Tom Killgore, a former student now working for Panasonic, talks about his unique experience learning Japanese


It was right about the time in high school when everyone starts to think about college and their career that I started studying Japanese. My parents both worked as freelancers at one point and have always encouraged me to find something that held a unique appeal for myself. Although I had studied other foreign languages before, Japanese was something new and exotic – a language that no one in my family had tried before (many in my family are linguists). Once I started learning, I became hooked because of a fantastic teacher and a brand-new and interesting culture.

One positive experience was the fantastic time I had in my high school studies of Japanese and Japanese culture. My teacher encouraged our interest and motivation to study the language, employing many different elements to make learning easy and enjoyable. With the Japanese Club, I had the great opportunity to stay with a family in Japan and experience the culture firsthand, which was essentially the catalyst for my desire to continue my studies into college, and eventually career. Finally, my year abroad during college allowed me a free and self-reliant opportunity to learn and become a part of the culture and daily life. I would definitely say that without this string of events, I would never have had the courage or open-mindedness to even consider the possibility that I might find a great career abroad.

I think the most obvious advice that anyone studying a language could benefit from is STICK WITH IT. Any skill takes time to develop, especially language. You will meet obstacles along the way – there will be times when you think some rule or pattern of expression is impossible to master. BUT if you accept the concept and continue to try using it, you will find that the hardest lessons are the ones you remember most. Especially with Japanese, there are great milestones that once you cross, something clicks and you feel like it comes natural. A big part of this is your comfort with speaking. No matter how rough you think your grammar or vocabulary is (worrying about speaking perfectly will only make you nervous) you need to speak! Be open and willing to make friends, especially if they share the same interests as you. Having a conversation with a Japanese friend about bands you like or their favorite places to eat will do wonders for your speaking ability because you have something you WANT to communicate to the other person.

(February 2010)