ガラルのすがた）が戦闘で技を使用する時などにも、謎の呪文を唱えるようだが、それら呪文の内容については、まだ解読はできていないようだ。「ぶきみなじゅもん」は、強力なサイコパワーで相手に攻撃するエスパータイプの特殊技。相手にダメージを与えるだけでなく、相手が最後に使用した技のPPを3減らす特殊な技だ。※『エキスパンションパス』のソフト内では、ヤドキング（ガラルのすがた）だけが「ぶきみなじゅもん」を覚えることができます。今後発売されるソフトでは、他のポケモンもこの技を覚える可能性があります。ヤドキング（ガラルのすがた）が持つ特性「きみょうなくすり」は、今作から登場する新しい特性。この特性を持つポケモンがバトルに登場すると、味方の能力変化を元に戻す効果がある。”

Source
Quote 2: “バラエティ番組 – ポケモンの家（うち）あつまる？毎週日曜あさ8時からテレビ東京系にて好評放送中！※一部地域では、放送日時が異なります。舞台は、とある場所にたたずむ家、「ポケんち」。ポケんちには、年齢も性別もさまざまな人たちがあつまっていますが、みんなに一つだけ共通することが、、、それは「ポケモンが大好き！」ということ。ポケモンが大好きなキミ、これからもっとくわしくなりたいキミ、日曜あさは「ポケんち」にあつまろう！10月18日（日）放送分※放送内容は変更になる場合があります。住人の紹介年齢も性別もさまざまだけれど、「ポケモンが好き！」という思いを持った住人たちを紹介！ポケモンの最新情報はもちろん、ポケモンの新たな魅力をポケモン愛をもってお届けするぞ！中川 翔子: ポケモンが大好きなポケんちの管理人。ポケモン好きな友だち“ポケだち“をたくさん呼んで、ポケモンについて語るのが何よりも幸せ。ポケモンバトルは真剣そのもの!? ヒャダイン: ポケモンの最新情報ならお任せ！のポケモン博士。頭脳派で、ポケモンバトルで強くなるための秘訣をたくさん教えてくれる。すぐに自分で試せる「ポケ塾バトル講座」は必見！あばれる君: ポケカ（ポケモンカードゲーム）が大好きで、公認 ポケカ自主大会を開催できる、イベントオーガナイザーの資格を持っている。全国のポケだちに会いに行き、ポケモン図鑑の完成を目指す、『ポケモン ソード・シールド』交換旅も大人気！大谷 凜香: ポケモンバトルの腕をめきめきあげている大学生。夢はポケんちで一番バトルに強くなること！好きなポケモンはリザードンで、空手が得意なかくとうタイプ。「ポケんち」のオリジナルソング – ポケだちが考えたポケギャグを歌詞に入れた、ポケんちの住人が歌う「ポケだちの歌」のミュージックビデオを公開中！ 歌の作詞はヒャダイン、作曲は「めざせポケモンマスター」のたなかひろかずさん。さあ、いっしょに歌って踊ってみよう！- ポケモンの家（うち）あつまる？放送曜日・時間
※放送時間は変更になる可能性があります。”

Source

Color Code: Red = Sino-Japanese, Blue = Native Japanese, Green = Loan/Jargon Words.


First of all, we decided to cover two pages from each website in order to get a good feel for the style and content of each website. In the case of the Pokemon website, we used the Japanese page for Galarian Slowking for the first page, and for the second page we used the television website page. The first thing we immediately noticed about these pages was their informal writing style and generally bright coloring with somewhat large text. Given that the target audience of Pokemon is generally children, these style choices make sense. Not only is the font easy to read, but the upbeat colors help bring in a warm and welcoming atmosphere for kids. For both web pages, native Japanese words (和語) appear the most frequently. This makes sense, as it allows people of all ages and education levels to follow all the content easily. The main difference between these pages (aside from length) is the proportion of vocabulary types. The TV guide has a lot more Sino-Japanese words (漢語) compared to the page on Galarian Slowking. Part of this is because the biographies of some of the characters from the show “ポケんち” are on the page, while in other parts it’s mainly used to give detailed information. For the Galarian Slowking page, 漢語 is used almost entirely for Galarian Slowking’s flavor text. In general, 漢語 used to represent more advanced concepts. Before we researched these pages, we expected the Pokemon website to have a lot of loanwords. However, there’s significantly less loan words than we expected. This means that rather than making Pokemon seem foreign, the language used promotes Pokemon as being a very “Japanese” thing. A lot of the 外来語 words used on either page are either names of Pokemon (such as Galarian Slowking’s Japanese name, “ヤドキング”), or the name of the franchise itself (“ポケモン”).

