Faculty Spotlight: JM De Pano

Inst. JM De Pano discusses his origin story and experience teaching Japanese in this faculty spotlight!

1. What got you interested in learning and teaching Japanese?

When I was an undergrad, I chose Japanese as my specialization as it had the highest number of units out of all the available plans and languages. Back then, I was not yet sure on what I will do after graduation, so I thought that having many foreign language units on my transcript would not hurt. I did not have any special interest in anime, either–the only ones that I’ve watched were those broadcasted by free-to-air networks. 

Throughout the several semesters of studying Japanese, I have grown to appreciate the structure of the language and how it is used in different social contexts. I understood why my friends love both its traditional and popular cultures, and why they spend much of their free time watching anime and listening to their OSTs. Until now, I regularly ask them for recommendations on shows, movies, songs, and books that may be forms of leisure, but augment my foreign language education as well. 

As for teaching it, even when I was in high school journalism, I enjoyed explaining things by breaking concepts and issues into chunks and then tackling them one at a time. This also aligns with how Japanese–and linguistics–tend to be taught at the Department, so it also seemed like the natural next step: a combination of my extracurricular activities from basic education with the knowledge from my undergrad stay.

2. How is your experience teaching the language at UP Diliman so far?

This is only my third academic year of teaching, but the two Japanese classes that I handle–Hapon 10 and 11–have greatly changed every time I offer it. It’s mostly thanks to the suggestions from students and insights from colleagues. My first semester of Hapon 10 was fully online, and the class only got to meet once a week to discuss several grammar patterns. Reciting was also not easy, as well as checking worksheets. Meanwhile, in this past semester’s Hapon 10, we had recitation and exercises everyday, with small tests every other meeting. The most important thing every semester, I think, is balancing the students’ interests and backgrounds with the prescribed topics for the class, and considering this interaction in designing the requirements.

3. Can you share some tips for learning Japanese, especially for students who might be intimidated by the language and its writing system?

Build a system. I know it is hard, but it might help to have a routine in studying a foreign language. All of my Japanese teachers emphasized that repetition is the key in memorization and proficiency, so if you give at least 30 minutes of every single day in practicing–whether it may be reading, writing, listening, speaking, or all of them–you incrementally become better at nihongo. After some time, this will become effortless–so you become better without feeling like you have exerted much effort. 

If it is part of your routine, every time the clock hits a specific time, you automatically start studying. This way, you do not rely on personal motivation or the class schedule; every time, you sit down, open your materials, and study. Learning becomes a habit.

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Currently, JM-sensei teaches elementary Japanese language classes. Access the “Regular Classes” and “Course Catalog” tabs of CRS for more information on the course offerings.

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This article is part of the “Faculty Spotlight” series of the Department, and is also done in celebration of 100 years of Japanese language teaching in the university. Click here for more information.