Yahor Kazlou, BCom (Finance); minor in Japanese/10
I studied in the Japanese language program at Carleton University for 4 years between 2006 and 2010. Through weekly courses and many extra-curricular activities I believe this program significantly contributed to my professional career development and personal growth. It helped me make the crucial first step towards my career in Japan and the global business world.
I decided to take Japanese language courses during my 1st year full-time at Carleton University. My goal was to make the most effective use of my electives, choosing courses that were strategically useful for my future career. I figured that a well-mastered language is always a useful asset in any type of future career. Among many options that Carleton University offers, I chose the Japanese language because of its uniqueness and challenge. It has reputation of being one of the hardest languages to learn, however once mastered it will be a true differentiation factor and broaden my cross-cultural vision.
Japanese is definitely one of the hardest languages and requires frequent / daily practice and long term commitment. Ultimately it took me 6 years of intensive daily practice to obtain level 1 proficiency (the highest level for regular foreigner students). Out of 6 years, 4 were covered at Carleton University. The Japanese language program there provided me a solid foundation and shaped all four crucial skills (speaking, listening, writing, and reading) that one needs to eventually master the language and to live and work in Japan.
In addition to solid weekly courses, the Japanese language program provided me with rich opportunities to practice my language skills in extra-curricular activities. Over 4 years, I worked as a volunteer TA for Japanese language courses, participated in numerous volunteer cultural exchange events, competed in regional and national speech contests, and even once had face-to-face lunch with Emperor and Empress of Japan. I found all these extra-curricular activities to be a crucial contributor to my language and cultural training before eventually moving to Japan.
After graduating from Carleton in 2010, I moved to Japan in the same year, completed graduate school program over 2 years and entered a foreign company with office in Tokyo. Nowadays, I am surrounded by welcoming Japanese people, authentic Asian food, mind and body-refreshing Japanese hot springs and a scenic mixture of Japanese metropolis and nature. Language education and related extracurricular activities at Carleton University proved to be a crucial first step towards my current and future goals. And I recommend every student to consider challenging himself or herself to study a new language to broaden future career opportunities and increase own cross-cultural literacy.