The goals for these pages are fairly different. While both of them serve to give information, the page on Galarian Slowking serves to give information and background to a single character – meaning there’s a lot of details about Galarian Slowking itself, rather than something so broad as the video game it appears in (Pokemon Sword and Shield’s Crown Tundra DLC). As for the TV article, it’s meant to give clear information about the show itself, as well as its broadcast times, with only little bits of flavor spread throughout. It’s also supposed to excite people, particularly young kids, to watch the show. The page on Galarian Slowking doesn’t have this sort of feature, instead it uses the fact that Galarian Slowking is “a new Pokemon” in order to attract people into reading the page and purchasing the game.

League of Legends

Quote 1: “皆さん、こんにちは。9月ももう終わりですから、そろそろ本格的にシャキッとしなくてはいけませんね。今回のパッチは比較的軽いもので、チャンピオンのスケーリング（試合経過に伴う成長具合）の調整がメインとなっています。その中でも大きな変更点は、あの青い魔法使いのダメージ量を盛ってあげたり 、ボットレーンの悪夢と化していたカーサスを落ち着かせたり、といったところでしょう。チャンピオンの調整以外の話題としては、もうすぐ「Worlds 2020 Clash」がやって来ます！苦闘 を乗り越え、ヒーローとなり、クールなトロフィーを手に入れましょう！一つ事務的な注意点として、このパッチの適用後にログインすると新しい行動規範が提示されます──これはプレイヤーとしての望ましい振る舞いを皆さんに周知するためのものです。それじゃあ 、リフトに向かって、未来に向かって、ブンブンブーン♪ 行ってらっしゃい！TFTのパッチノートをお探しの方は、こちらのポータルをご利用ください！”

Source

Quote 2: “免責事項 – こちらの投稿では、開発中もしくは計画中の作業への言及も多くなっていますが、必ず実装されるという保証はありません。作業や目標は新しく判明したことによって変更されることがありますし、以前言及したプロジェクトが遅れたり中止されたりといったこともありえます。ただ、計画が変わるとしても、できる限りのことを皆さんにシェアしていくのが大事だと信じています。
プレシーズンPBE: PBE（パブリックベータ環境）へのプレシーズン実装が始まってから、既に1週間が経ちました。いただいた大量のフィードバックを熟読し、今後の変更を評価している真っ最中です。プレシーズンのテストは期間を長く取りたいのですが、今後のパッチ（10.21と10.22）内容のテストも行うため、今後のPBEは少し複雑なスケジュールになっています。以下のように行う予定です：
第1週：プレシーズンのテスト
第2週：パッチ10.21のテスト
第3週：プレシーズンのテスト
第4週：パッチ10.22のテスト
第5＆6週：プレシーズンのテスト

今回のプレシーズンではアイテムの変更とその影響が大規模なので、フィードバックへの対応や、予期せぬ問題の解決に対して、余裕をもって時間とリソースをつぎ込んでいきます。例年通りなら、プレシーズンの変更を実装した少し後となる12月に、翌プレシーズンの初期構想に取りかかります。ですが今回は例年と体制を変えて、アイテムシステムのオーバーホールが実装された後、チーム全体でフォローアップに備えることにしました。担当チームに所属するデザイナー、QA（品質保証）、エンジニア、アーティストの全員が、水準に達していないと判断した要素を調整＆改善するために待機します。担当チームにその他の仕事は割り当てないので、ゲームに新鮮な空気を吹き込みつつも、なるべく早く安定した状態にするためのフォローアップを素早く行えるでしょう。LoLを世界で最も競技性の高いゲームにするために、影響の大きい変更を実装し続けたいと常に思っています。ですが、現在のLoLのすばらしさを損ねないように、変更は注意深く行っていきます。いつもプレイしてくださりありがとうございます。どうかご安全にお過ごしください。”

Source

Color Code: Red = Sino-Japanese, Blue = Native Japanese, Green = Loan/Jargon Words.


For Quote 1

For Quote 2

For League of Legends, our group decided to cover the first part of the Patch Notes: 10.20 page, as well as the Quick Gameplay Thoughts page. These pages have different goals. While they’re both meant to inform in some way, the Patch Notes page is meant to be read by all players, and contains information about an update for the game. In this case, version 10.20. Meanwhile, the Quick Gameplay Thoughts page is mostly written for those looking for insight as to how League of Legends is developed. It’s written by one of the game’s lead designers, in this case Riot Scruffy, in English. It is then translated into Japanese. Because the information on the Quick Gameplay Thoughts page is more abstract and complex, compared to the brief bits of information that go into a post detailing a game update, there’s actually more 漢語 on that page than 和語. And by a pretty significant amount, too. 外来語 definitely has it’s place in both pages as well, although for the most part it’s just referring to things about the game, such as “チャンピオン” or “メイン”.

