Joachim von Rosen
Minors in Mandarin Chinese & Japanese
Current Occupation: Firefighter
Current Location: Toronto, Canada
Program: BA (Political Science)/11
Why learn a language?
It can be a fulfilling and valuable life experience, opening your eyes to new perspectives or simply providing excitement and adventure by offering new challenges. Plus you will meet some great people along the way!
Notable Quotable:
“I currently work in Markham as a Firefighter and with a pop. demographic of over 50% Chinese I encounter patients and emergency situations on a weekly basis where Chinese is the only means to communicate. It has been instrumental in my work here and I have Carleton’s Mandarin program to thank for that.”
Why did you choose to study these particular languages?
Took Japanese because it was still open when I needed to pick a language program. Took Mandarin because of all the Chinese friends I made in the Japanese program.
How was your experience learning languages at Carleton?
I found the programs were a great way to build a basic framework of language and that a motivated individual could use that framework as a base on their journey to fluency in their chosen language.
Professor Azuma was an absolutely fantastic instructor that opened my eyes to a wonderful culture I previously had minimal interest in. She led me to become greatly interested in Japan and also to be more open minded and adventurous in my general life.
I had a lot of great times, and the language classes were always the ones I looked forward to the most. They really brightened my day and working as a TA in those languages both helped me give back to the student body and helped me pay for my tuition.
Did you travel as part of your degree?
Yes. I would recommend that everyone studying a language visit a country that uses it natively. To me this is essential to picking up the language at any useful level, let alone one of fluency.