Welcome!
I have been working through school, and finally I have come to this place. Finally I am in my final year of undergraduate study at California State University Monterey Bay. Soon I will be Graduating from The World Languages and Cultures department with A BA in Japanese Language and Culture.
Statement of Purpose:
My desire to study the language isn't as easily defined as, “I started to become interested in the language because of anime”. Actually, when I was a kid I first started to become interested in the language. Since then I have had the desire burning in my stomach to know everything I possibly could about the language. Since I Started Studying Japanese I’ve been asked; “Why did you choose to study Japanese” My answer is simply, “because it interests me”. To me, studying languages means that the person wants to fully understand that language. That’s why I am studying Japanese. I want to know and understand it as much as I possibly can. Not as a hobby, nor as a requirement, but as passion; a passion that I feel defines me and why I try so hard to understand it, and why I want to learn as fast as I can, and why I am disappointed in myself when I miss a question on one of my tests. The same person, after I gave my answer, asked what I would do with a degree in Japanese. Originally, I had planned to move to Japan, and after that I hadn’t decided on what to do, but now I realize just living in Japan would not be enough for me. I want to make a difference; not only in my life, but in the lives of people that I’ve met in the past, present, and future. My reason for studying Japanese is to continue on to a graduate school in Japan and get a PHD in linguistics. I’m not doing this right away; instead, I’m going to become a teacher in Japan. After studying Japanese for these four years, I’ve come to realize one major thing; that is, I cannot be expected or with to change something that I know nothing about. Furthermore, I think that changing something is not as easy sampling wanting to change it. I want to become a teacher and pass down the knowledge that I have obtained. That is my reason now for studying Japanese.
Studying Japanese for these past 4 years has not been just school for me; it has come to define my very being, my very reason for going to school ever since I started studying Japanese, and decided that it was actually what I wanted to major in for my first college degree. I have devoted every second of my life to studying Japanese. I will be the first to admit that I fail a lot with my speaking, but to me that’s only for now. In time, I will be able to say easily what I have trouble saying now, and at that time I will most likely be having a hard time with what I am learning at that point, but that’s what it means to learn and to study anything, not just a second language. Studying is not just a 4 year or 6 year process; truly studying anything means studying every single aspect of that subject for the rest of your life. I will probably spend the rest of my life attempting to fully grasp the Japanese language, but that is okay because passion drives me. It defines who I am. After I have taught for a few years in Japan, I think I will be ready to return to graduate school and study my new passion; second language acquisition.
Kyle Lipscombe
My desire to study the language isn't as easily defined as, “I started to become interested in the language because of anime”. Actually, when I was a kid I first started to become interested in the language. Since then I have had the desire burning in my stomach to know everything I possibly could about the language. Since I Started Studying Japanese I’ve been asked; “Why did you choose to study Japanese” My answer is simply, “because it interests me”. To me, studying languages means that the person wants to fully understand that language. That’s why I am studying Japanese. I want to know and understand it as much as I possibly can. Not as a hobby, nor as a requirement, but as passion; a passion that I feel defines me and why I try so hard to understand it, and why I want to learn as fast as I can, and why I am disappointed in myself when I miss a question on one of my tests. The same person, after I gave my answer, asked what I would do with a degree in Japanese. Originally, I had planned to move to Japan, and after that I hadn’t decided on what to do, but now I realize just living in Japan would not be enough for me. I want to make a difference; not only in my life, but in the lives of people that I’ve met in the past, present, and future. My reason for studying Japanese is to continue on to a graduate school in Japan and get a PHD in linguistics. I’m not doing this right away; instead, I’m going to become a teacher in Japan. After studying Japanese for these four years, I’ve come to realize one major thing; that is, I cannot be expected or with to change something that I know nothing about. Furthermore, I think that changing something is not as easy sampling wanting to change it. I want to become a teacher and pass down the knowledge that I have obtained. That is my reason now for studying Japanese.
Studying Japanese for these past 4 years has not been just school for me; it has come to define my very being, my very reason for going to school ever since I started studying Japanese, and decided that it was actually what I wanted to major in for my first college degree. I have devoted every second of my life to studying Japanese. I will be the first to admit that I fail a lot with my speaking, but to me that’s only for now. In time, I will be able to say easily what I have trouble saying now, and at that time I will most likely be having a hard time with what I am learning at that point, but that’s what it means to learn and to study anything, not just a second language. Studying is not just a 4 year or 6 year process; truly studying anything means studying every single aspect of that subject for the rest of your life. I will probably spend the rest of my life attempting to fully grasp the Japanese language, but that is okay because passion drives me. It defines who I am. After I have taught for a few years in Japan, I think I will be ready to return to graduate school and study my new passion; second language acquisition.
Kyle Lipscombe