Another thing that’s immediately apparent about the website is it’s more formal writing style. Just about every sentence ends in the polite form, making these web pages seem more professional in general. Even though League of Legends is a video game, it’s target audience is much older than that of something like Pokemon, and the more formal language helps to attract a more mature audience. In addition, the increased use of 漢語 – particularly in the Quick Gameplay Thoughts page – also helps to attract older, more educated people who might be interested in games. Although the proportion of 和語 to 漢語 can vary depending on the context, particularly in the Patch Notes page, the ratio of 和語 to 漢語 can actually be quite similar to that of the Pokemon website at some points.

Finally, the coloration of the website can be rather basic – sometimes dark or sometimes light – and with a smaller font size. These stylistic choices, in contrasts to Pokemon’s stylistic choices, not only promote League of Legends as a more mature game, but they also help to attract an older audience while simultaneously turning off kids who might be too young to play the game.

Summary

In summary, although both of these websites promote video games, their stylistic choices determine what kinds of audiences they attract. For the Pokemon Website, they use bright colors, easy to understand language, and a large font in order to make reading simple and easy for every one. For the League of Legends website, they used darker/more basic colors, more complex language, a more polite speech style, and a smaller font in order to attract a more mature audience. They also don’t use nearly as many loanwords as one would expect, save for mentioning aspects about the game itself.

Vocabulary

Pokemon – Galarian Slowking Web Page

漢語
Nouns: 化学物質，知能，会話，様子，戦闘，内容，特殊技，可能性，特性，今作，能力変化，効果
Verbs: 刺激，変質，進化，圧倒する，使用する，攻撃，登場する
Adjectives: 地方に，体内に，飛躍的，強力，最後，特殊

和語
Nouns: 脳，どく，すがた，図，呪文，技，時，ぶきみなじゅもん，相手，こと，くすり，味方、今後、他、内，元
Verbs: 生息する，分泌される，ある，なっている，する，確認，唱える，解読，与える，減らす，覚える，できます，発売される，持つ，戻す，できていない
Adjectives: 噛みつかれ，使えるように，際に，謎，だけでなく，この，きみょう，新しい
Other: さらに，について

外来語
Nouns: シェルダー，ガラル，ヤドン，スパイス，タイプ，ヤドキング，エスパー，ポケモン，サイコパワー，コミュニケーション，ダメージ，エキスパンションパス，ソフト，バトル
Verbs: アップ
Adjectives: N/A

Pokemon – TV Show Web Page

漢語
Nouns: 好評放送中, 系, 一部地域, 放送, 舞台, 場所, 年齢, 性別, 放送分, 内容, 場合, 住人, 紹介, 大, 最新情報, 魅力, 管理人, 真剣, 博士, 秘訣, 自分, 塾, 講座, 必見, 公認, 自主大会, 開催, 資格, 全国, 図鑑, 完成, 交換旅, 大学生, 一番, 歌詞, 公開中, 作詞, 作曲, 時間, 放送時間, 可能性, 日時, 時, 番
Verbs: 共通する
Adjectives: 得意な, 大人気

和語
Nouns: 家, 毎週日曜, 東京, みんな, なか, 一つ, たくさん, 人たち, こと, キミ*, 好き, 思い, そのもの, お届け, 友だち, 幸せ, お任せ, ため, かくとう, いっしょ, ずさん, 空手, 腕, 夢, 組, キミ
Verbs: あつまる, 異なります, たたずむ, なる, 持った, だ, あげている, なら, 教えてくれる, 呼んで, 語る, 試せる, できる, 会い, 行き, 目指す, 考えた, 入れた, 歌う, めざせ, 踊ってみよ, 語る
Adjectives: あさ, さまざまな, くわしく, 新たな, 強く

外来語
Noun: ポケモン, テレビ, ポケんち, バトル, ポケモンカードゲーム, イベントオーガナイザー, シールド, リザードン, オリジナル, ソング, タイプ, ミュージックビデオ, ポケモンマスター, ポケギャグ , バラエティ
Verbs: N/A
Adjectives: N/A

英語
Nouns: Variety, 8

漢語
Nouns: 9月、本格的、今回、比較的、試合経過、成長具合、調整、変更点、魔法、悪夢、調整以外、話題、苦闘、注意点、適用後、行動規範、未来、ご利用
Verbs: 提示されます、周知する
Adjectives: 事務的な

和語
Nouns: 皆さん、こんにちは、もう、終わり、もの、そ、中、あ、量、すぐ、となり、手、一つ、こ、これ、舞い、ため、それ、お探し、方、こちら、の、
Verbs: しなくてはいけません、伴う、なっています、大きな、盛ってあげたり、化していた、落ち着かせたり、いったところ、して、やって来ます、乗り越え、入れましょう、振る、行ってらっしゃい
Adjectives: そろそろ、軽い、青い、使い、新しい、望ましい、向かって、

外来語
Nouns: シャキッ、パッチ、チャンピオン、スケーリング、メイン、ダメージ、ボットレーン、カーサス、ヒーロー、トロフィー、プレイヤー、パッチノート、リフト、ポータル
Verbs: ログインする、ブンブンブーン
Adjectives: クールな

英語
Nouns: Worlds 2020 Clash, TFT

League of Legends – Quick Gameplay Thoughts

漢語
Nouns: 免責事項 投稿 開発中 計画中 作業 言及 保証 作業 目標 計画 環境 1週間 大量 今後 期間 内容 以下 第1週 第2週 第3週 第4週 第5＆6週 今回 影響 対応 予期 問題 解決 余裕 時間 例年 12月 初期構想 体制 全体 担当 品質保証 全員 水準 要素 調整 仕事 空気 状態 世界 競技性 現在 注意 安全
Verbs: 実装される 判明した 変更される 以前言及した 中止されたり 熟読し 評価している 所属する 判断した 改善する 待機します 安定した
Adjectives: 大事だ 複雑な 大規模な 新鮮な

和語
Nouns: こちら こと 皆さん 行う予定 後
Verbs: 多くなっています ありません よって ありますし 遅れたり ありえます 変わるとして 信じています いただいた 始まって していく 経ちました 取りたい 続けたい できる限り なっています 対して つぎ込んでいきます 通り 少し後となる 取りかかります 変えて 達していない 割り当てない 備えることにしました お過ごしください してくださりありがとうございます 深く行っていきます 素早く行えるでしょう 常に思っています 損ねない 吹き込みつつも
Adjectives: 新しく 高い 大きい すばらしさ

外来語
Nouns: プロジェクト シェア プレシーズン パブリックベータ フィードバック テスト パッチ スケジュール アイテム リソース アイテムシステム オーバーホール チーム フォローアップ デザイナー エンジニア アーティスト ゲーム
Verbs: プレイ
Adjectives: N/A

Credits:

Elaine Sun – Pokemon Website Research, Pokemon Website Data Organization, Pokemon Website Data Visualization, Google Doc Organizer, Supporting Author.

David Xiang – League of Legends Website Research, League of Legends Website Data Organization, League of Legends Data Visualization, League of Legends Website Vocabulary Organization, Supporting Author.

Zach Parrott – Assisted League of Legends Website Research and Data Visualization, Google Doc Organizer, Primary Writer/Author, Article Formatting, Group Morale Guy.

Ira Reese-Thornton – Assisted Pokemon Website Research and Data Visualization, Google Doc Organizer, Pokemon Website Vocabulary Organization, Supporting Author.

初めまして – ザックの自己紹介

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Hey guys! My name is Zach Parrott, and this is my first term at the University of Oregon. I’m excited to take this class with you guys, and I’m excited to be at the University of Oregon. Ever since I was a kid, I’ve always wanted to study Japanese. Something just drew me to the language; admittedly, I think it was because of my strong love for Pokemon, but as I’ve gotten older, that’s become a null factor as to why I’m studying the language. Japan’s culture is super fascinating to me, and I want to learn more about it. It’s something that I want to experience first hand; and one big part of culture is the language. Japanese has been very fun to study so far; although it can be difficult at times, it’s been a lot of fun learning a language that’s almost entirely different. Additionally, after being monolingual for over 17 years of my life (I’m almost 20 now for context), I wanted to change that and pick up a second language. Japanese was the obvious choice.

I decided to take this class for a couple of reasons. The main reason is that when I asked O’Brien sensei for a recommendation for a class that can supplement my Japanese learning, she recommended this class to me. I also like studying linguistics every now and then; so this class seemed like an obvious take for me. Combining two things that I like to study is a surefire way to get my attention, and this class does just that. I also wanted to take this class because of the background knowledge it can give me; not just of the Japanese language, but of other languages as well should I decide to learn more.

Aside from studying, my other hobbies include hiking, listening to music, and playing video games. I’ve already mentioned that I’m an avid fan of Pokemon (with my favorite being Krookodile), but I also enjoy other games such as Minecraft, League of Legends, and Bloons Tower Defense. I tend to value games that I can play many times over, and in many different ways. For other things about me, I’m 19 years old and have spent most of my life in the United States. I’ve moved around quite a bit, from Colorado to Texas to Oregon and back, but I’ve liked staying in Oregon the most. I love the people here and the climate is near perfect for me. I went to Japan last year and had an excellent time. I visited many places such as Tokyo, Asakusa, Kamakura, and Nagano. I aim to go back in 2022!

I’m super excited to take this class, and I appreciate you guys for reading!

-Zach